The Breakfast Club - The Breakfast Club BEST OF 2(Teddy Swim, Nina Parker & KevOnStage, And Leon Thomas Interview)

Episode Date: July 2, 2025

Best of 2025- BEST MOMENTS - Teddy Swim, Nina Parker & KevOnStage, And Leon Thomas Interview. Older Men Dating Young Women Topic. Recorded 2025. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BreakfastClubPower1051FMSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. I'm Bob Crawford, host of American History Hotline, a different type of podcast. You, the listener, ask the questions. Did George Washington really cut down a cherry tree? Were JFK and Marilyn Monroe having an affair? And I find the answers. I'm so glad you asked me this question. This is such a ridiculous story. You can listen to American History Hotline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So what happened at Chappaquiddick?

Well, it really depends on who you talk to. There are many versions of what happened in 1969 when a young Ted Kennedy drove a car into a pond. And left a woman behind to drown. Chappaquiddick is a story of a tragic death and how the Kennedy machine took control. Every week, we go behind the headlines and beyond the drama of America's royal family.

Listen to United States of Kennedy on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the You vs. You podcast, we welcome Polo Molina, music manager to the stars. From Will.i.am and the Black Eyed Peas, Ty Dolla $y, YG, and Fergie. Here's a sneak peek.

Are you so hard on yourself? That's the way I was raised. And the people that were hard on me are not here no more, so I'm hard on myself. You know, make me cry. Listen to You Versus You on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Just like great shoes, great books take you places.

Through unforgettable love stories, and into conversations with characters you'll never forget. I think any good romance, it gives me this feeling of like butterflies. I'm Danielle Robay, and this is Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club, the new podcast from Hello Sunshine and iHeart Podcasts, where we dive into the stories that shape us, on the page and off.

Each week, I'm joined by authors, celebs, book talk stars, and more for conversations that will make you laugh, cry, and add way too many books to your TBR pile. Listen to Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Jess Hilarious and Charlamagne McGonagall Hey! Rep, rep, rep, represent They're listening to the Breakfast Club Thank y'all for being like culture leaders You guys are family The Breakfast Club is where people get their information On the topics, on the artists, everything like that

I'm gonna like it You guys were nice, everybody got me all nervous Like you guys in the line of wine Let's not go on Yeah! You locked into the world's most dangerous morning show More dangerous than the Bronx If you want a Breakfast Club, you ain't gonna bring it 120 minus one.

I come up here. Oh my Jesus, this what y'all do up here? That's right, get up out the beds and listen to the greatest show on earth. Ray, Ray, Ray! Yo, Charlamagne. Evie, what up? Are we live? This is your time to get it off your chest. I got an indoor pool, an outdoor pool.

We wanna hear from you on the Breakfast Club. We can get on the phone right now. We'll tell you what it is. We live? Hello, who's this? Yo, this Ben, man. How y'all doing? What's up, Ben?

Get it off your chest, Ben. Man, I just want to talk. First of all, good morning, Jess. Good morning, Charlamagne. Good morning, baby. Morning, bro. All right. First thing, I just want to give this out to my ches.

I can't say this to my girl, so I'm gonna just say it to y'all. Um, I hate my girl dogs. Okay? Okay. What kind of dogs are they, bro? Bro, she got some kind of little poodle dog and, uh, American pit, okay? I am a dog guy. Don't get me wrong.

I love dogs. I just didn't grow up with dogs in my house, okay? But these dogs about to run, these crazy. I don't know how, okay, to all the dog people out there I don't know how y'all deal with dogs running around y'all house and dogs everywhere But this bout to make me say hey, I can't do this no more. This is either me or the dogs. She got you cleaning up poop. Bruh, I don't think, I just refuse. Like I don't even walk these dogs. Y'all got kids? I don't do nothing for these, yeah.

Lord have mercy. Damn, you can't leave. Damn, you about to walk away because of the dogs, you got kids? Yeah, what the dogs doing to you, man? Listen, the dogs ain't doing nothing to me. They just stupid dogs and I hate dogs everywhere. Bruh, I don't like going to work with dog here all over me.

That's crazy. Man, look, these dogs don't even be in my car and I got dog here in my car. I vacuum in my car, in my room everyday. Cause I'm sick of these dogs. It sounds like y'all need more space. Like more space when y'all residents. Yeah, we got a nice house. Ain't no space, you need to get rid of these damn It sound like y'all need more space like more space in where when y'all residents every morning of those are way to work just like I'm doing now. I had a dream about poisoning them dogs last night.

I said, boy, I might need to talk. I might need to call Charlamagne and talk to him. But there's something going on with the mental. Did you have a dream about? Did you and your wife have a conversation? Did you tell her how you feel? Yeah, we had one few months ago and that turned into a bigger argument. So I ain't trying to go there no more. So why don't you buy one of them kid gates?

You know, the little kitty gates, but I want to move kitty gates and put the dogs in the kitty gates. That one. I don't want the dogs in the house. I don't care what kind of solution you're trying to get. All right, man. So let me. I don't want the dogs in the house. So let me tell you something. That was all. When you heard that there was a when you heard the lie that they was eating cats the dogs in the house. So let me tell you something. That was dog. When you heard that there was a,

when you heard the lie that they was eating cats and dogs in Ohio, did you, did you, did you smile a little bit? Did you think about taking a little trip? Little, little bit. Come on man. You have a good one man, have a good one. Yeah I have a good one man.

Get it off your chest, 800-585-1051. Did y'all grow up, you grow up with dogs? No I didn't grow up with dogs but I have dogs now. Charlamagne? A couple. Not like that though, I had a couple Rottweilers when I was young. I had a bad experience with somebody poisoning my dogs. Somebody got tired of my dogs. Damn! I had two Rottweilers named Ben and Tara and somebody got tired of Tara and they poisoned

them. They would poison them. I can't prove it today with poison them but I feel like they would poison them. Damn! And poison Tara no, which one died? One of them died because they got poisoned. One of them got picked up by, um, the dog people. Cause he got getting loose. And the neighbors kept calling him. Oh man.

Jesus Christ. I know. Yeah, I had shepherds all my life. My dad didn't believe in having a dog as a pet. If you had a dog, the dog need to have a job. Oh wow. So you gotta protect the house again. Yo, you're all different.

That was different. We ain't got no pets, so you gotta have a job. You gonna protect this house or not? We don't want no little dog He got to have a job. You're gonna protect this house If not, we don't want a little dog now, we want a dog. I want a dog now my way won't let me get one Oh, I want to stop African boy boy. Well get it off your chest 800-585-1051 if you need to vent hit us up now. It's the Breakfast Club. Good morning the Breakfast Club I'm telling, I'm telling, hey what you doing man? I'm calling you. This is your time to get it off your chest, whether you're mad or blessed.

800-585-1051. We want to hear from you on the Breakfast Club. Hello, who's this? This is Kassi from the 803 leaving a late night booty call during the walk the same, AKA the ride the same home. So you stink right now. Oh boy. Oh, that got a good point. You know what? But actually I don't because I don't eat meat

and I don't really have an odor like that to be honest. Hey, asparagus stink. That man know it. That man say that asparagus stink when you pee now. Don't act like that. But was it a good night at least? It was a good night, but check this out before we get into my good night Go to my tiktok page not to but y'all finally listen to kathy's content. K. A. F

K. A. F. I. S. K. O. N. T. N. T. Now get back to the late night booty call. What's up? No, we'll have to ask if you enjoyed yourself, that's all Okay, this is a regular new this something new it is a regular book I was a virgin till I made him and then I had two kids already I was a virgin until I knew him because I never knew these a even I knew again with missing out on I never knew Jesus Jesus. Well. Hold on, she said she was a virgin till she met, oh, cause you had two kids,

but you never had a orgasm. Okay, that's interesting. Oh, I kinda did have an orgasm, I just didn't know sex was this busy. Okay. All right. While I'm late night creeping on the weekday and I gotta be at work in an hour.

Where your kids at? And still gotta, huh? Where your kids at? My oldest son, huh? My son like 31 and my daughter 10. How far is it drive? Where you driving from? Where your booty call at?

On Fastway Road, you're at Fastway Road, huh? Yes, I do. The road is good. Yes. To the fairground. That ain't too far. That ain't too far. It's like, there ain't no traffic on the road.

You talking about 12 to 15 minutes. 12 to 15, okay. Well, get your ass back home. You gotta be working a little bit. Right. Right. You better get home. The morning breakfast club. That's 15, okay. Well, get your ass back home. You gotta be working a little bit. Right. Right. You better get on the morning breakfast club. That's right.

And make sure you get home in time to take a shower. Now brush your teeth before you kiss that 10 year old too. You going there smelling like Buddhism? Stop. You don't wanna smell like Buddhism. Stop playing with me. Stop playing with me. I told you I don't have an odor.

I don't eat meat. Stop playing with me. Okay, alright, stinky. Everybody that, why people that thing can never smell this up. We don't know if she do. Get it off your chest 800-585-1051 if you need to vent hit us up now it's the Breakfast Club good morning. The Breakfast Club. Morning everybody it's DJ NV Jess Hilarious, Charlamagne the guy, we are the Breakfast Club. Jess is out today. Lauren's holding it down and of course we got our niece Nala here and we got a special guest in the building, the brother Teddy Swims.

Hey man. How you feeling? I'm so honored to be here man, I'm pumped. Man, happy to have you here. I'm really really excited dude. We did our album release party last night though so so again, excuse my drinking for after the day. You don't have to excuse yourself for drinking early in the morning. You see that one over there? That's what she does. Let's cheers to your new release

and all of your success and your baby on the way. From my baby on the way, yeah. Yes. I have one on the way, absolutely. Yeah, you're drinking with a pregnant man, is there at least. Tell us about yourself, Teddy. Man, that's so loaded.

I'm from Georgia, from about 30 minutes east of Atlanta in Conyers, Georgia, Rockdale County. And I like singing songs and I'm a good boy. You have a very soulful voice. Did you grow up in the church? Yeah, so my granddad was a Pentecostal pastor. I didn't grow up singing in a church a lot, but I definitely grew up with a fire and brimstone for sure, man, with the fear of God. Yeah, you know what I mean? You afraid to sin?

Oh, no, no, not these days. I mean... I'm just talking about like back in the day, was it like a very religious household? Yeah, yeah. Girls don't get haircuts. Girls wear skirts, men wear jeans, that kind of thing. It was real kind of tight. I mean, I'm very fortunate, I guess. I feel like I still subscribe to so many of the principles of, you know, um, even the beliefs are there. I do love that my, my granddad was, as I was growing up with my granddad, he was, he was like, we wouldn't even go to restaurants that would have a bar in the

restaurant, you know, and not that he ever had a problem drinking, but it was just, he stood on his belief so much. The thing that I was always with him was that I didn't subscribe to the idea that like telling people that they're wrong and this is the only way to believe something. I remember he looked at other churches and be like, think that the only way he believed it was right. I remember, I remember the first time I sang at his church, I might've been 17 or 16 or something and I remember him saying like, you know, I want you to sing at a church bed,

but man, all these kids are like breakdancing and carrying on for the Lord and I was like, yo Pop, like nobody's brokedanced since like my mom was a child. You're so- and if they want to breakdance for the Lord, Pop, like let them breakdance for the Lord, you know. He was very, you know, stern like just by the book. If it wasn't in the Bible, then it was a sin. You know what I mean? So were you rebellious? Um, hell yeah. My mom was worse than I was

I remember I remember getting in trouble for all sorts of me like I'm not doing any of that I was using thought I was doing all sorts of message I mean, but she was a pastor's kid. My mother was the but listen, I wanted to you know We took my rebellious you start off playing football. All right, so yes, sir You was a her family was a big football family. Uh-huh. So what got you from football to singing? My dear friend Jesse. You look like a nose guard.

I can see that. Yeah, yeah, yes sir. That's what you play? Yeah, and an offensive guard as well. Oh wow. Yeah, but I mean, I was just five foot seven wasn't really happening, you know? You were in high school, middle school at the time. Yeah, but I've been five foot seven since I was in eighth grade.

Okay. And so I thought they thought I was going to be big, you know, and then it just, I didn't happen. I started shooting up six foot two and three and whooped my ass off the line. So what got you into arts? Like my different Jesse who still plays with me. I've known him since I was a little kid. Uh, his dad was always in bands and stuff.

