WEBVTT - Tracy Ellis Ross Speaks on Girlfriends + Stephen A. Smith Gets Called Out 0:00:02.279 --> 0:00:04.720 I'm a homegrow that knows a little bit about everything 0:00:04.800 --> 0:00:05.640 and everybody. 0:00:06.519 --> 0:00:08.240 You know, if you don't lie about that, right, Lauren 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:08.640 came in. 0:00:10.119 --> 0:00:10.840 Hey, y'all, what's up. 0:00:10.880 --> 0:00:13.800 It's Laura l Rosa and this is another episode of 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:16.439 the Latest with Laura l Rosa. This is your daily 0:00:16.440 --> 0:00:19.720 dig of all things pop culture, entertainment, news, and all 0:00:19.760 --> 0:00:21.760 of the conversations that shake the room. 0:00:21.840 --> 0:00:25.600 Baby. 0:00:25.720 --> 0:00:27.639 So checking in behind the scenes of the ground. You 0:00:27.640 --> 0:00:30.639 guys know, we did the photo shoot. I've been telling 0:00:30.680 --> 0:00:33.839 you guys or keeping you just along the journey with 0:00:33.880 --> 0:00:36.680 me behind the scenes as I'm like I was gonna say, 0:00:36.720 --> 0:00:39.680 like building the business side of it, but like it's 0:00:39.840 --> 0:00:42.080 been there, I think now I'm just. 0:00:42.880 --> 0:00:45.680 Not elevating it. I'm I'm leveling it up. 0:00:46.040 --> 0:00:50.120 We're leveling up the business side of the business when 0:00:50.159 --> 0:00:53.240 it comes to the podcast. You know me as talent 0:00:53.760 --> 0:00:55.680 and just really learning how to like be in a 0:00:55.720 --> 0:00:58.920 talent space, so you know, one of the things that 0:00:59.280 --> 0:01:01.920 is required or images and photos and all the things. 0:01:02.160 --> 0:01:03.600 And we used to do a lot of photo shoots 0:01:03.640 --> 0:01:06.600 when I had more time. Now I'm always just trying 0:01:06.600 --> 0:01:08.640 to focus on making sure my quality of my work 0:01:08.760 --> 0:01:10.959 is good that I kind of don't even take the 0:01:11.080 --> 0:01:14.920 time to also pop out, you know, with the new 0:01:14.959 --> 0:01:16.960 photos and the photo shoots and the brand deals and 0:01:17.000 --> 0:01:20.200 all that stuff. But I'm literally at the point now, 0:01:20.360 --> 0:01:23.360 y'all where it's not a thing of a my questioning 0:01:23.920 --> 0:01:26.520 am I really supposed to be here? Which is weird 0:01:26.520 --> 0:01:29.040 because I didn't start off that way. It just slowly 0:01:29.080 --> 0:01:30.720 crept up on me, and I was fighting that for 0:01:30.760 --> 0:01:34.600 like three months. It's not that though, not that at all. Now, 0:01:34.640 --> 0:01:40.040 it's just a thing of you only get a set 0:01:40.120 --> 0:01:43.280 window to make mistakes and what I do, so I'm 0:01:43.280 --> 0:01:45.640 always focused on, like, is the work right, Am I 0:01:45.680 --> 0:01:49.520 making mistakes or not? And in order to do that, 0:01:49.760 --> 0:01:52.000 a lot of times me and the things that I 0:01:52.080 --> 0:01:55.240 personally want to do outside of what I'm reporting and 0:01:55.480 --> 0:01:57.720 the information I'm trying to get right take such a 0:01:57.760 --> 0:02:00.760 back burner. I'm learning how to balance, I'm learning how 0:02:00.800 --> 0:02:02.800 to bob and weave. Okay, So this weekend we did 0:02:02.840 --> 0:02:04.760 that photo shoot. We actually did some of it at 0:02:04.800 --> 0:02:07.040 the Breakfast Club studio, which is cool because my little brother, 0:02:07.440 --> 0:02:09.560 he shot a lot of the behind the scenes and 0:02:10.720 --> 0:02:13.560 was able to come to the Breakfast Club studio. He's 0:02:13.600 --> 0:02:16.080 been here, but he's never been in the studio, so 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:17.480 that was cool and just to you know, be working 0:02:17.480 --> 0:02:18.040 with him and have. 0:02:18.040 --> 0:02:19.600 Him on the team. 0:02:19.760 --> 0:02:21.639 So we do have some of the audio just from 0:02:21.680 --> 0:02:24.480 behind the scenes of the photo shoot, conversations you guys 0:02:24.520 --> 0:02:26.160 will hear me kind of like going through and giving 0:02:26.200 --> 0:02:26.959 instruction a bit. 0:02:28.240 --> 0:02:29.320 Yeah, I'm excited. 