The Toast - S5 Ep32: Happy People Are Annoying with Josh Peck: Friday, March 18th, 2022

Episode Date: March 18, 2022

- Petition Launched to drop Kanye West as Coachella Headliner (Page Six) - Pete Davidson Backs out of Blue Origin Space Flight (NY Post) - Amy Schumer Says She Pitched For Ukrainian President Zelensky To Satellite Into The Oscars (Daily Mail) - Drunk Luann de Lesseps Kicked Out of Gay Piano Bar (Page Six) - TikTok is Rolling Out its Snapchat-Style Stories To More Users (The Verge) - Happy People are Annoying by Josh Peck: https://amzn.to/3N1LZ1z The Morning Toast with Claudia (@girlwithnojob) and Josh Peck (@shuapeck) Merch: https://shopmorningtoast.com/ The Morning Toast Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/themorningtoast Girl With No Job by Claudia Oshry: https://www.girlwithnojob.com/bookSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Welcome, no, oh my god, sorry. Good morning, Millennials. I'm so sorry. I've been doing the show by myself for five days and I'm short-circuiting. Good morning, Millennials. Welcome back to the Morning Toast. Happy Friday, as Rebecca Black would say. Hope everyone had a great week. I'm so excited for today's show because we are joined by someone who's been on my mind for the last week because I have been reading his memoir non-stop and it is really been a life changing week for me and I'm so do you feel weird sitting here like knowing how much I know about you I I prefer it yeah no okay I definitely went I not to make everything about me please but when I was doing podcasts like for my book I felt weird because I was like really personal in the book and you went like above and beyond sure so now you're doing interviews of course not everyone reads the

book and I've been watching some of your podcasts knowing some people didn't read the book. Yes. And it feels like uncomfortable because it's like a diary almost. Like you really go hard in this book. I didn't feel that raw and transparent when I was writing it.

But since I've sort of put it out into the world, I was like, oh God, I feel naked. Very exposing. And you know, I feel like a lot of toasters can probably relate to this. Like people who grew up with you and then in different iterations of our life, like you've always been woven in and out of our lives. Like in the Vine era, you were like a huge part of our lives. For those of us

who were invested in popular culture, which if you're listening to this podcast, you obviously were. Come on. And now with like all these TV shows and I just, I loved the book so much and we're going to do a whole segment on it. You are going to host with me. We're going to get your take on what's going on in the world. But I just I loved the book so much. And we're gonna do a whole segment on it. You are gonna host with me. We're gonna get your your take on what's going on in the world. But I just have to congratulate you. Like I loved it so much. And it was long. Not page wise, but your font was kind of small. So like I feel

like your book actually could have been double the amount of pages if your font was bigger. Is that better? If it was like the size of a Harry Potter book? So the thing is like I have this thing like I can't watch long movies and I can't read long books. I have no patience for it. But I enjoyed your book so much, even though I thought it was kind of long.

I'm honored. I know you are a Randy reader over there. I always see you on your IG stories. You've got your Kindle. Who reads on vacation? That's like the only place to read.

I guess, yeah. Where else? If you're going to read, you know, if you had to read a book, what are you gonna do? Read it when you're like babysitting your son or when you're on the beach? It's true. That's probably like the the proper environment. You know I'm like a man to the people. I think people are reading on the train and whatnot. Oh I guess yes yes. I don't have a commute

because I live right here. So I guess that's fair. Are you a big pop culture girly? Yeah I think so. I mean I like the things. And I'm married to a secret pop culture lover. My wife tries to front like she's above it. She loves the housewives. She loves her things. Do you pretend to hate it and then like watch over her shoulder? No, I'm down to clown. I... There was a time like in 2017-2018 where we had our Shaws of Sunset, Vanderpump Rules, like Jersey Shore. So good.

And it just felt like it really bonded us as a couple. It was the golden era of reality television, the Jersey Shore years more specifically. You know, I'm friends with Kirsten Doty from Vanderpump Rules. Oh my God, you are? Yeah. So am I. I literally love her.

She's as good as it gets. She's a unique individual. Isn't it just odd when you're around these people that you've watched? And it's odd to like talk about them and then like see them in social settings. It's like awkward. Yeah, it's and and also I'm like do I like what do I bring up to you? Do I bring up the show? Like you don't want to be a fan, but like you are. It's so I remember when I met like cuz I'm a diehard Howard Stern fan forever. And you don't know what schtick and what's and I think I've told this story before. So, when I was doing that show, grandfathered with

John Stamos, and I played his son. I wish I could teleport and tell chubby 13 year old Josh that one day I could pass. You would be akin to John Stamos. It would have made my bar mitzvah way better. That could have been your theme. What was your bar mitzvah theme? Rough. It was Broadway. Oh! Broadway! your theme yeah what was your bar mitzvah theme rough it was broadway broadway by the way that was my mom my mom forced that on me okay so we like years ago we did a whole patreon episode podcast about like bat mitzvahs in jewish culture and i have like trauma

with my bat mitzvah theme because i had absolutely no choice like it was just chosen for me by like the planner and all the adults involved my My mom was very into it. And I had so much shame associated with it. I don't even want to tell you what it was. Come on. Because for those who have never been or experienced bar mitzvah, themes need to be very specific. You agree. Broadway is extremely specific.

Most kids, the most popular ones are Josh's Candy Bar or baseball. Something the kid loves. And so mine, I don't even want to say like... But you can find out now at the $10 level of Patreon. Actually it's $7.99. Mine was colors. Which is just like big I guess I didn't realize at the time like it was a rainbow themed which I guess just meant I was like an ally in training because I didn't really do it on purpose and now I look back thinking it was very kismet since I consider myself a great ally of

the LGBTQ plus community yes but like it was it was like color me Claudia which I just isn't a theme that's just such a like 50s party planning like Jewish she lives on Long Island she's like I know what she'll love colors. Like just not a lot of thought there. Did you get bullied a lot in school? I did. For your weight. Yeah. Oh, yeah. But not for loving Broadway and being an actor.

I mean, the actor thing was kind of like the Broadway thing was sort of pushed on me because my mom was like such a musical theater person. And I was like sitcoms like Family Matters, Full House, and you know Adam Sandler movies. So, the acting thing was kind of cool. That you know they were like, oh we saw you in a toy commercial the other day. But for being overweight, yeah I mean it was instant. I mean it was almost like I would notice people would have like a knee-jerk reaction. Like I would see something flash in their eyes and be like here it comes.

Yeah. Like they could almost couldn't hold themselves back. Right right right. I think people tell me what you think. I think people have this like subconscious weird thing of like maybe if I shame him, he'll do something about it. I think when it comes to kids, and you talked a lot in the book about how like at a very young age you were like 290 pounds.. I think when it comes to kids, and you talked a lot in the book about how at a very young age, you were like 290 pounds. Yeah.

And I think when it comes to kids, adults are so nasty, but they really come at it with good intentions, like thinking they're being helpful. Like, maybe he doesn't know he's fat. But you obviously do. Yeah, I'm in the dog section of Macy's. It's called Husky's.

Okay. I can't get away from it. But I do have to say, I think you wrote about the fat experience, like, perfectly. Because unless you've really experienced it, like, you'll never forget the first time you heard someone call you fat, whether or not they meant for you to hear it or not. Like, I thought the way you wrote about it was so poignant. And as someone who's experienced it, like, I just loved it because you put it into words better than anyone ever could. I so appreciate that. And I was really careful and I made sure to like my wife was so helpful with that section because she just was like you have to walk this

fine line because things are better today. Yeah. And they should be. Yes. Well, you know, I mean, okay we're gonna dive in, but I had one question that I want to ask you which now seems like a good time to bring it up. When you talked about your weight loss, and I was really interested to open the book and find the magic secret to losing weight and there wasn't one it was just hard work which was really disappointing I know it's really upsetting incredibly upsetting don't buy the book it's useless but I found in the chapters where you

were talking about like your decision to lose weight I felt like you were defending that choice a lot because we like like in some way I think you felt writing about wanting to lose weight whether it was for your mental health your physical health was like offensive to some people and you were kind of defending that against the body positivity movement like you can't be body positive if you want to lose weight right did you did you do that intentionally well I just think I was walking these I'm just so naturally I'm constantly taking the piss out of myself it's just always been my defense mechanism.

Like, I'll make fun of myself first. Of course. And it also was, you know, it became this thing where it felt so damn public that if I didn't lean into it, it would look like I was avoiding it and scared of it. So I wanted to make sure that I truly am at 35, at least as much as I think over it. In a good way. Good, good, good. I mean, I've been this way since I was 19 right it sticks with you even if it doesn't physically stick with you totally but I did want to honor that thing which was like body positivity all these things that have happened over the last 20 years is so good and right and I do want to honor that because like I talk about growing up you tell me I would see other boys who were like 12, 13 and were overweight.

