The Ben Mulroney Show - Trump goes all Trumpy in Davos/A Grammy nomination for a jazz singer?

Episode Date: January 21, 2026

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Starting point is 00:00:00 This podcast is brought to you by the National Payroll Institute, the leader for the payroll profession in Canada, setting the standard of professional excellence, delivering critical expertise, and providing resources that over 45,000 payroll professionals rely on. Is this really the best use of my time? Can my clients quick tax questions ever be quick? Is this really the best use of my time? Well, busy season always end in Barnhouse. Is this really the best use of my time? Do I have to turn down partner to spend enough time with my kids? With BlueJ, you'll have more time to do what's important to you by completing hours of tax research in seconds. Get better answers to tough questions. BlueJ, AI, for tax experts.
Starting point is 00:00:45 Amazing days is on now with your local Metro. Save big on amazing items, like selected varieties of Campbell's broth for only 125 each. And fresh, boneless, skinless chicken breast value packs for just 488 per pound, only till January 21st. Shop in store or at metro.com. That's right. BMS is the first show of the rest of your life. Welcome to the show today on this 21st of January, 2026.
Starting point is 00:01:35 Thank you so much for beginning hump day. No, not beginning hump day. I'm still in the mode where I do the show earlier in the day. No, you are midday. You are in the fullest expression of your day. And I hope that whatever you're doing, you're doing it well. I'm giving it a good, solid B-minus effort today. as George Costanza would say,
Starting point is 00:01:57 not showing off, not falling behind. Same. Yeah, no, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I know, seriously, I hope everyone's doing well. Last night was a tremendous honor for me. What are you doing with the foot up? Amy Siegel is just getting...
Starting point is 00:02:12 Don't get too comfortable. Just casual. How are you, Amy Siegel? How are you, Amy Siegel? I'm excellent. I want to hear about your night last night. Well, first, let's say how to intrepid producer Mike Drillet. Yeah, don't say hump day and look me in the eye again.
Starting point is 00:02:23 I like that. Santiago, how are you? How are you? How you doing? How you doing? Much thanks. Very well. Good, good, good.
Starting point is 00:02:30 Lo, so last night I went to Vaughn, Ontario, for a 2,000-person event. Holy. Celebrating the courage and the strength of Elie Shabari. He's the Shabari, the hostage from the Hamas hostage who was in captivity for 491 days. and his story is one of pain and living with that pain. I don't think you overcome the pain, the tragedy this man has experienced. And there are 2,000 people there, and I was fortunate enough to really, I felt appreciated by them, to be honest.
Starting point is 00:03:12 But what I tell you what I was struck by. I was struck by, because I'm one person removed from the Jewish community. I'm an ally. The rabbi who was conducting the Q&A with Ellie reminded me how how intimately linked all Jews are around the world, including Jewish Torontoians,
Starting point is 00:03:39 to the hostages that they had never met. And so him being in that room was a family member being returned to the warm embrace of the family. And when I saw that, all of a sudden, I felt this energy in the room that I guess I had been shut off to. It was remarkable. It was remarkable. And his story was fantastic.
Starting point is 00:04:05 And the rabbi did, acquitted himself tremendously. I hope he's not in the market to do more Q&As because that's my thing. It was, it was amazing. Yeah. Absolutely amazing. I want to read his book. Yeah. It's called hostage.
Starting point is 00:04:16 Yeah. I think we should all. Maybe we should have the Ben Mulnery show Book Club. Let's start a book club. Yeah, we should have a book club. What do you think? You're the new Oprah. Sure. Why not? Except I'm a really slow reader. Are you?
Starting point is 00:04:27 This year, we're reading one and a half books. Did you not get the Instagram video I sent you? I've had a speed read? Yes. It just reminded me of how slower reader I was. It took them too long to get through it. It didn't even get at the beginning of it. Yeah, but meanwhile, so at this event, I guess we got an email yesterday. We got a text message yesterday from a loyal listener named Talley.
