Locked In with Ian Bick - I Was a New York Pimp — Then Got Sent to Rikers Island | Mr. Based

Episode Date: September 1, 2024

Meet Mr. Based, a highly controversial streamer and the mastermind behind NYC’s largest escort empire. His journey is a wild ride from reigning over New York’s nightlife to surviving the harsh realities of Rikers Island. While in prison, Mr. Based crossed paths with Lilo Brancato, the actor from A Bronx Tale, who was serving time alongside him. But survival was just the beginning. In a bold move, Mr. Based turned the tables on those in power by ratting on the governor, exposing corruption at the highest levels. And with the mysterious Joshua Block playing a key role, this episode unravels a thrilling tale of crime, survival, and redemption. #MrBased #TrueCrime #JoshuaBlock #PrisonStories #SurvivingRikers #ExposingCorruption #ControversialFigures #LiloBrancato Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/ Connect with Mr Based: https://youtube.com/@MrBasedIRL?si=eYK8ZwKigFUX11Lo Presented by Tyson 2.0 & Wooooo Energy: https://tyson20.com/ https://woooooenergy.com/ Buy Merch: https://shop.ianbick.com/ Use code lockedin at checkout to get 20% off your order Timestamps: 00:00:00 - The origin of Mr Based 00:05:16 - Growing Up in New Jersey 00:10:29 - Growing Up with a Successful Lawyer Stepdad 00:15:45 - High School Memories and College Experiences 00:20:58 - From Professional to Entertainer 00:26:22 - The Trip Around the World and the Drug Deal 00:31:42 - The Phone S*x Company Journey 00:36:47 - Life in Prison: Weirdos and Crazies 00:41:40 - The Escape of Reading in Prison 00:46:54 - Starting an Escort Agency 00:52:16 - The Risks of High Profile Clients 00:57:26 - The Business Operations of an Escort Agency 01:02:35 - Life in Prison 01:07:34 - Life at Rikers Island 01:13:12 - Becoming a Streamer and the Journey to Success 01:18:24 - Meeting Josh Block and the Impact on Live Streaming 01:23:48 - Everything Happens for a Reason Powered by: Just Media House : https://www.justmediahouse.com/ Creative direction, design, assets, support by FWRD: https://www.fwrd.co Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Wayfair, every style, every home. Jason, welcome to Lockton, aka Mr. Baste, New York City. How do you get the name Mr. Baste? Well, Ian, first of all, it's such a pleasure, and you're such a fun, cool guy. Thank you for coming to my home. You asked me if I'd come to Connecticut, and I'm like, I don't go anywhere. And you came here. Thank you.

So how did I get the name? First of all, what's the word based mean to you? What do you think the word means? You're based in New York City. Foundational, you know, rebuilding after you lost something, get knocked down. You're building a stronger base, a following base, that type of base. All right. So I was on this thing called One Minute Talk Show about two years ago, two, three years ago.

And they interviewed me while I was staring at the sun in Washington Square Park. One interview was about how I took out Elliot Spitzer because he took me out wrongly, like a little eye for an eye. And another video was me and this local comedian, Matthew Silver, me teaching him how to sun gaze, and he claimed I ruined his eyes, which I didn't. I see him all the time.

He had blurry vision for a week, whatever, according to him. So these two videos got 17 million views each, right? And I was going through the comments, And every third comment, every second comment is based, based, based, based. What the fuck's that? So I look it up and I see that it's like this guy, Little B, some rapper from 15 years ago, 12 years ago. And it basically means to be like supremely authentic, honest, real. And I'm like, what a cool word.

And like even though like, what's the name for the 20-year-olds? What's their age thing called? Millennials, yeah. Even all of them didn't know it. two years ago with the word based meant. So I thought, ah, fuck, because I made hundreds of millions of dollars in my life, identifying trends. And I thought, based is going to be trendy.

And I don't know if it worked out or not. But I'm like, I love this word, and I'm like, it sounds like Mr. Beast, based. I'm like, I'm going to be Mr. Based. And hopefully I'll get big enough to be confused with Mr. Beast and it'll help me in some fucked up ironic way that I could never plan in advance. Everyone was commenting, you're going to interview Mr. Beast,

but Mr. Beast is kind of getting cancer. right now so which is weird right yeah like what if I became like the the more liked guy in the next two months right I mean the interesting because I'm very misunderstood I'm super misunderstood that's why I wanted to do the interview I mean I think right now there's a lot of stuff going on the news which we're not getting into but people don't wait let's finish though because um okay did we get to how I came up with the name oh I thought you said that it was in the comments so then I'm hanging out with you ever heard of a guy named Ed Bassmaster sounds familiar He's had 12 million followers on YouTube and Instagram and all that shit

And he's been grinding for 15 years And he's very very talented So I taught him out of Sung Gaze in the park And like we did a few things together And Is he chewing on the court? He kind of motivated Are you chewing on the cord?

Frankie Oh Do whatever you want Do whatever the fuck, right? Well, I know he's chewing on the cord I'm kidding but sometimes my own dog scares me He's so cute Yeah Frankie don't chew on the mic stand please

We got Frank Sinatra the pup with us. Do we have a toy for him or something? He's going right back to do. All right, you know what? Hold my cigar for one moment. There's only one solution when he barks or he gets crazy. Quick interruption. I've got to hold him and he'll chill the fuck out.

Okay, cool. Quick interruption. We've got the dog in the lap now. It doesn't have to be an interruption. We'll just act like he's not here. Okay. I just want to move the mic a little bit back towards you. Yeah.

There we go. So just so the crowd knows, we set the scene. We are in your New York City apartment right now. And you said, we got to do the interview here because, one, you don't leave your house, but two. Because I love my dog so much. It's hard to travel with animals. But also how cool the studio is. Like, it's a museum.

And Mayor Flanagan connected us. And he's like, dude, you got to shoot it there because it's literally a mini museum. So the audience listening, this is why we're out of our comfort zone. I think Sonagin is not human. I think he's half angel. Isn't he weirdly good? I love him. I mean, he was on our show, the prosecutor.

I have such a life of meeting every. half of everybody that was a crazy fuck throughout my lifetime. Yeah. And Flanagan stands out as like an angel. Yeah. So let's have you finish a story about Mr. Baste. Okay, so, Richard, when I chose the name, Mr. Beast was blowing up, like, huge, you know? And, like, I've had businesses where I'm a really good marketer.

Like, I had a phone sex company that did a quarter billion dollars of business when I was in my 20s. And I just thought there's something about Beast and Base. Like they're so similar. I bet they mistype his name and it comes out based. I don't know. I just thought that I would get a... You ever heard of an Easter egg? Yeah, of course.

Like an unplanned gift. Like in Marvel in the movies, they always put an Easter egg at the end of the movies. So it was a one two punch. The first thing was I look up on Urban Dictionary and regular stuff, what does Baste mean? And it's like authentic, cool, the best, you know? And then it's so easily confused with Mr. Beast.

And I'm like, oh, fuck, this is meant to be. I'm Mr. Baste. You know? And like I thought, Mr. Bace, Mr. Potato Head, Mr. Whatever the Fuck. It's just fine. Like, when people pick on me, I'm Mr. Gay. I'm Mr. Laced. I'm Mr. Rape. Sorry, I'm Mr. Anything they want to say bad about me, I'm Mr. Something.

I'm a very fun guy to pick on with my name. And you know what? I don't do anything wrong, ever. But the internet, the nature of the internet, you get clipped in a certain way. You get interpreted in a certain way that so many people are going to love you, so many people are going to hate you. It's not bipolar. What's the word for that?

It's, um... Different personalities? No, um, there's like anything I do, no matter what I do. 20% of people are gonna fucking want to kill me. And 20% are getting to cry and think it's the most beautiful thing they ever saw. And then other people in the middle are just gonna be all over the place. Like, I'm a very polarizing figure is what it's called. You're not polarizing, are you?

I think at some respects. I mean, it depends on what the scenario is when people see my personality. I've started out. So you met a girl in New York and you fell in love. Freeze. What percent of your crowd is going to fucking hate you? What percent of your crowd is going to fucking love you? I think they'll feel indifferent.

There's no reason to hate me for that. All of them? Why would they hate me for that? So every single person who's ever heard of me is going to be on one side of the fence or the other. They're going to want to kill me because of that or they're going to love me because of it. But you know what I think that is

is because they don't understand your past. They don't understand where you came from. I mean, I've told people I'm coming in. I don't think it has anything to do with that. I think it has to do with this. I stream too much. Like I'm doing 24 hours a day, 24 hours a day.

And in the past, they used to do 12 hours, 12 hours, 12 hours. And when I was doing very little, I'd do two to four. Too much for anyone to watch. Everyone's busy with their own lives, right? So what are people watch? Clips, titles, clickbait, comments, and I already have a polarized community. So I am the ultimate shit to watch.

I'm a person that a boyfriend and girlfriend could watch and the girls like, I want to kill him. And the guy's like, that's the coolest guy I ever saw. And then they get in a fight over me. Yeah. That's entertainment. And I'm being good the whole time, or they would have knocked my lights out a long time ago.

If I ever do anything wrong, you'll never see me again. They'll destroy me. I'm under a microscope. But the persona you have created now is not who you necessarily are deep down because when I, like I have friends that ask me, Matt asked me who he's with.

