transcript

Speaker 1:
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Speaker 3:
[00:45] Three, two, one, booster ignition.

Speaker 4:
[01:01] If you're listening, this is a Pomeranian in space. Now, doing a space walk, seeing the moon and the space junk known as Stedman Graham, Gale's space junk. Teddy can only dream. I am an astronaut. Someday, he will join my ranks. Hello, hello, and welcome to your Friday edition of The Nerve. I am your host, Maureen Callahan. We are closing out our week-long celebration of The Nerve, turning one with a banger. First, we are going to take apart a show that the culture is telling us, is very important and has a lot of really smart and insightful things to say and warn about in regards to what it is to be a young person today. And The Nerve is here to push back vehemently and to call it what it is, porn, run by a guy who hates women. And by the time we're through with this, I defy anyone to look at this piece of shit the same way again. Then we're going to touch on The Devil Wears Prada 2, which had its premiere in New York City this week. We will be covering the film once it's released. And those of us who care to go see it will see it. We will talk about it. Tell us too, by the way, if you want The Nerve to cover and how in-depth you would like us to cover the forthcoming Michael Jackson biopic. I often hear people pronounce biopic biopic, but I really think it's the mash-up of biography and picture. I think it's biopic. Anyway, that's my own little note. Let us know, the key thing with this movie is it does not acknowledge any of the things that were problematic about the self-dubbed king of pop, okay? Then we're going to get in to a celebrity couple who not only should have been divorced a long time ago, but who continue to insist on befouling the culture with details of their very fucked up arrangement that frankly, none of us need to know, okay? This is a Friday show and we are going to bring the Troublemakers into the weekend like no other. Are you ready? Are you ready? Let's go. 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If you are ready to ditch corporate chemicals, go to vanman.shop slash Maureen and use code Maureen for 15% off your first order. That's code Maureen for 15% off your first order. Vanman, real ingredients, no exceptions. Now, we're going to talk about something that I actually think is important, but we're going to do it in a nerve way. There is a show that has currently come back into the culture. It's been years since its last season aired, and many people thought that perhaps HBO would do the prudent thing, which was just let it die quietly. Did they? No. We are constantly told that you're going to get programming over at HBO, like it's premium grade, original stuff that's so daring and really important, and part of its importance is to push the cultural needle, and a lot of it's not true. We're watching Lena Dunham take a victory lap with Girls during her book tour. Girls premiered in 2012. We covered Lena on our first show back and what she did with Girls, our first show back from Spring Break, and what we all saw was highly misogynistic softcore porn. Their current shows, they're not as buzzy as they would have hoped. There's one called DTF, which we all know what that's an acronym for, in case you don't. Kinsey, if you're watching, cover your ears, Down to Fuck, starring Jason Bateman and David Harbour and Linda Cardellini as like swingers in the Midwest. You know, now we're back with Euphoria, which when this show premiered, I tried to watch the first episode because I was told this was culturally relevant. You want to be part of the conversation, you need to know what's going on. I turned it off maybe 15 minutes into it. Once a teenage girl showed up at a like super cheap motel 6 to have sex with the dad, the middle-aged dad of a friend of hers from high school. I knew exactly what was up here. The show runner Sam Levinson is a really fucked up guy. He's got a lot of rage and he's got a lot of rage towards women a lot. I'm going to guess Sam had it rough in high school. I'm going to guess women didn't look at Sam in high school, and that he spent a lot of his time in a basement gaming going, do you know who my dad is? Because Sam is an epo. Sam's father is the far more accomplished filmmaker, Barry Levinson. Sam enjoys taking his actresses, Sydney Sweeney, Zendaya, and degrading them and humiliating them. Now, before we get into showing some of these clips, and I'm going to warn you again, as with the Lena slash girls segment that The Nerve did, these clips are very graphic, but we have to show them because we have to show the gulf between, say, what The New York Times is telling us about Euphoria. I was going through The New York Times Sunday edition about two or three weeks ago, which I do every week, because it's part of my homework for the week coming up with Troublemakers, okay? No less than, like, in one week. Okay, this is the same edition. The New York Times, Thursday, April 16th, Euphoria gets a new look. A major, major profile of, like, the costume designer. Are you kidding me? Thursday, the same edition from Euphoria to the A-list. A-listical, which is, like, the laziest thing you need to fill pages. So Sunday had a very lengthy profile of Sam Levinson, treating him like a serious artist, like a man of intellect and great creativity. Who knows what he's talking about? The guy is into making women sexually degrade themselves, okay? The younger and more beautiful, the greater the degradation. Let's just get real. I'm going to quote a little bit, though, from the glowing, lengthy New York Times profile published on April 8th in... Sorry, the author is named Joe Cascarelli, if I'm saying that correct. First of all, the Times, you should have assigned this piece to a woman, and you should have assigned this piece to a woman who's got an issue with the way Sam Levinson depicts women, both on this show and in his failed show, The Idol, which we're going to get to, okay? We're going to get to The Idol, also an HBO show. I'm quoting, Levinson 41 is more than happy to luxuriate in the desperation and despair of his characters. Of course he is, he writes them this way. It's a one-man band over there. The Hollywood Reporter recently did a major piece, which I was just reading on the chaos over on the Euphoria set. They've had two deaths so far. The show is in its third season, and it took several years off. So two seasons, two deaths. One, a 25-year-old actor who had addiction issues. The show is all