transcript

Speaker 1:
[00:01] What's up, True Fam?

Speaker 2:
[00:02] It's your girl Megan Thee Stallion.

Speaker 3:
[00:05] This isn't for show. This is who I am.

Speaker 1:
[00:09] What's real never fades.

Speaker 3:
[00:12] What's true always lasts. It's about self.

Speaker 4:
[00:18] It's about purpose.

Speaker 3:
[00:20] It's about legacy.

Speaker 4:
[00:22] It's the new True Religion Collection starring your girl Megan Thee Stallion.

Speaker 5:
[00:26] Shop it right now on truereligion.com.

Speaker 2:
[00:31] America's best network just got bigger. Switch to T-Mobile today and get built-in benefits the other guys leave out. Plus our five-year price guarantee. And now T-Mobile is available in US cellular stores.

Speaker 5:
[00:46] Best mobile network based on analysis by Google of Speedtest Intelligence Data 2H 2025. Bigger network, the combination of T-Mobiles and US. Cellular Network footprints will enhance the T-Mobile network's coverage. Price guarantee on talk, text, and data.

Speaker 2:
[00:56] Exclusions like taxes and fees apply.

Speaker 5:
[00:58] Visit ctmobile.com for details.

Speaker 3:
[01:17] I'd say I'm surprised, but I know who you are.

Speaker 6:
[01:21] So this week we back and I really did not want to talk about this person no more. I didn't. I don't want to see this person. I don't want to see any of their accessories. I don't want to hear the cadence with which they speak, which irritates the fuck out of me. I don't want to see their dense glasses frames leaning down on the bridge of their nose when they speak. I'm sick of this motherfucker. I'm sick of them. But yet again, they're on the podcast mic talking. And it's funny that when I identify the person, this will make sense. But it's funny that someone from their genre has found their way into the podcast space as a guest. And it's now getting traction and clicks with the sensational things that they say. You would. Out of all the people that do what you do, you would be the one that's over here on a podcast talking shit. I'm talking about none other than Kim Boogie Down, Ankle Burel. That's right.

Speaker 4:
[02:25] When you said accessories, for some reason, you already knew.

Speaker 7:
[02:30] You already knew.

Speaker 6:
[02:31] It's Kim Burel, can't you tell? Like this Carlton Banks said. But so she didn't find her way. I'm not even no disrespect to the podcast or the podcast host, but I'm not going to mention the name of the podcast because I don't really want to encourage nobody to go listen to that real talk.

Speaker 7:
[02:49] I like that move.

Speaker 6:
[02:50] You know what I mean? So no disrespect to the host, but I just don't even want to highlight her, not the host.

Speaker 4:
[02:56] I thought you were saying she is a host herself.

Speaker 6:
[02:59] Yeah, it's probably next. It's probably coming. You know what I'm saying? It's going to be called Bitch Sess. You know what, Bible bitch says that's what we call it, OK?

Speaker 7:
[03:15] But no, it sounds like a show with a Tokyo Tony on it. That would be your call.

Speaker 6:
[03:20] Anyway, because I wasn't even thinking about that miscreant.

Speaker 7:
[03:23] I mean, we talking bad, so I just felt like, why do you have to be bad to?

Speaker 6:
[03:27] So she's sitting on this podcast as a guest. She's pontificating as she normally does. And she goes into this rant about the people who have been vocally, you know, in a position of her and some of her foul, dirty, filthy ways and the horrible things that she does and the way she looks and stands and her legs being bent, all that stuff, all of it. And so you could tell that she had a problem with that. And so she goes into this tirade about how you can't drag me because my name is too heavy to drag. You know, you don't understand the potency of my value in the space. All these other things. I'm going to play a clip of her. And then we're going to break that on down too. Mind you, this is just a clip, just a small clip of some of the stuff that she was saying.

Speaker 1:
[04:14] Listen to this about my existence. And that's why I don't have any ill will against anything or anyone. People say you apologize over and over. I will do it until whoever needs it. I don't have a problem. You need another. I'm sorry. Tell me what time. Tell me what time because we got to get everybody. Let's get through it. Let's get over this because once we get over it, I want to know who you are now. Now that you've received your apology, who are you now? You still fussing? Are you still complaining? Are you still calling me out of my name? You don't want an apology. You want something else. So let's find out what you want. Now give it to you. I'm a mother. I know a cry when I hear it. And you don't tell your baby who hit you.

Speaker 6:
[05:07] That's just a snippet. She said a whole lot of other shit in there about how when people come up to her in the airport, which they do, it's always love and all this other stuff. You can't stop all of this. She said up there, like, number one, you can't stop her motion. Ellen did. Real fast. I'm going to be a mother. She thought she had one on that hidden figure soundtrack and was going to weasel her way onto the main stage of a talk show on network television. It didn't happen. Okay. She also went on to say how then you remember she had made those comments several times. She had made homophobic comments from the pool pit. Okay. Preaching to congregations. And she said, she's also been in the pool pit saying, I don't know. This is a direct quote. I don't know nothing about no LGBTQ for all I know. It means let God beat you quickly. She did like that. So like, my thing is, what is this, Indy? Why are you doing this after you say it? That means that you feel like you got us. You know what I'm saying? Like you had a good one. You know what I'm saying? So that's why you celebrated with that. Okay. Number two, after everybody had been on her ass and she kept falling down on the floor because the universe wasn't even in alignment with her ankle distribution of weight of body. And so she ended up falling all the time. So after multiple events of that, she did an apology. Remember that when she had on the off shoulder, low deep cut black dress, tits out, cleavage out, her breasts were smashed but out. And then she had on them black arm gloves. Remember she sat up there accepting it. Was it the Soul Train Awards? I believe it was. And I'm sorry to the LGBTQ community. And she went into all that other stuff. Only, right, to then sit up in an interview and mock the people who felt like they were deserving of an apology by saying, I'll apologize till I have to. You want an apology? What time? What time? What time do you need it? And they're laughing in the background. That's her making a mockery of the apology that she gave, which was not sincere, obviously. And she just did that to pacify people who had been talking shit because the conversation surrounding her being a POS, right, had been growing and gaining traction. But it only, people like that, they cannot, they lack the patience and they lack the stillness to be able to just sit in that moment of the apology because they didn't mean it. They cannot help themselves but have an outburst like that later on, just like she just did, which shows their true colors, which is exactly why Michelle Obama was talking about her when she said, I'd say I'm surprised, but I know who you are. That's why. Okay. Because we know who she is. We're not surprised. And then she in there. Also in that interview, she talking about everybody is talking about me. I don't I don't take it personally because they need me. They need me. You need me. No, what I need you to do is shut the fuck up. That's what I need you to do. I don't think she can sing personally. My choice, you know, my opinion. What that white lady say on House?

Speaker 1:
[08:15] That's my opinion.

Speaker 6:
[08:17] It's my opinion. I don't think she can sing.

Speaker 7:
[08:20] To me, she sounds like I believe in sexuality. I don't believe in her as a singer.

Speaker 6:
[08:24] She sounds like a train when she sings like the train whistle. That's smoke. That's how she sounds. That's how she sounds when she's singing. And I just don't think that she's worth my time. She's not worth my time. She's not interesting. And whenever people stylize the way they speak, when they say stuff like that, like she would say it.

Speaker 4:
[08:48] I never really listened to her till now, for real, for real.

Speaker 6:
[08:51] You know it's bullshit.

Speaker 4:
[08:51] I didn't know that was her cadence.

Speaker 6:
[08:53] It's an effect, you know? And it's not, don't nobody even talk like that. And you don't love yourself. She talking about she love herself so much. Then why every time I see you, are you hiding with big shielded glasses and hair that's curled like this to cover your face every time I see you? Usually, when a part is in the middle, the hair go like this. Her hair is parted in the middle and then curled flipped over to the front to hide that face because she don't like herself. That's why she was so excited as a gospel singer to wear body calm clothing she had on a was it an Irvay or Marine? So it was I can't remember what kind of was, but it was some basketball wise designer shit, a body dress, body suit on. And she don't take a hoodie and just wrap it around her legs, her little stick legs and her her ass. And she walking backstage, happy to be seen in revealing clothing. Yeah, you're a woman of God. And you assess it. It's all a grift is all fake. She ain't shit. I'm not buying it. And yeah, bless you, Fran. And no blessing of Kimbrayl.

Speaker 7:
[10:01] You know, that clip is resurfaced of her on. I think it was what Sunday's Best being rude to that young man that was singing.

Speaker 6:
[10:07] That let her hold it, by the way. He tore her ass up.

Speaker 7:
[10:10] You know, and because she deserved it.

Speaker 6:
[10:12] Yes, she did.

Speaker 7:
[10:12] Yes, it's a singing competition. And yes, these people have capitalized on trying to be fake Simon Cowell's and whatnot. But if y'all are supposed to be the people of God and y'all are to tackle it and then lying right afterwards, we got our own thing going on up in here. Yeah, lying is that thing you got going on right now, bitch, because you were just rude. Yeah, I'm telling you, you can't take it because you feel like you're in a seated position. That's why people like that always get knocked down and when they fall, they fall real hard. I'm not waiting on the fall girl, but you're going to fall.

Speaker 6:
[10:40] Yeah. And I hope you get stoned since you love the Bible so much. I hope somebody stone you. You know what I'm saying? That's what you get. And with that being said, Kim Burel. That's for Patriot. Welcome to The Friend Zone. We're looking at all things mental health, mental wellness and mental no thank you, Kim Burel, because who in the hell wants a Kim Burel? That was easy this week. Hey, Fran Hey, Assante, how you doing?

Speaker 4:
[11:08] Hey, how are y'all doing? I'm on fumes.

Speaker 6:
[11:12] I'm on fumes, but I'm here.

Speaker 7:
[11:14] You're doing no good, still celebrating the green day.

Speaker 8:
[11:17] I see, did y'all have fun?

Speaker 4:
[11:20] Yes.

Speaker 6:
[11:20] Shout out to everybody. No, I had fun. Everybody, well, not everybody knows, but a lot of people know 420 is a big part of my life as far as the day and celebrating that day. I generally throw a house party that day, and I had done it yearly for like three years, I think in a row. And then in 2024, on 420, I gave my TED Talk. So I couldn't do it that day. In 2025, I had just moved into my new place, like three days prior, and so none of my things were here. So this was the first year that it was back. And baby, we were so back last night. I'm talking about shout out to all my friends.

Speaker 8:
[12:01] We are so back.

Speaker 6:
[12:03] New York City pulled up last night, and it was on a Monday. Okay, on a Monday, you know what I'm saying? We really got it in, and everybody respected my house rule, which is no requests, because you ain't finna be, can you play?

Speaker 8:
[12:17] Can you play?

Speaker 6:
[12:18] You ain't finna do me like that to death all night. No. So, and plus, I don't want to hear some things y'all play. I don't want to name no names of artists, but I don't want to hear some of the songs they play. When you come to my house, I've been seeing so many Shazam apps last night, because they all go, what is that? You know, Shazam and the music. People don't really watch music videos anymore, so I love showing videos of the songs I like and just keeping the energy at a certain level with the music. So, great party. I don't have a voice, I'm hoarse, you know what I'm saying? I really just, I had a lot of fun and my house was packed.

Speaker 7:
[12:55] Like, packed.

Speaker 4:
[12:56] Wee, are you going to talk about your installation?

Speaker 6:
[12:59] Sure.

Speaker 7:
[13:02] Yes.

Speaker 8:
[13:02] Your step and repeat.

Speaker 6:
[13:04] When I throw house parties and shit, I just like to, you know, do a little something extra to make it like memorable. You know what I'm saying? And I like for people to have a good experience. So I know people love taking pictures and stuff. And so I built this installation in my window seal. That was like a it's a lot of greenery, this moss is built like a hill, a lot of different types of greens. And then it there is a inset neon sign that says dust is 420. So the greenery is like around that and the moss is coming up from underneath it. And it's just cool. And I love doing stuff like that. When I become an old man, I'm going to have a flower shop somewhere and just Oh, me and you. Be a floral stylist, you know what I'm saying? But yeah, I like creative shit like that. And I was in here with my measuring tape and my floral foam and pins and glue, hot glue gun and so much goddamn hot glue on my nails right now from burning myself while I was doing it and shit. But I got it done and I'm very pleased with the turnout and y'all. Everybody that came in here last night was like, oh, and they was over there taking pictures and stuff. So I was like, it was cool. Mission accomplished. Mission accomplished.

Speaker 8:
[14:15] So cute. I love it.

Speaker 4:
[14:16] Did you celebrate Assante?

Speaker 7:
[14:18] I celebrate every day. But speaking of celebrations, I know we got one coming up.

Speaker 8:
[14:26] Do we?

Speaker 6:
[14:26] Yes, we do. Excuse me.

Speaker 7:
[14:29] Do we? I just know we got one coming up. I just know I want to shout you out now, sister girl.

Speaker 8:
[14:36] Thank you.

Speaker 7:
[14:36] I mean, for those of y'all that are listening, if you're a newer listener, one of the most beautiful, creative, giving, I only have so many words, and they won't even express what I truly want to express, but just the best person in the motherfucking world. Hey Fran Hey, thank you for being a force in our lives and doing all of the amazing work that you have done for us as individuals, a collective, everything. You deserve each and every flower.

Speaker 8:
[15:06] You do.

Speaker 4:
[15:07] That is so sweet. I appreciate that.

Speaker 6:
[15:10] I hope your birthday is natural or seasonal.

Speaker 4:
[15:12] And you know it will be.

Speaker 6:
[15:14] Yeah, I do. And I hope you get to ground somewhere. You deserve it. You work your ass off and you have for so long tirelessly.

Speaker 4:
[15:22] Tell me about it.

Speaker 6:
[15:23] Gave us so much game. Show me the keys. Gave me, literally gave me the keys to the kingdom. It was like, Dustin, this is how you need to set this up. And I have taken that with me as I move forward, forever grateful for that. So amongst many, many other things. So happy birthday to you Fran. I love you with all my heart. Thank you guys.

Speaker 7:
[15:44] Happy birthday.

Speaker 4:
[15:44] Thank you.

Speaker 8:
[15:45] I really appreciate that.

Speaker 4:
[15:47] Y'all know I'm a birthday girl. I love my birthday.

Speaker 6:
[15:50] Turn up, let's get some kombucha.

Speaker 8:
[15:55] Right.

Speaker 4:
[15:55] I'm really excited. My partner always feels a lot of pressure. He was telling me, he was like, I always feel so much pressure to just make it so great.

Speaker 6:
[16:03] That's how much he loves you.

Speaker 4:
[16:05] Yeah, he was saying that. He just always wants me to have the best birthday. So I don't know what the plans are.

Speaker 6:
[16:11] But you know it is one.

Speaker 4:
[16:12] Well, I know it's one, so I'm excited.

Speaker 6:
[16:15] A stand up guy. He is. Yes.

Speaker 4:
[16:19] But yes, thank you, guys. I really appreciate that. I'm excited.

Speaker 6:
[16:24] Remember when your partner would be saying bye to you sometimes and we would hear him on the other thing.

Speaker 4:
[16:28] And y'all would be like, love you.

Speaker 8:
[16:32] That shit is so funny.

Speaker 4:
[16:38] Bye, I love you.

Speaker 6:
[16:41] Man.

Speaker 4:
[16:41] Y'all are the best.

Speaker 6:
[16:42] That shit is so funny, man.

Speaker 4:
[16:50] But yeah, it's my happy birthday, Fran. Thank you. Thank you. And I hope you had a really good time with your birthday too, Justin.

Speaker 6:
[16:57] I did.

Speaker 4:
[16:58] The April Babies and XD is coming up soon as well, right? Isn't it his big 40?

Speaker 6:
[17:05] Yes, I believe so.

Speaker 4:
[17:07] I think it's the XD. I think it's your big 4.

Speaker 8:
[17:10] Oh, we love you.

Speaker 4:
[17:12] I know. Isn't that crazy?

Speaker 6:
[17:14] The world needs more XD.

Speaker 4:
[17:15] Growing up.

Speaker 6:
[17:16] The world needs more XD, so bring on more birthdays from him.

Speaker 7:
[17:20] Absolutely.

Speaker 4:
[17:21] XD, we love you. Knowing you, you are not going to want to do anything.

Speaker 6:
[17:27] XD is another fun person to gossip with, especially at like public events.

Speaker 4:
[17:33] He's legit one of the finest people on the planet.

Speaker 6:
[17:35] Oh my God.

Speaker 4:
[17:36] The non-verbals. Yes.

Speaker 6:
[17:38] The way he can just, you know what I'm saying? Like you're going to die in my leg.

Speaker 7:
[17:43] He's so funny.

Speaker 6:
[17:44] We love you, XD.

Speaker 8:
[17:46] We love you, XD.

Speaker 4:
[17:47] Happy early birthday to you too. So let's jump in. But do you guys have any announcements or anything that you would like the folks to know before we jump in, jump in?

Speaker 7:
[17:58] Well, you know, just to go ahead and let the people know, if you're part of the Patreon community, next week is the last Wednesday of the month.

Speaker 4:
[18:06] Already, yeah.

Speaker 7:
[18:07] Already, yeah. For those of you that are not part of the Patreon community, what I'm talking about is on Wednesdays, we do this thing that we call the Wednesday Wind Down. Last Wednesday of every month, we go live and we say hello to you guys. If you would like to join us, go to patreon.com/friends on podcast for more information. So last Wednesday of every month at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. So that is happening next Wednesday. I don't have the date on my hand. So that's the 29th.

Speaker 6:
[18:34] Yes, because tomorrow is the 22nd.

Speaker 7:
[18:36] So yes, look, I had to do quick math, but I know if you know I was correct. Yes, 29th and 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Again, for more information, patreon.com/friends on podcast. We do more than just go live once a month. We also have premium content. And if you're listening to the show from one of your favorite apps, we love that app as well. But on Patreon, you get to see us and you get it commercial free. So if you want to listen to the whole show, it's a whole nother show, but you can get this show commercial free. And I think that it can get connected to some of your favorite apps. So you don't actually have to leave that app.

Speaker 4:
[19:06] Absolutely.

Speaker 7:
[19:08] If you want to watch us, we have a video as well. So come see us or come hear more about us over at patreon.com/thefriendzonepodcast.

Speaker 4:
[19:16] And we're currently reading Brandy's Memoir, which we'd start discussing this week, literally. Oh, yeah, the guys are holding up their books. Mine is on the couch somewhere. It's really good. I'm really into it so far. I love just music history of our icons, our black icons. Y'all are killing me.

Speaker 7:
[19:36] You know, I got the audible.

Speaker 4:
[19:38] Did you?

Speaker 7:
[19:39] She read me. I hope it ain't AI.

Speaker 4:
[19:42] Oh, I bet it's good.

Speaker 7:
[19:43] I hope it's not AI either, but she got an easy AI speaking voice. You know what?

Speaker 4:
[19:47] People are going to be doing that, huh?

Speaker 7:
[19:49] You're going to make me go look this up, because she sounds so good. And I was thinking like, Brandy, you know, she's always had a good speaking voice already.

Speaker 4:
[19:56] I was going to say, she has a good tone.

Speaker 7:
[19:59] Like, everything about her, like, you know, the beauty, the singing, but the actual talking voice, like, it was just crazy to listen to her and be like, damn, girl, like, I just want to listen to you talk. So if it's A, I'm going to be mad.

Speaker 4:
[20:11] I love Brandy. The book is great so far. We are 74 pages in. It was a lot of pages to start with, but I didn't that one chapter was so long. The showcase chapter, I didn't want to, like, cut into it. So I was like, fuck it, we just go read this whole section. But it's really good so far. Yeah, and over a week, I think it's good.

Speaker 6:
[20:31] I mean, you guys, come on.

Speaker 8:
[20:34] I know you did it. And also, that was so funny as well.

Speaker 4:
[20:44] And also, we're going to be watching Real Housewives of Rhode Island, which was a unanimous yes. I put it out there just because I thought it'd be funny and I would be recapping it. And everyone was like, yes, Fran, let your hair down. We want to hear it.

Speaker 6:
[21:05] They just started that other show.

Speaker 7:
[21:08] Oh, talk about it.

Speaker 6:
[21:13] Did I say that? I'm the one Dr. Heavenly be saying, I'm going to say this and I'm going to take it back.

Speaker 4:
[21:22] She kills me because she always apologizes.

Speaker 8:
[21:25] So let's jump.

Speaker 4:
[21:26] Oh, Dustin, do you have an announcement? I don't know if I could.

Speaker 6:
[21:29] Oh, do I? Do I? Yeah, Monday Night Live with myself, Blue Toulousema, my girl, my girl Claudia Jordan and Carlos King every Monday night at 7 o'clock. And also catch Reality After Dark with myself, my girl Claudia Jordan, my girl Mandy B. I know you all seen her in Spectacular on stage, right?

Speaker 4:
[21:52] Absolutely.

Speaker 6:
[21:53] Spectacular from Pretty Ricky.

Speaker 4:
[21:55] What do you mean?

Speaker 6:
[21:55] He brought her out and gave her a lap dance at the concert. Is it the Millennium Tour or the 90s Tour?

Speaker 4:
[22:03] I haven't seen this so I can bother.

Speaker 7:
[22:05] Whatever the tour is.

Speaker 6:
[22:08] Reebok.

Speaker 8:
[22:08] Did you say 106?

Speaker 6:
[22:10] Yeah, I don't know what the tour is.

Speaker 7:
[22:12] Reebok.

Speaker 6:
[22:16] Fubu. I don't know what the tour is.

Speaker 7:
[22:18] Are you okay?

Speaker 6:
[22:19] It's that tour, okay? And Mandy was there so she looked so nice.

Speaker 4:
[22:25] Sparta.

Speaker 6:
[22:26] I don't know. I don't know what it is, but it's that tour. You know, the high school tour, the Life Touch Tour. I remember Life Touch was in pictures.

Speaker 4:
[22:36] Yo, send me a clip. I want to see. I have to see this.

Speaker 6:
[22:41] And we need to put it in the carousel anyway.

Speaker 4:
[22:43] Actually, you're absolutely right. I'm sure Mandy would appreciate it. Let's jump into this week's Black Business highlight. So I want to thank Victoria on Twitter, who I love. Victoria, I always love your live recapping. Yeah, a vocalist rival. She live recaps as she listens to the episode every week. She's been doing it for years. I'm always love catching it. So you're amazing.

Speaker 6:
[23:13] Thank you, Victoria.

Speaker 4:
[23:15] Right. So Victoria actually tagged The Friend Zone Twitter account to a Black business. And I was like, oh, this is perfect. I looked it up and it's Erin's Cup & Cookies. And it's in Chicago, Illinois. If you're in the area, it's located at 1212 West 111th Street. It opens Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 830 a.m. to 3 p.m. If you want to look it up, it's Erin's cup.com. That's erinscup.com. And Erin's underscore cup on IG. According to the Chicago reader.com written by Layla Brown-Clark, it's the best coffee and community hub started by a young entrepreneur on the far south side. There was an ABC News special because apparently Jasmine, well, no, excuse me, Jasmine Miners who highlighted Erin, but Erin's cup was all Erin's idea from concept to design. And at 17 years old, y'all, she opened this coffee shop. Here's the most amazing part. She couldn't legally work there every day. So she partnered up with this man named Kale Hunter, who was like an entrepreneur with 20 years of entrepreneurship. So they partnered up together. He would run the coffee shop from Monday through Friday while she was at school at Delis Isle Academy. And then she ran it on the weekends, but it was hers.

Speaker 7:
[24:48] Nice.

Speaker 6:
[24:49] Genius.

Speaker 4:
[24:50] And then when she became of age, she closed down. They parted ways, obviously beautifully. Nothing went wrong, but now she's... Exactly, now she was able to independently run and she reopened. Mind you, this isn't like an honor roll student at Delis Isle this whole time. So she's running this company. Her family in the ABC Highlight said that she manifested this when she was two years old, because apparently she was one of those toddlers that was obsessed with the taste of coffee. And all she wanted was coffee. And anytime they were at a coffee shop or a coffee house, she would go to the barista asking for a cup.

Speaker 6:
[25:31] Wow.

Speaker 4:
[25:32] And that's where Erin's Cup came from, because the baristas would be like, we'll get Erin a cup, we'll get Erin a cup.

Speaker 6:
[25:37] This is so dope, so dope.

Speaker 8:
[25:38] Is this not the cutest thing? I love it, I love everything about this.

Speaker 4:
[25:41] And so she was a baby when she opened this, 17 years old. So go support her. I think this is a beautiful story. They said too that she has been a mentor for a lot of the young kids, obviously, in the area, just showing them what's possible. That they can be young, they can open companies and create a hub for the local community. I love that idea. I love it. Imagine being a kid and seeing this young girl running a business in your neighborhood. I'm sure that is really inspiring and inspiring. Erin's Cup & Cookies. Definitely check her out. Stop through.

Speaker 7:
[26:18] We went from lemonade shops to coffee shops. Right, right, right. Hey Erin, I see you, girl, I see you.

Speaker 4:
[26:25] And I pulled up the menu because I was curious and they have, let's see.

Speaker 6:
[26:29] It's reading crayon.

Speaker 8:
[26:32] No, that would be cute though.

Speaker 4:
[26:34] They have gourmet cookies. They have one called Velvety as Fuck. I want that one.

Speaker 6:
[26:41] Already. I want that one.

Speaker 4:
[26:43] Cookies and cream.

Speaker 6:
[26:43] Right, she grown now. That's the first new item on the menu when she took over by herself.

Speaker 4:
[26:49] No, you didn't. She has butter cookies called You Butter No. I think that's cute.

Speaker 8:
[26:56] Chocolate chip, little oats.

Speaker 6:
[26:57] I bet you they do that, too.

Speaker 4:
[26:59] They have chai tea. Actually, I saw a lot of people in the Yelp discussing the chai tea. So apparently that's their specialty. Smoothies, lemonades, hot chocolates. And then, of course, all the coffee. You can get espresso shots, fratt, lattes, frappes, macchiatos, all of the things.

Speaker 6:
[27:16] Y'all go support Erin's Cup. This is a great story. The menu sounds comprehensive and good.

Speaker 4:
[27:22] Right, right.

Speaker 7:
[27:23] The way I get some butter cookies and lemonade.