He's like, is he weird? What's he like? Is he crazy? And the truth is it, the truth of the matter is that you're actually very intelligent. Because when you, if someone did a Google search and took the time to look at who you are, you've built million dollar companies, you've sold them, you've done this and done that,

and that's why I'm talking about where the people don't or haven't heard that side of your story. But I feel that the people that have watched me since day one and watched me eight hours a day, 12 hours, there are people like that. They know everything. They know I'm pretty fucking cool. They know I'm the only person that is self-docs, that everyone knows where I live, what my real name is, what my real past is. Like I wear my entire life on my chest or on my arm or whatever.

I walk around as a real person. Everyone else hides behind anonymity, as do the people picking on me. Yeah. So did you grow up in New York City? Is that where you're from? I grew up in Fort Lee, New Jersey, which is famous for being one side of the George Washington Bridge. Do you know the bridge? Yeah, of course.

So Fortley is where you land when you get off. And it used to be the Hollywood of the East Coast, literally. There was no Hollywood in 1930. It was in Fortley, New Jersey, and they had a huge thing called Palisades Park. Frank Sinatra got started in Hoboken and Englewood, New Jersey. and different stuff. So New Jersey was Hollywood. It's hard to believe.

New Jersey is a shithole the way people think of it, right? In reality, if you live in Alpine, New Jersey, and there's places that are gorgeous. But a lot of New Jersey's a shithole. And what did your parents do for work? So I have multiple sets of parents. My mom was a fashion model at Ford Modeling Agency when she was younger,

and she went to the University of Buffalo. She said back when she was a kid, the coolest thing a woman could do would be a school teacher that would make the best wife or something. So she became a school teacher after graduating from SUNY Buffalo. And she met my father

who went to the University of Pennsylvania. He was from Pennsylvania. When she was very young, he was pretty young. I think like she was 20. or 19 and he was like 22, 23. They had a whirlwind romance, they got married, they were together for like a year and a half. And all my dad wanted to do was work.

And my mom felt ignored. And they got divorced. Like no real big fight or anything. Just like all you do is work. You know, oh, I'm making the money for you, honey. We'll be really rich and have a great life. So my dad is a multi-billionaire because he meant what he said to my mother. He's like, just let me work and it's worth it.

But my mom was like a mafia prince's tough bitch. If you don't pay attention or she'll kill you. And so she moved on. She married my stepdad, Ron Itzler. She met him at Sugarbush Mountain skiing when I was like three. They legally adopted me. I never knew my dad that made me for like my whole time growing up or anything like that. And I grew up with my stepdad Ron Itzler, a super successful, like,

entertainment, corporate law, and bankruptcy attorney, but like a top 10 attorney in Manhattan type of guy. Lawyers are powerful. So like a really good schmoozer and a really good lawyer, and he was head of the legal committee at the New York Friars Club for 30 years. You heard of the place, sir? It sounds a little bit.

I think it's not even there anymore. But it was where all the powerful Jewish people would plot and scheme to take over the world, even where they all dine together. I'm just kidding about taking it. I'm Jewish. Jewish people can make Jewish jokes. Do you acknowledge that? Yeah, that's fair. Black guy can't make Jewish jokes. I can't make black jokes.

Yeah. But I can make Jewish jokes. Okay, that's a fair assumption. All the mayors were at the Friars Club, all the former mayors. Like, I met them all, you know. It's interesting that you had both a stepdad and a regular dad that was high... I didn't know my regular dad until I was, like, older. But he was in your blood as a successful. Like, he was, he was an entrepreneur. He was successful. Is that really how it works? That it's in the blood. I mean, maybe...

5,000 years ago, maybe... Maybe people weren't. The most important thing wasn't being rich. So you don't feel like you were born with that ability to create businesses, be an entrepreneur, that self-made type stuff. I feel like people are born with that. I think anyone that's good at one thing can be good at anything. That's fair.

So did you have siblings growing up too, or it was just you and your family? Oh, I hate that question. I had them and now I don't. Isn't that weird? You cut ties? No, they did. They cut ties with you. Like black people, when they go to jail or prison, their family doesn't disown them.

My entire family disowned me when I went to prison for the first time. And do you feel like that was... Jewish people don't like that. It's embarrassing to them. Did you feel like that was well-deserved? Yeah, because I'm Jewish. Sure. I understand.

Every single one did it to me. Like every single family member, including my sister. I don't know. Maybe she's my step-sister. Like, same mother, different fathers. She doesn't exist. So in high school, how would people describe you? Like if we had your closest friends here at the time, what would they say about you back then?

So I went to Dwight Englewood High School when I was younger. And I think I was a class clown. Like at that school, like everyone would take turns reading out of a textbook. And I would just fucking make up everything. Nothing was real, you know? I would just change words and make stuff up. And like I never paid attention. I had fun.

I sat with the pretty girls. I think they would say I was like a funny troublemaker. Were you nerdy at all? Because in public school, it's very, private school, it's very easy to be a troublemaker. You just have to be a fun person. Yeah. You know? I've seen some of your old pictures and you do kind of look like you were like that nerd.

You know who you remind me? Nerd as opposed to troublemaker? Yeah. Well, maybe, I mean, I was a nerd and I was a troublemaker too. I feel like you could be both in a way. Just for the sake of being accurate, I was never a nerd. You were never a nerd. But I love, I've had nerd friends that I fucking love.

There's nothing wrong with being a nerd. Yeah, but I was never. I was a jock. I was cool. You know who you remind me of a little bit? I got weirder as I got older. The pharmaceutical guy. I feel like you guys have similar personalities.

You probably met him in your back in your day. Oh, oh. The one that went to federal prison. Bro, bro. The bro guy. Yeah. Farma bro. The pharma bro guy.

I want to Sherelly. Shrelly. Shrelly. I bet he and I could have very interesting. We could all have an interesting conversation. Let's try to get him while you're still here. How long are you in town? Just for the day?

Yeah, I mean, we only live an hour and a half away. Someone from my community or Ian's community, reach out to Shrelly and tell him I'm ready. We're all set up and he's ready. If he wants to come over in a couple hours, we'll just do, he could do it, right? We like Shrelly. No, I would do that 100%. Shreli's fascinating. He's the one that bought that song.

Yeah. Two live crew, no. Wooten Klan. Yeah. So when you were in high school, did you have like a sec career path? Did you know what you were going to do? Did you want to? With the RAM Declaration of Deals, we're pledging our allegiance to the American people

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Visit mopar.com for complete. kills and a copy of the power drain limited warranty commons is a registered trademark of cummins inc ram and hemie are registered trademarks of f c a u.s lc i go to college when i was in high school uh so i switched high schools from like the dwindowdalenbergh school where mary affiddi was in my class brook shields was two years ahead of me like i went where all the famous people went or the people that were like the head of johnson johnson or or you own the bergen record newspaper like this dwight inguid school like an old big money school. It wasn't all Jewish people.

It was like 10% Jewish people. Like you got to like really force your... Many times in America, Jewish people weren't the people running everything. It's called wasps, white-angle, Saxon, Protestant. So when I was a kid, Jews didn't seem to run the world the way they do now. It was the waspie shit.

So I went to a wasspy school. And then they asked me, thank God, they asked me not to come back. Because I didn't want to go there. I want to go to public school where I thought the girls were hot and it was fun and I could have cool friends. Like, it's very nerdy at public school.

It's not so cool, you know? And so I glued two hard-boiled eggs together with super glue during lunch, and they asked me not to come back to the school for that. Whatever, who cares? So I go to Tenafly High School. You could pay like $20,000 a year to go to this Tenafly High School if you weren't in Tenafly.

I went there immediately, this girl, Tanya Golden, the cabinet of cheerleaders is my girlfriend. And one of my friends, John Paul Destalo, like, builds all the big houses in Alpine, New Jersey. Like, I get the coolest friends. I'm having so much fun. I see what I was missing, not being in public school. Like, so many people in America, their greatest memories are being a kid in public school. Like 10th grade, 11th, 12, right?

So I almost missed it being like a little in private school, you know? So I had my best years in public school. I had a fucking blast. And then college I knew was not for learning. but for having fun and partying. That's when I tell Josh all the time. Josh asked me, were you ever an alcoholic? I'm like, yes.

He's like, when? I'm like in college. They turned me into an alcoholic. Like when I joined my fraternity Zeta Beta Tau, Z, ZBT, they made us through the funnels of Jack Daniels until we threw up. Everyone had to do enough to throw up and then come back online and do it again and throw up again. And then we would be drinking every night. And like the way we would drink beers is the way the kids drink now,

just throwing them back in one go. Like, not sipping a beer. Like, a beer is meant to be raced with somebody. You know, and then at some point you don't even know where you are, right? But I survive. That's why I say, like, if Josh wants to have fun, when is a kid? I'm totally slowing him down. I'm telling him, don't sip so.

You know, I do anything I can to help him. And I'm a good friend of him. But that's the age where haven't people been fuck-ups at that age historically? I mean, I think, yeah. And he's making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year having fun. But it does seem like... Because of the clips. I've read the comments.

He's so safe. But people feel like you're condoning him drinking for views or for money. I'm certainly not acting like his father or like a person who wants to throw him into a rehab. That's for sure. I'm his friend that loves him, is concerned about him and wants him to move from what he calls an alcoholic to what he calls a social drinker. So do you think he knows enough about alcoholism to know that he's an alcoholic? And I always point out, I am not a role model. I'm not anyone's fucking example.

