The 85 South Show with Karlous Miller, DC Young Fly and Chico Bean - MO'NIQUE in the Trap! | 85 South Show Podcast

Episode Date: October 31, 2025

Mo'Nique joins the 85 South Show for a candid conversation. The comedian discusses her career journey, from early stand-up to iconic roles, sharing personal stories and reflections.   || 85 SOUTH App: www.channeleightyfive.com || Twitter/IG: @85SouthShow || Our Website: www.85southshow.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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That was dumb. Do not follow my example. Listen to Crimless, Hillbilly Heist, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. I live below a cult leader, and I fear I've angered her. Wait a minute, Sophia. How do you know she's a cult leader? Well, Dakota, luckily it's I'm not afraid of a scary story week on the OK Storytime podcast.

So we'll find out soon. This person writes, My neighbor has been blasting music every day and doing dirt rituals. And now my ceiling is collapsing. I try to report them, but things keep getting weirder. I think they might be part of okay. Hold up. A real life cult? And what is a dirt ritual? No clue, Dakota. To find out how it ends. Listen to the OK Storytime podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Chicago. A white woman's murder. A black man behind bars. For a crime he didn't commit. 90 years of killing somebody I have never seen. The Crying Wolf podcast is the story of a corrupt detective, two men bound by injustice, and the quest for redemption. no matter the price. Listen to the Crying Wolf Podcasts on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Big Take podcast from Bloomberg News keeps you on top of the biggest stories of the day. My fellow Americans, this is Liberation Day. Stories that move markets.

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We ain't playing today. Why, we ain't? Because we don't got time to waste like that. Yeah, because we got a real thing. We don't have time to play. Yeah, you got to get that. Now I know you feel the same way about this lady as I do. Because you don't work with it before.

And even if you don't work with or not, if you ever came in presence with this lady, she gave you some love, some uplifting, some positivity. And what she calls you? My sweet baby. My sweet. Not only is she a great person, she's a magnificent comedian. Yes. A prolific writer.

You did. A good damn joke teller. damn joke teller uh-huh the further you get in the hood the moh hood the compliments get what's you talking about now she talks shit uh-huh a shit talker uh-huh a joke teller uh-huh an actress uh-huh a magnificent actress fucking these motherfuckers up you seen she she told that big bitch get down and stella what a whole oscar she said now bitch I let you get yourself together. Now come down with, bitch, you better come down. You better. That, that one right there. That one right? I went down the step. I just walked down the step. Come on, man. I'm not.

She was acting so good. I was like, when I was watching it, I was like, boy, they got more knick back on them cigarettes. But, that wasn't acting. She was on them square. She was on those squire. That was the original queens of comedy. I don't have lost count at this point. It ain't nothing, you can't say nothing but good things. You better go look up on goo. Come on, man. None other.

Then who? The legendary. Huh? Monique in good. What up? Bim, bim, bha, bha, bha. I'm gonna stay up there. I'm gonna stay up there.

You gotta get the side of it anyway. How do you think the standing no post to be? You gotta answer you more to it. Get back up. Yeah, get back up. You gotta get back up. Man, imagine right there. Come, man.

She's going to stand up the whole episode. The definition that gives it out of the money. For real, for real, for real, for real, for real. Monique, welcome to the 85th show. Thank you all for having me, baby. You have on the couch, man. Do y'all know how long I have wanted to come sit on this couch? You couldn't pull it up.

Do y'all know how long I have wanted to come sit on this couch? Guess what? We'll get you called to the bill. Listen, I'm like, soon as they call, I'm there. Come on. Now, y'all know it's late for me. Uh-huh. Okay?

And then when we came down the dark road, I said, okay, is everybody strapped because we don't know what this going to be. And then y'all opened up the gate. Yes, ma'am. And here we are. Yes, ma'am. Man, it's so crazy. I don't know. We don't even know what the ass.

We just know you're going to tell us something. It ain't shit the ass. I know you got something on my. We don't even know the beginning, though, on the comedy side. What? Because the work that you put in in the comedy game and like, you know, you said DC we was talking before you got here man it's like you gave me an opportunity so long ago and you spoke over my life you said you're a millionaire you don't you a millionaire already you don't

even know it and just for you saying that on the national TV on the platform on BET one of those shows where my people can see me doing it and it was just five minutes but it had a lasting impression for all the people that I grew up around the aunties and uncles you know, the people who ain't mobile no more who can come to a show, they got to see their boy. And I always wanted to tell you, thank you. And I tell you every time I see you, I still thank you for that moment.

Oh, baby. But tell me how it all started for you. You know, I think that it starts the same way it starts for all of us. We're funny. And then somebody says, you should. And then you go do that, I should. And now it's 35 years plus.

You know, for me, it was my brother, thought he was the funny one and did an open mic night. And the key word is thought, right? He thought he was the funny one. And they booed him. And I said, you shouldn't embarrass the family like that because if I was on stage, I would have said. And now we're 35 years later. 35. Yeah.

35. 35. How do you keep that same motivation from day one until like, year 35? Like you said, like I, I remember watching all of them. All of them. Miss Paul, I watched it all. I watched it all. I just saw it.

And then until we met in our journey a line and cross paths, and I also want to tell you, because we were talking outside, I want to say thank you, because that was my movie debut. And I was among some A1 hitters, but you made me feel. feel so comfortable you literally every time I remember you leaning you was like you ready I'm like yes you were like I'm gonna throw it at you you better throw it back I said I got you I'm like my heart start beating I'm like ooh shit that means she trusts my comedic timing right so I'm in a spot being a student and I just want to tell you thank oh baby it was a pleasure to sit next to you

Because as I told you then, I said, they have talented people and they're gifted people. And that's two different things. Talent, you can teach somebody to say a line. You can teach somebody to be funny in that second. Gifted, you can't teach that. And sitting next to you, I saw your gift. Because everything I gave you, you wouldn't flinch. When I said to you, boy, I will stab you with this.

fork. And you said, I like that. I was like, oh, shit, yes. Oh, shit, we got one, baby. And you were fearless. And I said, you were a breath of fresh air. And you weren't competing. You were just being. And that's what makes it magical. When there's no competition, you're just being in the moment and you were always in that moment. There was never a time that you got shook. There was never a time that I saw you even watching in Village, watching you, you were just so present and you let your gift take over. That's why, you know, I'm honored to be sitting here with you babies because you didn't quit. From the Monique show to right now, you kept going. And though you took that five minutes, that five minutes made you famous to people that said, that you said

to them one day, one day, and then at five minutes they had a chance to see their boy, their nephew, their grandson, their cousin, become famous. So it's, it's an honor to watch you babies grow and keep going and make room for the next babies that's coming up. It is, as me and my husband was sitting back in the green room, I said, Daddy, this is beautiful. Because the baby took me on a tour of your business and all these different rooms and all these different avenues. And then y'all are making room and avenues for other young babies coming up in this game. This wasn't possible 20 years ago. So to watch y'all do it and do it effortlessly and you do it so giving.

Because I'm watching. I'm watching your staff. I'm watching your people. Everybody black. Everybody's black. Everybody's black. The person's the black. The person's black.

We got one white boy. He's cool. He black. He can't say certain words. But just to watch y'all do it is awesome. Awesome. To speak on that too, because, man, to do comedy back then and to do it when it was time where it was like,

when the spotlight get on me, I ain't worried about nobody else. How do you break through that threshold, and how do you continue to stay, like, positive and motivated during the time where it's like, there ain't nobody giving you no shot? And even when you good, that damn they put you in the back of the line because niggas is definitely scared of you. Well, because every shot was a shot. Like, I never looked at it like, oh, no, every turn was a turn. And I've always told the comedians, when you get on that stage, it's your mom.

You can't worry about who want before you, who is going after you. It is just your moment. And when you're gifted, you can't get away from the gift. You can try. You can say, oh, but when you're gifted, you can't get away from that gift. And that's the motivation because you don't want to disappoint the universe for the gift you've been given. I still go in my closet.

I'll say to my husband, I'm in the closet on stage, Daddy. I still do that. I still get in the bathroom mirror and I'm talking and I'm going over things even if there's no show lined up because when you're gifted and I say that humbly

when you're gifted you can't stop that. That's a part of you you cannot stop. So when people say why was Sugar-Rae Lina get back in the ring because it's a gift? You want to keep expressing that gift.

So that's how I stay motivated. I enjoy expressing the gift. profile. Now, I got to ask this because you created one of Black America's favorite shows. There was a time in my life where you couldn't go over a young lady house

past a certain time and Miss Nicky Parker wasn't on that TV. Miss Nicky Parker! I'm talking about you know, they used to let it ride. You might get eight episodes in a row. Back to back.

Come on. What was it like for you to be able to be Miss Nicky Parker? Let me tell you. First, there were three weeks, people that actually created that show. Serafini, Ralph Alquhar, and Vita Spears. I just worked with Ralph.

They were the creators. However, in them being the creators, Countess Vaughn and I, and Dorian Wilson, and Yvette Wilson, and Jenna Van Roid, and my baby, Ken Lawson, we brought those characters to life. And in bringing those characters to life, those characters will be with us forever.