They'd whip their shirt off at the pool. Cannon balling. Live freely. And I'd be like, that's superhero. Yeah. I completely agree. I'm like, how are you not worried? Right.

How are you not self-conscious? And I'm like in a thermal and a t-shirt, like, you know, waddling in the three foot section. So I wanted to make sure that I like, I wanted to talk honestly about my experience while also like not being totally a jerk to myself because I know it could affect people and also tone deaf because we do live in like a new society that didn't exist when you were on Drake and Josh and you were yeah yeah there was no body positivity then no not at all yeah um okay so we're gonna do a whole segment on the book I have literally so many questions but before that let's dive into the fast five stories that you need to know

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office. Get $20 off your fertility test when you go to modernfertility.com slash toast modernfertility.com slash toast all right Josh let's dive in I would love to hear your takes when I asked you this morning like what you're particularly interested in in pop culture you said Pete Kanye is always you know something you could talk about always good and I'm sorry but we we every single day on this podcast we have talked about. It just keeps happening.

Yeah, there's something new. And I'm sorry, but like this is a show where we talk about what's going on in the world and what's going on in the world is that a lot of people

have signed a petition to drop Kanye West as the Coachella headliner. So his latest antics have prompted critics to call on Coachella to drop the rapper as one of the music festival's

2022 headlines. Under the alias Kim Pete, who that's who started, someone launched a Change.org petition saying that the organizers of Coachella should be ashamed of themselves for giving West any more of a platform to spew hatred towards his ex-wife Kim Kardashian and her new boyfriend Pete Davidson. Now, there have been 5,402 people who have signed this, which is not nothing, but it's not like a life-changing petition. I like how the page six is so dramatic, you know?

It's not a movement quite yet. I want to start a petition and just cancel Coachella. You know what? I completely agree. I don't like force fun. In the heat. I don't like these focaccia outfits. Agreed.

And you know what? The food trucks, they're never as good as they say they're going to be. The lines for the food, out of control. It's enough already. Have you been? I've never been as a silent protest. So you're canceling something you've never even been to. I, you know, growing up, because I moved to LA when I was 14.

So at that time, like Coachella was, and I hate to be that old guy, but like it just seemed cooler. It wasn't so Instagrammable. It wasn't so popular. Yeah. But they would still have like these incredible headliners every year right and now it's just become it it's it's bigger than the music it's not even about the music it's crazy right it's as someone who's been twice i can tell you it's and just i want to put myself in defense mode both times i was paid to be there or else i would never have gone good for you it was like okay i'm not gonna lie like i had preconceived

notions and the first time i went i was like this is amazing like it was it was like really fun but then the second time i was like i can't believe people do this for fun and people like spend money like i've been to have you been to stagecoach yes but my, I've not been, but my wife, they love stagecoach. It's a life changing weekend. You're a country queen and I'm here for it. If there's one thing you should know about me, it's like, I'm a honky tonk queen. Like you can find me on Broadway in Nashville at any time. That's so funny.

Cause you were the hardest core, like beautiful Jewish New Yorker I've ever met. It's a unique crossover. And like, I've, I've been listening to country's becoming cool now but like i was listening to like flyover states by jason aldean in the ninth grade like it's not it's not a front you know this is who i am do you feel a connection to the the message like of heartbreak like what is it no no and you know this because i've been with ben since i was 18 it's not really that i think i'm just like a, how do I put this? I value, no, I like good music. Okay. Okay. And I do find that in, you know, certain pop songs and

certain genres, I just don't feel like they're good. It's really as simple as that. And if you go to a country concert and you don't even like country music, but you can appreciate, you know, go to a country concert and you don't even like country music but you can appreciate you know good music good you know uh guitar playing it's like it's very it's to me it's just like a lot of talent in a country music band you know it's not like the click of a button which it does take a lot of talent i'm not you know dissing djs i'm just saying we love you dead mouse we do we're good with you diplo but it's like real musical talent in my opinion. I know and but isn't it fascinating I find in this with my wife's family too like if you're a country person and you get into a country person's car country is on and that's it. Yes. Like me you get in my car maybe it's hip-hop maybe it's

rock and roll like it depends. Yeah. You like country. That's you. The thing is I have I don't like to be put in a box and I feel as though you're putting me in a box right now. What did I do? Have it out. Let's do it. I do like country. But if I'm getting in the car, we're probably also going to listen to Taylor Swift. Kind of country adjacent.

I mean, I wish she was still country adjacent, but she is not. OK, fair enough. Yes, we'll be listening to country, but we'll also be listening to pop top 40 Ryan Seacrest, you know? Sure. I'm kind of a woman of the world. I support that, and I think that country is, yeah, I mean, there's something about, and like, I'll be, like, I'll listen to it, and my wife, I'll talk to my wife,

and I'll be like, who cares about this Coors Light and these trucks? Yeah, no, it's niche. But she's like, but you're listening to, like, you know, getting, like, Platinum Chains and Rolls Royces. Right. It's similar, but she's like, but you're listening to like, you know, getting like platinum chains and Rolls Royces. Right. Like, how is that different? It's similar, but different. Exactly.

I support it. By the way, I didn't know that your wife Paige was country girly and now I love her even more. I'm so happy to hear that. I can't believe like your wife is your wife. Like she's such a smoke show. She's a babe. She's a good looking girl. And she's just like what we like to call here at the Morning Toast, everything of the sort.

She's pretty outstanding because she's like, I find women are obsessed with my wife because she's very beautiful and she's cool. So cool. Which makes no sense. None whatsoever. Do you consider yourself a cool person? I mean, I think at 35 now, like I've graduated to a point where like I don't care anymore. That's such a freeing feeling, I imagine, because I'm still very much wrapped up in

the cool factor. Are you? Oh, 100%. You've never met someone more insecure in your life, but also like incredibly secure, you know? But is that the dichotomy of people like us? Yes, I think. Like I think I'm known a lot for my confidence.

And what you might not know is like, I would say 50 to 60% of the time that confidence is a facade. Wow, sure. I get that. Like in meeting your husband, I was like, I remember, obviously I knew of you and Ben and I would watch him on his Instagram stories.

And then I met him in person. I'm like, you're so tall. He's like, what, do you think I was some short Jew? And I was like, that's amazing. No, it's true. And I was like, that's amazing. No, it's true. And I was like, and he has this like swagger to him that you have as well. So to hear that you also like have that insecurity, I think. Beyond.

I think that's why you, you know, the people love you. Oh, Josh. Come on. Look. The people love you. You and Ben went to dinner last night. Ben got home and Ben was like, I've literally never been to a meal with someone who was asked to take more pictures in his life. He's like, people were asking for pictures on the street, in the restaurant, chasing

you down to your hotel. Ben said it was chaos. It was a nice night. And in the book, like you, like a lot of times, like you're very reticent to refer to yourself as a celebrity or someone who's famous. Even though like you have 12 million followers on instagram for a while you were the most followed person on vine you were in millions of homes you still are like you are a famous person and i just think it's time you admit that fine i'm gonna do it here first on the morning exclusive i josh peck as i'm famous

as frick you're famous as frick do it we don't curse here right It's the internet Famous as fuck Fuck shit bitch ass We don't want to get Demonetized We want to make Oh that's true That's true Yeah we want all the ads

All of them But yeah I mean Because like I think Especially being in comedy And what not Like I never I always want to take The air out of the balloon

You know what I mean Of course Bill Burr always talks about Like the only thing worse Than bombing on stage is not acknowledging your bombing. Oh, yeah. That's great. That's a great quote. And in moments where, like, I went through natural sort of ups and downs that every sort of journeyman actor who's not Tom Hardy goes through, like, it felt incumbent on me to be like, to call it out first, much like the Chubby thing.

You know, you're 100 percent right. And that makes a lot of sense yeah yeah um so are you uh for people we don't believe in cancel culture here but we are extremely upset with kanye's behavior while so many people are like eating it up thinking it's like funny it's abuse it's harassment and it's really fucking annoying and like i'm personally done with kanye um do you think that kanye should be uh canceled from coachella i don know. I don't know as much of the, like, I've seen it from a top view, so I'd really have to see all the exact exchanges to make, like, a definitive decision, because I never know. With people like Kanye and Kim and even, like, Pete to a certain extent, they're operating on such a level of, like, famous,

moving sort of culture and the way like like just they're turning all the knobs and the buttons it's beyond like typical celebrity it's like tastemaker trendsetter top oh one percent of famous people like I've been upset before reading articles and then the next day they'll be like and then they were at Disneyland right I'm like you know what I'm not getting on this ride anymore. You know what? You're so right. Like, because it's my whole life, like, we get so personally vested in these stories. Oh, yeah.

And, like, then people just move on. Yeah, and you just don't know what, like, they got into a small, like, Kardashian huddle about, and they were like, we're putting this out tomorrow. Oh, that I don't buy. No? That I don't buy. No. And I... Tell me.