You know, if you want an example that you can still have fun and be a kid at heart as you get older, perhaps I'm that guy. I've had role models of that myself. But for like who you should emulate in the society that watches television and all this shit, like what do the sheep will want? It's not. I don't want someone like me. And for the people that don't know who Josh is, we're talking about Joshua Block,

who has three million followers on TikTok and predominantly all of his TikToks are about drinking. Because everyone has to have a schick. Like old comedians have like, a routine, right? So Josh is like, he knows people want to see him kick back a drink in each video and keep track of how much he's drinking. He's fucking brilliant in some

ways. How many people want to be famous like Josh is and fail? Yeah, I mean, that's like, that reminds me of the jackass days, people doing stunts to get views or make money. You got a fucked up feeling that if the kid plays his cards right, he could last 30 years. I think he's the face of his generation right now.

Ask me why? Why? His generation's totally fucked up He's fucked up and they identify with the fucked up person. They need a fucked up face. He's beautifully fucked up. He's not fucked up bad, but he needs to fix things. He's a little fucked up. He's the face of their generation.

Every cool college kid knows him well and identifies him and wants to know what he's doing it. What are conversations like off camera? So different than on camera. Yeah, tell us about that. What's that like? Man, I'm pretty sure everyone that is a YouTuber, a streamer, a performer, a performer, a comedian, a singer. Anyone that entertains, I think when the camera's off or the audience isn't there, is so much more chill and shuts the fuck up and they're quieter.

Right? So me and Josh, like, say he's sitting where you are and I'm sitting where I am, we're probably saying nothing. I'm probably doing my shit. He's doing his shit. I laugh and, like, say something to him. He says something to me every couple of minutes. Like, we can vibe together.

We don't need to talk to have fun. You know what I'm saying? We're friends. We go to me. I tell people I hang out with Josh like two-thirds. to three quarters of the time, not on live stream compared to live stream, like as a ratio.

You know, that's some burnout shit when Josh is on. It's so intense. You know, they're coming at us like with machine guns of words. And Josh, he knows if he doesn't yell at the screen, it sucks. Like, it's all real plus, plus embellishment. That type

of thing. You know what I mean? Do you believe me that I didn't remember you were coming? Yeah, I mean, I think you got a lot going on right now. I'm trying to have cool and I'm like, oh, I forgot about you. I was in my underwear and shit, right? Yeah. It's a matter.

And I'm like, my bad, I'm streaming 24-7 for days. I'm forgetting everything. I'm overwhelmed. Now, do you feel it? In a good way, by the way. I'm so chill for a guy streaming 24-7. I don't even think I'm manic. No, you're very invited us in.

But am I manic or am I just a manic, like compared to a normal person, my personality's manic. The first time I talk to you, you're very professional, very calm. and we had an intellectual conversation that first time we talked. That's not that, it goes to your point of the person online is not the same person when they're off camera. Am I not intellectual online? No,

what I'm saying is I watched a video of you going, buying some purple wig or something at a stand the other day or last night. That's not you, you know? But if one of my friends... A lot of people sound the best streamer in the world and I have to represent. Like, I have to entertain sometimes.

Of course. Most of my time's organic and shit, but I like, every now and then, I got to be fucking. and insanely entertaining. So I thought, I saw wigs like yesterday. I'm like, I'll buy them.

I'll figure out what to do with them later. And my ex-girlfriend, Simone, who's very funny, she's like, put one of those wigs on. You know, I'm talking to her privately without them hearing. I'm like, why? She's, just trust me, put a wig on.

And then I became like, I know if it was blueberry parfait or I became something else. Like, there were a couple characters last time. I mean, you're entertaining now. Look at, you're wearing no shirt in a pimp hat, essentially. Being fair, didn't you request no shirt?

I did, yes. Thank you. But do you find it ironic at all that people are saying you're pimping Josh out for views? I mean, I get the humor of it. Like Howard Stern is the king of all media. So they called me the king of all pimps. Was I a pimp? No, pimps force people to do things.

I own the best escort agency in the world. It's similar to an executive at a corporation or a madam. So I believe I was more similar to a madam. Most men can't run a great escort agency. It's usually women. But I was the man who was like 100x better than any woman had ever been. And so I was the best madam that ever lived. And that's all.

But I also have a wicked sense of humor. And if you want to call me the king of all pimps, bring it on. I love it. You know, Howard Stern was one of the most respected people in the world at the time as the king of all media. They were saying I was the escort agency guy who was as cool as Howard Stern. and I was and because I was never a pimp I'm the king of old pimps if I was really a pimp I wouldn't call myself a pimp is an escort service legal in your state?

Always has been legal if it's done correctly yeah so what makes it legal versus illegal I had a big law firm I had an attorney he's in heaven now he was on all the big TV shows and stuff like every day Melcats used to have bow ties and stuff and he had contracts like quarter page thick contracts to The girls had a sign agreeing to never have sex with anyone, to leave if someone mentioned sex. Dda-da-da-da-da. Were they all having sex? Duh, no shit, obviously.

But legally, you know, law is a game. And I had my ass covered everywhere. But when the governor of New York wants to take you down with a SWAT team of 60 people, it doesn't matter what's right or wrong or what normally flies in law, you know? So let's talk about the lead-up of how you actually became that. How did you just wake up one day and say, I'm going to be this? No, of course not. So let's talk about that.

I don't think anyone wakes up one day and says, I'm going to be the biggest pimp in the world. No, but someone wakes up one day and says, I want to get into this business. You want to hear the story of how it happened? Yeah, I'd love to. Okay. So, um,

there's little pieces of the puzzle that I think matter. So the first time I went to prison, I, um, I'm 57 years old. When I was younger, there was a time when ecstasy just first hit America. and when it was not illegal yet. You know what I mean? When things are brand new, no one's ever heard of it.

It has like a window where it's not made illegal. So ecstasy was in America. It wasn't illegal. All the coolest college kids were taking ecstasy. And I'm talking about like 1985, 86, 87. There was a bar in Texas called Gillies where ecstasy was sold at the bar, like over the bar like drinks.

And it started out there and it spread like crazy. and then like everything in life, they start mixing it or diluting it and this and that. So I can't remember if I wanted to have like really pure ecstasy for myself because I was super into it. Like I would do ecstasy every night, give it to people, have fun, just party. I was in my 20s. And so I couldn't find really good ecstasy for a while.

So I heard from everyone that it was manufactured at the time in Amsterdam. So I ran to Amsterdam. which where I'd been once before when I was in like a law school or college or something, before law school. And I asked everybody, you know, do you know who makes the ecstasy? Do you know who makes it? Finally I found someone that knew the guy that made the ecstasy. And I got it so cheaply that I bought more than I really wanted. Or I was trying to make money. You know when you can't remember because it's so many years ago. So either I was trying to make millions of dollars or I just wanted a lot for myself. I think it was both. So I found the guy and I ended up

buying like 5,000 pills for like three grand or something like that of like unbelievably pure strong ecstasy. And a couple of year, a year earlier, a year earlier some fucking young Israeli guy named Yoshi said to me, Jason, you're usually so rich, you're usually so fun, you're down and out, can I pay for you to come with me on a trip around the world, I'll pay for everything, Best restaurants, hotels, airfare. I'm like, cool. Because I used to be that kind of guy

that someone could say that to me. So I'm like, cool, I'll come. Someone with him and his brother on a trip around the world, the best hotel. They're like 21. I'm like 26, you know. So he takes me on this trip around the world. And then we're in like Switzerland or something

or Brussels. I don't know where we were. And he goes, all right, Jason, you're probably wondering why I wanted to pay for you to go around the world. I'm like, yeah, I was wondering. Tell me. could I have an idea of what he might be up to.

I just tell him fuck himself, you know? So he goes, all right, me and my brother are like the biggest Israeli ecstasy dealers in America right now, and we need help getting it back. He goes, I'm not going to ask you to bring it back, but what I'm going to ask you to do is let me take a couple bags of it and duct tape it to your belly and your legs

and just see how it feels that it's not that big a deal, and then we'll take it off of you. If you let us just show you what it feels like to have all these pills on you, the whole trip's paid for, we love you, we'll take you on another trip one day. I'm like, I'm like,

you understand, I'm not an idiot. I'll do that. I'm not gonna fucking carry shit. They go, we just want you to see how it feels. So let them do it to me. They take it off me. I go, all right, fuck yourself, you know? And he said, fine.

And he's honorable. But I was a little down and out at the time. Like I had like a $3,000 rent on Bleaker Street, and I wasn't really making money, and I was depressed. You know, people go up and down. life. And he said to me, you know, I'm putting it on, take it off. He goes, all right, so here's the offer. You take 5,000 or 10,000 pills. We tape it to your legs and belly, and we'll give you 10,000

cash after we arrive in Newark Airport, you know? And I'm like, oh, thank you so much. No, fuck you. Right? So then, um, I don't know, a couple days goes on. They're all depressed. They know I'm not going to do it. And then like, I'm like, I'm like, you know what? I said to the I go, dude, you know you want me to carry that shit. You don't even need me to carry it. You guys can carry more. I go, I got an idea. You guys give me like 20 or 30,000 cash and you don't carry anything.

I'll carry it all. I'm like, if someone's going to take the risk, let them take all the risk. And they're like, you're sick in the head. You're crazy. I'm like, I carry, I'm like, listen, you guys, you're younger than me and you're fucking idiots. I don't even trust you. I think one of you guys are going to get nervous and I'm going to get in trouble. I go, I do it all.

You're not on my flight. You don't even know what flight I'm on. I'll take it home. with me and then you know give me the $30,000 and I'll give you this ecstasy so I did it worked out beautifully no problem they came a few days later because they lived in Canada or some they were being sneaky they flew to Canada in America I flew direct worked out fine they come to my home and I gave them like all the pills except for like 3,000 pills they're like where's the rest of the pills I'm like I'm taking more for what I did

And they were like, okay. So I got like 3,000 X-C-Pills, $30,000. And of course, I'm a loser and an idiot. But it wasn't even illegal yet. It was just like it wasn't determined if it's legal or not. So I did it with them. I made all that money. And that gave me the balls to do it on my own, like a year or two later.