You know, there are some people to say, don't call me by that name because I've done it so long ago. I will forever be Nikki Parker, and I walk in that proudly because Nikki Parker gave Monique a string. Nikki Parker and Monique began to intertwine with things that Nikki Parker did that Monique may have been too insecure to do. So when people said, oh, you just had it going on,

Nikki Parker and Monique began to intertwine. Like, remember I had to wear the bathing suit? And that ain't no shit Monique would have done. That's my personal. That ain't for nobody. But Nikki Parker was like, hell no. We ain't going to let these other bitches be in these bathing suits, and we're not. We're bathing too.

So, you know, it was just that it was the strength and the carriage and the confidence and the funny. And being with Countess Vaughn. Your chemistry was amazing. Amazing. It was magical. You couldn't explain that. Like, the first day we met, I knew she was mine and she knew I was hers. We could not explain that chemistry.

It was just time. It was the right. We still talk to this day. That's still my pudding and she still say mama. That is so dope. I appreciate that show because it gave, it showed strength. And it also showed that black women may be, what's the word I'm looking for? You might have the wrong impression.

because of how we talk and you don't understand our love language. But every show, you got an ass, you made sure, but... Still sport at the same time. You was right there. I can't let you go out there and just do anything, because the world is going to tell you that. As a matter of fact, you're in school. I'm going to watch it. Yes.

I'm going to work there. Yes. So I keep my eye on you. Yes. But I got the stake. I got to keep that tone right there. Yes. I think that's why that show was so successful.

because it was real. And it was a lot of mother-daughter relationships. Kim was trying to find her grown. Nikki was trying to keep her baby. So there was a constant battle, but they loved each other. There was that constant conflict where you're trying to find your woman. And your mama's saying, you still ain't grown. I'm trying to get out the way, but I can't get out the way.

I can't let you fall, but I want to let you slip. So it was that constant going back and forth that mothers and and daughters were going through then. I appreciated those two women because they were not your stereotypical beauties. They weren't that. You had Countess Vaughn

who was short and little pudgy and cute. You had Nikki Parker who was this big black woman but neither one was apologetic. Neither one was saying, I'm sorry for who I am. They were both saying this is who we are, take us or leave us, but we ain't going

no way. Look damn good. Oh, come on. You saw Stanley when you realized he when you didn't want him no more. He wanted you. You saw that thing. Did you see it? Did you see it? Did you see it? But that just goes to show you how it works.

He was on your way. Listen, the moment she said, that's okay. Even though she still loved him. Even though she still believed that one day this man will be mine all the way up to that day where she was going to marry another man. Only because she felt like there was no more hope, not because she didn't love him. Because the moment Endell said,

A, he love you. She had to look at that cat and say, I've been fighting for this for five years. Do you think in two shows you're going to come in and take me? Nikki was like, no, that's the one I really want. And that goes to show women, if you got a stalker nigger, You got to believe it. You've got to believe it.

Okay, you've got to believe it. For sure, you did that. Now, I want to ask you about the original Queens of Commons. Yes. Come on, man. One of the highest selling tours. Yes. Black female comedians of all, man.

How many days did y'all do? How long were y'all out there? What's some of your favorite moments and favorite cities and how you grew from it? A lot of stuff came from the Queens of College. Everything was my favorite. Mm-hmm. Just the whole experience. The whole experience to be on stages with some of the funniest women to ever hold a microphone.

What an honor. Yeah. Right? And to be unified in that tour in a way that we didn't know we would wind up being unified like that. Mm-hmm. Because at first it was the Queen's. It was the Kings. Then it was the Queens and the Kings together.

And the Kings would get treatment that the Queens wasn't getting. Uh-oh. And I had to say, wait a minute, sugar, what's happening? And the other Queens had to say, okay, wait a minute, what's happening? But to have that experience with the Kings as well. So now you're on stages with what will go down in history as some of the greatest to ever do it. It's a moment in time that I'll never forget. It's a moment in time to be with some more, Adele Givens, Laura Hayes, and to look back, right?

The beauty is for me is that when my sons can go back and say, wow, mommy, when my grandson's favorite show is the parkers, and he's seven, and he's singing the theme song. when my granddaughter, who's noun three, she doesn't know how to say, I want to watch the parkers. She says, put grandmami on. Put grandmami on. So those are those moments that are special ones.

All of it. So when people say, Monique, what was your favorite? All of it's been my favorite because I'm still that little fat girl in the mirror saying, one day. That's how you stay motivated. Some of us believe we arrived. So I'm here.

I still feel like I'm still, I'm still, I'm still walking in it. I'm still dreaming. I've never stopped dreaming. A lot of people might not know, but you're from Baltimore. All day. And that's become one of our favorite cities to perform. That's the reason why we click.

If I wasn't from the South, I'd probably be from D.C. or Baltimore. Yeah. Or Detroit. Yeah. Baltimore is real. I love Baltimore. Baltimore. Baltimore is blue.

collar. Baltimore's down home. Baltimore is what made me be unafraid. Baltimore's what made me say, I won't apologize. Baltimore is what made me say, I don't give a goddamn what your title is, wrong is wrong and right is right. Baltimore made me say, I won't back down, I won't back up, because that's what I'm from. Yeah. Yeah. I love Baltimore, man. When they come to the where we do, because we all do, we all do at the comedy factory up there. Yes. Man, Baltimore, Oh, they come and they show up. They show out. They make it and dress up and everything.

Yes. And they treat you like family. Yes. I live below a cult leader and I fear I've angered her. Well, wait a minute. Sophia, how do you know she's a cult leader? Well, Dakota, luckily it's I'm not afraid of a scary story week on the OK Storytime podcast, so you'll find out soon.

This person writes, My neighbor has been blasting music every day and doing dirt rituals. and now my ceiling is collapsing. I try to report them, but things keep getting weirder. I think they may be part of a cult. Hold up, Sophia, a real-life cult? And what is a dirt ritual? No clue.

But according to this person, contractors are tearing down the patio to find out what's going on with her ceiling and her neighbors are not happy. Well, she needs to report them ASAP. She did! And now they've been confronting her in really creepy ways all the time.

So, do we find out if this person survive? their neighborhood cult or not? To hear the explosive finale, listen to the OK Storytime podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In the new podcast, Hell in Heaven, two young Americans move to the Costa Rican jungle

to start over, but one will end up dead. The other tried for murder. Not once. People went wild. Not twice. Stunned. But three.

times. John and Anne Bender are rich and attractive, and they're devoted to each other. They create a nature reserve and build a spectacular circular home high on the top of a hill. But little by little, their dream starts to crumble, and our couple retreat from reality. They lose it. They actually lose it. They sort of went nuts. Until one night, everything spins out of control. Listen to Hell in Heaven on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Crying Wolf podcast is the story of two men bound by injustice, of a city haunted by its secrets, and the quest for redemption, no matter the price. White victim, female, pretty, wealthy, black defendant. Chicago, a white woman's murder.

A black man behind bars for a crime he didn't commit. I got 90 years for killing somebody I have never seen. He says the police are his friends and then that's it. They turn on it. A corrupt detective. How he was interrogated the techniques. That's crazy. A snitch and a life stolen.

They got the wrong guy. But on the inside, Lee Harris finds an ally in his celly, Robert, who swears to tell the truth about what happened to Lee and free his friend. And if you're with me, your goal to, I'll take care of you. I'm going to be with you. You stuck with me for life. Listen to the Crying Wolf podcast, starting on October 22nd, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The forces shaping the world's economies and financial markets can be hard to spot.

Even though they are such a powerful player in finance, you wouldn't really know that you are interacting with them. And even harder to understand. Donald Trump's trade war, 2.0, is only accelerating the process of de-dollarization, which in a way is jargon for people turning away from the dollar. That is where the big take from Bloomberg podcast comes in, to connect the dots. How unusual is a deal like this? Unprecedented. Every weekday afternoon, we dive deep into one big global business story. The biggest story of the reaction of the oil market to the conflict in the Middle East is,

one of what has not happened. Katie, you told me that ETFs are your favorite thing. They are. Explain that. Why is that the case? And unpack what it means for you. Our breakfast foods are consistent consumer staples, and so they sort of

become outsized indicators of inflation. Listen to the big take from Bloomberg News every weekday afternoon on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I don't consider people fans anywhere.

I never call somebody a fan because that's sure for a fanatic and I don't want to be fanatic fanatic over Monique we family so when you go to Baltimore it's family when you get in front of your people

it's family and you have some of us that get in front of our people and they treat our people like they're doing them a favor not understanding without our people we don't work

now I'm about to ask you one of the trade secrets now. Ask it. You know, as comedians, you do movies also. When you're working on a movie, you know, this take months sometimes, years, six, eight months, 12, 13 months, do you still feel the need? Like, I gotta get on stage tonight.

When you shooting a movie or a TV show, you don't have to? No. When I'm doing that, I'm doing that. You know. But you still get the itched like, shit, it'd be a good night to go hit that. No.

No. All now, nigger. Only because. I mean, you know, I've been doing it for over 35 years. So do I get to, it's to say I'm going to go to an open mic night? No. Because if I'm in town doing this, that's what I'm focused on. And when I'm done doing that, I go back to my room and then I deal with my family.

I don't mix those two things up. Oh, now they said cut from the movie. Now where's their stage? No. No. I don't get that itch anymore to do. that. Now, do I still get the itch to do stage? Yes. And that's when I go do a show. A tour. Yes. But to just say, I'm going to go down there and go on open mic night.

Now, I heard you say that your brother went on stage and then you think. Most difficult. And you kind of like told his ad what you would say, what was the first time Molit stepped on stage and grabbed the mic? It was at Berks in Baltimore. What there was that night? 1990. You remember. I was with you. Yeah. Listen, it was 1990.