I think that, like, so much of the rhetoric of the rhetoric around Kim and all this being a PR stunt, and every time Kim does something, it's like, oh, they're distracting from Jordan and Tristan. I hate that. Tell me. First of all, because one, it's Kim's life. So people are like, Kim started dating Pete to distract from the Travis Scott drama at Astroworld. You think Kim is making life decisions for herself, for her love life, for her family, who she's bringing around her kids, for PR? No, that's just not

true. And I think a lot of those people who are like, the devil works hard, but Chris works harder, a lot of that is rooted in misogyny. Why can't these six women just live their lives without it? Always, don't get me wrong, I think a lot of times they're being specific, not calculated, but meticulous about how they're perceived. But like, they're just six people trying to live their lives. And it's not always just like a PR movement. I just, I really hate when people genuinely think that. Good to know. I agree with you. And I got to say, every exchange I've ever had, like in a tertiary way with the Kardashians, everything I've ever heard has been beyond lovely. And they're all incredibly impressive. Tell me which Kardashians you've met.

Okay, so we met Kris at a party in Paris, and she couldn't have been lovelier, and she was wearing a dress to die for, and she looks great in person. Great, I love that. It's full support, and I saw Khloe Kardashian at a party, and I was too embarrassed to go up to her because I'm Josh from Drinking Josh. No, come on!

You're an icon living. Like you made it out of the child star whirlpool. You're more famous now than you were then. Like you should have went up. I know I should have. And randomly it was at Maria Menounos's birthday party. Hollywood is so weird. It's so odd. And I was like, I don't know even why I'm here, but I feel like I'll allow Chloe to live her life and hopefully just have a drink in her moment. Okay, well, speaking of Pete Davidson, second story of the day is that Pete Davidson

is now backing out of the Blue Origin space mission. Earlier in the week, we reported that he was going to be one of the passengers on Jeff Bezos' you know, this rich people thing, sending people to space. And so Pete Davidson, every rich person is trying to like one up like you know uh richard branson got the youngest guy so then pete davidson got the oldest guy in the world to ever go to space pete davidson is now not going i'm not sure why but they're now they're like rebooking his seat i don't know if he got charged

a change fee or anything but he's not going and i actually think there i could see a world in which you are asked to go to space. And I want to know if you would do it. Because you have so many followers that have you like live stream the whole thing, you know. I don't want to throw up on live TV. And I know there's no way with the G's and the amount of like, it just sounds terrible. I agree. And also, I mean, Bezos does seem like a fun hang.

Like I would love, when he puts on that cowboy hat. It's over. I want to know what's going on in JB's mind. But all in all, I have no desire to leave this earth. I haven't even been to Tokyo yet. I want to see what's going on here. —Wise space. And I hear it costs quite a pretty penny. —Like a million bucks. —Oh well I think per pass... I don't know. Jackie once... We read somewhere that per

passenger cost maybe a quarter of a million dollars. I don't know though, but I just, do you think Bezos was going to pay for it or Pete Davidson? No, I don't think Davidson, I think this is an influencer trip. It's revolve in the sky. Yeah, exactly. Fashion Nova is sponsoring it. Totally. Yeah, I agree. He's not paying for it, but he's not going anymore. I mean, I like how he is full-time job is being on SNL. He's never on it. And now he's just gonna leave the planet. Like you have responsibilities down here. started dating Ariana Grande and because he I got in early it just you know and now I'm not sure whether he would remember me but but eating dinner or

lunch with him at a very fancy Italian spot in LA it you know I was like I know you cuz I grew up in New York like I'm like your kid from Staten Island right and it just was so he couldn't have been nicer and cooler and so now like sort of watching from afar I'm like wow it's crazy right and i also do you think about i you probably don't think about this because you're i feel like you're comfortable because so much of your life is with people like these huge celebrities but like i was thinking about like dating someone like kim kardashian you know is the dream yeah it's also kind of scary it's so scary like being intimate with the most beautiful woman in the world 100 and also like

here's what we don't think about right sk Skims you know worth billions. Billions. They're doing well. Very. But if you're a good dude you know you let her pick up the private jet two three times. Right. Every now and then you got to be like this one's on me. I know. And that's a two hundred thousand dollar hit. I know and like obviously all these people are so rich so it's like silly to even compare but like I think that the the gap in how much money Kim makes a year versus how much money Pete makes a year as like doing stand-up, he does some brand deals, he's Calvin Klein, and then obviously being on SNL, I think there's an enormous gap in their salaries. And I wonder how that affects the dynamic when

both people are arguably like still so rich, you know? I mean I guess it just depends what your baseline of sort of comfort and luxury is. Right. Are you flying commercial or are you flying private? Do you think if you got to that level, would you, like, because to me I go, listen, I've had the lay down on Delta One. It's lovely. Yeah, you know. I don't need better than that.

I agree. And by the way, you're a points guy, right? I'm a big points guy. Shout out, Brian. Shout out, Brian. I knew that about you. Well, I wasn't until I met Brian. And now I'm like such, I could find a way to fly literally from here to Philly in a

lay flat bed. Like, that's how obsessed I am. And yes, I agree. Like, once you really get to hack the system, like there is a way of flying commercial that's not even close to being private, but it's pretty good. Oh, yeah. But also Kim has her own plane now. She was just reported.

She bought her own plane. So she doesn't need to charter anymore. Gulfstream. It's like sickening. Kim Air, she's calling it. It's the biggest plane. I mean, it's not as big as Drake's, but it's like the biggest thing I've ever seen. Good for her.

Yeah. But the main, that's at least a million bucks a month. Oh, the hangar fees, the gas. You still have to pay all the staff. It's incredibly expensive. You know, we all have our challenges, guys. No, and that's what like people don't understand. Like being Kim Kardashian is not easy. No, I would never imagine that it's easy. No, me neither. And her superpower is ambition and business sense. And like, and I think people

sleep on that because they think like, oh, well, it's just, you know, it was born out of sex tape 500 years ago. Yeah, it's ridiculous. Like you could never do what she does. Never and actually on the last season of The Kardashians, she actually said her superpower is her calmness. Like she always remains calm even in like crazy scandal, family, anything. She always remains calm. And that was like such an interesting take because I would say her superpower is like being smart, being influential. But no, she attributed all that to her calmness she's the whole package gotta be more calm i need to be more calm i know but we're jewish so we're like genetically unable to be calm ever do you i'm i'm very reactionary like i get like my i can feel

my heart twist yes and i go oh this is bad i'm gonna need to eat something yeah of course me and ben were actually just every time in the last week Ben has said something, I'm like literally Josh said that in his book. I need Ben. Ben's not a huge reader, but I do want him to get him to read your book. You guys are so similar. And everything he was talking about how he had a hard day and he ordered so much Thai food. He's like this is gonna make me feel better. I'm like, well actually Josh said in his book that he used that as a coping mechanism. And I actually think Ben would love the book and I'm gonna get him to read it.

I have to tell you the cutest thing that your husband said about you yesterday which was, congrats on your book. I'm going to read it which will be

the second book I've read since I was 13. Second to my wife's book. You know that like the book was, it wasn't out yet but it was finished and we had like

bound copies in our home for months before and Ben read it like the week it came out just because like he didn't want to be like not supportive. It took him.

So if Ben texts you in about 11 years and says he finally read your book, just know it's totally normal and it's no slight to you. Bless him. We'll get him the audio book. By the way, I've heard amazing things about the audio book, by the way.

You narrate it yourself, right? I do, yeah. Wasn't that a journey? It's so, I'm like, when I'm listening to it back, I'm like, wow, I really have a lisp. You don't have a lisp Do you? I do a little bit

I have a bad I have an underbite Got it And I have no room For the tongue Got it Got it Got it

Have you ever thought about You know speech therapy? Oh no I did I went for years As a kid? As a kid But it's actually anatomical Right you can't fix it

So I have no room Well I could have my jaw broken Should I do that for a YouTube video? I mean for the views, for the schwa vlogs, I think maybe. Come on. And then I'd have to have braces for six months, which would be really cute. I would love that. That would actually be like an amazing series on YouTube. Like adults with adult braces is like a really tough thing to go through. They did an episode of it on Sex and the City, but it's something that is like not talked about.

Well, and then, I feel like all the adults have, all the adults I know have Invisalign now. Yes. And it's like, I'm like, I can see your bracket. I agree.

And then when they like take it out before eating, I have a friend who got married and like she finished her Invisalign and it looked amazing, but she refused to stop wearing them until the day of the wedding. Sure.

So everywhere we went, she was like, like slurp it out. It's so disgusting. Like you have to do that in the bathroom. Well, I will say the one, have you watched the Kanye doc on Netflix? I watched part one. So isn't that the most endearing part is his retainers? No, his retainers are the main character of the documentary. They're the best. And you know, he has an amazing teeth. He does have really great teeth. But then I didn't get to that part, but he gets into an accident or something and he has veneers now, right?