Starting point is 00:04:50 We won't say full name. But she was like, you know, I'm going to the same event because you mentioned it. And I don't want to, I'm not a stalker or anything, but I'd love to meet a Ben. And I respond. I said, yeah, I told Ben about it. And I said, he'd love to meet you. Just go over and say hi. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:05:03 Yeah. So this was an email that we received, I guess, after the event. Yesterday, I was so excited when you announced we're going to be seeing Elis Shirabi. I texted in. I said, OMG, I would love to meet you. I believe it was your amazing intrepid producer that wrote back and said he'd be happy to say hi. Apparently I'm intrepid. And then she said, you know, she had all these things that she wanted to say.
Starting point is 00:05:26 And then, but then when she finally saw me, she said, hi, Mr. Mulroney. I'm stalking you. That's a great opening line. She thought she'd be funny. She said, you looked at me, smiled and quickly made off, as you should have. And anyway, I want to say thank you. It was a real pleasure to have met you, Talley, but also to have been there. with everybody in that room.
Starting point is 00:05:47 I felt very special being there. Somebody who, I believe, feels special at every moment of his life is Donald Trump. And he made his way to Davos yesterday, the World Economic Forum. And a lot of people have been waiting for that other shoe to drop, right? With all the talk on Greenland, with all the talk on taking over that island,
Starting point is 00:06:05 with all the talk on tariffs on French wine, 200% tariffs on French wine, and all the slings and arrows that were so accustomed to from him. What was he going to say when he got on stage? Well, before we get on, before we do that, let's level set with comedian Ryan Long. It's pretty crazy right now, though. I feel like every time you turn on any news,
Starting point is 00:06:27 it's just like, Trump wants to invade Jupiter, and you're like, bad news for Jupiter. Trump just has a wheel that he spins with different colors. It's like, green, greenland, you're f***. Yellow, ooh, Kim Jong-un, bad news. Brown, London. So Ryan Longway, he's going to be in Toronto? He's in Ottawa the 30th and Toronto the 31st.
Starting point is 00:07:00 I like it. I like that we pump the tires of entrepreneurs and stand-up comics on this show. Oh, wait. Hey, but in both cases, they're hustlers and they believe in themselves. Should we start a stand-up comedian club? Like go to some stand-up? Yeah. Well, I'm going to show.
Starting point is 00:07:15 I'm going to see Ben Bankis. Absolutely. Yeah. That's right. All right. So, so that's, that's sort of what people are expecting. Like, well, he's going to spin a wheel and then he's just going to have a new target, right? So who was going to be in his crosshairs? Well, everybody. So let's listen to a little bit of Donald Trump's speech. This was Trump using Trump history. And then after the war, which we won, we won it big without us. Right now, you'd all be speaking German and a little Japanese perhaps. A little Japanese, perhaps. I mean, if you've seen the man. the High Castle, you know what that alternate
Starting point is 00:07:50 history could be. That's great, great, great show. It's a great show. Fantastic show. First original drama by Amazon Prime, by Prime Video. Interesting. Yeah. And I'm shot in Vancouver. Yeah. Okay. Okay. So that's, like, the reason we want to keep that in there is because that's, that's been like the mic drop of like,
Starting point is 00:08:10 you know, old, old military vets for years. Yeah. Yeah. He's speaking German if not for me. In a movie when they're getting into a going toe to toe to toe with a Brit. If it wasn't for us, you'd be speaking German. So it's an old chestnut that he brought back and he turned into Trump history. Let's hear Trump using Trump math. This enormous, unsecured island is actually part of North America on the northern frontier of the western hemisphere. That's our territory.
Starting point is 00:08:39 I mean, not Trump, man. More more like Trump geography. Sure. Okay. Listen, we're living in Trump's world. So that's how he sees it. In his mind, it's a hop, skip, and a jump from New York City. But, okay.
Starting point is 00:08:50 He sees the map of the world and he goes, that's close enough. Yeah, close enough. Yeah, it's close enough. All right, this is a lot of people have been concerned. We've all been concerned over the prospect of having to defend Greenland. NATO invoking Article 5, an attack on one is an attack on all, against a fellow NATO member, a founding member, the most significant member of the United States.
