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Speaker 1: Welcome to Reality the King. It's me Carlos King, the

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Speaker 1: King of Reality TV and one of the most sought

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Speaker 1: after executive producers in reality television with over ten years

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Speaker 1: of production experience. Twice a week on Reality with the King,

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Speaker 1: we'll sit down with my friends across the entertainment industry,

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Speaker 1: recap our favorite reality shows and revisit unforgettable moments that

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Speaker 1: we are still talking and tweeting about. Ladies, Gelamen and

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Speaker 1: Day cause you know, we gotta be all inclusive, right.

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Speaker 1: I am here with my Libra brother, my sister, my friend,

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Speaker 1: my love icon, legendary baby Acto Okay in the number

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Speaker 1: one movie out right now on Netflix, starring with Academy

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Speaker 1: Award winners and nominees Glenn Close, Monique and for Day

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Speaker 1: and my best says give it up for the One

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Speaker 1: the only no last name needed baby, Miss Lauren.

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Speaker 2: Hello, it's so good to see you. I miss you.

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Speaker 2: Do you really? I really do miss you too?

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Speaker 1: No, you are I feel like we all started together.

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Speaker 2: Yes we did.

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Speaker 1: And what I want to say to you is I

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Speaker 1: am very proud of you. Thank you and the reason

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Speaker 1: why I'm proud of you. And we'll get to the

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Speaker 1: episode later I'm proud of you because you had a

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Speaker 1: dream and you never allowed it to waiver. What you

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Speaker 1: are doing right now in this space with Lee Daniels. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: it's something that I know through our personal conversations that

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Speaker 1: you always wanted to do and the fact that you

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Speaker 1: are living out your wildest dreams. I just want to

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Speaker 1: say to you on the record, in front of the world.

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Speaker 1: I know firsthand the sacrifices you've made. I know firsthand

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Speaker 1: how and we'll get into this too, how you've had

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Speaker 1: some stressful, depressing moments in your life, right, yes, and

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Speaker 1: you are faith based human and God is the reason

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Speaker 1: why you were able to go through it, flow through

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Speaker 1: it and come.

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Speaker 2: Out of it unscathed. So I just want to say,

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Speaker 2: ron of applause, say talk This ain't easy, yea. And

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Speaker 2: I have to say it was a dream or wasn't

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Speaker 2: an idea that I didn't think would ever come to

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Speaker 2: fruition are come to pass? Right? And how I even

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Speaker 2: ended up, how we even got a chance to meet

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Speaker 2: you know, it's because I abandoned the side of me

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Speaker 2: that belonged to the arts, the side of me that

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Speaker 2: belonged to the acting world, the singing world, the dance world,

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Speaker 2: all around arts. I abandoned that and I became a

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Speaker 2: hairstylist and it was through my gift of being a hairstylist,

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Speaker 2: which is also artistry, that led me to us meeting.

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Speaker 2: But I have to say that it you know, it

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Speaker 2: was nothing. I never thought that I would be where

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Speaker 2: I am, and yes it has. I have had some

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Speaker 2: extremely dark days. Because the more you know, the more

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Speaker 2: you weigh. The more you learn, the more you weigh,

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Speaker 2: the more things weigh you down. The more the truth

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Speaker 2: about society, the you know, the truth about this game,

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Speaker 2: this industry, it will weigh you down. So when I say,

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Speaker 2: the more you know and the more you learn, the

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Speaker 2: more you weigh. But I wouldn't change any of it

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Speaker 2: for the for the world. What I would do is

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Speaker 2: is if I had if I had an idea and

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Speaker 2: someone gave me a heads up, I would have better prepared.

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Speaker 2: I would have better prepared. But it's it's been it's

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Speaker 2: been a journey so far, and I'm I'm still just

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Speaker 2: scratching the surface, but it has definitely been a journey.

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Speaker 1: Well, let's let's get from the Let's start in the beginning.

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Speaker 1: Because you are a preacher's kid, no, I.

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Speaker 2: Thought you I grew up in church. You grew up ink,

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Speaker 2: But I grew up in church. Yes, I did talk

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Speaker 2: to me about being a black being in church. Did

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Speaker 2: and you also were in sports. I played football when

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Speaker 2: I was little. You know, that was during that discovery

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Speaker 2: era of my parents, right when they were discovering on

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Speaker 2: how to be the best parent, when they saw the

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Speaker 2: infeminite ways in which I had, you know, trying to

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Speaker 2: turn me into that American dream child or that American

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Speaker 2: little boy. So they put me in football. And because

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Speaker 2: I just kind of have an innate passion to excel

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Speaker 2: and be the best at anything that I do, I

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Speaker 2: was really good at it. I did not want to

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Speaker 2: do it. I would have much rather been on the

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Speaker 2: sidelines with the cheerleaders or you know, all the other

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Speaker 2: drill team girls and stuff like that. But I did

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Speaker 2: really well at playing football. I played football for the

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Speaker 2: College Park Rams. Shout out to the College Park Rams.

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Speaker 2: I was a linebacker, and the most fascinating thing was

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Speaker 2: seeing looking at all the boys. And I was really good.

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Speaker 2: I was so good and so much so that the

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Speaker 2: following season, the coach reached out to my father and

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Speaker 2: was like, you know, we want them back as the quarterback,

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Speaker 2: and I was like, I'm not doing that again. I

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Speaker 2: don't give damn how good I was. I'm not doing

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Speaker 2: that again. Now, y'all tried, and I'm still around here

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Speaker 2: walking with a broken wrist, and I'm still walking around

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Speaker 2: here walking with a twist and a broken hill and

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Speaker 2: I'm just comfortable with that. So the football trick didn't work,

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Speaker 2: so I'm not gonna go do it again. How old

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Speaker 2: were you when you did the football thing?

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Speaker 1: Oh?

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Speaker 2: I don't remember. I was so little. I was young.

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Speaker 2: I was really young. I don't remember. I really don't.

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Speaker 2: When did you know that you were gay? As far

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Speaker 2: as I can remember, I knew that boys. Men just

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Speaker 2: did something for me, you know what I mean? Yeah,

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Speaker 2: But when I learned what love looks like that moment,

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Speaker 2: it had nothing to do with a man or a woman.

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Speaker 2: Love showed me everything that I needed to know to

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Speaker 2: get through life. So while my attractions and my desire

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Speaker 2: for men still to this day is what I want

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Speaker 2: because I am gay, but what I what I hope

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Speaker 2: and I pray, especially for my straight community, is that

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Speaker 2: they learn that love has nothing to do with gender.

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Speaker 2: It has absolutely nothing to do with gender. Yes you

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Speaker 2: will be same gender loving, but that doesn't mean that

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Speaker 2: that type of love is different from heterosexual love, you

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Speaker 2: know what I mean? And I learned that when I

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Speaker 2: found my love for black women, when I learned that

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Speaker 2: we were inseparable, when I was became enamored by their beauty,

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Speaker 2: which led me to getting into the beauty industry. It's

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Speaker 2: an indescribable feeling, you know. When I learned that black

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Speaker 2: women were my safe haven, starting with my mother, my sister, grandmother,

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Speaker 2: you name it, and just wanting to be around them,

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Speaker 2: wanting to protect them, and that they protected my emotions

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Speaker 2: and what I thought of myself, which I later discovered

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Speaker 2: they were. Black women were the first allies for me.

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Speaker 2: That's when I knew that love really has nothing to

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Speaker 2: do with gender. And I want people to learn that.

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Speaker 1: Did your mother as a kid protect you from people

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Speaker 1: who may have thought you were different?

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Speaker 2: Or were you bullied or teased or like what? I never?

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Speaker 2: I have to be honest, I don't. I never got bullied.

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Speaker 2: I don't think that I can remember. I never. I

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Speaker 2: never got bullied. Yeah, people would, I've heard every slur

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Speaker 2: you can think of, you know, but I never got bullied.

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Speaker 2: I never got like beat up or I never got

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Speaker 2: that because I was one that would fight and I

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Speaker 2: knew how to thank God for my big family that

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Speaker 2: I have, But I didn't. I didn't have that problem.

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Speaker 2: I have to be honest with you, I did not

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Speaker 2: have that problem. While I know it exists and I

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Speaker 2: know it was treacherous back in the day, it was

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Speaker 2: terrible some some of some of the girls, some of

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Speaker 2: us didn't make it out because of it. So and

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Speaker 2: we still have a lot of work to do to

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Speaker 2: erradical hate that. But that was not my experience. I

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Speaker 2: think most of my trauma came from emotional and mental trauma.

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Speaker 2: You know. That actually didn't happen until later again, when

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Speaker 2: I became an aware individual. Because growing up, I always

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Speaker 2: had my talents that would be celebrated. I was always

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Speaker 2: a good dancer. I was always the one that would

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Speaker 2: dance at the school pep rallies or you know, I

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Speaker 2: was always the one in high school I could do hair,

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Speaker 2: so all the girls, they all lived for me. I

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Speaker 2: had the baddest girls. That was always my closest friends.

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Speaker 2: So the boys always loved me because they knew I

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Speaker 2: came with the girls. I didn't have that I didn't have.

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Speaker 2: I didn't have a problem, and you know, it didn't

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Speaker 2: come until later when I had this idea that I

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Speaker 2: could take my rightful place and shape in society as

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Speaker 2: I am, that I would later be shunned out of

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Speaker 2: places because it wasn't fully accepted. And that's when I'm like, wait,

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Speaker 2: what is this? You know? And then I had to

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Speaker 2: go do some studying and I had to do some

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Speaker 2: unlearning and some relearning or learn or whatever that I

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Speaker 2: discovered where our discontents were in our culture as black people.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I want to get into that because I first

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Speaker 1: met you on the set of The Real Housewives of

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Speaker 1: Atlanta in two thousand and eight. Right, I was living

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Speaker 1: in New York City at the time, and you and

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Speaker 1: I don't think we ever talked about this. So in

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Speaker 1: New York City there were these this is like before

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Speaker 1: social media. Yeah, there were these pictures floating around on

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Speaker 1: blogs of you and Derek Jy in Atlanta Brain Hills.

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Speaker 1: And this is two thousand and eight, and it was

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Speaker 1: a whole thing about like black men wearing heels like

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Speaker 1: this phenomenon. Right, So here I am leaving New York City,

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Speaker 1: I go to Atlanta, to do this reality show right.

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Speaker 2: And I get to Chara's home and I see you.

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Speaker 1: And all black and the highest of the high heels

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Speaker 1: and me growing up in Detroit, Michigan, same experience as yours.

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Speaker 1: I wasn't, you know, physically bullied or anything like that.

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Speaker 1: Obviously lived in New York City. Everybody New York City

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Speaker 1: is different, but really never really saw gay black men

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Speaker 1: in hells. And I remember looking at you, like, that's

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Speaker 1: the guy whose pictures are floating all around these blogs,

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Speaker 1: and you were so this is the funny thing about it.

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Speaker 2: I'm like, he is the most beautiful, confident man I

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Speaker 2: have ever seen. And we are around again.

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Speaker 1: This is two thousand and eight, the upper Eeschenol, black

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Speaker 1: folks in Atlanta, white people, too, straight people, and you

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Speaker 1: appeared to fit in like a glove. When did you

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Speaker 1: decide for yourself when you talk about the space you

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Speaker 1: wanted to be in this world? When did that decision

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Speaker 1: come to being like I'm gonna make up and some

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Speaker 1: heels and it's gonna be me.

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Speaker 2: You know what. It's weird because it wasn't like a decision.

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Speaker 2: It wasn't like, Okay, this is the moment, this is

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Speaker 2: what I I have to credit all of it to

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Speaker 2: the beauty industry. I've been wearing heels or pumps or whatever,

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Speaker 2: thigh haaboots, you name it since probably what two thousand

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Speaker 2: and three, two thousand and four. Prior to that, I

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Speaker 2: graduated from high school in two thousand and one. I'm

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Speaker 2: not ashamed of my age. I graduated from high school

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Speaker 2: in two thousand and one. And even in high school,

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Speaker 2: while I didn't wear heels, I wore like cowboy boots,

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Speaker 2: but I would have like the heel of them extended.

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Speaker 2: I would like, oh, ask some more, the padding of

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Speaker 2: the soul, make the soul thicker, because I wanted it higher,

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Speaker 2: because it did something so satisfying for me. It wasn't

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Speaker 2: for attention, it was it was it was internal. It

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Speaker 2: was what I felt, you know. And I was probably

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Speaker 2: the only person in high school walking around like that.

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Speaker 2: And I mean I was wearing hair back then. By

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Speaker 2: the time y'all met me, I had slightly toned it

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Speaker 2: down because prior y'all was walking around with booty shorts.

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Speaker 2: What ass out the cowboy slash cowgirl boots? You yeah,

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Speaker 2: a juicy conture sweat suits with the timberlands, you know, yeah,

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Speaker 2: very very baby fat about it, very baby fat about it.

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Speaker 2: So by the time I could y'all met me a lot,

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Speaker 2: I had come out of that era and I had

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Speaker 2: gone into grown into like the Manolo Blonics and the

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Speaker 2: Captain Melandrinos of it all. The blouse says, you know.

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Speaker 2: So there was never this this moment, this defining moment

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Speaker 2: where I'm like, oh, I'm gonna wear makeup. It was

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Speaker 2: just what I felt. It felt good when I started

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Speaker 2: being I started in the salon as an assistant when

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Speaker 2: I was fifteen years old. I worked downtown at the salon,

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Speaker 2: and it just felt natural to go in, you know,

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Speaker 2: put a little dust of powder on my face. Didn't

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Speaker 2: know what the hell I was doing. It was a

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Speaker 2: disaster back then, but it felt I felt good about it,

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Speaker 2: and I was celebrated for it because I was good

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Speaker 2: at what I did. I was the best shampooor you know,

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Speaker 2: I was the best assistant. Everyone left with a smile

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Speaker 2: and felt good. So I was always celebrated just as

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Speaker 2: I was. And so as I got older and I

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Speaker 2: became my own, you know, became a hairstylist for myself,

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Speaker 2: and I got into doing hair shows, and I remember

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Speaker 2: in two thousand and five, which was a defining moment.

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Speaker 2: In two thousand and five, I did the Brono Brother

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Speaker 2: Hair Battle Royale. I was a rookie at the time.