Yeah, he broke his jaw in an accident and then one of his biggest songs, Through the Wire, is him rapping while his jaw's wired shut. Oh, interesting. I didn't know that.

I do mean to finish a documentary, but I've just found myself so inundated with Kanye bullshittery in the last couple weeks. Totally. I'm like, I've hit my limit.

No, I get it. It's hard. It's hard. Yeah. Okay, I want to keep going's hard. It's hard. Yeah. Okay, I want to keep going because this next story is beyond funny. Please. And it's brought to you by GEM. Nearly 90% of Americans are nutrient deficient.

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Okay, now in the latest news of Hollywood being so beyond out of control and out of touch, Amy Schumer says she pitched the Ukrainian President Zelensky to satellite into the Oscars. Quote, we have so many eyes and ears on the show. So Amy Schumer, she revealed this. Like she brought it up herself. She revealed on the Drew Barrymore show that she pitched the Oscars producers on having President Zelensky satellite into the show. She said, I'm not afraid to go there, but it's not me producing the Oscars. So as we all know, Russia invaded Ukraine. The Zelensky,

the president of Ukraine, Zelensky, was an actor and a comedian before being elected head of state, which is just like a hilarious story. And she wanted to have him brought in. And she thought that was such a good idea, even though it didn't happen. She thought she should tell everyone on the Drew Barrymore show. And I just think this is peak Hollywood moronic behavior. Yeah. Like, really?

There's a fucking war going on. And the president, hold on, let me satellite into the Oscars where literally four people are watching now. Right. He satellites in and he gives this impassioned speech about what's going on in the Ukraine. He goes, and the winner is House of Gucci. And the winner is La La Land.

Yeah, like, it's pretty wild. It's pretty out of touch, like, to think that the Oscars are so... And by the way, I understand the sentiment, like, you know, it's a global platform, yada, yada, yada. But first of all nobody watches the Oscars anymore like every year we come on here

and report ratings from award shows and it's just less and less and less and less like when you compare the amount of people

who watch the Super Bowl to the amount of people who watch it's just like not even comparable and why do you think that is? I think that especially in the age of COVID

like when so many people were going through like real fucking problems like nobody wants to watch the Oscars like it's just peak hypocrisy like it's just it's so out of touch i think that with the inventive like streaming services we're just like all going digital like movies are still super relevant but they're just not what they were like do you remember for me i

always bring up this example and jackie has this running joke that i use like the same four examples and this is one of them please when i was in high school like Slumdog Millionaire was the biggest movie in the world. It won every Oscar and it was like such a big deal. Yes. And it was so a part of the Zeitgeist, the music, and then the Pussycat Dolls did Jai Ho. Like it was huge. Yeah. And I just can't remember in recent history where a movie has like affected culture that much. Right because we're just getting with so many streaming channels I heard some statistic that there's 490 TV shows in production currently. That is so crazy.

That's insane. That's insane. I mean it's good for people like you. No, look, thank God. Lord. But you know it's so true that we're and I think award shows about something subjective just doesn't make sense. I completely agree. Like I love a fan voted moment. I do. Yes. And I yeah I don't know I mean certainly like you know wouldn't mind an Academy Award. Of course. By the way, me neither. Don't take me out of the running.

I could see you as an EGOT. I could see me as an EGOT too. Yeah. An eclair, a glazed donut, an onion ring, and a... Tell me. A tum because after all that I'm gonna need a tum are you a tum scowl okay i wasn't a tum scowl until i met my husband and his family is like they're tum people i never had a tum in my life i don't think i'd ever really experienced heartburn or else i would have sought some sort of

relief sure and when i say my husband are tums people like they have costco size jugs in the console of their car like oh yeah everywhere and as I got older when I started getting hungover I started getting really bad heartburn because I drink a lot of like acidic margaritas like eastern standards yeah sweet drinks sweet lots of lemon delish and I think that that's what's giving me heartburn and I would wake up hungover with like this fire in my throat I'm like Ben what is this he's like sweetie this is heartburn yeah welcome and ever since I had my first Tums, like I cannot serve. Like when we go on tour, like we have this little kit of things that we absolutely must have. It's filled with Tums. Like I cannot live without Tums now.

It's like those like my car is like those TikToks of like say it like tell me you're Jewish without telling me you're Jewish. If you go into my car and you go in the panel, there's a bottle of Claritin and Tums. And it's just very like, oh allergies and heartburn. We know what tribe this kid's in. 100%. I love Tums. Like ever since I started, and by the way, they're atrocious to consume. No matter the flavor, the consistency is chalky. It's unique. It's like nothing I've ever tasted before. But how quickly it inter like it intervenes. It's great. It's unique. Yes. It's like nothing I've ever tasted before. But how quickly it intervenes and what's going on.

It's literal magic. I literally feel like I'm ingesting police officers going to break up a riot. A hundred percent. It's peace. Yeah. Okay, so Amy Schumer is out of touch. We already knew that. And a little real, oh yeah.

I feel like she just has been a mom for a while, right? She was a mom. I think she had like a lot of success really quickly, and then she took a couple years off. She got married. She had a baby, and I think like you know it just totally takes a toll. And now I think she's slowly coming back. She hasn't done a special in a while since before she had a baby. She's been very very low-key. Yes, I agree. And okay and it's her and Wanda Sykes. And, was it just the two of them?

Regina Hall? I think, yes. Let's see. For the Oscars? For the Oscars. I reported on it a little while ago, and I thought it was actually a great. How long until Addison Rae and the D'Amelios host the Oscars? Regina Hall and Wanda Sykes.

And honestly, I hope it's around the corner. That, yeah. I'm ready. That's a show I would watch. That I'm ready for. You, have you hosted, did you host the, or you've presented at People's Choice, Teen Choice? I've hosted Teen Choice. That's crazy.

And I got small resentment. I've never hosted the Kids Choice Awards. What? How is this possible? That's so bizarre. Why are they doing this to people? Do you have a Kids Choice Award? Yes. I got a couple. You do? I'm doing okay. Where do you put them? They're at my mom's house. Oh, that's so cute. I are they doing this to people? Do you have a kids choice award? Yeah. I got a couple.

You do? I'm doing okay. Where do you put them? They're at my mom's house. Oh, that's so cute. I'm dying. Okay. So, you said you're a housewife girly.

Luann de Lesseps was drunkenly kicked out of a piano gay bar over the week. So, she was at Townhouse in Manhattan, and allegedly she grabbed the mic and wouldn't stop. One source says that Luann was Luann thought she was doing her act she tried to sing her own song money can't buy you class but they didn't know it and um she was asked to leave she was wasted I think it's been people have been curious if she was um sober these last couple years she hasn't been on tv in over a year um her sobriety has been kind of murky since her arrest she was sober but then there was a lot of rumor she wasn't there was an intervention she was sober again then she started

drinking so we don't know where she landed but now we do she's drinking she's drinking and she's at a piano bar it's arguably one of the best places to be drunk agreed and it's a very common thing sonia morgan was also kicked out of a establishment in Philly that I went to. And I was like, this is the place. It was like so exciting. I'm like, this is the place where Sonia Morgan was kicked out. I think this is a rite of passage for New York housewives. New York housewives are all drunks. They're all messy. And I'm curious when you hear stories like this, does it really make you so grateful to be sober?

I'm incredible. I mean, yeah, I'm incredibly grateful to be sober. I mean, I literally out myself in this book. Beyond? About me sowing my wild oats and being a total cliche in Hollywood for four years. But when I was getting drunk and acting a fool, like I, there was no camera phones. I know.

No social media. I was thinking about that. What were the years, you said four years in the book where you were like very into drugs and alcohol, what year was that? Probably like just around when I turned 18 to 21. What years in the world was that? That was 20 or 2000. I got sober in 2008. So yeah, 2004 to 2008. Oh, so that's when I was in the fourth grade. So there was no, there were no, and I always think of that. Like I didn't have a camera phone in the fourth grade. Unless anyone was like throwing out their T-Mobile sidekick.

Right, right. But so, no, you're right. And you should actually, that's something to be really grateful for. Like, if you think of like some of the videos and pictures that could have surfaced of you in your darkest times. I mean, there's like one or two pictures of me just like holding a beer, like looking a little sauced, a little bit of a lush. I can't lie.

When I was reading the book, I did Google like looking for pictures. Cause were little bit of a lush i can't lie when i was reading the book i did google like looking for pictures because were you ever arrested no no okay well i thought maybe that was coming so i was like josh peck mugshot gotta see nothing came up and then i was like joshua peck mugshot still nothing came up good for you i like your googling skills i know i know but no it's something to be entirely grateful for that you went through that time not at the peak of like people celebrities having no privacy. Yeah, I just like and, you know, a lot of people will say to me, they're like, oh, I was an alcoholic when I was 20. Right.