So we, we started trying to experiment and play music and stuff. And his older sister was in musical theater and got us into musical theater, and I just kind of fell in love with singing. And I was hooked, I was hooked. Singing has changed my life. I wasn't good always, but I fell in love with it.

And I remember telling my mom that I was gonna not do football anymore, and I was gonna sing, and she was so, so so hurt like brought out all my memorabilia like I can't believe you do this to us. We would play football, you know, and I remember my first little but we did this show called damn Yankees I did like two lines in and I think and after I got done I come off stage and she was like I'm so sorry, baby. This is where you belong really your star, you know after that I did like two lines, you know What you mean by you weren't always good at it? Like, how do you... you sound amazing. I was so bad. We were so bad at it, you know?

It was within a group? Oh, no, just me and my buddy Jesse, he still plays guitar, writes and he plays guitar in my band still. And we, as we were learning and trying to build bands together and do it as kids, you know, we just were really bad, you know? We sucked, like, and we're just not good. You can still find actually on YouTube, I was a senior in high school, my first band Heroic Bear is still on YouTube, our first little EP, and I was in like a metalcore band at the time. And so you can still hear me like screaming away and like singing and if you want to hear

it. You know the routine. If you hear it, dude, you're gonna be like, okay, yeah, you got good. Did you get lessons or did you practice or how did you get so good? Well, I think I was so lucky. I mean, I was in theater, you know, and I had a lot of good friends and they were singing. But I think, I think the biggest thing was growing up in the, like when the YouTube era was first kind of starting, you know, and if I had questions or if I wanted to know

how to sing, there was always a live version of singers singing, you know? So like I could watch like live videos of how, how is, how are they moving their throat? How are they moving their jaws? How are they? Oh, yeah, that was crazy. I could dissect it, you know? I could, I could just sit there and watch YouTube videos and see people singing live, you know, like singing, Craig David singing like, and credit recovery.

I would pull up like a YouTube proxy and just have it behind the video and just like listen to Craig David just I'm walking away I could listen to five videos and watch their them play you know and singing it was like do you think you like saw somebody like Craig David and like mimic him and that's how you found your voice oh totally yeah some of the best man some of the best that ever did it Marvin Gaye watching Otis Redding man listening to Al Green You know I mean I just fell in love with the instrument and I was like I want to know how to access that And then you started doing these covers right and you started covering songs and then you did one cover that started shooting up crazy

So talk about that a little bit. Oh, I think Shania Twain Still the one was art like that was the one that really kind of went crazy for us Um, you know, I love my mama and and my mama loved should I twain when I was coming up? I love Shana Twain to that that was that was a real life changing one for us And our first one we started out with was because June 25th of 2019 was the first time I'd never even expected doing covers You know online and we had found like the stems of rock with you online Michael Jackson Yeah, and so it was it was ten years right after he passed you know online and we had found like the stems of Rock With You online. Michael Jackson. Yeah, so it was it was 10 years right after he passed it was his 10 year anniversary and

so I said we should just do Rock With You by Michael Jackson just to pay homage to him and for the you know and then and we uploaded it and it started doing well and I was like man we should just keep this I guess this cover train kind of going so we we kept on for you know next few months and I think the beautiful thing about starting with Rock With You, it started getting, like I said, the first day we woke up we had like 10,000 views and it was so life changing for us. We were like, boys, we're getting hammered. This is sick. It was such a weird thing because once it hit this critical mass of maybe 500,000 views, I think people were looking at it and seeing the way I look and then seeing the rock with you,

and saying rock with you by Michael Jackson and me. And I'm looking like an absolute redneck and saying like, either this is hilarious or this is actually really good. And I think for our benefit, it was kind of both, cause just the fact that I was singing that song but doing it well was kind of funny and surprisingly good. Now I'll tell you why I haven't tried everything but therapy. Well, I've why have you tried everything but therapy?

Well, I've tried therapy now, sir. So, you know, even as we're getting ready to have our kid, me and my girls have been doing even couples therapy too, which has been so wonderful and making sure we're coming in and having this child in the most healed, safest environment possible. But I think naming the album that was kind of to have that conversation and with myself to get myself to go.

I think there's just like been in generations past and even still there's this like connotation on therapy that we're like, we're not allowed to go to that or we're not allowed to share our feelings or emotions. Especially men. Yeah, you know, and I just, it's been life changing for me. And I did have even this in my brain that I was like, I'm not crazy, I don't need that.

You know, I had this for so long that I was like, I know myself, I don't need nobody to tell me what's wrong with me. You know, and I feel like once I got it to it, it was so much different than I thought it would be to. And I feel like there was something beautiful about having that first album and not trying it and being in a place of turmoil and heartbreak with somebody that was made me feel like my feelings were invalid or are not allowed to have. And, and having this part two coming out and being this thing of I've tried therapy I'm back in love. I'm having a child I'm got some level of success in this and you know on the back of heartbreaking does get better on the other side

You know Teddy swims is here Charlemagne You know, can we talk about some of this music on this live? Sure. I'd love to you Um, not your man is a very vulnerable record. Thank you sir Have you ever really felt like you gave everything to a woman and it wasn't enough? Yeah, hell yeah man. I think it was important to start this one out like that because I wrote this forever ago. I was in a place with somebody where my, I don't want to talk about her in a way that, because now as I've grown and healed and moved on, I thank her for what we went through, you know. I'm grateful for that time and space that we had together. I was in a what we went through, you know, and I'm grateful for that time and

space that we had together. I was at a place, yeah, where I felt like I was given everything and my feelings and my, I was not validated or it was not enough or I was crazy or feeling this way or I was abusive situation. I don't want to say it loud. Emotionally abusive? Oh, both, man. Physically, she was just not good. She was not a good person and I want the best for her But yeah, it was a very tough thing to try to try to heal somebody try to make space for someone to heal Try to give somebody everything you would think you would think if you had a if you had a passion I'll just make it like this you had a passion in your life

And you had somebody in your life that says you could quit your job and just focus on your passion I'll take care of the rest you got it And you don't do anything with your life, but you just eat Xanax all day and lay around and blame somebody for your shortcomings when you you had the opportunity to follow your dream. Somebody that would support you in your dreams. And you'd be like so surprised to see if somebody had the opportunity to follow their dreams and they had everything taken care of. How many people would be like, oh, if everything's of, I'm not going to do s*** anymore. And you can't put ambition and drive into somebody.

You can't heal nobody. You can't save nobody. And I've started to go on that tangent. From that situation, do you feel like you're no longer in Able? Because it's like, though you want to do something out of love to better somebody, sometimes it's to their own detriment. Yeah, I think it was an enabling at the end of the day. I was doing something to help someone become, but I think at the end of the day,

I was enabling somebody to do nothing. And if that was inside of them, I was enabling that. And I think it's a common pattern, but yes, I'm trying to heal and learn to see somebody for who they are and not who I want them to be or think they should be. I can tell you got a big heart, but people will take advantage of that.

Hell yeah, and I'm so grateful to be, I don't wanna say I'm grateful to be taken advantage of, I'm grateful to be available. Everybody's gonna use you, but don't let people misuse you. Amen, yeah. I have a last question for you. I was reading this interview you talked about, cause your girlfriend's black,

and you talked about like when you guys are in the self, you get like looks from people and like it bothers you because love should be loved but you're about to bring a baby into the world you're so positive she seems so amazing but the world is not always like that like how do you defeat that because you're really a really nice person like it breaks my heart I mean you know I hate how much she's go-throughs and so her dad's black and her mom's white so she tells me about stuff all the time about like, you know, how she felt not white enough or not black enough and how much her like world

in her life has been such a, I guess like juxtaposition in both sides, you know, feeling like she wasn't quite accepted by either side, you know, and so this is not a story. I won't tell you her story because she's better at saying it than I am. I'll never tell you her story. But I see how beautiful she is and how elegant she navigates being who she is. I love the way you talk about her. She's the most incredible human being I've ever met. I've got a good counselor for you all to talk to. Okay, I would love that. Dr. Umar Johnson.

Oh my God. Come back this way. Focus over here. Nope. Speaking of black and white, the song with Money Loan. Listen, listen, listen. Come back this way. Focus over here. Don't, don't, don't. Nope. Speaking of black and white, the song with Money Loan. Yes, sir.

That title's a little on the nose, don't you think? Yeah, yeah. I think that American history is full of wise people. Well women said something like, you know, 99.99% of war is diarrhea and 1% is glory. Those founding fathers were gossipy AF and they love to cut each other down. I'm Bob Crawford, host of American History Hotline, the show where you send us your questions about American history and I find the answers, including the nuggets of wisdom our history has to offer.

Hamilton pauses and then he says the greatest man that ever lived was Julius Caesar. And Jefferson writes in his diary, this proves that Hamilton is for a dictator based on corruption. My favorite line was what Neil Armstrong said. It would have been harder to fake it than to do it. Listen to American History Hotline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So what happened at Chappaquiddick? Well, it really depends on who you talk to.

There are many versions of what happened in 1969 when a young Ted Kennedy drove a car into a pond. And left a car into a pond. And left a woman behind to drown. There's a famous headline, I think, in the New York Daily News. It's, Teddy escapes, blonde drowns. And in a strange way, right, that sort of tells you. The story really became about Ted's political future, Ted's political hopes. Will Ted become president?

Chappaquiddick is a story of a tragic death and how the Kennedy machine took control. And he's not the only Kennedy to survive a scandal. The Kennedys have lived through disgrace, affairs, violence, you name it. So is there a curse? Every week we go behind the headlines and beyond the drama of America's royal family.

Listen to United States of Kennedy on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Don't miss the You vs. You podcast. Join Lex Borrero every week as he sits down with some of the biggest names in entertainment to talk about the real stuff, the struggles, the doubts, and the breakthroughs that made them who they are. They go deep, covering childhood trauma, family,

overcoming loss, and the moments that shape their journey. These honest conversations are meant to take the cape off our heroes with the hope that their humanity inspires you to become a better you, and therefore set you free to live the life of your dreams. Here's a sneak peek. I'm trained to go compete. I'm trained to be like harder, but sometimes that mentality stops you from stopping and smelling the flowers in your own garden.

Is it wrong to want more? We migrated, our family migrated here. I'm like second generation. Listen to You Versus You as part of My Kultura podcast network, available on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Just like great shoes, great books take you places. Through unforgettable love stories and into conversations with characters you'll never forget. I think any good romance,

it gives me this feeling of like butterflies. I'm Danielle Robay, and this is Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club, the new podcast from Hello Sunshine and iHeart Podcasts. Every week I sit down with your favorite book lovers, authors, celebrities, book talkers, and more to explore the stories that shape us, on the page and off. I've been reading every Reese's Book Club pick, deep diving book talk theories, and obsessing over book to screen casts for years. And now I get to talk to the people making the magic.

So if you've ever fallen in love with a fictional character or cried at the last chapter or passed a book to a friend saying, you have to read this, this podcast is for you. Listen to Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The point of it was kind of to the core of love in itself is black and white. Like it's a, it's a black and white issue. Love is love and not love is not love and loving, whether it's a person of a different color, shape,

size, sexuality, same sex, whatever it is, I think that the thing was trying to say that we, no matter what, we could come from different worlds. It's a true, I guess, Romeo and Juliet story, you know, kind of is the basis of it is that like, you know, we come from different places, we come from different cultures, we have different things. But when you're in love, man, love is love and that should be enough. And that's really, there ain't nothing great about that, man. It's just love. You know, love is love, baby.

You know? I love that record and it's a good stamp because, you know, Money Long recently went viral for saying she's not writing soulful songs for white artists. Did you see that? I did not. Oh, I'm glad I got that one before she sang that. Exactly. When did she do that song? Was that long? Did she do that a while ago?