And wow. Right? Right. After that night, I said, this is it. Because I knew, and I'll say this humbly, I knew I was going to be famous. There was, there was, I knew that. And I didn't know what I was going to be famous

famous at. But I knew I would be famous. I was a full figure model. I worked at a sex phone line. I knew that someone. Let me get the black. Let me get the black. I got to find a little bit. Go back in a little bit. Go back in a bit. And it's a roach. And I worked that potpies. Word. All things involved in a microphone. Yes. You was on a drive-thew. I was on the drive-thew. I always wanted to do the drive-thru. Man, if you put up, all the- Going up the fucking Papas and Monique was on the speaker. Maybe you're taking the, my sweet baby? Yes.

When you came to my drive-thru, because I was so proud that I had a job and I was making my own money. But it was still a microphone. So that was my opportunity to talk in that microphone. And when you pulled up, baby, I said, hi, welcome to Popeyes. My name is Monique. What would you like this afternoon or this evening? Whatever time it was, baby. And if they said, hi, Monique, I would like, I was like, oh, shit.

And after I took their order, I would suggest. Would you like a hot apple pie with that? You know what, Monique, I think I would. A drive on the round, baby. Yeah, you know. Now, let's get back to this hotline thing. I knew he was going back to him. We were going back to that.

How long did you do that? I did that. And how did that come about? Well, honey, let me tell you. I did that for maybe a year and a half. Ooh, that's a lot of talking. I didn't actually talk to the men. I transferred the calls.

Oh, okay. And it was an ad in the paper, and they were paying $9 an hour. Just transfer. It said customer service. So that's all it said. Customer service. I'm like, well, what the kind of customer service is this? So I go on an interview.

Right. And they take me back in the room. And you begin to listen to the calls. I was like, so wait a man. You tell them, I just have to listen to the calls, transfer the calls, and I'm going to make $9 an hour, sign me up. And when I tell you, it was one of the best jobs that I've ever had because some of the shit you've learned, you was like, oh, I didn't know that was possible. Okay, it was incredible. It was incredible.

That's amazing. Man. Like, I want to ask you this. what's your favorite work is it movies is it TV is it the road is it radio is it what is it what you like stand up is my baby first and foremost stand up is my first love like stand up was and is stand up saved my life because you can walk out on that stage and you can be in someplace mentally but when you're done it can bring you back balanced you can walk out on a stage and be so unbalanced and going through life

but that audience doesn't care because I paid my money bitch I'm unbalanced so I need to laugh tonight so your issues doesn't matter to me and when you can share your issues and then y'all can laugh with you at the issues that's very therapeutic very therapeutic tell me about it Yeah, you've gone up on stage, I'm sure, some nights, and life was life in. Exactly. But you had to go out there, and you said, you know what, I've got to be funny. I've got to be funny because they deal them with life too.

Yeah. And we are the medicine. Yeah. And again, I say it humbly. We are oftentimes people's medicine to feel better without popping a pill. So you've got to swallow yours, and you've got to go on that stage and be medicine. Man, it's different levels to it, too, especially when you're at the stage of your career where it's like, now you're playing the game where you don't eat that day, where it's like I'm trying to get to the other side where that money is, I need this show money tonight. Oh, baby, I tell me the only thing I got to do is make y'all laugh.

I'm hungry. I've been waiting on this all day. Yeah. I'm about to fuck y'all up. Yes. Yes. I need it. Yeah.

Oh, man. Because, you know, I listen to you, and I can tell from tone when people have great tranquility and be very calm of, where did my sweet babies come from? Because my sweet babies is like a word where, baby, you don't want to be nothing after my sweet baby. It's to the point in that when we even hear your name and that's, you got to say it. My sweet. My sweet babies. Because you are. Right.

And for me, it's such a term of endearment that how. How can you be mad at that? Right. How can you have a problem with that? You know, and one day, my grandson said it to me. He said, hey, my sweet baby, and that thing melted me. And I'm like, is that what people feel when I say that? Absolutely.

So for me, it makes me feel good. I hope it make you feel good. And if I don't remember your name, name, hey sweet baby. It clears. Oh, that's like, it gives you a pass. Hey, my sweet baby. Yes. Because you always had that energy because I saw a clip. It was some TV show.

And it was the daughter and the mama was standing right there. And the daughter was like, I don't want to hear that and you were just fighting with her. John School, baby. You were just trying to. I saw it where you were like, I said, never to this mama. But you know what? Baby, I'm going to fight with you. I said, boy, she's good.

She good. Tram school was a fool. Tom school. That's what it was? Yeah, CHOMS school. Yeah. Choms school was a great learning lesson, even for me. Because even at that time, there were decisions and choices I was making that I wasn't mature enough.

Right? And I can remember going home one night and I was telling my husband about it, the fight that was getting ready to happen. with the young lady's mother and the, and he said, Mama, he said, you are there to teach and learn. So you can't handle it like they would handle it. You can't get flustered. You can't get shook because now you're in the same position. Right. And at the time, mentally, as I look back on it, and I say, wow.

I could have handled that differently. I could have said that differently. I could have walked through that differently because I was in my 30s. Now I'm a 57-year-old woman. So things I did in my 30s, I wouldn't do in my 50s. So I would never challenge a baby to take her in the back. Okay, because I said, we can go in the bag. We can go in the back.

And we can go in the bag and then we can come back out, baby. The Baltimore came out in me like, when we go? don't do. For sure, for sure. I would never do that at 57 years old. So with that show, watching it back, I've learned just like those women have learned. And I'm happy for those sisters, for the ones that said, I'm going to keep it going, I'm going to do something with it.

I'm happy for those babies. And if I had to do it again, I would do some things differently. That might be interesting. That might be an interesting one. That might be an interesting one. Like, but click. My click too. too.

That most motherfucker that need to get you. Hey. You need to go talk to me. Oh, Monique. Yeah, go on the back. Yeah, go on the back, right quick. She ain't going to take to the back, but you're going to talk.

I want to ask you this. There's something I would still take to the back. Yeah. Just put it in a proper conversation. Just a tournament. Now, you know, we're big fans of comedy over here, and we've been keeping the records. So I want to ask you,

What was comedy like in the 90s? Because that's the era we'll never get the experience. It was magical, baby. See, there was a time that we didn't know how you lived. We didn't know that you had a private jet. We didn't know that you had a yacht. We didn't know that you had 25 cars. We just knew you were funny.

And that's what we were going after. We didn't know how Richard Pryor lived. We didn't know how Eddie Murphy lived. We just knew that these people were gut, bucket, funny, and we wanted to get there. Well, I think for you, babies, where it's different, you see people saying, I want to live in a mansion. I want to have fancy cars. I want to get on TV. I want to be in the movies.

So sometimes the stand-up can lack because you're chasing what you see on social media. You're chasing what you hear about. This person's on Forbes, and you're no longer chasing the dream and the gift. You're now chasing the materialistic part of it, and you've stepped away from, let me just go up on this stage and show my gift. Let me show the universe. I appreciate that they chose me. What is something you learned after you made it that you wish you knew on your way coming up?

Nick hit you with some deep shit. You don't talk much. What? He told him. He told me. He had it, too, because he could wave. He was like, that was something that I've learned once I got there on my way coming up. That you wish you knew on your way coming up. That I didn't need a bunch of shit. That I didn't need to waste money on a bunch of shit that you don't need. Come on, talk. That's financial freedom. When you, when I first got my first check from the parkers, right? I understood my contract, but I didn't understand it.

When I opened up that first check, I didn't quite understand I was getting 22 more of those checks at that number. Right? So when I understood that, I'm going to get another check like this next week. Fuck this chat. And we're bowling. We are bowling, baby. When I tell you, I went to Costco and bought shit that I did not need. I bought all kinds of shit.

That road, that road, that road. Yeah, but then once you settle in and once you understand, this is not promised tomorrow. And some of us get in positions where we live these multimillion-dollar lives on Monday. But Tuesday, it was taken away. So now what do you do? Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. So you start seeing a pattern oftentimes. That's why for me it was important.

to read the stories of the sisters that came before me. And most of them died broke, unhealthy, and by themselves, because they never thought that it would end, especially when you riding high, especially when everyone says you're the best and you're the greatest and something happens and just like that. Now it's done. But you are still in this million-dollar lifestyle

that you still have to try to maintain and afford so some sisters and brothers can find themselves doing things that you've got to maintain this lifestyle instead of saying, okay, wait a minute, let me make sure I'm not living above my means even though I get that check every week. Let me make sure that if that check gets taken away, I'm not going to be taken away.

How you deal with people that don't understand and they're just begging and asking? Big in the next. You've got to get comfortable in no. And you've got to get comfortable with your no with no explanation. Because when you say yes, they don't say, why you say yes? They just say, what time can I pick it up? Are you zeal in it?

Are you overnighting it? But they never say, DC, why you say yes? So the moment you say no, you've got to be comfortable in, why you say no? Because I can. And that's it. And it took me a long time to get comfortable in my nose. And it cost me a relationship with my biological family because I was so used to saying yes that the moment you say no, you become the villain. And that was very uncomfortable.