0:02:29.440 --> 0:02:31.840 I think that this is like a whole new era 0:02:32.080 --> 0:02:35.600 of walking into the room like God sent you there. 0:02:36.360 --> 0:02:37.640 That's like it doesn't send to me, y'all be in 0:02:37.639 --> 0:02:42.800 a business woman. And the thing about this is like 0:02:42.880 --> 0:02:45.880 whenever I see these lists of like the top paid 0:02:45.880 --> 0:02:49.160 podcasters and you know, Forbes doing list on you know, 0:02:49.240 --> 0:02:52.200 podcasters who are dominating the money that they're making, and 0:02:52.720 --> 0:02:54.800 you know, like those type of lists. One of the 0:02:54.800 --> 0:02:59.040 things that I always ask questions about, and normally it's 0:02:59.160 --> 0:03:04.160 to Charlomagne, is what sets these podcasters apart from all 0:03:04.160 --> 0:03:07.720 the other people that pack the mic. And what I 0:03:07.800 --> 0:03:10.079 notice a lot of is the business, like the infrastructure 0:03:10.080 --> 0:03:13.120 that they've built around them, like podcasting and turn it 0:03:13.120 --> 0:03:15.440 on these microphones, and the talent of it is literally 0:03:15.480 --> 0:03:20.600 one part I think sustaining even if you never you know, 0:03:22.280 --> 0:03:26.480 even if the growth is never vertical, right, And I 0:03:26.520 --> 0:03:29.800 mean like that means you hit a spot and you're good. 0:03:29.840 --> 0:03:31.960 You're able to provide for yourself people know about the 0:03:32.000 --> 0:03:34.400 show is doing everything you needed to do, but it 0:03:34.440 --> 0:03:37.200 never goes up from there. There is a business model 0:03:37.240 --> 0:03:39.440 that is needed in the infrastructure that is needed around 0:03:40.160 --> 0:03:42.160 your voice and your talent so that you'll be able 0:03:42.200 --> 0:03:44.200 to sustain that. Now, I don't want to hit a 0:03:44.200 --> 0:03:46.840 plateau and hit a ceiling and look up and be like, dang, 0:03:46.920 --> 0:03:50.200 I can't Like I want to always feel my business 0:03:50.200 --> 0:03:52.520 model needing to grow, the pivot needed to happen, and 0:03:52.600 --> 0:03:56.320 understand that. But I say that to say, those podcasters 0:03:56.320 --> 0:03:59.320 who are able to sustain on very high levels, they 0:03:59.360 --> 0:04:01.840 have this understand all of. 0:04:01.800 --> 0:04:03.320 It works together for the greater good. 0:04:03.600 --> 0:04:06.280 And I'm teaching myself that, And I'm also teaching myself 0:04:07.320 --> 0:04:09.600 that it is okay for me to be thinking like 0:04:09.640 --> 0:04:13.680 that in this era of my life, because when you 0:04:13.840 --> 0:04:17.920 are a person who is having conversations about people and 0:04:17.960 --> 0:04:23.400 things in a journalistic way, you're not the story, Like 0:04:23.480 --> 0:04:28.000 I've never been the story for real. But if you 0:04:28.080 --> 0:04:30.160 building a talent, if you're building a personality, if you're 0:04:30.160 --> 0:04:33.240 building a podcast, with a community that listens to you 0:04:33.360 --> 0:04:38.120 daily and grows with you. I'm here, I'm letting y'all 0:04:38.160 --> 0:04:41.560 lan We're doing this thing. So yeah, this is one 0:04:41.560 --> 0:04:43.279 of many to come. I'm also really proud of the 0:04:43.320 --> 0:04:44.960 team that I've built, Like that was one of my 0:04:44.960 --> 0:04:48.040 biggest takeaways after this weekend as well too. It's like 0:04:48.080 --> 0:04:50.880 I have a really really strong team. We're all learning 0:04:50.960 --> 0:04:55.800 and growing and young and excited, but