And I got caught on a random search. So tell us about the time. And yeah. Oh, so I went, then now I go back to the other story. So I'm in Amsterdam. I find the guy through California. drivers. He gives me the most amazing ecstasy in the world. He even tells me that

they can print whatever I want on it, you know, happy face or this or that. I'm like, I don't care. So I went back with that. I dressed beautifully like whatever those suits are that Donald Trump used to like. I can't remember the name of it, but like a $5,000

suit and like the best tie and this and that, I was dressed to kill and they pulled me aside and they do a random search on me. And they caught me with, you know, shit duct tape to my belly. And they were the nicest guys. I'm in customs.

And they said to me, they're like, dude, we don't want to catch anyone for bullshit like this. We don't like to do paperwork. They go, we thought you were the last guy who would carry something. You look smart. They're like, now it's all on camera. You're fucked. We can't do anything, you know?

So then I started my prison experience. And my first time in prison, it's mostly the only cool people in jail are black. Like very few cool white people in prison. So most of my friends in prison were black. So some of these guys are like. Like, you know, the best thing to do in prison to feel like you're not in prison or make time fly is read a good book. Someone gives me pimp by Iceberg Slim.

And then I had to read like his next book. Like I read all these pimp books and I'm like, oh my God, when I get out, I'm doing this. But then I forgot about it. But it was in the air, you know? How old are you in this first prison sentence? Probably 30, 28. And what year is this? 2001, 2002.

So now this is the ecstasy in that drug era. that's right around like Wolf of Wall Street type era. Yeah, yeah. So there was that whole scene in New York City and everything. Were you a part of that at all? Well, I had a phone sex company in Florida. When he had, what's the name of his front? What was the name of it?

Do you remember? Strattman Oakmont. When he had Stratton Oakmont, I had M2 communications. I was grossing 20 million a year of phone sex and pocketing like four or five million a year for almost a decade. And he was the only motherfucker making like 10 times, not 10, but like double or triple as much money as me. So we never met, but like his partners,

a guy named Steve Smith or something. I knew some of us, we, I wanted him to take my phone sex company public because he could take anything public. He ended up doing that shoe company instead. Yeah, Steve Madden. Yeah. We need to get him on the podcast too.

I thought, oh God, that guy, he controlled the stock price. He controlled everything. And he was the man if you wanted to make a lot of money quickly. So I tried so hard to do business with him. and then I fell apart. My mom died. Things happened in my life. Now the phone sex company came after prison or before it?

The phone sex company came way before. Phone sex company started when I was fresh out of college. I went to law school. It started my first year of law school when I was in my young 20s. How do you get the idea for a phone sex company? I was when I was in college at George Washington University, I hung out with a couple of really hot girls from, I think, Great Neck or Roslyn, Long Island.

and we wrote a book together called Kiss to Kill, how to be the best kisser. And then I put a display ad in the back of Rolling Stone magazine and I made like $5,000, $10,000 a month selling kiss to kill and the world's greatest pickup line. And so just stupid things. And so I had it like in the mailbox,

I'd get checks and cash every day. And it was just funny. So that gave me the idea of like having like a life where I just like had a mail order company or something. And then when I was in, started law school, I started seeing at 12 o'clock. The only commercials on TV were for like talk lines, phone sex, sexy girls saying, call this number.

And I was like, fuck, I got to do that. That looks lucrative, you know, and easy. So I could keep going. But it's a never-ending story of, you know, one domino hitting another. What is the biggest kissing tip? I don't remember anymore. We wrote like eight, it didn't really matter. It's just you got to get someone to send the money and then make them happy enough

that they don't return the product, right? So we just wrote whatever we thought was. Now, with a phone sex company, is it just men calling? Or is it women, too? Was it both? Like 99.99% men. It's men. And then you have women working the lines.

But this is back in the day before the internet, before anything. Like, the only perverted shit out besides little movie theaters and Betamax tapes was phone sex lines. Like, phone sex lines were huge at one time. And give us a rundown. Someone calls and then how do they pay with a credit card? Or is it a subscription? It was easier than that. They would call a 900 number very often, and it would go right on their phone bill,

or they would call a 1-800 number, and they'd hit, like, the number one to accept a collect call for five or six bucks a minute with a 10-minute minimum. So you were already doing this kind of work, essentially, like the sex work, in a way. Phone sex goes to escorting. It's kind of similar as in the same realm. Well, I identified that women have a certain power over men, you know, that could be monetized very early on. Like, it's hard when you don't have that much money, you don't have much business experience, to find something to do where, like, it's going to do well. You know what I'm saying? And I saw that, like, the girl things have a lot of pull, you know?

Now, going back to your first prison sentence, this is after the phone sex line. It seems like you broke every drug dealer's rule about dressing that way in an airport when you're moving product. Don't you want to be kind of under the radar? Well, I wasn't dressing like, like, like a pimpsie. No, I was dressing like, I was dressing like, I was. was wearing a brioni suit, that's the word I couldn't remember. I was dressing like Donald Trump at the prime of his life. Like, I was wearing the finest Italian suit, a white shirt, a nice tie that's expensive, but, you know, not from the design.

Good shoes, a briefcase. Like, I was dressed like as nice as a rich businessman could be dressed back then. It's nowadays, like, the right way to dress as a rich businessman is bathing ape. But back then, it was like a beautiful, expensive suit. But you don't think that that brought attention to you? Like, you could have avoided that? No, no, no, no. People would never think a rich businessman.

Why would they bother a rich businessman? They usually leave them alone. Now, TSA was just starting to get strict at that time? Or was that still kind of, you know, not strict? Ecstasy was made illegal that week that I flew back. Like, it just randomly became illegal. Okay. It was newly illegal.

So now you're in prison that first time you're in a New York state prison. I did what I think a lot of people do. I pretended like I was losing my mind and everything because I was so scared. You know the fear of the unknown? Yeah. I was so afraid of jail in prison that I had them send me to like the Betty Crocker correctionals. Like some place where they send people that are mentally unbalanced and then send them to prison. You know what I mean?

There's somewhere in New Jersey, like it's a woman's name and it's like where everyone's a loony tune. Everyone's a fruit loop. So I went to the fruit loop place for 30 days and took them 30 days to determine I was faking it. And how did they find out? Did you go through? Did you ever fake being crazy? No, never. Have you ever heard of anyone doing that?

Of course. There's a lot of guys. They grow their, one of the biggest signs, they'll grow their fingernails out. And then they'll make long hair. And that's how they go on it. When I had, because I was a white young kid, they always put me in the same cell with the weirdos because they knew I wouldn't attack them or fight them. So I was with the chomos. I was with the weirdos.

These guys had fingernails like this long and hair down to their waist. And they don't shower. They don't put deodorant on. They don't brush their teeth. It's freaking disgusting. It's gross. Totally. And these guys,

they get special treatment. No one bothers them. Like no guy is going to go into one of their cells and beat them up because they don't want to be near them. They think they're like cursed. Yeah. They have like voodoo on them or something.

So right. And I bet most people, there's so much to talk about. I bet most people forget about what we're talking about, right? It's such a nuance. Yeah, well, people don't realize that when in prison. And they do stick the white guys with these individuals. Of course.

Because the white guys aren't going to do anything to them or go crazy. Like a really tough black guy will kill them. So they, once they, you know, busted your little scheme for being a loony. I was like turning in circles for hours, wearing a towel over my head. I'm getting ideas from the other people faking it. One guy that got through was a full loony, took a toothpick and stuck it all the way in his dick. And, you know, he's like, this is all you have to do, Jason, do this every day and keep going to medical and telling him it hurts.

Of course, I would never do that. But he got right through. They said he's whacked. So where did they put you after they figured out? Have you heard of that one? No. All I've heard is the domic. Dominoes.

The Spanish guys put the dominoes in their in their penis to stimulate it. A whole domino in the head? No, they like break it up, shave it down into little tiny balls. Really? Yeah. And they shove it through their penis hole? Yeah. And they leave it there.

No! Really? Dude, it doesn't that hurt to even think about that? The grossest thing I've ever seen. It's the grossest thing. Oh my God. It's the grossest thing. So you get through that first prison sentence, okay?

not a scratch on you, you make it through? Are we talking about like the Betty Crocker Medical Center or whatever? Are we talking about? Yeah, the first, your first, you didn't do that long when you got caught with that. The Betty Crocker Medical Center was kind of had arts and crafts and guys and girls together all the time. And like, it was all right. Like on the Sopranos. But then when they kicked me out, then they sent me to the green monster in Newark, New Jersey.

Because Newark Airport feeds to Newark, New Jersey. Newark, New Jersey's bad. Only Trenton's work. So I was in a building that called the Green Monster that was so bad, they knocked it down a year after I got out and put up a new one. But I was with, every floor was either Bloods and Latin Kings or Crips. Bloods and Latin King, you know, they put them together. Crips, Bloods and Lacking, or maybe they had one Latin King only floor, but every floor. So I would get bounced around my first year from like, you know, Crips are about to truly kill me, put me on a blood floor.

Preferably a blood floor I haven't been on before. They just bounced me around right before I'm about to get killed. Can you relate? No, because you were in Fed, though. I was in state. There were people that I had brought a lot of issues onto myself because I was a white guy making all the wrong moves. You know, I wanted to buy the cell phone.