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Speaker 2: I had been invited to compete because the person that

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Speaker 2: was over that reached out to me she had seen

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Speaker 2: me at the Monique's Hair Show movie premiere. I think

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Speaker 2: it was called Monique's Hair Show or the Hair Show

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Speaker 2: or some beauty shot premiere, some kind of movie premiere

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Speaker 2: center around hair and Monique was in it. And I

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Speaker 2: had gone and I had this Gion Franco Foray labels

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Speaker 2: Gion Franco Foray tennis skirt on with the matching boots

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Speaker 2: and the top. And I had a set of cards

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Speaker 2: that said that had my information on it and it

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Speaker 2: said the card said she she ostentatiously stylish and deliberately chic,

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Speaker 2: and it was a picture of my work on there.

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Speaker 2: And I got a phone call some week, maybe a

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Speaker 2: week or two later from Lord bless Us Soul Mami

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Speaker 2: bell Uh at the time, and she said, we saw

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Speaker 2: you at the at the at the Hair Show premiere,

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Speaker 2: and we want to invite you to compete. And the

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Speaker 2: prestigious Hair Battle Royale, you will be the first of

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Speaker 2: the youngest to ever do it. But the way she said,

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Speaker 2: the way you came to that premiere, we know you

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Speaker 2: were put on a show. And I went and Honey destroyed,

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Speaker 2: destroyed the hair battle. I will forever say that I won.

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Speaker 2: I will. I will tell you, I will to my

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Speaker 2: last day, I wist say I won. But they didn't

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Speaker 2: let me win because I came out there and I

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Speaker 2: had on some thigh high Gion Marco Gion Marco Lorenzi

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Speaker 2: boots and they were thigh hide and I had the

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Speaker 2: the high waist pants. It was over. Then I had

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Speaker 2: one of my girlfriends on the stage and she was

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Speaker 2: one of the girls Honey, and I mean the room

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Speaker 2: went ballistic. They had never and mind you, Brunn a

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Speaker 2: brother at the time, and they still aren't assuming the

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Speaker 2: very religious hair company they were. They're very faith based

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Speaker 2: and at that time, what I was walking around representing

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Speaker 2: and presenting was not acceptable. And that was one of

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Speaker 2: the first times that I felt denied because of who

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Speaker 2: I was. And so I will forever say that I

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Speaker 2: won that battle. However, they just didn't give it to me.

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Speaker 2: And that's okay because later they made their wrong right.

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Speaker 2: They've reached out to me several times to come and

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Speaker 2: host and excuse me to come and judge the hair battles,

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Speaker 2: and they've had to pay me triple what I would

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Speaker 2: have won. So delay is not denial, but that going back,

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Speaker 2: that was one of the first times that I ever

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Speaker 2: felt like I was shunned because of how I chose

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Speaker 2: to show up, you know. So I can't say that

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Speaker 2: there is a defiance any moment. It's just I just

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Speaker 2: walked into and honored and honored my destiny and my journey,

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Speaker 2: and that just so happened to come with makeup. It

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Speaker 2: just so happened to come with the heels. It just

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Speaker 2: don't happened to come with the blouse or skirt, you know.

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Speaker 2: And here we are, decades later, and I still extract

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Speaker 2: from that person that I was then, not so much

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Speaker 2: as now because I like being a little more comfortable now.

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Speaker 2: I'm not trying to walk around with you know, A

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Speaker 2: excuse this term, but it is what it is. It's

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Speaker 2: called a gaff. A gaf is like a little thing that,

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Speaker 2: you know, keep you tucked and right in place, so

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Speaker 2: you ain't riding here bulging all over the place. I

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Speaker 2: don't want to walk around all that stuff on no more.

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Speaker 2: I don't feel like my feet hurting no more. I

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Speaker 2: don't feel like none of it no more. So I

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Speaker 2: want to do it if it colls for that AKA,

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Speaker 2: if I'm working, yes, you know, yeah, Okay.

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Speaker 1: So the thing is is, back then, when I came

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Speaker 1: to Atlanta in two thousand and eight, I was.

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Speaker 2: Impressed and.

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Speaker 1: So like enamored with Atlanta in the social scene. You know,

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Speaker 1: Atlanta now is different, you know, I think it's very different.

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Speaker 1: In two thousand and eight, I felt like baby Atlanta

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Speaker 1: was the place to be. Talk to me about because

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Speaker 1: me and Takara spoke about New York City in the

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Speaker 1: very amazing decade of two thousand through twenty ten, and

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Speaker 1: now New York at the same anymore.

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Speaker 2: Talk me through what that era was like in Atlanta.

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Speaker 1: I just I just remember these beautiful, rich, wealthy, successful

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Speaker 1: black people who were inter mingling with white society on

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Speaker 1: this same level. And you fit like a glove. You

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Speaker 1: are not a sore thumb. You know, we were following

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Speaker 1: these housewives, right, but you had something What was it

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Speaker 1: about Atlanta at that time where it was like this

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Speaker 1: is like nothing we've ever seen.

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Speaker 2: I'm gonna tell you what makes Atlanta so magical, and

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Speaker 2: it has nothing to do with us, but it has

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Speaker 2: everything to do with our civil rights heroes and ancestors.

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Speaker 2: When you look at where black people at large has

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Speaker 2: been able to do become doctors, become lawyers, become CEOs,

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Speaker 2: become music executives, become film directors, you name it, it

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Speaker 2: is because of the work of our civil rights heroes,

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Speaker 2: and the civil rights era started in Atlanta, Georgia. This

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Speaker 2: is the birthplace of the civil rights movement. By way

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Speaker 2: of doctor King, by way of Bayard Rustin, who was

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Speaker 2: an openly black gay man. They worked with their white

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Speaker 2: counterparts to create change. They work with each other, whether

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Speaker 2: they are straight, and I think what we are living

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Speaker 2: right now is their wildest dream and I don't think

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Speaker 2: people even realize that. That is what makes Atlanta so magical,

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Speaker 2: the fact that you can walk around and you can

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Speaker 2: take inventory of the people that are in this amazing city.

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Speaker 2: Some are black and gay, extremely successful, living on the

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Speaker 2: same street as the governor, building homes around the corner

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Speaker 2: from the Governor. You see black women living the same

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Speaker 2: way their white counterparts, you know, live, and black men

342
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Speaker 2: doing their things. That is what the dream was and

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Speaker 2: it got started right here. And I think that is

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Speaker 2: what people. That is what you see, that is what

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Speaker 2: you get. We have our own type of love language

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Speaker 2: here in Atlanta. We say what we want when we

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Speaker 2: get ready, and we're unbothered by how someone feels about it.

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Speaker 2: Because again, when Doctor King, when Bayard, when Andy Young,

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Speaker 2: when John Lewis, when those people spoke and they spoke

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Speaker 2: the truth, they didn't care what nobody thought. They spoke

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Speaker 2: and did and said what needed to be said and

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Speaker 2: what needed to be done. And that is what makes

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Speaker 2: it magical. That is what you felt in two thousand

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Speaker 2: and eight when you came here.

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Speaker 1: When Bravo came to do this reality show. Did you

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Speaker 1: think it would be the big phenomena it is today?

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Speaker 2: Hell no, I didn't know.

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Speaker 3: No.

359
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Speaker 2: First of all, none of us knew. None of us

360
00:24:02,840 --> 00:24:08,359
Speaker 2: knew what was happening. Schara and I were friends. Schara

361
00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:11,000
Speaker 2: reached out to me one day and she said, you know,

362
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Speaker 2: I always have to talk like I can't help it. No,

363
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Speaker 2: I love you. Something that happens, I just I love her.

364
00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:19,800
Speaker 2: You mock the girls and out to me. Now, mind you.

365
00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:23,720
Speaker 2: She might not have even been around anybody. But because

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Speaker 2: SCHARAA and Scharay, she always is going to make sure

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Speaker 2: no one hears her. She probably wasn't even around anybody,

368
00:24:32,840 --> 00:24:38,760
Speaker 2: but about imagining that. The conversation, if I can visualize her,

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Speaker 2: when she called me, it was this, hey, so uh ah,

370
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Speaker 2: they're doing the show real you have seen Real Housewives

371
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Speaker 2: of Orange County. So yeah, so they're trying to do

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Speaker 2: something like that here. They want like me needed kim

373
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Speaker 2: uh at lista, so they I gotta have it, want

374
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Speaker 2: to have people around me. I was thinking you could

375
00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:07,960
Speaker 2: come on there with me and you know, maybe you

376
00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:13,600
Speaker 2: could do my hair something like that. I said, okay, I.

377
00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:17,639
Speaker 3: Said, okay, that was good if you not straight personally,

378
00:25:18,040 --> 00:25:19,680
Speaker 3: you note that he nailed it.

379
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Speaker 2: Continue So I'm like, okay, I didn't think nothing of it.

380
00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:25,280
Speaker 2: I'm like, okay, so let me do your hair on

381
00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:27,480
Speaker 2: the show. They're gonna record you. Were you her regular

382
00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:30,879
Speaker 2: hairstylist at that time, I was not. We were just

383
00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:34,840
Speaker 2: good friends. I Charia and I met. I used to

384
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Speaker 2: shop in her store that she had here called Bella

385
00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:42,160
Speaker 2: Azul and it was a really nice boutique, high end boutique,

386
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Speaker 2: and she sold she had the stuff in there. Honey.

387
00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:48,359
Speaker 2: She had the things, Chloe. I mean, she had the

388
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Speaker 2: stuff in there. And I would go in there and

389
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Speaker 2: I because you know, I had coins. I was dating

390
00:25:52,560 --> 00:25:54,679
Speaker 2: somebody that had coins back then. So I would go

391
00:25:54,680 --> 00:25:57,399
Speaker 2: in there. I would baby, I would drop bags. And

392
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Speaker 2: I didn't learn until later she thought that I was

393
00:26:02,760 --> 00:26:06,400
Speaker 2: a stylist, that I was shopping for somebody until one

394
00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:09,520
Speaker 2: day I asked for a dressing room and she and

395
00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:14,120
Speaker 2: she said, are you about drine his own? I said yeah,

396
00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:21,960
Speaker 2: she said, oh shit, okay. So that's that is what's

397
00:26:22,320 --> 00:26:27,760
Speaker 2: what sparked the magic and what became later a really good,

398
00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:31,920
Speaker 2: genuine friendship. And we started going out and hanging out.

399
00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:34,159
Speaker 2: We would go to Sweet Lounge all the time, and

400
00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:36,800
Speaker 2: Nini would call because she introduced me to Nini. This

401
00:26:36,840 --> 00:26:39,879
Speaker 2: is before Housewolives was even a thought. She would introduce

402
00:26:39,920 --> 00:26:43,840
Speaker 2: me to Nini. I would see Kim Zosiac and Niemas.

403
00:26:43,920 --> 00:26:46,320
Speaker 2: She would go on Nimas and shut the store completely down.

404
00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:49,720
Speaker 2: She was that, you know, Charai was that girl. The

405
00:26:49,760 --> 00:26:53,040
Speaker 2: girls were the girls, and it's no shape. The girls

406
00:26:53,119 --> 00:26:56,480
Speaker 2: were the girls. And you know that's how I I

407
00:26:56,560 --> 00:26:59,080
Speaker 2: That's how Shara and I became friends and then when

408
00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:02,040
Speaker 2: they reached out to her about the show, she asked

409
00:27:02,080 --> 00:27:04,480
Speaker 2: me to come on the show with her and do

410
00:27:04,560 --> 00:27:06,200
Speaker 2: her hair. I'm like, okay, yeah, cool, because she was like,

411
00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:09,720
Speaker 2: I need new hairstylus anyway, And so that's that's how

412
00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:13,439
Speaker 2: that happened. And you know, I didn't know what I

413
00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:15,680
Speaker 2: was doing. I don't think any of us knew what

414
00:27:15,720 --> 00:27:20,679
Speaker 2: we were doing, and unbeknownst to me, I became a

415
00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:26,960
Speaker 2: fan favorite. What I didn't know was the business side.

416
00:27:28,280 --> 00:27:32,520
Speaker 2: I didn't know the business. So what the first two

417
00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:35,000
Speaker 2: or maybe even three seasons, I don't know. I didn't

418
00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:36,560
Speaker 2: get paid a dime. I didn't know what the hell

419
00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:38,240
Speaker 2: was going. I didn't have an attorney, I didn't have

420
00:27:38,320 --> 00:27:42,320
Speaker 2: a manager. I didn't know. I didn't know anything, you know,

421
00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:46,760
Speaker 2: until I later discovered. I'm like, okay, wait a minute,

422
00:27:47,119 --> 00:27:49,480
Speaker 2: So this person on here they getting paid, and I

423
00:27:49,680 --> 00:27:52,640
Speaker 2: kind of heard around town what the people was getting paid.

424
00:27:52,680 --> 00:27:57,960
Speaker 3: I'm like, well, wait a minute, nah.

425
00:27:58,240 --> 00:28:03,840
Speaker 2: So anyway, that's how that happened. And yeah, now you

426
00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:07,639
Speaker 2: start getting paid season four, I think so, and then

427
00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:10,560
Speaker 2: that was pennies as well. Again, I didn't know any better.

428
00:28:10,720 --> 00:28:12,560
Speaker 2: Did you know how much we're getting paid season four.

429
00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:19,919
Speaker 2: Oh it m it was probably like an It was

430
00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:21,679
Speaker 2: probably like enough for a pair of shoes for me,

431
00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:25,160
Speaker 2: you know. And I think the reason why I didn't

432
00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:31,080
Speaker 2: trip at first is because I was an extremely successful

433
00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:35,959
Speaker 2: and well sought after hairstylist. So I mean, I was

434
00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:41,280
Speaker 2: clearing six figures back then as a hairstylist. So I'm

435
00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:43,360
Speaker 2: just like, okay, this is But then when it started

436
00:28:43,360 --> 00:28:47,640
Speaker 2: to affect my schedule at the salon and you know

437
00:28:47,680 --> 00:28:49,120
Speaker 2: all that kind of stuff, I'm like, I then, wait

438
00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:52,920
Speaker 2: a minute, now, now this is making most sense for Charae.

439
00:28:52,960 --> 00:28:55,360
Speaker 2: It's making a lot of sense for the Niinnes and

440
00:28:55,400 --> 00:28:58,320
Speaker 2: the the Shawn Snows and the Kim Zosi, but this

441
00:28:58,360 --> 00:29:01,120
Speaker 2: ain't really making that much sense for me, huh. You know.