I didn't want to be the villain. So I would say no, but okay, because I don't want you be mad. I don't want you be upset until you get to a place where you're looking in the mirror. and the person looking back is mad at you. Because they're saying everything you said you wouldn't do. You're doing. You're doing. And now you have resentment for yourself, not for them,

because you're resenting the fact that you didn't keep your word to say, I can't take care of you. I can't take you along. But a lot of things go with that. A lot of us don't want to be by ourselves. So we take people along that we know don't deserve it because you're simply afraid. of being by yourself and then you look up and you have people that you got to get mad at yourself because they said that you knew who i was right you knew i was a taker but now you thought something was going to change you just have more to give me yeah so you have to get comfortable in your know and be okay with that you hear that motherfuckers there's no no no no i still need that 200 no i still need that i want to ask you this

Is there anything left you want to do? Yes. Yes. There's so much left that I want to do. I want to learn how to bake a goddamn chocolate cake from scratch and it don't tilt. That's what I want to learn how to do. I know how to do it. Wait a minute, sugar.

That was judgment. No. You said it tilt. No. In your cake, be falling, man. Listen, I'm getting better at it, I'm getting better. Because oftentimes in this business, we get so caught up in business and people say, what's next? And you don't even think to say, you know what, my grandbabies.

You don't think because you only think to deliver business. I've had to learn to separate that. It's like, I hope tomorrow is next because today is beautiful. So if I just get to tomorrow, what a blessing that will be. So when you say, what more do I want to be, I want to continue to be the best wife, the best mother, the best grandmother, the best friend. The business is the business, but the business won't be there when I'm taking that last breath. The business won't be there when I'm sick. The business won't be there when I'm going through it.

So what's next is going to be what's next. But I hope I get as much time with my family that I can possibly get. How did you adjust to living your life publicly? Because I did, I saw where you just reconciled with your son. Yes. And then like, that's life. That's life. And you get what I'm saying?

But you'd have to do it publicly. Knowing that it would happen, but being on the world's timeline, how do you adjust to that? Just when you're going through regular life shit in front of everybody? It's what it is. And if my situation can help your situation, I'm willing to go through that publicly. If a mother and a son was able to reconcile,

watching me and my son, I'm able to go through that public. And as long as I'm telling the truth, I don't give a damn who sees it or who hears it. It's a part of what we do. You can't live your life and they not know what you're doing. Now, some things you can say, I'm going to hold this just to me.

I'm going to keep this right here. But everybody's watching them. So if you see it, I'm not going to run from it. When my son went public, I couldn't run from it. It was right there. It was what it was. But as I said to him, time will heal. Time will heal.

And because I have a king, it didn't make my knees buckle. Because I have a man that says, we're going to stand in this together, Mama. Whatever they throw at us, we're right here. here. And because you mind, I'll stand in front of it. My knees don't buckle. I don't waver from what I know is right. I don't waver from the truth. So if that has to be public, I'm okay with that. I'm still waiting for Tyler Perry. I'm still waiting for Oprah Winfrey to say, let's have this public open conversation. Don't run. Don't run. Because that may be able to heal our community, just like my son and I. And I'm not saying.

or we're these healers, no, but you got a chance to see it in real time because I love him and he loves me. And I was not going to let that split second cost us the rest of our lives. When my mother left, I had no relationship. My father left, I had no relationship. When my sister left, I had no relationship. I have two biological brothers that I have no relationship with. And I called my son and said, I do not want us to go another moment like this.

And both of us were willing. So it had to happen publicly, but look at where it is now. So I'm okay with that. I ain't got shit to hide. Right. I live below a cult leader and I fear I've angered her. Well, wait a minute, Sophia. Adia knows she's a cult leader.

Well, Dakota, luckily it's I'm not afraid of a scary story week on the OK Storytime podcast, so you'll find out soon. This person writes, my neighbor's been blasting music every day and doing dirt rituals, and now my ceiling is collapsing. I try to report them, but things keep getting weirder. I think they may be part of a cult. Hold up, Sophia, a real-life cult? And what is a dirt ritual? No clue. But according to this person, contractors are tearing down the patio to find out what's going on with their ceiling, and her neighbors are not happy. Well, she needs to report them ASAP. She did. And now they've been confronting her in really creepy ways all the time. So do we find out if this person survives their neighborhood cult or not?

To hear the explosive finale, listen to the OK Storytime podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In the new podcast, Hell in Heaven, two young Americans move to the Costa Rican jungle to start over. But one will end up dead. The other tried for murder. Not once. People went wild. Not twice.

Stunned. But three times. John and Ann Bender are rich and attractive, and they're devoted to each other. They create a nature reserve and build a spectacular, circular home high on the top of a hill. But little by little, their dream starts to crumble, and our couple retreat from reality. They lose it. They actually lose it. They sort of went nuts. Until one night, everything spins out of control.

Listen to Hell in Heaven on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Crying Wolf Podcast is the story of two men bound by injustice, of a city haunted by its secrets, and the quest for redemption. no matter the price. White victim, female, pretty, wealthy, black defendant. Chicago, a white woman's murder, a black man behind bars, for a crime he didn't commit. I had 90 years for killing somebody I have never seen. He says the police are his friends, and then that's it. They turn on it.

A corrupt detective. How he was interrogated the techniques. That's crazy. A snitch and a life stolen. They got the wrong guy. But on the end. Inside, Lee Harris finds an ally in his cellie, Robert, who swears to tell the truth about what happened to Lee and free his friend.

And if you're with me, you're golden. I'll take care of you. I'm going to be with you. You stuck with me for life. Listen to the Crying Wolf podcast, starting on October 22nd, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Big Take podcast from Bloomberg News dives deep into one big global business story every weekday.

A shutdown means we don't get the data, but it also means for President Trump that there's no chance of bad news on the labor market. What does a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich, reveal about the economy? Our breakfast foods are consistent consumer staples, and so they sort of become outsize indicators of inflation. What's behind Elon Musk's trillion-dollar payout?

There's a sort of concerted effort to message that Musk is coming back, He's putting politics aside. He's left the White House. And what can the PCE tell you that the CPI can't? CPI tries to measure out-of-pocket costs that consumers are paying for things, whereas the PCE index that the Fed targets is a little bit broader of a measure. Listen to the big take from Bloomberg News every weekday afternoon on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

You brought up to Tyler Perry. I did because I didn't know if y'all was. Okay? I mean, we were trying. We brought you here just to show you love. I love me. That what we do. On the comedic side of things, on the entertainment side of things, but you did see when

I did my club, Shays, Shade, he brought up you and I told him, you know, the quote was that people say Monique hard to work with. Yes. And I told him, no, she ain't. She just ain't to be played with. Right. So what do you say to the people who say, Monique, hard to work with? Well, for the people that said I'm hard to work with, they've not worked with me.

Exactly. So I can't even entertain it. I understood. Because they've not worked with me. But when you have a man named Tyler Perry saying she's difficult to work with, and you've never worked with me, and that cost me 12 years of my career. So when people say, Monique, let that go. I'll ask you because you know the streets. If somebody costs a man $2,000 for lying on him in the streets, what happens?

You come and see. Okay, that's $2,000. Now let's say $20,000. What happens? Ooh, ain't no $10. Huh? Ain't no $10. Okay.

There's going to be a fish fry. So now let's say $200 and $50,000. That's what you got to say you got to put in the gun hand. Okay. What $2 million? I'm going up because I'm making a point. Understood. So now let's say.

Now let's say that lie cost you two million. Now let's say that lie cost you between $24 and $36 million. Do you let it go? I'm asking you. No, ma'am. Do you let it go? Do you let it go? So why ever would I let that go?

Why ever would I not talk about it every opportunity I get? Because you've cost my family that money. And what happens is we get so afraid of power that we're too afraid to say what's real. I've sat in front of brothers and sisters who will say off camera, that shit was wrong. But the moment the camera comes on, I don't really know if I want to say this

because we get afraid of what will be taken from me. What will happen to me? I keep saying it out loud because I know there are sisters that came before me that are no longer here, that they couldn't say it. Because they were too afraid to say, that one cost me, that one did this, that one did that.

I'm going to stand for each one of those sisters and for the ones that ain't even here yet until they make it right. I'm unapologetic about that. I'm unapologetic about saying you've got to make it right because that's why our community keeps getting treated the way it gets treated.

because we've been told from slavery, let it go. You don't want to upset them. I don't give a goddamn who's upset. I don't give a goddamn who's hard of hearing it. I'm going to keep saying it until that black man and that black woman and Lionsgate makes this right because you cost my family generational money for the other people that's cowardly and say,

I would just let it go. That's your business. My business says never let it go. and that's a part of entertainment. So I appreciate you say, hey, Mama, we brought you here to show you love. This is a part of it. This is a part of it for the next black woman

that says, I won't be quiet. Because if I keep being quiet, it lets the next black woman get her ass kicked. Just let that sit for it. Just let that simmer. Let it simmer. My mama always said, We got your head whooped, they'll walk to the room.

Don't say nothing. Take a nap. Don't even look at nobody. We heard. Go to sleep. Go sleep. We saw it too. Shit.

Listen, with Precious, with that strip, right, did you feel any type of way as, because I know that that's not you, right? So, like, did you feel any type of way doing that movie? Like, was at some point you like, God damn? Like, who wrote this shit? God damn. Like, did you have to, did you say a lie? Did you like, bitch, get your fat ass down?