about drugs and sex. That's it. It's sex and drugs. The other was Levinson's former producing partner, 45-year-old guy driving with his 10-year-old son, drop dead while driving of a heart attack. The sum and substance of this very well-reported Hollywood Reporter piece, the pressures of working with Sam Levinson, who is a chaos agent, probably did him in. Sum and substance, my interpretation of that article, I am not saying that Sam Levinson was responsible for his death. However, the family made it clear that Sam Levinson was not welcome at the funeral. This is what Sam says on shooting with Sam's former addict. You read between the lines of some of these stories, and they talk about how Sam parties till 5 AM and is up all night, writing and pacing and rewriting and tearing up and getting to the set, and he's manic and he's manic and he's manic, and you can read between the fucking lines. I think just my opinion on shooting a show with cast members, young cast members who are struggling with active addiction, Sam says, quote, I have to deliver the show, but I wanted to make sure that the cast was safe and healthy. Sure you do. Sure you do, Sam. Again, before we get to Euphoria, because brace yourselves, I'm kind of helping to build us all up to what we're about to watch. What HBO is telling us is art. Give me a fucking break. You know, HBO has really, really, really gone down into the gutter. This is nothing but softcore porn aimed at children, aimed at young people. And it's what Sam Levinson is trying to do is normalize this stuff. It's all about OnlyFans culture and sex work online. And hey, money's money. And however you get it, fame is fame, however you get it. Sam says he's very proud of the idol. The idol starred Lily Rose Depp, daughter of Johnny Depp. This goes to show you how sick Hollywood remains. Okay. Harvey Weinstein, putting him in prison, did nothing. Nothing. Sean Combs, putting him in federal prison for like the equivalent of a hot second has done nothing. It's done nothing. Lily Rose Depp, starred in The Idol opposite The Weeknd, who is trying to get an acting career off the ground. Now, the minute The Weeknd showed up on my screen in The Idol, I knew exactly what was coming and you want to know why. I mean, no disrespect to any man out there who is not, like say, average height at best. But there is a strain of guy in the culture and we all know it, who attempts to make up for whatever slights they think or perceive. They have withstood from women, a woman who does not have interest in them. They perceive it immediately as a result of their height. Prince did not have this problem. Prince, 10th anniversary of his death happened this week. May he rest, the genius that was Prince. The genius that was Prince. The Weeknd is one of these guys, you can tell. He's really short and he hates women. He hates women. I would bet Sam Levinson is also a short man, a shorter man. Sam, this is one of those rare instances where the culture, and I'm going to talk a little bit about a column I wrote about the idol when it first premiered. I mean, I wrote that column in, I was enraged by what I had seen. And again, as I've said, I'm no moralist. I went to art school. But there's stuff that masquerades, at Seedbed, as we discussed with Lena, there's stuff that masquerades as art, that's just perverts trying to get off. A guy masturbating for eight hours a day under floorboards at an art gallery in New York City is not art. It's a sexual predator and a pervert, my opinion, who can't just get satisfaction out of just being the perv he is behind his own four walls. No, they've got to inflict it on the culture, claim it's art, and then say to the rest of us who object and say, first of all, you're a pervert, you're a smut peddler, you're a pornographer. Sam Levinson, my opinion, make no mistake, is a pornographer. And how women in exec suites at HBO can't call this for what it is, is beyond me. Ladies, find your spines and your self-respect. Women shouldn't burn their bras for this shit. Are you fucking kidding? Sam Levinson thinks The Idol is hysterical. A show about a young pop star, a beautiful young pop star played by Lily Rose Depp, who gets beaten, abused during sex, spanked. He thinks it's hysterical. That's his word, quote, hysterical. And just as Michael Patrick King went on record recently and said he believes that, and just like that, that other piece of shit HBO show is going to, Michael Patrick King said, quote, I think it's going to age really well. I think that show is going to age really well. Sam Levinson thinks the same thing. Where are these assholes getting this idea? These misogynistic pieces of shit, is it coming from HBO? Now, as for making sure that, oh, by the way, just before I get to Euphoria, I want to read a little bit from this Hollywood, this is a Rolling Stone expose. This was from March 1st, 2023. Rolling Stone, again, a magazine about rock and roll, about sex, drugs and rock and roll. The idol was too much for Rolling Fucking Stone. The headline, how HBO's next Euphoria became twisted, quote, torture porn. I'm reading directly from this piece. In interviews with 13 members of the show's cast and crew, Rolling Stone has learned that basically everybody involved in this who wasn't Sam Levinson was deeply disturbed by what they were doing. HBO handed the reins to Levinson only to have him weaken the show's overarching message. The show had previously had a female director who had been kicked out after filming five and a half of the six episodes. You can tell me this guy doesn't have a problem with women. An experienced female filmmaker. Sam dialed up many sources say, I'm quoting from Rolling Stone, the disturbing sexual content and nudity to match and even surpass that of his most successful show Euphoria. Again, I would like to see the numbers on Euphoria because as someone else has quoted in one of these pieces, yeah, Euphoria is a success but it's not Game of Thrones. I think they mean both in terms of number and artistry. Quote, what I signed up for was a dark satire of fame and the fame model in the 21st century, one production member explains. Quote, the things that we subject our talent and stars to, the forces that put people in the spotlight and how that can be manipulated in the post Trump world. However, they said it went from satire to the thing it was satirizing. Quote, again, from someone on this show, it was like any rape fantasy that any toxic man would have in the show. And then the woman comes back for more because it makes her music better.

