The Ben Mulroney Show - Debut of The Dilemma Panel

Episode Date: January 24, 2025

Guests and Topics on Today's Show Guest: Morris Chestnut, Actor and Star of the New Show on Global, Watson Guest: Jully Black, Juno Award winning Singer, songwriter and actress If you enjoyed the podcast, tell a friend! For more of the Ben Mulroney Show, subscribe to the podcast! https://globalnews.ca/national/program/the-ben-mulroney-show Follow Ben on Twitter/X at https://x.com/BenMulroney Enjoy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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I'm so glad to have, as part of our inaugural dilemma panel, two incredible guests. Julie Black, longtime friend, former colleague, world-beating diva with one of the best voices in the country. Welcome to the show. Thank you. I'm so, so happy to have you here. Congratulations, Ben. Welcome to the show. Thank you. I'm so, so happy to have you here. Congratulations, Ben.

Thank you. Thank you. Well, I'm having fun. I gotta say, now I'm of two minds with this next guest that we're gonna be welcoming. Because I, first of all, let's just welcome Morris Chestnut, incredible actor to the show. Thank you so much for being here.

Thank you for having me. I appreciate it. Here's why I'm a little, I'm pulled in two directions. Okay. Is, a few months ago, I started taking my health very seriously. Yes. And I'm feeling myself a little bit.

Uh-huh. And then you walk in. Oh. You walk in and I just feel like a bag of dirt. No, you look great, man, you look great. Well, thank you. I'm so, so honored to have you here. We're gonna talk about this great new project

that you're promoting in a little bit, but let's get into the dilemma, shall we? Yes. We shall. All right, so first off, here's the first dilemma. Dear Ben, I don't like my spouse's cooking, especially one dish she insists on making weekly. Ooh, I can't mention what it is because it might give away who this is.

How do I tell them I don't like their cooking without hurting their feelings? Sincerely anonymous. Now it's entirely possible that my wife sent that in. So I just realized that now. But yeah, how do you broach difficult topics with the people that you love the most, Julie? Well, you're doing forever with this person, right?

So I think this person probably pretended they liked it, right? That's what I was gonna say. Right? And now they can't get out of it. Right, right, right. That's what I was gonna say know. Right? And now they can't get out of it. Right, right, right. That's what I was gonna say. They pretend, at one point they probably said they liked it to be kind, but I think it's best

just to lead and just be honest from the very beginning. However, now that they're in that situation, I think it's probably best just to go ahead and be honest. If, you know, it's just doesn't taste, and it probably doesn't, it doesn't taste as good as it used to. Oh, that's right, yeah. You say, oh shit, did you use the wrong spice here?

I don't know. But if, Julie, if you're right, then this person shouldn't have too much trouble because they're, the person doing the cooking is doing it because she thinks, she or he thinks that the person receiving it loves it. Right. And if they told me, you know, actually,

I don't care for it anymore, my taste has changed. Well maybe they're doing it for them anyway. Taste has changed. They could also suggest, hey, you know what, how about I try making a dish, right? And then they do it together. Type vibes, recommend some seasonings. But that won't solve the problem though,

because after they try it once, they say, okay, I'm gonna go back to making it the way I like it. So it really doesn't solve the problem. Or you could be straight up Jamaican and say, listen, man, listen, ear what? Ear what? Ear what? This marriage not gonna work.

If you keep making this food. You see me? Stop making the food. I don't think I can pull that off, Julie. I think we'd be getting calls on this show if all of a sudden I started pulling that out. All right, but are there dishes in your lives that you just can't eat?

I eat healthy. So I'm going through this, you know, somewhat with my fiance now. He's an American, shout out. And you know, the FDA rules are different. The seasonings, everything tastes different in America. So now I'm like, listen, you come to Canada, get a taste of our health, change a palate a little bit,

and export some seasonings. Oh, so he likes it bland? No, he loves seasonings. Oh, he loves seasonings, right? Yeah. But the healthy seasonings. Not all this MSG. He's from the South.

From the South, yeah. Yeah, Georgia. So for me, I mean, mine is easy because I have a very basic palette in terms of the entree. I pick my meals by, my restaurants by the dessert because I'm a huge sweet tooth. Oh, you got sweet tooth. I have huge sweet tooth, yes. And so, so I'm easy.

I mean, it's really hard to mess up certain sweets, so I'm easy. Yeah, I always, before I go to a restaurant, I'm the type of guy who always checks out the menu online. So I make up my mind before I even leave the house. They actually call me the queen of the mods. The modify. Oh, really? Modify everything.

Some people hate that. Julie, some chefs hate that. That's a whole other dilemma. But here's the dilemma number two. Dear Ben, I don't like my brother's girlfriend. And recently, he's been talking about proposing to her. She doesn't treat him well.