Starting point is 00:09:13 Was he going to use force to get what he, wanted in Greenland. Well, there's what he said about that. We probably won't get anything unless I decide to use excessive strength and force where we would be, frankly, unstoppable. But I won't do that. Okay? Now everyone's saying, oh, good. That's probably the biggest statement I made because people thought I would use force. I don't have to use force. I don't want to use force. I won't use force. Okay. There you go. I mean, the fact that you want to live in a world where your allies think that you're going to use force against them, it says more about you than it does
Starting point is 00:09:49 about them. And I'm being highly critical of the man because in this moment, he deserves criticism. You know, I pump his tires when he deserves it. And I'm going to cut him down at the knees if I think it's warranted. And in this case, everything, he's just off base. But here's someone else who is off base. The Finnish president, he puts his foot in his mouth. Well, he says something and then a few minutes later it says he never said that thing.
Starting point is 00:10:14 First is a direct answer to the question of this panel. Can Europe defend itself? My answer is unequivocally, yes. Without the Americans? Without the Americans. I mean... How? Well, look... But you're relying on them for these key elements. You've said earlier that Europe can defend itself without the Americans. If it comes down... Not exact, Mike, so that's not a quote. More or less. More or less. We'll go back to the transcripts. More or less. More or less. I love journalists.
Starting point is 00:10:48 Why are we paying for tax tools? Our team doesn't even use. Isn't now really the right time to make the change? Why are we paying for tax tools? Our team doesn't even use. Is our tax research tool actually even? Why are we paying for tax tools our team doesn't even use? Why does my team keep turning to search engines?
Starting point is 00:11:07 With Blue Jay, you can help your firm stay ahead by giving your team a tax research tool they'll actually want to use. Get better answers to tough questions. BlueJ. AI for tax experts. Amazing days is on now at your local Metro. Save big on amazing items. Like selected varieties of James and vitamins, only 498 each,
Starting point is 00:11:29 and 10 pound bags of white potatoes just 1.88 each, only till January 21st. Shop in store or at metro.ca. That was 11 minutes apart. But after the break, we are going to play for you a clip of what Trump thinks of Mark Carney. And then we're going to ask you the question, why do you think that happened? We're going to open up the phone lines for you.
Starting point is 00:11:47 Right here on the Ben Mulroney Show. Yes, you are. And we are following the puck with everything that is flowing from Mark Carney's speech yesterday and Donald Trump's speech today. Mark Carter's speech yesterday, rather, and Donald Trump's speech today in Davos at the World Economic Forum. Thank you so much for joining us here on the Ben Maloney Show. And we should remind you that you can find us in all sorts of places. You can find us. If you're listening on the radio right now, we say thank you.
Starting point is 00:12:23 If you're streaming us on the Iheart radio app, again, thank you. You may be listening to this slightly after the fact as a podcast on all major podcast platforms or if this is one of those little nuggets of genius that Amy decides to put on social media, then you're seeing that as well. In all cases, and especially if you are seeing my ugly mug on YouTube, we absolutely say thank you. We want to build this community wherever you are. And that's our promise to you. All right.
Starting point is 00:12:48 So before the break, I told you that we had some. audio of Donald Trump issuing a warning to Mark Carney. So let's listen to this. Canada gets a lot of freebies from us, by the way. They should be grateful also, but then not. I watch your prime minister yesterday. He wasn't so grateful. They should be grateful to us.
Starting point is 00:13:07 Canada. Canada lives because of the United States. Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements. Okay, well, let's stick a pin in that for just one moment because some news that we've just learned is that President. Donald Trump says he and NATO Secretary General Mark Ruta have, quote, formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland. Trump said that as a result of the negotiation, he would no longer impose punitive tariffs on a slew of European countries that were set to begin on February 1st. Stock shot up immediately after Trump posted the update.
Starting point is 00:13:40 And so in an interview with CNBC's Joe Kernan, Trump described the Greenland framework as a concept of a deal. So it's a deal for a deal. He said, based upon a very productive meeting that I had. with Secretary General of NATO. We formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic region. This solution, if consummated,
Starting point is 00:13:59 will be a great one for the United States and all NATO nations, based on this understanding. I will not be imposing the bucket. So there you go. Now, I'm very curious, and we're going to follow the puck on this, because, like I said, when I first heard this,
Starting point is 00:14:12 I have a lot of questions. And the first one that comes to mind is, who is the Secretary-General of NATO to be negotiating something like this. He is appointed. The role of the Secretary General is to chair the council. He leads high-level NATO discussions. Maybe that's what this is.