Speaker 4:
[27:27] And when you look it up, the storefront, it's just so cute. And I love it. It's really, it's like white with these blues. And it's just, I think when you look at the surrounding neighborhood, it just looks like a bright light in the community. So shout out to you, Erin. I love this for you and I wish you much success, right? I love that she couldn't run it during the week.

Speaker 8:
[27:50] Because she had to be in school.

Speaker 4:
[27:51] Could you imagine? You got a business.

Speaker 6:
[27:53] Marcee Martin on Blackish Ass. You know what I'm saying?

Speaker 4:
[27:59] And thank you to Victoria for tagging us because I'm definitely glad that we can highlight Erin's Cup & Cookies in Chicago.

Speaker 6:
[28:05] And Victoria, you better go too. Don't be just tagging us. You take your ass down and get you one of Erin's cups, too. Love you, Victoria.

Speaker 7:
[28:12] Thank you, Victoria.

Speaker 8:
[28:13] We love you.

Speaker 4:
[28:14] Let's jump into the recap segment. So last week's episode titled, Old Time at the Apollo. Hold on till you see. Thank you for that, Dustin Ross.

Speaker 6:
[28:26] I think that you sang it, Fran.

Speaker 4:
[28:29] Every time I was writing it out, I couldn't help it. It was a shoot the shit episode. No hot button, no segments, just whatever wanted to come up. Y'all know how it goes. And those of you listening had a lot to say.

Speaker 7:
[28:40] It was a pan episode.

Speaker 4:
[28:41] Who stood out to you? A little here and a little there.

Speaker 7:
[28:49] Oh.

Speaker 8:
[28:50] Assante, who stood out to you, brother?

Speaker 7:
[28:53] A lot of great things since it was a pan episode. First of all, shout out to Deneen Taylor. I'm out here in the Spotify streets. Deneen's comment reads, Fran talking about having a hard time backing into spots.

Speaker 4:
[29:07] Hard time. I just can't do it.

Speaker 6:
[29:10] Fran said to be clear.

Speaker 7:
[29:12] Look, well, Deneen agrees to be clear because she goes on to say, I've been driving for over 20 years and pulling into a spot, you would think I just got my license.

Speaker 4:
[29:24] My brain don't understand the mechanics yet. I get it. I admire y'all.

Speaker 7:
[29:28] I really do. I think there is a large market of people like you. I feel like there are people that are just good at it and can do it or can learn to do it, I feel like there is a large market because that's why they developed the technology to help you back into it. I feel like it was such a need. Another comment regarding you, Fran, from Erin G Chapman. Erin reads, Fran, do it. A dealer did this to me in regards to your dealer calling you about your car. It's because the used car market is so hot and they can make more money on your car. Like I was saying to you, I've been doing a lot of research on cars. I told you I'm a car person, this is my identity now. Cars, because they're all valued at so much, once a car is used, it already drops below a certain amount. So now that your car has been used, they take it back from you, they put it back on the market. A person that has to pay more interest, they are now trying to get that car, so they're making more money off of them. Meanwhile, you get you a brand new car and you start a new term, whether it's for more interest, same interest or less interest, whatever it costs to get you back and keep you in case they need another used car. So that's why I was saying do it. Also, we are not car sales people. We don't have licensing these. I don't even have experience in this. It's just from the research that I've done. And I also agree with Denny's comment. I feel like those disclaimers are necessary when we're listening to things now.

Speaker 4:
[30:43] No, and I have to say too, I love the amount of women that hit me just putting me on a game. Something about that is just-

Speaker 6:
[30:52] It's fly.

Speaker 4:
[30:53] It's so flat to me. Cause you know, the men are just like, oh, do that in cool. Thank y'all. I appreciate y'all too. But something about the women in the comments, messaging me, emailing me and just being like, listen, this is what you got to do, boom, boom, boom. Like I love that because women, you know, they tend to act like we're clueless and a lot of us are, me included. But that's cause it's new for me. This is all still new for me. So I love y'all and I appreciate that y'all is so smart.

Speaker 6:
[31:17] I think that's dope as.

Speaker 4:
[31:18] Right?

Speaker 7:
[31:19] Fran, to your point, there was actually a woman I used to watch on YouTube. I wish I could remember her name, but you know when those financial people come up on YouTube, this woman, I remember her talking before about how to get, she was like, this is how you lower your card payments. I was not like an actual, you go out and get something. It was more so just about paying at a certain time before interest catches up. And I thought that was so interesting. But I remember it was a black woman, the whole financial YouTube page. And I was like, I remember having a similar.

Speaker 4:
[31:42] I wonder if I've just seen her. I wonder if this lady popped up for me, cause there's a black lady that popped up for me now and she be putting people on game, but on TikTok, talking about what to do to save money and then I learned, I've been like, keeping track of her cause she seems to know what the hell she's talking about.

Speaker 8:
[32:02] If I find her, I'll send her to you.

Speaker 4:
[32:03] Yeah, it seems the same lady.

Speaker 7:
[32:05] Last comment I want to share and then I'm going to hand the mic over to you Fran from Casey O'Bannon. This is in regards to Dustin. You'll know after I read the comment. It's just a quote and laughing emojis. The quote reads, where was he keeping the titties? Laughing emoji, crying emoji.

Speaker 6:
[32:24] I want to know. Did he have a cubby, a cubby, you know, some sorts? Or was it a, you know, what did he have? I want to know if he kept that rack. I would like to know. Maybe he had some racks, like Baker's racks. Or you know what I'm saying? They might have been in the kitchen.

Speaker 7:
[32:42] Fran, what did you find there out there in those streets in regards to the old time at the Apollo episode?

Speaker 4:
[32:47] So, Lee John, and Lee John is another one I want to send love to.

Speaker 7:
[32:51] I'll add to you, Lee John.

Speaker 4:
[32:52] Right, Lee John is hilarious. I wish you were in love in the Patreon streets. Lee John said the dealerships call you when they have a low use car inventory and high demand, similar to what Assante said. No interest, though, is something I would look twice at. Even if the term is longer, you could take your saved interest and add it to your payments to pay it off faster if you wanted to. I would go look at the numbers and hear them out, Fran. You may come out with a win. LOL at Fran taking these car deals. That would be funny, because she told us how she doesn't even get new phones.

Speaker 6:
[33:24] Yes, yes.

Speaker 4:
[33:28] Wow, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots.

Speaker 6:
[33:31] This is a step in the right direction. So Fran, where we at with it? Have you gone and had the conversation, or what are you thinking?

Speaker 4:
[33:39] I have not, but I'm really considering it.

Speaker 7:
[33:41] We got to go down there. We just got to hear them out. We don't got to leave with nothing unless, you know, Lana.

Speaker 4:
[33:47] I'm considering it because, like I said, I miss my own car. And yeah, that's really why. Yeah.

Speaker 6:
[33:56] Like, that's a fun thing.

Speaker 4:
[33:58] Yeah, I know. It's because, I don't know. Like I said, yeah, last week, I wasn't even thinking of it and considering it, but because cars do depreciate, someone being like, I'll buy that shit off you for how much you paid is like, what? Okay.

Speaker 6:
[34:11] I want you to know that this is a thing about like, this is a part of the having a car experience, like not having any interest in getting a new car or whatever. And then you just end up at the car lot or you see somewhere. And then the next day you call your people like, girl, why am I at the dealership? Can I sign on a new car? I was not even thinking about no car.

Speaker 7:
[34:37] That happens in your car journey, so I love seeing this.

Speaker 4:
[34:40] We went to the dealership of my old car just to look.

Speaker 1:
[34:44] Just to look, just to see what happened.

Speaker 4:
[34:46] And you know, that kind of already made me be like, oh, I see what. But y'all made me laugh in the comments because y'all were like, girl, they call me every year. Like, that's a thing, which I'm like, okay, I didn't know if that was a thing or not. So, I'm glad that y'all put me on because people said that they get called on. Like you said, especially if it's like a car that people are after in some capacities, especially in the used car market. So, Chris says, Fran, I love listening to you talk about your driving journey. One of the first things my mom taught me how to do as I was getting ready to get my license was to back into parking spots. Her reason was, okay, I wish, her reason was, you never know when you have to get out fast, which made me say, what kind of situations have you been in before? But I too am one of those people that always backs in when I park. That is impressive. I just love watching y'all do it because y'all got to put your arm in on the other side.

Speaker 7:
[35:52] I love being able to leave, so I got to back in. I have to back in. Sometimes I'm like, all right, let me just pull in it, but I'm like, no, let me go ahead and back in.

Speaker 4:
[35:59] That's true because all weekend in Atlanta, when you were parked in the house, you backed in the whole time. Yeah. You and Crystal.

Speaker 7:
[36:07] You know what?

Speaker 4:
[36:08] I'm going to make that a thing. Maybe that will be my new goal. I'm going to try. How do you practice that though? That's so scary.

Speaker 7:
[36:16] I don't know, but it's so funny that you talked to Fran because I really hated the way that driveway was set up. So the fact that I had to back into that awkward ass, I was like, but I still was doing it. It's like I said, I got to give me a, especially where Atlanta was a good time. That's funny. Thank you.

Speaker 4:
[36:31] Especially where we were. Lastly, Candy Green said, I listened to Dustin on an episode of that Carlos King podcast last year and that she capitalized, that is how I found The Friend Zone. I love y'all. I'm a work from home wife and mom of three kids with special needs. I look forward to all of your content and love each of you. And yes, to recapping Real Housewives of Rhode Island.

Speaker 6:
[36:59] Love her. What's her name?

Speaker 4:
[37:00] Candy Green.

Speaker 6:
[37:01] Hey, Candy Green.

Speaker 5:
[37:03] Candy Green.

Speaker 6:
[37:04] Hey, Candy Green. Love you, girl.

Speaker 4:
[37:08] And then the episode the week before that was Assante's episode. And that was why? Why is my thing on chicken and popsicle sticks? I'm like, what episode was that? We are so crazy. The GMV. I don't know that that was any better. Thank you, Dustin Ross. When we talked about what happens when you do everything right, but life still feels unclear. Did success change or are we just figuring it out in real time? Thank you, Assante, for that conversation. Who stood out to you in the comments?

Speaker 7:
[37:44] First of all, thank you both for your contributions. Out in the Spotify street still, I want to shout out Christina White. Christina's comment reads, I love this conversation. I feel like hard work and preparation get touted as the only way to get whatever success looks like. But we definitely have to factor opportunities into that. How absolutely random it seems for who gets an opportunity and who does sometimes. I went the college route and have built a career I'm proud of because of it. But had I lived a couple of miles west or been in a different teacher's homeroom, I may not have been able to ever afford it. That's so crazy because like you said, real, that's so just crazy to think about. I kind of maybe passively had that consideration, but when you just put it like that, Christina, thank you. Another comment I want to shout out is Diamond. Diamond's comment reads, Assante, this was very timely. As a new mom who was once very career-centered, I'm having to reimagine what success looks like for me. Priorities have changed, the amount of leisure time and money has changed. As a result, my timeline for career goals and even what I wanted for myself has had to shift. Success metrics these days revolve around how well my daughter is cared for first and then everything else after. The career goals will come, but priorities have shifted in this new season. Shout out to you, Diamond, and congratulations. Absolutely. You were successful in your business and now you're already successful being a mother. I know you're being amazing. Thank you for your comment. Lots of other comments that I could read. One of them was crazy. Hey, you. Okay, I'm going to read this one from Turn, Turn, Rayum, Turn, Turn, Rayum. Excuse me. I'm sorry. The comment reads, Hey, you for a non-binary parent is hilarious. That's why I was struggling, because that one caught me because I forgot that happened.

Speaker 4:
[39:42] Let me guess who said that.

Speaker 7:
[39:45] You know, I'm going to leave you right there actually, Fran.

Speaker 4:
[39:48] As he laughs.

Speaker 7:
[39:49] I mean, took him clean out. I was sucking up the past. Fran, what did you find out there in those tweets?

Speaker 4:
[39:58] So Darian Cook said, I just wanted to come and say I truly appreciate when Dustin speaks about his experience growing up in an organized religion. We share the same religion. So I always love hearing that I wasn't alone in some of the feelings I had growing up. From having to sneak to my own prom, to being deterred from going away to college, and all of the other strictness that caused me to while out. I also love when he does Bible study because I remember all of the stories and the yellow book some of them came from.

Speaker 6:
[40:29] My book of Bible stories, yep.

Speaker 4:
[40:31] It's always hard for people to relate to my experience. So I smile and nod big when I listen. The biggest thing for me was not being able to speak to my gay family members. And it was just something I could never get with.

Speaker 6:
[40:45] Try being a gay family member.

Speaker 4:
[40:48] Right, so I left the moment I became old enough. I still respect some teachings, but I can never be all the way in. Also, I went to Dustin's show in Detroit. And it was honestly heartwarming to see his family, his brother, and especially his mom be so supportive of her openly gay son after raising him in that religion. It really made me tear up a little to see because I know how they can be.

Speaker 6:
[41:18] Man, I love this. Well, tell me the commenter's name again, please.

Speaker 4:
[41:21] Darian Cook.

Speaker 6:
[41:22] Darian, thank you, Darian. Love you, Darian. Much love to you and thank you so much. And thank you for seeing me.

Speaker 7:
[41:29] Okay.

Speaker 6:
[41:31] And you just cooked in that message. Thank you very much.

Speaker 4:
[41:35] Lexi Bowers said, Hey, y'all, I really hope this makes it to the recap segment. Well, Lexi, wish granted. Because I hope to help someone in my situation. I'm currently 32 years old, divorced with two elementary school aged children. Four years ago, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that limits mobility. And as a result, I immediately fell victim to my illness. Fran, the wellness segment was an affirmation and reassurance as about three weeks ago, I made the choice to not only live, but live well. I got a fitness trainer and also altered my eating habits significantly. And he is holding me accountable weekly. I'm plus size, which greatly affects my condition. But between the weight training and monitoring my eating habits, I'm already feeling better and interacting with my children in a better way. All of this is a choice. We have to choose life and to live it in a capacity to which we are our best selves. To my autoimmune girlies, you are not your disease. You can live and be better. While we may still experience flares, our good days can be great if you choose. I'm happy to hear that, Lexi, right?

Speaker 7:
[42:46] Thank you, congratulations.

Speaker 4:
[42:48] And I'm glad you felt reassured because that's literally my only goal with the wellness segment is just to encourage us to just try our best.

Speaker 6:
[42:55] There's your proof positive right there.

Speaker 4:
[42:57] Absolutely, and Ari said, Fran, my granddad is 89 years old next month and rides his bike. Goals, okay. He drives his car everywhere in New York City still.

Speaker 6:
[43:11] Yes.

Speaker 4:
[43:11] Day and night, brain sharp as ever. It all trips me out, but he thrives off of independence. I'm happy to have such a badass granddaddy.

Speaker 6:
[43:21] Shout out to your granddaddy. This is your granddaddy. That is your granddaddy. I love that.

Speaker 4:
[43:28] Can you imagine being 89 still out here driving and riding your bike?

Speaker 6:
[43:31] Yeah, with a mean Viagra prescription. Yes.

Speaker 4:
[43:36] You know what?

Speaker 6:
[43:36] A stern Cialis prescription. Absolutely.

Speaker 4:
[43:42] Not stern.

Speaker 6:
[43:43] A stern Cialis prescription. Yes.

Speaker 4:
[43:46] And then my last one is Tia who says, Fran, hearing you speak about your private school experience has encouraged and inspired me to get my daughter into private school. Hearing you speak about the opportunities confirms all the hard work we've done applying and getting her accepted. She starts in the fall, third grade.

Speaker 7:
[44:04] Congratulations.

Speaker 4:
[44:07] And we are beyond excited. Thank you so much for sharing. That makes me so happy. I really hope that this opens many, many doors for her. I will say this.

Speaker 6:
[44:18] Keep her black.

Speaker 4:
[44:19] Thank you.

Speaker 6:
[44:20] I knew where you was going and I knew how you was going to say it. So this is like, let me say it for my sister. Keep her black now. You know what I'm saying?

Speaker 7:
[44:28] She needs to go play with her cousins.

Speaker 4:
[44:30] Okay. And please hold space for her and make sure she has room to tell you what she's experiencing. A lot of parents are just like, just be happy that you may know.

Speaker 8:
[44:41] Let us talk about it. Please.

Speaker 7:
[44:43] Right.

Speaker 6:
[44:44] She needs to go hang out with her family.

Speaker 4:
[44:46] That part. But yes, I'm so happy and excited for her. And this is going to be life changing. Dustin Ross, what did you find in those Twitter streets?

Speaker 6:
[44:55] Two tweets, one positive, one me. Okay. So the first tweet comes from Cardi B. It says, when you hold power and authority, use it with kindness and respect. Never abuse it because not everyone will endure your arrogance and silence. Treat others exactly like you demand to be treated. Atlanta, I'll see you soon. I actually was at her Friday night show in Atlanta. It was her last two shows of the Little Miss Drama Tour. Me and Alex, we had so much fun.

Speaker 4:
[45:26] I can't.

Speaker 6:
[45:27] But anyway, the concert was incredible. I know that the next day she went live on Instagram or something like that. She was checking the security for being racist basically. I just see that. So just shout out to Cardi B. To me, she's a great example of how to maintain being your authentic self and also having some principle, right? And some integrity underneath that. She is always providing a baseline of integrity with the things that she does and says. From her bringing out multiple other female rappers, both older and younger, from her sticking up for herself, always talking about marginalized people, the comments she made about Black Americans and what the things that they've done for our freedoms and what they've done for the rights of Black people. And I thoroughly enjoy being a fan of her. And I had a great experience at the concert. So shout out to Belle Calise. You heard me.

Speaker 4:
[46:27] Also, I want to try her.

Speaker 6:
[46:29] Grow good.

Speaker 4:
[46:30] Her hair. Yes. I freaking signed up the waiting list because it sold out so quickly. And I wasn't even aware of the drop date, you know, I just was kind of clueless. And then I saw it. I'm thinking, oh, let me go on the website and order some. No, girl, that's not how we're doing this. So hopefully they drop again soon. And if any of you have tried it, let me know what you think. I'm seeing so many amazing reviews. And obviously by the looks, honestly, I'm going to trust the Dominican girl from New York City, who is doing hair care. I'm sorry, but they just get it. You know what I'm saying?

Speaker 6:
[47:08] And she's been doing her hair on the internet for years.

Speaker 4:
[47:12] Okay, with the bag, the supermarket bag, with the avocado.

Speaker 6:
[47:16] I love that they included that in the marketing too. Me too. At the concert, she had a, it looked like a truck, but it was like themed to like a beauty supply where you could get all the products. I wish I had known you wanted it because I would have just mailed it to you. Yeah.

Speaker 4:
[47:31] I had to see, I didn't know.

Speaker 6:
[47:32] Bam. Okay. But yes, shout out to Cardi B to me.

Speaker 4:
[47:36] Shout out to Cardi B.

Speaker 6:
[47:38] Her kids are so funny too. I seen a post the other day where her son, Wave, had her little baby Blossom at his school. He started his own social class and he was walking her around like his friends making her say shit. Like Blossom, Blossom, say six to heaven. And her little baby, she was laughing because they was encouraging her and she was like six to heaven. She was saying it. It was so cute. So, so, so cute.

Speaker 4:
[48:07] So shout out to her.

Speaker 6:
[48:09] And now here's the me thing. There's a tweet, there's a Twitter account called Sunday Divine, S-U-N-D-A-E Divine. And they tweeted, when your life becomes a case study in karma and attached a screenshot of an article, I don't know what it's from, but the headline reads, Caitlyn Jenner appeals to Trump, saying she cannot travel after passport gender change to male.

Speaker 8:
[48:35] Oh, shit.

Speaker 6:
[48:36] Which already, whoever wrote this is stupid because your gender is not male, your sex is male. So when it says passport gender change to male, I almost want to just, just to set my phone down like that, because what am I reading? But anyway, but it's two dummies, right? Because not only is the person that wrote that stupid, Caitlyn Jenner is stupid as well.

Speaker 8:
[48:56] Yes.

Speaker 6:
[48:57] Because what the fuck did you think it was going to happen? I'm so glad they tapped that boxy shoulder of hers and slowed her ass right the fuck down. You don't get to do it both ways, ho. You don't. And then you was in the headlines recently talking about some, I wish I wouldn't have accepted that Glamour Women of the Year Award. Well, why did you take it, ho? Because we didn't want you to have it then. I knew she was fake as fuck. Knew she was fake. Just a white motherfucking person who wants to do what they want to do. Aligning themselves with them fucking fucked up ass white Christian nationalists, values and print.

Speaker 4:
[49:31] We didn't even call them values.

Speaker 6:
[49:32] Talking points. OK. Tried to run for governor of California. Who in the fuck was going to vote for Caitlyn? Hit you with the car ass jenner. That big old foot getting stuck on them pedals and shit. You running into every goddamn thing because you're you're sparey top side or foot wrapped ass. Didn't hit the damn gas too hard.

Speaker 4:
[49:52] I love a spare.

Speaker 6:
[49:53] Sorry, Fran. I got to remember that when I'm thinking about stuff.

Speaker 4:
[49:56] It's a lot of shots. Sorry, Fran.

Speaker 6:
[50:00] Well, you guys be cute. You know how you know how to do the little string thing on the end.

Speaker 4:
[50:04] You know, I do more of a 90s New York.

Speaker 6:
[50:07] Yeah, this is more of a Montana, you know, more of a four by four type thing. You know what I'm saying? Mud runner, all that kind of shit. But fuck Caitlyn Jenner, LaCrosse. What's the thing you call that you swing in LaCrosse?

Speaker 4:
[50:25] LaCrosse.

Speaker 6:
[50:26] What's the what's that thing called that you swing? Do you guys know?

Speaker 4:
[50:29] I don't know.

Speaker 7:
[50:30] I remember it does have a name.

Speaker 6:
[50:31] Yeah, that's her foot, the LaCrosse thing. You know what I'm saying? Catching shit, big old fishnet foot. I can't stand her motherfucking ass. I hate Caitlyn Jenner. It's because of contradictory shit like this. And the minute it affects you, now you're crying. It's just a textbook case of whiteness. Like my boy DeRay says, watch whiteness work. You know what I'm saying? This is it right here. The privilege, the assumed privilege of you to halfway be trans, right? Trans when you want to, when you want to do whatever it is you do. But when it's time to actually stand for something, when it's time to actually speak out about anything, you're parroting these right wing fucking conservative white nationalist talking points. That's what you choose to do. And they hate you. You're a f*** to them. They don't even understand the difference between trans, which is a gender identity and homosexuality, which is a sexuality. They think that trans shit is gay. You're a f*** to them Caitlyn Jenner and you wanted me to, bitch. Now, and so that's all I got to say. Fuck Caitlyn Jenner, brief swearing ass. You can't tell me she'll still wear underwear with the hole in the front.

Speaker 4:
[51:44] You know what?

Speaker 6:
[51:46] Long Johns. You know what I'm saying? Caitlyn Jenner being Long Johns. That's what she be able to waffle that waffle cotton. You know, the waffle cotton material, Long Johns in the summer under jeans, Wranglers. Okay.

Speaker 4:
[52:01] This is so oddly specific.

Speaker 6:
[52:03] With the Rams, a belt with Rams horns on the buckle. You know what I'm saying? And keys.

Speaker 4:
[52:11] It feels like a shot again.

Speaker 7:
[52:12] A bunch of keys.

Speaker 4:
[52:16] I did want to share this tip. One of our listeners named AB said, I listened to y'all's episode today regarding taxes. I used to work at Best Buy and Cali, and anytime customers would come in with an Oregon ID or driver's license, the taxes would be waived. What?

Speaker 7:
[52:34] See?

Speaker 4:
[52:34] Not sure if they still do this, but it's worth a try when you're shopping in other states.

Speaker 8:
[52:39] What?

Speaker 6:
[52:41] I didn't even know that.

Speaker 4:
[52:42] My mind is like that again.

Speaker 6:
[52:45] You're about to give me an ID at your crib, Fran. I'm like, I'm the shit.

Speaker 7:
[52:52] Fran, I just need your address for when I'm at the DMV. I'm here right now.

Speaker 4:
[52:57] Isn't Jersey the same on my trip in? Y'all need to get some Jersey IDs. No, on that note, let's jump in.

Speaker 6:
[53:09] Hit it, Oprah.

Speaker 8:
[53:15] Let's jump in to The Friend Zone Podcast.

Speaker 7:
[53:22] Well, as we all know, I've been the same person for about a month now because I just got me a new car. The only reason that I got a car is because I needed to make sure that I could afford one. And the way that I was able to make sure that I could afford one was to watch my spending. And the way that I was able to watch my spending was with Rocket Money. OK, Rocket Money is a personal finance app that helps find and cancel your unwanted subscriptions, monitors your spending like me, and helps lower your bills so you can grow your savings. Let Rocket Money help you reach your financial goals faster. Try for zero dollars at rocketmoney.com/zone. That's rocketmoney.com/zone. rocketmoney.com/zone.

Speaker 6:
[54:01] Spring testing is around the corner. Projects are picking up, and the push toward the end of the year is officially on, y'all. IXL helps kids stay confident and prepared during this important stretch. IXL is an award-winning online learning platform for pre-K through 12th grade, with personalized interactive lessons in math, reading, writing, and science that adapt to each child's level and pace. Now, this is proven in all 50 states to improve grades. Students who use IXL score higher on tests. IXL is, in fact, used in 96 of the top 100 school districts in the US. We have actually tested this. I know I'll speak for myself. If I'm very close with my family, you guys know that I've had my family on the show before. And there's young school-aged children in my family as well. We've used IXL to help them and it's been the perfect benefit and supplement to their education. My little cousins, they need to have their key skills reviewed before they go up for state testing. We know how critically important that is to their success in higher education. So IXL is really a useful tool. And you can make an impact on your child's learning and you can get IXL now. And the Friend Zone listeners can get an exclusive 20% off IXL membership when they sign up today at ixl.com/friendzone. Visit ixl.com/friendzone to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price. It's Way Day at Wayfair. From April 25th through the 27th, you can score the best deals in home like up to 80% off with free shipping on everything. Wayfair makes it easy to find exactly what fits your style and needs from furniture and home decor to home improvement and outdoor essentials. Upgrade your space with quality pieces that work within your budget and with Wayfair Verified, the team of product specialists vets everything by hand using a 10-point quality inspection. So you know you're getting a quality piece no matter your budget. I've been in the market for a coffee table. I wanted something kind of chic and minimalistic but still masculine and I got exactly what I wanted. I love my coffee table and it really makes my space feel like home. It came literally packaged well and safely. No scratches and dents and dings all in it. The ordering process was so simple. It came very, very fast. I actually did watch the video with the product specialist because pictures are one thing, but that product specialist video was so detailed. It really made me confident that it was a good fit for my home. I love it. Everybody else loves it and you can get yours because Wayday is the sale to shop. You get the best deals in home. We're talking up to 80% off with fast and free shipping on everything. So head to wayfair.com April 25th through the 27th to shop Wayday. That's wayfaier.com Wayfair. Every style, every home.