Yeah, we did it, it's gotta be a few months ago now. My dear friend, Jeff Kitty and Mickey Echo was a part of it with us too. We started working on it and I remember Jeff Kittyiddy has been working with Money for long years and years and he's like, man, should we see if Money wants to do this song with us? And I was like, I mean, yeah, that's like, we would kind of like to do a record like this, we would kind of need that, you know? I would be so stoked that she'd be willing to because I knew what I kind of wanted to

say, but also I can't say that, you know, without having Money help me say that, you know? Also, I can't say that, you know, without having Moni help me say that, you know, but also without like relying too much. I think I needed to, we needed to say that together. And so I'm just grateful she took that opportunity to say, I see what you're trying to say. I'll have you say that, you know, and said it with me. And I think I'm so grateful for her because Moni is just a legend, man. What a bad, bad ass man. Now you also said you wanted to meet one of your musical idols were Stevie Wonder

Yeah, you know we haven't met in person but I Yeah, yeah, and I got a chance to do a record with him too. So I Think he's gonna put out on his next record. I hope so. I hope it's gonna come out. I'm really excited It's a good record. It's called politic player and, uh, yeah, which is such an honor to be on our Steve under record. But yeah, he did FaceTime. I'll tell you about it. It's so funny, man. He, he FaceTime. He hold the camera up himself. Yeah. And here's the thing. He is actually blind.

Y'all he, this is true life. He was blind. I can, I can, I'm saying, people say people, there's a conspiracy that he's not, and he is pick up the mic that fell. Look, look, I'm telling you, I'm saying people say people are just a conspiracy that he's not and he's pick up the mic that fell I'm telling you I was on the phone with this I was facetiming this man and he said he turned his head put the camera Around he said this is my son over here And then he said I'm over here days pulled over here And he said and this is my niece and then he had he had phone facing her and for the next 10 minutes of the conversation I'll look as far of the conversation, I looked as far as you are, I looked at his face and knocked him off.

And he was holding the camera like he thought I was seeing him. And I did not have the heart to say. He's blind. Confirmation that Stevie Wonder is blind. She was sitting there texting on her phone. I didn't have the heart to say, hey, I can't see you. She was sitting there, texting on her phone. I didn't have the heart to say, hey, I can't see you. But you know, my dumbass, man, my dumbass,

the reason he called me, because I was in Tokyo, right? I was in Tokyo and I had found my favorite album of all time, best album ever, Songs in the Key of Life. I found a CD of it. It was a Tokyo version of it, like the Japanese version of it. And my dumbass texted him a picture of it. It was a Tokyo version of it, like the Japanese version of it. And my dumbass takes in him a picture of it. Like an idiot. Like he was going to see it. Right. Right. I just, that's what I found bro. That's what I found bro. He just FaceTimed me. So I was

like, and my dumbass too was like, did you get my text? He's definitely, he didn't see it bro. I hate that. I don't think so. So I just, just to put all those things to rest. For you to be the person to shut down the rumors is crazy. All these years, black people been trying to figure this out and you are the one that solved the problem. I just know, I was looking at his needs for about 15 minutes. So again.

Well there you have it. Teddy Swims, y'all. We appreciate you for joining us. It's the Breakfast Club. Good morning. It's topic time. Call 800-585-1051 to join in to the discussion with the Breakfast Club. Morning everybody. It's DJ N.V.

Jess Hilarious, Charlamagne the Guy. We are the Breakfast Club. If you're just joining us, we open up the phone lines. 800-585-1051. We're talking about older men dating these younger women. And when I say younger women, I'm talking about teens or early twenties, I should say. No, no, no, no, no. When I'm talking about younger women, I'm talking about these guys that are 30 years these people's seniors. That's what I'm talking about. Like, I think when you 50-something years old and you're dating a 20-year-old, that's ridiculous to me's what I'm talking about. Like I think when you 50 something years old and you dating a 20 year old, that's ridiculous to me. And I'm consistent with that.

I'm talking about teenagers, 18, 19, early 20s. Because somebody can be 32 dating a 60 year old. Are you cool with that? You say what? A 35 year old dating a 65 year old man or a 60 year old man. Yeah, I think that's even more because this man is 60 plus years old. But at least a 30 plus year old woman at least lived a little bit But you know you and your right, you're a grown ass woman So it's not the difference, we're talking about early 20's I'm actually looking at her a little crazy like, man what you want with that old ass man? He must be rich

Right Well, let's ask Jess, Jess you said you dated a 49 year old man 49 year old man What age? I was 23. Why? Um, just- You had money? Yeah, he did.

You about to lie trying to make up something. I was not about to lie, damn! I was not about to lie. I was really about to say, yeah, he had money. And I always had like a little old soul or whatever, you know what I mean? And I met him at the car dealership. And- He bought you the car dealership and No, I ain't buy me no car but he helped me with the down

Very good. That's not a bad payment. Huh? Yeah, we did down pain He helped me with the down pain how much and I think the down thing I was getting like a little Honda it might have been like 5,000 or something But I act like I have it all and he was like, you know, you know, and I and how much did he give you? He gave me like three thousand dollars for like six or seven months it really wasn't long but I broke it off not even I broke it off because you you get and like relationships with older guys as a young woman because you think oh this gonna help me grow up well I'm doing something that ain't nobody else doing I mean you know and he's very childish.

He was childish. You automatically just think because you did an older guy that they're gonna have it all together. They're wise, you know, that they can teach you things. They have knowledge about things. They try to do those things when you like, nah, I know what I'm doing and do this. Did he try to be like, treat you like a child or no?

Yeah, until he realized that he couldn't do that. And then that made me even more attractive to him. Like he liked that. He was like, oh okay, so you're not a young dummy. You're smart. Now let me show you how dumb I am. It was just weird. Like I was like, oh no, I gotta, no I can't.

Like he was very childish and stuff. He didn't know how to have sex. He didn't know how to hit the box. I was like, oh my God, you're too old to not know these things. And I started dating back in my age bracket. You probably know these things like, these don't taste the way they used to.

The ones from my era used to taste a whole lot different. I just think it's corny there's no way you should be dating a woman who was in somebody's womb when you was 30. Okay imagine being 30 years old standing over a crib with your b****s out. That just looks crazy to me. That sounds wild and true. But that's how you should look at it. If you 50 plus years old dating a 20 year old, that makes no sense to me. I don't know why men have not grown out of that. I love discipline, I love stability, I love having a family. If you 50 plus years old, you should be kicked up, you have your feet kicked up at home, you got your wife over here, you got your kids over here.

Why are you chasing these young girls? I disagree with that standing over the crib which f***ed out like that. Now listen, the only reason why, the only way I would think about it like that is if we're around the way and you seen this girl grow up and you waited for her to get a certain age, like 19, 18, something like that to date her.

Then I get that notion of it. But to these, if you're just an older man and you see a younger woman, younger looking woman, you know, whatever, it's like, all right, they are attracted to young women, you know, but that's different. I'm not about to think about it as I'm standing over a crib with my watch this little girl go up. Then I jump. I will say this. Everybody's not made for marriage, right? Yeah. He was married and didn't enjoy it. So he wants to get a bachelor. And I'm not mad at that. But I look at it a little different. Charlamagne, you got four daughters, I got four daughters.

I don't want my 21, 19, 22, 23 year old daughter dating a 54 year old man. There's nothing in common. The only thing I feel like you dating that young is because you want to control. That's my mentality. But there's nothing, you know, I don't see nothing wrong with, if he want to be a bachelor, he can be a bachelor. Maybe he's just not made for the marriage life. Be a bachelor with somebody your age. Go get you a nice 40 something yo. And exactly what you said, you want to control because that guy at that dealership gave me

$3,000 because he just knew she green, now I'm going to control her. End it now. He didn't know he was dealing with Jess for both of those periods. Go find somebody that can help you regulate your cholesterol. Go find somebody that they dealing with their blood pressure. Go find somebody that can recognize you regulate your cholesterol go find somebody that they dealing with a blood pressure somebody that can recognize the size of Hello No, hold on says key was 17 dating a 40 year old man I'm good, Key. How old are you, Key?

No, hold on, it says Key was 17 dating a 40-year-old man. Come on, man. What are we talking about? He was 40-something, a little bit older than 40. And y'all got married, break that down. Yeah, we ended up getting married. We had three beautiful children together. We are no longer together.

Cause he dead. He dead. Oh my God, is he dead? No, he's almost 61, still dating younger women. What state are y'all in that that was legal? Huh? What state of y'all in that that was legal? Huh? What state of y'all in that that was legal? It wasn't Virginia.

What'd you say, y'all got married? Well, they got married probably when she got of age. Why, we didn't get married until I was like 22. Oh, duh. Okay, you're right. So long story short, it was very hard. My 20s, my early 20s, mid 20s was very hard, very depressing. He was very controlling, was always gone out doing what he wanted to do while I was at home,

taking care of our kids. It was really hard. It was something that I would not recommend any young woman ever doing. Was he very controlling? any young woman ever doing. Was he very controlling? Yeah, she said he was. Of course, it was a domestic violence situation. I definitely finally got the courage to leave because I didn't want my children to keep on seeing that. I didn't want them to think that that's normal.

And it affected our oldest son, he's 16 now. I had to put him in therapy because, you know, it was just horrible. He's seen a lot of things. Yeah. Yeah. Thank God that I had to pray my way out of that situation because I was really in love with him. Where was your father at this time? Was your dad around? So yeah, let me protect my parents. My parents are both retired army and they were both overseas fighting the war in Iraq. So I was in the jungle with my grandmother.

I was at work when I met him. So it's not like my grandma just let me do whatever. I was at work. I was in a different place. And you know, he took that opportunity to, you know. Yeah. And he used to come pick me up from high school and everything like.

Jesus. I don't know how I got out of high school. You know, yeah, and he's completely up my school and everything like You know, it's signed out Yeah, definitely old enough to sign your way so wow But but thank you for sharing this happy that you're still here and that you are out of that situation Yeah, definitely. I didn't want my kids to think that that was normal. Thank you, Key. And he's a horrible father. That mean he a horrible grandfather too. Yeah, he is.

All right, Key. The moral of the story is I know y'all like to be out here bragging about smashing these young girls, but that's not a flex to me. You know what I'm saying? You're 54 years old. In your 50s, you should be laid up with your wife and kids. Or at least be with women that's close to your age.

Like that's me. Yeah. You know? And I'm consistent with that. I said that when Diddy was out here with Young Miami and, you know, Leonardo DiCaprio. I don't know what y'all see in these young girls. I need somebody that can, that know at least all, at least six members of Wu-Tang. At least six members.

Straight up. It was six of them? Yo! Oh my goodness. I haven't told ever told you this story about how years ago, I'm not going to say his name, but there was a record rep. And he was talking to me about how, man, I tried to talk to one of these young girls. And she was real smart. And I said to her, you a regular Doogie Howser.

And she was like, who is Doogie Howser? Jess don't know who Doogie Howser is. No, I don't. Exactly. You know who Doogie Howser is, Mark? Lauren don't know either. No. OK, exactly.

See? And I'm not here. A regular Doogie Howser. Now tell me, what's a Doogie house and now tell me what's the do you have? Do you have it with a hit sitcom back in the day that Neil Patrick Harris? I know Neil Patrick Harris Just imagine when you have daughters would you want your daughters to date a 54 year old man at the age of 19 imagine being 30 But neck is standing over somebody's crib. That's what you should be thinking about when you out here ready to holla at these 20-something year old girls when you 50 plus. Cut it out. If you just joined us, there's context.

Yeah, I swear there's context. Please, I promise it is. Yeah, it's the Breakfast Club of the morning. The Breakfast Club. Morning everybody, it's DJ NG, DJ Hilarious, Charlamagne the guy, we are the Breakfast Club, Lauren LaRosa is here with us and we got some special guests in the building this morning. The host of the new show Friday Night Vibes on TBS, well the new host of Friday Night Vibes on TBS. Dena Parker and Kev On Stage.

What up y'all? I brought that up because Kev didn't talk about that last time he was here and I saw Nina and Chance and Nina was like, I don't know why he was up there and did not mention that we're the new host of Friday Night Vibes. I said, men be having tunnel vision, so you got all these other projects. I watched the interview and I was so excited, I was like, I can't wait till he mentions Friday Night Vibes because we were in the middle of filming Friday Night Vibes. She was like, I'm home, I said, man, what did I say? I said, man, Friday Night Vibes, Friday Night Vibes because we were in the middle of filming Friday Night Vibes. And he didn't say nothing about it.

I said, man, Friday Night Vibes, Friday Night Vibes. And I had just determined, hold on, I was like, Kev, I mentioned you and shouted you out, they showed your picture on the back. Wow. I'm being ghastly. First of all, I feel the time. I'm being ghastly. I said it first so it means it's true.