we're getting We're 0:04:55.839 --> 0:04:56.480 doing what we. 0:04:56.440 --> 0:04:56.800 Need to do. 0:04:56.839 --> 0:04:58.719 Everybody's performing on the level that we need to perform 0:04:58.720 --> 0:05:00.719 on for this to elevate and what it's going to do. 0:05:00.800 --> 0:05:03.359 So you guys will see some of those images soon. 0:05:04.040 --> 0:05:06.000 We have some big announcements coming up that we'll be 0:05:06.080 --> 0:05:08.480 using those for, and of course across social So yeah, 0:05:08.560 --> 0:05:11.240 make sure you guys are following me everywhere. Laura le 0:05:11.360 --> 0:05:13.680 Rosa l O r E N l O R O 0:05:13.960 --> 0:05:18.520 s A. Now let's get on into the latest. Now, 0:05:18.560 --> 0:05:23.000 speaking of journalism or personalities, Tracy Ellis Rass is having 0:05:23.040 --> 0:05:25.120 a conversation. I know that we had this conversation often 0:05:25.120 --> 0:05:27.640 about why girlfriends did not get there just do when 0:05:27.680 --> 0:05:32.280 the show was at its peak. She actually calls out 0:05:32.440 --> 0:05:36.440 Jay Leno during this conversation, let's take a listen. 0:05:36.920 --> 0:05:40.600 Never had thought no talk shows, no Tonight Show, no 0:05:41.240 --> 0:05:45.000 David Letterman, no, no Emmy's. Had never been to the 0:05:45.000 --> 0:05:46.839 Emmy line, had never been. 0:05:46.720 --> 0:05:49.200 To anyone, never on a late night show. 0:05:49.320 --> 0:05:49.400 No. 0:05:49.480 --> 0:05:52.600 As a matter of fact, I have a story. It 0:05:52.800 --> 0:05:56.680 was Jay Leno and I had girlfriends and the comment 0:05:57.160 --> 0:06:00.640 was we love Tracy call Us when she at something 0:06:01.720 --> 0:06:05.599 and oh yeah, And I was like, I remember thinking, 0:06:05.760 --> 0:06:08.520 get what, like, what else do you have to get? 0:06:08.960 --> 0:06:12.520 I don't know, and it just was not we love her, 0:06:12.880 --> 0:06:15.159 but it was not considered. And the other thing was 0:06:15.600 --> 0:06:18.320 I remember this. I remember specifically the show Monk. Do 0:06:18.360 --> 0:06:24.080 you remember that that show had a quarter of our viewership? 0:06:24.600 --> 0:06:26.640 A quarter of our viewership? 0:06:27.080 --> 0:06:29.240 And I remember seeing him on the show, and I 0:06:29.320 --> 0:06:32.600 was so confused, and I was like, I don't understand. 0:06:33.160 --> 0:06:34.159 Is it viewership? 0:06:34.480 --> 0:06:36.240 And the only thing you can boil it down to 0:06:36.360 --> 0:06:37.640 you're like, is it just racism? 0:06:37.720 --> 0:06:39.680 Like I don't, like, I'm not sure how to like, 0:06:39.720 --> 0:06:40.840 how do you categorize it? 0:06:40.960 --> 0:06:42.960 Like I don't know what it is. I never went 0:06:43.000 --> 0:06:44.240 to the Emmys. The first time I went to the 0:06:44.279 --> 0:06:45.520 Emmys was on Blackish. 0:06:46.080 --> 0:06:49.120 Yoh, this is crazy. Yeah, this is like, this is 0:06:49.240 --> 0:06:50.440 to me, this is mind blowing. 0:06:50.720 --> 0:06:53.479 So yeah, because they they all existed in the same Yeah, 0:06:53.520 --> 0:06:55.040 and ignorantly. 0:06:54.600 --> 0:06:56.160 Because we were in South Africa. 0:06:56.279 --> 0:06:58.400 We're just watching this going these are all the same, 0:06:59.360 --> 0:07:01.039 they all occupy the same level. 0:07:01.160 --> 0:07:01.760 So interesting. 