I got into gambling. I was shooting dice. I was doing everything I shouldn't have been doing. And that brought a lot of heat. So guys were trying to extort me. How long were you in for? Three years, but they bounced me around. Did you have a lot of fun in there at times?

At the camp, it was a blast. Yeah, the camp, right. I think they just closed the camp. I was reading Oxford Prison Camp. People don't want to hear that from us that we had a blast at times. It's like the best at times and the worst at times, right? Someone asked me the other day, did you guys celebrate birthdays in prison? That was one of the biggest parties of the year.

At New Year's even prison guys are bringing. You know how fast life is, everyone's busy with their own life, making money. Like, no one pays attention to each other. In there, you're like in the army with cool guys, right? It's a totally different experience. You have to have good people around you, though. Of course. But that's up to you to find.

You have to be a people person. A lot of them are good in there. There's not that meant, you know, there's very good people that get locked up. Yeah, and they're also very bad, too. I think there's definitely a mix, and some people are in it for themselves and other people aren't, and you kind of have to just navigate it, you know? I find that in state, the really, really charismatic, tough Spanish and black people, that the world fears them because they're strong, they're smart, they're tough,

and keeps getting them locked. You know what I'm saying? Like once they've been in the system as a juvenile, they're never getting out. Anyone can make up anything on them and they're right back in. So now these bankers, Wall Street guys that go to prison, right?

That would just become more of a thing now than ever. They go to federal prison like you. Correct. But what's your advice to them? Once they're in? Yes. Keep to yourself. Don't look people in the eyes.

You don't really need friends in there. And if you happen to get friends, be careful because your friends are the ones that will fuck you up. Don't play like cards with everybody. Don't do sports. Like the more people that you're involved with, the more drama is going to pop up

and the more chance that you're going to pull the random ticket of getting fucked up for no reason. So me, this is how to handle prison for anybody, right? And he'll agree in a moment. But I bet he looks at life differently, so he wouldn't tell you this. There's only one fucking thing you can do in prison that's way better than in the real world,

whether you're in Beverly Hills, Miami, New York City, Las Vegas, Dubai. The ultimate thing that you can do in prison that you can't do anywhere else is you can read a book and you have nothing to do, nowhere to be, no one bothering you. And you could just escape into that book and your phone's not going to ring. No one's going to ask you a question. You have any responsibilities. You can read book after the best books in the world. It's delicious how you can focus on a book.

It's the only thing you can do in prison that's better than the real world. And it's the only way you can escape prison for moments of time or out. or maybe even half a day is to get lost in a book. Wherever your mind is is where you are at. So reading, oh my guy, I read half the great books in the world in prison and had such a good time. Totally kind-strand. I'll never read a book again.

I'll never fucking read a book again. I have TikTok brain like you guys do. Sorry. So you get out that first time and that's when you transition into your new business. Did you read any books in prison or not even? I read a book a day when I was in solitary. So tell them I'm right. You are right.

100%. I gave that whole speech and you don't back me up. I was letting you have your moment. I'm done. Now you say what you feel about that. No, the books definitely help get you through. I mean, I read a ton of, you know, James Patterson, the Harry Potter books, because you need something. You read all the Harry Potter books?

Yeah, you need something to stimulate your imagination. My favorite book is the Count of Monte Cristo. I love that movie. Alexander Dumas, right? About that guy that locked up, he escapes. Yeah, yeah. And but I like one book better. The book I like more than anything in the world is the seven books of Harry Potter.

Push them together, make them in one book. That's the best book ever. written. It's unbelievable. 5,000 pages. You know what's interesting is that the, no matter what prison you're at, the guys read the same books. Like Count of Monte Cristo is a huge prison book.

Did you read Behold a pale white horse? No. Have you heard of it? No. A lot of prisons have that book you're not allowed to have, you know? I read all Jordan Belford's books in there, too. They're good, aren't they? They are very good. I'm working on a book right now too. Do you remember Chester Ming, Victor Wang from the book of the movie?

Victor Wing, yes, yes. He was upstate. with me in the bed a couple down for me for a year. He was the best prison friend ever. We felt like we were fucking like hanging out in New York together. Are you still in touch with him? No, because he got involved with, who's that guy the CIA killed? He had the protection

of antivirus software. Remember that guy? He said the CIA's going to kill me, then they killed him. Is this a conspiracy period? It's not Norton antivirus. It's that other thing. Like to protect your system, it's his name. Okay. So Victor Wang became best friends with this guy. And then

the CIA killed them and I haven't seen Victor Wang since then I don't know so you get out that first time how long does it take you to get into that Pimp business or S-Corps business we'll call it okay so I get out and um I was a little fucked I didn't have any money for a while which is pretty rare for me in my life and um I look on um my stepdad told me uh either he gave me like a physical classifieds of a newspaper? I think it might have. I think it might have been that long ago. Or I went to Craigslist, but I think it was physical classifieds. And I answered an ad for a company called Legal Match in New York City. A legal match had an office in like Midtown and they would sell legal services to attorneys for like for a certain amount of money and you get a commission. So make a long story short,

I work at this legal match company for a couple months. And it took me about a month or two to get the hang of it. But when I got the hang of it, they had 60 or 70 salesmen throughout America. They were selling one million a month of this legal match shit, which was worthless to lawyers. But I sold like 1.2 million by myself with the team of hot girls, like cold callers, then I was the hammer. So I made a lot of money at this legal match company. My friend Bruce Glasser was like a really rich drug dealer, Garminson. He owned like a big clothing company, lived in Alpine New Jersey and he sold pot by the like garbage bag full or duffel bag back when it was illegal and it was expensive. So, um, he wanted to put up a couple hundred thousand and me build a

phone sex company again. But he visits me for lunch one day. My company legal match moved from Midtown to like the coolest office in Manhattan at the time, which was the Chelsea marketplace. You're in the Chelsea Marketplace? Of course. So in the Chelsea Marketplace, uh, they took a half a floor with high ceilings, and they gave like half of the square footage to me. I hired the prettiest girls I could to just cold-call lawyers, and once they got them on the phone, hand me the phone. And I'm making all this money. I have my friend Bruce Glasser, like a handsome, six-foot-eight,

lunatic businessman drug dealer, like 40 years old time, come visit me. And he meets all the girls, and he pulls me aside. He goes, Jason, you have an escort agency this year. I'm like, why would you say that? He goes, listen, these girls would be the best escort. agency in New York. You got to, we got to do an escort agency. I'm like, what the fuck's wrong with you?

So we go to lunch and he says, we're not doing the phone sex thing. We're going to do an escort agency. I'm like, why? And I go, those girls will never do escorting. There's nothing to do with escorting. They're cold callers. He goes, no, no, you don't understand my point. He's like, if you could hire girls like that to do cold calling,

you could hire them to be escorts too. I'm like, I don't think so. And he's like, listen, you're making $10,000 a week where you are, stay there, and we'll build an escort agency together. He goes, I have the best connections. Oh, he goes, I've spent three to four million dollars in the last two years on high-end escorts. He goes, I know that business better than anyone.

I've spent more money than anyone. And you know what? Without paying attention, that sounds reasonable, right? You know what I mean? Like if someone spends so much money, they should know more about it than anyone else. But in reality, he doesn't know shit. He's just what we call a simp today, right?

So he grabs a beautiful townhouse on 54th and 6, right across from the Museum of Modern Art, MoMA. We got a whole floor in this townhouse. His friend had like a fake pink sheet public company on the first floor that was just taking in millions of dollars a month and just had to spend it on lifestyle before it got taken away. So this guy controlled the building. David Blaine, the magician, magician, just moved out of office space. We moved in.

There were a couple of chests with his name on it and weird props and shit. So we moved into this gorgeous office and I start New York Confidential and escort agency. And we started interviewing girls and stuff and we can't figure out how to get a client. But Bruce, who told me he knew the business

better than anyone, he's like, Jason. We're going to lose these girls if we don't make them money. He goes, so I'm going to fuck them all, and I'll pay them what we would pay if we had a client. So he starts banging like three to seven girls a day and paying them, like what, 400, 500, 600 an hour. And, you know, they were never even escorts before. They're just fucking the boss. But so it's like a month, he just fucked everyone and paid them. And it took me about a month to figure out how to actually get appointments and everything.

So I figured the business out. We're 50-50. And I quit legal match. and I was in this escort agency business with my partner, Bruce. That's how it started. Now, are there different tiers to the escort services?

Like, I know something very popular in Wilful Wall Street is they classified each one, you know. What did they call them? Do you remember? They're pretty funny. You had different names. I forgot them off the top of my head,

but was it like that in yours? Blue chips? That's the best, right? I think you had like silver ones. There was different, and then you had the penny ones or something like that. So what were your classifications

and what are the prices? So right off the rip, I always wanted to be. the most expensive. And so I think we started out charging like 800 an hour back in maybe 2000, 2003, something like that. Now, are people using the internet to do this, or are they calling? How does it get set up? There was one website that was for like the richest people in the world to use.

I won't say what it is because I don't want to like give them business or publicity, but there's one website still exists that that's like the best of the best of the best. For like any girl that has their shit together, if they want to make, like, high amounts of money. That it was the only place to go. Plus, New York Magazine in the back had escort agency ads for many years. So I started taking very expensive ads in New York Magazine, like quarter page ads for like $2,500 a week or whatever, you know. Are people able to pick out which girl they want, ethnicity, race, age, everything, height? Or is it not that extreme?