Baby, that's just who you are because one of your best friends was up here. What is happening? Just right here. And when we told him that you were coming, he was like you know, one of your best friends was up here. Oh, what is that? Like, just right here. And when we told him that you were coming, he was like, he didn't even tell me he was here in New York. Tony Baker, he did. Are y'all really best friends?

He was like, we were playing pool. What is friendship? And he never said, what is friendship? We saw him and we saw Tony just in the green room. I was like, what are you doing here? Tony didn't tell me he was doing the Breakfast Club. But men don't share details like that. Like, if it would have been me and my home girl,

we would have been like at the hotel having breakfast before we came over. I feel like y'all just see each other when you see each other. But you know Tony had a show in New York? I did know that. I got tickets to his show. Oh, you were surprised him? Yeah, I was gonna pull up on him.

Yeah, sure. You bought the tickets and he gave you the tickets because he's a friend. I always buy my tickets. I don't even play that. I'm not trying to hear it. Don't hear me, because because people you ain't even cool We like what's up on the ticket?

Kevostage.com is what's up with them. My parents buy tickets to my show I want to support but then they want you to give up the ticket. No that ain't support The parents buy tickets to your show? My parents refuse to get free tickets They're like I believe in you and what you're doing. I go get tickets. They know you made it though, right? They don't force you. They want to make sure they don right? They, it's no poor s**t though. They just wanna make sure, they wanna make sure they don't got loan, you know, money ever again. No, well, yes, exactly. They're like, you keep doing good, so,

you know what I'm saying, I need you to make it. How you know they're not just testing you? Just to see if you gonna say, no, no, no, y'all done enough, I got you. No, they, I'm gonna fail that test. You don't have a confirm ticket? No, man. This is how I failed that test.

Watch out. They buy them, they support me, they love me. Now I know for the next show. I got you. But I'm on my own. I'm on my own. My friends, I don't mind. These people I don't know. We ain't got no relationship.

You're trying to get the free tickets, man. No. Oh, okay. It's like a hookup. When I work in Popeyes, I give my friends a hookup. Not everybody. Like, you can't with some of the biscuits. Do you see the price?

That's true. How did this come together? You know what's crazy? We actually chem-tested together. Kev and I knew each other only on social media. Like, I was a fan of his work, but we had never met. So we would exchange on social media. And then the show used to be hosted by Tiffany Haddish and Dion Cole.

They were revamping it. And so they did like a big casting call. So when we got called, and sometimes when you get to a certain level, you're like, oh, I still got a chem test. Oh, okay. I was like, so we did the chem test. And it was actually like a family reunion. It was about 20, about what?

15 women, 15 men. And we were chem testing with our friends. So it was like a big, we actually were too loud. We got in trouble. It took all day long. It was like, you spend five minutes with this person and then, okay, y'all done. And this person. And when Nina and I went, it was like, this sounds cliche, but I was like I forgot we were even auditioning. We were just chopping it up and they stopped us. We were

like okay cool. I was like this, we got this. Like there's some times I feel like you get that little voice you know when you're in this industry you just know when something is magic and we were sitting next to each other and it was so easy with him. And I've had a lot of co-hosts over the years and Kev is by far like the easiest person I've ever worked with. Oh, thank you. That's the ultimate compliment by the way.

It's not to him, it's to his wife, Melissa. Hey Melissa. Because his wife is, he knows how to, there is a dance, as you guys know, and then when you have a co-host who knows how to communicate in a healthy way with a woman, it's just like, even like, he'll be like, do you need to sit? I'm like, what? Because I'm used to people being like, get out the way.

And it's just, he's very kind, so it just makes it so easy to work with. But also, Nina, oh go ahead, Sean. No, I was gonna say, I tell people that all the time. When somebody says you're easy to work with, that's beautiful, and when somebody says you're a pleasure to work with, you can always work. Yeah, because it's a long, the work is hard.

So talent is evenly distributed in LA and New York, but good people to work with is not so much. And then it's already stressful, you got early call times and all that stuff. If you're also a jerk on top of that, it's like, bro, I don't even wanna do it. Life be life, and as you know, so it's hard to get on it and have to turn all of that off in filming. So when you have somebody that's like, Kev is really like my real-life

brother. I really love him. I love his wife. We have dinners. So it truly doesn't feel like work. So we just be cutting up. And this show really allowed me to be funny and really tap into it because I feel like I've done so much formal journalism this was like a different this was more vulnerable and Kev is more my coach sometimes when he's like just say it like you know because I'm so trained that sometimes it's a little bit more stiff so he's like just say they ain't gonna care. Yeah me too because I had never done official TV never worked off a prompter before so

the first day I was like hey man this is like a lot of pressure and you can't really mess up it's time for you to do your job right news I also good here's how you doing this run through it once and Nina man let me tell you what she big sis for real cuz when I don't be one to do stuff she'll be like we ain't doing that y'all we are doing this on like you can tell she's been in the game for a long time never rude or anything like that. But she knows how to assert herself and people respect her for that.

And I'm more of like, I ain't never done this. So whatever y'all say is cool. But also when you've done it a long time, you know when people are padding time, like you're like, we got this. We can just roll through this. Like y'all ain't gotta baby us. Like we gonna come in, we gonna knock this out

and then we gonna go home. Everybody gonna get home on time. Y'all ain't gotta put up with time. Like let's go. Is it hard for you on time Yeah, I got a pill for time Is it hard for you kev being on a production that you don't control? No Loki actually it's freeing because There's a certain amount of stress when you control it like the talent is just one aspect

Then you gotta worry about the budget and the control and the edit and the delivery Friday night vibes brother when it's over. All right, y'all And it's it is it is a welcome reprieve from having to do I don't want to worry about post edit deliveries timecode You know stat S&P Leave it at the door coffee. Yes. What time is lunch? Okay, perfect the autumn. I just come on time Do my job chop it up with Nina. Yeah, I knew he was cool. Nina let me um, she was getting braided down. She's like, yeah, y'all real friends. You let me see the breakdown. The breakdown is intimate.

Close the door. No, that's why I think that camaraderie and chemistry from the audition through the show, it just carries on throughout. And then that's why the show feels camaraderie and chemistry from the audition through the show, it just carries on throughout. And then that's why the show feels so natural. Our guests come on, they feel really natural with us, you know what I'm saying? And it doubled the ratings. So we did the first season, we only had like 12 episodes.

So it was just the first Friday of every month, which right now, you know, TV is very difficult. They actually doubled our episode order because they were saying that our interviews with each other and with our guests were spiking over the movies. So yeah, so I mean, listen to get a double order during this time. We feel very blessed. We're still kicking with Nina Parker and Kev on stage. The new show Friday Night Vibes is on TBS. Lauren.

I was going to ask you Nina, because for us in the journalism where you talked about working in hard journalism, I know you come from TMZ. Your career and how you've been able to diversify your resume, we all watch it like how? Because it is hard when you're such a journalist to do things that allow you to show your personality. What was your first lesson in like, I even want to try to diversify? My first lesson was I got fired. And you know, as you know, it's like- You got fired from TMZ?

Well, I got fired my first week from TMZ. How do you know, as you know, it's like you got fired from TMZ. Well, I got fired my first week from TMZ. How do you know that? So my first one. You still on her? You feel the pain? I'm going to let her talk her story. I got fired twice. So the first time I got fired was my first week in TMZ.

I had just moved to LA and I was not even a PA yet. I was a runner. I didn't know anybody in LA. I literally got the job by emailing contacts. They used to have like a contact TMZ and I just emailed and was like, I got a degree. Can I like, you know, and they were like, you've been out the game for a little bit because I had stopped working in journalism. And so they were like, we'll make you a runner. You can get the lunches. But this was before GPS. So I had like a Thomas guy. Oh, wow. Yeah,

agent myself. But I was, I got lost. LA is very difficult to navigate. You like, why is there two Sam Basentes? I don't know why. And so I got lost. So Paris Hilton got arrested and I had to go get the tape from the paparazzi of her coming out of CNN for her first interview with Larry King. My heart just dropped for you.

You got lost with that tape. And I got lost and if you know, CNN was on sunset and I took Highland to get back to the valley and Harvey was like, why would you take Highland and not Cahuanga? What's wrong with you? You're fired in front of everybody. Taking Highland and not Cahuanga? Oh baby, what? A street choice?

A street choice. Do you understand how that is? And it's very different. It's like, you live there and you know you know like this is before you could transfer digitally. You had to have the tape. So I cost them like 15, 20 minutes and they wanted it up first. So he fired me in front of the whole newsroom. And I went to the bathroom.

I had only been in LA like three months. I went to the bathroom and I was crying. My ego kicked in. It was like, F this place, go somewhere else. You don't need this place. And there was this really quiet voice with that was like, just go apologize. And I went to my managing editor and Harvey was in his office. I went to the managing editor and I had been staying late every day and I would just ask

her if she needed anything. So if she needed her trash taken out, whatever, I would just stay late for hours just helping her not getting paid. And I said, Hey, you know, I'm really sorry if I can work with you in the future. She was like, what are you talking about? And I said, Oh, Harvey just fired me. And she goes, girl, sit down. And she went in his office and yelled at him. And he's, I heard him say, will you take her? And she came back out and offered me a year contract and was like, do you want to be my writing PA? And then that was in June of 2007.

The show started in September of 2007. And by then he had heard me just talking. I would do my stories and talk out loud. And he thought I was funny. And he was like, I want you to pitch for the show. And I was like, No, I just want to write. He's like, I'm not asking you, you gonna get on the show. And that's really how it started. That was the first time I got fired. I was just like, I'm gonna just go for it. And I just was like, I'm not gonna allow like one person to have the keys To like drive my car like I gotta have these options open and I have to like eat my ego a little bit And I think our ego gets us in a lot of trouble in this industry

There's a lot of misunderstandings that happen that you you take it the wrong way And I just learned to like drop that and it's helped me. What got you fired for real? Um, I didn't I was fired from CBS. CBS, OK. They didn't renew my contract. That's not a real fire. Well, it's kind of fire. It's like, we're not having you back.

I had a two-year contract. And it was the most money I had ever made. Because now I'm an official correspondent. I'm doing the red carpets. And I made all this money. And I blew it. I was buying bags. I remember I went on my first check

and bought a Gucci and Louis Vuitton bag. Both. Just both. Because I was making $. I remember I went on my first check and bought a Gucci and Louis Vuitton bag. Just both. Cause I had been, I was making $4.50 a week at TMZ. Before taxes. So I wasn't making any money. So when I was getting the CBS money, I lost my damn mind. And I had no, I had bad credit. I had no financial literacy at all.

So you hate H&M too then. You just had to be at Bloomin' Day. I had no financial literacy at all. So you hate H&M too then, that's why. You just had to be at Bloomin' Devil. I had to be. And so when I lost the job, I was broke. Because I was, you know, even though I had money, I was spending every check. I was, you know, I was at the brunches, spending money like a drug dealer.

I was just like, come on, let's get the bottles, you know? And just ridiculous. And what I realized was I thought to myself, I had to downsize everything. I got in a car accident. I lost my car. So I had to get a used car with the red light always on. And I had to get into a smaller apartment that was a little bit more in a bad neighborhood. And I told myself, I was like, when I get my next thing, because I knew it was going

to come, I educated myself on how to get good credit. I fixed my credit. I figured out what I needed to save. I was like, I need multiple income. I was talking to Kevin Frazier, who was at CBS, and he was kind of telling me like, you acting crazy. You know, I talk on him, my toxic mentor, because he would give me advice, but it was always like really harsh. And I was like, the next time I get it, and I got love and hip hop reunions, and I just started saving everything. I started living under my means. So I was like the next time I get it and I got love in hip hop reunions and I just started saving everything. I started living under my means so I was like let me build this so that like I can have two years of income so that the next time I'm not going to let this network decide like whether I eat or not.

When you left, to go back a little bit, when you left TMZ were you senior news producer? Where were you? When I left TMZ I did not have a job. I quit because they did not want to pay me. Okay. Cause there's always been a conversation. I don't know. I was told this before I went there.

Okay. So not even just internally, but just in the journalism world that you had been offered news director or something like that, but they didn't want to, like they didn't, you thought you should have news director, but they didn't want to give it to you. It wasn't news director, but what actually happened, I've never told anybody this, I accidentally got my co-worker's check. And we were sitting next to each other, you know TMZ would have the desk where there was a divider.