Like it's not the same. It's not the same. Especially after hearing some of the stories that you write in the book about the incident where you were chased by the police. That was fucking crazy. Like crazy. the incident where you were chased by the police that was fucking crazy like a little bit crazy and the incident where like right after you left the house of someone you were picking up drugs from like that person was stabbed yeah it was it was hectic i got so lucky i i you know i've been sober for a long time and i did it through 12 step and i remember this guy said something to

me he was like this older guy in his 80s he's like you're here because of your mother's prayers he's like not you didn't do anything right here this is because because of you're one of the lucky ones and forces outside of you got you here and I'm like it's so right because you're right like I was a second away right and you and then at that time nothing scared you like nothing that happened could have scared you into stopping because I had been first of all I'd like been overweight my whole life so then I'm like suddenly in the body of all, I'd like been overweight my whole life. So then I'm like suddenly in the body of what I think is like a cool, normal, typical person. And I'm like, and cool, normal, typical people aren't, you know, people with a career at nine. Right. And there are

people who act a fool at 19 and, and aren't worried about like, you know, upsetting their parents. And they just, they go crazy. And that's what I did. I thought I was like, I remember I talk about in the book, like the first time I did drugs, it wasn't for the effects. It was because I was like, yeah, it was for a girl. And I was like, oh, this is so normal. Yeah. And I'd been dying to be normal. Cause every time I'd get invited out by, by a girl or to a party, I'd be like, I would love to, but I have to stay home and alphabetize my DVDs. I can't do it. Were you a, were you like a party kid in your teens or college years? Okay. So I'm still technically like living in my party era. I did grow up in the city, so it was like very fast. In a good way, not in a bad way. Like I didn't really see much,

like no one was, I went to a Jewish high school, so no one was like snorting lines. You know what I mean? Like we were fast, but not as fast as some of the other schools in the city um and I went to NYU which was not really it was four years of like honestly nothing I feel like I actually really missed out on a college experience I lived at home for the last three years because I dorms the first year I'm like I live in the city this is a waste of money and like I hate all these people and they hate me so like I basically just went to class and I had just met Ben. So like we, I spent all my years in college hanging out with Ben. Like it wasn't a crazy time in my life. And then once we got married, I was like ready to party. So that's the era I've been in since I got married.

Was there ever a thought of like, you know what, I'm going to go to the University of Kansas. No. That you weren't going to go to a city school. I grew up in a strict house and like like really, all my sisters went to NYU. We really, it wasn't that we weren't allowed. It was just like, what are you doing? Leaving the family? Like stay, you know?

My sister Jackie went upstate New York. That's like the furthest anyone went. A SUNY? Which was crazy. No, Colgate. Yeah, a liberal arts moment. Fun. Nice.

Love it. Okay, we've got one more story, right? I'm ready. Before we dive into the book. And it's specific for you because you're our social media star tiktok is rolling out snapchat style stories for more users so their experiment with snapchat style style stories is continuing with the company further rolling out the feature to a larger group of users today if you've gotten the feature you'll be greeted with a new banner when you launch the app encouraging you to create a story in a statement they said currently we're expanding a pilot test which provides creators

with additional formats to bring their creative ideas to life in the tiktok community so um this is something a lot of platforms twitter did it facebook did it i think they both have been shut down since then right instagram did it they stole it from its snapchat and it was enormously successful do you think that this will work you're on t TikTok. You're pretty big. I do well on TikTok. I think if anyone can figure out anything, it's TikTok. I agree. They just seem to know. And they have their finger on the pulse of the culture.

They know what the kids want. They listen to the kids. And they really can't be stopped. Yeah, I just think it. And if it was ever going to work, I mean, it's in a place like TikTok. You just weren't going to Twitter for stories ever. Ever. Also, we're not going to Facebook.

And I mean what about what do you think of the subscription model for Twitter? Like Twitter blue I think they call it? I mean it's not a bad idea, but I think anything Twitter tries to do at this point is just irrelevant. Like they are a dead company in the sense that like I don't think they're ever really gonna grow. I think there'll be an important part of like the social atmosphere because it's really the only platform where you can break news. So it has that.

And I think it's good for like a few things, but I don't think they'll ever really evolve past that. And I think once they acknowledge that and stop trying, like it'll be so much better for all of them. Which is why they should turn to like a subscription model for people like CNN who are like updating it every five minutes and say, well, it's going to cost you $100,000 a month to be on this platform. And they'll do it. Yes. I think the big platforms will do that I think that'd be a great revenue thing for them but I think for the user experience like we're as consumers like we're never gonna use Twitter differently yeah it's it is what it is Twitter spaces but they could try

all they want like no one's doing it it's not Twitter voices they try to copy like a clubhouse and green room like no one's buying what they're selling no we just want the two to we just want the breaking news. Yeah the 280 characters. Now we're at 280. Yeah. Cute. Okay so actually have you gotten the feature yet? I feel like you would be one of the first people. Should we check? Yeah let's see. I definitely didn't. I'm gonna feel really insecure if I didn't get it. Me too. This is gonna be really upsetting. It'll be a huge blow to your ego. Oh dear. No I didn't get it. No. Well would I know right away? Let's see. Yeah they say say a banner would pop up at the top.

This is unacceptable. Unacceptable? You've got to talk to your people. Wait. Nah, nothing. I got a monetization top brand request from Handheld Vacuums. Oh, wow. Did you do a sponsorship with them?

Things are looking up. Okay, well, speaking of sponsorships, that's a great way to segue into the next sponsor for today and your book, which is all about money, which I loved, by the way, the transparency. So money is brought to you by movement. Movement has expanded into blue light glasses that protect your eyes from screens, minimalist jewelry and more style essentials that don't break the bank. And they're all designed out of their California headquarters. So they're blue light glasses. I wear blue light glasses before bed because I scroll TikTok watching Josh's videos for 45 hours before I actually fall asleep.

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by Josh Peck, came out this week yes how has pub week been been for you good i think yeah i think so too i've been seeing you everywhere oh wow bfs pod gma like you're you're everywhere i was with the the view gals yesterday by the way what was that like i okay here's here's a a wonderful little you know a little bite of something a little tea i go and and i i forget And I'm talking, you know, to the host before. And I'm like looking at the chair and I'm sitting there and I'm like, oh, this swivels a lot. And one of the hosts goes like, you understand why Joy could fall?

Yeah, Joy fell the other day. And I said, that's incredible. I was like, I can't believe I am at the scene of the crime. Did they grill you? I feel like it's such a scary show to be on. Were you scared? They couldn't have been lovelier. Oh, good.

Okay. Yeah. I mean, they were so lovely and, and you're right. I was, I was certainly like intimidated just because it's the show. You're unique in the sense that you've been on the internet for so long and you've been killing it on the internet for so long and you've really never, I don't want to jinx you, but you've never been canceled. No, you don't have scandals. Knock wood, knock wood, knock wood, knock wood, knock wood. God forbid, God forbid, God forbid. I mean, yeah, I, I, I certainly like no more scandal than something I talked about in the book. Right. That's true. That's true. And, and like you,

I like feel so lucky that I met my wife 10, 11 years ago, almost like she was 20. I was 24. Right. So it's like, I've kind of been a family man for a long time. Yeah. Even before my son was born. And the truth of the matter is I love famous people like you and Ben. I love people who are- Famous? Thank you. No big deal. No, it's just that I'm a star. I like people in the industry where we can actually have real conversations.

But the people that are operating up there where you talk to them and you're like, are you a robot? Right. Is there anything here? Right. It doesn't super interest me. I just like working and hanging out with my family a hundred percent okay so speaking of family first thing that I thought about your book was I literally loved how you wrote about your mom oh and I loved that she was a thread throughout the whole book

in the sense that like you wanted success so bad and not for the reasons that I think typically most people want success fame money access Like you just really wanted to be able to take care of your mom and that was like a thread the whole time given how you grew up and just kind of sometimes unstable environments and like you really just wanted to grow up and be the one to protect your mom. And I just like I found myself tearing up so much every time you spoke about your mom. It was so lovely. Oh, thank you. And how is your mom?

My mom is the best. Shout out Barb. Shout out Barb. Barb is the best. She's 77. She's totally crushing it. We got on the phone after I finished dinner with your lovely husband yesterday. This is her. I just, and you know, she's been watching The View.

I go, she goes, so tell me. That's how she opens a call. So tell me. Was she like shepherding so much nachas with you on The View? The amount of nachas. I'm going to read you some of the texts I got from my mom yesterday because. I feel like you painted such an ad, like a picture of her. Like I literally, I don't even know what she looks like, but I know.

She was about, okay, here we go. Just saw The View. I'm beyond proud. I'm for clump party and overwhelmed. That is beyond funny. Okay. a clump, potsy, and overwhelmed. That is beyond funny. Okay, that's at 1.55 p.m. At 3.12 p.m.