0:07:01.800 --> 0:07:02.560 I've never heard that. 0:07:02.560 --> 0:07:04.479 I would be honest with y'all, like, I'm a huge 0:07:04.520 --> 0:07:07.080 fan of the show Girlfriends. I love mar brockyck Kill, 0:07:07.240 --> 0:07:10.160 I love all the cast of Girlfriends, and I know 0:07:10.400 --> 0:07:12.680 so many of the like behind the scenes stories, like 0:07:13.120 --> 0:07:16.200 I've heard Tracy alas Strauss talk about having to like 0:07:17.200 --> 0:07:21.080 literally fund a lot of her own wardrobe and them 0:07:21.120 --> 0:07:24.240 having to borrow the clothing from each other. I've heard 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:27.040 Mar brocka Kill talk about that as well. I've you know, 0:07:27.880 --> 0:07:31.520 heard the conversations about more money being needed to ever 0:07:31.560 --> 0:07:34.720 bring Girlfriends back in the right way. Today, Mark brock 0:07:34.880 --> 0:07:36.640 Kill was just on a breakfast club talking about that. 0:07:37.760 --> 0:07:40.120 But this was the first time that I heard, you know, 0:07:40.200 --> 0:07:42.680 some of the specifics around, like even the promotion of 0:07:42.720 --> 0:07:44.720 the show and what did not go well. And I 0:07:44.720 --> 0:07:46.960 think what was so surprising for me is Girlfriends has 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:51.240 always been a huge show to me, Like I've never 0:07:51.400 --> 0:07:56.520 felt like there was any promotion or you know, marketing 0:07:56.920 --> 0:08:00.239 not there because by the time, like by the time 0:08:00.280 --> 0:08:02.840 I came, I got to age where I could understand 0:08:02.880 --> 0:08:05.160 the show and what it meant to us, and it 0:08:05.240 --> 0:08:09.480 was already like this iconic, like historic piece of culture, 0:08:10.160 --> 0:08:13.080 you know what I mean, Like the Girlfriend's cast literally 0:08:13.720 --> 0:08:17.080 the symbolism of them is such an embedded iconic piece 0:08:17.080 --> 0:08:20.200 of culture. And for all of the time that I 0:08:20.240 --> 0:08:22.240 can remember, it was that I've only ever heard stories 0:08:22.240 --> 0:08:24.760 about the other stuff. So hearing her talk about Jay 0:08:24.800 --> 0:08:26.880 Lennon and I'm like, you know, Jay Little during his 0:08:26.960 --> 0:08:29.440 time was one of the biggest late night talk shows. 0:08:30.320 --> 0:08:31.960 How do you not have the biggest with the biggest 0:08:31.960 --> 0:08:35.400 And I'm like, okay, putting things into perspective, they weren't 0:08:35.440 --> 0:08:36.120 treated that way. 0:08:36.160 --> 0:08:37.079 And a lot of it too. 0:08:37.160 --> 0:08:41.120 I've heard people have conversations about sex and the city 0:08:41.200 --> 0:08:46.040 in comparison to girlfriends and how you know, designers and 0:08:46.080 --> 0:08:48.400 fashion houses would throw clothing at sex in the city 0:08:48.440 --> 0:08:50.760 because these were white women living these lives and it 0:08:50.800 --> 0:08:53.000 was so much more believable that they could do it 0:08:53.080 --> 0:08:54.040 versus the black women. 0:08:56.000 --> 0:08:59.280 But yeah, pretty interesting to hear one of the things 0:08:59.280 --> 0:08:59.840 for me too. 0:09:00.040 --> 0:09:02.600 That I always think about when it comes to the 0:09:02.679 --> 0:09:05.559 Girlfriend's cast and remake and the things that didn't happen 0:09:05.600 --> 0:09:10.559 for them, is what would have been the ending of 0:09:10.600 --> 0:09:14.079 the show if all of that had actually gone right, right, 0:09:14.400 --> 0:09:15.720 Like if they had been able to stay on for 0:09:15.800 --> 0:09:17.839 more seasons, if they had gotten the budgets that they 0:09:17.880 --> 0:09:21.120 needed to you know, build in the wardrobe the way 0:09:21.120 --> 0:09:23.960 that they wanted to continue the things that they were doing. 0:09:24.080 --> 0:09:26.400 I mean, we've even asked for their not to even 0:09:26.440 --> 0:09:30.000 be a full like second part of the series, but 0:09:30.080 --> 0:09:32.160 to just bring in like even if they did, like 0:09:32.559 --> 0:09:33.040 Sex and. 0:09:32.960 --> 0:09:35.880 The City did two movies. 0:09:35.679 --> 0:09:38.720 Before they brought back an actual you know, and just 0:09:38.760 --> 0:09:42.199 like that Sex and a Series TV show. We've asked 0:09:42.240 --> 0:09:45.080 for even if it just one Girlfriend's movie, so we 0:09:45.120 --> 0:09:48.079 could get the closure of the cast and the stories. 