She makes snide remarks every now and then, and I believe you should never disrespect your spouse in front of others, no matter how small the slight. Keep that in house. How do I mention it to him without harming our relationship? Have you ever been in a situation like this? Not with a sibling, but with a friend. Oh yeah. For sure.

So what'd you do? They're going to choose who they're going to lay down with. At the end of the day, I don't think that he should go to the brother. No? I think he should go to the future sister-in-law. Really? Why? How? And say, hey, hear what I notice how you've been disrespecting my brother. I know that I don't really like your tone. Yeah. Like, we're gonna, you're gonna be welcoming to our family here, and we respect the man a certain kind of way. So if you really want this forever to be a forever forever,

fix up your tone. Wow, okay. So to me, I would need a little bit more information here, but see, I think that the issue is, here I would have to go to the brother. First of all, you are correct. I mean, the woman is not marrying the brother have to go to the brother. First of all, you are correct. I mean, the woman is not marrying the brother, she's marrying the person that she's with.

But I would have to say, I would talk to him and say, listen, it's very kind of disrespectful what she's saying to you. Do you see it or do you not see it? And that's pretty much all you can do in these types of situations because when people are involved in these types of relationships,

if they can't see it, if it doesn't affect them now, it's not until it gets later on down the line, hopefully they'll see it, but he can't see the forest for the trees at this moment in the relationship. Yeah, and look, marriage is forever and forever is a long time and if you settle down with the wrong partner, it's going to be a long life. And I don't know how it is in your family, but in my family, you marry the whole family. Oh yeah, without a lot, but here's the thing in these types of situations, it's almost like kids, as soon as you tell someone you shouldn't be with that person, that's the person they're going to be. They're locked and loaded. They go even deeper. They go even

deeper in that relationship. Absolutely. But that's, I mean, that's what you do as a kid when you say like the liquor cabinet's off limits, but when it's about a partner, you should be listening to all the people who matter most to you. Well, no, because here's the thing. So, you know, of course, as actors, when we break down a character, we always go with the emotion. Emotion trumps logic. So there is something that's driving that relationship for that man emotionally, so

much so he can't see the slights that's going on. So it's not until later on, that is gonna have to wear off if it wears off, before he's gonna wake up and say, all of a sudden, oh wait a minute, I don't like the way you treat me. And hopefully, it'll be sooner rather than later. And this isn't a sibling, but it's a friend, true story.

I had to break up with a girlfriend of 27 year friendship. She's married to this person, and this person continuously infidelity, disrespect, disrespect and finally I'm like you know what you said forever you said for better or worse so now you know. So what happened with that friendship? It's over. No not with the friendship but is she still with the person? Still with the person. Still with the person.

Still with the person. 25 years. Yeah it's hard to break. It's hard to break. That person is driving something emotionally. All right, so that dovetails very nicely into our third dilemma. Dear Ben, I am now in my late 40s. I had a really tight-knit friend group growing up and we keep in contact in a group chat.

There's one friend whose views have evolved in a way I don't like and have made efforts to engage less and less with them. The problem is I feel obligated to remain friends with someone I have a 30-year history with. How should I approach this? Julie Black? So I went straight to my therapist's true story and I figured out how to unfriend, how to break this friendship up to really leave, to reposition myself because guess why? I was not being my true authentic self. I had to put on this character, not pun intended,

but I had to put on this character to be pun intended, but I had to put on this character to be around these friends. I wasn't being truly Julie. That's a problem. If I cannot be authentically Julie all the time, that is a problem. So I repositioned myself, it took 13 minutes. I had all my lines written out.

I told her exactly why, what was going on. And you know what, if it was a boyfriend or cheating or disrespecting me, I would have ended the relationship. So why don't we end friendships? Yeah. Good point, good point. Morris Chess, now the last 30 minutes,

30 seconds are for you. Okay, so what I would say, I think there's more information that I would need here because primarily, so if it's just, it's natural as friends and people, we grow apart. However, 30 year friendship, I'm wondering what skeletons do you have in the closet that this person has that you don't wanna break up?

You don't wanna break up that friendship. So if you're concerned about that, then the problem's a little bit deeper. Yeah, a little bit deeper than that. All right, hey, thank you to both of you. Don't go anywhere because we're closing out this week in style with more problem solving with Morris Chestnut and Julie Black.

That is next on the Ben Mulrooney Show right here on the Chorus Radio Network. Welcome back and our Dilemma panel continues. If you want your questions answered next week, email us at askbenn at chorusent.com. And you might find your question being asked and solved on our next panel. This panel is, I mean, it's a high watermark for sure.