Well, like on the online listing website, I would have to pay, like, say, like, three, four, five thousand dollars a month to advertise each girl with a bunch of pictures, a whole write-up about them, and then to put them in, like, say, they're blonde, to put them in blondes, or if they're college age, college, or if they're, whatever, you know what I'm saying, like all the categories that sex, I don't, I can't remember what they are even, but there's like 14 categories you can pay to be in or not be in. Like, everyone's trying to make money. So for 800 an hour, how much goes to that?

the girl? Well, it would be 800 an hour with a two-hour minimum. So that's 1,600. So the girl would get half? And would there be tips? Like, they'd get to keep the tips. Yeah, and then they keep the tips. Now, what about security? Because these are high-profile people, do you have security or not needed? You need a lot of security, the close to you to go to $0 in price. Like, if a girl charges $75, bucks she probably needs two big animals to protect her like the more expensive the price is as long as it's backed up by a little bit of reality the more afraid the customer is of it going sideways from the girl like the really rich people which you know from the addresses etc they're not fucking with the girl they they just don't want to get set up fucked with misunderstood you know what I'm saying they just want to

get in get out and never happened like probably nobody listening to me right now has done more high-end escort agency appointments than me. And not one went sideways ever. Now, doesn't that make you a target dealing with high-profile people that are using your service back then? No. It was before, well, I was using it, but the internet didn't develop into its current format. No, it was, it was awesome.

I mean, it was, I just had to be acknowledged as the best in New York. It took like a month or two. Now, do you think you could run that same operation today, given social media? And why do you think that? Because everyone's under a microscope when they put themselves out there, especially a live streamer with no editing and everything. If you do anything truly wrong, you're dead. You're fucking dead.

Now, some of your clients, one of them is the most notable was the former governor of New York. Was he the active governor at the time when you were doing that? He was the district attorney. So this all came out later on when he became the governor? Everything takes time to progress and happen. When I started telling on him, he was the district attorney. When they did something about it, he was the governor.

So the district attorney of New York City is using your escort service. What's going on in your mind? Surprise, surprise. Everyone watching knows that politicians and all of these powerful people have such turnoff personalities, usually. The only way they're getting late is an escort service. And he was married. Not everyone. Like the people on Wall Street, they're very rich and cool and they're just too busy.

You know, there are cool, like, multi-millionaire, like people at Black Rock, State Street, so on and so forth that are cool that always, those are the biggest clients with the people in finance. Was he married at the time? Yeah, of course. So in your mind, as a businessman, are you thinking, I'm going to use this if I ever get into trouble? He sent people to kill me. I like to talk about him as little as possible. Okay. So at the peak of it, how much are you making from this Escort business?

Much less than the phone sex company. I was grossing like a million a month and I was netting maybe like 200,000 to myself after beautifully paying everybody. Does that because the expenses are so high to operate it? Well, the girls are getting half the gross. And then I had a lot of salespeople helping around the clock and I had $15,000 or $20,000 rent.

And my decorating expense was like $75,000 a month. It was like a casino, like the most beautiful casino to get people to spend frivolously without thinking about it. So do you bring the clients to you or do the girls go there? Almost everyone went out. Like, maybe like the guy that owned Seagrams or something could come in and we had a special room at our place. You know, like it was my bedroom in Natalia's. We lived in there.

So we had a huge bedroom that no one fucked with. And there was another room just as big on the other side that was for like billionaires that we wanted to get to know about, you know, just for schmoozing and stuff. But we would never really book in our place. But it was awesome. So to make this legal like we were. talking about earlier, you weren't advertising it's for sex. You're advertising that they can have a woman just come to, what, give them a lap dance or something or stripping from them?

No, no, no, as if, like, say some billionaire wants to take a chick out to dinner and go to a show or this or that. And a lot of times that is what happens. But, you know, more than half the time, the guy wants to at least be naked with the girl, you know? And a lot of them are doing cocaine back in the day, so their dicks didn't work, you know how that works? What, that you can't get hard with that?

Yeah, do you know about that? Yeah, of course. Okay, so how many people that are partying and celebrating back in the day are doing cocaine a lot? Yeah. So how many people are not fucking usually, right? A lot, yeah, I didn't look at it that way. But that doesn't mean it's just going to be sitting on a couch giggling with each other, whatever, you know what I'm saying? What was one of the weirdest requests that you've seen in that business and that line of work come in?

I had a big writer-director from Hollywood from California or Beverly Hills or Bel Air or whatnot who wanted 12 naked girls for like 50. 1,500 an hour each. And one, I had a very hard time getting a, like, a naked guy, like a porn star guy or an escort agency guy. I think we called Rent Boy at the time. So they wanted, he wanted 12 people laughing at him and like the hottest girl fucking the rent boy in front of him telling him he's an idiot. Pretty crazy because it was like $75,000, you know. And then he left without paying the balance. and then I got him to pay the next day.

But he jumped on his plane. He paid like 30,000 down. He owed like 50,000, $60,000 more. Is it ever on credit or is it mostly up front? One of Sophia Vergara's ex-boyfriends try to fuck me over too, and I got him to pay. It's hard to fuck over an escort agency, you know? Are the people paying up front?

What's that? The clients, do they pay up front? They start demanding that you trust them at some point after they spend a lot of money, like hundreds of thousands of dollars. is something you do, you know. And you get burned quite often? Or what if they pay for two hours and then the girl doesn't come back until the next day?

Okay. You know, they pay for the beginning, but then they're not paying the additional necessarily, or I don't have a signature back, whatever. Now, because of the price range, did you avoid, like, the kind of bottom feeders that would maybe kill these women or do crazy things that, like, is heard about that has happened? They don't focus on the big money girls for some reason. It's not, um, as my real life experience, you know? They go after like, because maybe to some people like 600 an hour would be big money.

In today's world, like the lowest I would probably charge would be like $3,000, $4,000 an hour. Now that felony from the first arrest you had, did that affect your business operations at all? I think I was on parole when I was running New York confidential at the beginning, but then I was a good boy not doing anything wrong, so I got off parole. Good job. Oh, and I introduced the parole lady to all my escorts and stuff. She thought it was legal, so did I. Like I ran an escort agency in Hoboken on parole. So did you genuinely think your business was legit?

Yeah. Or did you know deep down that this is just a front? Well, I'm an attorney by education. I understand how to explain the business that it's legal. Is it a gray area? Fuck yeah. You know. And you're paying taxes on this, sales tax, anything like that.

It's all 100% legitimate. You don't need a launder money or anything. I was the most important person at my bank where I had the merchant account for a long time. Yeah. But a lot of this is a cash business too. I'm sure you're able to bury the money. Much more credit card than cash. Back then.

Back then. Okay. Interesting. You would think it would be mostly cash. Who the fuck carries three, four, seven thousand, twelve thousand dollars in cash? Who wants to work with that? Guys that don't want their wife to find out? No, really rich people do not carry that much cash.

No one carries that much cash. It's a pain in the ass. Sometimes they do if you request it, but it's a super pain in the ass carrying cash like that. Or say they have $5,000 for the appointment and they want the girl for twice as long more. where's the next 10,000 coming from? So 80% credit card back in the day, 90% mostly credit card. So how long did you operate this for? And I used to bang them for like 5% credit card charge, you know?

So I would make money on the credit card charge. Yeah. I guess on Amex too. That's when they were back then they would charge even more if you had Amex, right? Yeah. Fuck this hat. I'm hot. So how long did you run this for at the peak?

Off and on for a decade. You ran this for 10 years? Yeah. How do you get taken down? Spitzer. He's the one that brought you down. Yeah, he knew he was going to be governor and then go for president. And he took down the five biggest, most expensive escort agencies in New York.

I was number one. He didn't care that he's seeing escorts at the different places. Like, the escort agency owners knew about him. So he, you know, don't throw bricks when you live in a glass house, right? And he wasn't worried that you were going to... You said that face he made that famous face years ago of grief when he got caught or you don't know it. No. If you look up Elliot Spitzer and you go to images, there'll be this face like, like, you know that famous painting of like it's called the scream where the face is like...

Yeah, of course. So look up Elliot Spitzer. Is that your whole crew? Could you look up Elliot Spitzer go to images and look for him, look for just his face like he's like the scream by that Dutch guy? Did you know that you were getting thrown under the bus? I got a phone call saying, Jason, don't go to your business. You just got raided because we had like 50 cameras everywhere. So, no, I didn't get any advance warning. Like, I had people at City Hall.

I had cop connections. But when the governor or the DA was going to take you out, he's above that shit. Like, I had everything in place to be bulletproof. But too powerful of a man, serendipical. In repetitously in reverse, fuck with me. Did you know what was him when it was happening, the raid? I found out, like, about a week into it that he was like the shot caller. You know what I mean?

Because how do you know who's really the ones whose idea it was until it comes out in the wash? Was it something he campaigned on? Like, I'm going to bring down the escort agencies or was there a... What was his motivation? Yeah, he was the guy cleaning up Wall Street, cleaning up the escort, he was cleaning up the streets. He was like a cowboy. He was taken over. Anything he saw that was against him.

his morals. He's a hypocrite. He's using all the top escorts, and he's cleaning him up. What the fuck? It's very hypocritical. So who raids you? Is it just local NYPD or the feds involved in this one?

It was mostly NYPD and Homeland Security. Like I got debriefed by Homeland Security to take down Spitzer like 50 times. It looked like I was a rat getting pulled out of Rikers Island all the time to talk to Homeland Security. like they would keep making up medical reasons why they take me because you'll get killed for no reason like i'm not ratting on anyone you're allowed to ride on a cop or a politician that takes you down so he he's a cop or a politician i was allowed to tell anything i could to hurt spitzer he hurt me very badly for no reason i'm a nice person they say that um escort agencies are one of the few victimless crimes he's getting hurt of age girls that want to make want to work for your place they'll work wherever they want well there are cases

where there's women being held against their will to do those agencies. Right. The most famous big escort agency in New York has nothing to do with that. I never got accused or anything. They were all over me. Everyone's of age. Everyone's fine. Everyone's there of their own accord.