442
00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:07,240
Speaker 2: So then that's when you know, I kind of sought

443
00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:10,680
Speaker 2: guidance and I got someone to kind of help me

444
00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:16,520
Speaker 2: with asking for some type of contractual agreement in exchange

445
00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:21,440
Speaker 2: for payment. And so I first just accepted what was

446
00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:23,600
Speaker 2: what was given to me, and then I later learned

447
00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:26,880
Speaker 2: that there were people also a part of the show

448
00:29:27,280 --> 00:29:30,440
Speaker 2: that were on my same level, what they classify as

449
00:29:30,520 --> 00:29:37,400
Speaker 2: B characters, that was getting significantly more than me. And

450
00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:42,440
Speaker 2: I did not understand that, but you know it it

451
00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:47,200
Speaker 2: it ended up turning out decent because because of the

452
00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:50,840
Speaker 2: fans and the people that appreciated me and liked me,

453
00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:56,040
Speaker 2: they you know, that led me to a spin off,

454
00:29:56,040 --> 00:29:59,760
Speaker 2: which was Fashion Queens, and and and Andy Cohen reached

455
00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:03,800
Speaker 2: out and offer me Fashion Queens, and so I felt

456
00:30:03,840 --> 00:30:07,160
Speaker 2: like I was somewhat vindicated there. I felt like I

457
00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:12,720
Speaker 2: was somewhat vindicated there, but it was still I still

458
00:30:12,760 --> 00:30:18,800
Speaker 2: developed a lot of I guess PTSD behind again because

459
00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:24,520
Speaker 2: I felt like because of who I was, and when

460
00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:31,640
Speaker 2: you take account to I guess society and where we

461
00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:34,040
Speaker 2: all fall on the human spectrum and you look at

462
00:30:34,040 --> 00:30:40,280
Speaker 2: a black queer, super effeminate gay man, you know, I

463
00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:44,320
Speaker 2: do think that there are a lot of questions as

464
00:30:44,320 --> 00:30:48,240
Speaker 2: to what the value is and why would we really

465
00:30:48,280 --> 00:30:50,600
Speaker 2: take care of this person and change this person's life

466
00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:54,800
Speaker 2: the way we're doing these straight people. That is what

467
00:30:54,880 --> 00:30:58,720
Speaker 2: I later discovered, And so that was very painful and

468
00:30:58,760 --> 00:31:01,480
Speaker 2: I ended up getting you know, I somewhat got out

469
00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:04,040
Speaker 2: of it, you know, mentally, but you know, it came

470
00:31:04,080 --> 00:31:06,520
Speaker 2: back a couple of times, and then you know, later

471
00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:09,680
Speaker 2: on with the show, when I decided to part ways

472
00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:14,320
Speaker 2: with the show. You know that that definitely played a

473
00:31:14,440 --> 00:31:19,960
Speaker 2: factor in it. And then a lot of the things

474
00:31:19,960 --> 00:31:21,920
Speaker 2: that I was seeing that I just did not like,

475
00:31:22,120 --> 00:31:24,560
Speaker 2: you know, in particular, and I will always mention this

476
00:31:25,680 --> 00:31:29,360
Speaker 2: when when Kenya's friend Brandon came on the show and

477
00:31:29,400 --> 00:31:34,000
Speaker 2: he had that big physical altercation. I did not appreciate

478
00:31:34,040 --> 00:31:37,280
Speaker 2: the way that that was handled. I did not appreciate it.

479
00:31:37,320 --> 00:31:39,920
Speaker 2: And one thing that I am absolutely in love with

480
00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:43,360
Speaker 2: and I am crazy about that is my community, the

481
00:31:43,400 --> 00:31:46,680
Speaker 2: black LGBTQ community, as well as the black community, the

482
00:31:46,720 --> 00:31:49,440
Speaker 2: black straight community. I did not like the way that

483
00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:52,000
Speaker 2: that was handled and I didn't appreciate it, and I

484
00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:56,640
Speaker 2: expressed that concern with the powers that be, and they

485
00:31:56,680 --> 00:32:01,480
Speaker 2: asked me several times to you know, come back, reconsider,

486
00:32:01,600 --> 00:32:05,440
Speaker 2: and I honestly I had mentally and spiritually moved on

487
00:32:05,760 --> 00:32:08,640
Speaker 2: and I just didn't see. I didn't see what other

488
00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:11,680
Speaker 2: purpose I could serve and what other purpose it could

489
00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:16,880
Speaker 2: serve me, and so and so I left. Yeah, and

490
00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:20,360
Speaker 2: I hated I hated it because I love you know,

491
00:32:20,520 --> 00:32:23,480
Speaker 2: Kenya's my sister, that's my big sister. I love Marlowe,

492
00:32:23,680 --> 00:32:26,720
Speaker 2: I love Charae is because of charade that people even

493
00:32:26,760 --> 00:32:30,600
Speaker 2: noticed me. She brought me on the show, but I

494
00:32:31,600 --> 00:32:35,320
Speaker 2: hated the direction that it was. It stopped being fun

495
00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:41,120
Speaker 2: and it stopped being funny for me, and I didn't appreciate.

496
00:32:40,520 --> 00:32:48,920
Speaker 1: That you made a comment publicly in the past when

497
00:32:49,240 --> 00:32:51,280
Speaker 1: some of the world, you know, you talk about the

498
00:32:51,320 --> 00:32:53,920
Speaker 1: branded thing. It's when Brandon Apollo got to the altercation.

499
00:32:54,640 --> 00:32:58,000
Speaker 1: Brandon had on risks of pajamas and there were these

500
00:32:58,800 --> 00:33:01,080
Speaker 1: tons of names being on his direction, you.

501
00:33:01,040 --> 00:33:05,560
Speaker 2: Know girl, you know your whatever, And a lot of.

502
00:33:05,480 --> 00:33:10,400
Speaker 1: The audience in the gay community felt like, wait, are

503
00:33:10,440 --> 00:33:14,040
Speaker 1: we witnessing some sort of.

504
00:33:15,480 --> 00:33:17,400
Speaker 2: Homophobia in this.

505
00:33:19,120 --> 00:33:23,520
Speaker 1: Are some of you women making fun of him and

506
00:33:23,640 --> 00:33:29,960
Speaker 1: his sexuality? And they just started questioning, like, y'all love

507
00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:32,800
Speaker 1: the gay boys, but are your allies for the gay boys?

508
00:33:32,840 --> 00:33:34,760
Speaker 1: It's a difference. A lot of people felt that way.

509
00:33:35,080 --> 00:33:37,400
Speaker 1: Did you feel that some of the cast members.

510
00:33:38,200 --> 00:33:38,880
Speaker 2: Were not.

511
00:33:40,320 --> 00:33:44,920
Speaker 1: The gay allies that they presented they presented themselves to be.

512
00:33:45,640 --> 00:33:49,120
Speaker 2: I'm gonna here's the thing. A lot of people don't

513
00:33:49,160 --> 00:33:54,239
Speaker 2: really know what it means to be an ally. I

514
00:33:54,280 --> 00:33:57,160
Speaker 2: don't think some of the cast members knew that they

515
00:33:57,240 --> 00:34:00,880
Speaker 2: weren't an ally or that they were you know. I

516
00:34:00,920 --> 00:34:03,840
Speaker 2: won't say that they are homophobic. That I won't say.

517
00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:08,040
Speaker 2: What I do know is, you know, we will perish

518
00:34:08,040 --> 00:34:11,160
Speaker 2: for the lack of knowledge. Right. What I do know

519
00:34:11,400 --> 00:34:13,319
Speaker 2: is that if you're not taught, and if you're not

520
00:34:13,560 --> 00:34:17,439
Speaker 2: educated on what to say, what not to say, what's

521
00:34:17,480 --> 00:34:21,160
Speaker 2: offensive and what's not offensive, you will offend. And I

522
00:34:21,200 --> 00:34:26,120
Speaker 2: think that is what happened in that moment. The gripe

523
00:34:26,120 --> 00:34:30,680
Speaker 2: that I have is that there wasn't a moment after

524
00:34:30,760 --> 00:34:33,880
Speaker 2: that to give it space to be a teachable moment

525
00:34:34,680 --> 00:34:38,960
Speaker 2: for anybody. And that was my biggest gripe. That was

526
00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:42,400
Speaker 2: my biggest gripe. I think what I want people to

527
00:34:42,480 --> 00:34:46,520
Speaker 2: understand about when you say, when people loosely say that

528
00:34:46,560 --> 00:34:50,960
Speaker 2: they're allies, it's not enough to be an ally without

529
00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:58,120
Speaker 2: being an accomplice, you know, be an agent of change.

530
00:34:58,719 --> 00:35:02,120
Speaker 2: Stand in on my have when you're in rooms and

531
00:35:02,160 --> 00:35:06,680
Speaker 2: when you're in spaces where we are still very undervalued,

532
00:35:07,080 --> 00:35:10,880
Speaker 2: where your value have might have might have increased in

533
00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:16,359
Speaker 2: that space, but we're we are still standing here very undervalue.

534
00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:22,080
Speaker 2: So if your value has appreciated, standing the gap, standing

535
00:35:22,120 --> 00:35:25,320
Speaker 2: the gap, and I think that is what was missing.

536
00:35:26,440 --> 00:35:26,839
Speaker 2: Got it?

537
00:35:27,320 --> 00:35:32,760
Speaker 1: When you go back to the show and you're just there.

538
00:35:32,920 --> 00:35:36,279
Speaker 1: Sar recalled you. You're like, okay, I'll do what I

539
00:35:36,280 --> 00:35:39,279
Speaker 1: gotta do whatever, and the show became a huge hit.

540
00:35:40,920 --> 00:35:41,480
Speaker 2: Were you.

541
00:35:42,920 --> 00:35:52,080
Speaker 1: Surprised by the instant success of Ninni Leeks, who said

542
00:35:52,080 --> 00:35:56,279
Speaker 1: on my podcast she always when she first entered this

543
00:35:56,440 --> 00:36:01,239
Speaker 1: space amongst these women, she felt she was the underdog

544
00:36:02,239 --> 00:36:05,839
Speaker 1: based on the socio economic status of some of her

545
00:36:06,280 --> 00:36:13,200
Speaker 1: becast Were you surprised and were some of the other

546
00:36:13,239 --> 00:36:18,840
Speaker 1: girls to you surprised that the breakout star became Niini Leaks?

547
00:36:19,960 --> 00:36:25,360
Speaker 2: No, I wasn't surprised. First of all, the underdogs always win, okay.

548
00:36:25,920 --> 00:36:28,360
Speaker 2: And let me say this, I've said this a million

549
00:36:28,400 --> 00:36:34,040
Speaker 2: times to people. When you go back to season one,

550
00:36:34,200 --> 00:36:36,000
Speaker 2: I don't know if it was episode one or not.

551
00:36:37,960 --> 00:36:44,840
Speaker 2: What started reality TV or or or what changed the

552
00:36:44,880 --> 00:36:48,280
Speaker 2: trajectory of reality TV and what we know of today.

553
00:36:49,000 --> 00:36:54,400
Speaker 2: It started from when Charie left Nini's name off the

554
00:36:54,520 --> 00:37:00,640
Speaker 2: list episode one. Bottom line, that is what fueled the drama.

555
00:37:01,120 --> 00:37:05,080
Speaker 2: That is when that thing called, oh we gotta have drama,

556
00:37:05,200 --> 00:37:09,640
Speaker 2: we gotta have a storyline. That was the defining moment.

557
00:37:10,280 --> 00:37:13,080
Speaker 2: And so here is the note when you talk about

558
00:37:13,080 --> 00:37:18,360
Speaker 2: the underdogs always win. It's not a bad thing always

559
00:37:18,840 --> 00:37:23,160
Speaker 2: to not have your name on the list. Because she

560
00:37:23,320 --> 00:37:29,760
Speaker 2: became the first icon out of that franchise. Now, many

561
00:37:29,840 --> 00:37:37,440
Speaker 2: became iconic afterwards. But Lonethi Aliks and it is no shade,

562
00:37:37,760 --> 00:37:43,320
Speaker 2: is iconic. In the reality TV show World, she is iconic.

563
00:37:44,880 --> 00:37:51,120
Speaker 2: Chara is legendary, she is iconic. Kenya Moore is legendary, iconic,

564
00:37:51,160 --> 00:37:56,000
Speaker 2: She's been an icon. Marlow Hampton household name, Candy's already

565
00:37:56,000 --> 00:38:00,040
Speaker 2: been legendary. But when you talk about the one that

566
00:38:00,120 --> 00:38:05,920
Speaker 2: they didn't see coming, it's Ninny Leaks and it's no shade. Now,

567
00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:13,280
Speaker 2: she by charade will always be the way. Yes, Marlowehampton

568
00:38:13,400 --> 00:38:18,680
Speaker 2: will always be a that can slay. Kenya Moore is

569
00:38:18,800 --> 00:38:23,200
Speaker 2: Kenya Moore. You can't get her. You're not gonna get her.

570
00:38:23,640 --> 00:38:30,040
Speaker 2: Forget about it. It's never happened. It's never happened. Nine

571
00:38:30,239 --> 00:38:33,920
Speaker 2: leeks did what needed to be done. And then I'm

572
00:38:33,960 --> 00:38:42,080
Speaker 2: always mother And you know that because you know what

573
00:38:42,320 --> 00:38:45,680
Speaker 2: the girl you you know, you know I was the

574
00:38:45,719 --> 00:38:48,359
Speaker 2: one behind the scenes giving girls say this girl, say

575
00:38:48,360 --> 00:38:52,680
Speaker 2: that did do this child. We are just getting started.

576
00:38:52,760 --> 00:39:07,520
Speaker 1: This is reality with the King, and I'm Carlos King,

577
00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:09,800
Speaker 1: Let's get back into the show.

578
00:39:11,960 --> 00:39:13,200
Speaker 2: Let's have a real conversation.

579
00:39:13,480 --> 00:39:16,480
Speaker 1: I know for a fact that some of these reads

580
00:39:16,560 --> 00:39:19,239
Speaker 1: you gave the girls, you gave the girls to read

581
00:39:19,280 --> 00:39:20,239
Speaker 1: to saying her interviews.

582
00:39:22,360 --> 00:39:26,120
Speaker 2: I know for a fact you coached some of these girls.

583
00:39:27,440 --> 00:39:28,480
Speaker 2: Come here, go ahead, and.