And they set his check next to me and I was just opening it blindly and he was making six figures. I was not, I was making well under that and I had been there and I was contributing. I was breaking stories. I was a part of Michael Jackson's death being broken. I was a part of major stories. Bernie MacDihan, I was the managing editor on weekends. American history is full of wise people. Well women said something like, you know, 99.99% of war is diarrhea and 1% is glory. Those founding fathers were gossipy AF and they loved to cut each other down.

I'm Bob Crawford, host of American History Hotline, the show where you send us your questions about American history and I find the answers, including the nuggets of wisdom our history has to offer. Hamilton pauses and then he says, the greatest man that ever lived was Julius Caesar. And Jefferson writes in his diary, this proves that Hamilton is for a dictator based on corruption. My favorite line was what Neil Armstrong said. It would have been harder to fake it than to do it. Listen to American History Hotline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

So what happened at Chappaquiddick? Well, it really depends on who you talk to. There are many versions of what happened in 1969 when a young Ted Kennedy drove a car into a pond. And left a woman into a pond. And left a woman behind to drown. There's a famous headline, I think, in the New York Daily News.

It's, Teddy escapes, blonde drowns. And in a strange way, right, that sort of tells you. The story really became about Ted's political future, Ted's political hopes. Will Ted become president? Chappaquiddick is a story of a tragic death and how the Kennedy machine took control. And he's not the only Kennedy to survive a scandal.

The Kennedys have lived through disgrace, affairs, violence, you name it. So is there a curse? Every week, we go behind the headlines and beyond the drama of America's royal family. Listen to United States of Kennedy on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Don't miss the You vs. You podcast. Join Lex Borrero every week as he sits down with some of the biggest names in entertainment to talk about the real stuff, the struggles, the doubts, and the breakthroughs that made them who they are. the struggles, the doubts, and the breakthroughs that made them who they are. They go deep, covering childhood trauma, family, overcoming loss, and the moments that shaped their journey. These honest conversations are meant to take the cape off our heroes, with the hope that their humanity inspires you to become a better you, and therefore set you free to live the life of your dreams. Here's a sneak peek. I'm trained to go compete. I'm trained to be like harder. But sometimes that mentality stops you from stopping

and smelling the flowers in your own garden. It's wrong to want more. We migrated. Our family migrated here. I'm like second generation. Listen to You vs. You as part of My Kultura podcast network. Available on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Just like great shoes, great books take you places. Through unforgettable love stories and into conversations with characters you'll never forget. I think any good romance, it gives me this feeling of like butterflies. I'm Danielle Robay and this is Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club, the new podcast from Hello Sunshine and iHeart Podcasts. Every week I sit down with your favorite book lovers, authors, celebrities, book talkers,

and more to explore the stories that shape us, on the page and off. I've been reading every Reese's Book Club pick, deep diving book talk theories, and obsessing over book to screen casts for years. And now I get to talk to the people making the magic. So if you've ever fallen in love with a fictional character, or cried at the last chapter, or passed a book to a friend saying, you have to read this, this podcast is for you. Listen to Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts are wherever you get your podcasts.

So it was just me and Harvey in that office in the PA. I was in there working. I only had Wednesdays off. I gave up my weekends for three years and I was like, I put in the work. I was, it was my life. I didn't have a boyfriend. I didn't have friends. I wasn't going to the club and I felt like I was owed this money. I think I was, it was my life. I didn't have a boyfriend. I didn't have friends. I wasn't going to the club. And I felt like I was owed this money. I think I was maybe making like 50 K. Jesus. And I just wanted what he was making. He's a white male.

Yes he was. And they were like, no. And I was on every show. And I was just like, y'all not gonna pay me. And we went into a little negotiation and I think maybe they offered me like 10 more percent. I did not have another job, I did not have an agent. And I was like, I quit.

I didn't have nothing. But I knew people liked me. And I reached out to a woman who used to be at TelePictures and she had just got an SVP job at CBS. And I was like, she was like, hey, we have the insider. Why don't you come test for the insider? And so I went and tested for that and I was like, she was like, Hey, we have the insider. Why don't you come test for the insider? And so I went and tested for that and I got the insider. But I didn't have anything when I left TMZ.

I didn't know what I was going to do. And the good thing about being young is because I was still in my 20s at the time. You look crazy. So, you know, had I been this age, I might have been like, let me just figure something out. But now, you know, because I got bills and have big bills. But back then, I was like, you know, for me to pack up this studio apartment. This ****, I'll get on the couch.

I don't care. That bad area came out. That bad area was like, you ain't gonna trap me. And it was the best decision I could have made. I mean, I left really at the pinnacle. Van had just started. Like, it was really a good time to be there. And everybody told me not to quit.

Everybody, like socially, TMZ was really hot in like, because this is the Paris Hilton, Britney Spears era. So people were like, youZ was really hot. And like, cause this is the Paris Hilton, Britney Spears era. So people were like, you're crazy to leave. But I was just like, this is not serving me. And they, not only that, like, this was before pay disparity was really a thing. So it was just accepted that the women take less.

And I was like, I work harder than all these people up in here. And I'm a black woman. And I mean, when you guys started the breakfast club, we, that's how we met. We were starting emailing like, it was like, I got this new show. I was like, we're gonna put you on the show. And I've made a lot of contacts because I would reach out to black media and

be like, get on our blog roll. Let me send you to breaking news. Like I really cultivated I still have all those relationships. Because I really was like, I can't prevent them from putting this story out about black people, but I can at least give our side. And if you call me, I'm gonna give your side out there because they didn't care. They would just put it up. And so that was really for me, like my time. So I was like, you're not gonna pay me?

We're still kicking with Nina Parker and Kev on stage. The new show, Friday Night Vibes is on TBS. Was it Toxic working there? NBD, what? I mean, listen, this is, I've heard it's not like that anymore. I don't know. Uh, and this is, this is one of the reasons you and I haven't talked because I checked

out of all things TMZ. I never watched the show again when I stopped. Like I didn't, I stopped community. I didn't use, I'm not communicating with people I knew, but anything like I just kind of shut that part of my brain off because I had a lot of PTSD and it was, you have to think about it. This was like the birth of new age media. There were no rules. So we would work like 14 hours a day, you would get in trouble for taking a lunch. You couldn't leave like your desk, you had to answer your phone at four in the

morning. It was, you would work weekends and you couldn't say no. We would, people would walk around with their laptop. We would go to a concert, you have to have your laptop in your bag. Because if you got a call at four and you didn't answer, you would get fired. It was over for you. It was over for you. So, and I made the decision to participate in that because I didn't have anybody, I didn't have anything else.

I didn't have a team. We were kind of deterred from getting a team. Like you know, so the things I know now, obviously. This is pre-HR there too, because HR was new when I got there was no HR. No HR. HR was very new. And there was the union things that come in when you have your protection. They got rid of it. That didn't exist back then. Like they had telepictures. That was the parent company that technically you could go, but you didn't know anybody there because you only knew who was in the building.

So it was really the Wild West. And I probably, I mean, when Michael Jackson died, I didn't leave the office for three days. Like we slept there. And that was your salary of $50,000 or less, whatever you say it sounds like. I mean, I think I was still making like the PA salary then, which was, I think I had got boosted to like 650 a week.

Crazy thing is when Lauren started working here, you ever see that dog that they and I'm not comparing you to a dog But that dog that when you get out the shelter, right and you put your hand up to pet it and the dog is good That's how Lauren was working. Lauren was like, wait a minute. You guys just said good job Like I'm like what I thought she was joking then I realized no, she was traumatized was joking, then I realized, no, she was traumatized. Like it was crazy. I still won't tell her that. No, he. How long were you there?

I was at TMZ for eight years. And when you come in, you hear, well, from the black people there, you hear so much about you. Van was always really big about, you know, talking to me about you. He was there when I was there, so was Raquel. And then they left, and when they left, it was me.

And I was like, what the heck? At least you had the camaraderie. But then they left. Right. And then George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery happened. It was like, what the heck? At least you had the camaraderie. But then they left. Right. And then George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery happened and it was like, oh. And you're fighting by yourself because there's a lot of microaggressions. There's macro too. And one of the things that was hard for me was like at the time,

and this was before Van even got there, I was the only black person on camera. And so... Ooh, we are you are soul sisters. Yes. No, the story she told me. And you feel an obligation, but sometimes you're tired. Right. And you don't know what you're supposed to say. Right. But the thing is, with black talent, especially, you don't have the luxury of being silent when it's a black issue, because they're going to look at you in this room full of white

people and wonder why you didn't say anything. They're not going to think about like, I've been doing this every single day. I got a migraine. I'm tired. Like I'm tired of arguing. I know they're race baiting me. They're they bait you on purpose. But at the same time, I'm like, I got to think about the people who are watching that look like me that are like, you know, why didn't you speak up? But you know, you know, as you age, fighting every day gets exhausting. And also when you get invaded, because it's like, I don't mind having a healthy discussion, but you purposely trying to bait me to have this conversation so you can have content and I'm not really with that.

And so you get tired of being used, you get tired of like women being talked about, you know, you feel like I'm in this space. When I was there, it was very toxic. Like we would get, they had a relationship with Vivit because you know, Kim Kardashian's sex tape and Vivit was sending like sex tapes in. And sometimes people would just watch them in the office you know and it was like you were like what am I what's going on but then also you're like well

what are my other options and that's when you start to build these relationships so you're like I gotta make an exit plan I had a I just want to say this real quick and we can move away from TMZ because you have moved away but I met you a long'm finding out so much about you. We've been in the trenches. You ain't never said nothing about this. I met you a long time ago in LA and our interaction, you weren't rude, but it just wasn't the best. And when I was about to leave Ben was like, you should call Nina. And I was like, I don't think she cares for me that much. And he was like, why?

And I was like, well, and I told him, but now hearing your, I don't know if you even knew who I was, but if so, I'm thinking like maybe that I had nothing to do with that, but I'd never thought about this because when you're in that environment, you think it's regular. You think it's okay. I'd never thought about like what your post-life felt like mentally having to go through and deal with all of that. I think that's got to do with you telling the world that Nina was rude to you.

No, I said she wasn't rude and just wasn't the best. Why would you do that? You could have said that off the head. No, the reason why I want to say that is because now I'm sitting here and I felt your emotion just now when you were talking about your experience and I identify with it so much and it made me think about if I were to run into someone, right, in that same predicament, unknowingly I might not, like, you know, do you know what I'm trying to say? Well, you're reacting to the place, not the person.

Yes. And so you, you know, it's like if someone brings up a relationship that hurts you, you're kind of like, especially if you're not in the space to like say you're not thinking about it and it jars you for a second where you're just like, and also, I'm very media trained, right? So sometimes I don't want to speak bad on a place and I don't know if my experience will be your experience. Yeah. So there's a lot I can't say to you without saying it, right? Where I can, it's like, how do I tell this person they're in the trenches and like get

out quickly? Because that may not be your journey. So how do I say that to you because it's so nuanced? So it's just such a layered thing. So sometimes if like people come up and be like, I'm at TMZ, I'm kind of like, I don't know what to tell you because this is only something you understand if you've been there. It's like being in a sorority. But at the same time, and I think I've just healed from being there probably within the

last four years, four or five years. I have this thing now where my friends say I'm the fastest responder because you had to be this thing, right? Even now, I'm, my friends say I'm the fastest responder because you had to be this thing, right? I always, even now, I'm not really in news anymore. Like I'm a host for shows. And even now, I feel like I got to look at these headlines. I'm like, what am I doing? I ain't posting about no news. I'm the first to post a tweet about it. Like, so you have these things. So I don't remember the interaction, but I'll say that it was so traumatizing that sometimes it was hard to react positively about it.

And also, as you grow, you learn how to temper that a little bit better. But I think probably when we met, I hadn't really quite learned how to do that yet. It wasn't nothing crazy, but I felt your shock. I didn't understand what I felt until this moment. It was gang gang. She wasn't messing with that clicker. You never know what people are dealing with. But I didn't know because when we hear about your journey there, we just hear.