0:09:48.920 --> 0:09:51.720 I always wonder like what would that be, Like, what 0:09:51.840 --> 0:09:54.960 would be the storyline, especially in today's time, like there's 0:09:55.000 --> 0:09:57.640 so much to be talked about. These women have lived 0:09:57.679 --> 0:10:01.280 so much life. Marl Brock I killed, you know, genius 0:10:01.320 --> 0:10:04.839 writer and brains behind the show has done so much. 0:10:05.400 --> 0:10:09.560 Would that be and why y'all let me know? I mean, 0:10:09.800 --> 0:10:12.600 I have my idea. I think at this point, you know, 0:10:12.679 --> 0:10:14.800 some of the things that didn't end the best, like 0:10:14.840 --> 0:10:20.800 people's love lives, careers, shoot Lynne, just finding a home 0:10:20.840 --> 0:10:22.760 of our own. Some of those things, of course would 0:10:22.800 --> 0:10:24.280 be answered. But you know, I feel like what the 0:10:24.320 --> 0:10:26.680 Girlfriend's show, the beauty of it was like there was 0:10:26.679 --> 0:10:28.960 those small things and simple things on the top, but 0:10:29.280 --> 0:10:31.720 at the crevices of it, there were these really deep 0:10:31.760 --> 0:10:34.360 conversations that like women, like especially as a black woman, 0:10:34.440 --> 0:10:38.200 we felt like yeah, girl, yes, like thank you for 0:10:38.240 --> 0:10:38.600 saying it. 0:10:38.640 --> 0:10:39.760 What would be the thank you for saying it? 0:10:39.840 --> 0:10:44.400 Of twenty twenty six for The Girlfriend's Cast, Shifting gears 0:10:44.440 --> 0:10:49.880 a bit. Speaking of journalism and conversations, nab j Okay 0:10:50.320 --> 0:10:54.480 had a conversation about Steven A. Smith, not even had 0:10:54.520 --> 0:10:57.640 a conversation, but they started a conversation about Stephen A. 0:10:57.720 --> 0:10:58.000 Smith. 0:10:58.440 --> 0:11:02.280 So NABJ and then Association of Black Journalists, which is 0:11:02.640 --> 0:11:06.640 an organization full of journalists journalists of color. It is 0:11:06.679 --> 0:11:09.840 actually the largest organization for journalists of color in the 0:11:09.920 --> 0:11:14.960 United States. So this organization supports thousands of black media professionals, students, 0:11:15.080 --> 0:11:20.320 educators worldwide. They do, you know, they advocate for journalists 0:11:20.360 --> 0:11:22.640 in the space, there's training, they do a bunch of 0:11:22.679 --> 0:11:26.760 career fairs. When I was in college, NABJ in this 0:11:26.880 --> 0:11:29.280 conference that they have every year was such a thing 0:11:29.320 --> 0:11:31.520 because not only could you go and literally rub elbows 0:11:31.559 --> 0:11:34.080 with some of the biggest black journalists across all spaces, 0:11:34.120 --> 0:11:36.240 so whether they were working at black outlets or not 0:11:36.320 --> 0:11:38.760 black outlets, but you go and try to get a job, 0:11:38.800 --> 0:11:41.560 whether it was an internship, a job job, from local 0:11:41.600 --> 0:11:43.719 news to sports to entertainment. 0:11:44.320 --> 0:11:45.559 All of the black journalists. 0:11:45.640 --> 0:11:49.840 This is like our homecoming ceremony, right, like you know, 0:11:49.880 --> 0:11:52.920 homecoming to HBC. You everybody come back. Everybody there on 0:11:52.960 --> 0:11:55.079 the yard, having a good time. You can run into everybody. 0:11:55.760 --> 0:11:58.480 Nabj's conference or nearly annual conference, the big one that 0:11:58.480 --> 0:11:59.920 they do, because they do a ton of differ stuff 0:12:00.160 --> 0:12:02.320 the year. It's kind of like the homecoming a black journalist. 0:12:02.360 --> 0:12:08.120 So during this year's during this year's award show, they 0:12:08.760 --> 0:12:11.839 did a rendition of their Thumbs Down Award and they 0:12:11.880 --> 0:12:14.320 gave it to Stephen A. Smith, which has sparked some conversation. 