The Breakfast Club - Best Of Full Interview: Jaleel White On How Urkel Saved 'Family Matters', Black Hollywood Dynamic, Bullies, Bulges + More

Episode Date: December 26, 2024

Best of 2024 - Recorded November 2024 - Jaleel White On How Urkel Saved 'Family Matters', Black Hollywood Dynamic, Bullies, Bulges. Listen For More!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wake that ass up early in the morning. The Breakfast Club. Morning, everybody. It's DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, Charlamagne the Guy. We are The Breakfast Club. Lauren LaRosa filling in for Jess. And we got a special guest in the building. Yes, indeed.

We got Jahlil White. Welcome. What's up, Kat? How you feeling, man? I'm doing great, man. I'm having a good morning. Good to see you, brother. Good to see you, brother.

You got your new book, Growing Up Urkel, a memoir. Why you do the 80s, 90s R&B cover on the front, bro? This ain't even 80s, like 70s, 60s, 70s R&B. No, don't take me back there. Early 80s, early 80s. That's 80s. That's the Mike Jack pose. Why this pose?

You know, I did it because for anybody who's a fan of the Stefan character, they know that he was debuted in a white suit. I said that. When I first started, I said, this is Stefan. He was debuted in a white suit, and then that. When I first saw it, I said, this is the fun. It gets the fun. Yeah, he was debuted in a white suit. And then I love having fun on Instagram anyway. And Instagram has that meme that has all four of the greats.

There was like Luther Vandross, Lionel Richie, Teddy Penegras. Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson hit it last, but of course, he hit it the biggest. So for a black man in the 80s or born around that period, when you put that picture on the front,

it just means, hey, the contents are fire. But nobody even notices on the back. I actually give you- I see you jumping around. Yeah, and on the back, I give you the high water pants and the Urkel shoes. And nobody even notices it. Nobody even notices it.

You don't got the glasses on, that's why. Yeah, that's probably why. So you don't mind being called Stephane? It's not even about mine. It is Stephane saved my life. Just black women everywhere just choose to call me Stephane. When you walked in, no, but really, when he walked in, I was like, oh my god, lit up when you walked in.

Does that happen to you all the time? And you were like, yeah. Because when you walked in, I instantly remember you walking on the screen and being like, oh, shoot. I heard the music and everything. That is why you heard the music. I'm the music and everything. That, that, watch the music. I'm trying to tell you.

No, I love it. With Black Women in particular, the 24 episodes out of 215 that I did, they only keyed in on Stefan and they were just relieved that I wasn't really like that. I've always loved your story though, because you know, you are the epitome of, you know, taking advantage of a moment, seizing the opportunity, right?

Cause you were so only supposed to be on one episode. One episode. Of Family Matters. How'd that happen? Again, Shadoubé, I was just a black kid at one of the Sega Genesis, dawg. It really wasn't that deep. My dad told me that I could get one of anything

whenever I got a job because I was resisting going on auditions at this point. I was five foot four, me was ready to play basketball. We don't get into basketball talks at some point. And I really wasn't, I wasn't booking jobs at age 12 too much because a lot of the stereotypical roles I just wasn't fitting it. My profile, like I said, I had braces, I'm five foot four and I saw this audition come through and I was like, I can get this job.

I got just that. What was it, what did it say? The description I included in the book was just, you know, nerdy character. Matter of fact, I was described as a Rick Moranis type. So that just shows you what the writers room was already doing. They're casting a black kid and asking for

a Rick Moranis type, so I actually read that that literally and then I went and got the best of Saturday Night Live VHS tape that we had in our house and I found Ed Grimley. And I basically was doing a black kid's version of Ed Grimley. And it wasn't really a good impersonation quite frankly, but because nobody thought that was my inspiration, it became mine. So maybe then you can trademark, I don't want to say a character mine. It's amazing you can't trademark, I don't wanna say a character, because I'm sure you can trademark a character,

but the mannerisms of a character. Oh wow, that's. The voice. Did I do that? Do you know what I mean? We only think about that stuff in America, man. Right? We have to.

Did you get the second Genesis? I was just always curious. Of course I got that second Genesis. Oh, you got the second, okay. Of course I got that second Genesis. Did you wanna act? Acting was just something that I just did naturally. I've been doing it since I was always curious. Of course. You got the second. OK. Of course I got that second. Did you want to act? Acting was just something that I just did naturally. I've been doing it since I was three.

So, you know, did you want to do anything that your parents got you started when you were three? It just came naturally. I didn't resist it and I enjoyed it. Of course, you always enjoyed it. Enjoyed getting a day off of school to go someplace and. And yeah, exactly. And have some fun. But as I got to be around the age of 12,

I didn't really want to act But as I got to be around the age of 12, I didn't really wanna act anymore. I wanted to play basketball. But once I got the show, then I started getting reps in at a different pace. And now once you get reps in, you prove yourself good at something proficient. I remember the exact episode where I'm like, oh, this is fun, and this audience is my toy.

And the episode's called The Big Fix fix where I took Laura on a date for the first time because Eddie needed to pay off a bet and I leveled this French restaurant now before we get to Yeah, that's that's the first episode where I'm like I can hear the audience different I can see it in my eyes when I watch the episode before we get into that part of it Is it true that you tried out for Rudy Huxtable, that part? Yeah, I did. That's why they named Rudy was for a boy. Oh, wow. Wow.

It was for a boy. So there was a debate there, and he obviously won out over the network at the end, and Keisha got the role. And the end of- How close did you get? Oh, it came down to me and her. That's it.

They auditioned us all day. I actually never forget that audition, because they brought in, they always bring in like two or three options for each role. But they put us in one room for like several hours and kept pairing us and going in and out. And I talk about that in the book as well. And then at the end they said,

hey, listen, we are pressed for time. So we will take you, you, you, and you, and the rest of you, thank you for coming out. So you had all these crying kids just pouring out of that building that had been there all day. And I remember my mom was like, she just had a huge reaction to that.

She was like, if you ever react like that, you're losing an audition again. Oh, you cried, you was bawling. Oh, we were bawling. I mean, that's a cold way to lose a job when you're seven years old. Did you really understand, though? It's to be picked right in front,

you know, right in front. Cause generally it happened, you know, your agent will call you or your agent didn't call you. And my mom was never the type to call the agent also and be like, did we or did we not get the job? And a lot of parents do that. But did you really understand at seven years old?