Well, I've never talked about it. This is the first time I think I've always said things positively because ultimately it was a positive experience because I have never learned. You learn kind of when you're in that, because it's like the army. But I tell people it was the best boot camp I've ever been to. It's the best boot camp. You'll never, and one thing I will say about Harvey is he, to this day, probably the hardest work ethic of anyone I have ever known in the industry. But you get a lot of trauma from it and it's very difficult to express if you haven't been there. And then also it's like, I don't want to make that my story. So, you know, when I meet somebody and we in a social setting, it's like, it's still

now some people say, Oh, I know you from TMZ and I'm, I cringe a little bit, not because I'm ashamed of it, but I've done so much, but it's still something that's always associated with you and will always be as you will know, it will always be. And there's going to be a time when you just don't want to hear about it because you've accomplished so much more. And so it's a little triggering when someone comes up to you and wants to talk about it. And you just like, it's like bringing up an X that you don't so much more. And so it's a little triggering when someone comes up to you and wants to talk about it. And you just like, it's like bringing up an ex that you don't do it anymore.

What you really wanted to say to her probably was good luck. Who? Yeah, but if you don't wanna be negative, because what am I supposed to say if you're in it? What am I supposed to tell you? I mean, I needed the money, but I forget what was going on at the time. But I think this was one of the times

where I've been wanting to quit. And I just didn't, people think you're crazy when you say that. And but I think this was one of the times where I've been wanting to quit and I just didn't. People think you're crazy when you say that. And I was like, oh, Nina Breger, I can talk to her. And then I was done. Tanya Larkin And I wish we would have been introduced through Van because there I would have loved to have talked to you one on one, like privately and just really give you a good download.

Because I know that you did reach out and DM and I never even saw him because we weren't, I wasn't following you and I didn't even see him until I followed you. And I was like, dang, there's DMs in here. And I didn't even see this. Girl, I was crying out for help. This is going to be my last thing about the PTSD. What I found is a lot of people who leave only find their worth in posting news because they that's how you were rewarded.

Then you were only you were you could have been fired for not producing enough. So you find your worth in producing stuff. That's why when I left, I would be posting breaking news and I didn't even have an outlet to attribute it to. And what it allowed me to do when I took a step back was start to put more worth in me, what I'm saying and the other things. Because I was like, I don't even know if I really like news anymore. I don't know if this is something I even enjoy anymore. I enjoy talking to people. I enjoy XYZ.

What else can I dive into? For you, what I would like to say is, and I think you're very good at it, but I know you have other things that you like to get into, and I just don't want you to get caught up in this thing of I have to produce to be valued. Because it's who you are that brings the value, not being first because we're kind of taught to like, we got to be first. We got to be first. What do you say, Nina?

I heard you, but I don't want to repeat that one last time. I'm just saying, the value is not in being first anymore because this is what I have learned It's what you're gonna talk about that is valuable because you're not technically in a news place It has to be first edges. Sometimes it you Urgency is what makes you special because you care and that's important But I think people care just they want to know that these days everybody can get it anywhere. They want your take on it.

That's right. And you were correct and everybody else was wrong. Yeah. I know I was correct. But you were the first. You were amazing after the job. I was correct. Friday Night Bob's on TVXQ.

We appreciate you guys for coming up. And don't be strange. You could come on more often. Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry, Kev. I feel like you didn't get to. Neither, girl. I was watching too. I was like, oh my God. This appreciate you guys for coming up. And don't be strange. You could come on more often, please. Oh my god, I'm so sorry, Kev. I feel like you didn't get to.

Neither, girl. I was watching, too. I was like, oh my god. This is really happening. They're going to put this on TMZ. It's going to be on TMZ. It's going to be full circle. Oh my god.

I'm serious. He's going to watch it. Please come on more. Please come on more often. If you're out in town, please come on. Absolutely. Absolutely. We had to wait seven years to get Kev, so.

Yes. Well, y'all just had him, so, you know. But then this was fun. I was fully in had him, so you know. This was fine. I was fully in, I was in the, I was tweeting. He was in the comments. But Nina Yolanda is still in stores. Yes, yes, I have a clothing line for plus women sizes 12 to 30. Yes, it's in stores, it's at Macy's.

It's doing very well. And so this is one of the designs. So yeah, it's still, you know, the multiple streams. It's always neat that. Big Nina Parker, not the little one. Keep a check. Well it's Nina Parker kept on stage Friday night vibes on TBS it's the Breakfast Club good morning That donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey, that donkey of the day, but like I mean no harm. Yes donkey. Whoa, why the hell I'm so loud. I scared myself. Donkey of the day goes to a Pennsylvania woman named Christina Solomito. Christina Solomito was 44 years old and she did something that people figuratively talk about doing and I wish I could curse on the radio,

but I can't. But just know, Nicki Minaj wrote a song about doing this to her Ops. She called it Did It On Them. But that's the clean version. Yeah, let's hear some of this classic. You remember this, right? Yes. That's how the clean version go? No.

It was Did It On Them. Turn it up, let me hear it. Okay, keep the instrumental going for me. Yes, see all of y'all talk about releasing stink missiles on your Ops, but you never Okay, keep the instrumental going for me. Yes, see all of y'all talk about releasing stink missiles on your apps, but you never actually release the chocolate hostages, but Christina actually did. Let's go to NBC 10 Philly for the report, please. The police chief for Prospect Park says he has seen some road rage cases during his career.

Somebody cut someone off, then the drivers might get into a heated exchange, then they typically drive away. But in this case on Tuesday, there was a little more to that, and the incident was captured on video by a bystander. That video shared thousands of times on Instagram, shows a woman identified Thursday as Christina Salometo walking to another woman's car. The 44 year old sits on the hood or not showing the most graphic part of the video including when she appeared to defecate on the car. Salometo was brought to the Prospect Park Police Department Thursday in handcuffs offering no remarks. She faces a number of charges including indecent

exposure and depositing waste on a highway. Imagine how mad you gotta be to weaponize your own digestive system. Okay, this is biological warfare. Alright, I respect people who can back the brown Cadillac out of the garage in public. Okay, I'm not one of those people. I am very regular. Okay, 830 a.mam every morning I'm making a tombstone in the water grave here at work. But if somebody comes in the bathroom or sits in the stall next to me, I can't do it. I'm a cowboy fan, but I can't take the bronze to the Super Bowl if someone else is in the bathroom with me. So the fact this woman was able to bake some butt brownies in public on cue, it's impressive.

But I'm going to tell you something Christina. The reason you getting the big as he haws is because according to the police avid David, you said, and I quote, I wanted to punch her in the face, but I pooped on her car instead and went home. I woulda rather you punched her in the face. It takes way more energy to pull your pants down and birth a creamy behemoth in public than it does to punch someone in the face. Now, Christina allegedly told cops that it was a clean poop. I didn't have to wipe. True quote. For the record there is no such thing as a clean wipe okay or a clean poop. When you release

the mud monkeys the anal area becomes soil with stool and you gotta clean it. Okay fecal matter contains bacteria and other microorganisms that can cause infections or spread if not properly cleaned away and having residual dookie around the rim of your boonkie can cause discomfort, itching and irritation. Whenever the inside of your boonkie itching, guarantees you didn't wipe properly. So there is no clean kills when you push out a sewer snake. When you launch fudge torpedoes, there is always a casualty.

That's all I got. Please let Remy Ma give Christina so little the biggest he ha You stupid mother are you dumb? The amount of effort in which you put that no presentation. Yes, you did you literally boy like you ate that I Would never eat dookie well you told that story like Maya Angelou alright well thank you for that donkey of the day. Now when we come back, thank you for that dookie of the day.

Ha ha ha. 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 today. We got a special guest in the building. Yes indeed. We have the brother Leon Thomas.

Welcome bro. What's good, what's good, how y'all feeling? How you feeling? Bless black and holly favorite. Leon, you are by far the brother, Leon Thomas. Welcome, bro. What's good, what's good? Hey, how y'all feeling? How you feeling? Bless Black and Holly favorite. Leon, you are by far the greatest new male R&B singer doing it today. Man, thank you so much.

That shouldn't even be up for debate. Man, I really appreciate that, man. How do you receive that? I mean, to be honest, I try to just take it one step at a time. I try to stay humble with everything, but I'm glad to be a new voice in R&B, you know, it's a genre that I love. You know, I'm trying to bring back live musicianship, real songs, you know, writing with the team

that I have has been an amazing pleasure, you know, just bringing like that organic feeling back to the live stage is like a big thing for me, you know. For people that don't know Leon Thomas you know you started on Broadway tell everybody how you got your start and your way into being this R&B star. Well listen I grew up in New York started on Broadway out here I did three Broadway plays from Lion King, The Carolina Chains, The Color Purple. You were Simba in Lion King? Yeah yeah I was Simba in Lion King and then you know I started booking movies and TV shows. Before I would slow that but how was that I just took my kids to see that. Oh no, it was insane.

How was that training? Because it's a lot of shows, a lot of people and it's live so you can't mess up. No, no, no. You can't mess up. It's eight shows a week. I was 10 years old when I did my first Broadway play. Shout out to my mom and my family for you know supporting me through that whole journey. And yeah, man, I went from being a regular kid to starring on Broadway and a matter of months, you know Now how was that because it's not the typical thing New York kids do right? So you're singing you're dancing you're doing this or how do you get into that part of it? New York kids do No because you don't go to Broadway

I don't know anybody that went to Broadway so it's very different New York kids that go on Broadway I don't I mean I don't know I had a couple homies who ended up in different plays, but for the most part, yeah, yeah, it was definitely like a bit of an anomaly for my neighborhood in Brooklyn. It was kind of weird explaining it to my homies at school, like, yeah, I was just doing a show last night.

They're like, what? What's going on? Maybe kids from a certain area. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's a kid from New York. Well, not from New York, from the hoods of New York. Okay. Yeah.

Right. Right. But, nah, it was definitely a real pleasure, you know, but from there I ended up doing a lot of TV and film. You know, I shot my first movie out here with Robin Williams and Terrence Howard called August Rush, which was an amazing pleasure and that kind of brought me into a lot of TV after that, yeah, with Nickelodeon. He was on Victorious. Yeah, Victorious, yeah, yeah, yeah, with Ariana Grande.

And that was a big journey. That was the number one show on the network at the time. We were beating out American Idol. And it was a way for the rest of the world to really tap into who I am as a creative. But it took years of really honing in on who I am as an artist to get to this point, producing and writing for a bunch of different artists.

Winning a Grammy, working with SZA and Babyface, Drake, a bunch of different people. It's been a real... You're a role for Drake? I actually produced for Drake, but you know, shout out to him, man. A lot of people write for Drake, allegedly. Yeah, allegedly, man, but you know, for me... I don't think there's anything wrong with it. I don't think there's anything wrong with it either, but it was a blessing to...

I mean, it's interesting because I'm an artist and people see me as a singer They kind of forget that I also produced a lot of big records, you know, my production game is pretty tight So I like to rap Yeah on purpose That of a rapper that's why when I see Freddie Gibbs on your records a bit of a butcher it makes so much sense to me Absolutely. Do you still keep in touch with anybody from Victorious? Absolutely, man, you know, I chop it up with Ari You still keep in touch with anybody from Victoria's? Absolutely, man. I chop it up with Ari, Avon Jogia is a really good friend of mine, Matt Bennett.

A lot of the cast, we all hang out and do lunch. It's kind of like my last two years of high school were with them. So that's like my graduating class, essentially. We were all in school together. So we filmed, but we also went to school. So those are my really good friends. So Victoria and her mom, I did a host of the New Year's Eve special with them. Oh, for real? Oh, that's dope. that's dope. You ever wrote for Ariana? Oh yeah actually I worked with her on her

first album. That was my first time going number one with an album. I did about like four songs on her first album, Yours Truly. So that was a real pleasure. Did you know you always wanted to be an R&B singer? Like was that the goal as a kid growing up? Oh for sure. Did you always want to be an actor? And when did you pivot? When he was like growing up? Or did you always want to be an actor? And when did you pivot? When you was like, alright, this is what I want to do. Listen, I feel like I did this role with Kathryn Bigelow. She's an Oscar-winning director.