Speaker 5:
[18:43] Fuck this.

Speaker 4:
[18:44] You got to be kidding. Sam Levinson. Per the Independent, as re-reported by People Magazine, January 26, 2022, how to make sure that his cast feels safe and healthy. The headline, Euphoria, Sydney Sweeney, breakout star. There are three breakout stars from Euphoria, Sydney Sweeney, Zendaya and Jacob Elordi. Euphoria, Sydney Sweeney says she asked director, that would be Sam Levinson, to cut some of her character's nude scenes. According, I'm reading from The Independent, according to the actress in the latest season of the HBO hit, quote, there are moments where Cassie was supposed to be shirtless. Listen, Sydney, there is no reason your character needs to be shirtless. Ask Sarah Jessica Parker, who starred on a show called Sex in the City for multiple years and had it in her contract that she was never to be seen topless. She was never to be seen without a bra. There's no reason you need to be nude, okay? Fight for yourself. You've got power now. Use it. Use it for yourself and use it for all the other girls and young women coming up after you, okay? I continue. I would tell Sam, quote, I don't really think that's necessary here. She went on to say, I've never felt like Sam has pushed it on to me. I doubt that. I highly doubt that because we're going to look at what he's making Sydney Sweeney do and trust me when I tell you, Sam Levinson is punishing Sydney Sweeney for becoming a star, for not needing the likes of him anymore. She's going to be done with this shit. Once she absorbs the way the culture really feels about what Sam Levinson is doing to Sydney Sweeney and what Sydney and her people are allowing to be done to her, Sydney continues, or was trying to get a nude scene into an HBO show gratuitously. Listen, that's all that HBO really, you know, HBO has given a lot of good stuff to the culture. But you know, trust me, as much as I love The Sopranos, the only reason they put Tony's back office in a strip club was so they could show female nudity gratuitously as much as possible. Okay? We're going to look at season one, episode one. This is a scene in which Sydney Sweeney's character is, she's a teenage girl in high school with the body of a young woman. Like, I mean, like a mature, through adolescence, young woman posing for pictures that are surely going to go up online. Here we go.

Speaker 6:
[21:27] Here's the fucking thing that pisses me off about the world. Like every time someone's shit gets leaked, whether it's Jay Law or Leslie Jones, the whole world's like, well, if you don't want it out there, don't take the nudes in the first place. I'm sorry. I know your generation relied on flowers and father's permission, but it's 2019. Unless you're Amish, nudes are the currency of love. So stop shaming us. Shame the assholes who create password protected online directories of naked underage girls. Cassie's actually super sweet.