0:12:14.400 --> 0:12:16.760 Let's take a listen to Steven A. Smith receiving that award. 0:12:16.840 --> 0:12:18.920 He was not there, but this is a video of 0:12:19.000 --> 0:12:20.560 them presenting him the award. 0:12:23.320 --> 0:12:28.360 Stephen A. Smith, sports analysts and political commentator, Smith has 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:32.280 established a recurring public pattern of disparaging commentary directed at 0:12:32.280 --> 0:12:36.880 prominent Black women across politics, sports, and media. Such commentary 0:12:36.920 --> 0:12:41.560 reinforces harmful narratives, undermines the fair and respectful representation of 0:12:41.559 --> 0:12:45.079 Black women in public discourse, and stands in direct conflict 0:12:45.280 --> 0:12:50.319 with nabj's long standing commitment to accurate, responsible and inclusive 0:12:50.360 --> 0:12:51.760 portrayals of Black communities. 0:12:51.880 --> 0:12:56.520 So the thumbs Down Award, per the nabj's website, is 0:12:56.520 --> 0:13:00.520 presented to an individual organization for especially insensitive, racist, or 0:13:00.559 --> 0:13:05.360 stereotypical reporting, commentary, photography, or cartooning about the Black community, 0:13:05.520 --> 0:13:08.200 or for engaging in practices at odds with the goals 0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:11.880 of NABJ. Nabj's goals, as I just mentioned to you guys, 0:13:11.920 --> 0:13:16.000 are to advocate, to educate, to uplift, and to further 0:13:16.559 --> 0:13:19.000 black journalists the spaces that we work in and what 0:13:19.040 --> 0:13:23.360 we're able to do. So this all comes following a 0:13:23.400 --> 0:13:25.640 lot of the comments that Stephen A. Smith had about 0:13:25.720 --> 0:13:29.040 Jasmine Crockett, black woman. I mean, everybody should know who 0:13:29.080 --> 0:13:31.760 jasminc Crockett is, but black woman in the political space 0:13:32.600 --> 0:13:35.000 who he I don't know, like he got a little 0:13:35.000 --> 0:13:36.319 crazy when it came to some of the things that 0:13:36.360 --> 0:13:39.960 he was saying about her. Let's take a listen to 0:13:40.000 --> 0:13:41.560 some of his comments on Jasmine Crockett. 0:13:41.840 --> 0:13:44.439 When I point to a Jasmine Crockett is because here's 0:13:44.480 --> 0:13:47.400 what I know. All I ever hear her doing is 0:13:47.440 --> 0:13:51.760 going off about Trump, ladies and gentlemen. Can I tell 0:13:51.760 --> 0:13:55.080 you what my belief is, I have no desire to 0:13:55.080 --> 0:13:58.040 be a politician. Let me reiterate that. And I appreciate 0:13:58.120 --> 0:14:00.880 House Leader Democratic Leader Hakim Jeffrey speaking to me in 0:14:00.920 --> 0:14:03.480 the way that he did by saying that I speak 0:14:03.520 --> 0:14:07.000 with the frustration of the American people, because you damn right, 0:14:07.040 --> 0:14:11.360 I do. Let me tell you what gets me annoyed. 0:14:11.640 --> 0:14:13.760 And I hope Jasmine Crockett is listening to this, by 0:14:13.800 --> 0:14:17.839 the way, she's welcomed on the show. When you go 0:14:17.880 --> 0:14:20.120 on national television and you call him the President of 0:14:20.160 --> 0:14:23.480 the United States out of his name and you being 0:14:23.520 --> 0:14:29.240 all disrespectful as a representative in this country, do you 0:14:29.360 --> 0:14:31.720 believe the citizens of Texas sent. 0:14:31.600 --> 0:14:32.400 You there to do that. 0:14:35.280 --> 0:14:38.160 They don't like him either. I'm talking about those who 0:14:38.240 --> 0:14:42.240 voted for her in all likelihood, But because he is 0:14:42.280 --> 0:14:45.760 who he is and he is in that position, they 0:14:45.840 --> 0:14:48.560 expect you to go to Capitol Hill and figure out 0:14:48.560 --> 0:14:51.920 a way to maneuver yourself through that terrain, to work 0:14:52.240 --> 0:14:55.160 in a fashion that's gonna facilitate get things done on 0:14:55.320 --> 0:14:56.640 behalf of your constituents. 