But I had to cut my dreads for it. And that was kind of like my last strong acting. You know, I did this role for Detroit. And I felt like, you know, I need to kind of tap back into who I am as an artist. You know, grew my dreadss back really got into my internal self Meditating really like tapping into who I am as a human being and a lot of great music came out of that You know, I always knew I wanted to be a singer But I knew for a fact I needed to really present myself as who I truly was

It's so easy to play a character when you're always acting. You know, I needed to come to the world as my true self. When you were on the sets, even with Victorious and stuff like that, was your mom and your parents there often? Oh, yeah. My mom. Because Ariana Grande talked a lot about that, too, like how y'all parents were close.

No, they were there. They were there. My mom was never a momager my over my shoulder kind of mom But she was also very protective of my peace And um mental health and making sure that i'm just like in a good a good space while i'm while i'm trying to create something timeless And you know shout out to her for just always, you know creating safe spaces for me throughout that journey You know probably kept you from getting slimed. Yeah. Being quiet on set, Doc.

Yeah. And I was definitely nuts. Definitely nuts, you know, seeing how everything went down. Definitely nuts. It was definitely insane. Jesus. Don't say that. Definitely nuts after that.

Yeah, I know. I know. You know, it's crazy. It's crazy because, you know, I just saw the doc not too long ago. It was definitely eye-opening. And a lot lot of my castmates we hopped on a zoom call We all wanted to talk about it and luckily during during our seasons. It was it was very wholesome and chill But uh, you know shout out to anybody who dealt with anything bad I mean, I you know, my heart definitely goes out to them the thing I love about your music too

Is number one I can tell you've been you got a sense of freedom Yeah, so does that come with money or does that come with just how you came up? You know with your mom doing music so you always felt free as an artist. Yeah, yeah I mean, you know I think the the greatest thing about being an artist is that it's a it's a great representation of being a free black man You know like you know being able to wear what I want, you know, say what I want on record is really important to me. You know, I try to stay as grounded and as real to who I am as I can be. I mean, I think it's really easy to want to be an

artist and play a character who you think people want you to be. But I'm doing my best to just like, kind of just say what I want, what I want you know. When you come up with songs but like um I like feelings on Silent with Wale, I love Wale but songs like that like when I listen to it each time I get something different from it so the first time I listened I was like oh this is like guys just being like we keep our feelings to ourselves and then the second time I listened I'm like this is the trauma that they deal with because like he mentions PTSD and like a bunch of other things like how, how do you, first of all, sitting back, you wrote that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I co-wrote that. Sitting back and writing it with him, how do you be like, okay, here's all the things that we want people to get when they hear this, or do you guys just write and whatever people get, they get, like, were you dealing with something yourself then or? You know, the way I wrote that record

was really interesting. I was in Italy, actually. I was working with Ye and Todd Dallisana on the Vultures One project. American history is full of wise people. Well, women said something like, you know, 99.99% of war is diarrhea and 1% is glory. Those founding fathers were gossipy AF,

and they loved to cut each other down. I'm Bob Crawford, host of American History Hotline, the show where you send us your questions about American history and I find the answers, including the nuggets of wisdom our history has to offer. Hamilton pauses and then he says, the greatest man that ever lived was Julius Caesar. And Jefferson writes in his diary, this proves that Hamilton is for a dictator based on corruption. My favorite line was what Neil Armstrong said, it would have been harder to fake it than to do it.

Listen to American history hotline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So what happened at Chappaquiddick? Well, it really depends on who you talk to. There are many versions of what happened in 1969 when a young Ted Kennedy drove a car into a pond. And left a woman behind to drown. There's a famous headline, I think, in the New York Daily News. It's Teddy escapes, blonde drowns. And in a famous headline, I think, in the New York Daily News. It's Teddy escapes, Blonde drowns.

And in a strange way, right, that sort of tells you. The story really became about Ted's political future, Ted's political hopes. Will Ted become president? Chappaquiddick is a story of a tragic death and how the Kennedy machine took control. And he's not the only Kennedy to survive a scandal. The Kennedys have lived through disgrace, affairs, violence, you name it.

So is there a curse? Every week we go behind the headlines and beyond the drama of America's royal family. Listen to United States of Kennedy on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. us. covering childhood trauma, family, overcoming loss, and the moments that shape their journey. These honest conversations are meant to take the cape off our heroes, with the hope that their humanity inspires you to become a better you, and therefore set you free to live the life of your dreams. Here's a sneak peek. I'm trained to go compete. I'm trained to be like harder,

but sometimes that mentality stops you from stopping and smelling the flowers in your own garden. Is it wrong to want more? We migrated, our family migrated here. I'm like second generation. Listen to You Versus You as part of My Kultura podcast network, available on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Just like great shoes, great books take you places. Through unforgettable love stories and into conversations with characters you'll never

forget. I think any good romance, it gives me this feeling of like butterflies. I'm Danielle Robay and this is Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club, the new podcast from Hello Sunshine and iHeart Podcasts. Every week I sit down with your favorite book lovers, authors, celebrities, book talkers, and more to explore the stories that shape us, on the page and off. I've been reading every Reese's Book Club pick, deep diving book talk theories,

and obsessing over book to screen casts for years. And now I get to talk to the people making the magic. So if you've ever fallen in love with a fictional character or cried at the last chapter or passed a book to a friend saying, you have to read this, this podcast is for you. Listen to Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And I just had some lyrics kind of bubbling up in my head, but I think it was one of those moments that it was just kind of stream of consciousness.

I didn't really think too hard on my sections. That was like my second take that you're hearing. There wasn't like me kind of really punching in a bunch of different ideas. It was just kind of flowing. And when Wale heard it, that was probably the hardest verse to get because we did probably... You gonna get him back outside? Because he...

We did like five sessions to get that one verse. But yo, he's so talented and seeing how we crafted his verse, I mean he would do like five bars at a time and he really cared about the poetry of it all. And it's why I really respect him as an artist. He's just a true lyricist. Of course, Leon Thomas, a singer, songwriter, producer andwriter producer and actor his album mutt is out right now And we got to congratulate you cuz you got a Grammy for your record with scissor We tell everybody that we help with that because we played snooze every morning four times Produce on snooze man. Yo, first of all, let's clear this up. Shout out to SZA for writing that record we were producing in a separate room and

She heard the instrumental was like, what is that? And you know there there is something that I do where I like take my voice and I chop it up like a sample Because clearing samples is really expensive and cuts into the publishing. So rather than is like actually doing a sample I'll just you know, kill a little something right so she really liked that and then took it into the other room and wrote an amazing Song and being a part of the production on that with babyface legendary babyface was a true pleasure man I mean it was um a real journey to see that song go from like a crowd favorite to a Grammy Award winning R&B song man that that was that was definitely life life changing for me. You got a production team, right? Is it the Rascals?

Yeah, yeah, the Rascals. Me and Chris Tynes, man, we've been working together since we were like 18. So it's really cool to see the growth. I mean, we started off a little shaky when it came to production, but it's nice to see us really develop into the producers we are now. We had great mentors, man.

You have such big moments, like even before that and during that. But it's like, I don't know, like, when do you feel like things started to click finally where people were like, oh, shoot, Leon, like, we get it now. It's really interesting. I like to call it the Drake Effect. When I was working, when I was working with Drake, all of a sudden label executives who have known me for years were like, hey, I think you could be an artist, you know? And I was like, all right.

Okay, so I kind of peeped that and I said, okay, well, let's start kind of building this out. But I knew I wanted that same formula that Drake had with Lil Wayne and, you know, working with Todd Dollasson was a really smart move. Not only because he's just an amazing artist, but because it was just nice to have a mentor who had done it already.

So he's just like, kind of like, yo, yo try this make sure the look has this or you know even when it came to the music like here's how you really format an album and I'm definitely doing a lot of studying. You know shout out to Todd Dallas on for sure He definitely you know saw something in me that a lot of label executives were not sure about and it's cool to see it developing How did you know Tom? How did you and Ty Dolla Sign meet? I was actually working on his album as a producer featuring Ty Dolla Sign. I was like one of, I think, nine producers on a song with Kanye and Thundercat and a bunch of other people.

Nine producers on one record? Yeah, because it's like, when it was like.5, I was just there at a this or that vocal and like some bass or something. But he had everybody play like their unreleased records and I played him some of my first album as like demos and Ty was like, yo, you're really tight, you know, as an artist. He was like, man, and he was originally trying to record one of the songs that I had, but I was like, nah, I want you to feature on it. And over the years we became really good friends.

I was working with him a lot and just kind of developed into a whole situation with Sean Barron. Sean Barron is the guy who officially put it all together with EZ Money and Motown. Is it tough navigating, because people are getting to know you now and everybody's falling in love with your music now, and you have such a close association with Drake, you have to pick and choose where you go musically

and what you do musically with him. You know, honestly, she's asking, can you work with Kendrick Lamar if you want to? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. That's what she's asking. I mean, the way the way I really look at it is just like on a political level. I make R&B, you know, obviously I make hip hop too, but I'm really focused on my artist journey.

So I mean, Kendrick is such a huge artist. I don't really foresee us working together in the near future. And even with Drake, you know, I still want to take my steps to really build on my own two feet as an artist. So I'm doing what I have to do right now to really like grow my own business. Touring is a big thing for me. I'm really focused on that. I'm hitting the road all this year and working on more records. So I mean, shout out to everybody, but I'm definitely focused on me. How old were you when you realized Vibes Don't Lie?

One of my favorite records. Thanks man. How old were you when you first realized Vibes Don't Lie? I think that was definitely early 20s. I think LA is filled with facades and people who are pretending to be something they aren't, people who move from their hometown and create a whole new persona. So I think for me just really studying folks, especially a lot of the women you deal with out there, it's really important to study their actions and not their words.

I love the fact that you are encouraging women to keep their *** healthy. Yes, I am. Did you ever want to be a gynecologist? No, no, no. Who's talking about *** healthy? No, no, no, no. I wasn't on the list. I'm just listening. You're a woman? Yeah, I just listened Did you ever want to be a gynecologist? No, no. I wasn't on a list. I just listened, man.

Yeah, I just listened. I just listened, man. They tell you, like, hey, my f***ing not feeling the best today. No, I mean, I just think pH balance is a conversation. You know, I just listened, man. Smell something. Smell something. That's what it was.

Smell something. That's what it was. Because you was very, very specific. You said, she only drink water, she keep that **** healthy. Yeah. They said on Twitter, you be talking crazy like that, but you sing it so people can't be mad about it. Yeah, they can't really like it.

So you had that conversation in real life, but you're not your homegirl. You're shorty. No, honestly, you know what? I'm just big on shock value. I think songs, especially R&B songs, have gotten a bit, not boring, but I think we've kind of already hit the golden era especially R&B songs have gotten a bit, not boring, but I think we've kind of already hit the golden era of R&B. So I'm just finding new ways to make people's ears perk up and their minds move.

I think social media and podcasts are really interesting to me. These phone mics bring out so many conversations. I think as an R&B artist, I want to find ways to let that live on the record. And it doesn't always have to be like verbatim of what I'm going through in real life. I think it's important to create the drama, you know. I kind of see music as, you know, script and a score. So sometimes the records are just like really good dramatizations of like what I'm seeing in the world.

You've been counting some unhealthy vaginas, don't lie. I was gonna say, so you never had that conversation. I mean, I think everybody has. But like how, but like how does that conversation. I mean, I think everybody has. But like how does that go for you now? I mean, I don't think it's really- Now or like when we're expecting you to be like, all right, here's the check. Like how do you, because you got the songs, like they're there.

Yeah, yeah, you know, I definitely got the songs, but I think it's just important to be honest with your partner, you know, communicate. But I think it's a pretty interesting conversation I try to stay out of if I don't have't have to you ever did the air wax test. No, I don't even know what that is There's a little wax on it a little pinky put the pinky inside of hold on what is your she got something What? That's right. As healthy as it should be. Leona, if you listen to that, you're gonna catch a disease. Man, he's like, sick. Yo, that's insane. Ladies, you should do it on yourself. I don't know where he got that. First off, anybody who's ready to do that is nuts.

That's so South Carolina. That's insane. That's the back road thing that they do. It doesn't, I do not try that. No, that's wild. Ginger ale works. That doesn't. Oh, really?