Starting point is 00:14:35 Leading the international staff at NATO headquarters. He's acting as the principal spokesperson. And he demonstrates neutrality. So I don't know. Maybe that's what he's a go-between. I don't know. And maybe the two of them came together with this. proposal, which they will then bring to the relevant parties. I don't know, but I find that
Starting point is 00:14:55 interesting. I will keep you posted if we hear anything else. And again, I think it's about adding the golden dome to it. Who knows? Okay, so now I want to get into the speech that caused Donald Trump to say those negative things about our prime minister. This was what Donald Trump, this is what our prime minister said. It was a long speech. It was about 30-minute speech. But this was the gist of it. We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition.
Starting point is 00:15:28 Over the past two decades, a series of crises in finance, health, energy, and geopolitics have laid bare the risks of extreme global integration. But more recently, great powers have begun using economic integration as weapons. Tariffs has leverage, financial infrastructure, is coercion, supply chains as vulnerabilities to be exploited. You cannot live within the lie of mutual benefit through integration
Starting point is 00:15:55 when integration becomes the source of your subordination. Listen, it's some in certain cases you're required to have a thesaurus listening to that speech, but it was clear-headed, it was well thought through, and I posited that it was a masterful speech. it laid out a vision that this man believes in. However, I pointed out that Michelle Remple Garner offered, I thought, a substantive and respectful critique of that speech
Starting point is 00:16:25 saying, unfortunately, for the past 10 years, we've heard a lot of speeches and not a lot of action to meet the moment. And I posted that, and I got wildly divergent reactions to it. Some people agreeing, some people telling me I've become a liberal, some people told me I'm a reactionary, conservative. fascinating stuff. And so I want to open up the phone lines to you and see if we can get your take.
Starting point is 00:16:48 What did you think of this speech? What did you think of the reaction to the speech? Let's start with Al. Al, welcome to the show. Thanks, Ben. Trump's a lot of silly things. But, but, but a lot of his policy, a lot of the criticisms he has of NATO and Europe, Germany, France, Britain, they're flushing their countries down the toilet. And Carney's doing the same thing. Carney has done zero. It's not opened any pipelines. He's making crazy deals with China. Carnes our problem, not Trump. I think Trump knows that Carney's flushing the country down the toilet. I think he can see Trudeau part two. It's clear. And that's like, my, my policy, and I try to be respectful of the prime minister, but my, what I'm not even critical of him. I'm critical of the liberal brand and the liberal party. I do not believe that they
Starting point is 00:17:41 deserve credit for saying that they're going to do things. We've had too long of that. I want to see things happen. And until I see those things happen, the words are just vaporware, as far as I'm concerned. Thank you so, thank you so much for the call. We got Rick calling in. Rick, welcome. Hey, Ben.
Starting point is 00:17:59 Hey. So, so I think, I think you know this, but it needs to be said. I'm in Alberta and there's an uprising in Alberta right now. Yep. There's a separatist movement. Yeah. And people that do not see the world the same way that Mark Carney does. Oh, I know. Oh, yeah.
Starting point is 00:18:17 But just listen, as a conservative, you're an Eastern conservative. Uh-huh. So when I hear you talk like that, you know, I lose face. And I just want you to know is that an Albertan, we're conservatives. Yeah. We're Western conservatives. And you know what? There's two types of consens.
Starting point is 00:18:38 It wasn't that long ago that... Doug Ford had a slumber party with Mark Carney. Hold on. Rick, Rick, Rick. My job as the host of this show is to call things fairly. If all I did every single day was bark and attack the liberal government, no matter what they did, first of all, it would be very boring radio. And secondly, it would be, it would be, it would be, it would be, it would be, it would be, demonstrative of a sort of a person in front of a microphone who is unwilling to listen.
Starting point is 00:19:18 What I said about that speech was it was well thought out. It was well delivered. And if that is a bridge too far for somebody, if somebody is too conservative, Western conservative, if you will, to accept that that was a very well-delivered speech. That was a critique. A lot of it was, I think, not stuff I agreed with, but there were critiques in there that were fair of Donald Trump.
Starting point is 00:19:43 Donald Trump is right about some things and he's wildly wrong about others. And our prime minister, I think rightly called him out on some stuff. That doesn't make me any less conservative. It makes me appreciate nuance. But I thank you for the call on, my friend, and call back anytime. Oh, yes. Okay, who do we have now? We've got Melanie, welcome to the show.