584
00:39:30,640 --> 00:39:32,400
Speaker 1: I remember, I'm not gonna say to day unless you

585
00:39:32,440 --> 00:39:38,239
Speaker 1: want to. Okay, let's see averrale bras were in the

586
00:39:38,280 --> 00:39:42,319
Speaker 1: same person. I remember being on set one day and

587
00:39:43,080 --> 00:39:47,560
Speaker 1: it was two housewives in the same room and you

588
00:39:47,640 --> 00:39:54,640
Speaker 1: looked at one and said, and she follows suit read

589
00:39:55,040 --> 00:39:58,480
Speaker 1: and we had a good seed. I you were the

590
00:39:58,520 --> 00:40:00,960
Speaker 1: one this this is public and she and she and

591
00:40:01,000 --> 00:40:04,640
Speaker 1: she admitted this one. You're the one who told Kenya

592
00:40:04,760 --> 00:40:08,040
Speaker 1: to get a problem. You taught that the fan that

593
00:40:08,160 --> 00:40:11,959
Speaker 1: Kenya has season five reunion. Not only did you tell

594
00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:15,160
Speaker 1: her to do that, to to do the fan, you

595
00:40:15,320 --> 00:40:18,080
Speaker 1: taught her how to pop it, pop it.

596
00:40:19,040 --> 00:40:21,640
Speaker 2: You taught her what was it like?

597
00:40:21,719 --> 00:40:23,600
Speaker 1: Did you have like less than you say, come over

598
00:40:23,880 --> 00:40:26,080
Speaker 1: and you like did you Was it really a teaching

599
00:40:26,239 --> 00:40:27,960
Speaker 1: moment with the fan?

600
00:40:31,680 --> 00:40:38,240
Speaker 2: You know? I I to think about the key ingredient

601
00:40:38,440 --> 00:40:42,280
Speaker 2: what we now know in all reality TV. You can't

602
00:40:42,280 --> 00:40:48,480
Speaker 2: have good reality TV without having shade, right and from

603
00:40:48,560 --> 00:40:53,719
Speaker 2: my world, when you talk about ballroom, when you talk

604
00:40:53,800 --> 00:41:03,319
Speaker 2: about the black LGBTQ community, we gave the recipe, We

605
00:41:03,440 --> 00:41:10,920
Speaker 2: created the recipe. We knew what popping a fan on

606
00:41:11,040 --> 00:41:17,040
Speaker 2: somebody meant, you know. We knew how to read without

607
00:41:17,280 --> 00:41:19,360
Speaker 2: using a lot of words. We knew how to read

608
00:41:19,440 --> 00:41:23,560
Speaker 2: and shade without saying a word. You know. And to

609
00:41:23,680 --> 00:41:27,080
Speaker 2: your point, when it's your girlfriend, when it is your sister,

610
00:41:28,400 --> 00:41:32,239
Speaker 2: you want them to be the best. And when you

611
00:41:32,280 --> 00:41:36,680
Speaker 2: talk about being competitive, because that's what it is, it's

612
00:41:36,680 --> 00:41:38,439
Speaker 2: all the compet It's a big competition on them shows.

613
00:41:38,440 --> 00:41:40,920
Speaker 2: It's a big competition. You want your girl and wind,

614
00:41:41,920 --> 00:41:45,399
Speaker 2: you want your best to win, honey, And so you

615
00:41:45,440 --> 00:41:48,520
Speaker 2: give them the tools, you give them the knowledge, and

616
00:41:48,560 --> 00:41:50,960
Speaker 2: you tell them to go. Now. I don't do that

617
00:41:51,080 --> 00:41:56,600
Speaker 2: anymore because it backfired. When I look at I said,

618
00:41:56,600 --> 00:42:01,920
Speaker 2: well that wait a minute. Back here, I'm telling you

619
00:42:01,960 --> 00:42:05,600
Speaker 2: do this and them holes want to give me five

620
00:42:05,640 --> 00:42:13,560
Speaker 2: dollars and y'all getting what? Oh? No, bye, No, ma'am.

621
00:42:13,800 --> 00:42:17,319
Speaker 1: Did you feel like sometimes these girls should have given

622
00:42:17,400 --> 00:42:19,000
Speaker 1: you something extra?

623
00:42:20,000 --> 00:42:22,160
Speaker 2: No, it's not that. No, I'm not going to put

624
00:42:22,160 --> 00:42:24,960
Speaker 2: that on them. Okay, I'm not gonna put that on them. No, no, no,

625
00:42:25,040 --> 00:42:28,000
Speaker 2: I wouldn't do that, no mm hmm.

626
00:42:29,120 --> 00:42:32,160
Speaker 1: But for people to know that you were an engine

627
00:42:32,200 --> 00:42:35,080
Speaker 1: because one they always say to people. And this is

628
00:42:35,160 --> 00:42:37,400
Speaker 1: just me being honest. When you look at the biggest

629
00:42:37,440 --> 00:42:40,800
Speaker 1: divas in the world, whether a singer, an actress, or

630
00:42:40,880 --> 00:42:45,000
Speaker 1: reality star, and this is no shade, and you stop

631
00:42:45,040 --> 00:42:48,799
Speaker 1: me if I'm wrong. Oftentimes there is a gay man

632
00:42:50,200 --> 00:42:57,520
Speaker 1: it is who is ushering them to greatness with the

633
00:42:57,560 --> 00:43:02,440
Speaker 1: confidence and the tool that they need in order to

634
00:43:02,480 --> 00:43:04,600
Speaker 1: become the stars that they are.

635
00:43:05,560 --> 00:43:12,800
Speaker 2: It's a very reciprocated relationship, right when you talk about

636
00:43:12,800 --> 00:43:15,120
Speaker 2: the divas of the world, when you talk about the

637
00:43:15,239 --> 00:43:18,719
Speaker 2: legendary girls, you know, whether the world knows them or

638
00:43:18,719 --> 00:43:23,160
Speaker 2: if they're just legendary to you, you give them your

639
00:43:23,280 --> 00:43:29,600
Speaker 2: all because going back to what I said, when you

640
00:43:29,640 --> 00:43:33,520
Speaker 2: talk about black women, they were some of our first allies.

641
00:43:34,320 --> 00:43:36,400
Speaker 2: They were some of the first ones to say we

642
00:43:36,560 --> 00:43:40,520
Speaker 2: see you. And so it's a give and it's a take.

643
00:43:41,560 --> 00:43:45,960
Speaker 2: It's a reciprocated relationship. And so I think we innately

644
00:43:46,120 --> 00:43:48,960
Speaker 2: want to see each other win and want to see

645
00:43:49,000 --> 00:43:51,920
Speaker 2: each other be the best versions of ourselves that we

646
00:43:51,960 --> 00:43:58,480
Speaker 2: can be. When I decided to leave the show, Kenya

647
00:43:59,320 --> 00:44:02,240
Speaker 2: was very support it. She didn't want me to, of course,

648
00:44:02,560 --> 00:44:06,799
Speaker 2: but she was very supportive and she understood that is

649
00:44:06,880 --> 00:44:10,319
Speaker 2: what it means to me to say I see you,

650
00:44:10,440 --> 00:44:14,719
Speaker 2: I feel you, and I understand. It wasn't much she

651
00:44:14,800 --> 00:44:18,279
Speaker 2: could do about it. She not running network, she's not

652
00:44:18,360 --> 00:44:20,600
Speaker 2: over the budget or anything like that. You understand what

653
00:44:20,600 --> 00:44:25,360
Speaker 2: I'm saying. But just the fact that she understood that

654
00:44:25,560 --> 00:44:30,719
Speaker 2: meant a lot to me. And she wasn't selfish in saying, oh, no,

655
00:44:30,800 --> 00:44:32,440
Speaker 2: I need you to stay because I need this or

656
00:44:32,440 --> 00:44:34,400
Speaker 2: I need no. She supported me.

657
00:44:36,160 --> 00:44:42,640
Speaker 1: Yeah, you referred Marlon Hampton to the show, Yes, why?

658
00:44:42,800 --> 00:44:46,320
Speaker 2: But she deserved to be on there. During that time

659
00:44:46,480 --> 00:44:50,920
Speaker 2: in Atlanta, I knew what I knew what you all

660
00:44:51,000 --> 00:44:55,360
Speaker 2: wanted esthetically, I knew what you all wanted in terms

661
00:44:55,440 --> 00:45:00,160
Speaker 2: of all the material stuff, what you all wanted for

662
00:45:00,200 --> 00:45:06,120
Speaker 2: a housewife. And it's no shade. At that time, Marlowe

663
00:45:06,120 --> 00:45:10,319
Speaker 2: would run circles around all all the girls, and she

664
00:45:10,480 --> 00:45:17,399
Speaker 2: deserved to be on there. What I hate is that

665
00:45:17,480 --> 00:45:25,800
Speaker 2: Marlowe had such a very deep story in her personal

666
00:45:25,880 --> 00:45:28,840
Speaker 2: life and her personal journey that I feel like that

667
00:45:29,040 --> 00:45:35,120
Speaker 2: was never shown or highlighted in its best light because

668
00:45:35,120 --> 00:45:39,920
Speaker 2: there was a lot too, and a lot behind the labels.

669
00:45:41,239 --> 00:45:44,480
Speaker 2: It was a lot behind the cars. It was a

670
00:45:44,520 --> 00:45:48,560
Speaker 2: lot behind that that I know personally that I feel

671
00:45:48,600 --> 00:45:54,120
Speaker 2: like the viewers didn't get a chance to see. Now

672
00:45:54,160 --> 00:45:56,799
Speaker 2: the drama between the girls, I understand all of that.

673
00:45:56,880 --> 00:46:00,279
Speaker 2: You know, they they all slay each other, they are

674
00:46:00,320 --> 00:46:02,719
Speaker 2: and I never got in between any of that. I

675
00:46:02,800 --> 00:46:04,880
Speaker 2: would if I if I tell one or I'm not

676
00:46:04,920 --> 00:46:07,560
Speaker 2: having this conversation about Kenya or Keny, I'm not having

677
00:46:07,560 --> 00:46:10,080
Speaker 2: this conversation about Marlowe, or I'm not having this conversation

678
00:46:10,160 --> 00:46:12,759
Speaker 2: by charade with you and vice versa, I wouldn't do it.

679
00:46:12,840 --> 00:46:15,120
Speaker 2: That is what That is where I drew the line.

680
00:46:16,239 --> 00:46:23,080
Speaker 2: But Marlowe deserved to be there, and I do feel

681
00:46:23,120 --> 00:46:27,160
Speaker 2: like she added a lot to the show when she

682
00:46:27,320 --> 00:46:31,720
Speaker 2: came on. She hard headed as hell because she wouldn't

683
00:46:31,800 --> 00:46:34,000
Speaker 2: let me, She would not let me mentor her the

684
00:46:34,000 --> 00:46:37,279
Speaker 2: way that I like to, so she wouldn't have run

685
00:46:37,320 --> 00:46:40,799
Speaker 2: at all them problems on there. But nevertheless, I thought

686
00:46:40,880 --> 00:46:45,479
Speaker 2: she was a great addition at in the beginning. Were

687
00:46:45,520 --> 00:46:53,880
Speaker 2: you upset when she dropped the f bom. I was surprised.

688
00:46:53,920 --> 00:46:55,799
Speaker 2: So let me say that was a that was a

689
00:46:55,840 --> 00:47:00,759
Speaker 2: part of a Marlowe that was new to me. That

690
00:47:00,920 --> 00:47:03,200
Speaker 2: was a part that I had never heard her her

691
00:47:03,320 --> 00:47:07,960
Speaker 2: say that. But what I appreciated was that she although

692
00:47:08,000 --> 00:47:10,960
Speaker 2: she lied about it at first, that which was a

693
00:47:11,040 --> 00:47:14,759
Speaker 2: key And I honestly think the only reason why she

694
00:47:14,840 --> 00:47:18,600
Speaker 2: lied about it at first was to not give Charay

695
00:47:18,719 --> 00:47:21,520
Speaker 2: what she wanted. I don't think I had anything to

696
00:47:21,560 --> 00:47:23,319
Speaker 2: do with me. I don't think I had anything to

697
00:47:23,320 --> 00:47:25,400
Speaker 2: do with the culture, with the black gay culture. I

698
00:47:25,400 --> 00:47:29,520
Speaker 2: don't think that. But what I appreciated is that she

699
00:47:31,040 --> 00:47:36,120
Speaker 2: set still and listened to the lesson to be learned

700
00:47:36,280 --> 00:47:41,880
Speaker 2: from it, and she apologized, and that's all it takes.

701
00:47:42,480 --> 00:47:46,000
Speaker 2: I don't expect you to know, Ane, I don't expect

702
00:47:46,040 --> 00:47:50,560
Speaker 2: everybody to be politically correct or to know what's appropriation

703
00:47:50,800 --> 00:47:54,000
Speaker 2: or what's appropriated, or what you should and should not know.

704
00:47:54,040 --> 00:47:57,480
Speaker 2: Because we're all this ship comes up new every month,

705
00:47:57,920 --> 00:47:59,920
Speaker 2: every year, is something new that you can and can

706
00:48:00,080 --> 00:48:04,680
Speaker 2: not say, so we will forever evolve when it comes

707
00:48:04,719 --> 00:48:12,799
Speaker 2: to being culturally and socially sensitive and accurate. So I

708
00:48:12,840 --> 00:48:18,640
Speaker 2: appreciate when someone is willing to say Okay, Now where

709
00:48:18,640 --> 00:48:21,080
Speaker 2: did I go wrong? Because this is all I knew

710
00:48:21,120 --> 00:48:22,960
Speaker 2: my whole life, so I'd never been told that that

711
00:48:23,120 --> 00:48:26,759
Speaker 2: was wrong. So tell me. And when you do that

712
00:48:26,840 --> 00:48:31,000
Speaker 2: to me, that shows contrition, That shows that you know

713
00:48:31,600 --> 00:48:34,920
Speaker 2: you are genuinely wanting to learn and genuinely wanting to

714
00:48:34,960 --> 00:48:37,320
Speaker 2: build a stronger bridge.

715
00:48:38,160 --> 00:48:45,680
Speaker 1: Yeah, season four, you were emerging as a top B

716
00:48:45,920 --> 00:48:50,920
Speaker 1: character on that on that season, so much so that

717
00:48:51,080 --> 00:48:56,200
Speaker 1: Candy wrote a song called Closet Freak that to this day,

718
00:48:56,719 --> 00:48:57,440
Speaker 1: I play it.

719
00:48:58,280 --> 00:48:59,560
Speaker 2: I Closet Freak.