0:14:56.920 --> 0:15:05.160 That's your job. That's your job, extus my language on 0:15:05.320 --> 0:15:07.600 serious except but it ain't your job to say he 0:15:07.640 --> 0:15:10.359 ain't shit, he ain't worth a damn. 0:15:10.520 --> 0:15:11.440 That's not your job. 0:15:11.920 --> 0:15:12.840 Ain'ybody to do that. 0:15:13.360 --> 0:15:16.800 He's a deal maker. And if you figure out a 0:15:16.800 --> 0:15:21.000 way to make him look good in any way, quick 0:15:21.040 --> 0:15:26.640 pro quote is something he lives by here reciprocate if 0:15:26.640 --> 0:15:30.480 you know that, why you can't figure it out? 0:15:31.600 --> 0:15:35.080 Gord, Now, that was the one that really takes people off. 0:15:35.360 --> 0:15:36.880 And I think the reason why I take people off 0:15:36.960 --> 0:15:39.600 is because you know, there's always this conversation when you're 0:15:39.600 --> 0:15:41.920 a journalist, you're black. You're black in any space, whether 0:15:41.960 --> 0:15:45.640 you're not a journalist, you could be a freaking electrician. 0:15:45.080 --> 0:15:45.760 No matter what you are. 0:15:45.840 --> 0:15:50.000 When you're black, there's always a conversation about like the 0:15:50.040 --> 0:15:53.480 politics of the room and how you should navigate the 0:15:53.480 --> 0:15:55.760 politics of the room, whether it's how you're speaking, what 0:15:55.800 --> 0:15:58.400 you're saying, how honest and real you can get. So, 0:15:58.560 --> 0:16:00.600 you know, people didn't like to hear Steven and say 0:16:00.600 --> 0:16:04.080 that because especially with Jasmin Crockett, because one of the 0:16:04.120 --> 0:16:07.200 things for me, like I'm not a person who like 0:16:07.560 --> 0:16:11.360 is die hard politics. I follow things because my life 0:16:11.400 --> 0:16:13.280 is impacted by it and just because I like to 0:16:13.320 --> 0:16:15.560 know what's going on. But what I always loved about 0:16:15.640 --> 0:16:17.920 Jasmin Crockett and still love to say about her is 0:16:17.920 --> 0:16:20.880 the fact that she cuts through. Like I think, you know, 0:16:21.000 --> 0:16:23.680 like people get tired of hearing politicians talk to politics 0:16:23.720 --> 0:16:25.640 to them. And when I say that, I mean, like 0:16:25.720 --> 0:16:28.720 not everybody wants to hear about the promises and the 0:16:28.720 --> 0:16:31.200 things you're going to do and go out and vote. 0:16:31.240 --> 0:16:34.360 Some people need to hear yo. Stuff is really fed 0:16:34.440 --> 0:16:37.160 up right now and here's exactly why. And they want 0:16:37.200 --> 0:16:39.400 to see people be called out for the wrongs that 0:16:39.480 --> 0:16:43.880 are happening. I honestly think that a young, sharp, cut 0:16:43.920 --> 0:16:46.960 through voice like a Jasmine Crockett and a building an 0:16:47.120 --> 0:16:50.280 army of those and actually having them supported across the 0:16:50.280 --> 0:16:52.960 Democratic Party, I think that would kind of change the 0:16:53.000 --> 0:16:57.480 way that politics are set up to not be for 0:16:57.640 --> 0:17:00.280 us by us. Like if you think about like what 0:17:00.360 --> 0:17:03.600 Donald Trump has been able to do in this time, 0:17:04.560 --> 0:17:07.360 I think the biggest thing is that he don't care 0:17:07.960 --> 0:17:09.600 and I don't does he not care about what he's 0:17:09.600 --> 0:17:11.280 saying how he say it? So it cuts through because 0:17:11.280 --> 0:17:13.080 people were like, Okay, you're talking straight to me. He 0:17:13.200 --> 0:17:16.679 goes anywhere to do it, Like he's on podcasts that 0:17:16.800 --> 0:17:19.480 like a normal regular person is listening to just for 0:17:19.520 --> 0:17:21.639 shits and giggles or just for their best commentary, not 0:17:21.680 --> 0:17:24.280 even for politics, Like he's meeting people where they are, 0:17:24.640 --> 