You know, no one ever accused me of shit in my whole life. How long did it take them to charge you after they raided you? Well, I was hiding at the Gantzivort Hotel in a really nice hotel room for a couple weeks. I banging my best girls, doing boatloads of ketamine, cocaine. Like, I knew I'm going down. I knew I'm not going to have fun for years.

I thought it would be more years than it was. I thought, oh, God, this is the last time my life to have fun, so I just partied my hassle. And then they finally got you at the hotel? Then I'm down in the lobby one day, and all of a sudden I start floating two feet off the air, and I look to the right, look to the left, two big Irish guys are lifting me by the arms.

And these are NYPDs. And that was the last of my freedom. I never touched the ground again, yeah. So they didn't give you bond or anything? They'd give me like a million dollar bond, and they lower it to a half a million with all these contingencies I can't make. And you were like, fuck it, I'm not doing it.

Yeah, I was done. I was toast. So now you're in Rikers Island. I'm in my living room. Well, not right the second. But back then you were at Rikers Island being held. Because you were taking me back to Rikers Island. I'm like, I'm in my living room.

Yeah, you were at Rikers Island. So this is when 2012-ish, right? 2013. Headlines, New York Post is covering you. Everyone's calling you. Everyone. Because like the fact that I'm Jewish and they're treating me like I'm a pimp. It's just too juicy.

Were you eating that up while you were in prison? I probably was because it was like a protected. shield from all the prisoners and shit. The more famous I was in there, the more they want my autograph and to be my friend and say they know me, because they'll kill, like, a regular white person in there, they'll fuck you up. And they didn't

care that you had a crime that involved women, even though it wasn't dangerous. They didn't look at it like that. They looked at it as, this guy's the pimp. You know what I mean? And it's not a sex crime. Like, if a guy is with a 14-year-old girl, that's a sex crime. If you own an escort agency, it's not considered a sex

crime. It's a business crime. So how does a pimp fare in prison? If they idolized a pimp then? Well, if you're the biggest in the world, which is what the world was saying, the king of all pimps, then everyone looks up. You know, it's mostly black and Spanish people in there.

It's like 0.000-0-0-1 white people and more zeros Jewish people than more zero's lawyer. Like it's all, it's 80% black, 20% Spanish, or something like that. So they thought I was cool what you were doing, essentially. Well, they all said to me, you didn't hurt nobody, bro. You have a victimless crime.

You shouldn't be here. So did you have to pay anyone to be better off at prison? Did you have to take any certain measures because you are now a high-profile case? I benched press 350 pounds when I got out of, when I was in prison like 12, 15 years ago. I paid the coolest, strongest, his name was Guap. I paid this like 28-year-old black guy who could bench press 550 and was built like I've never seen. I paid him $1,000 a month to be my workout. What's it called when people pay someone to get them in shape?

Like a workout partner. And the feds we called it like a workout buddy. So I got the ultimate bodyguard for a year or two. And I got the best guy to lift with. A thousand a month, it was fine. I had a girlfriend who was an escort, and we were making like $20,000 a month as partners, me telling her what to do on the phone.

So you were still running a phone business from the... Well, because some escort fell in love with me and kept visiting me from Canada. I was in Altoona, which is really close to the Canadian border. It's very lonely in prison. You want to have girlfriends. I'm surprised they didn't put you in, like, protective custody or shield you because the government. I would never let them.

You can't have fun in there. It's like your bid is 10 times longer because you're so bored. How long to take for the governor to get taken down once you got arrested? Two years. And then he got removed from office. You probably love that in prison. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. But then, like, no one knew it was me, but was it really me?

Like I hit the first domino and then Homeland Security does it. You know what I'm saying? And then Ashley Dupree shows up for the appointment. Like there's so many steps to it. Like who really did it, you know? So they weren't willing to offer you a deal for no jail time in exchange for him? Because he's a bigger fish. They never acknowledged to me that they were using what I told them to take him out.

They never have. I got nothing for it. I did it all for free or for revenge. And I'm not a real revenge per. I kind of love everyone. I'm spiritual. I think we're all part of God. I don't stay mad at anyone for very long.

long. But you're a lawyer. How do you not know to get these in place to figure out some type of deal to protect yourself? I tried. They wouldn't give it to me. No one acknowledged that they're going after Spitzer. Then it happened. And I, oh, it's, Ashley Dupree, who, like, I discovered as a waitress at the Ganservort. She was, like, one of my top court. You know what I'm saying? Like, she got arrested at New York confidential and released. She made a deal, you know? So how much time did you end up getting sentenced to and what were your charges? Each time? For this main time that Governor Spritzer brought you down for.

I got five years and I did two and a half in state. And is it a low security, medium, high, where they send you? Well, Rikers, have you done time on Rikers? Never, no. Oh, it's disgusting. It's really dangerous. It's really gross. Like, I can navigate it.

I know how to get by. Yeah, tell us what it's like to be at Rikers. Well, first of all, the ceilings are so low. It's like you're in a super dungeons and like, I mean, People in there, like the gang people run Rikers. Like the Bloods, the Crips, the Latin Kings. Like, if they're high ranking, they could have people kill you and hide you. Like, they can do anything.

The cops are afraid of them. Like, the cops know. But they left you alone. Yeah, because I kept to myself and why I was in there. And then they would approach me and I'd be very nice about stuff, you know. But like, yeah, I had a lot of, I made so much money when I was a kid. I learned how to be self-deprecating individual that curls up like I'm nobody. So they really want to know me and I'm being so humble.

It kept me alive. What do you think was the craziest wildest thing you saw at Rikers while you're there? Lilo Brancato from Bronx Tale. Coaginal was his name in the movie. He was in the cell next to me. We had some situation for six months where we had to be in the famous person, ICU. what was ICU stand for? Like infirmary command unit.

Infirmary command unit. So he was very well known at the time. I was very well known at the time. There's a couple, maybe there's cops or something. Like when you're very high profile at times, they put you in this thing where they just watch you. So he was in the cell next to me

and I watched him develop a heroin addiction and have to pay thousands a week to people, like begging his parents to send more and more money. I watched him fall. apart and it was really disgusting and sad. He was in the paper all the time. It was just like, it was crazy. Wow.

You know who that is? Yeah, of course. Okay. Wow. Yeah, he's doing a ton of interviews right now. Oh, is he? Yeah, because he's talking about his experience, getting arrested. I've seen him on a few.

We used to watch Bronxdale. It's like, it's really weird. Like, there was a television at the end of the hall. And like, every couple of days, his fucking Bronx tail would come on and we'd watch it, just randomly. Do you think he'd still remember you now? more than anyone he's been in prison with, 100%. Wow.

Yeah, for sure. Did they keep your... I watched him working out his whole case of like, I'm not the guy with the gun. Like, the whole time he was stressing about, I was with him. You know, I mean, it was very entertaining to be like watching that kind of drama up close.

Did they keep you in a cell alone a lot? Or were you... The best is to be alone. You never want to be with someone else. Were they keeping you alone or did they put you with someone? Well, in this case, when Brancato was in the cell next to me, we were alone, like 12 people in one long. Like it looked like protective custody, but wasn't protective custody, but it was.

It was ICU. But that was just because, like, I was blowing up in the papers and stuff, and he's coaginal. Yeah, I mean, at that period of time, you must have been one of the most high-profile cases in New York, other than, like, when mob guys were going down, when, like, Jordan Belfour, any of those guys from that area. Because this was before or a little bit after Wall Street, but those. Yeah, I think there was no real news in the world at the time, so it blew up more, you know. Yeah. And then Natalia was on, like, entertainment tonight, any night she could and all those type of shows, like getting exposure.

Like, everyone was not running from publicity. Yeah. So now when you get out of prison that time, what was that transition like back into the world? Well, I got that job at legal match I told you about. And then pretty soon I'm making $10,000 a week. And then pretty soon I own a very successful escort agency. It was like, it was just very like... But after the second sentence.

Oh, the second one. After you're, because the escort business is now folded. Okay, so the second time I got out, I have such a complicated life. Let me think about that one. So I get out for New York Confidential. It's probably like 2014, 2015. Right. And so then what do I do?

I'm drawing a blank. I can't, there's so many, like, so when I get out for New York Confidential, it was like 2005. So I get out in 2005. It was in 2007. I don't know. And somewhere along the way, I live with like a DJ named Mike in like the 42nd floor of like a gorgeous brand new building on 42nd Street. Like in the, in the, what's that district called over there? Like 50th and 10th Hell's Kitchen. Okay. Like a silver towers north or something like. Then I, Someone invested like an auctioneer became my partner, and we took like a $35,000 a month,

a fourplex apartment at 17th and first, and we opened DNA diamonds. And that was, then I got on the Howard Stern show. And I was trying to be like matchmaker, like big money matchmaker, not like sex, like for people get married. I did so much shit. So I guess what I'm most curious about is

how do you transition from this guy that's in the headlines, you have these escort phone sacks, all these types of businesses to what you're doing now. Like, I feel like there's a bunch of years you're inactive. Or just life and serendipity.

Like, I wasn't looking to do what I'm doing right now. I was just chilling. I was, like, living life on a budget so that I could not work, really, and just, like, kind of co-spy. And, oh, I thought, I started staring at the sun, you know?