We've got Morris Chestnut, the star of the new show on Global Watson. Looks like a million bucks. I'm here on my t-shirt. And Julie Black, award-winning, Juno award-winning singer, songwriter and actress. Welcome to the show. Oh, thank you.

Okay, here we go. Dilemma number four. Hey there, I'm a 38-year-old man and I'm unhappy with my job. I've been doing it for 15 years now and I often dream of going off on my own and becoming an entrepreneur. The problem is the thought of no paycheck terrifies me.

I've been, I've given up on my dreams for the safety net of a salary. How do I break out of that mentality? At 38 it's scary, especially because I have two young children and a wife. Yeah, he's between a rock and a hard place, but I get that feeling, that desire to take that risk. Yes, I do too.

What I would suggest, what I would try to do in this situation is I would keep the paycheck, you're just gonna have to work, you're gonna have to double time and work even harder when you're not working at whatever job that is. Because that's the only way because you have to support your children and just have to work harder. Yeah.

It's to have a side hustle first until it can take care of you. Exactly. Yeah. And depending on where you're working, you could probably take a leaf of absence, but really sit down with wifey though. Sit down with wifey and say, hey, here are my dreams. Because maybe he parked them and she hasn't really been, she doesn't know his true desires.

And let's make some sacrifices. How many vacations aren't we gonna take anymore? Maybe a couple of snail appointments. Whatever it's gonna be like, I consider it like being in a canoe together. We're both rowing. Sometimes I'm gonna have to row for you, babe. I'm gonna row.

He'll row. We gotta do this together. Yeah, love that. But as actors, as musicians, I mean, you are entrepreneurs. You bet on yourselves. Yes. And everything that you get comes from the work that you do.

So you're on the entrepreneurial side of this. I'm the corporate guy. I'm the guy who checks in and checks out. It's such a big risk. So what would you suggest? Being on the corporate side. No, I agree with you guys completely. Like, make it a side hustle until it's so successful

that it can become your full-time gig. I will say this though, on the other side of fear, that's where your biggest breakthrough is. You're not trying to get too deep with it. And then every win after that, it's so much sweeter. So much sweeter. All right, here's the final dilemma. Dear Mr. Mulrooney, oh, very respectful.

My wife makes more than me and it bothers me a little. It makes me feel lesser than. How do I get over it? My friends all tell me I should be happy with this scenario, oh, very respectful. My wife makes more than me and it bothers me a little. It makes me feel lesser than. How do I get over it? My friends all tell me I should be happy with this scenario, but I am not. We share most of the chores at home, so it's not about men and women having their roles thing. I don't know why it bothers me.

Is it ego? Guys, go ahead. I just got engaged at 47 years old because there's so, not the only reason, but so many men are, oh, you know, you make more, you're insecure. But let me tell you something, my fiance Valentine, Marcus Louis Valentine, oh, I love him so much.

He helped me take the S off my chest. Instead of being a strong black woman, now I can be safe, seen, and soft. Right? Yes, my three S's. So this man has to realize that there's so much more that he brings to the table. Like, don't take her options away.

Right? Like, come on. Yeah. That's very well said. Yes, I think that he has to be really honest with himself because in that statement he says not, you know, I feel a certain way, it's not about men versus women roles, but clearly it is.

Or else it wouldn't be an issue in the first place. So he has to be honest with himself in either just work hard to get over it or do something to where, you know, try to make more money. If that's what drives him. That's not gonna fix it though. He's gonna make more money,

he's gonna be like, I'm still not making more money. Well, I think in his mind it will because if he's saying that that's the issue, I think the challenge is he says, well, it's not about men versus women roles, but it clearly is. He says, my wife makes more money than me. True, true.

You gotta check his friends, family. I think it's culture. I'd love to know the culture. We need more information from these people. Yes, 100% Guys, thank you so much. I want to talk about why you're here, why I'm so lucky to have you in my company today. Sunday, January 26th at 10 p.m. on Global and Stack TV, the new Medical Mystery Watson debuts. And there's something about these characters, these Sherlock Holmes characters, where we are so excited to see them played by different actors,

taking place in different times. And you've got a whole new take on it. Yes so I was really excited so this is a modern-day story of the Sherlock Holmes mythology told from Watson's perspective that focuses on Watson and what I love with Craig Sweeney our showrunner has done basically combines two sub-re genres so the story opens up when Sherlock dies and he gifts Watson a clinic to solve medical mysteries. However, we also go out into the field as detectives to help gather the information to solve the medical mystery. So inside the hospital were doctors,

outside the hospital were detectives. So this show, we are doc-tectives. To where we combine the two genres, the medical genre and the investigative drama. What is it about these characters? There's certain characters we're very precious about, right? We don't want their mythology messed with. But from the show Sherlock and then we saw elementary, we get excited when there's a

fresh new take on these traditional characters. Well, the thing about it is Arthur Conan Doyle is the creator of Sherlock Holmes. He has so many characters and stories that are just so rich that it's just a great storytelling. So many things to draw from. And when you just have it in different iterations, it's just so interesting to watch. Yeah, yeah.