Speaker 4:
[57:00] So this week's episode, I was watching a documentary.

Speaker 7:
[57:10] Sorry, I forgot this is a show, my bad.

Speaker 4:
[57:13] So I was up late one night, maybe like two, three weeks ago. I think I mentioned it on here when I had watched it, right? But I was up late doing my usual on a Friday night, which is laid up on the couch in a blanket with the fireplace looking for documentaries. This one pops up on Netflix and I was like, what is this guy with these eyes? And it's called Caterpillar. And then I read the caption in the set or the description rather. And it's like, you know, eye changing surgery. I'm like, oh, oh, I need to watch this.

Speaker 6:
[57:46] His face was shaped like a beefsteak tomato.

Speaker 4:
[57:50] You know what, don't start.

Speaker 6:
[57:51] Didn't you think so? As soon as I seen him, I was like, wow, his face is shaped just like a beefsteak tomato.

Speaker 8:
[57:57] No.

Speaker 4:
[57:59] So I click it.

Speaker 6:
[58:00] Not in a bad way. He just was, it was similar. You know what I'm saying?

Speaker 8:
[58:05] I watch it.

Speaker 4:
[58:06] And then when I was in Atlanta this past weekend, I made everyone watch it.

Speaker 7:
[58:13] I'm glad I went to my part in Rome.

Speaker 8:
[58:14] Okay.

Speaker 4:
[58:15] As, as XZ says, we had a wang dang doodle.

Speaker 6:
[58:20] Shout out to Coco Taylor. Yes.

Speaker 4:
[58:23] And I was, and I actually told Jade and, well, I told Jade, I told her you and XZ should recap this because I find them, that's my favorite podcast. I find them so fucking funny. And she was like, okay, we watched it. She was like, I can't believe you. How did you even find this shit? And then I thought, okay, they did their recap. We had to talk about it because I also wanted to hear your thoughts because y'all hadn't watched it yet. So for those who are new, this is a documentary called Caterpillar and it was created by Good Deed Entertainment. The director is Liza Mandelup and the producers are J Van Hoy, Matthew Churchio and Liza Mandelup, which made this a very complicated experience for me because initially when I watched it, I thought it was going to be like an entertaining kind of predatory style doc like Netflix does, where they just tap into the misfortunes of people and make us laugh.

Speaker 7:
[59:25] Right.

Speaker 4:
[59:26] But it was a lot more than that.

Speaker 7:
[59:27] Yeah.

Speaker 4:
[59:28] And so where it gets complex for me is that it was a very layered podcast. You hear me? Layered documentary. I mean, transphobia, colorism. I mean, you name it, we went into it, insecurities, all of the things. But it's a team of white people that created it. You know what I mean? And then everybody in the doc is black and brown. And so that is always very challenging for me to kind of know how to sit with that. But let's get into it. So I'm not going to go scene by scene because we don't need to do that. But I'm going to go section by section. So we find, we meet.

Speaker 6:
[60:09] Sexuality by sexuality.

Speaker 4:
[60:11] We meet the protagonist who is Raymond David Taylor. But he goes by David and he's a 50 year old. He's a 50 year old gay man from Florida.

Speaker 6:
[60:26] He's hell, too, by the way. I was like, the minute he came home. Yes. All right, girl, you ready? And then they go say, now look up. When they were taking the pictures outside, I was like, look up.

Speaker 4:
[60:37] He was like, I loved it.

Speaker 6:
[60:40] I was like, this gay ass.

Speaker 4:
[60:43] Now I was very confused because he was saying he was biracial. Right. And I was like, you're not just Puerto Rican from New York. I mean, I was just kidding.

Speaker 6:
[60:52] You want you wanted us to know that. You know what I'm saying? Like you wanted us to know that. That was a tear big.

Speaker 4:
[60:57] I'm feeling very New Yorkan vibe. So I'm still trying to understand that family tree. I don't think it ever really gets explained, but he's a 50 year old gay man from Miami, Florida, struggling, right? As we see with deep seated insecurity, trauma, depression, this sort of crisis, right? Of self-worth that he's describing. We also meet his mother, Carmen, who's 70 years old. Even the first interaction between them, right? He's calling her to let her know he's going to come through. And she's like, can I call you back? I'm eating a salad.

Speaker 6:
[61:33] But he, they was both weird.

Speaker 4:
[61:36] I mean, he definitely would not get off the phone and it was driving me nuts.

Speaker 3:
[61:40] Fran did drive me crazy.

Speaker 7:
[61:41] That's what I was like, I was on her side in that moment because that was the first thing I said to you was, hey, I'm eating, can I call you back in five? And then you proceed.

Speaker 6:
[61:52] I just want to let you know I'm coming over to see you.

Speaker 7:
[61:54] That it drives me up the wall.

Speaker 4:
[61:56] She was like, okay, David, let me just call you back. He was like, but like, I'm just trying to, it just was the circuit lifting.

Speaker 7:
[62:01] But you good though? I will tell you when I call you back in five minutes. Okay, well, I'm just telling you that I'm coming down to see you. You know, what time should I come? I will talk to you in five minutes. Okay, well, then just call me back or...

Speaker 4:
[62:15] So already you're seeing the tension, right? Between him and his mom and this sort of neediness on his end and this sort of avoidance on her end. At least that's how I read it.

Speaker 7:
[62:25] You can tell there's been an unhealthy dynamic that's played out between them off-ramp. That's how I felt. I was like, oh.

Speaker 6:
[62:31] My reflection was, well, both these motherfuckers is crazy. That's what I thought when I watched it. I was like, oh, they both these motherfuckers is crazy. I felt sorry for him.

Speaker 4:
[62:43] I did too.

Speaker 7:
[62:44] I cried.

Speaker 4:
[62:45] I believe you.

Speaker 7:
[62:47] That's why I was like this morning. I watched this twice. The first time I watched this, I remember feeling a completely different way. I remember being like, okay, let me go into self-mind it. I was like, damn, all this is interesting. Damn, this is fucked up. Damn, this is crazy. And then like, it was cool, right? Rewatching it this morning on the Freshlands, I laughed again at the beginning, you know, at the gate in the club. But then I just remember shaking my head, like as I was watching and hearing him just read his cry, pretty much to get this surgery, as he was talking about his experiences and then to watch those dynamics play out with his mom just mentioning having had him and him being gay and how that's fine, she could deal with that. But if he was trans, that'd be too far. I was just like, this is just like, it's taking me out. So it was just very sad.

Speaker 4:
[63:33] And her crossing the boundaries, right? Of discussing things with production in front of the camera that she did not, clearly did not discuss with him prior because he's talking-

Speaker 6:
[63:44] Hustling, drugs.

Speaker 4:
[63:45] Drugs, hustling, his lifestyle growing up, how he was out in the streets, his sexuality, how he identifies. I mean, she was going in and then she turns and he's crying.

Speaker 7:
[63:57] Yeah.

Speaker 4:
[63:57] Which I was like she didn't realize he was crying this whole time. He was sitting behind her crying this whole time because she's just exposing all of these layers that he possibly did not feel comfortable discussing. This is a documentary about his eye color change. He probably wasn't there yet. Then she turns around so casually like, should I not have said any of that? Then didn't really know how to care for him in that moment. I noticed that.

Speaker 6:
[64:24] Her name is Carmen, Carmen, right?

Speaker 4:
[64:26] Carmen.

Speaker 6:
[64:26] That would have been the last time you've seen Carmen on the documentary for me. If that was my mama, we would have been like, where in the world is Carmen? San Diego with Carmen period because I would have stopped her from filming. You can't handle being in this environment. Unless you want me to tell your business Carmen because Carmen got a story too. Carmen, a hip hopper.

Speaker 7:
[64:47] Well, so she does have a story and that's why it was so sad to see how broken David was and how he was treating those earlier moments and then even how it all ended. But re-watching it actually, I felt bad for Carmen because they both are missing something. Obviously, it's from her. But when she said that piece, I think she said, was I the best mother? I was the best mother that I could be. It was still that lack of accountability of her being like, I know I made some mistakes, I could have done better. Certain wording of certain things, because she's missing certain pieces and then I feel like David's missing those pieces even more because she expected or wanted him to be more because she just kept saying, you're a man. So it's like she was already a woman of a different time with a different mindset and a lot of those failures. So then having to try to, which she hadn't reconciled. So to help him through life already was not working. Now he's in this thing where he wants his eye color changed.

Speaker 4:
[65:44] Yeah. So let's before we jump in there. So we meet him and his apartment is in bad shape.

Speaker 6:
[65:52] Fifth pig style.

Speaker 4:
[65:53] I mean, there's a lot of B-roll of his stove top, his bathroom, his bed. Like it's just he's not in good shape.

Speaker 6:
[66:02] As a gay, I was shocked to see that.

Speaker 4:
[66:08] It's the hand on your chest.

Speaker 6:
[66:10] I was shocked to see that. Number one, you're filming.

Speaker 4:
[66:13] Right. That would have had me cleaning.

Speaker 7:
[66:16] I just wouldn't have expected that either too.

Speaker 6:
[66:18] I cannot, I can't tell that story.

Speaker 4:
[66:22] But that went to show.

Speaker 7:
[66:24] Right, right, right, Fran. I know what you're going, yeah.

Speaker 4:
[66:26] But you know, that went to show how deep.

Speaker 6:
[66:28] That something's wrong.

Speaker 4:
[66:29] Something's wrong. That there's a deep seated problem here. He shares with us that he wants to feel different. He said, I'm tired of feeling sad because if I feel sad one more day, I don't know if I'm going to make it.

Speaker 6:
[66:43] No, see, yeah.

Speaker 4:
[66:44] And he shares how he's just been in this cycle of depression and grief and sadness that he cannot seem to get out of. He kind of shares a little bit.

Speaker 6:
[66:54] Really, since childhood.

Speaker 4:
[66:56] Yeah, he shares a little bit about sexual abuse. He shares about the struggles with his mom not being there. His father wasn't around, apparently his mom was working. She even shared later in the doc, she was making $2.35 or $0.30 an hour trying to raise these children by herself with no help, and how things were just so challenging for her. She was also being abused. That actually reminded me so much of stories my mom had shared of when she was cleaning offices and she had first come to the States. And how it's very true, especially when you're an immigrant, how the men take advantage. And that happens to everyone, but immigrants especially because they know that you probably don't have a lot of family here, you can't advocate for yourself, most likely don't speak the language right. And so just very predatory. That reminded me of those experiences that she shared, but she just was sharing, she just had so much going on. She fell into the streets, just trying to support her family. So obviously we start seeing the sort of generational trauma and cycles coming in. So that's why I was saying that this caught me off guard because I'm like, oh wait, this is not.

Speaker 6:
[68:10] About eyes.

Speaker 4:
[68:11] This is not about this eye color surgery.

Speaker 6:
[68:14] I struggle with elders and people who are older than me sharing stories like that and then not following them up with. So because of all of that, it's so important for me to right my wrongs today.

Speaker 7:
[68:27] You know what I'm saying?

Speaker 6:
[68:28] When those stories are offered up as simply an explanation and with a view toward shutting down any corrective speech or whatever, I hate that personally. And I don't jig with older people that do that. You know what I'm saying? You don't get to just be an asshole because life was fucked up. You were fucked up to me.

Speaker 4:
[68:50] Right.

Speaker 6:
[68:51] You know? And so why should I cater to your experience when you're a horrible part of mine? I can't get with that personally. So that's when I'm out of the conversation. When I start hearing that kind of talk, because the next thing we're going to move to a level of disrespect, you know, and I want to take it there. So I just that's when I know we ain't got no business talking no more.

Speaker 4:
[69:12] And it's a lot of decentering that happens in those conversations, which I saw it happen several times in this doc. But also I know that we as people have experienced that where you're trying to share how you feel about the parenting or how you growing up or experiences that you've had. And they, like you said, will go into their story.

Speaker 7:
[69:35] You don't know what I went through.

Speaker 4:
[69:36] Yeah, decenter you in that moment. And do you notice, because I noticed this so strongly in this doc, there's like a blankness that goes over their face when they're just completely gone into their narrative and they have forgotten that you were talking.

Speaker 6:
[69:50] What we were talking about.

Speaker 4:
[69:51] What we were talking about. And then their story goes into every twist and turn. And then you're sitting there like, wow, you completely are disregarding the fact that I came to you.

Speaker 6:
[70:02] Yeah, and you're the one who was wrong.

Speaker 4:
[70:04] And you're the one who was wrong. And that never comes up. And that's, I think it's what a lot of us feel very challenged trying to have a conversation with our elders or family members. That glossiness that goes on their eye kills me every time. And we saw it so many times in this documentary. So clearly-

Speaker 6:
[70:23] Have some humility. When you give a fuck.

Speaker 4:
[70:26] Yeah. And he kept saying, right, I just want to be acknowledged. I want to be seen. And you see how many times his mom won't see him.

Speaker 6:
[70:36] Yeah.

Speaker 4:
[70:37] So clearly we seen where a lot of this is coming from.

Speaker 6:
[70:39] Sabotage, hijacking the conversation and shit, the way that she does. My thing is, we're gonna see you with those eyes, but-

Speaker 4:
[70:45] And a lot of lying. Remember when he was like, you call me the F word?

Speaker 6:
[70:49] Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 4:
[70:49] And she said, no, I don't. And I was like, girl, now you know, I don't even know you and I'm gonna be calling that.

Speaker 7:
[70:55] We weren't even there, we know you did.

Speaker 6:
[70:57] And then talking about she supported him being a female impersonator.

Speaker 4:
[71:02] Right.

Speaker 6:
[71:02] I bet that was so confusing for her. Yeah.

Speaker 7:
[71:05] Right.

Speaker 6:
[71:06] Like what?

Speaker 4:
[71:07] So you supported as entertainment, but not as my life.

Speaker 6:
[71:13] I told y'all, I'm never gonna be the uncomfortable person in the room again, never. When it comes to any of that gay shit, none of that. So the assumption that people have, where they feel like they can just prioritize their abhorrence of homosexuality over anything else that's deemed a sin to those that deem it that way, it ain't flying over here. So I hate hearing that shit. I hate hearing people talk like that. What the fuck makes you have the nerve, right? To assume such a hardy, arrogant positioning and think that it's up to you to say, well, since you like it, no, because you and I get to, she can, no, fuck you and that.

Speaker 4:
[71:56] Yeah. And remember what she said to him? Just because I can't accept everything.

Speaker 8:
[72:03] Remember that line?

Speaker 4:
[72:06] It don't mean I don't love you. I'm doing the best I can.

Speaker 8:
[72:09] Mom.

Speaker 6:
[72:10] And my thing is, you want to play them games and something is wrong with me because I'm gay. Well, and I'm not talking about my parents. I'm speaking about a parent saying this to their gay kid, right? I just be like, well, something wrong with you because you had a gay child. So what's wrong with you? What you got? You know what I'm saying?

Speaker 8:
[72:26] Like you had a gay kid.

Speaker 6:
[72:27] God don't like you either. You had a gay child. What's wrong with you?

Speaker 4:
[72:31] Dustin.

Speaker 6:
[72:32] You know what I'm saying? Like you got to think about it like that.

Speaker 4:
[72:35] Right. But we see, you know, through his apartment, through the sadness that he's expressing, through his relationship with his mom, he's just really unhappy. We see him obsessively looking online for cosmetic surgeries, eye-changing colors, color surgery, and he's obsessively watching this. He's like driving Uber, right? Watching it while he's waiting for the customer to get in the car. He's sitting having lunch watching it. He's in bed watching it.

Speaker 7:
[73:07] Right. Hey, man, how you doing, buddy?

Speaker 6:
[73:08] AI ass videos.

Speaker 4:
[73:10] It was terrible because you see all these people on this YouTube channel and a bunch of YouTube channels, just sharing how this changed their life.

Speaker 7:
[73:21] I have a note about one of those testimonials.

Speaker 4:
[73:23] Please.

Speaker 6:
[73:24] What? You knew one of the people?

Speaker 7:
[73:25] Yes. The girl that- No, not in real life. Not personally, not personally. That girl that they showed first.

Speaker 4:
[73:33] The Latin girl.

Speaker 7:
[73:34] She was on Bad Girls Club.

Speaker 6:
[73:36] Wait, what? Shut up. What season, Assante?

Speaker 7:
[73:38] She was on season 18 or- One of the new world, okay. Yeah, one of the seasons where we were kind of dope. I remember-

Speaker 8:
[73:44] Cut it out.

Speaker 7:
[73:45] I called it, I forgot what I used to call those seasons. It was like the Dead Seasons, low key. That's what I called it, because the show was over, but we still going to watch to see what's going on. And she was one of those girls, and I only remembered her because she was one of those girls that everyone kept trying to pick on. And I was like, y'all know when y'all do this, y'all make this girl hotter than she's supposed to be. And she then became that. So I was watching her and I was like, no, she didn't have them. She didn't have them. So I didn't, so I don't know if maybe they thought she was famous enough to promote the eyes. So I was like, did they catch her from Bad Girls Club? And they were like, oh, this will be a great marketing tool. So I was having my own little internal weird moment when I saw her come up on the screen.

Speaker 4:
[74:20] I cannot, we're watching this YouTube channel, right? And it kind of reminds you of just like the echo chamber that the internet is, right? Where you are feeling these things and then you can find other people feeling these things. And it kind of just amplifies everything that you're experiencing and makes you feel like, okay, there's so many of us, like, I need to do something about it. So he finds this company called Bright Ocular. That's the YouTube channel, I guess, I kept popping up for him, right? And I even was reading, because apparently this documentary came out on South by Southwest Festival Circuit back in 2023. That's where it like first premiered. And I found a couple of bloggers that attended back in 2023. So it was cool, because I was able to... Actually, the film critic and author I found, her name is Connie Wilson. She has a website called Weekly Wilson. So she was there, right? Weekly Wilson. She was there and she wrote this blog post about attending it back then. And she said that Liza initially was just doing research on filters and apps, you know, and the way that we lean into apps changing our appearance. And through doing research, this bright ocular company popped up for her, similar to the way it popped up for David. And she contacted Bright Ocular at the time to ask if she could do a documentary about the process of the eye color change. Apparently they were very positive in their response, but nothing ever materialized. So that's where she kind of tapped into the forums, the reddits, the areas where people were discussing their experience. Who did have an experience. I guess she figured if I can't get the company themselves, I'll get people that are on the road to this and get the process through their eyes, literally and figuratively. So that's how she came in touch with David and followed his process.

Speaker 6:
[76:23] So David, you know, he answered the email.

Speaker 4:
[76:25] Hello. So the way that BrightOcular works is that you can write a letter to them. Kind of like a make-a-wish foundation, right? Where you tell them, these are the struggles I'm going through. I can't afford this. I can't afford this any other way, but I really need the surgery. He wrote all of his life story and someone named Spencer, which Spencer, right?

Speaker 8:
[76:56] In India.

Speaker 4:
[76:57] No, but you know what's crazy? As I was looking at the BrightOcular YouTube, because it's still up, with all these videos, y'all, even in the doc when they were shooting the promo videos, those exact videos are in this, which is kind of crazy to watch. You know the shot where he's doing the pushups on the steps?

Speaker 8:
[77:17] This is insane.

Speaker 4:
[77:20] Anyway, so.

Speaker 7:
[77:21] Damn.

Speaker 4:
[77:22] Right, so even if you go back on their YouTube, you can go back 10, 12 plus years, and people are speaking about this Spencer person, which is eerie, right? Because you know it's not a person. But anyway, it's probably just a signature to their email. What? Eerie. So the Spencer person writes David back and says, oh my God, you're perfect for this. We absolutely want to fly you out. All accommodations covered, surgery covered. You got it. We'll happily do this for you. We hope to help you. We hope that we can change your life and be a part of this transformation you're looking for. Of course, he's flipping out, right? He's like, my life's about to change. He flies out to India.

Speaker 6:
[78:06] He did the splits.

Speaker 4:
[78:11] Remember when he bought his little salmon outfit?

Speaker 7:
[78:15] His eye reveal, his eye color reveal outfit.

Speaker 4:
[78:21] His eye reveal outfit, and it's a salmon kurda. I was trying to find what the proper term for it was. And he was saying that he felt like an Indian prince in it. Remember he wore it and was walking through the streets and people were shaking his head and he's bowing and just feeling so alive, so excited at the opportunities that this is already bringing.

Speaker 6:
[78:42] I want to see the second camera. Because I want to see what happened after he walked past.

Speaker 2:
[78:47] That's what I want to see.

Speaker 4:
[78:51] No, the scene that killed me, y'all saw when he was, well, yes, but when he was on the rooftop, he's like, I love you, India. And he's like, I'm changing. This is my new beginning. And in the camera panes, there's a guy in a hoodie on the roof staring at him like, shut the fuck up.

Speaker 7:
[79:13] But that, you know, is so sad though.

Speaker 4:
[79:15] I know.

Speaker 7:
[79:16] Like to your point of like, you know, him sitting in that letter, like everything before that that we had watched was so like, damn, like people want to change, people want to be seen, people want to be felt. And he really thought that this was going to be that thing. Like it was so weird to watch him watch that early YouTube video when it was like, the most attractive thing, these are most attractive traits, the eyes, the window to the soul. And so like, I'm sure that that was, you know, the longer video of all the things. But for him to have set on the eyes and just been so obsessed with the eyes and become entranced with that, it's just like, bro, like, I know that you, I just wonder what that connection was from the trauma he had.

Speaker 6:
[79:55] Well, he said it, remember? He said that he was darker than all of the rest of his siblings and that he dealt with extreme, like, colorism and racism from his judgment.

Speaker 4:
[80:05] And bullying. And remember his dad, the mom showed a picture of his supposed, I'm going to say that, dad. And he was like a light eyed, a green eyed.

Speaker 6:
[80:15] He was trying to disrespect this lady, but I'm close.

Speaker 7:
[80:17] Right, he was a green eyed, a light green eyed dude.

Speaker 4:
[80:22] So that could be part of.

Speaker 7:
[80:23] That's literally what it was. Cause I kept trying to remember like, why is it the eyes? Like, why is that the thing that he said on? Cause everybody had a reason for wanting to do their eyes, but for him, but you're right, that piece about the dad I forgot, cause nevermind. It wasn't funny. It really was like, damn, like this is crazy and this is fucked up. And it made me cry when he was reading that testimonial, cause when he was dumping all of his, the things that happened to him, I'm biracial and I've dealt with a lot of racism and all this other stuff. And I was just like, damn, like sir, I too want to be seen as well, but this is just like not it. Well, to me, when I seen them needles in the eye, I just really was like, this is not it.

Speaker 6:
[81:04] It just reflected deep seated insecurity, right out at the end of the day. If you think that changing your eye color is going to change the way that people in the world perceive you or you have a more positive experience, it just, first of all, that's inaccurate, right? Second of all, it reflects deep, deep seated insecurities. He was not an ugly man.

Speaker 8:
[81:26] He wasn't.

Speaker 6:
[81:27] He's not an ugly man. He's, and I'm gay. I know a gay people in different communities. He can get his way in certain spaces. You know what I'm saying? People will be attracted to him.

Speaker 7:
[81:38] You saw his friend that was taking his pictures. I was like, okay, look at them sitting all close on the couch.

Speaker 6:
[81:43] He's trying to take all his pictures.

Speaker 4:
[81:47] And you know what, that was another layer I wanted to tap into too, right?

Speaker 7:
[81:51] What, his life's different?

Speaker 4:
[81:52] No, the layer of like, no, how gay men are so obsessive with appearance, right? And weight.

Speaker 6:
[82:01] Thank you.

Speaker 4:
[82:03] And weight. I remember Assante showing me in the apps, the no fats, no fans, and just how serious people were about that and how serious people are about their workout regimens and who has abs and who doesn't, right? So I'm sure he's dealing with that. Then he's dealing with the colorism. In Miami. Oh my God, in Miami. Then you have the colorism where he said growing up, he was the darkest in his family. Imagine being a child growing up and being told that you're ugly or your hair is bad or you're, you know, you're seeing your family, not to mention media. Let's talk about media. Who are you seeing in the magazines? Who are the people being highlighted as the leads in movies? What are the dark skin people being highlighted as? There's just so many levels to how he was being consumed.

Speaker 7:
[82:52] Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 4:
[82:52] That's the best word, you know? Yeah, yeah. And so this is terrible to see what it has done to him because now he is willing to put himself in a position with an unregulated, non FDA approved, even though I don't even know if FDA approval means anything now.

Speaker 7:
[83:10] Right.

Speaker 6:
[83:10] But I'm still stuck on the person from India being named Spencer.

Speaker 4:
[83:15] That part, or the fact that BrightOcular doesn't have an office.

Speaker 7:
[83:20] That was funny.

Speaker 4:
[83:21] Remember the manager from Spectra. Spectra is the actual center where they do the eye surgery in India. The manager said that she's never spoken to anyone from BrightOcular. She's never met anyone from BrightOcular and all the communications have strictly been via email. And there's a scene where David and the other people that are having the surgery, they discuss this. They're like, it is kind of weird, huh? And in my mind, I'm like wanting to shake all of them.

Speaker 6:
[83:50] Because so you're going to let this, the boogeyman cut your eye in half? Like that don't even make sense. Somebody that you don't know, never met, never seen that.

Speaker 4:
[83:58] There's no building, no offices.

Speaker 6:
[83:59] No consultation.

Speaker 7:
[84:01] Right.