Starting point is 00:20:03 Hello, I hope it's not too late to wish you a happy new year. I really admired your father. Thank you. But the other thing is I think Carney, is our Winston Churchill, and I'm 71 years old. I'm a senior. I'm born in Eastern Europe. And I'm telling you, it's easy to destroy a country, which Trump is doing right now, but we're going to have a bigger problem.
Starting point is 00:20:23 I predict the Jalping is just going to march into whatever he wants, and who's going to stop him? After Trump said he wants to take over Greenland, why shouldn't China take over whatever it wants to take over? And how can he, I am sick as a Ukrainian person, that he wants to invite. Putin. You know, one Russian lady said to me, oh, Putin, he's building Russia and I said, you only thing, Melanie, we got to, we got to leave it.
Starting point is 00:20:50 And I appreciate that. And I agree with you that he is our Winston Churchill. And I know that because he told us he is. So, you know, his intelligence compared to stupidity. Well, yes. I mean, but he's, no, I got, Melanie, I got I got to go, but he's, listen, he's, he's,
Starting point is 00:21:06 I'm sure he's got a ton of strengths. I haven't seen them in action yet. I I haven't seen the rubber meet the road. But anyway, thank you very much for all the calls. I wish I could have gotten to the rest of them. Hey, when we come back, we're going to pivot a little bit. We're going to talk to a great Canadian talent who is up for a Grammy. Honey, valent, sweet comic Valentine's.
Starting point is 00:21:52 Is the Ben Mulrooney show. Oh, gosh, I love good music. I love good music. That is the voice, the incredible voice, the incredible talent of our next guest, Lela Biali, who is, well, as you can hear, is tremendously, immensely talented to the point that she has been recognized as a Grammy nominee. Layla, welcome to the show. Well, Bullseye barbecue sauce for just one 98 each.
Starting point is 00:22:23 Shop in store and online until January 21st. Food basics. Always more for less. Oh, thanks for having me, Ben. I'm such a fan. Oh, my goodness. Well, thank you very much. Well, listen, you sing the music that reminds me of my dad.
Starting point is 00:22:37 And so I thank you for that. So let's talk about how you, because you said, when, when people sing the way you sing, it's commonly said that you have an old soul, which I'm sure you've heard before. Where did this love of this type of music come from? Well, actually, classical music is my first love, so arguably an even older soul than that of a jazz musician.
Starting point is 00:23:01 But I transitioned to jazz when I was in high school, and that began a lifelong love affair. Did you play, did you do the Royal Conservatory? Oh, I sure did. Did you ever compete in the Kowanas Music Festival? 100%. Because so did I. First of all, I can't play a lick anymore,
Starting point is 00:23:23 but Mrs. Adela Contreras taught me piano. I went to see her twice a week, and I did the Royal Conservatory up to grade 11, and every year I competed in the Kwanis Music Festival, and I either won first or second place almost every time. The other kids would be very upset when they saw me walking in. And today, I can't play a lick, because I learned by sight.
Starting point is 00:23:45 I didn't learn by ear. It's incredible. No, it's incredibly sad. No, I think it's awesome. And I know that world so well. My teacher was Juanita Ryan out in Vancouver, but I did the RCM methods. So we're speaking the same language.
Starting point is 00:24:01 Yeah, so, but you took that talent and you're building something entirely different. And then it's a brave thing to want to cut out and make music, something that'll pay the bills, something that you can make a living and a livelihood out of. And you're doing that to the point that how does a Grammy nomination come into your orbit? And congratulations. Thank you.
Starting point is 00:24:30 Well, I'm an independent artist at this point. And so I actually submitted to the Grammys myself. Yeah, that's amazing. And, yeah, and I entered the jazz category, alternative jazz, because the album winner's songs is not like middle of the road jazz. And then the day before the voting period opened, which was actually the day before my birthday, I was notified that I'd been moved into traditional pop.
Starting point is 00:24:53 And at that point I looked at the list of entrance and I was like, there's no way I'm breaking through in this category. No way. But when I heard that you were in that category, remind me, I had to go do the research, but Nora Jones, who's got, I would say, not the same, but similar vibe. Um, she was, she was, she was, she was, she was, she went a Grammy in the traditional pop vocal album, a category. Yeah, she kind of swept the Grammys when she first came on the scene.