Like, oh my God, I'm losing this job. This is like what this could be. You were just like a kid and it was like, no. So you cried. Like, what did you think? No, well, we were supposed to move to New York. Oh, so they were they had already talked to my parents through our agent and everything. And my dad was trying to figure out because he was just graduating from dental school

at the time. My dad was trying to figure out how to do this from New York. Right. They had practically said the job is yours. And then a little girl came walking in. I mean, they do that kind of stuff all the time. Now that I'm an adult and I know that, but at the time it was just very shocking. And then you become a big fan of the show, right? So you're looking at the show and it's like,

oh man, that could've been me, right? You're doing that, but that passes too. Yeah, especially when you end up with your own iconic role in the future, right? I didn't even look at it that way, seriously. I just, during that time, Sean, I'm telling you, man, it's wild to watch fame now, because everybody kind of believes

they can have a famous moment, and it should come easy to them. But back then, if you got a chance to meet Magic Johnson, you got a chance to meet Channy Jackson in person, they were inaccessible. They were all talented. They were, there was an aura, literally. I remember the time I met Michael Jordan for the first time

and he crept up behind me at the Magic Johnson Midsummer Nights Classic and it's just like, he literally had like this little glow around him, this Black Jesus glow around him. And it's different now, it really is. So you didn't think you could be that, you see what I'm saying? No, I don't think there is real celebrity now.

Oh now, no, celebrity has completely been diluted. Yeah. It really is. I'll disagree and say there's still some people who have it. I can see it. There's certain people where they walk in and they have that natural it factor where it's like, okay, you just, you affect the room, you know what I'm saying?

Like even when Will Smith used to come in for the NBA All-Star games, like when Will was in the room, it was just different. That's his aura though. Yeah, that's it, exactly. that's but that's traditional celebrity this stuff now like I said it's just it could feel real temporary and it's like you ain't got the it factor but you got the light on you. Right did the cast like you? Because you went from just supposed to be in one episode to taking over the whole thing so

did they like you? There had to be some resentment a little bit. It was like a kid, nerdy kid coming in here, taking a shovel. Like I said, it was weird at first. The kids and I, we worked it out the easiest because they had to hear a lot of things that some of their parents are even saying. And you know, when you're a kid

and you're hearing what your parents are saying, you're just gonna follow suit with that. But Darius and Kelly and I, we became, we became like brothers and sisters, you know, that's our puberty. So I just feel like the division really kind of took place more along the lines of the adults were the adults and the kids were the kids.

Do you think that it was weird during that time, like that you knew, like you were very well aware as a kid that like you were becoming the star of the show, but you had to do so much stuff to kind of like not act like you knew, like you were very well aware as a kid that you were becoming the star of the show, but you had to do so much stuff to kind of like not act like you knew that. Even in the book you talk about how the introductions were on the show, and your agent would always be like, we need to rearrange these introductions

because you're the star, the world knows you're the star, and you'd be like, no, let's not, Bruce, please go. My mom didn't want to do that. My mom wanted to keep a lot of things status quo when it came to the call sheet and just pecking order. It would have just disrupted the balance of the set to another degree that we didn't need. It's almost kind of like, alright, you ever notice Shaq runs out last, you know what I'm

saying, when Shaq and Kobe were in their prime? But then towards the end, Kobe starts running out last. And that's around the time when they broke up too. It's just like there's little ego things that just can happen on a set that you have to ask yourself, is that the sword I wanna die on, is it worth it? You would think that at some point in life, people would understand that y'all are a team.

And it doesn't matter who the star of the team is, if the team is winning. Yeah, but the magic words you say is you would think. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I would just say, I mean, after all of these years, we haven't learned that, even when you used the Shaq and Kobe example, like. That's, you know, you can't change the way people

are gonna think when they're coming from a place of ego. You know, for me, I just, there was a, I did a lot to extend our run. Because the reality was we- The show was about to get canceled. I know, but there- It was a fact. I get it, I get it.

But I'm like, you can say that, I don't need to lean in on that, but whether if it was keeping my hair cut the same way, I mean, it got to the point where I was sick of my own haircut, or staying out of the gym, not working out. That sucked from playing basketball, and finally in my scene

They made you change the pants that you were wearing. Yeah, they made me change the final season. It was like no more jeans He doesn't wear any jeans. So I was doing things that was About to get messy. What you gonna do? You're not wrecking those your bulge. He's not about to get messy. Why would you guys more than ask that question? I don't care. Go ahead. Don't let this man just talk over you. I mean, he wants to talk about your bulge. I want to be, I want him.

Well you said pants. It wasn't coming in pants. I was getting there. I was going to let him finish his statement. You jumped to the bulge. To live, like how did I get here? You jumped on down his pants. Go ahead, finish.

I want to let him work it out. But it was coming to the packet. Right, Jilil? That's crazy. Y'all don't get to sit here. He a wild boy. He a wild boy. He gives it off. He's waiting for that one. He gives it off.

So back to the Bolts. They changed bottom line. They just said no jeans in the final season. That was it. Oh, they didn't tell you why? They said no jeans in the final season. They said the Bolts. Right, they nodded down.

They didn't tell you that. They didn't tell you that. They said it was getting a little awkward to see the Bolts. That's what the... They didn't tell you that. They didn't tell you that. They didn't tell you that. They didn't tell you that. They didn't tell you that. They didn't tell you that. They didn't tell you why? They said no jeans in the final season. They said the bulge. They nodded down. They did tell you that.

They said it was getting a little awkward to see the bulge. That's what the post said. Jesus. They said no jeans in the final season. Do they come to your parents and say that, or do they come directly to you? No, at that point, I mean, come on. I'm on set, and I'm taking notes from producers.

And you know. I need to see that note. What? That's a funny ass note to tell somebody. That is an uncomfortable note. It's hilarious. It feels like we're in a world. I feel like you said it in private.

Like, you pulled my family to the side, and we have a very close discussion. Can we talk about your son's bulge? What? What? That's really wild, B. So things changed on the set, because you didn't have a dressing room.

Now I'm sure you got the biggest dressing room and all that. So how has that change? I mean, I'm sure money change. Well, the thing about money, which was cool, is that my mom was, was so petrified the show would get canceled anyway, that she never bought a new car for the first four seasons of the show. You know, my mom was that, I think that's why I'm so passionate about the, the,

the protective job that my parents did. They did so much to try to keep me attached to normal life. Right. You know, they didn't get new cars themselves. My mom demanded that I went to public school. I went to public school during the entire time. That's a little crazy.

That's the work of that time? Yes, yeah, but we didn't have cell phones. We didn't have all, well we had cell phones, but they were big bricks at that time. But we didn't have smart phones to invade the privacy to that degree and let everybody know what school he goes to, at least on a nationwide level. So I would pop into school every two weeks to three weeks. And that was something I actually enjoyed doing, kind of like a magic trick. I could go in and I could take tests.

I could raise my hand. I could answer questions from the teacher. And my peers are looking at me like, how do you know this stuff? It's like, I study on set too. How was school? Did you ever get bullied because people looked at you and asked? Oh yeah, no, that's a whole thing.

You talked about it in the book. It was like, the first school I was attending at the time, I was the only black kid at the entire school, which was awkward too. It was half Asian, it was half white and now it's since taken over all Asian when I go back and pass that school. And you know that's all the usual stuff, can I touch your hair and you know not get invited to Bob Mitzvah's and all that kind of stuff.