Speaker 4:
[21:58] Followed by a very quick montage, but very detailed nonetheless of Sydney Sweeney taking selfies and posing for nude photos to go up online. Now, that voiceover was by Zendaya, who again, that's season one, episode one. She is laying out the thesis of the show, and that is Sam Levinson trying to gaslight and brainwash girls and women especially. She says, oh, you expect respect? That's outdated. Respect for women from men who are interested in them romantically? That's outdated. You got to get with the program. You got to move with the times. You know what the currency of love is? Nudes. No, I reject it. I reject it. I'll tell you, if one of my goddaughters came to me and they were like, I'm taking notes from Euphoria, we would have a come to Jesus for the ages. Daily Mail headline upon the reemergence of Euphoria, which just began its third season on HBO. Three weeks ago this Sunday, headline, Euphoria fans appalled at Sydney Sweeney being degraded in new X-rated fetish scenes. We'll get to those. But basically, go on Reddit, go on any rewatch thread, you're gonna see response that is disturbed and alarmed. Okay? Now, let's go to, oh, we're gonna go right here to the premiere episode of season three, episode one. This first aired on April 12th. And when I say Sam Levinson is punishing Sydney Sweeney, and you know what else she's punishing her for? Whatever he believes her political views are. We're not political at The Nerve, but when politics enters pop culture and becomes a wedge, that's when we're gonna discuss it. It's believed that Sydney Sweeney is a Republican. In the first two episodes of season three, Sam's got a lot of anti-Trump rhetoric in his show. Fine, have at it. It's your show, those are your beliefs, have at it. But I'm telling you, he put Sydney Sweeney, and when you watch this, you're gonna think I'm like exaggerating for comic effect, would that I were. He put Sydney Sweeney dressed up as a dog with a leash around her neck, on all fours, in various settings. Taking photos for OnlyFans, excuse me, having her housekeeper, there's a class element here, too, that's really upsetting. Her housekeeper take these highly sexualized photos, and when you look at the opening shot, we'll talk about exactly the visual language and what Sam Levinson is communicating here. This is so upsetting. I cannot believe Me Too gave us this shit. Women of Hollywood, do something. I beg of you. Here we go.

Speaker 6:
[25:41] She spent her free time trying to become TikTok famous.