Starting point is 00:25:20 Yeah. Yeah. But she's perfect for traditional pop. I mean, it's, it's basically music that doesn't neatly fit into a category, but has elements of sophistication, often strings. Um, so yeah, I'm pretty honored to be there with Lady Gaga. Yeah. But that, I mean, it's so, first of all, like, I, uh, when I heard, that you were in the wrong cat, like you had been moved to a category.
Starting point is 00:25:44 I said, well, that's great of the Grammys. Because they could have chosen another path and said, no, you don't fit in that box, so we're not even going to look at you. But instead, I guess they heard the talent and wanted to find a place to showcase you and to honor you. And so they shoehorned you into another category. They did. And I'm equally amazed because they get thousands of submissions. So to think that they listen to everyone and take stock of where it might have its best
Starting point is 00:26:11 chance where it most belongs. That's astounding to me. Now, you've earned Juno Awards, but Grammy's a different level, isn't it? It is. What did your family say when you started just, you know, drop in this casually and conversation? Oh, I'm going to have to go to L.A. I'm going to have to go to L.A. during awards season. Right. So my sisters, all three of them separate from one another said, so how's that hobby going? No, really? That's awesome. Oh, my God. Okay, and then you said? Well, I just laughed because what they were referring to was the fact that a lot of people over the course of my career have spoken to it being a hobby. Oh, you do music because it's something you love.
Starting point is 00:26:54 And as you mentioned earlier, it's not typically something that pays the bills, especially not these days with streaming having taken over. But, yeah, it's incredible to be acknowledged by the industry and by my peers in this way. It's the sort of thing that people dream of their whole life. I am speaking with Leila Biali. She is an incredible singer who finds herself bestowed with a Grammy nomination for the album itself, right? Winter Song? Yeah, that's right. So to tell people, if they heard your music off the top of this segment and they are intrigued,
Starting point is 00:27:28 if they download the album or if they stream the album, what are they going to hear? They're going to hear moody music that is a tribute to Canadian one. winter. I wrote it when I was in a cabin nestled in the Rocky Mountains in Bantz. And I was looking out at winter scenes because there were floor to ceiling windows. And I just began to essentially write a soundtrack for winter. However, the music doesn't sound cold. It's meant to be very warming and cozy. And to be, yeah, to be clear, these are not Christmas carols. No. Okay. Okay. That's amazing. So, um, first nomination, you're nominated, against the biggest stars to ever belt a song out on a stage.
Starting point is 00:28:13 How are you approaching this? How are you approaching this, your first Grammys? Where's your head at? Well, these days, after lots of coaching, I am approaching it with confidence and trying to hold my head high. Initially, I was completely gobsmacked and was doing this sort of, you know, stereotypically Canadian thing of apologizing and saying, well, I don't know how I ended up here.
Starting point is 00:28:42 But now I feel I have to really own it going in out of respect for my fellow voting members and also as a representative and ambassador of the Canadian music scene. But I think there's something really, you've got a really unique opportunity here. As you said, as an independent Canadian artist and you're going down, I mean,
Starting point is 00:29:00 you don't have a machine behind you to do the glad-handing and the, you know, the trying to, to introduce yourself to the voters or any of that. But you can do it your own way. You can do it through social media. You could do it through all sorts of avenues that others don't rely on because they have just such a massive team to sort of carpet bomb the voters. You know, it's interesting. You should say that because I think that's what's extraordinary about these times. Even though artists are struggling more because of streaming, we also have greater access, direct access, thanks to social media. And that's what I did. I campaigned on social
Starting point is 00:29:39 media. I don't actually know who all the voting members are. There are more than 13,000 of us. But I just did what I could. So when are the Grammys? February 1st. Oh, my goodness. They're coming right. Do you have a dress yet? I'm meeting my stylist this Friday. And in fact, E-Talk is going to be there to film that whole thing. And they can ask you who you're wearing. I used to do that. So I'm going to leave that to the experts on that for now on. But this is wonderful. This is a wonderful story. Is there, are there positive knock on effects from a Grammy nomination as somebody who is an independent artist? What's life post-nomination? You know, I would say that more people are
Starting point is 00:30:25 paying attention now. I wish that the art would just speak for itself. But once you have the accolade, especially a Grammy nomination. It is helpful for getting a foot in the door and having wider reach. And so I'm grateful for that. I'm grateful for that. Well, we're grateful to have you on. We're grateful to help showcase you to our audience. I'm grateful for your appreciation of what you've achieved.