720
00:48:59,800 --> 00:49:06,239
Speaker 1: I mean, it's an amazing song and your vocals, I

721
00:49:06,280 --> 00:49:10,800
Speaker 1: mean I had no idea you can sing like that.

722
00:49:11,239 --> 00:49:14,520
Speaker 1: It was the range for me, you know, like it

723
00:49:14,560 --> 00:49:16,879
Speaker 1: was it was the The song became.

724
00:49:16,680 --> 00:49:18,680
Speaker 2: Bigger and bigger and bigger.

725
00:49:19,280 --> 00:49:24,959
Speaker 1: Yeah, and we all loved it, but we also saw

726
00:49:25,120 --> 00:49:30,319
Speaker 1: that it was never released commercially right, And there were

727
00:49:30,880 --> 00:49:34,719
Speaker 1: conversations about, you know, you didn't feel the deal was

728
00:49:34,840 --> 00:49:38,840
Speaker 1: right that Candy was presenting to you. What happened to

729
00:49:38,920 --> 00:49:42,000
Speaker 1: the point where you had this amazing song, it was

730
00:49:42,080 --> 00:49:43,279
Speaker 1: featured on the show.

731
00:49:45,360 --> 00:49:49,920
Speaker 2: And you two never worked again. It was just it

732
00:49:49,960 --> 00:49:54,799
Speaker 2: was it was business. I didn't I didn't like the deal.

733
00:49:55,280 --> 00:49:59,880
Speaker 2: It was a three sixty deal that she offered Ken

734
00:50:00,160 --> 00:50:04,800
Speaker 2: offered with her entertainment company, Candy Code Entertainment. I didn't

735
00:50:04,880 --> 00:50:06,800
Speaker 2: like it because when I when I read up and

736
00:50:06,880 --> 00:50:10,960
Speaker 2: learned about three sixty deals. Three sixty deals are usually

737
00:50:11,000 --> 00:50:17,400
Speaker 2: given to artists that are created, in my opinion, that

738
00:50:17,440 --> 00:50:23,000
Speaker 2: are created, meaning you aid and establish their image, their name,

739
00:50:23,400 --> 00:50:28,160
Speaker 2: their sound, all of that. Right, So yes, you give,

740
00:50:29,400 --> 00:50:33,280
Speaker 2: you give the label or whatever, a percentage of every

741
00:50:33,360 --> 00:50:36,960
Speaker 2: single thing that you have. Now, for me, I felt

742
00:50:37,000 --> 00:50:42,040
Speaker 2: like I was already becoming somewhat of a household name.

743
00:50:42,160 --> 00:50:45,400
Speaker 2: People you know, knew me, they knew who Miss Lawrence was.

744
00:50:46,200 --> 00:50:50,839
Speaker 2: The image was already established, the sound was already kind

745
00:50:50,840 --> 00:50:53,759
Speaker 2: of established, and so I I didn't feel like it

746
00:50:53,840 --> 00:50:59,120
Speaker 2: was worth entering into a three sixty deal. And so

747
00:50:59,560 --> 00:51:02,800
Speaker 2: for that, it just didn't work out. And it's unfortunate

748
00:51:02,840 --> 00:51:06,080
Speaker 2: because it was unfortunate because it was a great song

749
00:51:06,160 --> 00:51:09,560
Speaker 2: and people's to this day still talk about Closet Free.

750
00:51:10,200 --> 00:51:16,400
Speaker 2: Candy is immensely talented, you know, that's her world that

751
00:51:16,520 --> 00:51:19,640
Speaker 2: she knows what to do in it. So it was

752
00:51:19,719 --> 00:51:24,200
Speaker 2: just I wasn't willing to be contractually tied down in

753
00:51:24,320 --> 00:51:28,840
Speaker 2: that way to Candy coated entertainment. As you could probably see,

754
00:51:29,080 --> 00:51:34,480
Speaker 2: I've not missed out on much. You're doing good, Yeah, no,

755
00:51:34,719 --> 00:51:35,040
Speaker 2: you are.

756
00:51:35,440 --> 00:51:38,840
Speaker 1: And what was interesting is even when you left Housewives,

757
00:51:39,160 --> 00:51:43,560
Speaker 1: it was around a time where you Derrek Jy and

758
00:51:43,840 --> 00:51:50,000
Speaker 1: Mother of our Mother, Debby Smith, had this amazing halfower.

759
00:51:51,000 --> 00:51:53,160
Speaker 1: I like to call it a comedy show that was

760
00:51:53,280 --> 00:51:57,600
Speaker 1: that half fashion conversation because you three had such great chemistry.

761
00:51:57,680 --> 00:52:02,279
Speaker 1: It was called Fashion Queen, Yes right, and it was

762
00:52:02,640 --> 00:52:03,560
Speaker 1: a ratings hit.

763
00:52:04,719 --> 00:52:07,839
Speaker 2: The ratings were good through the roof. The show was.

764
00:52:07,800 --> 00:52:14,920
Speaker 1: Good and everything appeared to be going in the right direction.

765
00:52:15,880 --> 00:52:19,600
Speaker 2: But then it got canceled out the blue. Why did

766
00:52:19,640 --> 00:52:22,280
Speaker 2: Fashion Queens get canceled? And the ratings were so solid,

767
00:52:22,480 --> 00:52:27,640
Speaker 2: We've never been given a real explanation as to why.

768
00:52:28,400 --> 00:52:31,560
Speaker 2: And here's a note to all of our Fashion Queens

769
00:52:31,920 --> 00:52:35,400
Speaker 2: fans and supporters. You know, everybody said, oh Andy Cohen,

770
00:52:35,560 --> 00:52:38,200
Speaker 2: I was not Andy Cohen. I think it was like

771
00:52:38,320 --> 00:52:43,120
Speaker 2: beyond Bravo and beyond obviously Andy Cohen. I think it was.

772
00:52:43,360 --> 00:52:45,319
Speaker 2: You know, that was during the time when we lost

773
00:52:45,480 --> 00:52:49,600
Speaker 2: Joan Rivers the Icon and you know her show was

774
00:52:49,960 --> 00:52:57,560
Speaker 2: Fashion Police, and you know our shows were similar in

775
00:52:57,640 --> 00:53:03,759
Speaker 2: terms of content, and I I don't know this for sure,

776
00:53:03,840 --> 00:53:06,760
Speaker 2: but I can't help but think that it has something

777
00:53:06,800 --> 00:53:10,759
Speaker 2: to do with needing our audience, because you know, they

778
00:53:10,920 --> 00:53:15,160
Speaker 2: Fashion Police had lost John Rivers and which was a

779
00:53:15,280 --> 00:53:20,279
Speaker 2: huge chunk of the Fashion Police and I and this

780
00:53:20,400 --> 00:53:23,120
Speaker 2: is just me speculating. I'm must because it just didn't

781
00:53:23,120 --> 00:53:25,440
Speaker 2: make sense to any of us. I think they might

782
00:53:25,480 --> 00:53:33,640
Speaker 2: have needed our audience. Yeah, so I'm not saying that

783
00:53:33,760 --> 00:53:36,800
Speaker 2: is what happened, but that is just what I felt

784
00:53:37,480 --> 00:53:40,880
Speaker 2: of what we felt, because it didn't add up. Fashion

785
00:53:40,920 --> 00:53:44,040
Speaker 2: Queens was a number one show coming on at eleven

786
00:53:44,160 --> 00:53:47,480
Speaker 2: thirty PM on a Sunday night, which is unheard of

787
00:53:47,600 --> 00:53:51,480
Speaker 2: to do the numbers that we did. So yeah, it

788
00:53:51,520 --> 00:53:54,080
Speaker 2: was it was a little engine that could it and

789
00:53:54,120 --> 00:53:58,640
Speaker 2: it did and it did. But you know, I saw

790
00:53:58,680 --> 00:54:01,120
Speaker 2: a water underbridge. Everything thing is as it should be.

791
00:54:02,920 --> 00:54:06,200
Speaker 2: Bevy was able to go on and do incredible stuff

792
00:54:06,640 --> 00:54:10,799
Speaker 2: work on multiple shows. She's also now an actress. You know,

793
00:54:11,239 --> 00:54:14,840
Speaker 2: I became an actor thanks to Lee Daniels, who was

794
00:54:14,960 --> 00:54:18,480
Speaker 2: a fan of Fashion Queens, who noticed me from Fashion Queens.

795
00:54:18,960 --> 00:54:21,760
Speaker 2: And you know, Derek Jay is doing his thing making

796
00:54:21,880 --> 00:54:26,320
Speaker 2: all the money in the world, you know, working behind

797
00:54:26,320 --> 00:54:29,239
Speaker 2: the scenes on shows. So I think everything is as

798
00:54:29,239 --> 00:54:32,359
Speaker 2: it should be, and everything served its purpose while we

799
00:54:32,440 --> 00:54:35,239
Speaker 2: miss it. While that was the very first show that

800
00:54:35,320 --> 00:54:39,440
Speaker 2: I ever was a part of where the production company

801
00:54:39,440 --> 00:54:42,440
Speaker 2: shouts out to embassy row. That showed me how I

802
00:54:42,480 --> 00:54:48,120
Speaker 2: should be treated as talent. That really made me feel appreciated.

803
00:54:48,920 --> 00:54:51,520
Speaker 2: You know, that is an that is an experience that

804
00:54:51,600 --> 00:54:55,600
Speaker 2: will forever be attached to my heart and unforgettable.

805
00:54:57,400 --> 00:55:00,440
Speaker 1: When you look at the Real Housewives of Atlanta today,

806
00:55:01,920 --> 00:55:03,840
Speaker 1: what do you think of the show now in terms

807
00:55:03,840 --> 00:55:05,080
Speaker 1: of what has become.

808
00:55:08,160 --> 00:55:20,799
Speaker 2: I've watched, I watched last season. I enjoyed it. I'm sorry,

809
00:55:21,400 --> 00:55:28,040
Speaker 2: I enjoyed last season. I'm gonna be honest. I think

810
00:55:29,120 --> 00:55:30,920
Speaker 2: a lot of the girls get in a lot of

811
00:55:30,960 --> 00:55:34,879
Speaker 2: the girl's way. I think if everybody can go back

812
00:55:34,920 --> 00:55:40,680
Speaker 2: to the original formula and the original mindset, I think

813
00:55:40,719 --> 00:55:46,359
Speaker 2: if everybody will stop trying to stifle other people's paychecks

814
00:55:46,480 --> 00:55:51,839
Speaker 2: and other people's jobs, I think you would probably have

815
00:55:51,960 --> 00:55:55,080
Speaker 2: the exact same cast that you had from the beginning,

816
00:55:55,520 --> 00:56:01,279
Speaker 2: or from that golden era of housewives. You know, I

817
00:56:01,320 --> 00:56:07,359
Speaker 2: think everybody in their own right became stars, and I

818
00:56:07,400 --> 00:56:11,040
Speaker 2: don't know who, I don't know what organization. I don't

819
00:56:11,080 --> 00:56:16,719
Speaker 2: know what entity, but somewhere, somehow, the powers that be

820
00:56:17,480 --> 00:56:19,839
Speaker 2: gave a lot of the girls this false sense of

821
00:56:20,040 --> 00:56:25,960
Speaker 2: entitlement that some of them could dictate who gets to

822
00:56:26,000 --> 00:56:29,680
Speaker 2: be what and do what. And I think that's where

823
00:56:29,680 --> 00:56:33,799
Speaker 2: it feels short. I think that's where it feels short.

824
00:56:34,040 --> 00:56:41,719
Speaker 2: I think people became extremely celebrity driven and so celebrated

825
00:56:41,760 --> 00:56:45,839
Speaker 2: by the fans that they no longer wanted to be

826
00:56:45,960 --> 00:56:50,920
Speaker 2: seen as the person that could be read. That they

827
00:56:51,000 --> 00:56:54,920
Speaker 2: no longer wanted to be seen as the person that

828
00:56:55,040 --> 00:56:59,719
Speaker 2: could possibly get trampled on, you know, And so they

829
00:57:00,600 --> 00:57:05,399
Speaker 2: have this urgency to stand up and vindicate themselves, but

830
00:57:05,480 --> 00:57:12,560
Speaker 2: not on film, to the networks, to get whatever person

831
00:57:12,640 --> 00:57:19,640
Speaker 2: did whatever taken out. And it's all derived from ego.

832
00:57:21,720 --> 00:57:26,000
Speaker 2: And it's clear as day when I watched the show now,

833
00:57:26,720 --> 00:57:35,400
Speaker 2: while I still enjoyed it last season, yeah, I wish

834
00:57:35,440 --> 00:57:40,080
Speaker 2: everyone could have a moment and get recentered and go

835
00:57:40,200 --> 00:57:48,520
Speaker 2: make your fucking money. Go make your coin. It's that simple.

836
00:57:49,520 --> 00:57:53,040
Speaker 2: I've heard from other people in other reality show spaces

837
00:57:53,640 --> 00:57:57,440
Speaker 2: how much money they make and I'm like what, And

838
00:57:57,600 --> 00:58:00,200
Speaker 2: I know what the girls was making on House, and

839
00:58:00,240 --> 00:58:04,040
Speaker 2: I'm like, can y'all talking about because this person said,

840
00:58:05,760 --> 00:58:09,720
Speaker 2: if you don't shut up and get your coin, get

841
00:58:09,760 --> 00:58:16,440
Speaker 2: your coin. Some people on them other shows they would

842
00:58:16,640 --> 00:58:20,880
Speaker 2: they would love to be in the in those seats

843
00:58:22,160 --> 00:58:24,080
Speaker 2: and to just let it go like that. I'm like,

844
00:58:24,200 --> 00:58:29,520
Speaker 2: oh my god, are you serious. And they're all stronger

845
00:58:29,640 --> 00:58:33,600
Speaker 2: with each other. But the problem I think came in

846
00:58:33,680 --> 00:58:37,960
Speaker 2: when they thought they were becoming weaker because one seemed

847
00:58:37,960 --> 00:58:44,120
Speaker 2: to be stronger. That's all a false perception. They were

848
00:58:44,160 --> 00:58:50,800
Speaker 2: all very strong and super strong together. What happened to

849
00:58:51,920 --> 00:58:52,720
Speaker 2: what you just said?