And then that all changed as soon as I got on the show. Hey you want to go to the Laker game with me and you know my mom wants your agent number. She's thinking about putting me in the business and now I got on the show. Hey, you wanna go to the Laker game with me? And my mom wants your agent number. She's thinking about putting me in the business and now I'm suddenly so popular. So I left that school and then I went to what I like to call the Joe Clark school, the lean on me light. And in that case, I stood out a little too much.

And it also raised my hand too much. And I had a teacher that liked me and I liked Miss Lasseter too. And at schools like that, they don't like those kind of relationships so ran into problems there and then my mom found the school that was the the porch that was just warm enough for me and in three bear story analogy and and that was South Pasadena High School and they kind of had a sprinkle everybody was Asian it was Mexican it was black it was wonderful and I had a great

principal named Ben Ramirez, may he rest in peace, who just kind of went out of his way to make sure that I was always welcome on campus. They didn't like the fact that your teacher was trying to make sure you were okay? What do you mean? Like you said that the school, you had a teacher that would- No, no, no, I'm saying that at her school,

you can't, raising your hand a lot and having a great relationship with the teacher. Oh, the kids didn't like that? Yeah, they did. Oh yeah, okay, I was gonna say say why would the school not like that? Oh you're really a nerd huh? Yeah exactly, you're a bingo. Would you ask her a question like the last two minutes of class though?

See again, she hit me with some Delaware. You was a two minute, like two minutes left for you. No, no, no, no, no, you're not going to play me like that. I wasn't asking the teacher to collect the homework, okay? I wasn't that dude. Reminding her we had tests? I wasn't reminding her we had tests. But bottom line is we had a good relationship

and she was teaching stuff I'd already learned at the other school. So they were hella behind the other school. So I was just like, yo, this is easy. Yeah. Come on. I'm in the eighth grade. You know what I'm saying? It's awkward. Exactly. But did you wish you got that treatment? I remember. Do you remember the first time we met? No, you don't remember I don't remember that's what you have to remind me. You can't yeah next can now next you ever remember so much about Madison Square Garden next game. He was in next game and I was surprised cuz oh, yeah I don't remember we were young young, but I was surprised because I'm like at the time. He's Steve Urkel He's on the biggest show. I'm like his parents put him here. So why would he remember you? I'm gonna tell you well

I don't know Anybody can get it I was him I had the glasses the braces You were actually a nerd I love seeing this dynamic because no one should ever take this personal No one should ever take this personal if they come up in here. He shouldn't say that. He said I was you. I don't have the glasses and braces. I was fine.

Let me help you out. Let me help you out. Any black man who didn't even look like me, if he wore glasses, he was called Steve-er. That's true. Oh Envy, you got called Steve-er. They call me metal mouth and a whole bunch of things, but I'm not going through that trouble. But the reason I say that is during basketball camp, you got into a fight.

Who that scrabble with? Some Spanish dude, right? And I remember, I was like, damn, is this happening all the time when you come to the hood because people think that you're better than them? So I was wondering if that always happened. Well, when you hoop, you know, like people try you, you know what I'm saying?

So it was like, I took basketball seriously. So in between those lines, that's why I'm like, I don't even remember, I was there to play ball. How many fights did you get into if you don't remember? On a basketball court, I didn't have a history of getting into a bunch of fights, but I'm just saying, on a basketball court, people gonna try you.

I mean, do you remember every frackish you got into on a basketball court? I kinda do, yeah. Oh, wow. I kinda do. He lost them, what you mean? He lost them, what? I lost a lot of them, boy.

If I don't remember him, that means I probably did pretty good in whatever we was doing. What did you and all the other Spanish kids do when y'all saw Jaleel beating up a Spanish guy? I'm black, so I'm not Spanish. Like nobody's gonna pick. I'm black, so means I probably did pretty good in whatever we was doing. So what did you and all the other Spanish kids do when y'all saw Jaleel beating up in his Spanish show? I'm not Spanish, I'm not Spanish. Like nobody's just, can we get a therapist in here? Maybe he had to pick a side.

Can we get a mediator? Maybe he started saying, he said, either I'm going Urko or I'm going my people. So which way would you, where would you? I was riding with Urko. Okay. Nerds stick together. All right, all right.

You know, another thing you talk, But you didn't tell me how I played though. No, you was good. You were surprisingly good. Because everybody thought the nerd was going to come out, but you was good. We could tell that you played ball, but I remember you scrapping.

Point guard, what position you play? I'm point guard. OK. So because even in your book, you talk about having your dressing room kind of like set up, like an NBA locker room. My dressing room was cool. You really wanted to go to the NBA?

Like that was like really? I don't think it was about going to the NBA. I was a huge, I mean listen, if you grew up in the 90s, I have a dressing room. My dressing room was cool, a dressing room. You really wanted to go to the NBA? Like that was like really- I don't think it was about going to the NBA. I was a huge, I mean listen, if you grew up in the 90s, the NBA just was different. Man. It landed on your life. Man. It was everything.

Gotcha. So I, you know, once I started gaining some influence, you know, you could do certain things and the set decorator for our show transformed the second room in my dressing room into an actual NBA locker room. So I had all the different lockers. That's dope.

And that's where I would change and get ready for the show. Wow. Did you get paid? Did you make money, money back then? Yeah, no, you made very good money back then. Okay, okay, okay. But the numbers back then just, they don't compare to numbers now.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Inflation, it's one of my favorite things I actually have is my first time I ever sat on the court. I kept the ticket stub and I kept them with magic shoes when he gave them to me after the game. And every now and then I'll just I'll still look at those tickets. Guess how much in 1991 the face value of a Laker game on the court was versus San Antonio Spurs? $350. Probably close to a thousand. maybe $700, $800.

This man knows basketball, $425. $425. Remember back then? That's crazy, right? For a floor seat? Yeah, for a floor. Wow. So when you put that in perspective, 1991, $425 face value on the ticket to sit on the

court. And you see what inflation is now. It really is like, I remember that teaching me about inflation, was like, whoa, something's happening here because there's two inflations. There's the one they talk about to the country, and then the one they talk about that's going on with the people that's making all the money.

I love how you describe throughout the book, you describe yourself as a dedicated people pleaser. You said it was your mom who made you that way. Yeah. Can you expand on that a little bit? It can, you know, it can be good and bad to be a people pleaser. You said it was your mom who made you that way. Can you expand on that a little bit? It can be good and bad to be a people pleaser because you gotta learn how to say, you gotta learn how to set boundaries, but then you gotta also learn how to say yes enough

to catch blessings that are coming out of nowhere. But for me, it's always been about the audience experience that jacked me up. We taped in front of a live studio audience every Friday. And man, I looked forward to that audience like you wouldn't believe. And they just become your toy after a while. So my mom would call me after a table reading every Tuesday. And I was like, what do you think of the script this week?

And it was like, eh, it's okay. And then there would be certain weeks like the Bruce Lee week where I'm like, oh no, get your tickets now, because sometimes you would have to play games to get a certain number of seats, especially with another, opposite another executive producer's wife who would hog a lot of seats. And I'm like, no, no, no, go ahead and get your tickets for this one,

I'm gonna melt this one down. So it was just always about just, you know, everything celebrity came from a different place, then it was about being excellent, it was about always about just, you know, everything celebrity came from a different place and it was about being excellent. It was about being on point. You know, we would shoot our show and we'd be done with the whole episode in like just over two hours.

And I was so proud of that because everybody else on the lot, especially if they had kids on their show, it would take, you know, shows would take three and four hours and people wouldn't even be able to see the end of the show at times. But we've been now two hours flat and we were done. So I just took pride in that kind of stuff. What about Jaleel when he's not performing? Are you still dealing with being a people pleaser?

No, not as much. When you have a daughter, at least when you have a kid, and you enter the family dynamic, a lot of your values just change. They shift overnight. At least they did for me. What was the biggest thing that shifted for you overnight? Oh man, I got a funny story on that one though actually. I remember when, you know, when single parents don't date. Like single parents prospect. They don't date. It's different. And I remember my boy was, he told me to come out and meet him at the club. You know, he had a group. At this point, I'm a single dad. And I hop into my car and at the time I drove Aston Martin Repeat, which is a four door.

And so I pulled up at the end, he comes walking over with three girls. And it's like, you know, what are we doing? This is before Uber, all right? This is before Uber. What are we doing? Where are we headed? And then one of the girls just reached for the back door and the baby seat was in the back.

Oh, yeah. And the way them girls just jumped back. Really? It just threw off the whole chemistry for the rest of the night. And it was just like, ah, okay, what matters more? As a dad, I knew, I'm like, I'm not taking that baby seat out.

It's a pain in the butt putting them there, baby seat's in here. And any dad who has a baby seat knows that. So I was like, well, that's just the way it's going to be. But that was a moment where I had to accept where I was just kind of like, she really comes first in every aspect of my life now. And like it or not, even in times when I want to be grown and sexy, it's going to affect it. You know what I wanted to, did the cast members on Family Matters, were they, was it a level of hate and jealousy and envious, envious, envious, envious, envious?

R. Envious. Envious, I'm sorry. Just say envious. You know what I mean. R. It's your chance to get him. You jump on him now.

R in hindsight, were you really difficult to work with? No, absolutely not. Okay. You know, I. Because Reverend J. Nobel Johnson absolutely not. Okay. You know, I- Because Reverend General Bell Johnson said that multiple times. Okay, so let me make it easy for you then. How come you never heard that from the kids?

Kelly speaks, Darius is everywhere. Darius is everywhere. How come you never heard that from the kids? Yeah. You know, it's, you know, when you leave a show, first of all, the difference between movie stardom and TV stardom is when you're a movie star, you're still a star, even if you don't have a movie out.

When you're a TV star, unless you're on TV, you're not a star. And that's just the way the business treats you. So I think people go through a lot of personal trauma sometimes after a show has gone off the air. Divorces, investments maybe didn't go right, et cetera, et cetera, and it causes people to look back on things with kind of a jaded look. And it was like, man, we had fun. We did, even the pictures I picked out for the book.

I wanted to show pictures of us chilling. I wanted to show me, Reggie, and Darius, chilling in Paris when we shot two episodes in Paris. We're the only black show to ever shoot in Europe. That was a big deal. We had this, I'll never forget, we had this giant $12,000 meal at the top of the Eiffel Tower as a cast. Okay.

Oh, I'm glad you asked. My mom took that bill and handed it to production because she had the clout to do that. But Joe Marie's there, Reggie's there, well, we was balling at the top. But again, you balling. So, you know, it's almost kind of like when you hear Scottie Pittman talking about the Bulls now. It's like, Scottie, you can't say nothing nice about the Bulls. You was rock stars, dog. You and Mike didn't kick it at all. Are you sure? That's how you remember it? Have you recently talked to any of the cast? Because I know Joe Marie Payton,

like she had come out and said that you guys had a little whatever that situation was. It's wild. You don't want to fight each other. Yeah, like, can you first of and said that you guys had a little whatever that situation was. That's why. You wanted to fight each other. Yeah, like can you first of all clarify that story because that's just a wild. No, there's just nothing to clarify. I'm talking about a coworker of over 30 years ago and I was a minor.

You don't think if there was any validity of that, it wouldn't have come out? I'm like how? So 100% nothing happened. I mean 1000%. No, but I'm not getting in the back come out. I'm like, how? So 100% nothing happened. I mean, 1000%. No, but I'm not getting in the back and forth. I'm sorry, I'm just doing too good. I get what you're saying. Getting back and forth with a woman who's over 70.

And I've been kind of mentally ingrained to not fight with my elders. Like, all right, if that's the way you saw it, cool, it is what it is. Well, she recently said on a stage, I forget where they were at, but the cast was there and you weren't there. And she said that she wished that you were there, and if you were there, she would hug you, and she kinda, you know, that whole thing. So have y'all talked, or is there? Why does what she have to say hold so much more validity

than what my other cast members have to say? I'm just curious. Oh, I think that the age thing does play a factor. 70-year-old black women. Yeah, what you said, you know what I mean? I think that definitely plays a factor as well. But I think she's one of the first people that alleged the bad stuff that I saw come out

and be like, man, we should just hug it out. It made me wonder, have y'all talk, what changed? So the people that I talk to regularly is Kelly and Darius. And again, I don't call them Laura and Eddie. So I called Kelly about this book. We spoke extensively, and Kelly called me two weeks ago. But it's weird for us, by the way, also, when we go out and eat or anything like that, we like little back rooms and stuff like that.

I would freak out if I saw y'all sitting down all together. Exactly. If people saw me and Kelly just at crustaceans in Beverly Hills and what, it tends to turn into a big, hey, can I get a selfie fest? So you know- Like, damn, we're going to one. You really got to. You're like, damn, we're going to win. You really gotta. You gotta.

So, you know, we keep it private, but I have a very good relationship with all the cast members who've ever wanted a relationship with me beyond the show. And I don't have anything negative to say about Reggie. When people ask me, who was your favorite scene partner? I'm like, the chemistry I had with Reginald Val Johnson, I remember the episode where it clicked for us.

It's called Boxcar Blues, where we were stuck in a train together with all these cows and Steve is just getting on his nerves. And Reggie just couldn't look at me without breaking up, without breaking character. And we just, we developed this amazing chemistry, but adults are adults and they're going through adult things too.

And also I'm a kid. So you know what? I'll tell you one way maybe I could have been annoying. I dribble my basketball everywhere. Everywhere. If I was in school, and did you know we need you on set? Boom, boom, boom, basketball, basketball, basketball. Well, adults get annoyed when a kid is just dribbling and bouncing the ball all over the place. Is that difficult? How old are you? You talking about 13, 14 years old? Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I don't know. I would feel like adults would have a little bit more great

standing. I'm approaching it from a very self-aware standpoint. So I'm like, okay, yeah. And I remember Joyce Webb, one of our script supervisors, be like, oh, here it comes with the basketball. Of course. It's like, okay.'s that that translates 25 years later to being difficult I'll take it. I want to talk about your first kiss Everybody getting arrested in the nowadays if that was So break down your first kiss exactly years old onset he's ahead of me on this one No, we had is we had a scene, man, where Steve and Eddie get hot at the dice table,

and they're rolling the dice, and this woman is supposed to give me a kiss, just plant one on me before my last dice roll. And during rehearsals all week, she had just pretty much given me a peck. It was just a peck? Yeah, because you just go through the motions, but with that hot live studio audience there, man, she just yo she gave me the whole shebang and

So when I pull back, and this was your first time you look yeah I had never kissed a girl before I said, how did you know what to do? No, I did I wasn't first of all, I wasn't even planning for that I know you supposed to put your lips together But I didn't know that anything else was really supposed to happen to that day. I wasn't I wasn't seasoned. I was and really supposed to happen to that. I wasn't seasoned. Got you. I was. And so she does it. And my whole, my thinking at the time was

do not break character. Do not ruin a good take. You know, that's what you just kind of taught as a comedic actor and as a kid. And so when I went to my dressing room, I just kind of involuntarily, tears started coming down my face because I was just like, that was weird.

And then my dad corners me and he's like, what's wrong? And then the producer comes back and like, what's wrong? And I was just like, you know, like, she put her tongue in my mouth. I'm surprised your mother didn't want to put her ass. You know, it's so funny, everybody says that, but it was like, my father was present and was dealing with the issue,

so there was no reason to inject. And once it was revealed what happened they all started laughing. Let's start the men too movement. Men too. Let's start the men too movement. What is her name? My dad's laughing.

My dad's laughing. No, do not find this woman. Do not troll this woman at all. No, I'm serious because it's like that's one of the things that I'm very protective of is you know we have to embrace what double standards were, leave them in the past, but it's okay. I can laugh at it. I'm saying from the time that it happened

to my dad and the executive producer coming in to me walking back out on stage to do now the next scenes, even the crew, high five, she put it on you, young fella, you hung in there. You did your thing. And it was very clear to me, all the signals that I was getting was, that might have been yucky the way it went down, but apparently I'm going to get a lot more of that. So Mama Cheesemote says, yeah, okay, all right, go with the flow.

Well, what about the trauma you went through? Because it was immediately after that scene, they told you that you can't wear pants anymore? Oh, you know what? See? I see how you're doing. I see how you're doing. You'll be here all week, tip your waitresses on the way out ladies and gentlemen. You know what else I want to know, was Black Hollywood more of a community back then? Could you tell a story in the book about, you know, connecting with Malcolm Jamal Warner and him putting you in the abstinence commercial and, you know, your mom being a fan of Malcolm. So I don't know if he was.

The extent to which Black Hollywood was putting each other on, I won't say was more of a community. There are specific people who put a lot of people on. Like Ice Cube put a lot of people on. Absolutely. Like that dude just like, John Singleton put a lot of people on.

Like he identified talent. That's really the dream I kind of have for myself because I picked that up back then of being able to recognize other talent and be like, oh, you got it, you got it. And that's a pay-it-forward joy that's separate and apart from actually being the focus. But back then, because there was just a lack of,

you know, cell phone communication and social media wasn't what it was, the connections were made more organically. You know, you wrote a number down, you gave it to somebody, you know, and, yeah, so I will say that, I will say it was just, I don't know, it was different. Help me out on this one,

because I feel like we connected on this one. So was it there, was it a real community, or? It definitely was, but I'm saying to the extent that I could count on somebody having the power to give me a job. No Got you got you. No, not not that at all But to the extent of walking in the room and seeing tashina arnold and tisha campbell and they like jaleel Yeah, and it was like, okay. Yes. Yes, absolutely. You know, um And and there was also a sense of like. Sup, y'all, this is Questlove, and I'm here to tell you about a new podcast I've been

working on with the Story Pirates and John Glickman called Historical Records. It's a family-friendly podcast. Yeah, you heard that right. A podcast for all ages. One you can listen to and enjoy with your kids starting on September 27th. I'm going to toss it over to the host of Historical Records, Nimini, to tell you all about it. Make sure you check it out. Hey, y'all. Nimini here.

I'm the host of a brand new history podcast for kids and families called Historical Records. Historical Records brings history to life through hip hop. -♪ Flash slam another one gone, fast bam another one gone, Historical records brings history to life through hip hop. ["Hit The Road With Me"] Flash slam, another one gone. Bash bam, another one gone. The cracker to bat and another one gone. A tip for the cap cause another one gone.

Each episode is about a different inspiring figure from history. Like this one about Claudette Colvin, a 15 year old girl in Alabama who refused to give up her seat on the city bus nine whole months before Rosa Parks did the same thing. Check it. And it began with me. Did you know, did you know?

I wouldn't give up my seat. Nine months before Rosa, it was Claudette Goldman. Get the kids in your life excited about history by tuning in to Historical Records because in order to make history, you have to make some noise. Listen to historical records on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey everyone, it's Jon, also known as Dr. John Paul, and I'm

Jordan or Joe Ho. And we are the Black Fat Film Podcast. A podcast where all the intersections of identity are celebrated. Ooh, chat. This year we have had some of our favorite people on, including Kid Fury, T.S. Madison, Amber Ruffin from the Amber and Lacey Show, Angelica Ross, and more. Make sure you listen to the Black Fat Film Podcast

on the iHeartRadio app. Have a podcast or whatever you get your podcast, girl. and more. Make sure you listen to the Black Fat Fam podcast on the iHeartRadio app, other podcasts or whatever you get your podcast girl. Oh, I know that's right. Like being a part of an exclusive club. You know what I'm saying? It was like you didn't walk into a room and see another black TV star and just sit at your table and just be like, oh, he's over there.

You typically were going to get up and you were gonna greet each other, dress each other and probably exchange information. Was that because there wasn't a lot of people, it was just like you guys were the cream of the crop? It wasn't a lot? It wasn't even like, there was, what we're missing now is everything is niche program. So very few people are always talking about the same thing

at the same time. Like today, all anybody's talking about from a cultural standpoint is Mike Tyson's ass cheeks. Because we all saw that at the same time. Like today, all anybody's talking about from a cultural standpoint is Mike Tyson's ass cheeks. Because we all saw that at the same time. So, you know, exactly. So it was like even the Stefan moment where it was just like a lot of black families saw that at the same time when it aired.

So they calling each other on each other, but girl, you gotta see him in his white suit. So it's a different connection back there, man. And I'm like, yeah, it's special. Do you get tired of the Steve Urkel character? Because I'm sure people have to come up to you all the time and be like, stay the line. Well, in the book, you say nothing makes you happier

than when somebody recognizes you as Jaleel. Well, that makes me happy when that happens. And I kind of got saved by millennials. The Gugliela has helped me. It really has. I can hear tone. And I try to talk about that in the book. So if a southern grandmother comes up to me and she's referencing the character,

that doesn't bother me as much. As compared to some guys in a bar who they have a sausage fest in the corner and we're doing well over here and they wanna bring light to that and say, okay, I see what you're doing now. Those are two completely different things in terms of being tired of the character.

He said, we're doing well over here. Basically, we got all the ladies over here. Every single lady in the club is with us, all right? You know what I'm saying? So that part is obvious, what the dichotomy is there. But people come up to me for a variety of different reasons. Man, like your man outside, he was just like, yo, I know about the Oracle stuff, but I'm here for Sonic.

I did the voice of Sonic the Hedgehog for 100 episodes, and that lands hugely with a lot of people. I did two episodes of Psych that people just love those two episodes of Psych. So for me, it's a conveyor belt of people acknowledging me for different things. And as you get older, like I said, with my focus being on my daughter, I'm a game show host now. I'm just like, look, as long as you pleasant and you chill and you respectful of my family and my environment,

I just love being known for a good reason. Cause in this day and age, you can be known for a real sucker reason. Any day, like it's wild to suck a reason you could be known for. You know, it's interesting what you said even about being a black people all can come down on one moment. Cause I think about that even with you as a star, right? Like you have to be a certain caliber of star for us to know your real name. Right.

You know what I'm saying? Like for you to play Urkel so well that we know who Jaleel White is, that says a lot. I appreciate it. You know what's crazy though? For a long time, maybe because I was so young, I didn't know that Jahlil White was your real name. I thought that that was another person outside of Sephine.

You didn't have internet? I did, but I was so young, I don't know, I was confused. She grew up reading credits on TV. I thought it was Urkel, then I knew Sephine, then when I started hearing Jahlil White, I'm like, oh maybe this is another persona that he's taking on. And then I got old enough to really understand characters and it not being really you and all that, and I was like, oh, maybe this is another persona that he's taken on. And then I got old enough to really understand, like, characters and, like, it not being really

you and, like, all that. And I was like, oh, okay. That was just, like, a me moment. Yeah. I'm just glad the light went on. Thank you. But speaking of, right- You got the internet fixed.

My AOL dial-up. That was back in them days. Okay? That was Netflix this weekend. That was Netflix this weekend. Speaking of, though, I know in the book you talk about the meeting that you had with the exec about the remake or the spin-off. The reboot.

The reboot. Your version that you wanted to happen, in my opinion, was way better. I don't know if you want to say it, you want people to read the book, but it was way better than what they had pitched to you. Thank you. I guess we have to talk about it. Because I want to know that will we ever get that and can you could you do that on your own? Listen first of all you can't do it on your own you know that's the thing about television that people have to respect

it's you know it's the it's the only art form I feel that still has gatekeeping still very much in place and you can either be bitter about it or you can fight the good fight and look for the person that's gonna be your champion. That's just, it is what it is. I was never offered a reboot. I always wanna make that very clear. And even my vision for the show that I have, it's not about me.

It's about three dimensional characters that would actually resonate and translate in 2024 because I worked for the producers who coined the phrase, jump the shark who coined the phrase jump the shark Fonzie jump the shark you jumped over a shark, right? Those are my producers the exact same producers. So you're not going to invite me to jump the shark again I was offered a blind contract and half my pay of what I got for the last episode and There was no consideration. I mean I there was no consideration given to the adults that actually have such a large opinion

over what terms they would return to. I'm like, the way they were being discussed was, well, you know, Harriet and Carl will come by and they'll visit the new family every now and then. Like, Hollywood doesn't really, they engage talent when they need talent. They pay talent when they need talent. And this isn't even a black thing.

I don't want this to turn into a black thing. I'll hear guys like Chris Pine or whatever who's, you know, he's like, I don't know what they're gonna do next with Star Trek. Like I love playing the character, but when they call me, they call me. So I'd love the opportunity to make the show that I envisioned that was never turned down,

it was never pitched. I was just offered a blind contract and around that they were going to develop the reboot. There were two versions though, correct me if I'm wrong, right? Because you said one of them you wanted to do like what's the Netflix show with the kid? The little kid that we follow is super smart. Yes, Young Sheldon. There was one version that was kind of going smart. Yes, Young Sheldon. There was one version that was kind of going to be like the Young Sheldon from like a different perspective and then there was another version where it would be you and now you're an adult

and you are in a relationship but then Myra is still around at that point or something. Wasn't there two versions? No, I'll simplify it. I really feel like it could be like a young rock to be quite honest. The only difference is imagine if the young rock had started off famous and then gets into reality. You still wanna keep it light, you know what I'm saying? But if you do a half hour comedy,

where are the stories gonna come from? They literally just used to make it up back in the day. And they would take stories too from old sitcoms, happy days, whatever, and they'd dust them off and they'd just, you know, update them a little bit. You can't do that in 2024. You're gonna watch for one episode and you're gonna turn that off. I asked a reporter recently, I said,

well, in the traditional reboot that everybody thinks that they want, where Steve and Laura get married and have a kid that's just like Urkel, would you watch that?" And he said, yeah, for about four minutes. I said, okay, thank you for being honest with me. If I do anything, I am an advocate of kids.

I see exactly how young performers get derailed. I want to push the agenda. I want to push the legend for a kid to come play a future version of me Whatever that turns out to be That kids got to be able to get invited to the Golden Globes that kids got to be able to get invited to the Emmys and He can't look back as me and looking back at me and I'm a stain on his career You know what I'm saying is like I will point this out But I won't say names because I don't want to even make them feel bad

But like the kids on Fuller House they don't work. Fuller House the reboot they don't work. The adults that put them in that role they knew they wouldn't work in prestige television in prestige film because now casting directors will say oh oh those are the kids from Fuller House we want somebody a fresh face etc etc and etc. And I promise you as parents and as kids they didn't go into that project thinking that that was gonna be a blight on their career as soon as the show was over. They didn't go into that. I want to make sure anybody that I work with know they go in with

open eyes, this is what we stand to achieve and it was so awesome watching Will Smith give it up to Quincy Jones after all these years when Quincy passed because Quincy touched his life in a positive way with the Fresh Prince. He never had to look back on the Fresh Prince like it was this show he needed to get away from. So I don't know that's my take on what I feel about reboots and opportunities. Let me ask you, was that a stain on your career where you had to lose Urkel because people always looked at you when you were in the roles? Again, I don't look at it as a stain.

I've never stopped working. It's a tough business just to work in. Is it easier for some with better reps and different imaging? Yeah. When I think of Harry Potter or Al Bundy, I think about those guys and those characters. But they had better reps and different images and it hasn't slowed them down at all. As far as the TGIF people are concerned,

I like where I've landed. You know, I've never stopped working. Have I always gotten the dream job that I wanted? No, but I talk about it in the book, a couple jobs. One in particular that I wanted that went on to become the worst film that year. It's. But I talk about it in the book, a couple jobs, one in particular that I wanted, that went on to become the worst film that year. It's like, whoa, be careful what you want. So I just, I don't know.

Like I said, when my daughter got here, man, a lot of stuff just crystallized for her. That it was like, yo, let's go out here, let's be a working dad. And it's a beautiful thing to come home with a check to take care of your kid, and you're doing it in a way where you don't have to give up your damn dignity. That's right.

It's that simple. You mentioned Will Smith. Will Smith, you said, was the first influential black person to hire you to do something outside of family matters. Yeah. Break that down. How did y'all have a relationship?

Well, I had seen Will, you know, I would always cross paths with him with NBA stuff and, you know, Will would invite me to the office, everything when he was in his offices on 3rd Street. I saw Will coming a mile away, just like I could identify, just like I talk about Ice Cube, identifying talent and stuff like that.

And Will actually just shared a story, as a matter of fact, that I'm like, oh, I never would have shared that not to violate your privacy. But I remember Charlie Mack having me over to his dressing room when he was shooting 94. And I was just a curious dude. I love reading scripts.

I love just devouring film. And I was in his dressing room and he had a script on the table. And I asked to go, I was checking it out. And he said, oh, that's just another sci-fi movie and I'm not going to do another sci-fi movie after this one. And I went to visit him again after that. And like a couple weeks later, and when I got to the set, he wasn't there. And Charlie was like, I'm sorry, Will was supposed to be here, but you know, Steven

Spielberg sent a helicopter for him. And I'm like, oh, okay, well, that's a good reason for him to not be here to receive me. And then months and months later, after that, Will was coming out with Men in Black. And then it clicked. That was the script. That you read. For men in black. But he said he wasn't doing another sci-fi movie.

So I guess that helicopter ride must have changed some opinions. So I just had this really cool relationship with Will. He was always open doors back then to me. And when he called me on the set, he called me to be on Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. It just meant a lot to me. Because he made it his personal business to put me on the set, he called me to be on Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. It just meant a lot to me, because he made it his personal business to put me on the show. I got two more questions.

One, when did Family Matters jump to shark? Oh man, we probably jumped to shark somewhere around the sixth or seventh season. You don't remember what episode it was? No, I don't remember the episode. It happens gradually, you know? You just start going into Port-A-Potty and coming out as too many characters. You know, before you know it, I was Elvis. I was, you know, we, we sending whole families to Paris and come back by standing

on a teleportation device. I think when you moved in with them. I never moved in with them. You never moved in with them? I never moved in with them way as long. Oh, I thought you moved, I thought your parents... You ain't got to lie to kick it. I never moved in with them. I thought your parents went away and... No, I never moved in with them. I thought your parents went away and...

No, I never moved in with them though. I never did. Like I said, it was probably around about the sixth season, just a while ago. Where was you living when your parents moved out of the country? I was always next door neighbor. That was the thing, again, back then, they never showed Steve's parents. They always kept Steve's parents this big mystery. What they referenced then though, they said your parents moved to Russia or something. Yeah. They would always reference my parents. My parents were treated the same way. Do you remember, they were followed, cheers? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Remember Norm's wife, Vera? They never showed Vera. So they would always talk about his wife at home, and that was the way you treated it back then. They never showed the gooch on different strokes. They always talked about the gooch. So they treated Family Matters, my parents, the exact same way.

You couldn't do that in this day and age. This day and age wouldn't take that kind of just constant referencing mystique. They'd be like, no, no, no, bring in the parents and make sense of this. They're gonna be all on your Instagram and this day and age, you gotta find it. I really thought you moved in with the women.

No, no. That's crazy. Now you never, I was watching the interview you did, and you said you never got invited to none of the Hollywood parties. No, no. I mean Now you never, I was watching an interview you did and you said you never got invited to none of the Hollywood parties. No, no. I mean I did, I would do a lot of nice parties but none of the like, the stuff that started gaining a lot of steam on social media like you know, the Rock Nation brunch or obviously you know, you talking about my man, you know, the Diddy parties or whatever like, no, organically

not. Did you laugh? Somebody said Reginald O. Johnson used to get invited. Stop it, you gotta calm down. Did you laugh when you heard the Carl Winslow and Diddy rumors? You gotta calm down. You just. You ever see them around saying that?

We're gonna slow it down for a second. You know what I'm saying? Cause sometimes you can just be driving too fast and you're not paying attention to the, you know. Talking too fast. To the speed limits, To the speed exactly. We're in a 35 zone right now. What happened to Judy, man?

How did Judy just walk up there? I mean, I talked about it in the book. I know, but you don't want to give nothing to the listeners right now. I mean, listen, how do you think I covered it in the book? Was I fair? Yeah. Was I fair? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Because you want you, I mean, but you know. But you laughing about, I'm pulling it out of you now. I'm pulling it out of you.

Because I guess because she didn't really have a role. So it's like, you know what I mean? I get what you're trying to say. I didn't get to that part in the book, but I'm in for her and I'm reading in between the lines. Was it that they didn't think she was good to stay on the show? She didn't have a role really. She didn't have a role.

She didn't have a role. She didn't get to that part in the book, but I'm in for it. And I'm reading between the lines. Or was it that they didn't think she was good to stay on the show? She didn't have a role, really. I think she's that part of the family didn't matter. Damn. Jesus. Oh my god.

So in the book, how do you? Pick it up. Look, I'm only a couple chapters in. But not to give it all away, but just some of it. How do you cover, when you asked were you fair, did someone tell you you weren't fair and confident? He wasn't wrong. Thank you.

I just like, I said, I said, hey. I feel kind of threw me off, he wasn't wrong. Okay. All right. You know, there were a multitude of factors that went into her departure from the show that I blame all on her mother. But there were, but as a performer, they weren't giving her storylines

and she wasn't the best at delivering a joke. And so, you know, sometimes they would give her material and it would just fall flat. And if you fall flat and run throughs, they're going to rewrite you. And you know, we're kids back then. So you know, kids, that's the thing, you can't roast each other nowadays, at least not in public, but trust me, kids are still roasting each other. That's never going to go away.

So you know, we'd be sitting in the background and you're like, and she blows the layup. You know, it was like. And she, you know, it is just like, you know, you can only mess up so much and be arrogant about it in the fur coat and the Mercedes too, before somebody says enough of this. And don't forget, my producers, you know,

this is a story that precedes my show. They famously fired a woman named Valerie Harper. We had a show called Valerie and the show became The Hogan Family. And Tom Miller, may he rest in peace, walked onto the set and said, you are done. And in one foul swoop changed the name of the show became The Hogan Family. And Tom Miller, may he rest in peace, walked onto the set and said, you are done. And in one foul swoop, changed the name of the show from Valerie to The Hogan Family

and put the focus on Jason Bateman. And people forget those kinds of histories. So- So why they didn't just Aunt Viv Judy then? Why they didn't just bring in somebody else? Because they didn't feel like they needed the character. Like we didn't have social media. So they were like, she's already only in one scene.

You know, we've written her down as much as we possibly can. There's reaches a point where the corporation does the corporation thing. It was like, well, how much are we paying her? Right. Okay, we'll just save the money. And you don't have to answer to social media either. And the thing that I do like,

where I like to address it with sensitivity is, you know, and I talk about that. I say, look, the first miracle we have in our lives is who you're born to. You know, some people are born on third base, you know, and in this situation, I really felt like, you know, Jamie was born to a mother who put herself before her daughter and she had ideas of grandeur that weren't necessarily very realistic. And it sucks for Jamie that she has to wear that scarlet letter for the rest of her life and and I hope that Jamie finds peace outside of show business to be quite honest you know this show business can start to make

you think that this is the only way to make money this is the only way to live like if it didn't I talk about that with Jonathan Brandis because I he passed away and he took his life and I just I was very close to him at that particular time and I saw signs of someone that was really putting too much emphasis on what this business meant to his existence on earth. I got one last question, now you gotta go. Do I have to go? I'm being kicked out. Now did you jump into cannabis early? Oh man, listen cannabis is just something I'm really passionate about because it landed on me. That's my Plymouth Rock. It just landed on me.

I've been trying to get at the cannabis game for probably about, shoot, eight or nine years now, to be quite honest. And it's just, it's been very challenging to meet the right people that are placed where they need to be placed. They care about quality, they care about diversity, because they're going to change these laws and with this these laws in such a way that the big guys are gonna come in and they're gonna scoop it all up and Just the way they just played us with Bitcoin. It's gonna go down all the same way So I'm lucky to do a mess from really cool cats. We're not nationwide But but my guy the wolf group they got uh, we're gonna have some fun. Is you got a dispensary or a scran?

No, they named the streets. Back in 2003, they named a strain after my old character. I don't even know if it was after my old character or maybe somebody was just inspired maybe watching an episode of Family Matters, so they called the strain Purple Urkel. I've been name checked everywhere. Rap songs, TV shows, Purple Urkel's been

name checked everywhere and people think that I made money off of it. So my brand name is It's Purple. I always like to let people know and that actually came from a joke where it was like when people see me they think they're being discreet sometimes where they go, oh it's Urkel. And I always just wanted to have something to say back like no it's purple. So that's what It's Purple the brand even stands for but we are the house of purple oracle. We make the best damn purple oracle that anybody makes out there. Did you bring something with you? What I tell you? Bring the drugs next time. Bring the drugs. I left it at the damn hotel but I'm telling you I will find you dog. I'm here for the

week. I don here for the week Myra Michelle Thomas, yes every time careful now, that's my girl I know I was gonna say every time you talk about her It's very emotional for you in it like I feel that that's your girl, right or was Um, I want to know off off camera when you guys develop your relationship that we didn't saw on camera cuz it was so believable What was that off camera relationship like and like building that for the saw on camera, because it was so believable. What was that off-camera relationship like, and building that for the characters on camera? How did you guys, because you were so young. Dad, no, Michelle started off playing Malcolm Jamal Warner's girlfriend on the Cosby show.

So she was always older than me. So even though she was so small and bubbly and big, but I looked at her like a little sister. I'm like a big sister. Yeah. And we just had this amazing chemistry. My mama loved her too, so that always, that made things easy. And she just made it her business to always want to, always want to hook me up with somebody.

And she introduced me to Martha's Vineyard and, you know, spending summers there. And we just had an amazing chemistry. She was just, and she was just down, like everybody knew Michelle. Everybody knew Michelle in the music business. Everybody, just everywhere we went, people loved Michelle. And unfortunately she passed away to stomach cancer. And that was just a very emotional time because we just knew what she was going through

as an actress. And that's why I always like to remind people too, they always try to apply this typecasting narrative to me. I said, man, listen, this is a tough business. If you really want me to make you a list of people who are trying to get to their next opportunity, I can, and you'll see it doesn't have as much to do with typecasting as you think.

So during the time when she went out, I just, I wish that there had been some better opportunities for her, you know what I'm saying? Like Carl Weathers just passed away, and Mandalorian was a nice thing for him, man, to have on the way out. We want people to buy the book, Growing Up Urkel, but it is interesting to see how much of the love

y'all created off camera. Yeah, no, it was real love, man. I get it, yes, it was bumpy in the beginning, especially with the adults, and the parents of some of the beginning, especially with the adults and the parents of some of the kids, but that's my puberty. Daris is out here wild in the times, we hear that, we slide each other's DMs, but that's my brother.

We've all had brothers or whatever, frat brothers or college friends bugging out or whatnot, but you don't abandon that cat. You still take it as calling, y'all just laugh it off. And that's what my relationship is with with Kelly and Darius It's very brotherly and sisterly and you know, I'll always defend our entire cast actually for the work that we did That's what it is. Well, Jaleel white ladies and gentlemen growing up Right now make sure you pick it up and thank you for joining us

It's been a long time you supposed to come here like years ago, but I know I would run into y'all the airports and stuff I thought you were on the plane. Yeah. I always give credit to a brother though who's famous and he'll see me at the airport and be like, okay, how you gonna act? He was cool. Certainly, if the famous person is in a situation between you and him. Well, I've had other people. I'd be Howard Stern.

I remember Howard Stern was sitting in coach behind me, flying to New York. I was flying to New York to do his show. And then I got up and I actually took him some dessert on the flight and he's like, oh, I can't believe you came back here. And then when I did the show, he was like, okay, I knew you were a cool dude because you came back to say what's up to me and coach. And I was like, yeah, man, I'm flying.

Why was Howard and coach? That's the good thing. He might have just needed to get to New York. Exactly, and that's so that'll happen to famous folks too. It's like, yo, sometimes you get stuck. I figured Howard makes so much money. Oh yeah, you gotta get home. No, no, this is before, this is like before, this is before Private Parks.

Sometimes you just gotta get home. Oh, this is before Private Parks. Oh, okay, okay, okay. So he had Luke, but he didn't have the bag, you know? He was like, you gotta get your ass back to work. That's right. He helicopter, I think, for building the building now. Well, ladies and gentlemen, it's Jaleel White.

Growing up herbal, out now. Good morning. Wake that ass up early in the morning. The Breakfast Club.