Starting point is 00:30:51 I can see in your face that you're really, you're taking it all in. And so as I wish you the very best, we'll be following along on February 1st. Layla Biali, thank you. If people want to find you on social media, or if they want to find your music, how do they do so? Just my name, they can Google it. Google will correct them if they have it just spells. Oh, Leila, thank you so much. Oh, all the best.
Starting point is 00:31:16 All right, take care. Bye-bye. Are we playing Rocky Mountain Lullaby by Lala Biali, and we'll be right back. Welcome back. We are going to take a look at Hollywood for a moment and not the way I used to when I did a different television show. we're talking about actor and director Timothy Busfield. Now that name might not mean something immediately to you,
Starting point is 00:31:56 but he was an actor and a director. He is an actor and a director. He's 67 years old. I forgot that he was one of the nerds in revenge of the nerds. He was on the West Wing. He was on 30-something. I believe he also directed a lot of 30-something. And he's a type of guy who has pivoted in this called the back nine of his career
Starting point is 00:32:16 where he's doing less acting and more. directing, but one movie in which he played a central role that I think a lot of people would remember was a field of dreams. All right, all right, all right, all right. This is fascinating. It is. But the fact remains is that you don't have the money to bring the mortgage up to date, so you're still going to have to sell.
Starting point is 00:32:36 I'm sorry, Ray. We got no choice. Yeah, and he's been a very successful character actor who pivoted into directing and good on him. And I didn't even know this. I saw something that popped up on my social media. media where he was in front of a camera and he said, I've been accused of a bunch of crimes and they're completely false and I'm going to defend myself. And that was the crimes he was talking about are felony charges of criminal sexual contact with two 11 year old twin boys on the
Starting point is 00:33:05 Albuquerque set of the cleaning lady in 2022. Now, when these stories first came out, we talked about this briefly. And these are stories, it's hard to do these stories when they first come out because you don't know a lot of information. And they are kind of They're very cringe-worthy. Yeah. And they're difficult to talk about. And there's things that we don't usually like talking about either. Yeah, but it's important to do that because he was adamant, as almost everybody is.
Starting point is 00:33:32 Like, I'm innocent. I'm going to prove it. And so what happened next is why we want to talk about this. Because his defense highlighted that there was police audio where one boy denied any inappropriate touching, constant supervision on set. and a psychosexual evaluation showing no deviant interest. And the judge released him on his own recognizance because he self-surrendered. He has a clean record, no flight risk,
Starting point is 00:33:59 with conditions like no contact with minors. Let's listen to... Let's do the clip from the psychologist, the victim, first. Okay, let's do that. You know what's right and wrong, right? Yeah. You don't know anyone could touch your private areas? Yeah, but he doesn't touch the private parts.
Starting point is 00:34:16 Okay. Okay. And you know what's right and wrong, right? You know where people can't touch where people can't do. Yeah, you know that, right? Does Tim ever do that? No, he's never touched me. Never touched you?
Starting point is 00:34:30 Yeah. Yeah, and so. That's hard to listen to. Yeah, it is, it is. So this is where it gets crazier. Like, that's sad to hear you. But just reiterate that point. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:34:42 This was a psychologist talking to the kid saying, has he ever done this? They said no. No. But his parents were adamant that yes. So what happens? happen, right? Well, let's listen to it from the perspective of Timothy Busfield's lawyer. The overwhelming evidence is that this didn't happen, is that this was manufactured. And there is a credible story here. And it's a very sad story. And there are victims. And they are
Starting point is 00:35:05 still these two boys. But they weren't victimized by Tim Busfield. They were victimized by their own parents who no longer could make money as a lawyer, just barred, no longer could write bad checks, taking 85% of the money they made on a TV show, and then manufactured into victims as revenge. Okay, so before we delve into that, we've got to ask why. Why would the parents do that? After Ronnie and Angel found out that their kids would be recast, actually use the words they would get revenge on Tim Busfield.