850
00:58:52,800 --> 00:58:57,920
Speaker 1: Season one, episode one, Charae admitted on my podcast she

851
00:58:58,120 --> 00:59:02,400
Speaker 1: purposefully left Nini's off the list. She said, they wanted

852
00:59:02,440 --> 00:59:04,480
Speaker 1: her to be at my house. I said, I know

853
00:59:04,520 --> 00:59:07,240
Speaker 1: what y'all producers want. That's my house and it's gonna happen.

854
00:59:07,600 --> 00:59:11,000
Speaker 1: I'm going to purposefully leave her name off the list.

855
00:59:12,440 --> 00:59:13,440
Speaker 2: She did it on purpose.

856
00:59:14,840 --> 00:59:18,440
Speaker 1: Nini Leags had no idea, gave a great scene that

857
00:59:18,640 --> 00:59:22,280
Speaker 1: entire season one was Charai versus Meedi because they both

858
00:59:22,400 --> 00:59:25,600
Speaker 1: lived in the reality of this is my life. I'm

859
00:59:25,600 --> 00:59:28,480
Speaker 1: gonna do that and it made for great television and

860
00:59:28,520 --> 00:59:31,800
Speaker 1: the rest is history. So I cannot agree with you more.

861
00:59:32,280 --> 00:59:35,080
Speaker 1: There was a time, though Lawrence, where you were approached

862
00:59:35,600 --> 00:59:39,040
Speaker 1: to be a housewife of Atlanta, you were approached to

863
00:59:39,080 --> 00:59:39,720
Speaker 1: have a peach.

864
00:59:40,480 --> 00:59:46,120
Speaker 2: What happened, I do not know. I went through a

865
00:59:46,200 --> 00:59:52,840
Speaker 2: couple of interviews. Maybe we never got around to like filming,

866
00:59:52,880 --> 01:00:00,919
Speaker 2: but I remember some of the producers or scouts whatever

867
01:00:01,000 --> 01:00:04,560
Speaker 2: came looked at my place, my condo. They already knew

868
01:00:04,560 --> 01:00:09,760
Speaker 2: I was successful. Now. What I was told when it

869
01:00:09,800 --> 01:00:14,360
Speaker 2: got back to the higher higher ups was that they

870
01:00:14,400 --> 01:00:18,320
Speaker 2: were not ready to go in that direction. That was

871
01:00:18,360 --> 01:00:21,400
Speaker 2: what I was told. And I think that was one

872
01:00:21,440 --> 01:00:23,800
Speaker 2: of the things that they tried, because I think they

873
01:00:23,800 --> 01:00:26,360
Speaker 2: could kind of sense that I was kind of drifting away,

874
01:00:27,400 --> 01:00:32,480
Speaker 2: and I really, I really, I can't think of who

875
01:00:32,560 --> 01:00:35,680
Speaker 2: it was that saw fit for me to be like

876
01:00:35,760 --> 01:00:39,160
Speaker 2: the first openly gay individual to have to be a

877
01:00:39,160 --> 01:00:44,360
Speaker 2: peace holder. But they advocated hard, and when it got

878
01:00:44,400 --> 01:00:48,440
Speaker 2: to the higher ups, I was told that they were

879
01:00:48,440 --> 01:00:51,560
Speaker 2: told they weren't really ready to go in that direction

880
01:00:51,720 --> 01:00:54,840
Speaker 2: just yet. Yeah, And that was another thing that made

881
01:00:54,880 --> 01:00:58,160
Speaker 2: me be like, Okay, there's really nothing else else here

882
01:00:58,240 --> 01:01:01,520
Speaker 2: for me to do. You ain't ever giving me no peach.

883
01:01:02,160 --> 01:01:06,280
Speaker 2: I ain't getting there. One of them multimillion dollar pay checks.

884
01:01:06,360 --> 01:01:10,800
Speaker 2: You know, did y'all give the girls? Not pumping y'all teas,

885
01:01:10,880 --> 01:01:13,640
Speaker 2: But it is what it is. I know you ain't

886
01:01:13,640 --> 01:01:15,680
Speaker 2: want to go give me that shit. So I'm like, well, honey,

887
01:01:15,960 --> 01:01:17,960
Speaker 2: I'm gonna take these five dollars y'all and gave me

888
01:01:18,040 --> 01:01:19,880
Speaker 2: thus far, and I'm gonna go in and make it

889
01:01:19,920 --> 01:01:24,640
Speaker 2: do what it do, you know. And so yeah, when you.

890
01:01:24,640 --> 01:01:30,400
Speaker 1: Left the show and then Fashion Queens got canceled, did

891
01:01:30,440 --> 01:01:32,840
Speaker 1: you go through a dark period in your life?

892
01:01:32,960 --> 01:01:36,200
Speaker 2: I did not even have time. As soon as Fashion

893
01:01:36,280 --> 01:01:42,520
Speaker 2: Queens was canceled, I was already in the Lee Daniels network.

894
01:01:43,560 --> 01:01:49,560
Speaker 2: So right after Fashion Queens that last the third season,

895
01:01:50,600 --> 01:01:54,960
Speaker 2: I got invited to come on to Empire, and I

896
01:01:54,960 --> 01:01:58,280
Speaker 2: shot a couple of episodes of Empire. And right after Empire,

897
01:01:59,000 --> 01:02:01,880
Speaker 2: Lee was in the process of developing and creating the

898
01:02:01,880 --> 01:02:05,680
Speaker 2: show Star that became also a hit on Fox, and

899
01:02:05,800 --> 01:02:10,440
Speaker 2: this time I was a series regular. He created this character,

900
01:02:10,880 --> 01:02:15,160
Speaker 2: Miss Bruce for me, and so I went right into that.

901
01:02:15,440 --> 01:02:20,600
Speaker 2: So I was I was heartbroken because I I loved

902
01:02:21,120 --> 01:02:24,880
Speaker 2: Fashion Queens. I mean it was it was a joy

903
01:02:24,960 --> 01:02:27,440
Speaker 2: to go to work every week and be with Bevy

904
01:02:27,520 --> 01:02:31,320
Speaker 2: and Derek and the whole Embassy Row family, you know,

905
01:02:31,560 --> 01:02:34,640
Speaker 2: Deirdrew Connelly and you know, it was it was a joy,

906
01:02:35,360 --> 01:02:38,280
Speaker 2: and so I was very heartbroken. It felt like a breakup,

907
01:02:38,520 --> 01:02:41,280
Speaker 2: like a bad breakup, although it wasn't a bad breakup.

908
01:02:41,560 --> 01:02:44,920
Speaker 2: But I felt like that just left me. That's how

909
01:02:44,920 --> 01:02:48,280
Speaker 2: I thought he left me. That's how I felt. But

910
01:02:48,400 --> 01:02:52,040
Speaker 2: I didn't have too much time to weep because I

911
01:02:52,080 --> 01:02:57,440
Speaker 2: went straight into into my acting career, which is is

912
01:02:57,480 --> 01:03:01,880
Speaker 2: funny because that was my original one of my original

913
01:03:01,960 --> 01:03:04,680
Speaker 2: passions when I was younger. Again, like I said, from

914
01:03:04,680 --> 01:03:07,439
Speaker 2: the beginning, being a part of the arts. And so

915
01:03:07,600 --> 01:03:12,480
Speaker 2: my biggest note to people is nurture the gifts that

916
01:03:12,520 --> 01:03:15,080
Speaker 2: you've been given, give it one hundred and ten percent

917
01:03:15,600 --> 01:03:18,120
Speaker 2: and allow that to make room. And if it had

918
01:03:18,160 --> 01:03:21,240
Speaker 2: it not been for the beauty industry, me becoming Charaise hairstylist,

919
01:03:21,960 --> 01:03:27,280
Speaker 2: you know, excuse me, me becoming Charaise hairstylist, you know,

920
01:03:29,280 --> 01:03:34,200
Speaker 2: tracking through the Housewolves of Atlanta days to fashion queens,

921
01:03:34,800 --> 01:03:37,800
Speaker 2: I wouldn't have gotten noticed by one of the most

922
01:03:37,960 --> 01:03:42,600
Speaker 2: important and most incredible filmmakers that we know today, which

923
01:03:42,640 --> 01:03:45,840
Speaker 2: is Lee Daniels, and I wouldn't be sitting here as

924
01:03:45,880 --> 01:03:49,880
Speaker 2: an actor now, you know, talking about my latest project,

925
01:03:49,880 --> 01:03:54,880
Speaker 2: The Deliverance. How has Lee Daniels changed your life?

926
01:03:55,520 --> 01:03:58,200
Speaker 1: Like talk to me about because you know, one thing

927
01:03:58,200 --> 01:04:01,160
Speaker 1: that I love about you is the fact that you

928
01:04:01,200 --> 01:04:03,360
Speaker 1: give credit where credit is due. And I feel like

929
01:04:03,480 --> 01:04:06,000
Speaker 1: there's something that happened along the way with some celebrities.

930
01:04:06,320 --> 01:04:08,280
Speaker 1: They no longer want to give the profit of the

931
01:04:08,320 --> 01:04:09,919
Speaker 1: person who gave them the opportunity.

932
01:04:10,480 --> 01:04:16,919
Speaker 2: And it's very dangerous. That's very dangerous to do right

933
01:04:17,040 --> 01:04:25,360
Speaker 2: because none of our victories happened solely because of us.

934
01:04:25,920 --> 01:04:28,640
Speaker 2: Somebody had to be put in place. There was a

935
01:04:28,720 --> 01:04:31,280
Speaker 2: vessel somewhere that God said, I need you to go

936
01:04:31,360 --> 01:04:37,160
Speaker 2: do this on my behalf for this person. So who

937
01:04:37,320 --> 01:04:42,880
Speaker 2: am I to not say ay, to not give it

938
01:04:42,960 --> 01:04:46,560
Speaker 2: all counted, all joy and give God the glory and

939
01:04:46,600 --> 01:04:50,960
Speaker 2: to recognize those that He used to bring the glory.

940
01:04:52,960 --> 01:04:55,880
Speaker 2: I can't. I cannot do that in good consciousness. That's

941
01:04:55,960 --> 01:05:01,360
Speaker 2: that is I'm not I'm not built like that. Lee Daniels.

942
01:05:02,120 --> 01:05:06,920
Speaker 2: You know, he was in charge of opening a portal

943
01:05:06,960 --> 01:05:10,320
Speaker 2: for me that I did not think was possible. I

944
01:05:10,360 --> 01:05:12,960
Speaker 2: did not think that I would ever be able to

945
01:05:13,040 --> 01:05:18,840
Speaker 2: utilize my gift as an actor, you know, or any

946
01:05:18,920 --> 01:05:22,120
Speaker 2: of it. You know. I didn't think that I would

947
01:05:22,160 --> 01:05:28,240
Speaker 2: be on the same screen as powerhouse vets in the industry,

948
01:05:28,280 --> 01:05:33,520
Speaker 2: from Queen Latifah to Glenn Close, to Monique to Patty LaBelle,

949
01:05:33,560 --> 01:05:40,000
Speaker 2: to Gladys Knight to Benjamin Brad Andrew Day, who's a

950
01:05:40,760 --> 01:05:47,240
Speaker 2: real gem. The relationships that I have created because of

951
01:05:47,360 --> 01:05:51,840
Speaker 2: Lee Daniels that are life lasting, My relationships with my

952
01:05:52,280 --> 01:05:55,720
Speaker 2: brother Tyler Williams, who was also on the United States

953
01:05:55,800 --> 01:06:01,640
Speaker 2: Versus Billie Holiday with Me, Davine and Joy Randolph, you know,

954
01:06:01,760 --> 01:06:04,960
Speaker 2: you name it. I wouldn't have any of this had

955
01:06:04,960 --> 01:06:09,280
Speaker 2: it not been for Lee Daniels, who saw my potential,

956
01:06:09,560 --> 01:06:13,000
Speaker 2: who saw and recognized my gifts, and who told God, yes,

957
01:06:13,720 --> 01:06:18,880
Speaker 2: I got them. And I will forever be grateful. I

958
01:06:18,920 --> 01:06:20,920
Speaker 2: am now at a point where I am now learning

959
01:06:21,000 --> 01:06:25,080
Speaker 2: the business side of this side of the industry. So

960
01:06:25,240 --> 01:06:28,240
Speaker 2: it's interesting, but it is it is still very rewarding.

961
01:06:29,360 --> 01:06:31,760
Speaker 2: It's more than what the guy was making on Housewives,

962
01:06:32,160 --> 01:06:35,040
Speaker 2: on Fashion Queens, I'll tell you that much.

963
01:06:38,560 --> 01:06:41,000
Speaker 1: But the thing, you know, what's so funny is it

964
01:06:41,040 --> 01:06:44,440
Speaker 1: warms my spirit when I see you at the award shows. Yeah,

965
01:06:44,520 --> 01:06:48,600
Speaker 1: when I see on the red carpet, because, like I said,

966
01:06:48,640 --> 01:06:50,880
Speaker 1: you and I have to have personal conversations, and I

967
01:06:50,920 --> 01:06:55,160
Speaker 1: know there's just been moments where you're trying to figure

968
01:06:55,200 --> 01:06:57,120
Speaker 1: things out, like we're all trying to do today, right.

969
01:06:57,560 --> 01:07:02,600
Speaker 1: So to see that you're so successful in a genre

970
01:07:03,600 --> 01:07:07,760
Speaker 1: that is just so that you're you're really good, like

971
01:07:07,800 --> 01:07:12,200
Speaker 1: you're really you're a really good actor. I mean the Deliverance,

972
01:07:13,640 --> 01:07:19,360
Speaker 1: I mean number one movie on Netflix. The movie is everything.

973
01:07:20,240 --> 01:07:25,880
Speaker 1: Your comedy Chops is everything, your acting ability is everything.

974
01:07:26,280 --> 01:07:29,480
Speaker 2: And even the fact that you know you know how

975
01:07:29,520 --> 01:07:35,280
Speaker 2: to like roll some dice. So do you really know

976
01:07:35,320 --> 01:07:38,160
Speaker 2: how to roll dice? I have no idea. I had

977
01:07:38,160 --> 01:07:40,440
Speaker 2: to like study, I had to.

978
01:07:40,360 --> 01:07:42,520
Speaker 1: Do you have to study how to So wait, so

979
01:07:42,560 --> 01:07:44,200
Speaker 1: I don't my legs?

980
01:07:44,240 --> 01:07:47,720
Speaker 2: So do you like do you like I don't play dice?