Your mom never told you that you got stomach ache, go drink ginger ale? We ain't talking about stomach aches. We talking about pain balance. I'm just saying, a lot of people think ginger ale cure everything, not earwax. Don't listen to him. Yo, this is the last thing I thought you told the vagina. Your mom has a stomach ache. I'm just saying, a lot of people think ginger ale cure everything, not earwax. Don't listen to him. Yo, this is the last thing I thought you told the vagina. Your mom has a stomach ache. I'm just saying, a lot of go drink ginger ale? What are you talking about stomach aches? We talking about pain balance? I've just seen that people think ginger ale

cure everything, not earwax. Don't listen to him. Yo, this is the last thing I thought about. You told him about it. Your mom ain't telling you. I ain't never heard that. Put ginger ale on your vagina? That's why you sing that.

Everybody else ever heard it. Y'all never heard that. That's why you sing that. That's why you sing that. That's why you sing that. I don't know how y'all ever would. My grandma used to be like, go get some ginger ale and lay down.

Wow. About everything. Yeah. Nah, nah, nah. We love ginger ale around here. Did your therapist really tell you that you're too detached? Or is that just something you tell women so you don't commit? Nah, I think, I think, you know, that bar for me,

I have a co-writer, Bizzy Kruk, and he lives in Miami. Great rapper. That was a bar that came from him. He's very deep into therapy, but I'm glad that we talked about it on record because I mean it's something that I definitely did try out over the pandemic and it's something that I actually really respect you a lot for a champion. You know, but yeah that was a bar from Bizzy, but I thought it was important to add in there, you know. Don't try to blame Bizzy now. No, I mean, yo that's my co-writer, you know, shout out to him, you know what I'm saying? Like we write a lot of our songs together and I really respect a lot of the perspectives

he brings to a lot of my poignant records, you know, he has some great bars. When I listen to Dancing with the Demons, do you ever get like Miguel references sometimes? Absolutely. Yeah, cause I was listening and I'm like, oh my gosh, like I wonder if like that, like are y'all, do you know him? Yeah, yeah. That's like my big bro. We actually did a movie together.

He was in Detroit when I had to cut my hair for. He was an amazing, amazing mentor for me for some years. You know, that bridge between R&B and rock and roll, he's traveled across that bridge many a time. I definitely look up to him when it comes to that. And, you know, for me, because I play multiple instruments, you know. I definitely look up to him when it comes to that. And you know for me because I play multiple instruments you know I definitely try to just embody a lot of that energy but but but I think we both have the same influences as well. I agree with Lauren on that. Miguel to me before

you was the last great R&B male R&B singer. To me I'm just talking about the new guys. I'm not talking about the OG legends. He was the last one to me. And I felt the same way when I heard Dancing with the Demons. I feel like you're talking to yourself on that record. You said you can't seem to save yourself or never learn to ask for help going out all night searching for a feeling. So have you learned to ask for help? I thought, because I took it as like, it wasn't talking about a woman at some point. Well, I mean, it's interesting for me,

like that record, when I wrote it, I wrote it in two different days. The first day I was, you know, microdosing on shrooms. So it was a bit of a haze. The next day I listened to it and I was like, man, this is really poignant stuff. I mean, it's just really talking about being up all night and searching for a feeling and it's trying to fill voids.

I feel like as, you know, when you're in your single journey, you can try to fill a void with a stranger and that's not always very healthy. It could be fun, it could be fun for sure. But, and then especially when you're in the limelight, the second verse is more so talking about being in the limelight and trying to fill voice nobody really talks about the darkness that comes with the flashing lights. And yeah that record was very deep and very personal for me you know I'm glad that people resonate with it. Now you talk about microdosing on shrooms. Where does that put your mind and do you always

do that to produce and write? Nah nah I mean I think for this, it was an interesting opportunity to kind of unplug. I mean, I wasn't doing as many shows around that time too, so it was really helpful to kind of just get into my own head and try to figure out who I am. I definitely did a lot of manifesting, a lot of just writing down who I wanted to be as a human being around that time, a lot of journaling. you know, and looking back at that season in my life, it was a journey for me to evolve into who I am right now. I wouldn't suggest people just go super crazy on shrooms or anything, but I think microdosing, you know, a small

amount could be healthy if you're trying to just find yourself, you know, and at that time I was trying to find myself, you know. Yeah, I've microdosed. I've macrodosed too. You said you were trying to find yourself. Did you find yourself? Yeah, but I mean, I feel like that's a constant journey. That's like the whole part of finding yourself. You realize it never stops because we're always evolving, you know. But it's great that I was able to do it through music.

That was like a version of musical therapy for me. And I'm glad that people are resonating with it, you know. I love how you're normalizing dogs on what? I'm not that people are resonating with it, you know? I love how you're normalizing dogs on Mud. Not, I'm not a dog anymore. There is a young, unhealed version of me that would have really appreciated that new record. Cause you make it sound so fun. And it's almost like women are just gonna bring you in,

like, oh, Brit, come in you straight dog. Let me domesticate you. Nah, I mean, I was really just documenting what I saw. But nah, nah, nah. It's definitely, it's definitely part of me. It's definitely part of me. Now you're documenting what you saw. It's okay, we identify with the music

because it's you. It was definitely part of me post-breakup where I just had to figure it out, but I think that's all a part of living. You get nervous though. That's starting with Electric Dust. This was a post-breakup album, yeah. This was a post-breakup album.

So this is me documenting, finding myself. First off, you're kind of broken after that and then you gotta put the pieces back together. Her fault, yes. No, it's not her fault, I mean it's our fault. Listen, Leon, it's her fault that you ended up being a dog, you went through your whole face. It's her fault.

I bet. I think it's very commendable too that on the song Safe Place, you let the person you're dealing with know this isn't a safe place. Yeah, yeah. What inspired that? I mean, I think knowing that I wasn't necessarily ready to settle down, I think that conversation

definitely came up a lot during, I guess you would call it my f*** face. You know, just understanding like, yo, I'm not trying to settle down. This is a fun place. You know, this is a time period where I'm just figuring me out. Work is crazy, it's hectic, you know. And I think having that conversation was important to, like you said, just avoid people not understanding

what it was at the time. That was my- Because you were that honest in person though, because you're honest in music. But it's difficult to be face to face with somebody and be like, this is the same place. It's very difficult. You know, I really try my best to be as honest as I can. But yeah, those are hard conversations, man. I can't sit here and say I've always done it right,

or I'm perfect or anything. But I try. I try to be real. I try to explain myself. But even when you explain yourself, sometimes wires get crossed. So unpacking it and communicating is an important thing later on.

Yeah, I don't know if women want to hear that after she just let you hit rock. Yeah. Yeah, it's not. thing later on. Yeah, I don't know if women want to hear that s*** after she just let you hit rock. Yeah, it's not. Has a woman ever said that to you when you were trying to like create like a, alright, maybe this is like a thing and she's like, yo, I like you but I don't want to do that to you. Who don't revert?

Yeah, actually, yeah, yeah. In my early 20s, I was talking to this amazing artist and yeah, she was just like, listen, baby, this ain't a safe place kind of thing. Anybody mean no now? She was like, nah, nah, nah. I don't think you guys are going now. You tear it up a little bit. Yeah, nah, nah, nah.

It was all good for me. I mean, at that point. You're glad this is a fallout. You're shaming me. You're shaming me. You're shaming me. You're all falling off my ankles. You tear it up a little bit.

But yeah, yeah, you know, it was definitely, you know, it was definitely a realization for me. I was like, oh, it can happen on that side too. I was like 20, maybe 21, you know. Oh, man. You're crying in the car. I was like, oh it can happen on that side too. I was like 20 maybe 21, you know Yes, I was like really young kind of you know green like, okay So you all looking for a relationship now if the right person? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm definitely I'm definitely in that mode right now

Are you dated would you date art other like artists celebrities or do you like how does that work? Are you doing this? It's just hectic. I mean you kind of inviting the media into your life like the one safe place you have But I mean who knows if I really catch a vibe with somebody who happens to be fan I mean, I don't really care about that side of things, you know, I've been in the game a long time I've met some beautiful women who are amazing artists But it's just about the human being and it can be tough to really build something if both of your schedules are super hectic So I don't know. I don't have a ask a question too about another record on Farfetch'd. Yeah.

You said, cause we was having a big conversation this week about tricking cause you know Skip Bayless allegedly offered somebody 1.5 million. Oh my god. And you say paid for my mistakes in Benz's and Diamond's 250 fronted, like you was my artist, 5G's just across the Atlantic, we sat in silence for almost two hours. Yeah. That's a horrible vacation silence for almost two hours. Yeah. That's a horrible vacation. A quarter million dollars.

Yeah. Bins and diamonds. Well, listen, when I wrote that record, it was not for me. That was not a joint that I was originally gonna use for me. It was for somebody really famous and really rich, but I just loved the way it sounded.

And I was like, well, you know what? I love to speak in a world where I can actually afford that. Why not? Let's manifest that. In Lucid Dreams, you talk what? I love to speak in a world where I can actually afford that. Why not? Let's manifest that. In Lucid Dreams, you talk about just significant other leaving things behind. Yeah, that was a fun record with Masego. After a breakup.

Why do you think that topic is taboo? I don't really consider it taboo necessarily. But I think it's just like, it's just funny. Because for me, I was living with my ex for like a couple years, so she just had like a closet filled with clothes at my crib. And it had been like a year and a half since we were broken up so we were in the studio talking about different things. The guitarist and producer on that song, Freaky Rob, his girl left a flat screen at the house

that he had to use to watch Netflix. He was like, man, when is she going to take this flat screen? And you know, Masego also had a similar situation like that at his crib with the couch. So we were all just kinda using all of our different experiences, putting it into a song, and you know, just locking it in. It's different when it's closed though.

Yeah, did you clear, you cleared out the closet? Yeah, definitely cleared out the, yeah, yeah, cleared out the closet. Did you move out of the apartment, or you just cleared out the closet? Nah, I'm still at the crib, you know what I mean? Still at the crib, you know, there's definitely a certain interior design choices

I'm gonna switch up soon, but This is like real recent. Yeah, yeah Yeah, yeah The album is out right now. Make sure you pick it up and we appreciate you for joining us, man Thank you so much for having me man. It's a big opportunity. Thank you so much. It's Leon Thomas The album Mutt is out now and it's the Breakfast Club. Good morning. Morning everybody, it's DJ NVJ, Jess, Larry and Charlamagne the guy. We's the Breakfast Club. Good morning. Morning everybody it's DJ NVJ's Larry Charlamagne the guy we are the Breakfast Club. It's time to get up out of here Charlamagne you got a positive note? Yeah the positive note is simply this I swear because we were talking about this earlier about not being able to say no we were talking about a gorilla when the girl walked up to her asking her for money you know for her tuition.

Nothing has caused more problems for me in my life than my inability to say no or turn people down. Soft and empathetic nature cost you a lot. Remember that, and no is a complete sentence. Have a blessed day. Oh my God, now I like that. We're gonna drop a Queensborough for that, because this man is right. Hehehehehehe.

Breakfast club bitches! You don't finish or y'all done. I'm Bob Crawford, host of American History Hotline, a different type of podcast. You the listener, ask the questions. Did George Washington really cut down on charity? Did K and Marilyn Monroe having an affair? And I find the answers. I'm so glad you asked me this question.

This is such a ridiculous story. You can listen to American History Hotline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So what happened to Chappaquiddick? Well, it really depends on who you talk to. There are many versions of what happened in 1969 when a young Ted Kennedy drove a car into a pond. And left a woman behind to drown. Chappaquiddick is a story of a tragic death And left a woman behind to drown. Chappaquiddick is a story of a tragic death and how the Kennedy machine took control.

Every week, we go behind the headlines and beyond the drama of America's royal family. Listen to United States of Kennedy's on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the You Versus You podcast, we welcome Polo Molina, music manager to the stars. From Will.i.am and the Black Eyed Peas, Ty Dolla $ign, YG and Fergie. Here's a sneak peek.

Are you so hard on yourself? That's the way I was raised. And the people that were hard on me are not here no more. So I'm hard on myself. You know, make me cry. Listen to you versus you on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Just like great shoes, great books take you places.

Through unforgettable love stories and into conversations with characters you'll never forget. I think any good romance, it gives me this feeling of like butterflies. I'm Danielle Robay and this is Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club, the new podcast from Hello Sunshine and iHeart Podcasts, where we dive into the stories that shape us on the page and off.

Each week I'm joined by authors, celebs, book talk stars, and more for conversations that will make you laugh, cry, and add way too many books to your TBR pile. Listen to Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.