Starting point is 00:35:44 We've got the affidavit of Chris Ford, defendant's exhibit K, Which says the same thing. That he, while out at a dinner with an actress and the family, they were upset, they were visibly upset that the boys wouldn't be back on the show. And same thing. She said she'd get him, quote, have his ass, unquote. So, look, Timothy Busfield was accused, and now it looks like the accusation is going in the other direction towards those who level the first accusation. In both cases, nothing has been proven in court. So, and in fact, as of right now, the parents haven't been charged with anything.
Starting point is 00:36:23 But let's just live in a world where hypothetically a parent would do something like this. Let's live in a world, a hypothetical world, where parents of twin boys found out that their children had aged out of a particular role and were being recast. And in this hypothetical world, those parents convinced their kids. They're 11-year-old kids to say that a man that worked with them who had done nothing wrong had touched them inappropriately in an effort to get. In that hypothetical world, those people, those parents are abject ghouls. They are monsters. And they should not only go to prison, but they should, in this hypothetical world, if they don't go to prison for, if by the time they get out of prison,
Starting point is 00:37:17 their kids are under 18, they should never have contact with those kids again. This is, in this hypothetical world, those hypothetical parents are disgusting scum. And what they did to those kids in this hypothetical world is abuse of the highest order.
Starting point is 00:37:39 And if, if, if, based on what we're hearing, if he is innocent of these charges, And we've seen this throughout in this time with the various movements and stuff that people have accused others of wrongdoing when there was nothing happened. Well, he was three days on the run after they issued the arrest warrant for him. And he turned himself in. And now, I mean, there's pictures of him and videos of him video because you can do this in court in the United States. In a jump irons. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:38:06 In a gun irons. Yeah. And the orange jumpsuit, looking disheveled and looking like a criminal. I don't know why. I feel this, but I feel that if his version of the story turns out to be provably,
Starting point is 00:38:22 to proveable, I feel that his redemption arc will be swift and complete. And weren't you saying that, was it the director that was saying that there was never a time when he allowed? It was the security guard. Security guard. Security guard said on these sets
Starting point is 00:38:38 there is no scenario where these children would ever be in a room alone with anyone. Their parents would, one of their parents would always have to be there. It never happened because we have such strict rules around that because of this very sort of thing.
Starting point is 00:38:58 And so here's a man who, as of right now, looks like he was possibly the target of a smear campaign that could have sent him to prison for a very long time. And by the way, you know what they do to child didlers in prison? Yeah. Yeah, they are not well regarded. So his life could have been put in jeopardy. Why?
Starting point is 00:39:21 Because, again, in this hypothetical world, some parents decided they didn't like that their kids got aged out of a role. Regardless of how this turns out, this is going to follow him around the rest of his life. Well, again, like I said, I don't know why I feel this, but the way this, the swiftness of how this, how the tables turned. Yeah. is to me essential to the story now. Like it's not, he hasn't been, he hasn't been on trial for three years.
Starting point is 00:39:48 This, this is almost, this feels so definitive that I think that's going to be the story. If this comes out, he will do a massive interview. And his friends haven't had a chance to abandon him yet. You see, like no one had to come out and,
Starting point is 00:40:04 and, disavow him like the, like the, the, the, the, uh, the, the,
Starting point is 00:40:08 the, uh, the, the, uh, the, the, the, uh, the, the, the, uh, the, the, Parks people did with J.K. Rowling. Nobody had to disavow him yet. His wife is Melissa Gilbert from Little House on the Prairie. Little House on Prairie. Yeah, no, I don't know that I've heard anybody say, this man's a demon,
Starting point is 00:40:22 this man's awful. No, I haven't heard any of that. So it feels like his friends will still be there. And I would not be surprised if he was able to get over this quickly, quickly and get back to work. I can't imagine that this is going to follow him around. This is a story that he, this is a
Starting point is 00:40:38 story that's part of his story, but he will still be able to continue working, assuming that his version of the story is the one that is proven in court. But if, if it is, I hope that justice is swift for those who hatched the scheme, the alleged scheme. Yeah. And that is the story of Timothy Busfield, the Ben Mulroney show. Wow, the deals at food basics. Find select varieties of dare cookies or crackers for just one 98 each. Shop in store and online until January 21st. Food basics, always more for less.

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