981
01:07:47,800 --> 01:07:52,320
Speaker 2: Like ginger and casino? Like? How what did you the

982
01:07:52,360 --> 01:07:55,120
Speaker 2: way you talk Kenya how to like do the fan

983
01:07:56,320 --> 01:08:01,160
Speaker 2: to roll dice? So you know you you go in

984
01:08:01,840 --> 01:08:05,200
Speaker 2: for me. When I read the script and learned that, okay,

985
01:08:05,320 --> 01:08:10,600
Speaker 2: Asia is playing dice or gambling with the kids, I'm like, okay,

986
01:08:11,160 --> 01:08:14,520
Speaker 2: now let me go on YouTube and see, how do

987
01:08:14,600 --> 01:08:16,519
Speaker 2: you do that? You know what I'm saying. You know,

988
01:08:16,920 --> 01:08:21,599
Speaker 2: I have played scraps? Is it s craps? Is it craps? Craps? Craps?

989
01:08:21,800 --> 01:08:24,519
Speaker 2: I have played Okay, I have played crap. It's craps.

990
01:08:24,560 --> 01:08:27,680
Speaker 2: It's craps, It's craps. I have played craps for so

991
01:08:27,760 --> 01:08:30,439
Speaker 2: I know a little bit, right, But I wanted to

992
01:08:30,479 --> 01:08:33,000
Speaker 2: make sure that it was real. So I went and studied.

993
01:08:33,120 --> 01:08:35,200
Speaker 2: I wanted to study what does that look like? I

994
01:08:35,240 --> 01:08:40,080
Speaker 2: want to study the terminology, you know? But what I

995
01:08:40,400 --> 01:08:43,600
Speaker 2: you know, what's genius and what's what's so good about Lee?

996
01:08:43,920 --> 01:08:50,280
Speaker 2: Lee gives you space to show up as yourself first, right,

997
01:08:51,520 --> 01:08:56,040
Speaker 2: and then he strips you. It's important that you show

998
01:08:56,120 --> 01:08:59,160
Speaker 2: up as yourself first because you need to find yourself

999
01:08:59,280 --> 01:09:04,479
Speaker 2: in the character. Then you're stripped, you get stripped, and

1000
01:09:04,520 --> 01:09:09,080
Speaker 2: then you become this new character with yourself in it,

1001
01:09:10,120 --> 01:09:12,720
Speaker 2: you know. And I think that's what makes Lee so

1002
01:09:14,920 --> 01:09:17,000
Speaker 2: so genius. And I think that's why he gets the

1003
01:09:17,000 --> 01:09:22,640
Speaker 2: best work out of artists and out of actors. You

1004
01:09:22,760 --> 01:09:25,200
Speaker 2: just you show up, and you know, I think it's

1005
01:09:25,439 --> 01:09:28,320
Speaker 2: it helps with your working relationship as well, because when

1006
01:09:28,320 --> 01:09:32,000
Speaker 2: you show up as yourself to your director. They get

1007
01:09:32,000 --> 01:09:36,600
Speaker 2: to learn and know who you are, which opens the

1008
01:09:36,640 --> 01:09:38,800
Speaker 2: door for them to show you who they are. And

1009
01:09:38,800 --> 01:09:41,920
Speaker 2: then you develop that level of trust. And when you

1010
01:09:42,000 --> 01:09:46,879
Speaker 2: trust your director, that's when that's when the magic happens.

1011
01:09:48,040 --> 01:09:52,320
Speaker 2: When Lee says do something, you just do it. I

1012
01:09:52,360 --> 01:09:56,759
Speaker 2: have to tell this story. When I was shooting Billie Holliday,

1013
01:09:58,120 --> 01:09:59,639
Speaker 2: there was a scene. It did not make the movie

1014
01:09:59,840 --> 01:10:02,759
Speaker 2: for fortunately, but there was a scene where he told

1015
01:10:02,800 --> 01:10:06,080
Speaker 2: me to I had to I was eating I had

1016
01:10:06,080 --> 01:10:09,800
Speaker 2: to be eating something. And it was well over midnight

1017
01:10:10,120 --> 01:10:12,919
Speaker 2: when we were shooting, so everything was closed. He originally

1018
01:10:12,920 --> 01:10:15,200
Speaker 2: wanted me to be eating fried chicken, but they couldn't

1019
01:10:15,240 --> 01:10:18,599
Speaker 2: get fried chicken anywhere. He insisted, but they was like, okay,

1020
01:10:19,439 --> 01:10:21,880
Speaker 2: there's no fried chicken anywhere. So he's like, okay, he

1021
01:10:21,880 --> 01:10:23,679
Speaker 2: needs to be eating something. He needs, Okay, give him banana.

1022
01:10:23,920 --> 01:10:26,360
Speaker 2: Eat the banana. So they bring me a banana and

1023
01:10:26,360 --> 01:10:30,320
Speaker 2: I'm eating the banana. He comes over and he whispers

1024
01:10:30,320 --> 01:10:33,400
Speaker 2: in my ear. He said, I need you to eat

1025
01:10:33,400 --> 01:10:37,200
Speaker 2: this banana with urgency. You know what I mean. I

1026
01:10:37,200 --> 01:10:41,240
Speaker 2: need you to eat it with urgency. And I looked

1027
01:10:41,240 --> 01:10:44,760
Speaker 2: at Tyler because my brother Tyler was right there. I said,

1028
01:10:44,760 --> 01:10:49,120
Speaker 2: what the don't you eat a banana? Word? Now, I

1029
01:10:49,160 --> 01:10:56,000
Speaker 2: am skillful a kind of you eat a banana with urgency.

1030
01:10:56,840 --> 01:10:59,080
Speaker 2: So Tyler like, Chad, just do it. Yeah, because we

1031
01:10:59,160 --> 01:11:02,040
Speaker 2: had time to figure out shit out is just just

1032
01:11:01,800 --> 01:11:04,960
Speaker 2: just eat it. So baby, I had took de banana

1033
01:11:05,000 --> 01:11:09,720
Speaker 2: and I had I had a debonaam And after we

1034
01:11:09,760 --> 01:11:11,559
Speaker 2: finished the scene, lisaid, come here, I want to show

1035
01:11:11,560 --> 01:11:14,760
Speaker 2: you something. And I went to the monitor and the

1036
01:11:14,880 --> 01:11:22,599
Speaker 2: way that it translated was magic. I was like, you

1037
01:11:22,640 --> 01:11:26,760
Speaker 2: would never think from that note that you're going to

1038
01:11:26,840 --> 01:11:32,960
Speaker 2: get that performance. That's what makes them the icon. That's

1039
01:11:33,000 --> 01:11:37,040
Speaker 2: why he breeds Oscar winners and Golden Globe winners, that's

1040
01:11:37,080 --> 01:11:42,479
Speaker 2: why to go inside his head, which I don't think

1041
01:11:42,520 --> 01:11:51,040
Speaker 2: anybody will be able to do, it's indescribable. It's indescribable.

1042
01:11:52,240 --> 01:11:55,280
Speaker 2: Oh my god, say this is Glenn J.

1043
01:11:55,479 --> 01:11:58,200
Speaker 1: Blange is what the social media girls are calling her now.

1044
01:11:58,320 --> 01:12:03,320
Speaker 1: I mean, I mean, what was that like to work

1045
01:12:03,360 --> 01:12:09,760
Speaker 1: with Glenn clothes and her black scent and the wigs.

1046
01:12:10,040 --> 01:12:14,880
Speaker 1: I mean, listen, I didn't know when I learned that

1047
01:12:15,000 --> 01:12:17,120
Speaker 1: I was gonna be in a scene with her, because

1048
01:12:17,160 --> 01:12:19,840
Speaker 1: I shot several scenes. But you know, cutting room Florida

1049
01:12:19,920 --> 01:12:21,640
Speaker 1: Da Da, and I was like, Oh, I'm gonna be

1050
01:12:21,680 --> 01:12:22,280
Speaker 1: a scene with Glenn.

1051
01:12:22,320 --> 01:12:23,960
Speaker 2: I was like, oh my god, what to expect. You know,

1052
01:12:24,000 --> 01:12:26,240
Speaker 2: this is you know, this is the krim de la

1053
01:12:26,320 --> 01:12:33,519
Speaker 2: Cruseel Honey. When I say the most beautiful, humble down

1054
01:12:33,560 --> 01:12:38,640
Speaker 2: the earth, I mean person that you can think of.

1055
01:12:39,680 --> 01:12:43,880
Speaker 2: I mean it's no extra bells and whistles, which fascinates

1056
01:12:43,920 --> 01:12:49,120
Speaker 2: me because here's this woman who is one of the

1057
01:12:49,120 --> 01:12:53,720
Speaker 2: most decorated women in Hollywood, who doesn't require all of that.

1058
01:12:55,280 --> 01:13:02,479
Speaker 2: And then you meet a reality star and us they

1059
01:13:02,560 --> 01:13:08,240
Speaker 2: got ten assistants, and I just I think it is

1060
01:13:08,360 --> 01:13:11,720
Speaker 2: a key and I'm not reading them, but I think

1061
01:13:11,800 --> 01:13:12,640
Speaker 2: it's fascinating.

1062
01:13:12,680 --> 01:13:17,200
Speaker 1: No, no read them, because no read read them because

1063
01:13:17,840 --> 01:13:23,120
Speaker 1: I listen. I always tell the girls, and my girls

1064
01:13:23,160 --> 01:13:27,559
Speaker 1: are the reality girls. I always tell them, like, this

1065
01:13:27,760 --> 01:13:31,120
Speaker 1: is not going to end well for you, because to

1066
01:13:31,280 --> 01:13:35,040
Speaker 1: have an ego of this magnitude and this diva quality

1067
01:13:35,080 --> 01:13:37,760
Speaker 1: of being late, showing them when you feel like it,

1068
01:13:38,479 --> 01:13:42,880
Speaker 1: disrespecting the crew, talking to the producers any kind of way,

1069
01:13:43,880 --> 01:13:47,600
Speaker 1: shading your producers on social media because you don't like

1070
01:13:47,640 --> 01:13:49,479
Speaker 1: the way the episode, or whatever the case may be

1071
01:13:50,080 --> 01:13:51,679
Speaker 1: going against everybody around you.

1072
01:13:52,600 --> 01:13:54,160
Speaker 2: That's not going to end well for you.

1073
01:13:54,640 --> 01:13:57,439
Speaker 1: So when you have someone like Glenn Close, who, like

1074
01:13:57,479 --> 01:13:59,479
Speaker 1: you said, is one of the most decorated women in

1075
01:13:59,560 --> 01:14:03,320
Speaker 1: the world, who shows up, does her job and goes

1076
01:14:03,360 --> 01:14:05,080
Speaker 1: home and doesn't require a lot.

1077
01:14:05,000 --> 01:14:08,880
Speaker 2: And is a team player, you know, wants the best

1078
01:14:08,960 --> 01:14:12,400
Speaker 2: for the scene, wants the best for everybody in the scene.

1079
01:14:12,680 --> 01:14:15,479
Speaker 2: On the on the during the birthday party and we

1080
01:14:15,479 --> 01:14:18,400
Speaker 2: were singing Happy Birthday. What they didn't show is that

1081
01:14:18,439 --> 01:14:21,320
Speaker 2: we went into the black version of Happy Birthday, Happy

1082
01:14:21,439 --> 01:14:28,200
Speaker 2: Birthday to you, and Glenn was like, hey, can you

1083
01:14:28,240 --> 01:14:31,680
Speaker 2: help me out, Like, how does it go? Can you

1084
01:14:31,720 --> 01:14:35,679
Speaker 2: teach it to me? Really quick? I got to teach

1085
01:14:35,720 --> 01:14:40,599
Speaker 2: Glenn Close how to do the black version of Happy Birthday,

1086
01:14:40,600 --> 01:14:43,559
Speaker 2: and honey, she did it. Oh, I bet she did.

1087
01:14:43,840 --> 01:14:46,599
Speaker 2: She did it. You know they didn't that part didn't

1088
01:14:46,600 --> 01:14:48,920
Speaker 2: make the cut, but she did it. And I mean,

1089
01:14:49,080 --> 01:14:52,400
Speaker 2: you know, just and just down to her wanting to

1090
01:14:52,439 --> 01:14:55,680
Speaker 2: make sure that she got you know, some of our

1091
01:14:55,840 --> 01:15:01,120
Speaker 2: sound right, you know the diction, you know, Glenn Close

1092
01:15:01,280 --> 01:15:06,000
Speaker 2: asking me, and I'm just like wow. So it's those

1093
01:15:06,160 --> 01:15:11,120
Speaker 2: opportunities that I've been afforded that I wouldn't. It's priceless.

1094
01:15:11,680 --> 01:15:16,160
Speaker 2: It's priceless. Yeah, So what's next for you? Well, what's

1095
01:15:16,240 --> 01:15:20,599
Speaker 2: next for miss Lawrence? Well, there was a show on

1096
01:15:20,640 --> 01:15:29,400
Speaker 2: the horizon, like a TV show. There's a scripted drama

1097
01:15:29,840 --> 01:15:34,439
Speaker 2: TV show on the horizon. I don't know if I

1098
01:15:34,479 --> 01:15:36,479
Speaker 2: can talk too too much about it, but it's been

1099
01:15:36,520 --> 01:15:41,960
Speaker 2: in the work for maybe three four years now, so

1100
01:15:42,040 --> 01:15:50,920
Speaker 2: we are extremely close to starting on a big network.

1101
01:15:52,080 --> 01:15:55,040
Speaker 2: I will I think this time. I think this time,

1102
01:15:55,040 --> 01:15:57,599
Speaker 2: I'm gonna be number one on the call. She number

1103
01:15:57,640 --> 01:16:00,360
Speaker 2: one the call show I'm starting in. This will be

1104
01:16:00,479 --> 01:16:03,360
Speaker 2: the star if it is a Lead Daniel's production, Lee

1105
01:16:03,439 --> 01:16:07,280
Speaker 2: Daniels production. I'm super super excited about it. I can't

1106
01:16:07,280 --> 01:16:09,080
Speaker 2: tell you this is that I will be a detective.