I'm sorry. God, oh, you know, come on, sweet, baby. That would never say, like, like, because it was, it was, like, it was so, it was just so intense and, like, damn. When Lee first sent me that script, when I got to page 10, I called him up, I said, what is this shit? What is this? He was like, bitch, I know. I can't get the right. And when my husband and I were reading that script, he said, Mama, he said, don't judge her.

just become her that was it so when he said action Lee said this bitch is a monster when he said action I was a monster when he said cut

I was Monique that way it was just that easy it was just that because it allowed us to play like how far can we go like how far do you want to push this damn envelope and yes when he said cut

I was like Gabby you okay you're okay I didn't mean that are you good Listen, listen, there's one scene, and this is what Lee has said to me. He says, after the scene, he said, bitch, that was the most brilliant shit. I've ever seen the way you grabbed your heart and you bent over, bitch. You are incredible. I said, nica, I can't let you believe that.

I bent over because I was laughing at that bitch because she kicked her slipper down the steps at me. So I had to bend over so I didn't. mess up the scene and bust out laughing. Yes. I got to go re-watch that board. Yes. That's what. Watch the park.

Watch it. You'll see me go because I'm trying to hold the laugh back. Yeah. Yeah. In the middle of some intent shit. In the middle of it. And she was like, that's what she's doing up at the top of the steps. Because the cameras can't see her.

They can't see her. So I'm in it. And I'm like, oh shit. And she's trying to fuck you up. Oh, it was so good. It was so good. It was so good. Yeah, we play. That's fine. So after such an intense scene and movie, you have to excuse him, he'll never talk sometimes.

After such an intense scene. Like get back to yourself after the movie. Snap out of it, like snap back. But you got that boy going to feel it. Look out of that. You know, I've had people ask me that. Like, did you have to get deep programmed that? Yeah.

moment he said cut, I was Monique. I didn't take that anywhere with me. No, the moment he said cut. Shit was done, yeah. That's actually about fat girls though. Yes. Because you really made black history, I don't know if you know that. Because that's not many movies centered around a romantic comment,

said around a big beautiful black woman. And it must have resonated because y'all got the budget on $3 million, but made like 18 box off. Come on now. Well, you was Googling. Come on. I love a niggled. You guys.

The entertainment and the money and music and movies are always fascination. Yes. So talk to us about that and how they connected and what was not carrying such a heavy road? Jay and we're trying to get a podcast. What? He's right. It's right. That's one of those classic you would call hood movies because that's right before everything

went digital. So he was watching shit like that. We were actually going and picking it up and going to blockbusters and renting that and buying that and you know what I'm saying? These are movies that people still own at the career. Hey, boy, you're going to see their movie. Yeah. He went crazy.

Yeah. Fat Girls was this brilliant sister, Niggis LeK wrote that, right? And when she first sent it to me, at the time, my sister, my biological sister, was working in the office, and she told that woman, Monique's not accepting scripts right now, right? She was like, okay, well, I didn't know anything about that. And then just so happened, I'll say about six months later, she got that script in my hands, and I could not put it down. And I called her that night, and I said, let's do it.

Because I had never seen a big black woman portrayed that way, where she was the love interest, and she wasn't the joke. And it wasn't, oh, you know, it's a pity relationship. It was this man really loving this woman. And so that one was, that one was a lot of fun to do. A lot of fun to do. Not the best business deal, but a lot of fun to do. Yes.

Well, because at the time, there were so many things I didn't know. There were questions I didn't know to ask. And people aren't going to volunteer the information. So I didn't own any of fat girls. I was simply a worker. And though that's my image. So what happens is When my husband did come on

And I said to him, I need you to be my manager He was like, Mama, that ain't That ain't what I do Until he saw how things were going down And he knew I got to step in So we made no more deals like that after he came in As my manager. Now everything we do We have to own some of it

We ain't saying we got to have all of it But that's my image That's how I work. We got to have a piece. of it. If you're making money, shouldn't we make money? That's it. Talk to your talk. And you're on tour with Kat? You still doing days with Kat? No, I finished with Kat in May. Okay. And when I tell you, y'all, that tour was a tour. I knew that tour. That tour was a tour. I had never seen a machine run that way. And Kat Williams ran that machine. Because when you see those arenas and you see all the truck. And you see all the

And, I mean, the brother just had that machine running in a way where it was, so it was just a lot of fun. It was a lot of fun to walk out on those stages and you standing in front of 10,000, 15,000, 20,000. And you're just that love and that enjoyment. And it's like, wow, get it, brother. But I still love a comedy club. Yeah, Comic Club. Can't run from the comedy club? You cannot.

It's so intense. It's right there. It's right there. Come on. It is right. It is in the moment I can look at you and tell if you're in it or if you're not. So now I got to ask, you're going to do some club dates? Is that on that?

Well, I just did a club date. I did Rob Stapleton's club. Oh, that's a Guaygo in the Bronx. In the Bronx, Staplego. Yes. Yes. Got to go to South of Quago now. When you do the Bronx, the Bronx is in New York, but it's in the South.

Like you're still walking in front of a southern crowd. It's that down home, dark liquor, let's get it. They're in there. Yeah, yeah, I still love a club. I still love a club. That's what's up. Got my own knee in the beard, baby. My fuck.

It's with sauce coffee. You do? Because like you said, it's got the down home fill with the Spanish infusion. You did your shit, Rob, with that one, y'all right there. Yes. There's a lot of clubs we go to, it'd be like, this is a cool room, but it ain't one of them.

You go to a place like Baltimore common in fact. You're like, hi, it's on the schedule every year. I'm stopping through here every year. I used to own a comedy club in Baltimore called Monique's. Mm-hmm. Damn, we need to open it back up so we can go back in there, Mom. Yeah, Monique's, yeah. That's all right.

Yeah. What's some of your favorite times in that? We got to send us some pictures. My favorite time is in Baltimore? In Monique's at your club. Oh, baby, listen. Who you brought through there? They was going to shut us down a few times.

That shit was crazy. It was crazy. It was. black comedy club, okay? We ain't have all the shit all the time, right? We have all the things. Who'd liquor like your name is? Listen, well, they took it.

So the people loved it so much they would bring us to liquor. Right, come on, Lee. It was that, listen, one night, one night the fire, the fire marshal came, right? And all the shit that they said was wrong, what's wrong? Right. They weren't, they weren't making shit out, but it was wrong, right? But I knew the mayor at the time, and he said, if you ever need a anything you called me.

Oh, I will call you now. That day, I told you said, you wait right here, sugar. I'll be right back. I said, hey, they got the fire marshal down here trying to jump me down. He said, give me a second. Montel Williams' father was the chief, right? Chief Williams. Chief Williams called back and said, could you put that gentleman on the phone?

I said, yes, sir, I sure cared. When he got off the phone, that gentleman walked past me and said, I want to apologize and we'll never return again. Thank you, my love. Thank you. So I've always been covered in the... Now, we had to get the shit fixed. Right, okay, don't make me more bad.

Get this shit repaired. Right, right. But it was just, you know, that covering, that thing, baby. Yeah, Monique's what Steve Harvey. Everybody came through Monique's. Everybody came through Monique's. Yes. And you don't seem a lot of people.

Yes. You don't see a lot of people. What are some people that you saw where you was like, man, they got it. That the world may not have got a chance to see. Wow. That I saw that the world didn't get a chance to see. The ones I saw that I knew was special, the world got a chance to see. the world got a chance to see.

So there's, there's, you know, I can't think of one that didn't make it, you know. At least had a shot. Yeah. Oh, at least had a shot. Yes, yes. But the babies that came through, and we were babies. You know, everybody was after that, I want to be funny like Richard. I want to be funny like Eddie.

I want to be funny like not I want to be rich like. We wanted to be funny like, yeah. But all the ones that came through that was supposed to get it, they got it. What was your Def Jam experience? Def Jam. Yeah. Def Jam was incredible. But you rock that motherfucker.

To it down. You know, it's like some of them says you watch and then you see people rip. But it's like some people get on stage like, God damn, I wish I woulda. If I could just, that moment right there, because it's like, I guess people don't realize it just, it just looks so much big. just watching it. Because it seemed like if you get a great moment on Dev Jam, you knew the movie's coming. You knew some coming. It was like something.

Def Jam was great. Mm-hmm. I remember when Def Jam first came out and I was like, I was seeing all the sisters do it. And I hadn't gotten a call. And I was like, wow, everybody done it and they ain't called me yet, right? And then I get the call. And I remember when Def Jam went on tour. jam went on tour. And the sisters, you know, they were all getting these dates. And I was like,

they ain't invited me to do the dates yet. But when it was my turn, I got 15 dates, right? So I had to understand that when it's your turn, it's your turn. Now, I've got a death jam story. Where's my camera? Jump Tori, I'm telling on your ass. I'm telling on your ass jump tory. Okay. And I'm also telling on Tommy Davidson. Okay. Oh, that's about that. I'm telling you. I'm telling. You know I'm a tell on a nigger, Brian. You know, I'm going to tell on a nigger.

And I've always told on a nigger, even as a child. I'm going to tell on his head. So, okay, I get my first death jam date, right? And we're sitting in the back at the catering. Right. So I said, wow, I'm the last female to really be invited on the tour. And Joe Tori says, that's because you're not funny. Damn.

And there was nobody else to you. choose from. Now, this is my first date, right? So I'm like, oh, so I can't let this nigger see that it got me. Right, because I can't, I can't let him see that it just stung. So I get up and go in the bathroom, but I guess my

walkaway was a little, you know, so why don't get seated, right? I was like, this, and I got going on stage and he told him I ain't funny, what kind of shit is this, right? Right, right. So here comes a knock on the door. I said, yes. He said, Monique, it's Tommy.