Speaker 4:
[84:02] And then Menachem, how do you say Menachem? I don't know what I'm saying.

Speaker 6:
[84:07] Menachem is the way to say.

Speaker 4:
[84:11] Menachem, who's one of the guys from there, he was like, what are y'all looking for? Y'all been watching movies. You expect some representative from the matrix to come, hello, I'm from BrightOcular. And in my mind, I was like, bro, yes, actually.

Speaker 7:
[84:24] Well, yes, literally. But then they were all trying to make themselves comfortable by being like, oh, well, we did do all those evaluations. Like the examinations, they're like, yeah, which meant nothing, right?

Speaker 4:
[84:33] Because everyone was approved.

Speaker 7:
[84:35] And when they were, well, you know what? I almost halfway trusted the value of examinations because when they were telling, oh boy, Fumia, Fumia from Japan. Yeah. When they were telling him, they were like, he might not be a good candidate for this.

Speaker 4:
[84:48] But he still was.

Speaker 7:
[84:49] Well, I felt bad. I also felt bad for him because I was like, he needs a translator. And then they was like, oh yeah, I'll tell somebody, explain it to you. And my mom, I was like, well, who? So to watch him go through this, it was very, it was kind of scary to see his character. I was like, damn, he really is just on a whim doing some shit.

Speaker 6:
[85:07] Just out in the world. You know what I'm saying?

Speaker 7:
[85:11] Jasmine, she knew she was doing this shit, but I'm not going to try to talk to her shit. Yeah, but there were people that were sure about this, like David was, but it was kind of scary. Even when the other girl was sitting there with the doctor, I'm sorry.

Speaker 4:
[85:23] No, it's fine, I'm just-

Speaker 7:
[85:25] When the other girl was sitting there with the doctor, because y'all had told me this. When that doctor, he was like, the girl was like, would you get this done? He was like, no, I don't have a need to get this done. She was like, well, if you had a daughter, I don't have a daughter. He was like, I don't recommend doing this, but if you want to do it, go ahead, do it, it's your life. But it was crazy because he was the one that was vetting whether or not they should do this, but asked if he would do it with himself first. He was like, hell to them. He was really like, hell to the gnaw.

Speaker 4:
[85:56] But there was a lot of, it was a condescending tone as well.

Speaker 7:
[85:59] Very condescending.

Speaker 4:
[86:01] From him, from the staff. Right, this idea of it's just cosmetic. He kept calling it fashion. And he was like, is you're doing it for fashion? You know why? And notice no one in the office had this eye color surgery.

Speaker 6:
[86:16] The reason that they were condescending to those people is because they think those people are crazy.

Speaker 4:
[86:22] Oh, absolutely.

Speaker 7:
[86:23] And they knew that it's a cash grab for them.

Speaker 6:
[86:26] They're like, y'all really gonna let us cut half your eye off.

Speaker 4:
[86:30] But the manager said it. Remember, she was like, people, I don't know if it was the manager, might have been one of the other women that worked there, but she was like, they are hoping that this changes how they're perceived. So they know that it's for them, it's silly, right? They're viewing it as a silly thing that tourists come to do. And they have no... When they were gaslighting Izzy, right? Izzy was one of the young ladies who got it done. They nicked the silicone that they were implanting over her iris. It clearly was nicked, right?

Speaker 7:
[87:00] It ripped the tour.

Speaker 4:
[87:03] And instead of telling her, we made a mistake, they... What shocked me though was how quickly he came up with the lie. Like he was on the spot. She was like, it's nicked. He was like, no, we do it. That was deliberate. It's a case-by-case situation where we did it to relieve your eye pressures for your benefit. And they kept telling her, don't worry, don't worry. It's for your benefit.

Speaker 6:
[87:25] The for your benefit part is the first red flag. Second of all, he was able to lie on the spot like that because they probably make that mistake all the time.

Speaker 4:
[87:34] Regularly.

Speaker 6:
[87:35] Regularly.

Speaker 7:
[87:35] And you know what it is? It leads to... It's one of those things where, hey, this isn't a legitimate surgery, but like when they injected it into old boy's eye, I saw like that little fold in his too. And I feel like that's part of like how it is, but hers probably came out a little bit more and hers was also like faced outward. So instead of them just being like, oh, you know, with every, you know, injection there, so sort of...

Speaker 4:
[87:57] You know what?

Speaker 7:
[87:57] No, because they injected that shit all the way in there. I didn't like it. When you want to talk about an invasive surgery?

Speaker 4:
[88:05] I...

Speaker 7:
[88:05] Oh my God. I was...

Speaker 4:
[88:09] But here's the thing. No, I know even like, so he gets there, he's about to have the surgery. Here's what really blew me. First of all, everyone was people of color.

Speaker 7:
[88:19] Right.

Speaker 4:
[88:20] Second thing, when they went to the surgery...

Speaker 7:
[88:23] You say, okay, you don't like me.

Speaker 6:
[88:24] You know the pilot is black.

Speaker 4:
[88:26] But you know what made... Dustin Ross. You know what made me feel sad for him? You saw when he was like, oh, all of y'all are exotic. He'd tell them, oh, only y'all are exotic. And when they were asking, what eye color are you getting? They were all getting the same eye color. You notice he lied and said he was getting it too. Just that wanting to belong.

Speaker 6:
[88:50] And that's the problem. And don't get me started because we're going to have the bedriding conversation all over again. But that's the problem with a lot of these people who their whole life is built around existing online.

Speaker 7:
[89:06] Right.

Speaker 6:
[89:07] Online. You got to get off that fucking computer and get out into the world doing things, especially if you hate your family. You really need to be out in the world seeking community elsewhere, and not in digital spaces where it's a bunch of people who are just like you, and who are posturing to be different. Yeah. And it gets so deep that now you got motherfuckers doing shit like this. And like you said, great point Fran, him saying, oh yeah, me too, when that wasn't even what his choice was.

Speaker 4:
[89:37] We knew he'd been saying this 3G frost gray the whole time. Right. And it made me so sassy, just looked like such a little boy being like, oh yeah, that's the color I was getting too, you know, mind you, this is a 50 year old person.

Speaker 6:
[89:49] I wanted to pop him. I wanted to take my hand and be like, stop that.

Speaker 4:
[89:54] You get that color.

Speaker 7:
[89:55] But that's not his mom will be treating him.

Speaker 4:
[89:57] Right. I've been thinking about the frost gray and just, you know, even when they were sitting around and the rest of the people were discussing like what other procedures they've gotten done. Did you see how like he just sitting there? She was like, that's why you're so nervous.

Speaker 7:
[90:10] It's your first one.

Speaker 4:
[90:12] Just so overstimulated and I hope you go blind. Dustin Ross.

Speaker 6:
[90:18] When she said that to me, it's your first one. I hope you go. Never mind.

Speaker 7:
[90:23] Meanwhile, she in my mind, when I saw what happened at the end and I won't say it, I thought to myself like, for her, this is for her. This is for her.

Speaker 4:
[90:35] So once they are showing the cast of people getting this, the surgery, you start seeing that something is wrong with everyone. I mean, granted, something is wrong with all of us, period. But they just, all of them were discussing their trauma and this idea of needing to do something drastic, to change, as some kind of marker, right? Of a before and after. There's this desperation to just be someone else and all of them as, yeah, as they were discussing their reasoning for all the procedures they've had done. They all discussed really traumatizing experiences they had growing up. With Izzy, she's from New Delhi. We see that she had a lot of issues culturally, a lot of issues with her religion, a lot of issues with abuse and control and, you know, just really struggling through an oppressive childhood that she shared and just wanting to. She's also a single mom who had a child young.

Speaker 6:
[91:37] Which makes her decision even more crazy to me, but go ahead.

Speaker 4:
[91:40] Right, we met Jasmine from Jamaica, who also shared about a very traumatizing childhood. She had a ton of stories. She had her breasts, she had her nose. I feel bad for Jasmine. I know. And then we had Menekim, who he just was like, I'm an underwear model at the clubs.

Speaker 6:
[92:00] I respected that person.

Speaker 4:
[92:02] Right.

Speaker 6:
[92:03] Like finally, you know what I'm saying?

Speaker 4:
[92:05] He's just trying to do it for vanity, but we also don't really know his story. You know, it's not that he was really as open.

Speaker 6:
[92:11] I wouldn't have told mine either, which are there am I wrong? Cause I don't, I totally would have.

Speaker 4:
[92:16] I wouldn't have participated in a doc.

Speaker 6:
[92:19] I still wouldn't have told. I would have been like, I'm just into it.

Speaker 4:
[92:21] I mean, I wouldn't have, we wouldn't have been there, but.

Speaker 6:
[92:24] Yeah, you're right.

Speaker 4:
[92:25] And then there's Maurice, who was from the US. I was trying to get a read. I was like, what, from where? Like, because the perm.

Speaker 7:
[92:36] I didn't understand.

Speaker 4:
[92:37] At first I thought he was Brazilian. I'm not going to lie. But then he said he's from the US. I was waiting for him to say something else. Like, wait, I know that accent, but no, he's not. But everyone just had a lot of things going on. And Izzy, remember, she meets with a spiritual practitioner before the surgery and she tells her, you know, I'm here to get this eye surgery. I just need change, like, I've been through a lot and I need something to change. And the practitioner tells her sometimes you have to understand that your physical body is a radiation of your inner self. And when you work just on the physical body and not on your inner self, it's not going to show much of a change. The karma will catch up to you if you don't work on it.

Speaker 7:
[93:29] Yes. She's talking about her doing stuff like this in her last life and she's going to keep doing it until she learns the lessons she needs to learn.

Speaker 4:
[93:35] Right. And you know me, I started looking up the psychology of cosmetic surgery and body modifications, right? And there was a website called mentalhealth.com that had a lot of psychologists that write blog posts. And they were saying that a lot of people who have really traumatized childhood, they tend to do this, right? They tend to get a lot of tattoos or they'll change their hair a lot or they need to create a marker of some sort of like the before and after, right? Trying to disassociate. They said that the only part that can be dangerous with that is that it's a fleeting feeling, right? And then you need to get it again and then you need to get it again, which kind of fits with Izzy. She's getting all this work done. This is what like her fourth procedure. Then they were talking about, I want to get my teeth done.

Speaker 6:
[94:29] She's never satisfied.

Speaker 4:
[94:32] Right, but they never, it seems like they don't take the time to sit with the inner work of facing where the discomfort is actually coming from and trying to get the proper help to get to the root of it, right? As opposed to these modifications that as we see and as that article said on mentalhealth.com, that can be very fleeting. So this is sad.

Speaker 7:
[94:55] She said she wanted her tities done. She just wanted them to have that fake boob look. I was like, so you already got the boobs, but you still need to look. I mean, which other Chrissy Gnome husband?

Speaker 4:
[95:06] No, you know what? And even Dr. Siraj, because it was Izzy who was asking him, would you get this done if you had a sister? Would you let her do it? And even with him saying no, daughter, you still did it. She still did it. And that just told me so much, you know, and even in the end later on when they were showing that people were having complications, she literally said, I'm not getting them taken off.

Speaker 7:
[95:29] Yep. And so what Dustin was saying earlier about her going blind, like in my mind, I'm like, she's literally going to go blind and she's going to be okay with it. She'll be like, at least people can see me. Like if I can't see, at least people can see me.

Speaker 4:
[95:40] The producer at the South by Southwest premiere, she didn't say names, maybe to protect their identities and obviously their right to privacy. But she said that some of the, that David was one of the smarter ones because as soon as they told him he was having complication, he got them removed relatively quickly. Right, he didn't play with that. Whereas other people, she said in the article, did not do that. They refused to remove it. Of course I thought it Izzy. I don't know if that's what she was referring to, but she did say some people have gone blind since.

Speaker 6:
[96:14] Oh my God, that is so scary.

Speaker 4:
[96:16] Some people have had to have cornea transplants and that has just been really, really bad.

Speaker 6:
[96:22] That is a lot.

Speaker 4:
[96:23] And I was trying to find the people, right? And you literally can't. I couldn't find them on social media. I couldn't find if they did any updates on YouTube. David is the only one that is still vocal. You can see him on TikTok. He goes by King David Caterpillar on TikTok and he is very vocal.

Speaker 7:
[96:41] Hey, they using his likeness. He got to take it right. Take some of it.

Speaker 4:
[96:45] Absolutely. I even saw him on Reddit. He popped up when I was doing my research in the forums. He pops up.

Speaker 6:
[96:51] What's he doing? Cameos?

Speaker 4:
[96:52] No, he goes under like, okay, Jaguar on Reddit. And he was basically just responding to people's questions where they were like, why the fuck did he do this? What, you know, what's happening to him?

Speaker 6:
[97:04] Have you seen my eyes, girl?

Speaker 5:
[97:30] Welcome to The Friend Zone. Ebbglis, Lebrichizumab LBKZ, a 250 mg per 2 ml injection is a prescription medicine used to treat adults and children 12 years of age and older who weigh at least 88 pounds or 40 kg with moderate to severe eczema. Also called atopic dermatitis that is not well controlled with prescription therapies used on the skin or topicals or who cannot use topical therapies. Ebbglis can be used with or without topical corticosteroids. Don't use if you're allergic to ebbglis. Allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. Eye problems can occur. Tell your doctor if you have new or worsening eye problems. You should not receive a live vaccine when treated with ebbglis. Before starting ebbglis, tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection.

Speaker 3:
[98:35] Ask your doctor about ebbglis and visit ebbglis.lilly.com or call 1-800-LILLY-RX or 1-800-545-5979.

Speaker 4:
[99:17] One part of the experience is that when they go to put in the transplant, they put in the wrong color. He's been asking for this 3G Frost Gray, and they actually put the Jade Green. And the reason they did it is because when you go into the suite, cause it was a suite. That looked like the suite that my braider, when she stopped braiding at home, and finally elevated and got her suite, it looked like that.

Speaker 7:
[99:45] But one of the ones, they ain't have enough to get their own suite, so they sharing, so there's two chairs in there. Cause watching the side by side transfers, I was like, this is, I don't know about this.

Speaker 4:
[99:54] And can we talk about the fact that doctors had on Nike slides with their feet out?

Speaker 7:
[99:58] Yep.

Speaker 4:
[100:00] Did y'all peep? Did y'all peep that there was a garbage can next to the bed?

Speaker 7:
[100:06] A regular ass, yep. And a bunch of people in there.

Speaker 6:
[100:08] That's why old boy fell right at home.

Speaker 4:
[100:11] You know what?

Speaker 6:
[100:11] There's trash on the bed.

Speaker 4:
[100:13] The fact that one of the doctors was sifting through a folder with files over his head, that there was another body, what, a couple inches away from him getting the surgery. There was like three people in there.

Speaker 7:
[100:27] And I couldn't even get sedated for this?

Speaker 4:
[100:30] And then, and there was no sedation.

Speaker 7:
[100:32] Child. There's no way.

Speaker 4:
[100:33] And the fact that he was like yelling it, y'all, when he was like, please sedate me, please sedate me, and they were being aggressive with his eye.

Speaker 7:
[100:40] They were all very pushy. We're going to use that, but nobody had good bedside manner to any degree. Like it was just like nobody's trying to even work with you. Everyone's kind of just like, just take it.

Speaker 4:
[100:54] To calm you.

Speaker 6:
[100:56] They had no good bedside manner because there was no room on the side of the bed. The way they had the people stacked up in that suite like that. This was so unprofessional, very akin to and reminiscent of the young lady we discussed either last week or the week before who had the veneers.

Speaker 4:
[101:13] Right, right.

Speaker 6:
[101:15] Same thing. Did they put these pictures on Facebook? You know, do your thing. I'm a person who is not opposed to cosmetic surgeries. I think people should do whatever they want to do with their body. But when it's rooted in a hope or a wish for the future to feel different, you need to be aware that you are in the same body. You're the same person. You can change like your body or whatever, but it's the inner which is going to make you feel differently about the new outer changes that you make. So although I'm not going to get my eyes julienned, you know what I'm saying? Hey, if that's your thing and you're going to an actual medically approved, you know what I'm saying?

Speaker 4:
[102:04] You know how Tiny, who still has her eyes all these years later? You know what there's actually, cause I thought about it, I was like, did she still have it? I went to look too.

Speaker 6:
[102:14] Her daughter got hers removed, cause Zyneke had them too, but she experienced complications and when it got them taken out, Tiny didn't have those complications. I think she went to Africa though. She went over to Africa to get hers done. She said when she got to the hotel where they had all the patients staying at, she said it was just a bunch of people with all these beautiful eyes walking around.

Speaker 4:
[102:35] You know what?

Speaker 6:
[102:37] She said that.

Speaker 7:
[102:38] But you know what? That's real. It's like, look at David and them's experience and like them, nobody else. The only person that they bumped into was Jasmine. And it was like, damn, this is weird that ain't nobody, ain't nobody noticed y'all are like, oh, these are the I people. And like, oh, the I people are still here. Yeah, cause you know when they, okay, so the term medical tourism, like I loved hearing that term because it's such a real thing, right? I love watching the TikTok videos. I'm like, this is me going out here to get my teeth done.

Speaker 4:
[103:07] Oh, no, the hair and plants.

Speaker 7:
[103:09] No, the men go to Turkey for the hair and plants.

Speaker 4:
[103:12] Columbia for the teeth, Mexico for dental work.

Speaker 7:
[103:15] I mean, listen, I would go to any of those ventures, right? So it's like, like you're saying, like Dustin said, we're not knocking people that get those things done. To your other point, Dustin, like, I agree with you. This is one of those things where you have to have that inner before the outer, but also these people, it's just a step and they all felt like this was the step that they needed to take those other steps. And it's just sad that this was one of those things where like nobody was noticing any of the signs or there were signs and everybody ignored them either because they just knew that they needed that step, which I think is just true for all of them, right? Like they just they just knew that they needed that step because even though girl Izzy to the end, she was like, I still, you know, I'm living my life. But for the rest of them, they had that step. Some of them got, they all got to remove because they were able to experience whatever they needed to experience, but they still have work to do. So hopefully David has seen this piece with his mom and has done some of that work. Seen.

Speaker 4:
[104:12] But also this could be part, hopefully is part of the process for them, right? Where they, like with David, because obviously we don't know what happened with the rest of the cast, but with David, we do see at the end he was really willing to get them removed immediately. It kind of opened his eyes. There's no other way to say it. As soon as I said it, it opened him up, right? To realizing that that happiness he felt with the eyes was a decision.

Speaker 7:
[104:42] Right.

Speaker 4:
[104:42] And I really appreciated how simple when he said that, because it's like it was a decision to feel this way, as a decision to want to feel this way, to do something to-

Speaker 1:
[104:51] That was a beautiful moment.

Speaker 4:
[104:52] Yeah. And so I do feel, and even in, I saw that he's now at EMT. He's like living his best life in Brooklyn. He looks really good. Like he's taking care of himself. And so I believe, hopefully, that there was a transition, maybe even all the opportunities at this documentary. You know, he still did get to travel the world. He's in the film festival circuit. I'm sure he's been able to do a lot since this.

Speaker 7:
[105:17] Drag race.

Speaker 4:
[105:18] They asked him why his mom wasn't at the South By Festival. And he said to avoid drama was his response. So clearly he's working on his boundaries, you know? So hopefully this is...

Speaker 6:
[105:31] I thought he was going to say I fucking hate her. But I'll take that too, you know what I'm saying?

Speaker 4:
[105:35] But on mentalhealth.com, they said, In a world that often feels unpredictable, altering one's appearance can serve as a way to reclaim ownership of the self. For individuals who have experienced trauma, rejection, or emotional chaos, cosmetic procedures may represent a form of control, or something tangible that they can direct, right? Which makes sense when you think about it in that way. They said, this drive for control, however, can become compulsive. When change is pursued in response to pain, rather than purpose, the sense of mastery may be fleeting. Cosmetic surgery cannot resolve the deeper emotional wounds that often fuel this desire for transformation. And they call it a short-term strategy. And it does become this sort of illusion of progress, right? That's all I kept thinking. And that's the sad part. And they, like they said in this article, it's fleeting. They're just onto the next. I was looking to the American Academy of Ophthalmology. I looked up to see their thoughts on this.

Speaker 6:
[106:40] What did they say?

Speaker 4:
[106:41] They said, right. So these are called iris implants. And they explain that the silicone disks are inserted over the natural iris. So this placement, like the doctor that spoke to David later on, said it's unnatural. And the issue that happens is that it's blocking your eyes' natural drainage. Think of the fluids in your eyes. It needs a space to drain. And when you're putting a silicone, a piece of silicone over your iris, there's no room for it. That's where that pressure that the doctor kept talking about, oh, you may feel pressure. You will feel pressure. It's not a you may, as he kept telling him. Just make sure you go get it checked up. Remember he told David, it's a silent killer. Just go every two to three months.

Speaker 7:
[107:35] Imagine a damn contact lens in your eye permanently and that shit dries out or air hardens or melts or oh, oh my God, I'm sorry.

Speaker 4:
[107:46] But you know what's so crazy? There's another procedure now that apparently is really popular and it's called carotid pigmentation and it's similar but instead of injecting that silicone implant that they did that we watched them do, they inject dye.

Speaker 7:
[108:08] Because what if it bleeds into you?

Speaker 4:
[108:10] Y'all, they're injecting dye. There's this place in New York called Corrado NYC. Their YouTube channel popped up and I saw all these people.

Speaker 7:
[108:21] But how?

Speaker 4:
[108:23] I mean, I saw a dude just like a month ago. If you type it in, you'll see he'll pop right up and I was like, not a month ago.

Speaker 6:
[108:31] What if it goes beyond like what if it goes into the white of your eye?

Speaker 4:
[108:34] The disc, right?

Speaker 6:
[108:35] And then your whole eyeball is hazel.

Speaker 4:
[108:37] And they said it. So they're injecting, injecting payment pigments. So apparently there's a laser that creates a tunnel. And this laser creates the tunnel in the cornea. And that's where they insert the dye. And then there's also a third one called laser depigmentation, or it's called stroma apparently. And that one is where they have a laser that destroys the pigment of your eye to then show the blue underneath.

Speaker 7:
[109:06] See, see, if these procedures-

Speaker 4:
[109:09] I got all this from the American Academy of Ophthalmology because they're warning people about this, you know?

Speaker 7:
[109:15] You know, some of these procedures, I guess there is good that there is technology to be that invasive, you know, just in case there's like cancer or other things. But this is, like, I just draw the line. For me personally, it's just too much for me.

Speaker 4:
[109:29] It just seems so harmful. You get glaucoma. I saw them saying this creates glaucoma. This creates cataracts. Mind you, these are young people. Glaucoma and cataracts, you hear that with the elderly, you know, and usually it's the elderly that haven't been taking the best care. You know, it's like, it's just.

Speaker 6:
[109:50] It's too risky. It's too risky, flat out. And the first risk you need to be concerned with is going fucking blind. You know what I'm saying? Like, if you're blessed with sight and you can see, that's something that you take care of. You know, it's one of your five fucking senses. So you don't gamble with that.

Speaker 4:
[110:07] This part kills me. They said the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the AAO, advises that the only safe way to change eye color is with specialized contacts, contact lenses prescribed by an eye doctor. They're like, stick to the basics, kid.

Speaker 6:
[110:24] That's all you got to do.

Speaker 4:
[110:26] You know?

Speaker 6:
[110:28] Well, I ain't doing it. I can tell you that right now. I am mad.

Speaker 4:
[110:32] And when they made the mistake, would you see how they were gaslighting him? Instead of saying we made a mistake, they were like, it's beautiful. You'll be fine. Let's just put the other one. Then they even told him, we can switch it out. We could put his eye back in yours and yours back in his. Thank God that they were smart enough to say that that was gross. I was so concerned in that moment because if they went as far as getting this in the first place, I didn't know if it was going to be a reach for them to be willing to swap it.

Speaker 6:
[110:59] Where's the line here? You know what I'm saying?

Speaker 4:
[111:01] But they both said no, thank God. And so they stuck to the colors that they got. I'm not going to lie. All the colors were terrible, but I thought it was better. I can't lie. I was like, buddy, this was a good mistake.

Speaker 6:
[111:15] You shouldn't be looking like Storm, You need to go on and get that. Yeah.

Speaker 4:
[111:20] It looked better on him.

Speaker 7:
[111:22] Now, she was on the doctor's side that time. She was like, why are you complaining? I was like, bitch, it's the wrong color in my eyes. And as a gay man, I'm definitely going to act out.

Speaker 4:
[111:31] And because it was free too, I feel like they low key was like, bitch, you shouldn't even pay to come here.

Speaker 7:
[111:37] He had the nerve in the other room to talk shit about shit. If it is, I want my money back. I was like, bitch, you ain't getting no money back.

Speaker 4:
[111:43] I got it. He said that I want a refund. I was like, no.

Speaker 7:
[111:45] Of what? I'm like, girl, you'll be lucky to make it home after this bullshit.

Speaker 4:
[111:49] But what about when they did the montage of everyone's eyes? They looked crazy.

Speaker 7:
[111:56] I wouldn't with it.

Speaker 4:
[111:58] That slow montage of everyone's after.

Speaker 6:
[112:01] Looking like Jennifer Hudson in Cats.

Speaker 7:
[112:05] Why does it always come back to cats?

Speaker 6:
[112:06] Touch me!

Speaker 2:
[112:09] It's so easy to see me!

Speaker 4:
[112:12] It was such vampire in Brooklyn.

Speaker 7:
[112:15] When they first pulled that bandage off Jasmine's eye and showed it.

Speaker 4:
[112:19] But she was so happy. Did you see her? She literally couldn't contain.

Speaker 6:
[112:23] She said it was going to make her feel like, what does she say? A new- It's really just about entering a new- What does she say? I don't remember what she described.

Speaker 4:
[112:32] But remember when Izzy saw her when she was sitting there and Izzy said, everywhere you go, like everything's going to change or something like that.

Speaker 7:
[112:40] They were like, oh my God, I love it. Oh my God, it looks so good.

Speaker 4:
[112:44] What color did you get? Is that Jade green, frost 3, G frost gray? I was like, this is- And then you saw the elderly women sitting on the bench. I know they was looking like, what?

Speaker 6:
[112:57] You know, they were reading as soon as the walked by. You already know.

Speaker 4:
[113:04] I know they was sick. I just kept thinking.

Speaker 7:
[113:07] I felt so bad because Jasmine, she did feel like she needed that. After they played, how they edited that, the way they played out her story, I was like, this is so sad. But unfortunately, and I hate to take it to this place, Fran, and I'll just be short, Dustin, I promise. On this past week at Real Housewives of Atlanta, Kay Michelle, she talked about her butt implants and something happening. I just felt so bad for her because that's something that she's going to have to deal with for the rest of her life. Just these invasive surgeries, people just being so unhappy or feeling like they need to make those changes. It's so unfortunate that it's a change that you can make, but it doesn't necessarily dictate that the next steps are going to be better. Because look at Kay Michelle now, she's doing better in so many other ways, but she still has to deal with that. The other people, I hope they don't have to for the rest of their lives, even if they got them removed, deal with some other eye problems.

Speaker 4:
[114:02] Complications.

Speaker 7:
[114:03] Yeah, has sped something up or...

Speaker 4:
[114:05] Because even when he took them out, did you see his eyes? They just looked so...

Speaker 7:
[114:10] I just couldn't look at his eyes. I don't know if I just couldn't see him the same, but his eyes did look kind of weird to me. It's like, did something happen? Or am I just like...

Speaker 4:
[114:18] What was killing me was, OK, so they all get the surgery. He decides to stick with the color. He is walking through the streets. Well, he has it moving. Yeah, so he's feeling good. His friend calls him and was like, I got an apartment for you that was under $500. When he said that, I said, where?

Speaker 7:
[114:35] No, but before he, oh, well...

Speaker 6:
[114:38] Well, he...

Speaker 4:
[114:39] But then when he pulled the... No, but when he was at the park in front of the project, because you know, I was like, I sniffed that little park with them black iron, the black iron gate.

Speaker 6:
[114:49] You're like, OK, now we're in the city.

Speaker 4:
[114:51] I said, oh, honey, you got a storm coming. And when he showed us that hallway with them beige bricks and that green door, my body froze, too.

Speaker 6:
[115:03] Because you know what that is.

Speaker 4:
[115:04] PTSD is real. Do you hear me? I was just, my body hurt watching him in the hallway and he opened that door. First of all, I will say this.

Speaker 6:
[115:15] Fran is crazy.

Speaker 4:
[115:17] No, I will say this. As someone from the projects, you are blessed to have an apartment because those apartments are not bad. I mean, like they're spacious. You have a full bedroom, two bedroom, three bedrooms, kitchen, like it's a nice apartment. Obviously it's the conditions because they're not maintained. You know, it's very bottom of the barrel in terms of how the area is kept because they don't care about the facilities, right? There's no maintenance. So I was happy for him in that regard because it was an upgrade. Like project or not, that was a fucking upgrade. He had to, what was it, like a two bedroom or one bedroom? He had a whole ass apartment. He did a good job too decorating it.

Speaker 7:
[116:02] Yeah.

Speaker 4:
[116:03] You don't think so? He had all the plans.

Speaker 6:
[116:05] It's just funny because, you know.

Speaker 4:
[116:07] And then the wall was missing. That whole wall was missing, but I was happy for him. I did die though when he was calling his friends outside, like I'm in New York. And then he was like, yeah, I got a rent stabilized apartment. I was like, what?

Speaker 7:
[116:24] It was everything after that transition, right? Because before he went to New York, wasn't he riding down the highway playing Whitney?

Speaker 4:
[116:30] When he was driving from Florida to New York.

Speaker 7:
[116:33] Like him flying down the highway was, it was fun to see.

Speaker 4:
[116:37] With them poor little dogs. Every time they showed the dogs, they was like, help.

Speaker 6:
[116:42] Cause he taking them down their necks.

Speaker 8:
[116:46] It doesn't make sense.

Speaker 4:
[116:47] I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

Speaker 7:
[116:48] Only if they pay for it. They might. I thought it was so freeing just to see him have that moment. And then back to like him getting to New York, like watch him make those phone calls. It was just so fun. Hearing his friends like, oh my God, you're back? Like, oh, and it's like, I have to see you, come, come. And then him being like, oh, whatever happened in the past, let's just bury the hatchet. I was like, oh.

Speaker 4:
[117:10] And he met with his best friend. And that part even made me sad. Because did you see when he was walking with his best friend and he and she was like, you're my best friend. He was like, say it again. And then he told her, I just love to be wanted. You know, and it's just like, oh, you just want to hug him the whole time. I just felt awful for him. Especially, and he talked about that. Maybe I'm cringe because I'm so needy, but like it is what it is. You know, and she, Oh, go ahead.

Speaker 7:
[117:36] Sorry. Cause you're still talking about it. Go ahead.

Speaker 4:
[117:38] No, his friend and she was giving him advice because he was asking her about her transition and her process to really becoming actualized, you know, in the ways that she sees fit and the ways that she hasn't allowed society to make her conform outside of what she sees herself as. And he was like, how do you do that? You know, and then think about it. That's what all the loud noises of your family telling you you're ugly, of society having ads of people that don't look like you, how can you be yourself in a world that makes you feel like what you're seeing in the mirror is ugly? And it's not acceptable and it's not in alignment with the beauty standard.

Speaker 7:
[118:19] And for her to even offer up the piece that the difference between me and you is that, you know, my family, like we've had our differences, but there's always been a love there. But for him, you couldn't see any of that. Like what she mentioned, you already didn't see that at all with the relationship he had with Carmen. And it felt so, it felt right, but so, you know, morally wrong that she said, you know, not from what she said, but just to see that he wasn't getting that love from his mom, you know?

Speaker 4:
[118:46] Yeah, and I remember that part because when she was like, I have my sister and my mom and they love me, I remember my partner was like, well, damn, why you saying it like that? Because she was like, your mom didn't love you.

Speaker 7:
[118:56] Because it did come on really wrong. But like after having witnessed it, it was like, damn, like, you know, like it's fucked up. But it's like you see it. Like she's saying, because they are best friends, like she just saying what she saw. But hopefully he can receive it from her because he can't even see his mom as a human. Not even to be like, you know, like, oh, I forgive you, but to be like, oh, bitch, you're fucked up. And I can't fuck with you. Like, you know, clearly I can't work with you. So he can't even just stop to say, he'd rather keep trying, keep trying, keep trying just to piss himself off. Like, all right, mom, well, I got to leave now and then go home and deal with all the other things that make him unhappy. And now this relationship with his mom that he knows he's going to keep working on, even though it's not perfect, along with the other things that aren't perfect.

Speaker 6:
[119:36] Personally, I don't believe in struggling with your adult relationships with your parents in that way, in a subordinate way.

Speaker 7:
[119:44] Right.

Speaker 6:
[119:44] I just don't. And appeasing to problematic and toxic takes from them just because those are your parents, I don't understand that personally.

Speaker 7:
[119:55] Not even saying he needed to do that, but even to make a decision to.

Speaker 1:
[119:58] I ain't really talking about him. I'm talking about in general. People, adult children of parents, sometimes they get caught up in this whole like, I have to learn how to deal with this toxicity or live around this toxicity that I get from my parent. When to me, we can just be like, yo, I'm not playing into that. We just gonna respect each other. Otherwise, we ain't gonna bang. You know what I'm saying?

Speaker 2:
[120:22] That's it.

Speaker 1:
[120:23] I no longer have to appease any of that. I don't really give a what you own, as far as how you think I'm supposed to be doing anything. I don't care. So like either we gon agree to disagree and exist in this space, but I'm never gonna try to convince you to accept or any of that. I'm grown. I am grown.

Speaker 5:
[120:44] I'm with you on that. When I watch documentaries or even reality TV where I see how heavily people take their parents' acceptance and their war, and I get people to raise differently. There's religion, there's culture, there's all kinds of reasons why you feel stuck. But I always wonder what is it that makes certain children able to break out from under that regardless of who it is and other children just say, these are the cards I was dealt with. I just gotta like take it.

Speaker 1:
[121:12] Cause mama only like, you know, cause mama ain't gonna like that, mama gonna be mad.

Speaker 5:
[121:17] Right, and they're in their 40s. And it's just like, I've always struggled with that, honestly. Right, I've always struggled with that. But, you know, people take things in differently.

Speaker 1:
[121:28] We struggle with it cause you don't feel it. It doesn't mean that you have to be disrespectful, or you have to be confrontational. It just means that you set a boundary. We're gonna exist a certain way, or else we're gonna address what we gotta address.

Speaker 5:
[121:42] Simple.

Speaker 1:
[121:42] What I'm not gonna do is try to, like I said, appease or play a game of, well, you know what I mean? We gotta, I'm just not, I'm not supporting it in that way.

Speaker 5:
[121:54] Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[121:54] I'm not. So, that's all.

Speaker 5:
[121:57] I'm with you on that. And it's hard because you see Carmen in this doc even till the end, just not, she's just not a nourishing family member. Let's just say that. It's not a nourishing parent. And it made me sad, because I thought of that too, especially, I grew up in a household where everyone did look different from me. Everyone was a lot whiter. I was raised by the Puerto Rican side, and they were whiter, straight hair, slim, and then I had more of my Dominican Haitian coloring on my skin. My hair was natural and I had curves. And as you can imagine, there was a lot of strange messaging as a child about me not being attractive, me needing to change my hair and straighten it, and you got to do this, and not being in the sun, all of the things. And I wondered, what is it that made me, even as a kid, I just always had my hair natural, I just always was very accepting and even loving of what I look like. And my mom is because my mom didn't play into it. And I think that was a big piece of it, right? Me and her have a ton of issues, but one thing I will say is that she never, ever, she had me in African dance. She was taking me back to DR and making sure I was grounded and aware of all sides of the culture. She never played that whole, like, oh, I know black poppy, all the whatever, the shit that people make fun of with Dominicans. That just wasn't my experience. All my friends have always been black. You know, my experience was a black experience where I just happened to be Dominican. And so I think that's the difference, right? Like there was that one person in my life, even if no one else was, who did give me the proper messaging. And maybe that's the difference. It's like, there's some people that just don't have anyone. So you have society and culture, you have family or friends. There's just no one giving you the messaging. Then is that what makes someone more susceptible to-

Speaker 1:
[124:07] No, no, and I struggle with that because I was gay. I'm gay, I'm gay.

Speaker 5:
[124:14] I was gonna-

Speaker 2:
[124:15] Am I really?

Speaker 1:
[124:16] Yeah, I was like, wait a minute, let me put this appropriately on the track. But yeah, but like on some real shit, I grew up being gay and being told that it was wrong, morally, scripturally.

Speaker 5:
[124:28] Right, from a religious standpoint.

Speaker 1:
[124:30] And in addition to all the external factors outside of the religion, but just at school and the shit you hear about gay people and shit, there was nobody in my life at the time, not that like my brother knows and like my sister, y'all know, we it ain't nothing. But like before I knew that they would be accepting like that, I still felt like, how can I articulate this? I just felt a sense of survival, like my survival instincts made me always feel like I'm not going to be downtrodden and be ashamed of whatever the fuck. Once this comes out, that's it. You know what I'm saying? Like I'm not going to be a downtrodden person just because no nobody's telling me that I'm good enough right now. I believe I am. So like I'm going to fucking they can kiss my ass. You know what I'm saying? And it's to a certain extent. So I struggle with people who are like, well, nobody was telling me whatever. Ain't nobody tell me that. I had to tell myself, like I can't do about it.

Speaker 5:
[125:37] But we do know that everyone is different. Everyone receives messaging differently. Everyone expresses differently. Some people are just for whatever reason. It's like the people when we did the documentaries about cults. Why are some people more susceptible to a cult leader and they're messaging than others, where for us, it's clear as day. Fuck no. But for someone else, it's like, oh, let me see what he's talking about. You know what I'm saying? And it could be from the same family because I've seen people from the same family, even though I think there's no such thing as being raised the same, right? Because your personality and your parents' personality may not click the same way that your sibling and their personality. So there's still going to be varying experiences.

Speaker 2:
[126:21] There's a lot of varying factors that go into everyone.

Speaker 5:
[126:23] A lot of varying factors. But at the same time, I do see that there's just a difference in people.

Speaker 1:
[126:28] There's just a difference.

Speaker 5:
[126:29] Because I even see people that I know that got similar messaging to me, and it really fucked with them. Like they're out here doing all kinds of modifications to align with being assimilated. You know, they're going to assimilate to popular culture and the beauty standards. They're getting this done, they're getting that done. We see people bleaching their skin in the Caribbean all the time. Like the hair straightening, the relaxers.

Speaker 1:
[126:53] What was it called? Was it white nitches?

Speaker 5:
[126:55] That's what I'm saying. You know, even my mom, it took her, I think she was already in her 50s when she stopped getting relaxers. And a lot of it had to do with my success on YouTube, where she literally was like, oh, this is cool. You know what I mean? It's a revolution. Right. So it's like, you know, everyone kind of comes to it when they come to it. And I think that that's what we saw in the doc, right? Where David in the end, thank God, there seemed to be a light starting to flicker in him because he did feel really good. Like we saw him dating. He was like kissing out on the streets, dancing. And it was funny seeing the pandemic too. I wondered when this was shot, like, are they going to include that? But yeah, he's in the pandemic dancing. And he really said, I feel seen now. I feel acknowledged. I feel accepted. I feel beautiful. Like, I did hate the scenes where they had the people I felt were staged. Your eyes are beautiful.

Speaker 1:
[127:56] 100%. Well, he loves a risk, a health risk, right? He loves a health risk. He went over there to get them eyes done. Then they show him dancing in the pandemic. You know, he loves a health risk there, David. I don't know. I just was speaking more towards like the anger piece. A lot of, and this is so not healthy, right? But a lot of the anger at the audacity of people feeling like they were able to determine my worth has always fueled me, personally. So the fact that you are being adversarial towards me over something I can't change pisses me off and makes me want to spite you. You know what I'm saying? In whatever way that I can. And I know a few other people that think like that, but you're all right. Everybody's different, you know what I'm saying? And it just shows up differently. Like, yeah, it's just something about the anger for me personally. That works.

Speaker 5:
[128:51] That makes me like, like, I look at the I looked at the I remember being younger and looking at my grandmother and how she talked to my mom. And that's when you kind of start seeing that like, oh, my grandma was what they call an almond mom, just very obsessed with perception and body and you're getting fat and all. What's this? She'd grab your stomach. You know, why aren't you wearing heels? And this is from my mom's side. Her mom was very vain, very beauty obsessed. I remember she put on my jeans once. My dream, her granddaughter, and she's just telling me that she looked better in them. So imagine that being the person that raised you, you know, and messaging that they're putting in. I'm so blessed. My mom never gave me shitty messaging. She just didn't. So she cut that at the root. Like that's it for me. I'm not doing it. Thank God, because she could have very well passed it on. And then imagine I have my mom talking to me like this, then I have my grandma, then I have my cousins. And then you go to school and they're making fun of you for this. Then you look at ads and magazines, you're watching TV shows. That's a lot. So I'm not surprised when the average person doesn't have the strength to say in the mirror, although I'm hearing all this shit, what I see is fine with me. It's just like I understand that not everyone's going to get that. And I started as a kid seeing how that was trickling down, trickling down. You start seeing how everyone was talking to each other, my grandmother and my aunts. Of course, my aunts are going to then talk that way to their daughters. Then their daughters are bullying the girls. It's like it just never ends until you are that person. Like my mom that just cuts it. And if I had had children, oh, that would never even have been a reality for them. Because they would have seen their mom that's going on line with no makeup, like, you know what I mean? Which already is shocking in this day and age. People tell me I'm brave all the time. You know, this isn't a revolution. This is just what I look like. I'm not trying to be brave. And like, that is hard in a society like this, with so much messaging.

Speaker 1:
[130:59] People gotta stop fucking with kids, man. Y'all gotta stop fucking with kids. Y'all got to stop doing shit to fuck with the psyche and self-image and self-worth of kids.

Speaker 5:
[131:09] But social media doesn't help. Do you see the videos I'm noticing are getting younger and younger with little girls doing skincare? Why the fuck are you putting acids on your face and you're under 10?

Speaker 2:
[131:21] Like you don't need none of that little girl.

Speaker 5:
[131:23] Their face is red as fuck because they're mixing all kinds of shit that they see whoever else makes, you know? And it's like, and even I see the boys, as they're growing, I'm seeing the things that they're concerned about now. Like I told you last summer, the oldest one was like, oh, I need to work on my protein. And I looked at him like, you're a protein. And then he asked if it's okay if he used my scale. I said, oh, honey. Now he's like flexing his little muscles in the mirror. He wants to work out with his dad. I'm like, oh, shit. Okay. So that's starting to kick in. You know, now he's how he is seeing how he's being perceived. And now he's trying like that's awakening.

Speaker 2:
[132:09] And look, you see Fran, that's what Carmen's talking about. That's exactly what they're supposed to be doing. David didn't do any of that. Okay, I'm just like, bitch.

Speaker 5:
[132:20] But this, but this, that's all in all, this documentary. Like I said, was just so layered, right? It was like, oh, this had so much more to offer than what I thought was going to be a funny documentary about silly people getting their eyes changed. And it also makes you look at people that are doing the modifications like this very differently.

Speaker 1:
[132:42] Very differently. Yeah, it makes me curious about the story in a humane way that was absent before. Cause you know, I be thinking, it's just crazy.

Speaker 5:
[132:52] And that's what I'm saying. That to me, this was really well done in that sense. That now when you do see the person getting the modifications, the lips, the this or that, the eye color change, instead of being like this wacky person, you think of...

Speaker 2:
[133:06] Medical tourism.

Speaker 5:
[133:07] You think of what, like Dustin just said, what's the story, you know?

Speaker 2:
[133:11] Yeah.

Speaker 5:
[133:12] And how deep does the story go that you are at the point of modification?

Speaker 2:
[133:16] Yeah.

Speaker 5:
[133:17] But what did y'all think of this doc overall?

Speaker 1:
[133:21] It was eye opening. I think that it was a purview into... No, it really was good, though. And I had never... I just always thought it was rooted in vanity. I never really thought to even explore the stories behind that. I thought it was rooted in vanity and group think, like the Valiers, you know what I mean? But it wasn't. And I actually, low key, want to know what is going to happen next with David. Low key, I would like to follow his story.

Speaker 5:
[133:55] Same.

Speaker 2:
[133:55] Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[133:57] So I hope he gets a reality show out of it. One that's good, one that's healthy, you know what I'm saying? Because we want to know more. We want to know what's going to work out with him. We want to know what's going to happen with Carmen. All of that. So we need to follow David. I hope that she comes out for him.

Speaker 5:
[134:13] I like that idea. Honestly, I wish they could do it with the whole cast. Like life after this decision and what it has changed or not changed in their awareness, self-awareness, self-image, self-identity, you know, like all of the things.

Speaker 2:
[134:35] I just want to know if he's blind.

Speaker 5:
[134:36] No, I just, I mean, who knows at this point? Because she seemed really adamant about keeping them in.

Speaker 1:
[134:43] And they need to sample the That's So Raven theme song for the React Live show.

Speaker 3:
[134:48] Don't you even give me the Franco version.

Speaker 5:
[134:51] I did appreciate that David went on YouTube and made that video letting people know, do not fucking do this, because that's what was missing, right? We also missed the Influencer piece of this, where they traded this free trip and free surgery for the Influencer marketing and testimonials, which is how they continue to suck people in, right? Because you see all these, like Tiny said, all these people in the lobby with beautiful eyes. It's like, you know, if you're already looking at this promise of transformation, you already try to align with these, what's seemingly unattainable beauty ideals. But now you can get the blue eyes. What? You know, this is always blue.

Speaker 1:
[135:36] Always.

Speaker 5:
[135:37] I said, nobody wants like a good hazel, a little maybe red, a little tiger like ice frost.

Speaker 1:
[135:45] Why is your eye color? Why your eye color sound like a vape? I want that ice frost 33 years.

Speaker 2:
[135:53] And why is the 3G frost?

Speaker 5:
[135:55] But I chose that though goes to show you though, right? That that colonizer shit too, right? Like that's how deep it go. Everything was blue, blue, blue. I was like, motherfucking.

Speaker 2:
[136:08] I thought the lights was blue today. Thank God they know.

Speaker 5:
[136:10] But yeah, I was glad that he made that video. I thought that that was an important community aspect, because the influencer marketing is really whooping. Yeah, I mean, it's that promise, that promise that everything you've been through, this decision, this transformation is going to change all of that.

Speaker 2:
[136:30] That is so long sweet. It's actually funny, right? It's a little poetic because like you were saying, they sent him the offer saying that they would accept him as a client for that free marketing. But now it's like, if you look them up, it'll be him in that one video doing the push up, but then the next video, they're like, oh, let me click on this testimony, his own testimony. And he's like, don't get that shit or whatever you're saying in the video. So it's like it works against them in a way. And I'm thinking, I'm glad that happened.

Speaker 5:
[136:55] And they're still up and running.

Speaker 1:
[136:57] I told you what I was just about to say.

Speaker 5:
[136:58] They posted a video up to three weeks ago.

Speaker 2:
[137:00] Yeah, of course they are.

Speaker 1:
[137:01] I won't even be surprised if people watch this and end up hitting me up.

Speaker 5:
[137:07] You think?

Speaker 1:
[137:08] Yeah.

Speaker 2:
[137:08] Yeah. Fran, okay.

Speaker 5:
[137:10] You're right.

Speaker 2:
[137:11] Okay. Can I say my final piece about this documentary? I enjoyed the documentary overall. I loved actually watching David's story because again, when I first watched this, I watched it and I was interested in it and I was like, damn, this is crazy. But when I really watched it that second time, I was so emotional just hearing his story. Ten minutes in, I was at the 940 something mark. I was like, I'm not even 10 minutes into this bitch and I'm tearing up just because it was so bad to see someone. We're people that can look in the mirror and be okay with ourselves, whether it's feeling amazing or feeling, you know, just okay. But some people look in the mirror and they are just not happy or they're just like, here goes another day of shit or whatever, and that's manifested into, well, maybe if I get my teeth done or some bigger boobs or different eye color, my life will change, like I will have a whole new life. And to watch him say, you know, hey, thought that was going to be it, but it wasn't. It was just the decision to make that happen and I can make a new decision and now I'm making life happen in a different way. Beautiful. For the final piece, is he choosing to keep those in? I was like, oh, this is this is who this is for. Like Izzy went in and she had every warning sign. David had warning signs, but unfortunately, I just feel like David had a lot of trauma. Like, you know, Jasmine, she had trauma. So she said, I'm fucking I'm in. Did Jasmine have hers removed? I didn't remember.

Speaker 5:
[138:28] We don't have any.

Speaker 2:
[138:29] So Jasmine, one of those people, her trauma ran so deep, I feel like she might keep it until she goes blind. But Izzy, that's what I felt from her. I felt like she had every opportunity saying, don't do this, for her to talk to that doctor and try to give him a couple of different scenarios and him just be so defensive and then just be like, no bitch, I would not do this. This is fashion. I don't give a fuck about this. Like she said at the end, she was happy living it up. Like I said, I just made it up, but she might go blind and be like, at least people will have these eyes to look at. Like for her, it was a great investment, I feel like, to in her, unfortunately, traumatic experience mind. But unfortunately, there are other people that are going to watch this and take away that message that she probably received.

Speaker 1:
[139:11] The only person I ever know that it worked out for is Tiny.

Speaker 5:
[139:15] You know?

Speaker 2:
[139:15] Well, because Tiny got a different surgery.

Speaker 1:
[139:17] She went to Africa.

Speaker 2:
[139:18] Right. Like you know.

Speaker 5:
[139:20] But also the Corrado NYC one, when I looked it up, it's $12,000. And I'm not saying that that, cause they could charge you that and it could be the same bullshit they was doing. You know, but I wondered like the level of service, I don't know. This apparently, the ophthalmology people said it's a fucked surgery regardless. But I do wonder, are there levels of it where they are maintaining it? Like how is this, how does this work?

Speaker 2:
[139:48] I'm sure they have to, right? Because especially when they were talking about, or I think when you were just talking about how like the eye has to get rid of those proteins and stuff. I don't know for some of them.

Speaker 5:
[139:56] Maybe there's a drainage system that they have created.

Speaker 2:
[139:59] Every two to three months they go in there and get their eyes just watered a little heavy and they try to push it around or something. I don't know, but there is definitely probably levels to this. Because like I was saying earlier on.

Speaker 1:
[140:10] You got a lymphatic massage on your eye.

Speaker 2:
[140:13] You got an EBL, These EBLs killing y'all. Just because it's such an invasive surgery, but it's like I was saying earlier, it could be beneficial in the case of like cancers and stuff. So I'm sure there are different variations of what they could do and could be using and maintaining it. So they could be, oh girl could hopefully, Izzy found somebody that was like, hey girl, just so you don't go blind, maybe you just get it watered every couple of months or something, whatever they need because I don't want the girl to go blind. But I do realize she's one of those people that's just going to do some shit like that. And if you're one of those people, do something. I mean, be safe, don't do it. I don't know. There's nothing I can say. People have already decided how they feel.

Speaker 5:
[140:53] Have y'all ever, real quickly, have y'all ever been through something and then your reaction to it was to change something, like modify something, as a response?

Speaker 2:
[141:04] Like, oh, let me go get a haircut or like?

Speaker 5:
[141:06] To the trauma. Like, in a, like, have you experienced something traumatically that then you went and had a very drastic response, whether it was like a tattoo, a piercing, you know, like some kind of modification? Because I was thinking of that, I was like, have I, when I experienced the things that I experienced, I think the biggest change, I mean, is when I like moved to Brazil for a year and I was like so young, but I did it because it was my way at the time of disassociating with my reality. And I think that was probably the only thing I could think of where I was just, even now, me moving across the country. I know that there's an emotional element of that, of this idea of getting away from that version of me that I need to evolve and expand from because it's just like, you know. So I'm sure that's a part of it too when I think about it.

Speaker 1:
[142:08] I don't know. I can't think of anything. My shit will just be like more work related. When I go these days, when I go through traumatic experiences, I just dive head first into work. And so you'll see like a new project come up. It's been a few things that was birthed by a nation of traumas, you know what I'm saying?

Speaker 3:
[142:28] That's real shit.

Speaker 5:
[142:31] This whole company.

Speaker 1:
[142:33] So like, you know, that's how it looks for me personally. You know what I'm saying? I'm not really, you know.

Speaker 5:
[142:38] I'm not really a like body modification.

Speaker 1:
[142:41] Yeah.

Speaker 5:
[142:42] Yeah, I feel you on that.

Speaker 1:
[142:44] I might have caught a body out of the response to it. One or two. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. I'll react that way. You know what I'm saying? But that's it, no.

Speaker 2:
[142:52] That way.

Speaker 5:
[142:53] Anything, Assante?

Speaker 2:
[142:54] Yeah. Mover as well.

Speaker 5:
[142:57] That's funny, right? I wonder what that is. We just, and you said when you were little, I remember you said you used to always try to leave the house and run, remember?

Speaker 2:
[143:05] I used to always get in the... It's so funny that you bring that up, Fran, and it's so funny, I've been talking about cars. Remember, I used to get out when I was younger and just take walks, but I used to get out when I was, you know, too young, and I used to always get behind the wheel sometimes, and I used to drive. Yeah, I don't want to say the age because that's crazy. In the case of my mama listening, I don't want her to know for real. But I used to get behind the wheel and drive, so it's funny now that I was thinking about... Remember the conversation we had about how I told you I had took a trip and I was actually on my way back? I had told Fran, I don't think I told you this, but I told Fran I got behind the wheel when I first got my whip and I went on a long drive and I had to take the long drive back. And before I drove back, I had a moment where I was breaking down a little bit. I was like, am I scared to drive? I just drove all the way here. What's going on? Then I got in the car and took the left and I was like, okay, I'm good. But I was telling Fran how crazy it was that I was doing that. And now that I think about this, I think about I moved to New York because I needed, I learned Atlanta because I was always trying to get out and run away from little things. And so when I was in New York and I did a whole lot of things, a lot of things were birth out of trauma there as well. But then I ended up moving from New York too because it was like, all right, had a lot going on, love this version of myself, but also need to be a new person at some point. So let me take what I've had in New York, marry it to whoever I'm going to be in the future. And that's who I am right now.

Speaker 5:
[144:37] Yeah, I think that'd be a good audit for people listening to just kind of look back at the times you've experienced X, Y, Z and then see what was the response. Because sometimes you might not even be aware and then you think back like, oh, I sure did cut off on my hair or buzz cut it on YouTube. Looking at you shameless Maya. But one thing I loved to end this episode, there was a quote by Paste magazine that said, Caterpillar is a beautiful look at longing and insecurity, the way that these feelings are nurtured and amplified by social media echo chambers and the dangers of potentially falling prey to someone attempting to sell you a dream of transformation. And I thought it was, like I said, it's a complex feeling because he's a white production team.

Speaker 1:
[145:33] I feel like they handled it well. I didn't feel no, it didn't feel like they were exploiting the people.

Speaker 2:
[145:40] I felt like that.

Speaker 1:
[145:41] I didn't feel it.

Speaker 5:
[145:42] Like I said, it's complex for me because I think their very nature is...

Speaker 1:
[145:48] In general, it's inherent.

Speaker 5:
[145:50] It's inherent because why did you choose to go to the black people? There were some white people, you know, like you get what I'm saying? So it's like, I can't help it, but feel that way. It's always going to be complex for me, but it was also beautifully done. So I'm going to hold both emotions.

Speaker 1:
[146:06] I get it.

Speaker 2:
[146:07] I only felt that way for a little bit when they put the wrong eye color in, because when he was saying he wanted the anesthesia and they didn't give it to him, and then they put that color in, I was like, that's the wrong color.

Speaker 5:
[146:17] And even the manager laughing when he was like asking for help and was really frustrated or her lying, telling him not to cry. Like it just was, there's a lot of emotions that I feel like we're being exploited to. So I don't know, I struggle with it.

Speaker 2:
[146:32] I hope they agreed to help him get it taken out, because he was freaking out on it.

Speaker 5:
[146:35] True, because he did say he didn't have the money. It's the least they could do.

Speaker 2:
[146:39] I hope they did. I hope they was like, we got to get this taken out. I know we could just wait for him to go blind, but I hope they just like, hey, David, we're gonna do this. Oh, I can't confirm it or not. I'm just, hopefully, somebody had some decency there.

Speaker 5:
[146:51] Yeah, but if you haven't watched it, Caterpillar, available now on Netflix. If you have watched it, we would love to know your thoughts in the comments. I'm sure you guys are gonna share it, you know, or even how these themes have shown up in your life and how you've responded. I'm more curious on the psychological aspect.

Speaker 1:
[147:11] What color did you get?

Speaker 5:
[147:13] Right? You know, did you do body modifications? Did you run away and move to another state, another country? Like, in what ways has that shown up and what inner work? That's another thing too, people will say you gotta do the inner work. But what does that actually look like for most people? Like, what has that actually been in your life? You know what, I should actually do an episode about that.

Speaker 1:
[147:35] A follow-up, yeah.

Speaker 5:
[147:36] Yeah, that'll be something that I, because that's a question I think.

Speaker 3:
[147:39] Sounds like a two-parter.

Speaker 5:
[147:41] I think that's such an, don't you think that's such an important conversation? People say do the work and very rarely do they explain what that means. You just hear, you hear certain terms thrown around, like your inner child, okay, what are you doing with your inner child? You know, like, what are those, what does that work actually?

Speaker 3:
[148:01] Watching a new single.

Speaker 5:
[148:05] We'd love to know your thoughts. Share them below. And thank you guys for joining us on this conversation. I think it was very layered and we tried our best to handle it comedically, but respectfully. I have to say that.

Speaker 2:
[148:20] Thank you Fran for making us watch this documentary.

Speaker 5:
[148:22] Absolutely.

Speaker 2:
[148:23] It actually was good.

Speaker 5:
[148:23] You and all of my friends.

Speaker 2:
[148:25] Even though I don't like I stuff at all, little long eye contact.

Speaker 5:
[148:28] Those shots with the injections killing me.

Speaker 1:
[148:31] Brutal.

Speaker 2:
[148:32] I'm telling you, like it's all I could think about.

Speaker 1:
[148:37] You know, I got sensitive eyes, so this whole documentary was triggering for me.

Speaker 2:
[148:41] Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[148:42] Y'all know my eyes were wearing me out. You know what I'm saying? So like, I'm like, oh my God, why are y'all risking it?

Speaker 5:
[148:48] And I hear this about LASIK. Oh, also Lasting Lasting.

Speaker 2:
[148:51] I wanted to get LASIK, and that's why I've been hesitant.

Speaker 5:
[148:53] I hear this about LASIK. That's why people be careful, do your research. But there was a girl that popped up for me a couple years ago, maybe like a year ago, actually. I won't even say a couple years ago, named Jasmine Hill. I went back and found her. She's the first person I've ever seen that was openly discussing this eye surgery because she had gotten it done in Beverly Hills. I won't say his name for legal purposes, but it's a surgeon who is still doing this surgery. If you go to his TikTok, I don't have to say his name. You can literally type eye surgery, Beverly Hills is going to pop up, and he's doing the same thing, like bright ocular. It's like this influencer promo. If you notice, a lot of black and brown people, he is not, and she was a young black girl, beautiful girl, big, beautiful eyes. He put the wrong color.

Speaker 1:
[149:48] What color did he give her?

Speaker 5:
[149:49] She wanted, like, strange enough, she actually wanted a brown. It was just a lighter brown.

Speaker 2:
[149:56] Okay.

Speaker 5:
[149:57] Yes, it was, right. It was a brown that was-

Speaker 2:
[149:59] She didn't want to be a vampire.

Speaker 5:
[150:00] Because her eyes were really dark, and she just wanted that lighter brown.

Speaker 2:
[150:04] A little something.

Speaker 5:
[150:04] Right. And he put in olive green. And it's not even an olive green that is like natural looking. She said it, when she saw the, because you know, they do one at a time, she told him, this is wrong. How did you put this in? And then he tried to blame what he said, or what she said, he said, was that they put the wrong color in the box, because the box actually labeled it. And she did show it. It was labeled as that color, which was like marron, which is brown, but it was green.

Speaker 2:
[150:38] But you can see.

Speaker 5:
[150:40] Hello.

Speaker 1:
[150:40] So when you pulled it out the box and had it in the tweezers, you knew.

Speaker 5:
[150:43] And that's the part that she was like, you still did it knowing. But he told her, oh, well, sometimes it looks different in like the box versus the eyes. So he thought maybe she was pissed about it. She kind of had a similar situation where it was like, I got a role with it, but she was hoping that he would do something, you know? And he didn't, he really didn't care.

Speaker 1:
[151:06] She still got the green eyes.

Speaker 5:
[151:07] She still has the green eyes up until she stopped posting. Yeah. It's on TikTok. She has a whole account where she's discussing the complications she's dealing with, how she's embarrassed because the color is so unnatural looking, and now she's outside and people are looking at her like she's crazy. And her name is Jasmine Hill, and she was the first person I've ever seen documenting this eye surgery. And I remember being, when I tell you, I was like, oh my God, this is the craziest thing ever. Because you don't know anybody that's actually gone through this.

Speaker 2:
[151:40] Or disgusted.

Speaker 5:
[151:40] Or disgusted publicly. And then the fact that she had complications. Did you just find her on TikTok just when I saw your face?

Speaker 2:
[151:48] The way you looked.

Speaker 1:
[151:50] I was so curious because when you said her eyes were olive green, I'm like, what does that even look like?

Speaker 5:
[151:56] Do you see them?

Speaker 1:
[151:57] Yeah.

Speaker 5:
[151:58] He said, yeah. Beautiful girl.

Speaker 2:
[152:01] Yes, she is.

Speaker 5:
[152:02] Do you see what her eyes look like naturally? That's what kind of broke me because I was like such big, beautiful eyes.

Speaker 1:
[152:13] That's fucked up, man.

Speaker 5:
[152:15] And he is not trying to help her. He actually in her last video, which she posted, I think, in like December, she said that he was trying to sue her.

Speaker 1:
[152:24] Damn.

Speaker 5:
[152:25] Because he was like, I don't want you talking. He sent her a cease and desist that he didn't want her posting videos about what happened. And she was like, but it's my experience. I have the right. He got his lawyers involved and he told her that he has lost 13 clients and that he wants her to pay for each eye of the 13 clients that he essentially lost in finances.

Speaker 1:
[152:49] Bitch, please. Kiss my ass, you fucking quack.

Speaker 5:
[152:53] I'm not giving you nothing. His lawyers sent her screenshots of every video that they needed taken down. Yes, this is the girl.

Speaker 1:
[153:01] Stop playing because look, Assante, I'm literally, I literally had the same exact video.

Speaker 2:
[153:07] We have to scroll to get to that one.

Speaker 5:
[153:09] How did y'all pull up the same video? That's crazy. So if you want to see a real life person discussing this, Jasmine Hill on TikTok and look up the doctor too, because that shit.

Speaker 1:
[153:22] Oh, well, we definitely looking his ass up. I'll see y'all at the top of the show.

Speaker 5:
[153:25] You'll see it in the comments.

Speaker 1:
[153:26] See y'all at the top of the show next week. It's time for some good old-fashioned doctor shaming. See you next week.

Speaker 5:
[153:35] That's it for this week's Hopper, and let's jump into the segment.

Speaker 1:
[153:39] Welcome to The Friend Zone.

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[154:14] Eczema is unpredictable, but you can flare less with EBCLIS, a once-monthly treatment for moderate to severe eczema. After an initial four-month or longer dosing phase, about four in 10 people taking EBCLIS achieved itch relief and clear or almost clear skin at 16 weeks. And most of those people maintain skin that's still more clear at one year with monthly dosing.

Speaker 9:
[154:34] EBCLIS, Lebrichizumab LBKZ, a 250-milligram per 2-milliliter injection, is a prescription medicine used to treat adults and children 12 years of age and older who weigh at least 88 pounds or 40 kilograms with moderate to severe eczema. Also called atopic dermatitis that is not well controlled with prescription therapies used on the skin or topicals or who cannot use topical therapies. EBCLIS can be used with or without topical corticosteroids. Don't use if you're allergic to EBCLIS. Allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. Eye problems can occur. Tell your doctor if you have new or worsening eye problems. You should not receive a live vaccine when treated with EBCLIS. Before starting EBCLIS, tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection.

Speaker 7:
[155:08] Ask your doctor about EBCLIS and visit ebclist.lilly.com or call 1-800-LILLY-RX or 1-800-545-5979.

Speaker 5:
[155:50] After 420, I too was partaking in the greenery. I didn't tell y'all.

Speaker 1:
[155:57] You went to the flower shop, right?

Speaker 2:
[156:00] Okay. Plant Mahalo.

Speaker 5:
[156:01] He said, okay. I was hiking.

Speaker 2:
[156:05] Oh, okay, there it is, yeah.

Speaker 5:
[156:07] We were exploring some hikes that I had written out. I have a note on my phone, on my 12, that has... Yes, we have the Notes app. We have the Notes app on the 12. I have a list of, do you have a Notes app with all the restaurants you want to visit, all the excursions?

Speaker 1:
[156:34] So many.

Speaker 5:
[156:36] We are so funny. Is that a millennial thing?

Speaker 1:
[156:38] Stores. I have one for good date spots. I have all that.

Speaker 5:
[156:42] Me too. I even have one for things I want.

Speaker 1:
[156:45] Yeah, me too. With links.

Speaker 5:
[156:47] Clothes with links. Okay, we are so funny. Is that a millennial thing? Let us know in the comments. But I have a list of all the hiking trails that I want to experience while we're out here and just knocking them out one by one. We finally went to one this weekend. It was so good.

Speaker 1:
[157:06] Really? How far was it, Fran?

Speaker 5:
[157:08] It was only like one hour, 45-minute drive. So not too bad. But the wild flowers are out right now. So there are certain trails that is all flower. Y'all, when I tell you, it's almost like you don't even understand how this place is real. It looks straight out of like a Disney cartoon. Those shots where they pop up with the flowers and the roads. Then you have the mountain with the ice cap behind it.

Speaker 1:
[157:36] Now, you know, you would have smelled me. That's all I was going to say.

Speaker 5:
[157:41] Then there's like mountain goats. Yeah, mountain goats. It's just the most beautiful, surreal experience. Honestly, I know there's a lot of crazy history with Oregon. I also understand it being a state that someone would be like, why Oregon? But this legit is hands down the most beautiful state in this country. Like you cannot convince me otherwise. I know everyone has their beautiful areas, but there's something surreal about the nature out here. It just makes no sense to me. And so I'm telling you, like, oh, it's just like, you just stand there like a child. Like how, how does this look like this? But anyways, so we were exploring one of the trails and I had needed new hiking boots because I told you, I think I talked about this on the wellness segment maybe a couple of years ago, a couple of episodes ago, I mentioned the A solos. Those are the ones that I was wearing. They're great. They're sturdy. I'm someone that has really sensitive feet. I have like baby feet. They're really soft and everything breaks them. I get blisters from shoes that people say are so soft and comfortable and somehow my feet will not find them soft and comfortable. So I'm one of those people that just always struggles with having to break in shoes, even shoes that are deemed comfortable. So when a shoe works for you, is automatically comfortable, it's mind-blowing. I wanted to buy a hiking boot that was lighter, if that makes sense, because the A solos are big. I think with every step you take, even though it feels sturdy, it also feels like an anchor.

Speaker 1:
[159:25] I got some 40-tooth, some 40 below.

Speaker 2:
[159:28] You feel me now?

Speaker 1:
[159:29] They be heavy, but I'm making it work. But they be heavy as a bitch.

Speaker 5:
[159:32] But you know how every time you step, you're like, I'm gonna break your knee.

Speaker 3:
[159:35] Why am I trudging?

Speaker 1:
[159:36] I'm trudging along. Why am I trudging?

Speaker 5:
[159:39] And low-key, doesn't it make you not always want to reach for them?

Speaker 3:
[159:43] Sometimes.

Speaker 5:
[159:44] Because you're like, this will look good with the fit, but I don't feel like dealing with that heavy-ass boot.

Speaker 1:
[159:49] Yes, so the ones you got are lighter, Fran.

Speaker 5:
[159:52] So I was trying to find, and you know, there's so many hiking boots, and it's not necessarily my world like that. So I was like trying reading all kinds of reviews and asking people that live out here. And I found a pair and I had to tell y'all about it because they're a hiking boot, but they feel like a sneaker because they're so light. And so I, and I was kind of nervous because I bought them back in December, but hadn't used them. And then I was like, with the type of feet I have, that's not really something you want to try on a trail. You know what I'm saying? So I was kind of hesitant, but something told me, you'll be fine. Just put them on, put some good chunky socks.

Speaker 1:
[160:32] What happens, the boots raised up an inch off the floor. It was kind of like.

Speaker 5:
[160:36] Y'all, we hiked for hours. It was probably like two, three, four hours or something. No, it was like three hours, right? Cause I'm considering back and forth. And I had no blisters. My feet didn't even hurt. And it felt like I had had the boots for years. That type of worn in comfort. Come on, a hiking boot. I literally was like, I have to make this a wellness segment. I know there are people that go walking. I know people that go on hikes or just walking trails. Whatever it is, I know people are trying their best to be more active. And a lot of the issues we run into is like, what's the shoe that's going to help me do the 10K steps? Or what's the shoe that I can wear on the trail? I will say they're a bit pricey. But in my opinion, pay for it once or pay for it twice. Come on now.

Speaker 10:
[161:24] You're gonna pay on the front end or the back end?

Speaker 3:
[161:26] Or you're gonna pay on the front end or the back end?

Speaker 5:
[161:29] Yeah. So they're the Keen Women's Targi 4. And Keen is K-E-E-N. Targi is T-A-R-G-H-E-E. And 4 is written like a Roman numeral. They're waterproof, y'all.

Speaker 1:
[161:50] I'm looking them up now.

Speaker 5:
[161:52] They're so cute. I mean, you know, those boots aren't necessarily like a look, but they do what they gotta do. They actually don't look too bad. They can be.

Speaker 1:
[162:00] These brown and black ones are dope.

Speaker 5:
[162:01] You see them?

Speaker 1:
[162:02] These men's. Oh, I can get these down at the DSW.

Speaker 5:
[162:05] I have them in. Oh. They're like, they go for like 180, depending on which style you get. I have the ones that are brown with pink, of course. What I like about them is the front, right? They have space across the front that allows your toes to splay. And I like that.

Speaker 1:
[162:25] How did you find this brand?

Speaker 5:
[162:27] Just, you know me, just researching hiking boots. I was on Reddit. I was on YouTube, even TikTok, just seeing what people felt were the best for people that were hiking. And everyone kept talking about Keen. I have a pair of Keen sneakers, and I do remember when I put them on, they didn't, I didn't have any issues. They were so comfortable. They're the, I'm trying to remember the Keen. I'm not good with the names, but it's a Keen sneaker. It's like beige and has like these red laces. If you know Keens, you'll know which ones I'm talking about. So I know that they're comfortable. And then the fact that they're like the top boot that all the hikers mentioned, I was like, okay, there's something to this. So then it comes down to, okay, but which one? So then I was like, I'm just going to try this one. I bought it. Like I said, I love that the toe box is kind of wide because then your toes just have room to breathe. Especially if you're going on a walk for hours. It says it's multi-directional lug. So it's a pattern that has a lot of traction. And some of the parts of this hiking trail are very steep. And then it's steep for a long time. So what you need is traction. You know what I mean? Because you're just like, woo. And then sometimes there's like muddy parts and you just need the boot to be able to survive all the terrains that you're about to come up against. I love that they're waterproof because living out here, it's a very wet city.

Speaker 1:
[164:00] Nobody likes a wet sock.

Speaker 5:
[164:03] I know you hate that. And then it's cold out. I mean, what worst combo can you have?

Speaker 1:
[164:08] I'm going home.

Speaker 5:
[164:11] And then it's premium leather. So you can see it. We do love that. It's obviously gonna change how long it lasts. And then it has this breathable mesh too, so that it doesn't get all stinky and foggy in that boot.

Speaker 1:
[164:26] Hate that too.

Speaker 5:
[164:27] And it's waterproof, like I said, and it's $180. So it's steep, but I probably won't need to buy another boot for a while, because I'm not going hiking daily. I'm going hiking at most once a week, once every two weeks. So I have in this boot, that's this quality. Y'all, we hiked that. It was my first time wearing them, and it was a perfect hike. And everyone that passed this was like, oh, great boot. You know how white people are like, great boots.

Speaker 1:
[164:57] They say, I know.

Speaker 2:
[165:00] They recognize. I feel like they probably recognize and it was giving you the nod. They was, okay, girl.

Speaker 5:
[165:04] There was one lady that was like, oh, are those the new ones? I was like, I think so.

Speaker 1:
[165:09] Okay. They're actually not out. Okay. And then hit the heel toe.

Speaker 5:
[165:21] But I think they're so great. I'm gonna list them below. Obviously, I'm not working with them. Y'all know I don't move like that. This is literally something I bought, and it was so good that I had to come back and tell y'all, because I know that we're always looking for things that are comfortable, especially as we're taking on these more active lifestyles. People have hit me saying, what's your gym sneaker? What's your, if you're walking 10,000 steps, what's the sneaker? I use the Nike Romero 5s, the Zooms. I can't speak to, I'm not a podiatrist. I don't know if the long-term effects of that sneaker, if it's enough padding or if it's too much padding, there's so much science to put health.

Speaker 1:
[166:01] Yeah, that goes into that.

Speaker 5:
[166:03] It's not my profession, so I don't want to speak to that. But what I will say is that every time I wear them, they're so comfortable. I don't have any foot issues or foot pain after walking. Sometimes I'll do, I mean, we walk a lot, we walk daily. Sometimes I'll hit 15,000 to 20,000 steps depending on, you know, how far we walk in the neighborhood. So it's important to me. I have like four pairs. Legit, I have like four pairs of Vimeros because I need to rotate them regularly because I do walk daily. And then you're walking so much. Yeah, 10, 20,000 steps. Like that's going to put some wear on that. And so I find them comfortable. They have a lot of different colors and I've never had issues with them. I love them in the gym too. They work well in my opinion because they're not too padded. So if you're doing squats or whatever, you know, you're not like too lifted off. So they're good for the gym. I just think it's a good overall sneaker, the Vimero 5s. But if you're looking for a hiking trail, a hiking boot, the Keen Women's Targi 4, and I'm gonna list both of them down below just so that you can check them out in case that you're interested. I know a lot of us are trying to be outside and hopefully these will help you on that journey to really just get in your life together and being out here.

Speaker 1:
[167:28] I might have just found my son's name.

Speaker 5:
[167:31] Which one?

Speaker 1:
[167:32] Keen.

Speaker 5:
[167:33] Keen?

Speaker 1:
[167:34] That's hard, ain't it? Keen.

Speaker 5:
[167:35] I do think Keen is cute though. I can't lie.

Speaker 1:
[167:38] He was just saying that I was like, Keen.

Speaker 5:
[167:41] That is cute. I can see it. Keen Ross.

Speaker 1:
[167:45] Keen. Big Keen, yup.

Speaker 5:
[167:47] Big Keen.

Speaker 1:
[167:48] Yup. And if he's gay, Keke. I would love my child. I would love mine. You know what I'm saying?

Speaker 5:
[167:59] That is a perfect way to end this one. And if you have any other questions about gear or what I wear, just let me know and I'll definitely create more wellness segments around just a more active lifestyle.

Speaker 1:
[168:16] You're in a loving relationship, right? Long-term, I support that. For my single brother and sister and them during everybody. I like all black gym clothes. To me, like I look sexier in all black.

Speaker 5:
[168:30] You know what's funny?

Speaker 1:
[168:31] I like all black gym clothes. Yeah.

Speaker 5:
[168:33] Why is that a thing? Because that's me too. And I'm well, when I was young. OK, so when I was in my 20s and y'all know this, because people that have been following Hey Fran Hey for a long time, y'all remember when I used to wear this Nike sets that had leopard stripes and all kinds of colors, it worked in my 20s, early 30s. But now I'm the full black.

Speaker 1:
[168:56] I like all black.

Speaker 5:
[168:57] Only thing on me is a white sock.

Speaker 1:
[168:59] But yes.

Speaker 5:
[169:00] You know, you do the white sock with the full black fit, and my whole drawer of gym clothes is all black. And I'll be trying to venture out. I did buy a green pair of tights.

Speaker 3:
[169:13] Look at you walking on the wild side.

Speaker 5:
[169:16] I put them on to walk and I felt silly. I can't lie. My partner was like, Oh, that's you putting on some color. He was like, you're gonna have that ass out there in 3D. And it was just so funny because I felt so, I was like, why is it uncomfortable for me to wear color at the gym? I don't understand that.

Speaker 1:
[169:36] I just think like black, I don't know, black gym clothes look hotter. They make you look hot in the gym. So that's just a pro tip. If you want to meet somebody at the gym.

Speaker 5:
[169:43] I find that so funny you said that because that's literally my experience that I'm trying to venture out. I bought a pink sweatsuit. I'm trying so hard, I'm like, no, I can't be that gothic.

Speaker 2:
[170:00] A pink sweat suit.

Speaker 5:
[170:01] I'm wearing a black kneecap. Shout out to Honor Active, that's where I'll get a lot of my gym clothes. Honor spelled O-N-E-R, really cute, like, girly gym clothes in a bunch of colors. Honor and Keen, now that you're having both revelations today.

Speaker 1:
[170:20] Yeah, O-N-E-R, Honor, that's my daughter and Keen. Yeah, and she's spoiled.

Speaker 5:
[170:27] Oh, your kids would be...

Speaker 1:
[170:30] Honor, there's no limit. There would be no limit.

Speaker 5:
[170:34] We already know.

Speaker 1:
[170:35] Y'all know what it is. So, yes.

Speaker 5:
[170:38] Those babies who have furs in kindergarten.

Speaker 1:
[170:42] 100%, 100%. And we have the boots. You think, my little girl, I would find that little Keen boot for Oren. You know, Honor, excuse me, I was about to name her Oren.

Speaker 3:
[170:56] Shout out to Keen boots.

Speaker 5:
[170:58] Shout out to Keen. Shout out to Honor. Shout out to Nike Vermeuros. And that's it. That's it for... Oh, and also get outside, y'all. It's so nice.

Speaker 1:
[171:09] A lot of day parties.

Speaker 5:
[171:09] Honestly, we spent hours out there in the woods and it just was like, we high-fived each other after we finished the trail and we were like, what a great life. You know, just so proud of yourselves. We literally told each other because we woke up early, made breakfast and then drove our hours, did our hike. I remember we high-fived and we're like, man, so proud of ourselves for this life that we've designed. You just have to be proud. You have to be proud. Your life could have gone so many different directions. I think when you're out there, there's something about being out there that makes God feels so real, and it makes you just, it just opens you up. I'm just so grateful.

Speaker 1:
[171:53] I had a nature experience. I don't know why I didn't even think to tell y'all this. I just had a nature experience on Saturday. I was in Georgia. I went to, I was in Atlanta. We went out to, was it Altoona? It was a lake called Altoona or something like that. We went out there, we were on a boat. Shout out to my boy Lamont. Shout out to Lamont. It was his birthday. Much love to Lamont. I think Lamont's Instagram name is like Top Draft Pick or something like that. But shout out to Lamont. We were on a boat for his birthday and at one point y'all, we were out on the lake and we had like stopped or whatever. The, it was the most beautiful, it was so picturesque, right? The trees were so dense. It was just gorgeous. And when I looked around, of course I was in, you know.

Speaker 5:
[172:46] It was gay and spiritual.

Speaker 1:
[172:48] It was literally gay and spiritual, but on an aquatic as well. It was like a Baptist water, you know, water in the Bible. You know what I'm saying?

Speaker 2:
[172:56] Jordan River.

Speaker 1:
[172:58] You know what I'm saying? But that, it was like that. I looked around and I was like, I am literally, literally at peace right now.

Speaker 5:
[173:04] Doesn't it do something to you?

Speaker 1:
[173:06] It was just so much great and I was in good company.

Speaker 2:
[173:08] Connected.

Speaker 1:
[173:09] So shout out to everybody that was on the trip. That was great.

Speaker 5:
[173:12] You know, when you go on vacation and you're at the beach, there's something about standing and just staring at the water, whether it's the daytime and you're just watching the sun or at nighttime when you're watching that moon and that moon light going across the water towards you, it just puts you in such a meditative.

Speaker 1:
[173:29] Seriously.

Speaker 5:
[173:30] Seriously. Well, you're so introspective and you just like, it does something to you. And that feeling to me, it's just like, I love that. Cause I think the way the world is designed now, even how fast videos are, all the colors, I hate the way things are edited now, where they put a bunch of short videos in it to make it like, I don't even know. You know what I'm saying? Like, to emphasize whatever they're talking about, it's just a series of short little videos from other videos. And like, it's so much. So to be able to have these days to just fucking sit without a bunch of noise, it's just, I'm grateful. And it made me realize like, there has to be more of this and a lot less of anything outside of that.

Speaker 1:
[174:21] 100%.

Speaker 5:
[174:22] Like, literally for your sanity, for your literal sanity, that's how I was feeling this weekend. And I felt so grateful. And I had a phenomenal weekend after that. It's almost like it just set such a great tone.

Speaker 1:
[174:33] I was on my Fran shit, now that I think about it, because I went to a vegan spot and ate vegan food.

Speaker 5:
[174:38] You know what, I like Atlanta for you.

Speaker 1:
[174:41] The day before, shout out to my boy, Antonio Brown. He has a great vegan restaurant called Stir House. I made it to Black Business before here, but it's downtown Atlanta, Stir House.

Speaker 5:
[174:52] I wish I would have known that when we were there.

Speaker 1:
[174:54] That food was good, too.

Speaker 5:
[174:55] Because I still love popping into vegan spots, even though I'm not vegan, obviously, anymore. But I still love vegan food.

Speaker 1:
[175:02] I knew you'd be proud. I had vegan food and then I was on a lake out in the middle of the night. We didn't even have phone signals. That's how far we were. Nice. Oh, even at the restaurant, I was starting to get nervous, too, because it's still Georgia. And we were definitely the only flies in the buttermilk, if you know what I mean.

Speaker 5:
[175:20] You know, I know.

Speaker 1:
[175:21] Yeah, no. Yeah, no. So I was like, damn, we was only Jackson's amongst the Whitmans.

Speaker 5:
[175:27] So, you know, I was like, you know, but I'm still working on that because when we're on them trails or if we drive too far, I still have that panicky feeling in my chest of like, wait, wait, wait, what town is this?

Speaker 2:
[175:41] Is this a sundown town?

Speaker 5:
[175:42] You know, what city is this? Even when we pass certain people on the trails, I'm still kind of like, I feel confident, though, because the people I was with, we would have tore that marina up, you know what I'm saying?

Speaker 1:
[175:54] So like, so I would too worry because I knew, like we.

Speaker 5:
[176:01] That's the one thing that makes me feel like whatever is going to be, we're going to have it.

Speaker 1:
[176:05] It's going to be Ksarasa baby. So, so, you know, I was tripping, but I still was like.

Speaker 2:
[176:11] Right.

Speaker 5:
[176:12] You know what? That would be the name of this week's episode.

Speaker 2:
[176:16] Ksarasa.

Speaker 5:
[176:17] I think the hot button needed it too.

Speaker 2:
[176:20] You know, Fran came back.

Speaker 5:
[176:22] But yes, that's it for this week in wellness.

Speaker 2:
[176:27] This week in music. All right. This week, we are going to keep it short. I just have a couple of quick stories, and I'm going to be real quick about them. Coachella happened. We talked a little bit about Coachella happening. We know it was two weekends. A lot of cool things happened. Shout out Carol G. Well, she closed it out, so I just wanted to get to her last. Real quick, shout out to Justin Bieber. He had a lot of great moments. He gave Billie Eilish a moment because Billie Eilish is a notoriously huge Justin Bieber fan, which I ain't know. Is she? Apparently, I didn't know that. I'm a Billie Eilish fan. I've just recently become a Justin Bieber fan. I felt like everything was right. And then SZA came out during the set and a lot of other people. Justin Bieber had a great time. He had a great weekend. And then just also, we'll just quickly go to Carol G because a lot of, oh, Tinashe, she DJ'd. She did her thing, which is super dope. Pink Pantherous was out there doing her motherfucking thing. A lot of pop girls were doing their thing. There's a newer artist, Zara Larsen. No, that's not the one. Addison Rae. Addison Rae. Okay. Addison Rae. See, I always.

Speaker 1:
[177:38] The one who name sounds like the publisher of a math book for high school. Addison Rae Mathematics.

Speaker 2:
[177:44] Okay, so I think.

Speaker 5:
[177:45] I can see it on the side.

Speaker 2:
[177:46] Damn, let me look it up. See, I was going freestyling, but I always get the white girls always tripping me up.

Speaker 5:
[177:51] Yo, you're mined.

Speaker 1:
[177:56] Addison Rae.

Speaker 5:
[177:58] I think you're right, Addison Rae. Yes. She popped up on my YouTube.

Speaker 2:
[178:02] So Addison Rae performed. Apparently, she was very well received. Addison Rae had previously opened the montage of young artists during the Billboard Awards, and people had comments about how they thought it was a little bit of a mess, but she had opened the montage and they don't really do those montages a lot. And I thought she did very good for her little part because I had seen it and actually didn't see a problem with what she did. I'm speaking of that montage after her, it went into the girl group Cat's Eye, which we have been talking about just because they're being discussed, right, medley, as in montage. Thank you. Cat's Eye performed at Coachella as well. Of course they performed without Manon, so I was not paying them any attention.

Speaker 5:
[178:42] Yikes. I saw someone comment that they are promoting groups like Cat's Eye and they mentioned a couple other artists so that we can start feeling comfortable with the AI music sound. This was a comment I saw on YouTube and I thought, yes, that makes total sense because why the hell else would we... Well, I mean, I know they have fans but...

Speaker 2:
[179:10] Well, you know that it's funny, there are a few different theories about a lot of music, so that's a good one too.

Speaker 5:
[179:19] I'm like, what?

Speaker 2:
[179:21] There are theories about... There are a lot of theories, right? There are theories about the girl groups because they were part of this show and it's part of a K-pop, it's partially K-pop, so there's a whole bunch of other machines that work there as well, so it really very well could be part of that, so I'm not gonna discredit any of that. I know it's a little 10-fold hat but it could be on the nose.

Speaker 5:
[179:43] I'm with it. I said, yep, you're right, absolutely. That's what it is.

Speaker 2:
[179:47] I ain't going with you Fran, you might be on or something.

Speaker 5:
[179:49] Yeah.

Speaker 2:
[179:50] But they performed, I don't care about them. Also just want to shout out Sabrina Carpenter. She performed, she's been big business. I've been watching her, she did a good job. Madonna, her ass, she's always gonna come out on stage for some body.

Speaker 5:
[180:01] I did hear Madonna came out. Did y'all see it?

Speaker 2:
[180:06] I didn't, I saw a little clip of it.

Speaker 1:
[180:08] She's got a new album coming out though. I know she's doing Confessions on the dance floor too.

Speaker 5:
[180:14] What?

Speaker 2:
[180:14] Oh, cool.

Speaker 1:
[180:15] She just announced it like last week or something, so I'm not surprised she popped out.

Speaker 5:
[180:20] I'm a massive, I mean, I know she, you know.

Speaker 1:
[180:23] I love her too.

Speaker 5:
[180:25] But I'm a massive Madonna fan. I love her.

Speaker 1:
[180:29] I saw a clip of her performing Live to Tell, which is one of my favorite Madonna songs of all time. I didn't even know it was a part of her set list. I would have had my ass at that concert. And I made the mistake of tweeting that, and then a throng of Madonna fans came over. Oh yeah, she been doing that.

Speaker 5:
[180:45] Oh God.

Speaker 1:
[180:49] Okay.

Speaker 5:
[180:49] Gnarly.

Speaker 1:
[180:51] I'm just saying, I want to go. That's all. I just want to be there. That's it.

Speaker 2:
[180:55] Not too good. Music, Fran.

Speaker 5:
[180:57] Gnarly. No, I legit was like, oh, I actually have to look it up.

Speaker 2:
[181:01] Fran, so have you heard their new song?

Speaker 5:
[181:03] No, I will never, ever.

Speaker 2:
[181:09] I'm not going to even, I'm not going to even entertain this.

Speaker 1:
[181:12] That's awful about AI artists. I will never entertain an AI of music artists.

Speaker 5:
[181:16] And they keep popping up, y'all. Now when you, you know how we will be like, oh, this popped up on my Spotify because like it's the radio, right? It'll put you on. Now I have to look to see their profile before I mention them on this show. Cause I would hate, hate to play a song and amplify an artist that is AI.

Speaker 1:
[181:39] That ain't one.

Speaker 5:
[181:40] Like that would be, that would break me.

Speaker 1:
[181:44] For all that, I could just listen to the song from the ice cream truck.

Speaker 10:
[181:47] Do do do, do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do Which at least has some cultural relevance.

Speaker 1:
[181:51] That's it. If I just want to hear machine, mechanical music, you know what I'm saying?

Speaker 5:
[181:54] I can't, I can't. And I got caught maybe two times now where the artists, I looked them up and I was like, this is their only song and they look like AI. And then I'll go try to find their profile somewhere and they just don't exist.

Speaker 1:
[182:10] Don't want to hear it.

Speaker 2:
[182:14] And lastly, for Coachella, Flowers to Keralji. Because we're going to end that part. Yes.

Speaker 5:
[182:21] I'm happy for her.

Speaker 2:
[182:26] There were a lot of other things and moments to happen to Coachella, but for Keralji to come out there and...

Speaker 1:
[182:31] A headline. Like that was a big deal.

Speaker 2:
[182:34] And close it out and do it her motherfucking way. And looking good doing it. But that's never the point. You know what I'm saying?

Speaker 1:
[182:41] Fran, you would like to add?

Speaker 2:
[182:47] So that's, I said two stories. That one was supposed to be quick. So the next one will be quicker. Somebody said, a couple of people have DMed me and it actually came up in my text messages. So I had to, I'm just going to say it here. There's Danny D. Kane drama happening.

Speaker 1:
[183:05] Oh my God, let it go. Hit it, frozen.

Speaker 5:
[183:08] Danny D. Kane?

Speaker 3:
[183:09] Let it go. Let it go.

Speaker 2:
[183:11] Oh my God, Fran, please don't make me talk about it.

Speaker 5:
[183:13] No, I need to know.

Speaker 3:
[183:14] Oh my God, no.

Speaker 2:
[183:17] Okay, I wish I had the full story because apparently Danny D. Kane was supposed to go on tour with PCD.

Speaker 5:
[183:23] Who is PCD?

Speaker 1:
[183:24] Pussycat Doll.

Speaker 2:
[183:25] Pussycat Doll, sorry. Which is a whole other thing, right?

Speaker 5:
[183:28] Well, who's even?

Speaker 1:
[183:29] Right, both of the groups. We don't even know who we gon see. We might as well go see Cat Eyes.

Speaker 5:
[183:35] Because I know Melody. I was gonna say Melanie.

Speaker 2:
[183:38] Yep, Melanie.

Speaker 1:
[183:39] Melody, Melody, Melody.

Speaker 5:
[183:41] Yeah. And Scherzinger are not in it, so.

Speaker 1:
[183:45] Worcestershire.

Speaker 2:
[183:46] No, well, so Scherzinger is in it. It's just Nicole and two of them. Liam Farrin.

Speaker 8:
[183:53] Yeah, Liam Farrin.

Speaker 1:
[183:57] With the paper around the bottom.

Speaker 5:
[184:00] The old G you heard.

Speaker 2:
[184:02] I shouldn't have been there, except for this is happening.

Speaker 5:
[184:05] No, all jokes aside, who's performing?

Speaker 2:
[184:09] I, girl.

Speaker 5:
[184:11] I remember the redhead. You remember the redhead?

Speaker 2:
[184:14] So she's not in it.

Speaker 5:
[184:15] Damn, not even her.

Speaker 1:
[184:23] They all hate Nicole Worsher Society that much. That don't nobody want to do it. Don't nobody want to fuck with her.

Speaker 2:
[184:30] Is that what it is? There was a lineup change. Wait, okay, never mind. I don't care about that. I'm just going to read part of the story. USA Today on March 20, 26 said, Pussycat Dolls, Nicole Scherzinger, Ashley Roberts and Kimberly Wyatt for an upcoming world tour.

Speaker 5:
[184:50] Oh, shut us up.

Speaker 2:
[184:53] Now, there was also supposed to be, I don't know how closely tied these two stories are because apparently this all was happening very passively. I'm not on Twitter frequently and when I get on, I get off very quickly. So I know that there is a larger story here that I did not get all the way into. All I know is Danny Kane allegedly was supposed to be touring. I don't know if it was part of this PCD tour or not, but they were supposed to be touring. And to your other question, which members? I believe it was Aubrey, Andrea and Dee Woods.

Speaker 5:
[185:19] That I remember because I saw what they had started.

Speaker 2:
[185:21] Because they had just did that thing at the end of last year or whatever. And I say that thing because I don't remember if it was a show or it was like something that, I don't remember what it was, but it was a thing.

Speaker 5:
[185:32] That's what I think.

Speaker 2:
[185:34] So anyway, apparently, there was an event coming up and it was listed that Danity Kane was going to be performing. And then from the official Danity Kane account, it was tweeted or Instagrammed. I don't know where this happened on social media that, hey, Danity Kane will not be performing because they aren't there. And so then Andrea and D-Wood spoke up and said, we Danity Kane and we performing. So obviously, left out was Aubrey. So Aubrey is like, well, y'all girl, I guess they, I don't know. Aubrey had a different engagement, so she didn't, I guess, want them to perform without her. So they felt like it was fair to use the name without Aubrey, even though Aubrey still part of the new whatever of the Danity Kane that there is. So it just became a back and forth about how valid it was. I don't know who owns what. All I know is Dawn is on the side doing her thing. Her name came coming up because apparently Aubrey was trying to, at one point she was saying, you know, Dawn is doing her thing performing. And that's all I focus on because Dawn is out here doing her thing performing. That's the only artist I've ever really focused on outside of Danity Kane just because I don't have nothing against the other girls. But Dawn has always just stood out to me. And so I appreciate her music, her sound. Like it was a TV show. So we all kind of live like, oh, this parasocial relationship that we need to follow them, I guess, still from the show or think of them or those versions of them. I've let all of that go. So I cannot comment on Danity Kane every time the stories come up. And I don't think many more stories of them will come up. But again, I just focus on Dawn. So keep sending me Dawn things. That was not quick. That's it. Oh, please.

Speaker 1:
[187:08] So I'm just trying to get the story here. Right. So the story here is that there was a Danity Kane performance coming up on the schedule, but there's infighting. Right. And so, right. So we don't know who was supposed to perform because, according to this, who?

Speaker 2:
[187:25] So we know that. So apparently, Aubrey, I think she runs the official accounts. I think she was the one that spoke out and said, Danity Kane is not booked for whatever the engagement was. I think it was a festival, a parade. I'm not sure. And so Dee Woods and Andrea, they are the ones that are like, we are the ones that agree to this performance. And I think that's what I think.

Speaker 1:
[187:52] Okay.

Speaker 2:
[187:53] Yeah.

Speaker 5:
[187:53] But that still don't make sense because there's three other members. For them to know she was busy, they had to have discussed it with her, no?

Speaker 1:
[188:02] Right.

Speaker 5:
[188:03] If she couldn't attend. Unless they were planning to never have her do it. You know what I mean? Like something about that sounds a little strange as far as communication for being in a group. Because normally there'd be an email like, hey y'all, we have this opportunity. You know, how does that work for every-

Speaker 10:
[188:18] What's everyone's availability, yeah.

Speaker 5:
[188:19] Okay, so I'm lost to how one person could think it's not happening in the other two, or like it is.

Speaker 1:
[188:26] Where is Iyanla? That's who needs to get these girls into shape. And we need all five members and Iyanla Van Zandt and Iyanla need to be on one. I don't know what that means for her.

Speaker 5:
[188:36] Oh, that's right, with the other girls.

Speaker 1:
[188:38] Yeah.

Speaker 2:
[188:39] See, I don't know what happened. Cause I would very much love to live in a world where all five girls got back together, right? Because just my opinions from over the years, when it first was Dandy Can't broke up on TV, I was like, damn, this is fucked up. But we only got like the Diddy side of it. Like, oh, Diddy's being a dick, he broke this group up, which was part of it. It was very real, but we also didn't know those girls outside of TV. So we didn't know who really wanted to be in a group, who wanted to go solo. So they're all having their own experiences in this group. So as they come back together, as the four of them, without Dee Woods, I don't know what the conversation really was. I think they spoke out and said whatever it was, but just took my memory of me experiencing as a fan right on the outside, just watching the times that they came back together, and then Dee Woods isn't there, and then they disappeared for however long, and then they come back, and then now it's Andrea decides she's not going to be there. So it's just the three of them. And so then they all leave, and then Dawn, she's doing her solo thing all throughout.

Speaker 1:
[189:38] Consistently.

Speaker 2:
[189:39] Andrea, Aubrey, and Shannon, they do their duo. Shannon was making solo music, Aubrey was making solo music, but then they come back as the trio, and then they dissipate again. But now the trio is Aubrey, Andrea, and Dee Woods.

Speaker 1:
[189:56] They just need to, they need to fix whatever is wrong. They need to all get together, sit the fuck down, pop their heads out of their asses, and get equal splits on everything.

Speaker 5:
[190:07] That hard.

Speaker 1:
[190:08] And just perform.

Speaker 5:
[190:08] Especially now with all these tours, where people are like reunion tours.

Speaker 2:
[190:12] The nostalgia.

Speaker 5:
[190:12] That's why I together. Now is the time.

Speaker 2:
[190:14] It's a great opportunity for the, cause I don't know about the whole, cause at some point from the Danny DeCanada account, it was saying that they were supposed to go on tour with PCD or open for them or whatever. If that was a real thing, if it was, I feel like Dawn probably didn't come back cause she was like, this, y'all ain't gonna do this.

Speaker 1:
[190:31] But she don't need it. But I think she would do it if the shit was right.

Speaker 5:
[190:36] That's literally my point. I doubt she's being avoided. It's more so y'all don't have your shit together. I don't have to do it that way.

Speaker 2:
[190:42] I feel like she is the most serious out of the bunch. And that's why she, like, I don't even think that she was asked to come back this last go round, but maybe she was and she was like, I don't know if that's actually gonna work. And she said, I'm still got, she really has too much going on already anyway. But I feel like if it was gonna be all five girls, I would love that. But the way that Dee Woods comes back in this trio, and then now it's like this duo versus the solo, I actually don't wanna hear about it ever again. So I just wanna hear about Dawn.

Speaker 1:
[191:11] They're crazy. Dawn is a resource. Dawn has grown so much as an artist from when we met her through Danity Kane, right? Experimental projects that have been recognized by the Grammys, like so many things, right? Consistently maintained a presence in the live performance space, consistently been sought after. She is a full creative, consistently presenting us with visuals, moving over into a few different other spaces and shit. Like, so to me, exactly. So to me, I would be like, yo, Dawn can really make our new shit have a depth. You know what I'm saying? We didn't have before. We need Dawn. Like, why wouldn't you all just express that and bring her back around? Respect the game. She's the one who continued moving forward in music. Aubrey did other things in TV and shit, but Dawn is the one that kept going in music. Dee Woods has done theater and a lot of different other things. Get back together and make the Denity Kane brand strong. You take the ego out of it. You know what I'm saying? I don't know. It's just stupid to me. Because they could use her and not use her in a malicious way. I mean, but they could use her knowledge, her strengths, and make the group doper than it's ever been.

Speaker 5:
[192:37] So you got to put egos aside for that.

Speaker 1:
[192:40] You got to. Well, just move your ego over into the Denity Kane space.

Speaker 5:
[192:45] And make some money. Hello.

Speaker 6:
[192:47] Hit the road.

Speaker 5:
[192:48] And tour the world and see your fans. Like what better do you have to be doing right now?

Speaker 2:
[192:54] And that's just my quick synopsis of what happened. I don't actually know what happened, and I don't really care to know. Because sometimes people that are around this or feel like I'm tied to this, they want me to report or they want to inform me. And I don't, this is almost like the near to me.

Speaker 1:
[193:10] You're telling them to go straight to hell. You ain't in the group. You just talking about the damn music because you love it. Tell them to piss your ass, Assante.

Speaker 2:
[193:20] That's it for this portion, the artists to mention. Jesus, this is my portion.

Speaker 5:
[193:27] And I do want to say this last thing.

Speaker 2:
[193:28] Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead.

Speaker 5:
[193:30] No, I'm going to say very quickly what my issue is with Carol G.

Speaker 2:
[193:34] OK.

Speaker 5:
[193:35] As a Latina.

Speaker 2:
[193:37] OK.

Speaker 5:
[193:38] Are we proud of her? Sure. That's a big status symbol musically, right? There's never been another Latina. My issue is appropriation of Reggaeton for me. This is a Colombian woman, a Colombian woman who has this Caribbean accent, her aesthetic with the braids and the, you know, it's like, and even the way she moves through the music. She's from Medellin, from Colombia. You know what I mean? And it's like, I never see homage being paid or, you know, and sometimes it's not even about homage. To me, it's just like, why are you?

Speaker 1:
[194:20] I get it.

Speaker 5:
[194:21] You get it?

Speaker 1:
[194:21] It makes perfect sense now.

Speaker 5:
[194:23] To me, it's like, it's musical blackface. And I have a hard time with it. And her, the same with, what's the other one?

Speaker 1:
[194:32] Wait, the M? Oh, Anita.

Speaker 5:
[194:33] Please don't say Anita. No, Anita is Afro-Brazilian, so I don't have, I like Anita. You know, and she's.

Speaker 2:
[194:39] Okay, I love Anita.

Speaker 5:
[194:40] Yeah, no, Anita is Anita. It's the other one from Spain.

Speaker 2:
[194:45] Rosalia?

Speaker 5:
[194:46] No, I don't know. Yes, yes. It's Rosalia. She's from Spain. What the fuck are you doing acting like, you know what I mean? It's like they get to take on these Caribbean.

Speaker 2:
[194:57] They know their sound works, so they all are like homeless. Yeah.

Speaker 5:
[195:00] And that's my issue. So that type of music, sometimes I have such a fucking hard time, even like seeing the clips, I just skipped over them because there's a part of me that yes, great for you, but then you also have to look at the business of music, why is she when there's all these Dominican women, these Puerto Rican women, these women from the culture making reggaeton, been making reggaeton, but look who gets highlighted, look who gets the big looks, Rosalia from Spain and Carol G from Medellin, Colombia. That's my issue.

Speaker 1:
[195:32] That's why I fuck with Tokisha.

Speaker 5:
[195:34] Thank you.

Speaker 1:
[195:35] Okay. That's why I fuck with the real one, Tokisha. Thank you.

Speaker 5:
[195:39] So you feel me. Like I want to see my Dominican girls.

Speaker 1:
[195:42] Thank you for clearing that up, Francheska.

Speaker 5:
[195:43] Yes. But I cleared it up because I didn't want to sound like I was just shady for no reason. I was like, you know what, if I'm a, if I'm a sigh, no, but if you're going to sigh or make remarks, then say it. Stand on it. What is the issue? And so I wanted to also clarify that because I also think it's an important point. So like, yes, we can be proud, but also this is designed that way.

Speaker 1:
[196:05] I didn't realize none of that. So I take my claps back.

Speaker 5:
[196:08] And to me, it's no different than the hot button issue, right? It's like, look at the messaging about who gets to be amplified. That's why people like a David doesn't see himself even in the music of his culture. Like, that's crazy to me, and it's frustrating. And we're in 2026, and that's how I felt about it. And that is my dissertation on Carole G and Coachella. Thank you very much.

Speaker 2:
[196:39] Well, I appreciate you for that, Fran. High five.

Speaker 1:
[196:42] That was good, girl.

Speaker 2:
[196:43] It was. Thought you was going to leave it like J-Lo.

Speaker 3:
[196:46] No, I'm just playing.

Speaker 5:
[196:47] Mi gente latina.

Speaker 3:
[196:49] There it is. And there it is.

Speaker 2:
[196:52] I didn't even finish saying it before you let it out.

Speaker 5:
[196:55] That had to do it. It's the period to all of our cultural dissertations and conversations. The queen.

Speaker 2:
[197:04] I thought you were going to leave it like J-Lo. Like, I couldn't.

Speaker 1:
[197:08] You know, the Latin reads today have been on a million. Like, for real, because Fran is not around. The clip is full. OK.

Speaker 2:
[197:18] See, Fran, you like you made me glad I didn't talk about Tyler already. And then you had to go do that. So I was like, damn, I should talk about Carol G either. No, I'm just playing. Because, you know, they still, you know, Tyler still ain't beat the allegations.

Speaker 5:
[197:33] She's had a hard time with that one. But that's a different one. That's more complex.

Speaker 2:
[197:38] Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 5:
[197:40] I feel like we got to give her some grace.

Speaker 2:
[197:43] I've you know, I've been trying, you know, I have. I personally like the new song and the video is hot.

Speaker 5:
[197:50] You know, now that's Zara Larsen that she's.

Speaker 2:
[197:53] Yeah. So when I mentioned her name earlier, that's why she was on my tongue. Very quickly. Tyler released a new video for a song called She Did It Again. And it's featuring the artist Zara Larsen, which they kind of teased because apparently they had been seen out together. And so I think it's cute. Me too. I've been liking this Zara Larsen girl.

Speaker 5:
[198:10] It's reminiscent of Beyonce and Shakira.

Speaker 2:
[198:13] Yeah.

Speaker 5:
[198:15] Rihanna did one like that. Who was it with? Where it was like her and someone else kind of dancing sexy. I don't know why I can't remember.

Speaker 2:
[198:23] Everybody did do it too.

Speaker 5:
[198:24] Remember that was like a thing for a second thing. Who did Rihanna do it with?

Speaker 1:
[198:28] Good Rihanna.

Speaker 5:
[198:29] Now that's going to bother me.

Speaker 1:
[198:31] Apparently, A$AP Rocky. That's who she's been doing it with.

Speaker 2:
[198:34] When she did it with Britney Spears for the S&M 3 remakes or whatever.

Speaker 5:
[198:39] No, I thought it was like a video. Maybe I'm making that up. Maybe not. Maybe it didn't happen. Well, one of our listeners will tell us who it was. Because I swore she did it similar.

Speaker 3:
[198:52] It's all right because I love the way you lie.

Speaker 2:
[198:58] I'm so glad we're over the era of hearing that song. Because I love me some Robbins. But goddamn, if I heard her one more time, just got to stand like girl, yes, I am at this point.

Speaker 1:
[199:12] I love Rihanna's music.

Speaker 2:
[199:13] I do love Rihanna.

Speaker 1:
[199:14] Welcome to The Friend Zone.

Speaker 6:
[199:38] Welcome to The Friend Zone. Bigger network, the combination of T-Mobiles and US. Cellular Network Footprints will enhance the T-Mobile Network's coverage. Price Guarantee on Talk, Text, and Data. Exclusions like taxes and fees applied. See tmobile.com for details. Learn more at adobe.com/do that with Acrobat.

Speaker 2:
[200:23] That's it now again for that portion of the show. Now we're gonna move into the listens lately.

Speaker 5:
[200:29] I guess I made that up.

Speaker 1:
[200:30] It says she has one with Shakira.

Speaker 5:
[200:33] Oh, it's Shakira. Can't remember to forget you in 2004. Also Shakira did it twice. I knew.

Speaker 1:
[200:39] Look, Shakira, Shakira. She did it twice.

Speaker 5:
[200:43] Wow. That was good. That was good.

Speaker 1:
[200:47] I like Shakira though. Shakira don't take no shit.

Speaker 2:
[200:49] I fuck with Shakira.

Speaker 1:
[200:50] Hell yeah. I love Shakira.

Speaker 2:
[200:53] Yeah.

Speaker 3:
[200:56] I with She-Wolf.

Speaker 5:
[200:58] I with her too.

Speaker 2:
[201:01] You want to talk about that day one single? That's the single that will always get me. But yeah. Fran, what have you been listening to over there?

Speaker 5:
[201:10] Isaiah Rashad dropped a new record. Always happy to hear from him. He dropped a new record called Same Shit. And this is how it goes.

Speaker 2:
[202:32] That's hard. I like that track.

Speaker 10:
[202:33] I like that track too.

Speaker 5:
[202:35] Now y'all done took me out of it.

Speaker 1:
[202:38] It was great.

Speaker 5:
[202:39] I never know if I say her name right. Kelela? Kelela?

Speaker 1:
[202:44] Oh, Kelela. Yeah, Kelela.

Speaker 5:
[202:46] Because I looked up an interview to see, and she said Kelela. And I was like, oh, okay. I thought it was Kelela this whole time.

Speaker 1:
[202:52] That's what I've been saying personally.

Speaker 2:
[202:54] Yeah.

Speaker 5:
[202:54] Right. Thank you, Kelela. She dropped a new song called Idea One.

Speaker 1:
[203:00] Oh, I haven't heard it.

Speaker 5:
[204:18] Nice, right? Love to hear her. And then lastly, this song popped up for me, and he's not AI, and it's called RJ The Weirdo. Have y'all heard of him?

Speaker 1:
[204:30] Nope.

Speaker 2:
[204:31] I don't know, sounds like AI. No, I'm just kidding.

Speaker 5:
[204:34] Could you imagine?

Speaker 2:
[204:35] No.

Speaker 5:
[204:35] Okay. And his song is called At Least She's Beautiful. I wish so bad that those would agree with what he was saying. Because can't you picture his foot the way he does it?

Speaker 1:
[206:08] My foot dragging like the Showgirls posted with my foot dragging.

Speaker 10:
[206:14] That was so good.

Speaker 2:
[206:20] Thank you, Fran. That was a great selection.

Speaker 5:
[206:23] RJ. The Weirdo. What a wonderful discovery. At least he's beautiful. Yeah, that's a really good. We weren't laughing at you, by the way.

Speaker 1:
[206:32] Not at all.

Speaker 5:
[206:32] We were laughing at Dustin saying that he would dance to your song.

Speaker 1:
[206:38] Exotically.

Speaker 4:
[206:40] How?

Speaker 1:
[206:41] I would dance exotically.

Speaker 5:
[206:42] He showed us how and has taken us out. But yeah, those are my three picks for this week.

Speaker 2:
[206:50] Thank you, Fran. Dustin Ross, what have you been listening to?

Speaker 1:
[206:53] Well, my first song is a throwback, a hearkening to the hot button issue. This song is by The Guess Who. It's from 1968 and it's titled These Eyes.

Speaker 8:
[207:28] These eyes.

Speaker 1:
[208:46] So that's These Eyes by The Guests.

Speaker 2:
[208:48] That's his moment.

Speaker 5:
[208:50] Okay, These Eyes is crazy.

Speaker 2:
[208:52] He had a moment like, oh boy, when he was in the car, ah, I want to dance with somebody.

Speaker 5:
[208:57] We didn't even speak about the karaoke Donny Hathaway.

Speaker 2:
[209:00] No, we did not.

Speaker 5:
[209:01] A song for you in the middle of his living room. I've been so many places.

Speaker 1:
[209:08] In my life and times. I don't want to go back to this one. Anyway, the next song I'm going to play is by Maya P. Shout out to Illwokie. And this song is called Reaper.

Speaker 5:
[209:23] Illwokie, that's cute.

Speaker 1:
[210:18] That's right. And the last song I'm going to play is by Ball Greasy, featuring Ice Billion Bird. This song is called Since You've Been Away. It's old. It's from 2017, I think. A little relatable content, y'all. That's it for me this week.

Speaker 2:
[211:36] I love that. I love that. All right. First song that I'm going to be playing is from Black, featuring 2 Chainz. The song is called Sunday Again, and that's how it goes.

Speaker 5:
[211:46] Oh, Black.

Speaker 1:
[211:47] They back together.

Speaker 5:
[212:43] I like my breakfast with the bacon.

Speaker 10:
[212:48] The way you cut that off.

Speaker 2:
[212:52] That was Sunday again with Two Chains. Black, I just like the feel of that. I like music that just feels right. And that just feels right. You know what I'm saying?

Speaker 1:
[213:02] Gorgeous. That could have been a Anita Baker song. That's how pretty it was.

Speaker 5:
[213:05] I hear that actually.

Speaker 1:
[213:06] You know what I'm saying?

Speaker 5:
[213:07] Yeah. And I feel you on that Assante, because when I was listening to some songs to try to figure out what to play for this week, I literally was like, dang, man, music don't make you feel nothing.

Speaker 2:
[213:19] Yeah, you came up short.

Speaker 5:
[213:23] I was about to play Etta James and Tribe Called Quest.

Speaker 1:
[213:28] She said, I hate that damn Beyonce. The next week. The next week.

Speaker 2:
[213:39] Next artist I'm going to play is.

Speaker 1:
[213:43] Shout out to Chanel Ayaan.

Speaker 2:
[213:46] Oh my God. Her name's Naomi Scott. She apparently is a British singer. I think she, I read she was an actress. I was not very familiar with her work, but I think, I thought like she was like in Smile 2 and a couple of other things. Things I wasn't very familiar with, but apparently she's making this pivot over in the artistry. This guy re posted on my Instagram and it was actually a montage of her new album. I want to listen to the album. This is a white girl. Normally I don't really promote them, but I felt like this was worth it. Cause I heard the music and I was like, well hold on.

Speaker 1:
[214:19] If she jamming, she jamming.

Speaker 5:
[214:21] That's what I'm like, if it's good, it's good.

Speaker 2:
[214:23] Well, this is good. I was like, I needs to hear a little bit more. This song is called Cher.

Speaker 1:
[214:27] Demon Pop Rice Krispies or whatever the name of that group is.

Speaker 2:
[214:32] And you know what's funny? Those girls, so Coachella, those girls brought, the CatSign girls brought out the K-Pop Demon Hunter girls.

Speaker 1:
[214:43] K-Pop Demon Hunters, yes.

Speaker 2:
[214:44] And I was like, bitch, I'm not going to watch this. I didn't watch the K-Pop Demon Hunters, but I know that there's an audience that was like-

Speaker 1:
[214:50] But if I have kids on some real shit, I don't want them to be-

Speaker 2:
[214:54] I'm going out there to see that.

Speaker 1:
[214:55] That demon being in that name would be like-

Speaker 2:
[214:58] Oh my God.

Speaker 1:
[214:59] Is this- I'll be like, is this like kid-

Speaker 5:
[215:02] Because of all things.

Speaker 3:
[215:03] Is this kid tested, mother approved?

Speaker 5:
[215:04] Well, let me tell you, those-

Speaker 1:
[215:10] Kid tested, mother approved. Is that what this is?

Speaker 5:
[215:13] I want to change the title of this episode, so.

Speaker 1:
[215:15] It's your episode.

Speaker 3:
[215:17] You know what I'm saying?

Speaker 5:
[215:18] That's so funny. But the girls, the girls from Demon, Pop Sleigh, whatever the hell, they are so good. They're so cute. They're so talented. I love the way they dress.

Speaker 2:
[215:28] I'm glad that they got to go to Coachella, like they got to perform on the Coachella stage. Hopefully that's a big moment.

Speaker 5:
[215:33] Even though they're way bigger than Cat's Eye.

Speaker 2:
[215:36] No, 100,000 percent.

Speaker 5:
[215:37] I know they was probably like, all right, we'll do this for today.

Speaker 2:
[215:39] Like fine.

Speaker 1:
[215:40] I guess.

Speaker 5:
[215:41] Right?

Speaker 2:
[215:42] Like, kind of annoyed, but I guess I have to. Like, it's Coachella. I can't say no to Coachella, y'all for asking us to be here for this. Well, from me, not from them, unless they want to be vocal about that, then it's going to make me like them even more. K-Pop, P-Miner Girls. Anyway, next song that I'm going to play. I was like, what's next?

Speaker 1:
[215:58] That was a good pick though, Assante. That was great. That black song with 2 Chainz.

Speaker 5:
[216:03] Yeah, I'm definitely saving it.

Speaker 1:
[216:05] Love it.

Speaker 2:
[216:06] This is Cherry.

Speaker 5:
[217:36] So, what is wrong today? What is wrong? See what happens when we're both in nature for the weekend.

Speaker 1:
[217:46] And I'm on fumes. I'm literally running on fumes. It's me. I'm telling you, it's me. I accept responsibility.

Speaker 5:
[217:52] Oh, my God.

Speaker 2:
[217:54] The last song I'm going to play is from Justin Bieber because he was at Coachella, I've been fucking with him and it's featuring Trevor Scott and it pertains to the way that you two are acting because the song was titled No Sins. And that is it for the Music Man segment.

Speaker 5:
[219:34] This was a great one, y'all.

Speaker 1:
[219:36] Yes, it was.

Speaker 2:
[219:38] You two ain't got no sense.

Speaker 5:
[219:43] For those who are not on Patreon, the combos we have while the music is playing is just a cherry on top of the show.

Speaker 1:
[219:53] It's a whole other show in another self. Because it's inspired, it's inspired conversation, and the references are immediately discernible because we're talking, it's in the moment. You know what I'm saying?

Speaker 2:
[220:04] Listen, because I had totally mentioned that girl's name at the top and then had that whole conversation and forgot what I was talking about. So then I was like, and it's Cherry.

Speaker 1:
[220:12] Yeah, I thought you was just going to say the name of the song later.

Speaker 2:
[220:16] Because I actually knew who that was, but I was like, oh, I didn't know that's what you were talking about. Like, no, because I was thinking about Naomi Sharon. That's why I said Naomi Sharon. That's what you talk about to the Patreon people that you want to like, okay, what happened here?

Speaker 1:
[220:28] I like Naomi Sharon. She sound like Octavia Butler.

Speaker 2:
[220:33] OK, that's it for the music brand segment. No more takes.

Speaker 1:
[220:35] I like her.

Speaker 3:
[220:37] No more takes.

Speaker 2:
[220:38] That was it. You're cut off.

Speaker 1:
[220:40] I like Naomi Sharon. She's like Octavia, like Big I. The goat, the Oracle. Now that you want to talk about the way she predicted all this shit here. Anyway, this week in TV. So, y'all already know, we are three episodes deep into The Real Housewives of Atlanta season 17.

Speaker 5:
[221:03] Look, I look like I have blush from how hard I... Do you see how pink my cheeks are?

Speaker 1:
[221:08] You would have seen how pink my cheeks was if they played that song in strip club. If they played Dead to Chains. Or no, it wasn't that, whatever song.

Speaker 3:
[221:23] What song was it, Assante?

Speaker 2:
[221:24] No sense.

Speaker 1:
[221:26] If they played that song in the club, you would have known exactly how pink my cheeks was. Can you imagine me sticking my ass out on a stick?

Speaker 2:
[221:35] No, stop, please. I would rather look at that eye searcher again, please stop.

Speaker 10:
[221:38] The foot drag, the foot drag.

Speaker 2:
[221:42] Oh my God.

Speaker 1:
[221:43] Yeah, anyway.

Speaker 2:
[221:46] Three episodes in.

Speaker 1:
[221:47] So to the Real Housewives of Atlanta season 17, Kaymichelle is knocking out the park. You know, one thing I'm going to do is tell the truth. For sure, she is doing a great job and it has nothing to do with her arguing with nobody.

Speaker 5:
[222:02] No, I was going to say, what does that look like nowadays?

Speaker 1:
[222:05] So she had a medical emergency connected to the ass surgeries that she's had, right? Yeah. So at this point, she was in the hospital and where she had had a corrective surgery for the procedure to remove some of the material that they inserted in her ass to make it all bulbous like that, the wound reopened and she didn't realize it because I guess the area was numb. She got up and there was a liquid like stain on her dress and she was getting ready to perform at the American Country Music, something, some country shit. She was, she was tributing Reese Palmer, who was an acclaimed country singer and songwriter. And so it was an important performance for her.

Speaker 2:
[222:50] Black woman that's been doing the work that has been paving the way.

Speaker 1:
[222:53] A trailblazer in country music for black people.

Speaker 5:
[222:56] That's so crazy.

Speaker 1:
[222:58] So anyway, so that happened and she was in, she got, she got put in the hospital. So we were invested in that story in and of itself. But then there were things that made it housewives worthy, which was her, her having a full glam team at the hospital because she wanted to leave the hospital in full glam.

Speaker 5:
[223:15] And she did.

Speaker 1:
[223:17] And it's just been good. It's just been a good season. I love the scenes with Angela Oakley and her daughter, Amari.

Speaker 2:
[223:24] Yes, I was just thinking about her.

Speaker 1:
[223:26] Like her mother. They look like twins and they're close. Her daughter is new.

Speaker 5:
[223:31] Is she new on the cast as well?

Speaker 1:
[223:33] Yep. Angela came in season 16. She's Charles Oakley, NBA legend Charles Oakley's wife.

Speaker 5:
[223:38] OK.

Speaker 1:
[223:39] And she was a fan favorite breakout star last season. And so we love her. Her daughter is beautiful. She looks just like Angela and she's married. She got married to her partner, her wife now. And Angela's just been showing herself as a great mom. So that was good. Pinky Cole is such a polarizing character on the show.

Speaker 5:
[224:00] How's she doing on there?

Speaker 1:
[224:02] People love or hate Pinky. James Caldwell, spices in your teeth. Him, he said Pinky be getting on his damn nerves on the show. So but Pinky, one thing about Pinky, she's a great sport. A lot of the criticisms that she's gotten, she's turned into jokes and memes and posts, which further gets on people's nerves, but it's funny, you know what I'm saying? So shout out to Pinky though, and her family, her family is beautiful. And it's good to see her on there.

Speaker 2:
[224:31] So I'll shout out to Pinky, I want her to do well.

Speaker 1:
[224:34] But it's a great season. So make sure you tune into it. And also shout out to Kelly, because when I was on the boat in Georgia on Saturday, I FaceTimed with Kelly. One of my friends that was on the boat was on FaceTime with her and he was like, Dustin Ross is on the boat or whatever. And we talked. So shout out to Kelly Potter from The Real Housewives of Atlanta. But great season.

Speaker 2:
[224:55] I want some chicken and waffles. I need to stop by.

Speaker 1:
[224:58] Nanas.

Speaker 2:
[224:59] Yeah, when I'm out in Sandy Spring. Because Angela Oakley, the way she was like, now me and her had our issues.

Speaker 1:
[225:05] That chicken is good.

Speaker 2:
[225:07] Because you know, people, if people have issues and they are like, your food is so good.

Speaker 1:
[225:12] She's like, no, I don't say.

Speaker 2:
[225:13] I have to try it. I needs to know.

Speaker 1:
[225:19] I agree, Assante. But that's good. Also, The Real Housewives of Rhode Island is good too. And we're three, four episodes in on that. So make sure you all watch so that you can keep up when we review it on Patreon.

Speaker 5:
[225:32] We sure are. It's going to be fun.

Speaker 1:
[225:34] We love you, Patreon. We're finishing the Burbs on Peacock, on Patreon, on the bench. We like that beautiful song by the Jackson, by Michael Jackson. We're almost there. So, yeah, that's going on. I feel like, oh, duh. Bell Collective Birmingham, baby. That's where it's at. If you have not been watching Bell Collective Birmingham on OWN, you're missing out. It is a great cast. They have found new... You know how we always say, where are the women who we don't know, who aren't celebrities, but whatever. OWN Bell Collective Birmingham, that's where they at. Stormy Steele, we're very familiar with her, her successful canvas beauty line, but there's new people on this show, like Foomy, this fascinating character. Just watch Bell Collective Birmingham. I ain't even gonna wax poetic about it. Just watch the damn show. Also Bell Collective itself, the original, and Jackson, they're on a break. We just had the mid-season finale air this past week, but they've had a great season catch up on those episodes so that when it returns in June, you can be ready to roll for the second half of this season. Love and Marriage Huntsville has been great too. Destiny versus Letitia Scott has been incredible to watch. So make sure you watch that. And hey, that's it, man.

Speaker 10:
[227:01] Letitia Scott.

Speaker 5:
[227:02] Oh, no. My brain thought you were talking about someone else.

Speaker 1:
[227:05] No, I'm talking about Letitia Scott. There's a character on Love and Marriage Huntsville named Nell Fletcher and she had not been getting along with Letitia Scott and every time she spoke about her, instead of just saying Letitia or whatever, you could tell she was mad. She'd be like, and Letitia Scott said it out every time. So it kind of stuck with me personally, but yeah.

Speaker 5:
[227:26] For some reason that my brain heard Latasha. And I said, she's on there now? That's crazy.

Speaker 1:
[227:33] She's not on there. She's not on Motown Gospel.

Speaker 5:
[227:36] She's not on stage or the stage.

Speaker 1:
[227:38] She's not on nothing. She ain't on nothing but some bullshit, the same bullshit she's been on since day one. Dirty deeds, doing dirty deeds, trying to take cuts and get money on top of money and not telling the group, hating on candy, hating on our sister, all that other stuff. So that's where Latasha Scott's been. But she can sing, you know, if you feel like chasing her with your ear. When you listen to Latasha Scott, much like, well, who is the other stank and steaming pile of cowplop we were talking about earlier?

Speaker 2:
[228:16] Kimberl. Wow. So Kimberl and Latasha Scott.

Speaker 1:
[228:20] Yeah, they both. You got to listen to them with your ear like this because the way they be running. You got to catch it with your ear and shit. So that's where she's been. That's the Latasha Scott update. She's still somewhere looking like the OVO owl. Still, that's what she is.

Speaker 5:
[228:37] So I was about to go, oh, and then it just came natural. I wasn't trying to be.

Speaker 1:
[228:45] With a blonde wig and a Gucci belt. That's when she that's her superhero cape. When she have that blonde blonde wig and that Gucci belt on top of something else. That's it. Latasha Scott is in full Latasha form.

Speaker 2:
[229:00] That's so 3G frost context.

Speaker 1:
[229:03] With that being said, that's it for this week's TV land segment. Bitch.

Speaker 5:
[229:07] Wait, you got to watch Task.

Speaker 1:
[229:10] What does that come on?

Speaker 5:
[229:11] Have y'all heard of Task? It's on HBO or Max, whatever they call it now. And it's with Mark Ruffalo. Y'all.

Speaker 1:
[229:19] What's it about, Fran? He a Task rabbit that's killed people?

Speaker 5:
[229:23] No, he's a FBI agent.

Speaker 1:
[229:26] Okay.

Speaker 5:
[229:27] And so it's very that, but it is so good. Wait, Assante, you saw it? Cause you made a face.

Speaker 2:
[229:31] No, I didn't.

Speaker 5:
[229:32] Oh, okay.

Speaker 10:
[229:33] I thought you were talking about a different show.

Speaker 5:
[229:34] We started watching it and ended up binging the whole thing in one weekend. That's how good it was.

Speaker 1:
[229:40] I'm gonna watch it.

Speaker 5:
[229:41] It's so good. Task, Mark Ruffalo, HR.

Speaker 2:
[229:44] An FBI agent heads a task force to put an end to a string of violent robberies led by an unassuming family man.

Speaker 1:
[229:54] It's time for The Never Ever Mess to come back to. I need to get on Google and see what's up with that. We need another season of The Never Ever Mess.

Speaker 3:
[230:00] That's good TV.

Speaker 1:
[230:02] We need another season of that.

Speaker 5:
[230:04] They all broke up. Where is Love After Lock Up? I feel like I never know when their seasons are. They just come and go whenever they choose.

Speaker 2:
[230:13] Right.

Speaker 5:
[230:13] You know what? On that note.

Speaker 1:
[230:15] In solitary.

Speaker 2:
[230:16] No, you know what? In shows, y'all need to watch. Y'all need to watch Cross on Prime. I already told you that you could see it this season.

Speaker 5:
[230:22] You did tell us even though there's a change.

Speaker 1:
[230:24] I know nobody been not saying anything to me about it the way y'all did to Gross Point Garden Society and specifically, Ares Harris. So I'm going to take my time.

Speaker 2:
[230:32] Well, you know, I went on ahead and talked about Cross while I was here hiding fresh. And they got a season two. So if I need to go on ahead and make y'all watch it when I get to the next bench, that's what I'm going to do.

Speaker 4:
[230:45] Thank you, Dustin Ross.

Speaker 1:
[230:47] Justice for Eris Harris.

Speaker 2:
[230:48] Justice and peace.

Speaker 5:
[230:51] On that note.

Speaker 1:
[230:52] Justice of the peace.

Speaker 5:
[230:57] We love you guys.

Speaker 2:
[230:58] Me and to Latino.

Speaker 5:
[230:59] So much. We thank you so much for listening. We do not take you for granted. Thanks for hanging out with us yet another week. And we will catch you guys next week.

Speaker 2:
[231:10] Y'all got a long ass episode. Stay Black and Protect Your Magic.

Speaker 5:
[231:13] I saw nonsense.

Speaker 2:
[231:16] Oh no.

Speaker 4:
[231:17] Let me go.

Speaker 5:
[231:18] Bye.

Speaker 4:
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Speaker 7:
[231:53] Eczema is unpredictable, but you can flare less with EbGlyce, a once monthly treatment for moderate to severe eczema. After an initial four-month or longer dosing phase, about four in 10 people taking EbGlyce achieved itch relief and clear or almost clear skin at 16 weeks. Most of those people maintain skin that's still more clear at one year with monthly dosing.

Speaker 9:
[232:12] EbGlyce, Lebrichizumab LBKZ, a 250mg per 2ml injection is a prescription medicine used to treat adults and children 12 years of age and older who weigh at least 88 pounds or 40kg with moderate to severe eczema. Also called atopic dermatitis that is not well controlled with prescription therapies used on the skin or topicals or who cannot use topical therapies. EbGlyce can be used with or without topical corticosteroids. Don't use if you're allergic to EbGlyce. Allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. Eye problems can occur. Tell your doctor if you have new or worsening eye problems. You should not receive a live vaccine when treated with EbGlyce. Before starting EbGlyce, tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection.

Speaker 7:
[232:46] Ask your doctor about EbGlyce and visit ebglyce.lily.com or call 1-800-LILY-RX or 1-800-545-5979.