And I got so into sungazing, like up to like five hours a day that I started thinking of it as my job like kind of like I'm the guy that stands in Washington Square Park and lets everyone know that you don't go blind staring at the sun. Like I figured like as the months go by as the years go by and they see that I'm fine

that they're going to wake up and people will see that the sun's not bad for them. That never happened by the way. Like a few people notice but the majority never changed their opinion of the sun. So I did that like it was my job and it was very peaceful and I did a lot of like thinking and everything.

And then at some point, I bump into some kind of weird dude, a live streamer named One Sonic. And I'm standing on a bench standing son. He's like, excuse me, can I interview you? I'm like, of course. I've talked to everybody to, because I thought I'm like ambassador for the sun, you know? So I talked to him for a while and I'm like, what the fuck are you doing? And he tells me I found it fascinating. I started watching him.

And the guy like mumbles when he talks. I can't even hear him when I'm watching him. Doesn't hold the camera like as if it matters, like pointing at the ground but i loved it anyway it's like new york new york sounds no editing it was real and like i don't know maybe i misheard from this guy like how many people do what he does and stuff i thought he said he's like one of the only streamers in new york and there aren't too many in the world and i'm like oh god i could do what this guy's doing is so much better i'll be the best that ever did this shit so i i ask him to teach me how to do it and he hides from me for weeks and i have to like keep finding him

bullying him, giving him money into teaching me what he's doing. Because I don't know what software to use. I don't know how to do it. So I get him in my house and he finally teaches me how to do it. And he runs the fuck out of my house and won't like help me know how to do it again. And people help me and it all worked out. I became a streamer and I thought I'm going to be the best streamer in the world. And I put my heart and soul into it and I did 12 hours a day for like three months.

And I didn't even come close to being big or. anything like that. I had like 500 people watching me, which is nothing. And people trying to ruin my life, calling restaurants, don't let him in there. You know, you know how it works with streamers. So like, I just like, fuck this shit. And then Kick was doing this thing where they'll pay you $85 an hour to stream on their platform. And like, I love streaming. And if someone will pay me 85 an hour, I'm like, that could be cool. So I bump into this Nana Pips chick that was here on my second day. I paid her 100 to teach me how to do the stuff Sonic didn't teach me how to do and I wrote it down and she said to me

I'll teach you how to get on this KCIP program I get on it they pay me 85 an hour for one week and then they drop it down to 12 an hour and then they banned me and I'm like fuck kick and I go on YouTube and I was getting like three to five thousand people watching me on kick and everyone says there's fake viewers on kick you know so I didn't know how much was real but I go to YouTube and I start hanging out with t-shirts more and I don't all of a sudden, I'm the biggest streamer. You know, I don't know if I'm just New York or America, or I don't know who the other streamers are

that are big, to be quite honest. Neon, I'm not sure. But, like, I have real IRA, hardcore streamers. I'm either the biggest or I'm top five or ten or something. And it just kind of happened overnight. It wasn't happened overnight, but it happened over the course of about three weeks or a month. But I had, like, when me and T-shirts were together at first, he was mixing Syracquil with his alcohol in the middle of the day.

And he had no coordinate. He was making the craziest content. anyone's ever seen and no one knew what's going on and it's just you know and then we we are consistent and now I have what's called a normie audience instead of a fucked up CX audience or IP2 or like you know there's a streamer world where they want people to die on stream where they're not satisfied like they've been they've been numbed to content unless someone's getting maced killed going to jail they're yawning that's that's what the hardcore streamer community wants to But the Norma community is so appreciative of just like good content, you know, of real.

So how are you making money off of this? Like how do you afford this apartment? What do you do on a daily basis? Like is it a full-time job for you? Now it is. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I don't do so well, but I do pretty well now. I just make money with TTS, but I'll be monetized pretty soon.

And I should make a lot more money off being monetized on TTS and TikTok than just the TTS. monetized on YouTube. And are you actively involved in any businesses still or no? Nothing. As everyone know, they watch me 24 hours a day. You don't miss that? You don't miss the art of business, you know, be building something?

I had a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week business with the phone sex company where I only work like five, six, seven hours a week. But, you know, I'm always aware of that it's open and I always calling people and stuff. There was no texting back then. but I've been such a money-obsessed, hardcore businessman for, like, the beginning of my life

that, like, I'm a spiritual person. I think when we die, I think our souls continue, and I think the amount of time we spend its souls is much greater than the amount of time this lifetime was. Everyone's up to their personal opinion. But I'm not so focused just on money and things, you know. And I was so over-focused on money. I drove Ferrari 348 TSI, Aston Martin Varad,

I had my own limo, like a 100-inch stretch to Brian Coachworks custom limo. Like I had all this stupid shit. And I think it's all pain in the ass. Now, how do you meet Josh? How does Josh fit into all this? Okay, so I start streaming. And a couple days into it, I meet this guy named JJ. And JJ comes over my house, says, hello, he's on my stream, and he brings a couple of fans.

And one of them's name was T. And T and I become friends. And a couple days later, he calls me up and he says, you know, light friends. I didn't know him that well at the time. He goes, Mr. Bass, Mr. Base, you've got 30 seconds. Run down your stairs, and there's going to be a guy leaving like 10 people, and he's very famous on TikTok.

His name is blank, blank. Say hello to him and shout out your channel. So I run down the stairs, and I'm like, who are you? Who are you? I didn't remember the name. He's like, get out of my way. So I bumped into T-shirts. I didn't know who the hell he was, and he screams at me.

I match his energy, he runs away. And this happened like three or four times. And then the number one person in his universe at the time, Michael Quinn, who likes to be like a peacemaker or something, like he made peace between Daniel Larson and T-shirts. He calls me up, he goes, would you have any interest in bearing the hatchet with Josh Blackworld of T-shirts?

And I said, I don't even know. I'm not mad. There's no fight. He goes, well, the world thinks there's a fight. Would you sit down with him and be friendly with him? I go, there's nothing I'd like more. course. So we met here, we went out for drinks, we hung out like three or four times, and I started putting Josh on my streams, but it didn't have so much impacted first. And then it was like a

tidal wave. Then everyone's like, where's Josh? Where's like 90% of Congress? Josh, Josh, Josh. And I'm like, holy shit. And I pay more attention. And I started realizing Josh is one of the most unique people I've ever come across in my life where anyone has. Like, the way he treats fans is different than every other person who's ever had a fan. Like, he's so fucking funny and unique and too predictable and unpredictable. He's amazing. And he's really smart. And he could just chill and shut up for half an hour.

He's a good guy. I was watching a video at him the other day where he says he spends $150 to $200 every day, just on drinks and food. Yeah, add $350 to caviar now. Yeah. How does it? How funny is that for entertaining millions of people? Dude, that's $1,000 for the caviar.

Is that not entertaining? Yeah, but who pays for that? It'll probably end up being me. That's insane. So now, why are people, here's my question. Why are people kicking him and you out of bars? Like, wouldn't they want that business there? No, it's the nature of live streaming.

When you have a lot of people watching you, a certain few people will try to figure out where you are, call the place and get you kicked out, and then they laugh their asses off. Okay. It's been going on for 10 years, and I've only known about live streaming for a year and a half. It's interesting.

You would think that they'd want the publicity and they'd want you guys to be there and bring people to meet them, buy drinks. Like Josh is someone that is promoting alcohol. So you would think that they'd want that, specifically him. The people are so well practiced and heinous that make the phone calls that they scare people off immediately. Like if I'm sitting in a restaurant,

one of their go-to things to do is to tell the owner, this guy sitting in this place, he's putting small rats under the table and laughing at you right now. And da-da-da-da-da-and maybe wants to change your health code thing. and he's filming it and laughing. Kick him out of your restaurant. Now he's a scumbag.

They come, like, ready to kill. How many restaurants do you think you're banned from in New York City? Well, I'm vegan to vegetarian. I don't eat much food. I went 40 days a couple of years ago only drinking water, no food, like a 40-day water-only fast. So, like, I weirdly don't rely on restaurants. So I'm banned at about three.

But anyone else that was a normal human that eats food on the regular would be banned at like 50. Now, this apartment, do you consider yourself like a hoarder? Like, you can barely move around in here. I mean, some people have described it as maximalism as opposed to minimalism. I know it would look better if I had 4,000 square feet and I spread it out. But then again, it's just, I think as a studio, I think it's fucking amazing. Yeah, I mean, it's bigger than one of the team, too.

Everyone's really comfortable here. And I don't have like 20 people at once. I have like two, three, or four. What is your landlord think? I'm on a street where punk rock started. Like the New York Dolls lived in my apartment from 1970s, 74. I live on the most artistic, crazy, fucking nutso, violent, loving street in Manhattan

for the last hundred years, St. Mark's Place. Like, I specifically live here. I wanted to live here so that no one would notice me. Like, I just fit in with the crazy people, but I'm the most well-known person on the street. Yeah, now people show up. Yeah, crazy. I live where the craziest people live to hide.

and I'm the most visible crazy guy. I mean, you're in a very nice, expensive area. This is like the prime of New York City, or one of the primes. So much shit's ironic. Now, what would you say are your biggest life lessons you've learned? Everything you've been through, all the stuff you currently are going through. Everything happens for a reason. Everything happens for a reason.

And when I was younger, I left my body, my soul left my body, and I could touch myself sleeping like hundreds of times. So I know that our soul exists, nothing to do with it. with our physical body, it's a huge lesson. Like I live my life from the perspective that my soul continues a very long time.