Jeez, the outpouring is awesome, honey. You are so loved. Oh my God, I'm crying. And then I go, I write, thank you. And then three minutes later, did you get a New York slice or a bagel? It always comes back to food. Always comes back to food. That's super, like, you know, I have this really small part in this Christopher Nolan movie that I've

been working on. Ben told me about it. And I, you know, I'm so honored to be there. And it's like, you know, Matt Damon and all these crazy people. And, and, you know, it's like a proper big, like I've certainly done some indie movies where, where I was like, where's my dressing room? They're like, you're in it. I'm like we're outdoors. What's going on? And so my mom calls me and it's my first day. She goes, so, did they pick you up? And I go, yeah ma.

They picked me up. What kind of car? It's a Christopher Nolan movie. Like I got in a van and they drove me to set. They're like, they provide lunch? Yes, there was a lunch. Was it good? It was good.

Like that's all she wants to know. What's the spread? Right, of course. And were they nice to you? And are you getting home safe? Yes, totally. What I found to be so interesting, and I love celebrity memoir books.

They're like my favorite genre. But to be honest, like sometimes I do find myself like skipping through people's upbringing because like who fucking cares? But first of all, your upbringing is so interesting one because of the whole thing with your dad which we'll get into in a minute and two because you were a star and I had no idea that as like a 12 year old you were going to clubs in New York and doing stand-up yeah that's insane I didn't even know they had kid hour stand-up we so I started getting into

stand-up because I found there was this thing called Backstage Magazine, which was like the actor's magazine in New York. And in the back, there'd be classifieds. And I read at nine years old, it says, Sid Gold at Gold Star Entertainment. We rep comedians of all ages. Right. I said, well, I'm of all ages. So I go to meet him and he's like, you know, if you can get five minutes together, I can get you booked at a club. So I like steal jokes from my mom, make fun of kids at school, and suddenly I'm performing at Stand Up New York and Caroline's. Yeah. That's insane. Were you getting paid for that?

No. But like you were just doing it to warm up your craft. Have Sid believe in you. Yeah, I just wanted to get Sid some some eventual commission. Wow, that's so crazy. I never even heard of anyone doing stand-up that young. That's insane. And then I like wound up doing it like on the what I don't think I talked about this in the book. So, at the time the Rosie O'Donnell show was she

was like the first Ellen. Yeah, I remember. Biggest thing in the world. And my mom and I just loved it. And we get tickets, right? So, in every every episode, she would have someone from the crowd introduce her oh wow so my mother god bless barb we're standing there and she sees a guy running around with like a headset on she goes listen i got somebody for you 10 year old comedian done deal rosie's gonna love him like have him introduce her five minutes later we're in the green room yeah we we went from the

line to the green room that's gonna be the next book and and we're sitting there and my mom's like giving me the look like you know what to do right you don't just say what they tell you to say you say what you gotta this is your moment and i i wound up doing stand-up on her show that morning that's such a crazy story it was so and then i did did it on Conan O'Brien and like all these things and yeah it was it was my thing. I didn't know that. Yeah. Obviously I knew about The Amanda Show and The Drake and Josh Show at all, which

you do go into in depth. And at that point in your career when you started having like real traction with the kids show is when you were at your heaviest. Totally. And I just about lost my mind when you divulged like the day you were introduced to Spanx. Yeah. On set of Drake and Josh with the wardrobe manager because you were just like not feeling it, and she put this thing on you and you immediately were just smoothed out and like it gave you confidence. I yeah I reveal like this is 2002 so there's, there's no Spanx.

There's no Skims. Right. There's just, like, the Macy's shapewear department. Totally. Yeah. And so, shout out Chris. She was a wardrobe designer. She was, like, the loveliest woman.

Loved me. And kind of knew that, like, you know, I just was, I was playing kind of a thankless role at times. Yeah. You know, a little bit the butt of the joke at times. Punching bag. A little bit. And and so basically like my go-to look was a big t-shirt and sort of like a shirt over that open nice you know slimming. Yep yep yep.

Middle line. Yep. And so she was and she could just tell I would like pull at my clothes and I would sort of close myself off in scenes trying to cover. I don't even know if I was aware of it. So one day she says, come here. I want you to go in. I want you to put on this tank top.

And it's like flesh colored. Right. It's like this tuna. Like there's threads popping out because she manufactured it. Oh, that's so sweet. Yeah. And I go in and I'm like, this is way too small. And as I'm like putting it on, I'm like, this woman's a chubby chaser.

She's obviously trying to like embarrass me. Right. And's like now put the shirt on over it. And I was like oh my god. And I think I say in the book like I went from like having a muffin top to looking like an overly stuffed bag of bread. But it was smooth. And I was like I felt like I wore that from 297 pounds to 170 pounds. Wow. And then eventually I found Calvin Klein made one. Right, that you did.

I upgraded. But yeah, God bless her. Oh my God, I just love that. I was like, where is this story going? I'm like, Spanx. Spanx, male Spanx. And then you really talk about how you made the decision to lose the weight and how you kind of thought that would fix the decision to lose the weight and how you kind

of thought that would like fix your whole life like all your problems you've ever had would be solved and of course it wasn't and then that's how your food addiction turned into a drug addiction um and I just I was shook because I know you I know this Josh we met like what like a year ago I was I just can't picture you being that Josh, being chased by the police, picking up drugs in random, like it was just shocking. And it was shocking how honest you were. Yeah, I don't, I think in writing it, I didn't realize it. And now sort of the reaction, I'm like, wow, maybe I did, you know, it did divulge a little

much, but I, you know, it was certain moments. Like I tell these, you know, specific stories about losing weight and the drug stuff and then like career mishaps and and I was working with a buddy of mine who was sort of I knew I didn't want a ghostwriter but I needed an advisor help yeah someone I could bother and he said to me he's like if you don't get honest and really tell your story here like a people aren't gonna care and b you're not gonna help anyone right and so, yeah, I basically, like, I lost 110 pounds and suddenly I was the same head in a new body. Right, it didn't go away.

Yeah, I didn't have, like, I thought so many times in my life before I got comfortable with who I was, I imagined that if I get to this finish line, old Josh will just evaporate and, like, this new confident, like, man about town will arise. And and it was only an embrace. It's it's it's really some like chubby Jewish Spider-Man

shit. It's only an embracing my origin story that I really was sort of freed. I love that. That's gorgeous. And by the way, what I really loved is when you spoke about a lot of the Drake and Josh stuff, you spoke a lot about the money. Because there's this perception, I mean, when you spoke about a lot of the Drake and Josh stuff, you spoke a lot about the money. Yeah. Because there's this perception, I mean, when you think about how relevant that show was, how many millions of people have seen it, you would think that you're living in a palace, you have gold bars for breakfast,

like, you would think that, but you really broke down the money. You said, over the course of five years, because there aren't that many episodes on kids' TV shows, you made $450,000 over the course of five years, which, after taxes, after commissions for your agents and everyone, that netted to what? Like less than $100,000 a year? Yeah.

So we made $900,000 over five years. And then it netted to about $450,000 over five. So yeah, it was a little less than $100,000 a year. Right. Which isn't what you would expect for someone who's like so a part of the cultural zeitgeist. Hug me, brother. Like it's so a part of pop culture. Yeah. You would think like it's like it's so a part of pop culture yeah you would think like you were making bank but you weren't no and and is that did you think that too

like of course you were like hannah montana level like yeah it was a day and i'm sure i i doubt miley got rich from that show exactly she got rich from other stuff by the way and you don't get paid royalties in kids television shows which i didn't know until i read your book and is drake and josh on a streaming service right now probably probably on what like paramount plus yeah viacom right um so the show is still generating revenue and you're not no nothing ever like the day we were done it was done and yeah and it was like because i think like we hear about the kids from modern family or two and a a Half Men. Yeah. And, like, yeah, that's, you know, F you money for the rest of your life. And then, like, nowadays, we also have, like, the Stranger Things kids. Yeah.

Whether they get paid or not, I'm sure they're doing great. Also, when Stranger Things dropped on a Friday, when they woke up Monday, they had 10 million followers on social. A different life, yeah. And then, you know, now absurd amounts. So, like, suddenly they had this tangible thing that they could take with them monetize but we didn't have that necessarily so yeah like it you know obviously i don't want to talk about money it's gross but it felt important no it's beyond helpful by the way yeah explain and what's so interesting is like you were at nickelodeon at this time we're like now years later we all grew up with it it's kind of been

like this like source of scandal in a way amanda bines you got started on the amanda show before drake and josh do you talk to amanda at all like how is she doing we stand her so hard and we just want her out of her conservatorship i absolutely love her okay we do we'll like talk every year or two and she was the best then and she's like the best now i just i feel like amanda bines was robbed in so many ways because i think the industry whatever happened to her that led to her cracking down robbed us all and robbed her because i think she was on her way to being like the comedic actress of our generation beyond the movies that she did up until that point she's the man like oh my god it's genius it's she was the funniest actress and i just so want her to be

well my friend brandon j mclaren who he and i did the show turner and hooch at disney plus he was one of the stars of she's a man and i'm like we're never which character he played he was like on the he was on the soccer team and he was like one of channing's yeah guys yeah yeah one of the dudes and like he i'm like we never going to not talk about that. Yeah, of course. I want to know everything, because that movie is iconic. I mean, I use she's the man jargon in everyday life. Word, G-man.