Tommy Davidson. Let me in. Now, he don't know if I'm shit and he don't know what I'm going with you let me in this damn bad. I opened up the door and he came in. He said, let me tell you something. You go out there tonight and you kick their ass.

Don't listen to what he had to say. He was just so big brother in that moment and I never forgot it. He was like, when you hit that goddamn stage, you take all of that and you crush that shit. You don't take that shit. Like, he was just so, Like that pep coach, before I went out, and I never forgot that.

So to be able to play with him on the Cat Williams tour and that chemistry, I just, when I were watching perform, Tommy Davidson is one of the most brilliant comedians I've ever seen doing. Because he can do a show in front of kindergartners all the way up to elderly. And it's the same show. Now, I cannot do that. Okay, it'll be something different. But to watch him do his thing, I always. I will forever honor him because that night he don't know how impactful he was coming in that

bed from saying, don't listen to his ass. Go out there and do your thing. Joe, Torrey, that's fucked up. That's what you did, Joey. Joe probably like, man, he didn't mean that she did. That's what he did. But it was great. But it was great.

He didn't smile with it. That was Joe when he had the vest. That was Joe when he had the vest. That was Joe. That was... That was... That she hurt. I was like...

That she hurt. That was, girl, I know you're going to feed nuts. You know, I was mad. Let me catch it. Yeah. Let me get right. Appreciate that time. Yeah.

But it just made me stronger. Yeah. Like, it just made me be like, all right, then. It's part of it. Because when you knew to it, you don't know. You don't know that somebody can say some slick shit. You don't know. You're just thinking, everyone's good.

This is so good. This is all these black people. We're going to go and do wonderful things. You don't know. noticed somebody could say that. And when he said it, it was like, departing, because I'm a fighter. I was like, but I said, let me get up

and go catch myself. Yeah. Yeah. And that night was a great time. Went great. Rocked it. It was a great time. Rocked it.

It was a great time. Did you come back and be like, yeah, we're a fucking in? Nope. No. Nope. I've never said, you know, for as many years as I've been on stages. And before my husband was my husband.

He was like my brother, right? And I will call him, he said, how did it go? And I said, I had a great time. I will never say I got a standing ovation. I would never say I rocked it. I would never say I ripped it tonight because I always felt like I would then be taking it from the universe and making it mine.

So even now, I have great times on stage, but that's what I say. We had a great time. I won't say I got to be. understand innovation because then I make it mine and I take away the gift and it becomes what I did so after 35 years baby I still say don't our daddy we had a great time that's it now I got to ask you this did you think that they would get so mad at you saying take them goddamn bonnets off you ain't you ain't say nothing wrong yeah every time I see a bunny now in the out

I'd be like, she said that shit. You ain't going to sleep. That shit goes on the pillow. I didn't think the older ones would have something to say. I understood the younger generation. That's why I didn't take it personal. Because I understood it. I didn't think that the older ones would have something to say.

That was the part that was like, you have a problem with me saying, be your best? What's wrong with you? Like, what's happening? So when I did say, and I still stand by it, when you wear that Halloween costume, that's what you look like. Halloween.

You have one of the bonnet, the pajamas, the slippers. That's a whole costume. And when did we get there? When did that become okay? When did we say that was acceptable? So again, I'm going to go back to let it go. We got so used to letting shit go. Just let it go.

Don't say nothing. Well, we let it go, and now that's what we let it go. And now that's what our babies think it's supposed to be. See what happens when you let shit go? You let it go for so long, it becomes normal. So when I see them in the airport, excuse me, and I don't see as many. I want to play them fair.

At one point, it was every third one. And you're like, what kind of shit is this? Now I see them not as often. And when I see them, if we lock eyes, right? If we lock eyes. Go to the back. lock eyes and they look like they're open. I say, come here, baby girl.

You're too beautiful to walk around like that. She'd be like, I know auntie, let me go take it off. But if I see one and we lock eyes and she looked like, bitch, I've been waiting for you to say something. I feel like, go on about to bed and miss. But if you're going with yourself, go on with yourself. But if your man happens to look at another woman, he should. Right.

He should. Right. You're nothing to look. at. If you're out and you're looking like a whole ball of mess and your man happen to look at something walking by, he should. That's only fair. You're not giving him anything to say, look at my girl. Look at how she representing me. Look at how she representing our family. So I still stand on that. Not backing down. Yeah. Talk to the top. What the girl say, clack it, do the little stupid shit. I know a lot of.

I know a lot of the up-and-coming young women comedians. I know they get the rap with you from time to time. Yes. What kind of advice are you giving the up-and-coming female comedians? Keep going. Unapologetic. I can't tell you how many times someone said to me, cussing like that won't get you no way.

You got to change your act. You got to do it this way. You got to do it that way. Do it the way your gift allows you to do it. And if you get out the way of that, that you'll be fine. Just keep going. Explain that, because you know,

you have some comedian, they'd be like, gotta clean up. You know, you wanna do it to get to clean up. But you're like, man, I'm just me. I'm gonna clean for you. I'm gonna be real, my shit ain't fuck kids. Book somebody else for that. That's it.

That's, I ain't tripping. That's, it's, there's room for everybody. There's room for you to go to the church and speak about Jesus and comedy. There's room for you to go to the church. the strip club and speak about pussy and funny. There's room for you to go to the regular club and have dark liquor and add

all of it together. There's room for everybody. So for you to say you must change, you're not for me. And I'm okay. I'm okay with that. Everybody's not my favorite movie joke is a dirty joke. It's not a dirty joke. It's a artist joke. When the when the nigga said, what about the K.Y.

Jellie? You said, nigga, put it on a biscuit, man. Hey! You don't say that. I said. That's the lonely. Shoot, you don't want that. You don't want that. Yeah.

And that's the fun part, too. When somebody can say, I remember when you said that. Yeah. I remember this part. I remember that part. One day I was dropping my grandson off to school, right? And in the car, it was three generations. And all of them knew me differently.

Right? The youngest one knew me from the rung rats. And I played Aunt Mool. Mm-hmm. Right? Once I started talking, they was like, that's Aunt Moore. Then the younger, the middle child knew me from the parkers. Then the older one knew me from Def Jam and all of those moments. So to be able to live through that.

What a blessing, man. Absolutely. How did he like doing the animation? Come on that. That's a whole fun ass bag to be in too. When you first get in this business, there's not. a 101. Right.

No one sits you down and say, this is 101 of entertainment. No one says, here's the handbook, here's the, no one goes over shit with you. You just have to figure it out. So when I first got called for animation, no one told me how to do goddamn animation. So I thought I had to do different shit. So they was like, you have to be an otter. I don't know what the goddamn otter. Ain't never been no damn otter.

So no one said just talking your regular. I was like, yes. And you can come and your, that's just wrong. And then you're trying to be an honor. I was trapped. They all had crack. I got this shit. I got this.

Right. Then they was like, well. See you're trying to be an honor. No one told me you're just supposed to talk in your regular shit, right? So I didn't understand. While they were left, I'm like, well, shit, because I don't audition. I'm like, I just came in here and read this, okay? I'm like, I got this shit, yeah.

They didn't call back, right? They didn't say anything. But when I went in for Aunt Moo, right? I knew now at this point you just talk in your voice and they'll put it to the little character. So again, there's no one-on-one. Nobody explains shit to you. You just got to figure it out. So when people say, I don't have a college degree,

Yes, you do. You go through college with this shit. Everything you do, baby, because you don't go to a building and sit down with a book and a pen, don't mean you ain't been to college. We've been to college. Some of us got our degrees and some of us didn't. In the field with it. Come on, baby. Come on, huh. Yeah. My class outside. Yes. I just don't walk with my books. Come on now. Come on. And you're only smart at what you know. That's it. You see it. You see. smarter what you know when people say i got my doctorate and what you know but take your ass to the jungles of the congo let's see how smart your ass is you're going to need some assistance yeah you smart at what you know i live below a cult leader and i fear i've angered her well wait a minute sophia a know she's a cult leader well dakota luckily it's i'm not afraid of a scary story week on the okay story time podcast so you'll find out soon This person writes,

My neighbor's been blasting music every day and doing dirt rituals, and now my ceiling is collapsing. I try to report them, but things keep getting weirder. I think they may be part of a cult. Hold up, Sophia. A real-life cult? And what is a dirt ritual? No clue.

But according to this person, contractors are tearing down the patio to find out what's going on with their ceiling, and her neighbors are not happy. Well, she needs to report them ASAP. She did. And now they've been confronting her, in really creepy ways all the time. So do we find out if this person survives their neighborhood cult or not?

To hear the explosive finale, listen to the OK Storytime podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In the new podcast, Hell in Heaven, two young Americans move to the Costa Rican jungle to start over. But one will end up dead. The other tried for murder. Not once. People went wild. Not twice. Stunned.

But three times. John and Ann Bender are rich and attractive, and they're devoted to each other. They create a nature reserve and build a spectacular circular home high on the top of a hill. But little by little, their dream starts to crumble,

and our couple retreat from reality. They lose it. They actually lose it. They sort of went nuts. Until one night, everything spins out of control. Listen to hell in heaven on the I-Heart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Crying Wolf Podcast is the story of two men bound by injustice, of a city haunted by its secrets, and the quest for redemption, no matter the price. White victim, female, pretty, wealthy, black defendant.