0:17:28.000 And the respectability politics thing never works well. Our sins 0:17:28.080 --> 0:17:30.639 well with black people because I you know, I mean 0:17:30.640 --> 0:17:32.840 it's deep rooted. It goes back to racism, it goes 0:17:32.880 --> 0:17:36.080 back to you know, there's colorism that comes into it. 0:17:36.119 --> 0:17:40.120 There's you know, proximity to whiteness, and there's a lot 0:17:40.240 --> 0:17:44.680 right like we've been through four hundred plus years of 0:17:45.119 --> 0:17:47.520 trying to figure out not even trying to figure out. 0:17:47.520 --> 0:17:49.560 We've been through four to five hundred years of people 0:17:49.560 --> 0:17:52.080 having conversations about what we could have done to make 0:17:52.080 --> 0:17:55.359 sure that certain things didn't happen to us, and the 0:17:55.400 --> 0:17:57.760 reality of it is it's no matter how much you do, 0:17:57.920 --> 0:17:59.880 no matter how much you look, no matter what you say, 0:18:00.040 --> 0:18:02.840 You're still black. These things are still real, these things 0:18:02.840 --> 0:18:05.560 are still apparent, are still happening. And Steven A. Smith 0:18:05.560 --> 0:18:08.240 in his brand and to me, like, again, I don't 0:18:08.720 --> 0:18:11.440 watch sports, but I like Steven A. Smith because he's 0:18:11.480 --> 0:18:15.000 not afraid to say he's not And I like people 0:18:15.040 --> 0:18:17.680 who talk like that because I believe you it's real. 0:18:19.960 --> 0:18:21.000 So for him to. 0:18:21.000 --> 0:18:25.440 Go across the room and then tear down Jasmine Crockett 0:18:25.720 --> 0:18:28.880 at a time where Trump was also like the right, 0:18:29.240 --> 0:18:34.760 like the wrong, people in this conversation were already doing that, 0:18:35.080 --> 0:18:36.480 and I think that's a lot of what it was 0:18:36.560 --> 0:18:38.200 as well too. I think that there is a way 0:18:38.240 --> 0:18:40.719 for him to I don't think that everybody has to agree. 0:18:40.960 --> 0:18:42.879 I don't think that he has to love how she 0:18:43.000 --> 0:18:44.960 does things, but I do think that there's a way 0:18:45.200 --> 0:18:48.600 that you talk about another black person, especially a black 0:18:48.680 --> 0:18:51.480 woman who was literally the target of so many attacks 0:18:51.480 --> 0:18:54.119 because of what she's doing. You don't get, to my opinion, 0:18:54.119 --> 0:18:55.760 you don't get on your platform and demean her in 0:18:55.800 --> 0:18:56.480 the way that he did. 0:18:56.520 --> 0:18:59.080 And he came back and apologized. He heard some people out. 0:18:59.160 --> 0:19:03.040 Let's say, listen, I wanted to take a moment because 0:19:03.920 --> 0:19:09.600 I saw something disturbing in regards to President Donald Trump 0:19:10.680 --> 0:19:16.560 and how he came at Representative Jasmine Crockett, and I 0:19:16.600 --> 0:19:19.960 wanted to take this opportunity to attack this issue as 0:19:20.000 --> 0:19:23.879 it attained to me in Jasmine Crockett, because I personally 0:19:24.520 --> 0:19:27.280 have had an issue with how things have been misconstrued 0:19:27.280 --> 0:19:30.280 and misinterpreted. But at the end of the day, I 0:19:30.320 --> 0:19:32.840 have to own it. And that's what I'm going to 0:19:32.880 --> 0:19:36.880 do today. And so when somebody says to me, Stephen, 0:19:38.280 --> 0:19:41.040 rather than point to her and her verbiage and her 0:19:41.119 --> 0:19:43.560 language and how she talked about the president, what about 0:19:43.560 --> 0:19:49.359 how he talks. I have no problem with that. I 0:19:49.359 --> 0:19:52.240 can understand that. And if that is the reason that 0:19:52.320 --> 0:19:55.480 everybody is in an uproar, that is fine. And I 0:19:55.520 --> 0:19:58.160 have no problem apologizing to that to my sister, because 0:19:58.240 --> 0:20:00.720 damn it, I want her to know I don't feel 0:20:00.720 --> 0:20:05.200