And Julie, you've got a tour coming up. I do, I do. Tell me all about it. Fountains Stories Tour. It's so exciting because I'm independent now. And nowadays there aren't many stages for emerging artists. And so for someone who's emerged in this country, it's important for me to be a bridge,

big enough for everyone to cross. And so we're going across the country independently and I'm so excited. I'm dedicating it to my late mom and we're telling stories. So the one thing I haven't had on this show yet is anybody sing. And I know that you can sing at the drop of a hat.

So if I buy a ticket to your show, what am I gonna hear? You're gonna hear, Oh pirates, yes they rabbi Sold I to the merchant ships Minutes after they took I From the merchant ships, minutes after they took I From the bottomless pit, but my hands were made strong By the hands of the almighty, we forward in this generation Triumphantly, Canada, Won't you help me sing these songs of freedom?

Cause all I ever had, redemption song. Woo! All right, I love this. When do we get tickets? When does it start? February 7th, across the country. Truly. All right.

Truly black, I get the chills every time you sing. Morris, your turn to sing. Oh, yeah. Nah, that's what happened there, bro. No, but this is so exciting that you've got this new show. Is there anything else you're working on? Well, that and the show that Julie and I were talking about, Reasonable Doubt.

My show! There's going to be a season three and I'll be around there somewhere. But right now, it's just Watson premiering this Sunday, 10 o'clock on Global. Yeah, and you've be a season three and I'll be around there somewhere. But right now it's just Watson premiering this Sunday, 10 o'clock on global. Yeah, and you've got a whole, I mean, who else do you have on the show? Eve Harlow's on the show?

Eve Harlow, we have Richie Costner, we have Eve Harlow, Richie Costner, Inge Schlingman, Rochelle Aitze, and we have Peter Mark Kendall who actually plays two characters. He plays identical twins on the show. Oh, that's right! Yes. That's right. I was trying to figure it out as well as like oh my god like what's going on with the guys here? I was like no no he's good. He's great. Yeah he's great. Exactly. Yes. Well I'm so glad to have you here and Julie I'm so so proud of you. How can people buy tickets? Oh julieblack.com

yeah go on there right to the events page we're going February 7th to March 11th across the country. And come on out. It's for everyone, all ages. Oh, fantastic. Well, I can't tell you how much it means that you guys took time out of your busy schedules to help me. We're trying different things on this show.

And Fridays, we work so hard Monday through Thursday. Friday, we try to have as much fun as possible. And it's just such a real treat that you guys were able to join us. Well, I'm local. So if you ever need Julie Black Friday. Yeah. Julie Black Friday.

It could always be a Julie Black Friday. No, but I guess it's like, it's incredible because you and I, at least I started out, I cut my teeth in TV and you were right there next to me. There's 20 odd years ago. And right before you did this show, you were over at, you were at the morning show, I believe. That's right.

And the two producers there are the ones who hired me in the first place. Jordan and Morley. Yeah. We love them. It's a small world. That's right. It's a really small world.

Listen, I could keep you. I still have, I've got another minute and a half of the show. I wish we had another dilemma to get to, but I gotta say, I've been following your career for so long. Thank you, and you've conducted yourself with such style, and you're such a, you're like every guy's favorite guy.

Ah, thank you, thank you. And the best man, anytime that comes on TV, I still watch it. I'm still watching. I had a lot of fun here, thank you for having me and having us, and I had a great time. So thank you. I want to remind everybody that Watson premieres Sunday,

January 26th at 10 PM on global and stack TV. And following the premiere, the second episode airs Monday, February 17th at 7 PM. And then it moves to its regular time slot Sunday at 9 PM Eastern starting on February 23rd. There's a lot to get to there, but people are going to find it for sure. Guys, thank you so much. Eastern starting on February 23rd. There's a lot to get to there, but people are gonna find it for sure. Guys, thank you so much.

Morris Chestnut, Julie Black. Thank you so much for being here for the first Dilemma panel. Home Network is here. I love it. Discover the best shows and your favorite trusted experts, all under one roof.

Are you kidding me? Every Thursday, watch heartwarming programs like an all new Extreme Makeover Home Edition at 8. Home at Five! We are so lucky to be a part of this. And Honest Renovation, starring Jessica Alba and Lizzie Mathis at 9. Changing these homes, we can change families. There's no place like it.

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