Chicago, a white woman's murder, a black man behind bars, for a crime he didn't commit. I got 90 years for killing somebody I have never seen. He says the police are his friends and then that's it. They turn on it. A corrupt detective. How he was interrogated the techniques. That's crazy. A snitch and a life stolen.

They got the wrong guy. But on the inside, Lee Harris finds an ally in his sally, Robert, who swears to tell the truth about what happened to Lee and free his friend. And if you're with me, your goal to, I'll take care of you. I'm going to be with you. You stuck with me for life. Listen to the Crying Wolf podcast, starting on October 22nd, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The forces shaping the world's economies and financial markets can be hard to spot. Even though they are such a powerful player in finance, you wouldn't really know that you are interacting with them. And even harder to understand.

Donald Trump's trade war, 2.0, is only accelerating the process of de-dollarization, which in a way is jargon for people turning away from the dollar. That is where the big take from Bloomberg podcast comes in to connect the dots. How unusual is a deal like this? Unprecedented. Every weekday afternoon, we dive deep into one big global business story. The biggest story of the reaction of the oil market to the conflict in the Middle East is one of what has not happened. Katie, you told me that ETFs are your favorite thing.

They are. Explain that. Why is that the case? And unpack what it means for you. Our breakfast foods are consistent consumer staples, and so they sort of become outsized indicators of inflation. Listen to the big take from Bloomberg News every weekday afternoon on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Who are some of your all-time favorite comedians? Or just regular people who make you laugh, like from the hood, from your block. The funniest person that makes me laugh, I sleep with her.

And that's my husband. Like, people don't know that about it. They don't know. You can smile. They go, smile. He threw a goal to try to-saint. They had shit he'll sing. And I'd be like, yo.

Did you just say that shit? Like, I signed him up one time for open mic night at my comedy club. He kept winning this shit. He was like, listen, because I see how committed you are, I couldn't do this shit. He said, when I get to Kentucky, I might not feel like being funny that night. You've got to be funny that night. And that's the difference, but he's naturally funny. Yeah.

Gut bucket. Like gut bucket down home, Mississippi funny. Oh, shit. That's not funny for real. Yeah. Yeah. But boy, it's funny. Like, and he's, when I did the BET Awards, it was it the last one?

He wrote everything. He wrote every single thing I said. And when I said to him, Daddy, can you write this? He was like, yeah. I never like it was just a trust that I'm like he got this yeah he got this and here's where your ego can get involved right I remember that night being interviewed and I was riding so high because the show was so good it was like oh my god and I never even said my husband wrote this I just took it yeah I just because I'm right but then when you play it back it's like

Oh, ooh, oh, no, ma'am. No ma'am. Writers, he wrote that. Let me make sure I acknowledge that. So when you say, who's funny? Did you laugh? Your ass off, right? Yeah.

All right then. Now, what made you do the whole Beyonce dance type shit? Because I'm a dancer. Mm-hmm. No, I'm a dancer, but I'm a dancer, baby. I'm a dancer. I'm a dancer. You know, one of those moments that's going to live forever, but.

For the culture type of shit, every time the BET Awards come around, that clip start going back around. You know, I've forever been a big woman. And I knew that the way big women are treated in this country, especially black big women, it's almost like you've committed a crime. And to see us beautiful and sexy and unapologetic, it's like, listen, let's show them something. different. Let's show them our sexy and our beauty. And yeah, we might jiggle a little bit, but damn it, the average woman does. So when I first went to BT to Stephen Hill, he said, oh, that's going to be so funny. And I said, it's not a joke. It's not a joke. We're doing this

for real. And once he knew I wasn't laughing, he was like, oh, okay. And even the introduction of it, I was unaware of it when the guy says, let's get ready to jiggle. Oh, no. I had no

idea that was going to happen. I had no idea that was going to happen. So the actual women and the dance was so impactful. And again, I said that humbly, you don't even remember that.

Right. You got to think about that to go back to it. So for that moment in time to see those big women, and I could see them at home, jumping up and down in front of their TVs, I could feel them, I could feel them saying, we good, Mo, we're okay, Mo, we are sexy, we are beautiful. So that will be a moment in time that I always hold on to.

And you know, this is the crazy part about it. You've been uplifting, big black women, BBWs, whoever, whatever name they go by these days. And then you went on your weight loss journey. Yes. And they got mad too. Well, am I a small woman? Are you asking me?

I am. Oh. No. I don't think so. Okay. down the street, would you say that's a big woman? And I'm not a sinned about it. I call it thick.

That's a thick woman, right? So to say some of the sisters got mad, it's like, y'all, I got to 200 pounds. Whenever is that a small person, I got to 198, whenever is that a small person. Am I smaller than I was? Yes, but I am still a big woman. I will always be a big woman. You see my head? You see my shoulders, me, good.

You see my feet. You see my ass. Like, I'm a big woman, and I'm okay with that. But what I am saying to our sisters now, listen, it's okay to be a big woman, but can we be healthy women? It's okay to be healthy women. There was a time I didn't think that way. There was a time I ate what I wanted to eat, when I wanted to eat it, however I wanted to eat it, because I was just big woman, and that's how people knew me, and you know what? And I'm over 300 pounds, and I can't climb a flight of steps without being out of breath.

And I can't move around like I'm supposed to. So it took my husband saying to me, check this out. That's too much. And what you're going to do? And when you've never been loved, the way that I'm being loved, you have. to make a different decision to say, I want that. I want that kind of love. I want to love back like that.

So I'll never be a small woman, but I don't want to be close to the cemetery due to self-neglect. So I hope our big, beautiful sisters can understand when I say that. And don't get it twisted. Sometimes people think because you're big, you're unhealthy, and because you're small, you're healthy. Sometimes it's the complete opposite, baby. Because if you don't take care of your body, I don't give a damn what size you are.

That's why I started the Monique's movement. It's on the YouTube channel. It's a free workout. Come on there and get your workout in. You don't have to be judged. You ain't got to be insecure. You can do it right in your home and just move your body. The person that moves, even if they're obese,

will outlive the person that is not, but they don't move. man we can sit here and do this all day man it's just it's so refreshing it's beautiful that's how i felt about you dc i swear the goodness baby that day i was just like look at this baby right here and could take a note that baby took a note we're sitting at that damn table oh was so good i appreciate it so good when you said i'm gonna throw it at you i said first of all she already established. Right. She don't care.

She's like, I want to see you in. So when I throw something at you and the whole time I'm there, I'm like, I know the script. Because we didn't sit at this table for three weeks. Everybody got to get their P.O. I'm like, man,

I'm like, man, I'm going to say that. Okay. And I swore on everything, man. I said, I ain't no win. But she was like, they, they're coming at you? I was like, this is my day. She said, I'm going to throw it at you. I'm like, I don't know what she's going to say, but when she said that with the fork and all that, and I said that, and they were like, cut.

She was like, I love you, bud. Yes. Yes. What you got it? That football game, that was not in the script. That was not in the, and I'm like, this baby, he's letting his get, when he ran over and said that one was for you, that wasn't in the script. Like, I'm just like, create, go, and you just kept going and look at you now, baby. I got to ask you this.

Yes. My baby. I just know that the hood would be on my ass if I didn't ask you about another iconic black movie that you've been a part of. Yes. Welcome home, Roscoe Jenkins. Yes. Ooh.

Let's go hold up. Yes. Yes. Yes. Where he's going? I ain't going to well. I don't know. That's the shit I like.

Just get up and walk off and come back. It's your shit. That's what you can do when it's your shit. Ain't a white person say, oh, ho, ho. We get the fuck. We can do that. Let's do that. Yeah.

My guy. Welcome home, Roscoe Jenkins. We did that. Was such an amazing time. And Martin Lawrence is selfless because he we let everybody shine. Everybody. Everybody was able to do their thing, right? And when you were with Mike Epps and Michael Clark Duncan, and you know that Mike Epps is going to go to the left at any time. And you know that Michael Clark Duncan, like, say something else, and I'm going to get your ass. So when you see them, he chase him, that's real shit. That's not scripted. That's not nothing. That is real. Like, it was just so. there. And then Martin Lawrence says, come on down to my

trailer. What's the nicest trailer you ever been in? The nicest trailer I've ever been in? Hmm. It's pretty decent. Describe it. It wasn't no experience. Like what I said to a bedroom.

I mean, he had like a little bedroom. Right. And then they have a bedroom in there. Right. And you could close the door. You closed the door. Right. When I stepped in his shit, it was three stories. Dang. Okay. A trailer?

When I stepped in his trailer, they had a mobile home. Listen. And then he said to me, Monique, don't ever let them tell you what you can have. And that was that brother showing me all that was possible without bragging, without saying look at my shit, he was saying, don't you ever let them tell you what you can have. Because if you want it, this is what's available. And I was grateful for him in that moment because that was a moment of, hey, sis, this is the kind of shit that's available to us.

This is what's available to us. So it was incredible. It was incredible to make that movie with someone that I grew up watching, house party. What's happening now? Come on. Come on. Remember Martin Lange was on what's happening now? Yeah, yeah.

Okay? Maurice. Listen, listen. Then you see the Martin show and now I get a chance to play with this brother. Yeah. You would fuck me up because I didn't even know they had three-story trailer. Well, I did not either. I'm going to ask for a three-story trailer next year.