Speaker 4:
[25:52] Okay, so that opening scene, I didn't narrate it in case you're listening, because I wanted the shock of it to just sink in. If you're listening, I would encourage you to watch this, to just really know what these people are up to. It's a tight shot of Sydney Sweeney's bare bottom. She's a dog, but her bare ass is like right up in front of the camera. Now hanging between her butt cheeks is what's meant to be ostensibly a dog's thick tail. But what that reads as, make no mistake, is a hardened... I just have to be as graphic as this guy is. I won't give any quarter on this one. It looks like a hardened piece of shit that she is waving between her butt cheeks. You can't tell me there are not women at HBO or in this production who are not completely appalled and disgusted by this. You guys have got to do something. You have got to do something. You cannot raise a generation of women on this as valid, as acceptable as art. It's not art. This guy is working out his fucking sexual frustration and rage. That's what's going on here. That's what's going on here. He's angry at women like Sydney Sweeney who would never fuck him, and who voted in a way that he finds repulsive, but probably turns him on. Just my opinion, just my opinion. Now, back to The Idol for a moment because it all bleeds together. I'm going to read a little bit from the column I wrote for the Daily Mail about this show which was first published on June 20th, 2023. We called it a sickening rape fantasy. At the time, I said, I think it's as poisonous as cancer, and I do. I think it's a cultural cancer, and it's metastasizing, and it's time we treated it like the medical emergency it is. Cut it out, burn it, and throw it away with all the other medical waste. I quote, Episode 1 of The Idol opens with Jocelyn in crisis. This is the Lily Rose Depp character. This is what Sam Levinson is doing to the beautiful young daughter of a very powerful man in Hollywood. We're getting off on multiple levels. I continue, a photo of her doll-like face smeared with semen leaked online, a direct reference to the real-life hacking of private photos of famous women, many in compromising positions that went viral in 2014. Apparently, because it needs to be said, there was nothing funny about that. The creators of The Idol, however, seem to disagree. Here is the edifying dialogue to follow about Jocelyn. And these are the comments of her team, her team who's supposed to crisis-manage this. They describe Jocelyn as, quote, a face full of cum, as the human cum sock, as jizz-rag Jocelyn. You see how juvenile this stuff is? HBO and the Hollywood Industrial Complex would have us believe that Sam Levinson is the second coming of Ingmar fucking Bergman, okay? Not even John Waters, and who I love and adore. John Waters did it in... Moving on. The lyrics to Jocelyn's single in the show, quote, I'm just a freak, yeah, you know I want to bang. Her boyfriend in the show, played by The Weeknd, wields a knife against Jocelyn during sex. He chokes her, he blindfolds her, he tells her to do everything he says, quote, while I suffocate you with my cock, I want you to choke on it. Keep in mind, if HBO and Sam Levinson and The Weeknd, they tried to sell the culture on this as reflective, as a commentary, a satire on the fame machine and the fame monsters who want it so badly and will do anything for it, and the abuses of power that can take place, but she really wanted it in Levinson and Weeknd's show, and The Weeknd's show, excuse me, that character, the Lily Rose Depp character, she really wanted it. She was begging for it. You try selling that in a culture in which the biggest female pop stars are Billie Eilish, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Kelly Clarkson, Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift, a self-made fucking billionaire. Try it. Try it. What they did to this character, Jocelyn, as I wrote in the column for The Daily Mail, a show that's been all but forgotten because HBO did what it does best. Got this thing memory hold. They broke this character. They bloodied her. They made her at times unable to literally stand on her own bruised and battered feet because that is the subtlety of the metaphor here. Jocelyn in the idol lives and loves to be cut up and choked out during sex. Back to Euphoria, season three. Blessedly, the last one. I hope Sam Levinson really can't get more work after this. I hope he has trouble slinging his wares. Just go to OnlyFans, dude, okay? Just go work in porn. Just do it. You're not, the other thing about Sam Levinson is he's not a good artist. He's a bad artist, he's a terrible writer. Sharon Stone is in season three and she's playing a high-powered production executive. And I find this really, really just, this is like, you know, Sharon Stone, who should know better. If what, you know, there's always been controversy over it. Did Sharon Stone really not know that when she spread her legs while filming the interrogation scene in Basic Instinct without any underwear on, that that wasn't going to make it into the final cut because she wasn't wearing any underwear, and she was wearing a short skirt, and she opened her legs, she crossed them, and she did it slowly enough to, you know, she's sitting in front of a camera. And she always said, I didn't know, I didn't know, it's past the smelling salts, I didn't know. I was totally violated. You know, Sharon Stone had been jobbing around Hollywood for years, she got famous at 34. Back then in the early 90s, that was like making it at 65. You know, so if she were truly violated in that way, I don't understand how on earth in the living fuck, she gets involved with the likes of Sam fucking Levinson, who is exploiting a whole new generation of young actresses, okay? This, I believe, you know, he was, I think Sam Levinson put the thesis statement of his show and his quote unquote art in Sharon Stone's mouth in this scene. She's going to talk episode one, season three of The Power of Television. And again, when these people who create this garbage, this sludge, this psychological, emotional, intellectual, moral sludge, try to tell us, hey, it's just television. It's just entertainment. Why are you being so upset by it? It's just if you can't handle it, don't watch it. Don't turn it on.

Speaker 3:
[34:11] Okay.

Speaker 4:
[34:11] Listen to Sharon Stone's character as an executive in film and television, telling her staff about the power of the entertainment media complex on the way people think. Here we go.

Speaker 3:
[34:25] People underestimate the power of entertainment. What you see on television directly impacts the way we see one another.

Speaker 4:
[34:37] Yes, I agree. I agree. Sam Levinson is trying to normalize porn among young girls and women. He's trying to say, you know what? You know where you're going to find your greatest power and really claim your sexuality? Degrade yourself. Take tons of nude selfies and spread them online and send them to boys you like. Who cares? It's the currency of love. Now, Jacob Elordi's character. By the way, in the intervening years, all of these actors who were younger when this began, they all look like they'd rather be consulting with their wealth advisor at Fidelity asking how their 401k is doing and how they should diversify. Jacob Elordi's character pulls up to the home he shares with Sydney Sweeney's character in Tesla's Cybertruck and that is code. That is Sam Levinson's code for this piece of shit is a Republican. Now, we have more proof of Sam Levinson's rampant misogyny because he's got Jacob's Nate calling Sydney's Cassie. Actually, I'm not going to spoil it for you, but she's tricked out on a bed, on all fours, dressed like a dog with a leash around her neck. And she needs this guy to explain to her exactly what she's doing. Because you know what? In Sam Levinson's world, a woman who's doing that really doesn't know what she's doing. Here we go.

Speaker 7:
[36:13] