The Breakfast Club - Eating While Broke: VAN LATHAN - Angola State Grilled Cheese Part 1

Episode Date: November 30, 2024

The Black Effect Presents... Eating While Broke! For Part 2 - Head to Eating While Broke feed and look for Season 3 Ep 2 published May 9, 2024 Season 3 of Eating While Broke is here, and we're kicking things off with a bang! In this explosive two-part episode, Coline sits down with the one and only Van Lathan for a conversation that's as real as it gets. Van takes us on a journey through his remarkable life, from the streets of Baton Rouge to the bright lights of Hollywood. He shares his triumphs and his struggles, his moments of doubt and his unshakable determination. Through it all, Van's story is a testament to the power of resilience and the importance of staying true to yourself. He's a living example of how even the toughest circumstances can be transformed into fuel for success. But this isn't just a tale of one man's rise to the top. Van's journey is a mirror that reflects the experiences of so many others who have faced adversity and refused to back down. His words are a rallying cry for anyone who's ever been told they can't make it, a reminder that your past doesn't define your future. In Part 1, Van and Coline dive deep into the formative events that shaped Van's unbreakable spirit. From Hurricane Katrina to his early days in LA, they leave no stone unturned. And next week, in Part 2, they'll explore the pivotal moments that propelled Van to become the voice of a generation. So grab a seat at the table and get ready to feast on some hard-hitting truths and life-changing wisdom. Van and Coline are about to serve up a conversation that's as nourishing as it is unforgettable, and they'll discuss it all over an Angola State Grilled Cheese.   Connect: @wittcoline  @vanlathan Share your recipes with us: @EATINGWHILEBROKE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey, Beau. Hey, Matt. Can you believe we have a whole bunch of Wicked episodes coming up? Oh, I can't wait to share all of these amazing episodes with the readers, cadies, publicists and finalists. That's right. We're talking all things behind bringing this iconic musical to the big screen. And of course, we're taking you inside the world of this epic movie with all the exclusive details you won't hear anywhere else. It's Wicked in a way you've never heard before.

Don't miss it. And be sure to go watch Wicked in theaters starting November 22nd. Listen to Lost Culturistas on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, y'all, Nimini here. I'm the host of a brand new history podcast for kids and families called Historical Records. Executive produced by Questlove, The Story Pirates,

and John Glickman, Historical Records brings history to life through hip hop. Flash slam, another one gone. Bash bam, another one gone. The cracker, the bat, and another one gone. A tip, but a cap, because 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! Get the kids in your life excited about history by tuning in to Historical Records. 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. Jenny Garth, Janna Kramer, Amy Robach, and TJ Holmes bring you I Do Part Two, a one of a kind experiment in podcasting to help you find love again. Hey, I'm Jana Kramer. I'm Jenny Garth. Hi everyone, I'm Amy Robach.

And I'm TJ Holmes, and we are, well, not necessarily relationship experts. If you're ready to dive back into the dating pool and find lasting love, we wanna help. Listen to I Do Part Two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Hi, I'm Marie. And I'm Sydney.

And we're mess. Well, not a mess, but on our podcast called Mess, we celebrate all things messy. But the gag is, not everything is a mess. Sometimes it's just living. Yeah, things like JLo on her third divorce. Living. Girls trip to Miami. Mess.

Breaking up with your girlfriend while on Instagram Live. Living. Living. This kind of mess. Yeah, well, you get it. Got it? Live, love, mess. Listen to Mess with Sydney Washington and Marie Faustin

on iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's up? This is Ramses Jha. And I go by the name Q Ward. And we'd like you to join us each week for our show, Civic Cipher. That's right.

We discuss social issues, especially those that affect black and brown people, but in a way that informs and empowers all people. We discuss everything from prejudice to politics to police violence, and we try to give you the tools to create positive change in your home, workplace, and social circle.

We're going to learn how to become better allies to each other. So join us each Saturday for Civic Cipher on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey guys, welcome to another episode of Eating While Broke. We are not in LA today. We are over here at 85 South Studios with the special guest of the day, Van Lathan is in the building. You guys may know him as podcaster, Academy Award winning executive producer,

you know, but I like to acknowledge you as the man that stood up to Kanye West in the TMZ office. Commissioner of the BBI. Commissioner, and we're gonna leave the commissioner of the BBI off. Um, but Van, before we get into where you're at today, I want you to take me back into where you're at today, I want you to take me back to where you were when you were broke, what dish you're gonna have

cook for us to eat today. So you can start with that. ["Eat It My Bro"] So, I get out of college around, I would say 2003, 2003 I got out of college. And there's this like transitional period in my life. Because I was always interested in people's stories. And everybody's story seems so linear. Every story seems linear when you're at the end of it. Everybody has a moment that something happened for them.

Everybody has a moment that they realize something. But when you're in the middle of it, you don't know. You don't know when it's gonna happen for you. You don't know how it's gonna happen for you. Certain people have more certainty than other people do, but all you can do is work and try. And I get into this point, and this is weird, odd point, to where I'm like, nothing that I thought was going to happen or no way that

I wanted to go is the way that I wanted to go. So you're graduated, we're taking back to when you graduated college. Right and so I'm working at Best Buy and this is the same time that the college dropout has come out around that same time, Kanye's first album and he was talking about- Great album. Great album. And he was talking about. Great album. Great album. He's talking about disillusioned high school graduates who now have to realize that they're not gonna conquer the world.

That what they're gonna do is enter into the American workforce. Yeah, the rat race, right. And they're gonna be a part of something and everything that they did is not just not as meaningful as they thought it was going to be. In a way, it's spiritually debilitating.

And the song is, the whole album is about breaking free of that, really. It's about saying, hey, like I dropped out, but I dropped out, I took a path that is- Less admired, less... Less admired, but in a way frowned upon, right? In order to be more alive. Like I'm not killing myself.

And so I'm into the point to where I'm like having an existential crisis, I'm like, yo, I'm killing myself. It's not working. And so many things happen within this two year period. My parents divorced, my mom leaves the house, and that was very transformative for me because when a woman leaves a home, right away everything gets less.

Well, you were talking about after college though. Were you living at home with your parents? Sure. Oh, you were during college? Yeah, I went to Southern University in Baton Rouge. I had gone away to school, and then I came back and I went to Southern University because I wanted to. I had gone away to school and then I came back And I went to Southern University because I wanted to be around all of my friends. I was still living at home the the um The school was about ten minutes away from where we lived

Okay, so how old were you when that your parents were like 22 22 or 23? And so you actually got to see it. I got to see it right? I got to see it as two people divorced and they're not and daddy divorcing. And I also got to see just- What do you mean they're not mommy and daddy divorcing? It wasn't mommy and daddy divorcing. When you're 10 and your parents break up, you're 13, 14, mommy and daddy are divorcing. In my life, Crystal and Terry got a divorce because I had enough of a frame of mind

or a frame of reference, should I say, for these people to know who they kind of really were at that point. So I knew the anger that my father had. I knew the paranoia that my mother had. I knew that these were two people that were on diverging spiritual growth, journey, should I say, and that they were no longer compatible

and like what that means. Like when you're a kid, it's like, are you guys gonna get split up? Okay, who am I gonna live with? That's not the concern for me. The concern for me is, do these people still get to live the version of their life that they wanna live, now that they're no longer together?

And so when I saw that, my mom, I was actually happy for them that they had made the decision. I was happy for them that my mother, I thought, okay, this is a new life for her. She had felt beaten down by a lot of things emotionally. She had felt unsupported by a lot of things emotionally. And obviously with my father doing some of the things that he was doing, he must have been unhappy too. So maybe this is a new life for them. I'm young enough to think

at that point that severing that type of relationship in some way could be a positive for those two people, as much as they loved each other, I loved each other until my father passed away. But immediately she left the house and it was two niggas living in the house that didn't know how to do shit. Like the house just became, it's like, it's just like, I remember- Were you the youngest two or something? Who? Are you the youngest in your family?

Because you said it was just the two of you. Yeah, I was the youngest in the family. I was the only one still around. My sister had gone. My dad had other kids, but they were gone. But like, so it's just me and him living in the house. Wait, your dad had other kids? Yeah.

What do you mean? He had other kids, nigga. You know what I mean. Well, don't glaze over it. Okay, okay. So your mom was dealing with a lot. Yeah, yeah. That's what I'm saying. So it. Okay, okay, so your mom was dealing with a lot. Yeah, yeah, that's what I'm saying.

So it was, that's another reason why you're happy for her to go and have a chance at a life that is for her. Yeah. Right? So, you know, me and him are there and it's like, she's your mom, but she's also like a genius in creating. She's a genius in keeping things running. She, you get taught this lesson of misogyny

and the lesson is that somebody leaves the house and they go make a whole bunch of money. And my mother worked too and made a lot of money, but somebody leaves the house and go makes a lot of money. And then they come back into a castle and everything that they touch inside a house turns to gold. But you don't realize that there's somebody who's keeping your life beautiful.

There's someone who's attention to detail, somebody whose ability to multitask, somebody who looks out for things, somebody who when something's broke, they go, okay, you gotta go fix that. Somebody who when something doesn't work, they go, okay, we gotta get it working. And the moment that she left,

it was the house crumbled, it fell apart. Like the turn on the stove, pop, pop. The electric's popping. And I look at him and he looks at me and I'm like, right, she gets that fixed. That motherfucker popped till we got out of the house. We had never fixed it, right? The washing machine broke, never got fixed.

You know what I mean? It's just like little stuff like that. Like my mother used to come out, this was a big, beautiful home on about 60 acres that we had had. She would come out and she would spray paint, like a power wash the outside of the house where everything, like just me and him were just too focused

on the individual things that we were doing to care about all of that. The place was just less beautiful because the woman of the house had gone. Wow. And so during that whole time, I'm also broke. I'm also broke, I'm working at Best Buy. I'm like, I'm treading water.

I don't know what I wanna do. And then Hurricane Katrina comes. Okay, I remember that. And so when Hurricane Katrina comes, this is like a weird two year period of my life. Like everything changes. Like society crumbles. Everybody's strapped for cash

because you've taken on so much more. You got relatives living with you that come down from down in the city, everything's different. And now everyone's trying to stretch that dollar. You're eating different, you're feeling different. And it just doesn't feel like there's any abundance. It didn't feel like that in my life. And so that's when I, that was the most,

that was the point honestly, from 2003 to 2005, that was the point where I figured out myself. I moved to LA in 2006. By the time I got to LA, I could fucking handle anything. I could handle anything. I had buried homeboys. I had put relatives in the ground. There was nothing the world had showed me

like some really ill shit. And so when I got out there and was dealing with LA, it was a piece of cake. So you also navigated eating while broke. So what dish are you gonna have us eat today? Grilled cheese. Grilled cheese. It's a staple.

The staple and the most simplistic and delicious meal. Did you have to add any tomato soup or anything or you just did the legendary classic? Fuck all that. Butter, bread, cheese. Shout out to my uncle David, rest in peace. Shout out to my Uncle David, rest in peace. Shout out to my Uncle Mark, rest in peace. These guys taught me the beauty of the grilled cheese.

You know where they learned it at? Where? Where you think? They mama? Nah, where you think they learned to grill cheese at? These two uncles. What do you think? Someone screamed.

Somebody say it. Say it. Jail. Jail? Jail. Jail? See, I could tell what y'all you been, I can tell what kind of life you've been living. Look.

They learned to grill cheese in jail. They were grilled cheese mechanics. Okay. They came back in here and they was like. How y'all know it was jail? Cause they, cause we. Cause what? Yeah, cause we know.

Right, there was grilled cheese mechanics. Okay, well let's see, right? There was grilled cheese mechanics. Okay, well let's see. Let's judge your grilled cheese. I haven't made it in a long time cause a nigga is not broke no more. Okay. You know what? I've been doing this show for, this will be our,

this is our third season we're taping right now. And some of the dishes are so good on this show that I go home and I'll make it broke or not. Broke or not, you gonna make it? They good. Butter is a very, is very sensual. Look at butter, watch this, watch this, watch this, watch this.

Oh daddy. You hear that? Look at the butter go. Oh my God, butter is like delectable, right? Oh yeah, I use butter in 90% of my cooking. Really? What's that, what's that? What's that blood pressure like? I don't know, but I'm really healthy.

I'm really healthy. Okay, like what, do you get a checkup? First of all, I don't know if you could do a good grilled cheese. I'm watching the way you're making this grilled cheese. It's not gonna be good. I'm concerned. I'm definitely concerned,

because I feel like you are gonna butcher this grilled cheese. It's not gonna be good. I can already tell you it's not gonna be good. You know what I'm saying? I mean, yeah, because these jailbirds, they definitely didn't teach you that. Jailbirds? Oh my god.

They didn't teach you the right way. How much cheese are you gonna put on this grilled cheese? I'm gonna put a lot. This is how you did it, bro? Yeah, man. You put three pieces of cheese on your broke grilled cheese? I don't know if you know this, but like I'm a big ass nigga. Yeah, nah bro, you're being judged. And right now this grilled cheese is looking like it's not.

We gonna see. We'll see. I mean, we'll see what happens. Can I ask you a question? Is this show to judge people or is it to get inspired stories about people's lives? You know what? The first season and a half,

I was very nice with people's feelings. Okay. And then I had someone made tuna casserole They made a tuna casserole in this motherfucker. It was terrible. Well, we tape in LA usually so I like 85 did this whole thing for us to shout out to 85 They did the whole cooktop and whole build this whole kitchen. I'm in love with it now I'm gonna have to come to Atlanta more you like it Atlanta? But yeah, I like it, it's cool. I haven't seen much out here yet.

Where do you travel to? Where do you go? What you mean, where do I go? Yeah, where do you be at? I'll be at LA, New York. LA, New York, just okay? LA, New York. Okay. LA, New York.

I'm from there, you know. Let's focus on your story. For sure. Okay, so you graduate, you move to LA. Yeah. And you graduate with what degree? I have a political science and English degree. Okay.

And your goal in life before you left college was? To be an attorney. Okay, and then you got to LA to be? In the movie game. Okay, what happened you got to LA to be? In the movie game. Okay, what happened in between those times to make you change your career? I spoke to a lot of attorneys. You found out they don't like their jobs?

Well, I found out, so my brother, Jibril, is one of the most brilliant people I've ever known. Super brilliant, like ridiculously smart, right? Smart in a way that's almost inaccessible. And he went to Morehouse here in Atlanta, and then he went to Stanford, one of the greatest law schools in the world. And he didn't have a specific love for the law,

if you ask me, but he is just an incredibly successful person, and it didn't seem like to me like that was going to be a fulfilling life. But he is just an incredibly successful person. And it didn't seem like to me like that was going to be a fulfilling life. What I like to do is commiserate, talk, create. Obviously I like to go back and forth on all of that stuff. But more than anything, I want to create things that make people think and discuss. And I don't think that that was going to be something that was possible as an attorney.

Okay, now a little backstory. So did all your siblings graduate college? No. Okay, are any of them similar to your, shows similar to your path? My sister's a poet. Okay. She's one of the greatest poets in the world.

Really? I think so. She made money on it? No. Okay. She made no money on it. Okay. She's one of the greatest poets in the world. Really? I think so. She made money on it? No. Okay. She made no money on it. Okay. But she is ridiculously talented

and I'm inspired by her every single day because she creates no matter what the circumstance is. Okay. And that to me is more impressive than somebody who gets flown all over the world to create She creates Because she must create And not because it's incredibly lucrative for her to create

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Now that's a new way to GRC. Get $1,000 off Vanta when you go to vanta.com slash special. That's vanta.com slash special for $1,000 off. Hey, Bo. Hey, Matt. Can you believe we have a whole bunch of wicked episodes coming up? Oh, I can't wait to share all of these amazing episodes with the readers, cadies, publicists,

and finalists. That's right, we're talking all things behind bringing this iconic musical to the big screen. And of course, we're taking you inside the world of this epic movie with all the exclusive details you won't hear anywhere else. It's Wicked in a way you've never heard before. Don't miss it! And be sure to go watch Wicked in theaters starting November 22nd. Listen to Lost Culture East us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever

you get your podcasts. So 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 gonna 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. ["History Records"] Flash slam, another one gone. Bash bam, another one gone.

The cracker to bat and another one gone. A tip but a cap is 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 if you came with me

Did you know, did you know I wouldn't give up my seat Nine months before Rosa He was Claudette Colvin 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 iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hi, I'm Marie. And I'm Marie. And I'm Sydney. And we're MESS. Well, not a mess, but on our podcast called MESS, we celebrate all things messy. But the gag is, not everything is a mess. Sometimes it's just living.

Yeah, things like JLo on her third divorce. Living. Girl's trip to Miami. MESS. Ozempic. Messy skinny living. Restaurant stealing a birthday cake. Mess. Wait, what flavor was the cake though?

Okay, that's a good question. Hooking up with someone in accounting and then getting a promotion. Living. Breaking up with your girlfriend while on Instagram Live. Living. This kind of mess. Yeah. Well, you get it.

Got it? Live love. Mess. Listen to Mess with Sydney Washington. Live love. Mess. Listen to Mess with Sydney Washington. Live love.

Live love. Mess. Listen to Mess with Sydney Washington. Live Live. Living. Living. Oh, it's kind of mess. Yeah. Well, you get it. Got it. Live, love, mess. Listen to Mess with Sydney Washington and Marie Faustin on iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's up?

This is Ramses Job. And I go by the name Q Ward. And we'd like you to join us each week for our show, Civic Cipher. That's right. We're gonna to discuss social issues, especially those that affect black and brown people, but in a way that informs and empowers all people to hopefully create better allies. Think of it as a black show for non-black people. We discuss everything from prejudice to politics to police violence, and we try to give you

the tools to create positive change in your home, workplace, and social circle. Exactly. Whether you're Black, Asian, White, Latinx, Indigenous, LGBTQIA+, you name it. If you stand with us, then we stand with you. Let's discuss the stories and conduct the interviews that will help us create a more empathetic, accountable, and equitable America. You are all our brothers and sisters, and we're inviting you to join us for Civic Cipher each and every Saturday, with myself, Ramses Jah, Q Ward,

and some of the greatest minds in America. Listen to Civic Cipher every Saturday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. ["Eat and Walk Bro"] So you get to LA, what's the next step? I work for a place called Capricorn Programs for a while. What do you do there? I produce a show called Cybernet.

It's a video game show. So when I first get out to LA, I am playing video games for a living and then reporting on those video games on the show Cybernet and writing for the show. Okay. And then? Then something happens. What happens?

That company goes belly up. Financial crisis. So when that company goes belly up, guess what I get to do? Live on unemployment. Hell yeah. I love unemployment. Yep, and I become one of the world's foremost pickup basketball players.

Every gym in LA you see me, 24 hour fitness you see me. Oh, you didn't try to hustle on top of the unemployment? I definitely did. But the most thing that I did was just play ball and vibe and write. I wrote so much. I wrote so much, so much stuff. But how long were you on unemployment?

A year? Six months? Two? You can be on unemployment two years? You have to remember that at this time, it was the financial crisis, so they were extending benefits to meet people's needs. What year is this?

2007, 2008? 2008? Yeah, it, 2008? 2008? Yeah, it had to be 2008. And then it's like going into 2010, basically. Okay. And let me tell you what happens. This is a true story. So I'm on unemployment, I'm doing my thing,

I'm walking into the gym. Mm-hmm. LA Fitness Hollywood, everybody there knows me. Mm-hmm. Okay, I'm walking into the gym. I'm walking into the gym, and as I'm walking into the gym, a lady outside the gym says, hey, you wanna take part in the survey?

I'm like, yeah, sure, no problem. She's like, take part in the survey. We like what you say, we'll give you $500. Oh, shit. And I was like, hell yeah. Yeah. Okay? So I do the whole thing, I do my whole little shtick,

I'm on the little small camera that she has. And she goes, we like you. We want you to come out to this place, do even more stuff, right? And take place in this gigantic bigger survey, where it's not a big deal, we're gonna have you try all these products, and when you try all these products,

we're just gonna ask you what you think about them. I'm like, cool, no problem. All right, so I decide to go to this thing. Oh, we cheesing it up right now. It actually looks really good. I'm thoroughly impressed. And so I go to this thing, it's in Van Nuys. You know where Van Nuys is.

So I go in there and I'm into the little deal or whatever and the guy goes, okay, this is what you're gonna do. I want you to go in here, take a shower, use this shampoo, because they're doing product testing. Take a shower, use this shampoo. Right, when you get out of there, brush your teeth, use this toothbrush and this toothpaste. Cool, he's like, don't do this, don't do that stuff,

we took those products off the list. Then when you come in here, we want you to shave with this razor. And I'm like, well, I'm not shaving my beard. He goes, yeah, well, you can just shave at the top and right here, just tell us what you think about it. I'm like, cool, no problem. So after that, cool.

I do all this stuff, I get into this little room and inside this room is two other guys in the room. They got towels on. And I'm looking around, I'm like, yo, what's going on here? What is this? I try to weigh myself on a scale, scale doesn't work. I'm looking around, I'm like, yo, what's going on here? What is this? I try to weigh myself on a scale, scale doesn't work. I'm looking in the room. It, the room looks like a gym,

except I know that we're not in a gym. Like what's going on? So I start using the, the, the razor. Do it like this. And when I started using the razor, somebody jumps out with a camera and they say, hey, are you ready for the Gillette Fusion Proglide

challenge? It's a commercial. Oh my gosh. And I'm like, oh shit. And so I'm using the thing, I'm doing the whole thing. I'm going back and forth with the guy. I'm having fun. After the thing is over, I walk in there

and everybody's clapping like, hey, why, how you doing? You guys did a great job. You're in a commercial, boom, boom, boom. So don't make $500. I make $3,000. Get the freak out. I wanna be so hyped. Because it's a, we're done, baby.

A little special. That's a really good looking grilled cheese. Oh my God. Look at that, the cheese is bubbling, guys. Yeah, it's bubbling. Over. And there's a little butter there. Shout out to my uncle.

I just learned a trick in making grilled cheese. What is it? To stack a lot of cheese in the middle. And these are, I mean. That is crazy. Cheese is actually a pretty staple ingredient to the grilled cheese. I know, but I usually just put like one or two.

Yours is like, first of all, you did it really impressive. I tell you, I tell you why though. That's why you're healthy though. You said you were healthy before. Look at the, like the even colored color. I don't know if it's, you did a though. You said you were healthy before? Look at the even colored color. I don't know if it's, you did a really impressive grilled cheese, okay.

Yes, you just, slow and slow. Okay, so look. So I'm there and they go like, okay, so it's Saturday. So the 500 bucks that you promised, you get that. It's Saturday, so you get double the session fee on that, plus like whatever. You get like a holding fee and all of that stuff. So I ended up making like $3,000 for this commercial.

Let me tell you what kind of American I am. I come home and I'm doing my unemployment and it asks if you made any money. Please don't say you reported it. Yep. Why? I put the money on there. Why?

I don't know. I've seen niggas get the death penalty for less. So I put the money on there, right? Oh no. I put the money on there and this is what happens. They then readjust my unemployment quarterly. You need friends like me. Yeah.

I woulda for sure told you not to do that. So quarterly, so it goes from being, I go from getting $500 a week in unemployment to $75 a week in unemployment. So I go, okay, this is the deal, it's not, obviously they don't think a nigga can live off this, so I'm just gonna go up to the unemployment office, I'm gonna talk to these people.

That's what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna go up to the unemployment office, I'm gonna talk to these people, I'm gonna straighten this whole thing out. So I go up there to the unemployment office in Pasadena, I'll never forget the lady was like, baby, ain't nothing we can do, it's in the computer. I was like, I can't live on this,

but I was in the computer. So I needed a job, I had to have a job. Did you call the Gillette people back? I did, but you know what the funny thing was? The Gillette, that commercial ended up like making me, that commercial ran. Oh shit. Well, I didn't know anything about, I didn't like making me, that commercial ran. Oh shit. Well I didn't know anything about being a commercial actor

so I would get a holding check every now and again and then I started making money off the commercial but that's later, I didn't notice. I came home and when I came home, I was like I have to find a job. I pulled up entertainmentcareers.net. The first job was TMZ tour guide. You were a tour guide? Yep. No way. job was TMZ tour guide. You were a tour guide?

Yep. No way. It was being a tour guide. TMZ was starting a tour. And the tour was like, you go around to different places and you show people different things that happened like on TMZ. Like we would show you where Josh Hartnett got diarrhea.

We would show you where Michael Richards fucked up at the laugh factor. It's actually a pretty good tour. Actually, I was one of the first guides on the tour. I was the first guide on the tour. So I actually, a little bit of pride in the fact that we were able to jump that off and make it a thing because it's still going right now.

It's still going, yeah. Right. So I get in there and I do that. I apply. That's a brilliant concept now that and I do that. I apply. That's a brilliant concept now that I think about it. It is. Okay, go on. Revolutionize the whole tour game.

So I apply and they're doing the tours like American Idol. They have all of these tour guides in there and then every week they cut a guide. So I'm in there and they have me coming in there and whatever, I get the whole thing. I start with the TMZ tour. This goes through to about everything I'm talking about. I start with the TMZ tour, I think April of 2010,

maybe it might be 2011, whatever it is. I start with the TMZ tour then. By July, I started in March. By July, I'm on TV every day. Within a couple months. Yeah, Harvey came and took the tour. I was up there doing my thing and I told a joke and he liked the joke so much that he brought me in

and put me into the- Into the newsroom. Into the newsroom, yep. Okay, so then you get this newsroom opportunity, your pay goes up, benefits, what we looking at? So this is the way it was working. I was making money because I was getting tips on the tour. So I was probably making $1,500 a week straight cash

off the tips on the tour. I was killing these motherfucking white people. I was killing them. I was, ha ha ha! Y'all was fucking killing them. And then you would come in and you would have like people from those tourists, like they were from Australia, they were from Canada.

There was a thing that we do on a tour to where if you see a celebrity on a tour, you stop the bus, you get off, you shoot the celebrity. And when you're driving around in LA at certain times, if you know where to go, it's impossible not to see famous people. Like if you were coming to LA and you were hanging out with me and I was like, hey, you wanna sit around

and watch celebrities all day? There are three or four places I could tell you where it's going to happen. And so we would see them. And I'm a good spotter, I would spot celebrities and we would see them and the people, we're all kinds of people, fucking Lady Gaga, Leonardo DiCaprio, David Beckham, and just the other niggas that be around.

Just niggas that be around. You're hilarious. You know the people I'm talking about in LA. They be around, you see them all the time. It's like, hey, weren't you in? Yeah, like you see them. The funniest thing was BET Awards weekend, right? Because there would be all kinds of celebrities

that I would recognize that the bus wouldn't know who they were. And so the bus wouldn't believe me that these people were famous. I'm like, yo, I don't know if you know this motherfucker got two number ones. We never heard of him before. I don't know.

He signed to Ludacris and them. That's like actually, I don't wanna say the guy's name, but that's actually, that guy is a huge singer. Like you guys should probably care about him. We don't know him, fuck him, keep going. But I mean, so anyway, so I'm making good money because I'm making my tips off the tour. I'm doing three different jobs for TMZ.

I'm also on a camera with my on the street with my camera. OK, I'm on the street with my camera. I'm doing the tour. Oh, you're doing the tour and the newsroom and all this on the tour and the newsroom. They gave me as many jobs as they could. And. I did. Did you join as they were like a startup or were they like startup level? So they were, so this was 2000,

so they started in like 2005. I got there five years later. Okay, that's considered still startup. Probably, so they were, the newsroom cast was established though, so I had to break in. I always give Harvey credit for this. The same joke, because it's very hard to break into that room because

when you're in the room and You're um Everybody's fighting for airtime the cameras always on Harvey, but as far as you you got to say something You got to do something to stand out Yeah, so you get you start to maximize the moments that you have. And if you're on, that means somebody else isn't. So once it's 10 motherfuckers in there, they're not looking for the 11th motherfucker to come in. But Harvey knew that I had that joke

that I could tell on the- I wanna hear the joke. It kinda doesn't work without us being on the tour, but so we passed by the Hustler store on the tour. And so it would stop on the Hustler tour and this was a different time to tell this joke. Okay.

So we would stop and I would have the bus stop right by the Hustler store. And you know who Larry Flint is, right? Larry Flint started Hustler. And I would be like, this guy's at the Hustler Store and you know Larry Flint is right? Larry Flint started Hustler and I'll be like, this guy's the Hustler Store, Larry Flint started Hustler and I don't know if you guys know this, but Larry Flint is one of the most important men in the history of civil rights.

And they're like, what are you talking about? And I was like, well, you guys might not know this, but Larry Flint is in a wheelchair. He was shot. One of the reasons why Larry Flynn was shot was because there were people that were upset that he was doing interracial photo spreads in a hustler. Oh, I didn't know that.

It's very true. And the bus will go, oh, I didn't know that. And I will go like, yeah. So Larry Flynn is very important to a rights leader because he took a bullet so that I could fuck white women. That's a really good, that's good. Right, and so I remember Harvey goes, oh my God, oh my God.

And so I go and so they don't wanna laugh. They don't wanna laugh. That's funny. But I'm in the room and I say that everybody, and it's so far out of left field and they've never heard the sound of my voice before. It's like, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah. I remember, shout out to Nina Parker,

who worked at TMZ with me, who's still a dear friend of mine to this day. Beautiful black woman, Nina was looking at me like, I know they didn't just bring one of these niggas into the newsroom, one of these goddamn Tiger Woodses. But that joke put me over in the newsroom. And so, and he knew that it would. And so after that, boom, they all left.

Another thing I tell the kids, I don't wanna be hyper verbose about the whole TMZ situation, but another thing I tell the kids is, your ability to succeed at a place is not just about your talent, it's about your ability to recognize opportunity. Yeah.

So the very first year I was there, I realized that everybody goes home for Christmas. So everybody takes off for Christmas. So if you watched the show, it's always a buzzing newsroom, everybody is around, everybody's doing all of this, but it's bare bones in there, like any point after Thanksgiving to the New Year,

because everybody's rotating in and off vacation. But they're still doing a show, they still have to do a show. They don't go dark for two weeks, like everybody else, it's a daily show. I did not go home, I stuck around. And when I stuck around, I got all of the time to talk and be on camera that I wanted to.

So in that month, I endeared myself to the audience. Nice. Right after that, he comes in, he goes, we're gonna give you a raise, we're gonna do all of this. Next time, contract would up. And I just, my stature at TMZ just went up to the point to where, I think maybe a year, two years after that, I was a producer.

Hey Bo. Hey Matt. Can you believe we have a whole bunch of wicked episodes coming up? Oh, I can't wait to share all of these amazing episodes with the readers, k-d's, publishers, and finalists. That's right. We're talking all things behind bringing this iconic musical to the big screen. And of course, we're taking you inside the world of this epic movie with all the exclusive details you won't hear anywhere else. It's Wicked in a way you've never heard before. Don't miss it. And be sure to go watch Wicked in theaters starting November 22nd.

Listen to Las Culturistas on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So 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.

Bash bam, another one gone. The cracker, the bat, and another one gone. A tip, but a cap, there's 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 if you came with me Did you know, did you know I wouldn't give up my seat Nine months before Rosa, he was Claudette Colvin 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. Hi, I'm Marie. And I'm Sydney. And we're M.E.S.S. Well, not a mess, but on our podcast called MESS, we celebrate all things messy. But the gag is, not everything is a mess.

Sometimes it's just living. Yeah, things like JLo on her third divorce. Living! Girl's trip to Miami. MESS. Ozempic. Messy skinny living. Restaurant stealing a birthday cake.

Mess. Wait, what flavor was the cake though? Okay, that's a good question. Hooking up with someone in accounting and then getting a promotion. Living. Breaking up with your girlfriend while on Instagram Live. Living. This kind of mess.

Yeah, well, you get it. Got it. Live, love, mess. Listen to Mess with Sydney Washington and Marie Faustin on iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's up? This is Ramses Jop. And I go by the name Q Ward. And we'd like you to join us each week for our show Civic Cipher. That's right. We're going to discuss social issues, especially those that affect black and brown people, but in a way that informs and empowers all people to hopefully create

better allies. Think of it as a black show for non-black people. We discuss everything from prejudice to politics to police violence, and we try to give you the tools to create positive change in your home, workplace, and social circle. Exactly. Whether you're black, Asian, white, Latinx, Indigenous, LGBTQIA+, you name it. If you stand with us, then we stand with you. Let's discuss the stories and conduct the interviews that will help us create a more empathetic, accountable, and equitable America.

You are all our brothers and sisters, and we're inviting you to join us for Civic Cipher each and every Saturday with myself, Ramses Jha, Q Ward, and some of the greatest minds in America. Listen to Civic Cipher every Saturday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. The forces shaping markets and the economy are often hiding behind a blur of numbers. So that's why we created the Big Take from Bloomberg Podcasts, to give you the context you need to make sense

of it all. Every day in just 15 minutes, we dive into one global business story that matters. You'll hear from Bloomberg journalists like Matt Levine. A lot of this meme stock stuff is I think embarrassing to the SEC. Amanda Moll, who writes our Business Week buying power column. Very few companies who go viral are like totally prepared for what that means. And Zoe Tillman, senior legal reporter. Courts are not supposed to decide elections. Courts are not really supposed to play a big role in choosing our elected leaders. That's for the voters to decide.

Follow The Big Take podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. So let's fast forward to the iconic moment. Yeah, Kanye West. The Kanye West. Yeah. You like him. I love Kanye. I love old Kanye. Now you like him now.

I can tell. Yeah, you know what? It's so funny. So my favorite rapper is Jay-Z and my little brother's favorite rapper is Kanye. But now, EGLE acknowledges that Jay-Z is the ultimate GOAT. So, you know, we have a great, great relationship. But Kanye, let me try this grilled cheese. Jay-Z's the ultimate goat. So, you know, we have a great, great relationship. But Kanye, let me try this grilled cheese.

Let's see. Go for it. Bless you. Straight from Angola, stay penitentiary right there. Yeah, let's see. But Kanye, old Kanye was simply amazing to me. I loved how outspoken he was. I don't know what happened in the Kardashian era,

like what kind of drugs they put him on or what went wrong because he was always pro from the Bush statement, like he was always that guy. So take us to that day, what's going on, like from beginning to end. So Harvey had gone to, that butter gone burn. So Harvey had gone to, that butter gone burn. So Harvey had gone to,

I don't know, the week before then, Kanye had an album going out, and this is after the Trump stuff, and he had gone off at his show and all of that stuff. Harvey had gone out to Calabasas, and he was so giddy, he called me up to his office, and he goes, look, look at this, it's me hanging out with Kanye West. So I'm like, whatever.

You were like, whatever? Yeah, I'm like, at this point, I don't give a fuck about that. Okay. I hate that type of shit. Okay. I tell you what I hate. Don't talk to me about who you was hanging out with, ever.

Okay. Like, if you go to a party, when you come back and talk to me about the party, talk to me about how the vibes were. Were the drinks good? Was the music good? So if Jay-Z was in the room, you wanna hear about the drinks?

I don't give a fuck. You wanna be like, no, you crazy. Tell me. I don't give a fuck if Jay-Z came to your party. I couldn't give a fuck. What do that? Let me tell you.

It's always a good party. If you weren't my friend, that's the only thing you'd be hearing for a whole. It's a good party because he was there. Shout out to him. It's a good party because he was there. I don't give a fuck. Thank you. I don't care at all.

Like, hey man, the drinks was good. Man, DJ was crazy. He played that old school juvenile, all of that shit. Now I'm gonna come to the party. If you start- Oh, you trippin'. I'm gonna come to the party. If you start- Oh, you trippin'. If Jay show up to my party. If Jay show up to your party,

I guess it's a big deal for your party. I'm not saying that. I'm saying that it doesn't make me want to attend your party because there are famous people there. Of course, but I'm saying that, okay, so Harvey comes to you, he's like, yo, I was kicking it with Kanye. I was kicking it with Kanye. Kanye, Kanye, Kanye. That would be me.

That would be me. I would show up to you like, yo, look at these people. This is all I heard. Hey, hey, hey, hey, Kanye, it with Kanye. That would be me, that would be me. I would show up to you like yo look at these people. This is all I heard. It's like hey hey hey hey Kanye, Kanye, Kanye. So he shows me the thing and him and Kanye have some kind of rapport that they're working on or whatever, I don't know what's going on. And so a week after that, he,

like I'm in the newsroom and by the way, at this point I've been very outspoken on Kanye because this is Kanye posing with Donald Trump, this is post all that stuff. So he comes up to me, after the morning meeting he goes, hey, I was like what? And he goes, we didn't wanna tell you, but in about 10 minutes Kanye West is about to show up here.

I was like inside of TMZ. And he was like, yeah. He was like, all right, just let you know. All the mics are gonna be down because the way it works is for TMZ Live, which is the live show, Shredda comes in the middle of the day, you have a red button at your desk. And a thing at your desk.

Anytime you have that red button, you can talk. So after Harvey and Charles do their thing, you hit that red button, you can talk. So when Harvey and Charles do their thing, you hit that red button, you can talk. So when I wanna jump in and say something funny, I jump in and say something funny. When I wanna jump in, when it's time for them to come to me, like van, van, van, talk, you can talk. But they had all the mics down

because they just wanted this to be Harvey Charles and Kanye West. Okay, cool. So I go sit at my, shout out to Charlamagne, because I go sit down at my desk and I start watching the interview that Charlamagne did with Kanye that dropped that very same day.

Okay. When he was walking around Calabasas. So I started watching that, I'm at the desk. Kanye West comes in, very polite guy. Says hello to everyone, everything like that. They go over to TMZ Live, they start doing TMZ Live. Soon as the cameras come on, he turns into a fucking demon. Right?

Like when I tell you, when I'm like, it just, I come alive in the nighttime type shit. You know what I'm saying? Like, yeah, he's talking now. I mean, I'm not saying that he was being- When you say demon, like the stuff he was saying was you were mad at him. Yeah, I don't mean the demon, I'm not demonizing Kanye West. I mean, it's like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm not saying that he was being. When you say demon, like the stuff he was saying. Yeah, I don't mean the demon.

I'm not demonizing Kanye West. I mean, it's like, I'm a stream of consciousness and the whole thing. I'm like, oh shit. But I'm still not paying any attention. I'm not paying any attention. I'm looking at the interview. I'm not a part of this conversation.

So you're looking at the interview, but watching kind of looking up. Kinda, not really though. But remember, I've been told specifically that I'm not part of this conversation. So it's on them. Kanye says, a slavery, 400, oh, by the way, Candace Owens is with him.

Oh, yeah. She came to the office with him. I don't know how you're not watching the interview and still looking at the Shara interview while both of them are there. I'm looking at the Charlamagne interview. They're walking around, Calabasas, Kanye got his hair, they're having all of these

deep ass halls I'm looking at. But I can hear him though because he starts to scream. He doesn't just wanna talk to Harvey and Charles, he wants to talk to all of us. They're all over him, okay. So I can hear him, I was like, God damn, this nigga, damn, that nigga on one. And so I'm still looking at it and he says,

slavery, 400 years? 400 years, that seems like a choice to me. And everybody's like, oh! It's an audible gasp. How did Candice's face look when he said that? Couldn't see her, I don't know. I think she was in the other room because there's a side room with a glass on it.

How did those two girls pass? A couple of weeks before that, or maybe like a month before that, Candice had gone viral for shutting down some students that had come to a Turning Point USA meeting where she had said, ah, you're a victim, and I don't like you, and fuck civil rights, whatever. And whatever she said to them,

and Kanye was like, this is the type of thinking that I like. And then he put it kind of put Candace Owens on yeah, like she like she she Well, this is if anyone to make a judgment call about Candace Owens Go to wherever you go to for every one to go to them or whatever But he put her on basically so she was with him for a little while. I think he got a lot of his his um His early political when he was first in that new sort of right sphere of thought. I think a lot of, he got a lot of that stuff from her.

I think he probably still does to this day from a lot of those types of people. Anyhow, so he's talking, he says that. I didn't say anything. When he said that, there's a misconception that he said that and I was like, nah, I didn't, like, I didn't say. He's thinking of Superman.

Yeah, people think it was like a big deal. I didn't say nothing, right? I didn't say anything Did you do the Superman thing? Yeah, people think it was like a big deal. I didn't say nothing, right? I didn't say anything at all, his business. He asked. Like he asked, very simply. He said that, everyone gasps. One other person had said one other thing about something that he had said,

but most of the people in the room, just sidebar real quick, you guys have no idea. I guess you actually probably do, because Atlanta has per capita more famous people than anywhere else. You can't go to a fucking mall without, God damn nigga, wasn't you in ATL? But like, but just fame just paralyzes people,

particularly in LA, like fame just like, like oh my God, doesn't matter what he would have said up there, he's saying stuff and people are like, just like, oh my God, doesn't matter what he would have said up there. He's saying stuff and people are like, Jesus Christ, this is the most famous person that's ever been inside this office before. But I'm surprised, because at TMZ they cross paths with a lot of us.

Not nobody like that. Okay. Like it is, it's like, especially to be in the office doing that, is one thing to have, to see people out on the street and get a, but you know, there's a specific TMZ celebrity that we talk to all the time, you know?

Nobody like that. Nope. So take us back to that moment before you Superman. So he says that and he turns around and he goes, he says the whole thing and he goes, does it feel like I'm speaking freely? He says that, he turns around and he goes, does it feel like I'm speaking freely? He says that, he turns around, he goes, does it feel like I'm speaking freely?

Okay, now let me tell you a split second just how my mind works. Like, for me, I just have, like my insecurity is that I just can't be the nigga you can fuck over. I don't have to be the number one guy, but I'll fight you until you realize you can't fuck over me. I'll play you in basketball till I realize, I can't be the easy guy to get over on.

So if you ask me something like that, and I didn't say anything, there's toxicity in me that says, I gotta answer this question. But I can't have allowed him, somebody might think that it's like, everybody is like you're filled up with the ass, it's just nah, I didn't wanna feel like a weakling. I didn't wanna miss my opportunity to tell him

how I feel like he was acting, because then it feels like I'm the one that he could just kinda get off on. So he says that and I go no, I don't feel like you're thinking anything. Like actually you don't know, I remember I said I'm not gonna goall, I don't feel like you're thinking anything. Like actually, you don't know you, I remember I said I'm not gonna go back to the whole thing, but you look crazy right now.

Like everything that you're doing, not just now, but every other time, like you look crazy. You're not thinking. And particularly this, it's not even about that. It's about what the regression or, how can I put this, not regression. It's what a guy like that represents because we empower him.

So imagine like spinning your youth, like arming somebody with this great big cultural gun. Everything that Kanye did. I was down in Louisiana when he said George Bush doesn't care about black people. He was my God. Like all the things that he would say when he would speak out, like you defend him,

you advocate for him, you do it, you stand by him, you just, the little cultural gun that he has, the little megaphone, it just gets bigger and bigger. The gun just gets bigger and bigger and bigger. And then one day you're staring down the barrel of it. Now the things that he's saying that you've empowered him to say are being turned right back at you.

And so like, it's like, hey, don't shoot me. Yeah. Like why are you shooting at me? Like, you know what I'm saying? It's like, I'm the same dude. Like you Kanye West, I love you. Yeah. Like if I'm not about to diss him, never would. I said, yo, you're a genius.

Everything that you've done is, you deserve all the stuff that you've gotten. We love you, but let me tell you how you making us feel. That's it, that's it. I'm not trying to go toe to toe with like a cultural deity. You know what I'm saying? I'm not trying to act like he hasn't like a cultural deity. You know what I'm saying? I'm not trying to act like he hasn't inspired me in the ways that he's inspired me

or act like he hasn't done the things that he's done. Like we don't do that where I'm from. We give you your props or else we would be haters. But I just have to let him know, like what you're doing right now is particularly pernicious to us because we're in a very specific place in this country. And when you go back and you watch it, you listen.

Now look, my thing is this, any one person like that, there's no person that's gonna be able to be a nigga whisperer and change what somebody thinks. Like there's a day to day experience that people have that has to do with their surroundings, who they are, their input and output that's going to affect how they look at the world. You're not asking anybody to change that.

But what I do think is important as black people is for us to be cognizant of how what we do affects other people. For example, I worked at TMZ for nine years. I'm not in a moral position to chastise anyone. Like literally, like not in a figurative way. I'm not in a moral position to chastise anyone. I understand compromises that people have to make

in order to get to where they wanna get. I understand that sometimes people might walk into situations and not really know what it is that they're getting into. And then on the other side, you know better and you do better, right? So it's not about that. It's about just alerting someone

when you feel like they're doing harm. Yeah. And then that's that. And then after that, after I've said my piece, you can choose. Either you can continue to harm me or you can be different. So how did that milestone with Kanye

change the trajectory of your life? Because it definitely had a huge impact. So it was really the beginning of my career. And the reason why it was, was because number one, I was never gonna be able to leave TMZ with the reputation that they have there. And this is not shots at TMZ or anything like that. Once you leave a place that has such a distinct

perch in culture, it's very difficult for people to believe certain things about you. And I think going over- What do you mean? Like what kind of culture? Like what do you mean? Are you familiar with TMZ? I am familiar with them.

I'm just saying describe it. Are you familiar with TMZ? I am familiar with them. I'm just saying describe it. I'm saying from the journalist perspective, you're saying like, yeah. Okay, that's what I'll say. So look, there's a reason why a TMZ exists. And honestly, the reason why a TMZ exists

is the need for people to feel good about themselves. The reader or the watcher to feel good about themselves. I'll tell you why. So the celebrity in America is over loved, way over loved, over important, over everything. It just doesn't matter that much that somebody is famous or rich. It just really doesn't matter that much.

Honestly, it's probably a net negative. However, it's so precious to people that there's a need to feel that that person has done or is doing something wrong. Right? Like to more humanize them. Right, so like the question becomes this. So take Kim Kardashian, right?

Everybody saw her fuck. Everybody saw her fuck. She had sex tape out, everybody saw her, right? Everybody watched her fuck. Everybody saw her fuck. She had sex tape out, everybody saw her, right? Everybody watched her sex tape. That comes out and people get to make the decision about whether or not they would have that happen for them, whether or not they would go through that in order to be Kim Kardashian.

And it makes them feel good to say no. So it makes them feel good to say, you know what, I wouldn't want that life, it's too crazy. It makes them feel good to say, I wouldn't compromise myself in that way. It makes them feel good to say, I would never do this, I would never be around these people, I would never do that, I would never do this. It makes them feel good to say, Hollywood's too weird,

I wouldn't do that, right? And TMZ feels that bloodlust that people have and it lets them disconnect from the idea that these people are better than them. It makes, it lets them disconnect because every time somebody gets a DUI and it goes up on the thing, every time somebody gets a divorce,

everybody in here knows people that have been divorced. There's no magic or sinister story to a divorce. Sometimes it don't work out. It just doesn't work out. But you wanna believe certain people will never be happy because their lifestyles are antithetical to happiness in a relationship. So you wanna believe that.

You use a lot of big words, antithetical. You wanna believe that, right? You wanna believe that. TMZ gives you that. In order to do that, TMZ has to treat those people like they're not people. They have to treat them as if they're concepts. Celebrity is not a person.

That's why I guess TMZ comes off a little bit invasive and ruthless, right? Well, no, because they're not treating, they're treating them kind of like. Well, you have to, right? Like even the TMZ tour was a celebrity safari. Like what's on a safari? Yeah, animals, yeah.

Animals, right? And so like when you, like the tour, this was a celebrity safari, it's animals, right? And so you do that, right? And what you say is, okay, well, in order to be a celebrity, the game is PR and it's base, right? So this is what you sign up for. Kinda, right?

Because there are certain things that you don't sign up for. I'll never forget this. There was the sister of a celebrity that had had something done to them. I'll never forget, I'm not gonna talk about who I had the conversation with. I'm like, yo, we shouldn't do that. And they did the story.

And this dude went on fucking and let us fucking have it. And I was like, yo, we had to take it down and apologize and do all that stuff. I'm like, yo, like, there's a limit to this. That's not me making a moral judgment on Team T. I'm just telling you the way things go. So like when you know all of that, when you have an idea of what drives that,

like obviously there are moral, there are things that you have to not care about to work there, but most of the people there are good people. They're just desensitized to whatever was going on there because that's what they weren't. Like that's what they do. I'm there, it's the same thing. Things are coming in at a certain point,

you go, God damn, you know? And there'll be little small things. This is a football player that had this video come out of some altercation it was in and it said, savage beating by this. And I was just looking at the headline, I'm like, that's, I don't think we should say go savage beating there. Yeah, yeah.

Like I think savage is like, that's like an interesting way. Or there's just little small things. The mayor of DC died, Marion Barry. Crack Marion Barry dies. Like he died and like, by the way, the people in DC are gonna freak the fuck out because I don't know if you guys know,

but Marion Barry was with Martin Luther King Jr. Like where I'm from, like I deal with a group of people, a community of people that are always categorized by the worst moment that they have. And I don't feel comfortable with categorizing a man that means so much to his city by the worst, most scandalous thing he ever had. You can't talk about his life without talking about that.

But maybe in the headline, you don't do that. So all of those things start to happen. And so for me, what the place represents is not even so much a bunch of not even so much a bunch of immoral people that are running around trying to get the dirt on celebrities it represents our relationship to celebrity and our relationship to ourselves because there's no fucking reason whatsoever why we should spend so much time talking about what happens in the lives of famous people.

For more Eating While Broke from iHeartRadio and The Black Effect, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Hey, Beau. Hey, Matt. Can you believe we have a whole bunch of wicked episodes coming up? Oh, I can't wait to share all of these amazing episodes with the readers, comedies, publicists, and finalists. That's right. We're talking all things behind bringing this iconic musical to the big screen.

And of course, we're taking you inside the world of this epic movie with all the exclusive details you won't hear anywhere else. It's Wicked in a way you've never heard before. Don't miss it. And be sure to go watch Wicked in theaters starting November 22nd. Listen to Las Culturas just on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

podcasts. Hey y'all, Nimini here. I'm the host of a brand new history podcast for kids and families called Historical Records. Executive produced by Questlove, The Story Pirates, and John Glickman, Historical Records brings history to life through hip hop. Flash slam, another one gone. Fast bam, another one gone. The cracker, the 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 Colvin. 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 iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's up? This is Ramses Jop. And I go by the name Q Ward. And we'd like you to join us each week for our show, Civic Cipher. That's right. We discuss social issues,

especially those that affect black and brown people, but in a way that informs and empowers all people. We discuss everything from prejudice to politics to police violence. And we try to give you the tools to create positive change in your home, workplace, and social circle. We're going to learn how to become better allies

to each other. So join us each Saturday for Civic Cipher on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hi, I'm Marie. And I'm Sydney. And we're mess. Well, not a mess, but on our podcast called Mess, we celebrate all things messy. But the gag is not everything is a mess.

Sometimes it's just living. Yeah, things like JLo on her third divorce. Living. Girl's trip to Miami. Mess. Breaking up with your girlfriend while on Instagram Live. Living. Living.

It's kind of mess. Yeah. Well, you get it. Got it? Live, love, mess. Listen to Mess with Sydney Washington and Marie Faustin on iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Jenny Garth, Jana Kramer, Amy Robach, and TJ Holmes bring you I Do Part 2, a one-of-a-kind experiment in podcasting to help you find love again. Hey, I'm Jana Kramer. I'm Jenny Garth. Hi, everyone. I'm Amy Robach. And I'm TJ Holmes, and we are, well, not necessarily relationship experts. If you're ready to dive back into the dating pool and find lasting love, we want to help.

Listen to iDo Part 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.