My favorite's Brie. Like, literally. My favorite's Gouda. But okay, so the Amanda Bynes of it all. Right. Also, I have to ask, because for years I have, actually when our show used to be owned by Verizon, I got in so much trouble from legal for talking about Dan Schneider but there there have been

like so many especially in the age of TikTok like the feet there is a lot of weirdness as it pertains to Dan Schneider and I can't lie I was gooped and gagged seeing his name in your book I want to know what you think of the Dan Schneider of it all I mean I obviously I've certainly seen seen that stuff just it being around in the public. But, you know, my experience with him was he was my boss, you know? And he was certainly like, I mean, at that time, what is sort of you can't deny is that he had the magic sauce of Nickelodeon. I mean, he was behind Keenan and Kel and all that. Everything. Amanda Show, Drake and Josh.

Yeah. And so he was like, I know what I'm doing. And there's no question that I know what I'm doing. And so, you know, we weren't, we weren't that close. It just was like, he was my boss. And I kind of like, and I was going through so much of my own stuff at that time that I think I was like, if I, you know, I just was sort of so self-focused. Okay. Yeah. Okay. So you didn't see anything nefarious?

No. Okay. But then there's the Drake of it all, which I really don't want to get into because if you read the book, and I feel like a lot of the press you've been doing everyone wants to know about Drake, Drake, Drake. But if you read the book, like it's not that deep. Like you guys started working together and then after the show some people you know Kenan and Kel they went on as a comedy duo. You guys decided to go your separate ways. But did Kenan and Kel go on as a comedy duo? Not really. But, like, you and Drake didn't. Right.

And you didn't keep in touch. And you got married ten years later. And you didn't invite him to your wedding. Because, like, would you invite your co-worker from ten years ago to your wedding? No. And then he went crazy. And now he's in jail or whatever. Like, it ain't that deep.

Like, you didn't invite him to your wedding. Not because there was some big beef. Because you had a small wedding. And you hadn't spoken to the man in ten years. I, you know, again, I was going through such a weird random existence during that time and like and like so i'm like deeply insecure being overweight on this show and like and also but like why how am i crying with two loaves of bread under my arm that i'm eating like i'm this is the dream like i wanted this i got us out of new y York like we're not broke

anymore right you did it and it wasn't like enough it wasn't enough yeah and then and then I lose the weight and I'm dealing with this weirdness which is like some most people were very happy for me but now I'm getting hate for losing weight right right right you can't win and I'm like well talk to my cardiologist what do you right right I did. I did what I did. Like I'm no longer on blood pressure meds. Can we talk about your dad? Please. And okay. So crazy story, by the way, about your dad, how you're, you never met him.

No, never. You knew he existed. And like, I think now you probably like know his name and maybe what he looks like, but he has passed on. Yes. And the book is very eerily dedicated for EAD. Are those your dad's initials? They're not my dad's initials, but more importantly, they're not my mother's initials.

Yeah, right. And I've heard about that from her. Who the fuck is this? This is a lovely, very special family friend who helped, my mom's best friend who helped raise me. Got it. And she sadly passed away and it felt like, sort of like, and she, to be quite honest, she passed away at the time where I was kind of like, you know, acting a fool.

So I felt like I never quite was able to give her the, her due, you know. And so it felt like a loving tribute. Oh my God, I have chills. I love that. Okay. I thought maybe it was like some sneaky message. It's like who your dad is. To my dad?

I'm going to dedicate this thing I worked so hard on to this effing guy. Well, so the dad thing was so crazy. And what I thought was so interesting is like you said it really affected you as an actor. Like in roles where you would have to like talk to your dad, you felt weird because you'd never spoken to a dad before. Totally. And I thought that was interesting. And then I was like dying because you and the book came out before the book was sent to the publisher before this news was released you are now in How I Met Your Father

yes and a lot of people think you might be the father and it's just to me I was like laughing so hard because I'm like this whole dad complex you had and then you ended up on a show How I Met Your Father where you might be the father I don't know yeah I mean and now I'm I'm very much at the dad age like and you are a dad. I am a dad. I'll see like, you know, you get these things called breakdowns for auditions. And it'll be like, you know, the part is 30 to 40, you know, a typical looking guy. And now it says, and he's a dad to an eight-year-old. I'm like, that's impossible.

Maybe it is. So, yes, it's weird. Yeah, I never met my pops. It certainly had this sort of big effect on me. But in so many ways I didn't realize. And then in having my own kid it like really allowed me to sort of like close that bad feedback loop. And you never reached out to any of his siblings. You said in the book that you did that. I mean not siblings kids. Any of your siblings. You said in the book you did that on purpose purpose like you know you could reach out to them but you don't want to blow up their entire world like hey i'm here welcome you know um i you know the truth is

is yes he had a whole other family and he was in his 60s when he hooked up with my mom so it's like he you know my brothers and sisters are in their 50s and so yes that is certainly a thing where I was like I had done so much work on it and he was gone at this point that I'm like I don't want to blow up their image that they have of their dad right he was obviously great to them I mean that's incredibly magnanimous of you like not everyone aren't you curious I I'm not so curious but my a buddy of mine brought this up my friend Brian Koppelman who had me on his pod and it was an interesting insight he's like do you ever think though that you also hold secrets that might help them right and I was like what do you mean he's like that his kids might in the back of their head go you know sometimes dad would come home smelling a perfume right or like sometimes dad

would have this like lost look in his eye and I'd wonder what he was thinking. And like if I showed up and I was like that lost look was Josh from Drake and Josh. I mean, it's not enough that like they have this other sibling, but it's you. Like it's crazy. It's so odd. Well, so have you ever done 23andMe? I have. Yes.

They might find you that way. I'm in the register? You're in the registry. Yeah. Wow. Did you not think about that no when i was reading the book i'm like did this bitch do 23 and me i gotta go literally i'm like i'm having to melt that no that would be amazing all 23 and me told me was i was like

99.1 ashkenazi okay by the way so like in like i grew up in and i still like very much socialized in like a really jewish community here in new y. And one of my best friend's dads was like 98.9% and people were freaking out. Like that was the highest they'd see 98.9% Ashkenazi Jewish. So I do it and I'm 99.6. Wow. And I'm like one up in Kenny Ashendorf. I'm like, Kenny, I'm the new queen. Mazel.

Wait, then Ben does it. 100% Ashkenazi Jewishish isn't that crazy i just can't believe that like a his great great great great didn't have like a flame yeah you know it's shocking with a polish girl or like somebody like she's a goddess yeah some beautiful she's a goddess okay so now let's talk about your transition into being an influencer content creator whatever you want to call it yeah i was shook first all, because when you were talking about the first time you ever made money on a brand deal and you were talking about Badoo, like I've been influencing for so long.

Like I have Badoo stories. I got paid 25 grand from Badoo. Like I was shook reading that. Like just the parallels. I'm sure it was a similar time. Like it was so funny, like a real throwback. So I love that. Yeah.

And I didn't realize like at the peak of your career with like the Vine, not peak of your career, peak of the Vine career, we were the most followed person on the platform. These brand deals were just coming in left, right, and center before it all came to a halt. And now even after, I didn't realize what a big part of your like digital career college talks were. You get paid for that? —Oh yeah. —A lot?

—Nice. —Wow! —Not bad. — not bad i'm shook would you do that duh i mean i think i'm like too like disgusting to speak at a college like i cannot believe that i've done some halels you'd crush i love a halel good bagel spread i love do they fly you first class for the college talks they basically will they'll give you a fee and then like they'll say like and this you know and then you have like a stipend, a part of it and you know, fly yourself, put yourself up wherever. That's why you're a points guy. I always go nice on the plane and I go simple on the hotel. I think that's a really good philosophy. I'm a Marriott

courtyard guy. Are you a Marriott Bonvoy member? Of course. Of course. The app is so good. I'm dying for titanium. No, I know. I'm a few nights away from reaching my next level. And it's so helpful with Tor because I have so many hotel rooms. I can't wait. Shout out Marriott. Shout out Marriott. Speaking of your digital career, I found it very interesting that you were incredibly specific and upfront about how much money you made on TV.