1107
01:16:11,520 --> 01:16:15,280
Speaker 2: I will be a detective. Yeah, so my work is

1108
01:16:15,320 --> 01:16:19,559
Speaker 2: cut out for me. So I got to be running,

1109
01:16:19,760 --> 01:16:24,720
Speaker 2: I gotta be jumping, chasing after I gotta do all

1110
01:16:24,840 --> 01:16:29,400
Speaker 2: that and I am so ready. Don't make me cry. Yeah,

1111
01:16:29,760 --> 01:16:32,920
Speaker 2: I'm I'm super excited about that. So that is what

1112
01:16:33,040 --> 01:16:36,000
Speaker 2: is in the near future. That's what's next. You deserve

1113
01:16:36,080 --> 01:16:39,320
Speaker 2: all this plus more. You really you you, you have

1114
01:16:39,400 --> 01:16:40,200
Speaker 2: never changed.

1115
01:16:40,720 --> 01:16:44,000
Speaker 1: You are the same missus Lawrence since two thousand and

1116
01:16:44,040 --> 01:16:47,160
Speaker 1: eight that they have met you. You haven't allowed this

1117
01:16:47,320 --> 01:16:52,120
Speaker 1: fame to come to your head. You went to Charay's

1118
01:16:52,120 --> 01:16:55,280
Speaker 1: fashion show to support her because you knew what a

1119
01:16:55,280 --> 01:17:01,120
Speaker 1: big deal that was for Charae even recently hasn't obviously

1120
01:17:01,400 --> 01:17:04,880
Speaker 1: this season hasn't, this upcoming season has not aired. But

1121
01:17:05,000 --> 01:17:09,840
Speaker 1: obviously Kenya Moore had a hair showing her salon and

1122
01:17:09,960 --> 01:17:14,559
Speaker 1: you were, you know, there. What can you say to

1123
01:17:14,680 --> 01:17:17,080
Speaker 1: the world about how Kenya is doing because you were

1124
01:17:17,120 --> 01:17:19,000
Speaker 1: actually there when that whole thing went down.

1125
01:17:20,040 --> 01:17:23,479
Speaker 2: You know what's funny, I wasn't there when that happened.

1126
01:17:23,600 --> 01:17:26,920
Speaker 2: I was there. I did the part Kenya asked me

1127
01:17:27,000 --> 01:17:31,559
Speaker 2: to do, which was judge a hair show with Cynthia

1128
01:17:31,640 --> 01:17:34,760
Speaker 2: was there and I left right afterwards. Now, everything that

1129
01:17:34,840 --> 01:17:38,559
Speaker 2: happened at I was like, what happened? I couldn't believe

1130
01:17:38,600 --> 01:17:40,240
Speaker 2: all this. I didn't know. I was like, well, I

1131
01:17:40,240 --> 01:17:41,760
Speaker 2: didn't see none of that, So I don't know what

1132
01:17:41,840 --> 01:17:45,800
Speaker 2: y'all talking about. But yeah, I don't know. And I

1133
01:17:45,920 --> 01:17:51,320
Speaker 2: talked to Kenya maybe maybe a month after that happened.

1134
01:17:52,760 --> 01:17:57,640
Speaker 2: King is good, Kenya is good. I learned that the

1135
01:17:57,720 --> 01:18:00,280
Speaker 2: rumors were not true that she wasn't fired, that she

1136
01:18:00,520 --> 01:18:07,479
Speaker 2: wasn't suspended. They, to my understanding, had just paused her

1137
01:18:07,840 --> 01:18:12,080
Speaker 2: part of our side of the production. That's That's pretty

1138
01:18:12,160 --> 01:18:16,840
Speaker 2: much all that I know. Do I think it's fair? No,

1139
01:18:17,880 --> 01:18:25,800
Speaker 2: I don't, because the show was built off of the

1140
01:18:25,880 --> 01:18:30,680
Speaker 2: shadiest and nastiest drama and shade and reading you could

1141
01:18:30,720 --> 01:18:34,960
Speaker 2: possibly think of. So I was very surprised and taken

1142
01:18:35,040 --> 01:18:39,719
Speaker 2: back that, you know, she had to suffer in whatever

1143
01:18:39,760 --> 01:18:43,960
Speaker 2: way because of what transpired and what is what exactly transpired.

1144
01:18:44,040 --> 01:18:48,040
Speaker 2: I have no idea the severity of whatever the repercussions were.

1145
01:18:48,040 --> 01:18:51,200
Speaker 2: I have no idea, but just based on what I've read,

1146
01:18:51,920 --> 01:18:54,439
Speaker 2: I'm like, oh, that's not fair if what they're saying

1147
01:18:54,479 --> 01:18:56,599
Speaker 2: is true. And what I what I love about Kenya.

1148
01:18:57,040 --> 01:19:00,439
Speaker 2: When she and I talked, we spend more time about

1149
01:19:00,439 --> 01:19:02,800
Speaker 2: her wanting to know if I'm okay and how things

1150
01:19:02,840 --> 01:19:06,439
Speaker 2: are going with me. So we talked very briefly about

1151
01:19:06,439 --> 01:19:11,000
Speaker 2: the show. We talk about Brooklyn, you know, stuff like that.

1152
01:19:11,280 --> 01:19:15,240
Speaker 2: So it But to answer your question, I think Kenya

1153
01:19:15,320 --> 01:19:18,920
Speaker 2: is doing I think she's doing quite well. Yeah, I

1154
01:19:18,960 --> 01:19:24,280
Speaker 2: think Kenya has surpassed what her original goal was in

1155
01:19:24,360 --> 01:19:29,280
Speaker 2: terms of being a part of Housewives of Atlanta. I

1156
01:19:29,320 --> 01:19:32,800
Speaker 2: don't think she intended to stay this long. So I

1157
01:19:32,840 --> 01:19:36,840
Speaker 2: think she's doing well. You know, and sometimes, you know,

1158
01:19:36,880 --> 01:19:39,840
Speaker 2: when things get shaken up, it is time to go

1159
01:19:39,960 --> 01:19:43,120
Speaker 2: on and figure out what's next. And sometimes if you

1160
01:19:43,200 --> 01:19:45,240
Speaker 2: don't do it, the universe will make you or God

1161
01:19:45,240 --> 01:19:46,280
Speaker 2: will make you. Baby.

1162
01:19:47,600 --> 01:19:51,040
Speaker 1: Yes, and then you have to accept the reality of

1163
01:19:51,080 --> 01:19:54,680
Speaker 1: the situation. Yeah, don't feel bad for yourself. And no,

1164
01:19:55,240 --> 01:19:57,519
Speaker 1: this is this is true. You're living proof of it.

1165
01:19:57,760 --> 01:20:02,680
Speaker 1: So in my in terms of God will stop an

1166
01:20:02,760 --> 01:20:05,200
Speaker 1: opportunity for you because there.

1167
01:20:05,200 --> 01:20:07,920
Speaker 2: We will block it to bless it. Oh, He'll block

1168
01:20:08,000 --> 01:20:13,280
Speaker 2: it to bless it. He will block it to bless it. No,

1169
01:20:13,320 --> 01:20:16,360
Speaker 2: I received that. I received that. Are you in love?

1170
01:20:16,560 --> 01:20:28,360
Speaker 2: Are you dating? Oh? I mean I have a very

1171
01:20:28,479 --> 01:20:35,120
Speaker 2: strong situationship. What does that mean? That's all I say.

1172
01:20:35,640 --> 01:20:38,160
Speaker 2: I have a very strong situationship.

1173
01:20:38,840 --> 01:20:42,040
Speaker 1: How long has this strong situationship been in effect?

1174
01:20:43,400 --> 01:20:47,080
Speaker 2: A long time? That's all I can say. Yeah, I'm

1175
01:20:47,120 --> 01:20:51,280
Speaker 2: not going into that next question. No, I'm just saying,

1176
01:20:52,960 --> 01:20:59,000
Speaker 2: but you are happy? I am. I'm comfortable. Yeah, I'm comfortable.

1177
01:20:59,560 --> 01:21:01,360
Speaker 2: Look at you. You vision it for the water. Okay,

1178
01:21:01,400 --> 01:21:06,799
Speaker 2: I'm comfortable. I'm comfortable, no complaints. I don't have any complaints.

1179
01:21:06,880 --> 01:21:12,800
Speaker 2: I'm not I am. I am still. I am still

1180
01:21:12,880 --> 01:21:20,479
Speaker 2: driven and excited about where I'm going and what I

1181
01:21:20,560 --> 01:21:23,559
Speaker 2: know has been promised to me, and so I don't

1182
01:21:23,680 --> 01:21:27,679
Speaker 2: want to be too too distracted. So I think where

1183
01:21:27,720 --> 01:21:31,839
Speaker 2: I am in my situation is perfect.

1184
01:21:33,080 --> 01:21:37,400
Speaker 1: And as a fellow Libra, I could not agree with

1185
01:21:37,439 --> 01:21:43,960
Speaker 1: you more same obviously very private people. The relationship part.

1186
01:21:44,040 --> 01:21:46,800
Speaker 1: I just think that's just something that is over there

1187
01:21:47,600 --> 01:21:50,439
Speaker 1: and what it does not that you need my advice

1188
01:21:50,479 --> 01:21:54,600
Speaker 1: because you don't, because you're very wise for your young age.

1189
01:21:54,840 --> 01:21:58,040
Speaker 1: But I would say keep it that way and it

1190
01:21:58,040 --> 01:22:01,559
Speaker 1: has worked out for you. I have known this man

1191
01:22:01,840 --> 01:22:04,200
Speaker 1: since two thousand and eight. I have never seen him

1192
01:22:04,200 --> 01:22:07,639
Speaker 1: on a date. I have never seen I have never

1193
01:22:07,840 --> 01:22:08,920
Speaker 1: ever ever.

1194
01:22:09,160 --> 01:22:12,560
Speaker 2: He's you know, So I love it about you.

1195
01:22:12,560 --> 01:22:17,360
Speaker 1: You really keep that separate and that's amazing.

1196
01:22:19,240 --> 01:22:24,360
Speaker 2: You know. Historically speaking, you know this from all your

1197
01:22:24,439 --> 01:22:28,840
Speaker 2: girls on the show. Every time a couple is introduced

1198
01:22:29,000 --> 01:22:34,720
Speaker 2: by it is not long lived on them shows, and

1199
01:22:34,960 --> 01:22:39,639
Speaker 2: it's a rap. Keep that shit to yourself, now, I get,

1200
01:22:39,760 --> 01:22:42,840
Speaker 2: And like when you talk about reality shows, that's a

1201
01:22:42,920 --> 01:22:45,200
Speaker 2: part of it. They want to know who your significant others,

1202
01:22:45,280 --> 01:22:48,360
Speaker 2: so that's a part of it. So I honestly don't

1203
01:22:48,400 --> 01:22:50,320
Speaker 2: even have any advice for people that are going into

1204
01:22:50,320 --> 01:22:54,200
Speaker 2: reality shows and you know, you know, getting match made

1205
01:22:54,320 --> 01:22:57,519
Speaker 2: and all that kind of stuff, because I don't know

1206
01:22:57,560 --> 01:22:59,960
Speaker 2: what it would take to keep that type of unionship,

1207
01:23:00,600 --> 01:23:05,960
Speaker 2: our relationship or courtship or whatever together in the face

1208
01:23:06,320 --> 01:23:13,040
Speaker 2: of the camera and everything that comes with that camera.

1209
01:23:13,840 --> 01:23:17,680
Speaker 2: I don't know. No. I told.

1210
01:23:19,640 --> 01:23:25,000
Speaker 1: Somebody recently that be happy that you're down on the

1211
01:23:25,040 --> 01:23:28,680
Speaker 1: show anymore, because I think your husband is waiting for you.

1212
01:23:29,920 --> 01:23:33,160
Speaker 1: And I said, in my opinion, I don't think you

1213
01:23:33,200 --> 01:23:36,000
Speaker 1: will ever meet a man being on the show. And

1214
01:23:36,760 --> 01:23:41,280
Speaker 1: what's interesting is you low key don't want a man

1215
01:23:41,520 --> 01:23:43,800
Speaker 1: who's too eager to film on the show.

1216
01:23:43,920 --> 01:23:46,280
Speaker 2: No, because it's not real, you know what I'm saying.

1217
01:23:46,720 --> 01:23:52,800
Speaker 1: I said, so take this opportunity to find possibly you're

1218
01:23:52,880 --> 01:23:57,759
Speaker 1: happily ever after, and I do believe that for this person.

1219
01:24:00,040 --> 01:24:03,799
Speaker 2: Thank you, miss Lawrence. This was everything a long time coming.

1220
01:24:05,880 --> 01:24:09,080
Speaker 3: I'm actually several times, but this is the perfect time

1221
01:24:09,120 --> 01:24:10,840
Speaker 3: to do it, and I like the fact that we

1222
01:24:10,880 --> 01:24:13,679
Speaker 3: can do it in person, one on one, in this setting,

1223
01:24:14,280 --> 01:24:18,880
Speaker 3: celebrating you having the number one movie on Netflix for

1224
01:24:19,280 --> 01:24:20,080
Speaker 3: over a week.

1225
01:24:20,600 --> 01:24:23,360
Speaker 2: Yes, two weeks, now two weeks. Think, yeah for two weeks.

1226
01:24:23,400 --> 01:24:26,519
Speaker 2: So congratulations, I love you. I love you too. Yeah.

1227
01:24:26,600 --> 01:24:33,000
Speaker 2: Give it up for miss Lauren. Thank you for listening

1228
01:24:33,000 --> 01:24:34,320
Speaker 2: to Reality with the Kings.

1229
01:24:34,640 --> 01:24:40,320
Speaker 1: New episodes drop on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Share, comment, follow,

1230
01:24:40,520 --> 01:24:44,080
Speaker 1: and subscribe to Reality with the King Wherever you get

1231
01:24:44,200 --> 01:24:48,559
Speaker 1: your podcast, visit Reality withthe King dot com and be

1232
01:24:48,640 --> 01:24:54,560
Speaker 1: sure to follow me at the Carlos King Underscore on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok,

1233
01:24:54,720 --> 01:24:57,639
Speaker 1: and Yes, Baby, my YouTube channel where you can get

1234
01:24:57,680 --> 01:25:01,880
Speaker 1: all of my visuals, baby, my expressions. Yeah, and don't

1235
01:25:01,880 --> 01:25:05,160
Speaker 1: forget tweet me your thoughts and hot takes about this

1236
01:25:05,320 --> 01:25:11,000
Speaker 1: episode using the hashtag Reality with the King. Reality with

1237
01:25:11,040 --> 01:25:15,240
Speaker 1: the King is a production of Kingdom Rain Entertainment, an

1238
01:25:15,280 --> 01:25:31,919
Speaker 1: executive produced by Me Carlos King, Kingdom Rain Entertainment, Baby,