Okay. Three-story trailer, bro. I did not either. And it was just, so I've been appreciative of the ones I've been around who was willing to share. Yeah. Like I've been around some of the greats, Patty LaBelle, Asherdon Simpson. I've been around Stephanie Mills.

I've been around those people that said, let me show you something. Let me put something in your ear. I've appreciated those moments because they've walked the path before me. And they were willing to say, let me just show you. If you just stay on this path, you are all right.

That's all right, yeah. Well, what we got for? Well, this could really be a 10-part series. You can come back every month. You can come back whenever you want. You can come back and host this shit if you want to. You got shit and get out of that shit and say what you feel, man. We ain't scared.

You ever see what you're saying. You don't just want to get out the house. Yeah, we out there. But we did get you something. We got you something. We can't let you come down here and not get you some. Oh, my babies. Thank you, y'all.

Should I open it now? Yes. It's like Christmas. Yes. Ooh, she'd like it. Yeah. Oh, y'all have merchandise. Yeah, we got merchandise.

You can get a tape with your husband. I don't know if you're like, hip up around and wear that. My sweet babies? Ooh. Oh, come on now. You got pop your collar. Yeah.

85 South. It's my size though, right? Yeah, it won't be a middra for me. No, it's going to be comfortable. Okay. You're going to be comfortable. Oh, yeah, that's, come on, baby. Y'all got the size right.

Work out it. That's going to do whatever. You do whatever. You're going to make sure his respect. Thank you, my babies. Hey, man. Any questions from the floor? Anybody got out?

Come on now, we got a real, we got a real icon in here now. Auntie, I got more questions. I know you do. Ask it, baby. You're on a podcast. You're funny. I know. So, being from Baltimore.

Yes. The two, do, like, what is the origin behind there? I always was fascinated by that. To do, do. How y'all say those words? We say Doug. Yeah. We say mother.

We say father. F-A, M-O-V-A, that's just how we say it. You know, that's our dialect. That's how we talk. I can't, we say Baltimore with that D in there. Oh, y'all say Baltimore. Barthamore. I ain't never, I ain't never, I ain't kept that.

We say Baltimore. We say Baltimore. You don't understand the new lingo they got today, dude. I don't understand none of it. When they be abbreviating shit, I'm like, listen. I'm talking with the jet lines. What's up the new shit? The Jettulines and the Fat Latugans.

That's pretty. That's how they talk. No, that's how they're talking in Baltimore. Don't nobody talk about that in Baltimore? No one talks. Who have you made in Baltimore? I promise. They talk like that.

I've not meant them yet. I don't know, baby. I don't know those. He was speaking more like the avenue. That's it. That's what they come in. Yeah. We sing when we talk.

Yeah. We sing with it. Yeah. You part is kind of like frustrating y'all. Got some questions. There's a woman in the industry. When was the time in the room? When you realized you were the only woman in that room?

Like in that space, right? When if I realized I was the only woman in the room? That day on the death jam tour with Joe Tori, I was the only woman in the room. And I had to make a decision. Do I cuss his ass out? Mm-hmm. And never be the only one.

in the room again? Or do I get up and catch my breath and then go put the gift on stage? So, yeah, when you do realize that, you hold your position. You ain't got to be a fella, you be the woman in the room. Talk your talk. Yeah. That's such a great question. I love James Earl Jones, okay?

And I know he has since transitioned. And James O. Jones is an older gentleman, right? And I was standing next to him one day, okay? And he wanted to hug me around my waist. But his hand was like on the top of my ass. And I was like, this James Ho-Cho. This is D'Ovade of Daddy. This is Root from Claudine.

I didn't even say nothing. I let him stay right there. He can't tell from my back to the, you know, it's all right. But he was. He was everything. He was truly that patriarch. He was the energy of, I've been here. I've done it.

I'm going to share my gift with these babies. He was that, just like Danny Glover. Like, to work with Danny Glover on almost Christmas, Danny Glover was everything. He was like the OG. We would watch Danny Glover do this. And this is OG shit. This is how you preserve yourself.

He was sitting there. look down the room table and do this. When we were in cut, he would go to sleep. When it was time to go, he was up in it. We are young. We go on, go on.

But I just watched him. I watched him say, let me preserve. And when it's my turn, let me go. I watched James Earl Jones do the same thing. When it wasn't they turned, they was like,

I don't need to be no way. But when it was their turn, baby. So, yeah, when you work with the greats, you go to school. You go to school, yeah. Did you, before you did the time, like, growing up, like, in high school and you did? Did you be, like, theater and stuff? That's such a great question. I was in one school play.

And I played a dying grandmother. And I had no lines, but I was going to show that mother. fuck us, baby, that I was gonna be something. It took me five minutes to die, nigger. Oh, oh, oh, no. Like, where is it going to be? No. Oh.

Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Yes. Just one school play, baby. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. That's funny. So not to get too much into me, but my mother was a son who got pregnant with me. And I was born into a family that had a stronghold of hatred, toxicity, and anger. So when I hear you say that you didn't have a relationship with their parents and you have siblings that you don't have relationships with, but I see you have such a soft and loving heart,

how do you make the choice to forgive and not be consumed with hate and anger towards people that you want to have with relationship with and you love? I thought you like that. You know, for me, And I don't know, this only worked for me. I know what I came from, and I know what I prayed for. And when I received what I prayed for, I couldn't take what I came from and put it into that

because I would be just carrying the poison from one generation to the next generation. So for me, I had to get to a place where I had to save my life. and I had to really appreciate and respect the family that I prayed for. I asked for a second chance. I asked for another chance. So I didn't hate my family. I don't hate my family. I love those people.

However, I knew that in staying with those people, I would continue to be sick. And I was mentally sick. I was ill. And that illness was taking over. And it was getting me to a place where it was getting dangerous. So I had to choose me. I had to choose me. And I stopped loving, but I had to get to a place where I had to say,

I've got to walk away from this. Because if not, I will repeat the same thing. And if y'all are not willing to change, I'm not going to try to change you. I just got to change me and keep moving. And I think, too, And it took me a long time to do that. So I don't want you to think that that's something that's just like, oh, girl, you just got to walk away.

It took me years because you always told, that's your family. And you get down for your family. And I don't care. I will not get down for people that will not get down for me, regardless as to who you are, because you will wind up in a place of misery. And you'll start taking your last breaths. saying, I wonder what would have happened if I would have only done that.

So as long as you still got breath, baby, be happy. Be happy. Man. Monique, we more than appreciate you stopping through here. I thank y'all for having me, baby. Come on, uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh, why are you here? Why are you here? Why are you here? Hell no.

We got to get you to sign this table. Now, I got to tell y'all something. This the best shit I've ever been on, okay? Because I, listen, let me just tell you why. To my right, he was rolling. To my left, he already had one roll. Sitting right here, baby, you had a little piece you was working with.

You did what I'm saying? I said, this the best shit ever. This is, man, you're gonna lie to remember. You got through the work, let me go. I was that. I was smoking for a lot. I was too edgy. I have a bit about moment.

I'm sitting there like, let it up. Pick you a spot. Come on this side. It's a little more room over here. Give my lighter for you stealing, because you'll be stealing the lighters. You're gonna be stealing, man.

Damn. Now, I don't put that label on me now. Now, I accidentally took some shit, but I ain't even gonna lie the thief. Shit. You know what, I'm gonna come drop out a load of lighter so that'll just wipe off all the little thiever. Clit your debt.

Clip my debt. 85 South show, Monique, we are out of you dead. Come on. Look. I was like, what is it on my edge? Okay, man. I was like to get my bun phone now.

Hello, America's sweetheart Johnny Knoxville here. I want to tell you about my new true crime podcast, Crimeless, Hillbilly Heist, from smartless media, campside media, and big money players. It's a wild tale about a gang of high-functioning nitwits who somehow pulled off America's third largest cash heist. Kind of like Robin Hood, except for the part where he steals from the rich and gives him. for the poor, I'm not that generous. It's a damn near inspiring true story for anyone out there who's ever shot for the moon, then just totally muffed up the landing.

They stole $17 million and had not bought a ticket to help him escape. So we're saying like, oh God, what do we do? What do we do? That was dumb. People do not follow my example. Listen to Crimless, Hillbilly Heist on the IHeart Radio app. Apple Podcasts are where. wherever you get your podcast. I live below a cult leader, and I fear I've angered her. Wait a minute, Sophia. How do you know she's a cult leader?

Well, Dakota, luckily it's I'm not afraid of a scary story week on the OK Storytime podcast. So we'll find out soon. This person writes, my neighbor has been blasting music every day and doing dirt rituals. And now my ceiling is collapsing. I try to report them, but things keep getting weirder. I think they might be part of a cult. Hold up. A real life cult? And what is a dirt ritual?

No clue, Dakota. Find out how it ends. Listen to the OK Storytime podcast on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Chicago. A white woman's murder. A black man behind bars. For a crime he didn't commit. 90 years of killing somebody I have never seen.

The Crying Wolf podcast is the story of a corrupt detective, two men bound by injustice, and the quest for redemption. No matter the price. Listen to the Crying Wolf Podcasts on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Big Take podcast from Bloomberg News keeps you on top of the biggest stories of the day. My fellow Americans, this is Liberation Day. Stories that move markets. Chair Powell opened the door to this first interest rate cut. Impact politics, change businesses.

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