But then when it came to the money you were making on social, you were a little more tight lipped. And I think that's because you're making a lot of money on social. Can you explain your decision? Well, I, yeah, I, I think, like, I, I think I say at one point, like, it, it, there came a point where I was making seven figures from YouTube a month. Not from YouTube, no, no, not a month. Oh. No, over, like, a year, I could, I was making over seven figures with, like like combined of brand deals and YouTube and speaking engagements. But yeah, I was able to, yeah. And at that point it's just like, you're playing with house money.

Like it just makes no sense. Cause it's, you know, in comparison, it's just like, you're, we're the lucky ones. A hundred percent. That I was like, it's not important that I like put some weird flex. Yeah. But I was curious. I'm not going to lie. I'm nosy.

We're friends. Yeah. No, I guess I could have just texted you like, how much did you get paid for that brand deal? Yeah. Yeah, but I was curious. I'm not going to lie. I'm nosy. We're friends. Yeah, no, I guess I could have just texted you like how much did you get paid for that brand deal? Yeah. Okay, keep going. I thought that was really interesting

at the end of your chapter on sobriety and like your journey to going to meetings was this little disclaimer you had because Alcoholics Anonymous is of course anonymous and in some way

like does it contradict the anonymity of it all by writing about it in the book? I thought it was totally fine. I know of course you probably changed all those people's names. Like I thought it was fine. I'm curious if people since the book came out a few days ago if you've had any sort of backlash to you writing about it. I haven't and you're right like how could I tell in an honest way my experience while honoring the anonymity of 12-step? And so I do mention it, but

it's not a lot. And I basically, yeah, there's certainly there were ways where I could have omitted it completely, but I feel like I maybe wouldn't have been able to tell the whole story. So I feel like and that's why I did do the disclaimer because reality is like in no way am I a representative or an ambassador for any 12-step. It's just something that worked for me. And I have that quote in the Steve-O book quote in the book about what Steve-O said, which is like, whenever someone puts on weight, no one blames the gym. Right.

Right? They just assume they stop going. Right. So I think it's important because it's a day-to-time thing that, like I say, that I'm sober today. Hopefully, I will be for the rest of my life. And I got sober this way, but there are other ways. Do you still go to meetings? I do. Do you go when you're in New York or you stay in LA? I, I'm only been here two days, but if I'm traveling somewhere, I'll totally look up. It's a great way to like, just plug into people that are like me. And yeah.

Speaking of the Steve-O quote, what I also found really interesting in the book was how many quotes you had, whether it was like things people in your life have told you that, that stuck with you. Um, famous quotes by like famous doctors. Now I wanted to know if you research those quotes or you have them all memorized. Well, I also, I had a podcast, I have my podcast male models now, but for 120 episodes, I did the curious podcast. So I had a lot of great stuff from people i was fascinated by and i sort of mined that and then but then also yeah i i'm a quote guy i love a good quote and then also i would look up some stuff and you know yeah i found the quotes to be like extremely powerful i literally if you look at this book i have so many things underlined ready oh boy i love it look at you no i was i really okay what an honor i't know who you said, who said this?

Was it Lisa Lampanelli? Oh, that's a great, that was on my podcast. I don't know. About the popcorn trick? No, the reason why people are funny is usually not funny at all. I don't know if that, that's a great quote, but I don't know where I heard that. Where were you heard it from? Okay.

Also, I loved when you talked about TV being your best friend. Yes. And I resonated so hard with this. Like throughout my life, television has been my best friend, my babysitter, my teacher, and most importantly, my escape. I left it on to feel like someone was there. I fell asleep to it. So the room never got dark.

If you knew like how much I've been doing that since I was a kid, mostly because I'm afraid of the dark. Like when Ben's gone, I sleep with the TV on. I sleep with all the lights on. Like my electricity bill is crazy because I'm petrified absolutely petrified of the dark I just I love that and I was like oh my god this is in my brain wait let me keep going hold on while you look I'll tell you that now do my wife my wife and I have recently purchased a home mazel tov thank you so much and I am a city kid I write up in

apartments we live in an apartment currently and I am so terrified that now if there's a sound in the house it it's gonna be incumbent on me to go investigate. I could never live in a house. So many sounds. I remember this was years ago. Paige's mom, my wife's mom was she's like you know your father's out of town, and I've been hearing a lot of sounds around the house. Like there've been people walking around like I'm just feeling a little nervous. Like would you guys mind staying over the night right i'd love for a man to be in the house tonight and i was and i go we'll call a man it's like i'm not that guy and i was like geez when a man is

required i am now of the age yeah you have to come to terms with that my god speaking of page i have two more questions for you speaking of page i was kind of waiting in the book for you to talk about like your guys's meet cute but from from a lot of the press I've seen you do this week and just like overall consensus from the book, it's my understanding that Paige is extremely private. She, I wouldn't say extremely, but she's, she's a healthy amount of private. Right. And it's, it's just something I love about her because she, she so knows who she married and she in no way ever tries to, I mean, she censors me in the way a wife should censor which is like shut up stupid but she's just like I'm happy to be along you know for the ride

and and in certain instances like join you with with things but you know she she's a private person yeah and I do love that about her and me too and we also made the call early on because I was just being a total like proud dad and I loved posting photos of my kid. Yes. And, you know, the Internet loves it. Yes. Doesn't hurt the views. Right.

But, you know, around two-ish, we were like, he's got a face now. You know, I wanted to honor his anonymity. So I don't post them anymore. We were just talking about that earlier on the podcast because I come from a family now. We have two kids in our family and we don't share on social media. It's like from day one, it's just like a general rule of thumb. And I think like once you've seen the internet, good and bad, like I think a lot of people would come to that decision. And I totally respect that decision.

Yeah, I just think like if I want to give him the choice of anonymity because I think that's a right and privacy. And if at a certain age when he's old enough to be like, Dad, I want to be in something you do, great. Great, but he can't make that decision right now. Totally. The last thing I want to talk to you about

is this concept in your book of apostles, which is such a non-Jewish thing. I was like, what the fuck? Same. But I loved that concept. I feel like I have

something similar in my life. I refer to it as Malach Hashem, like an angel of God. People who just bring you from one place to another. And I feel like you had a similar thing with apostles, just people in your life who have bring you from one place to another. And I feel like you had a similar thing with

Apostles. Just people in your life who have told you really really hard truths. And I'm curious how as a Jew from New York, you can't... I didn't even know what the fuck an Apostle was until I read it in your book. I had to google it. Like how did the fuck did you know that? And how did you come to that theory? Well, I tell the story about I was doing this movie called The Wackness with Ben Kingsley. And he's my favorite actor. He's like the Michael Jordan to me of acting. And I remember on the last day of filming, I just felt compelled.

I was 20. I was not sober. And I needed a father figure. And I'm like, and I remember I said to him, I was like, Sir Ben, because he's a knight, you call him Sir Ben. I said, do you have any advice? And he looked at me and I wanted the secret. I was like, how do I become a movie star? And he was like, find your apostles. And I was like, I didn't

learn about that in Hebrew school. And you know, I've learned that an apostle is someone who tells you... they're willing to hurt your feelings to tell you something that's gonna be good for you, that will better you i always say if if your reaction to something is my reaction to an apostle telling me something is always um screw you i'm the worst you're probably right but it's too late right fine i'll do it right and throughout my life i've had people in my life who were willing to hurt my feelings knowing that it was going to be the best thing for you yeah but yeah i didn't know i mean i'd heard of apostles i knew that you know the virgin mary and joseph was a carpenter yeah i knew that

you know or like he maybe he would maybe was jesus a carpenter and then joseph was the joseph is who's joseph mary's the mom. Jesus is the son. God is allegedly the father. Word up. We needed more A back in the day. I'm married to a Catholic. Right. You should know better. I am a total mess and I'm ashamed. You should know better. Shout out. Love Catholics. Love it all.

Love it all. Okay. The book is incredible. It's so well written. I giggled so... Like actually laughed out loud so many times. It's incredibly well written. Itiggled so like actually laughed out loud so many times it's incredibly well written it's very funny while also touching on some of the darker moments in life

I highly recommend it it's available now it just came out Mazel Tov thank you thank you for coming on the show thanks for kiki-ing

with us talking about pop culture everyone pick up a copy of Happy People Are Annoying by Josh Peck oh no Happy People Are Annoying yeah

not Happy People Are The Worst Happy People Are Annoying by Josh Peck. Josh, thank you for being here. Boobie, love you, thank you. Love you, everyone, thank you so much for a great week of episodes. We'll see you back on Monday with Jackie.

She's joining us remotely, and we have a great week of co-hosts coming up. Thank you so much for listening to The Morning Toast, the millennial morning show where we deliver the fast-track stories that you need to know every Monday through Friday on YouTube. So if you're watching this on YouTube, please feel free to give this video a thumbs up.

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Stay safe, and we'll see you on Monday. Bye.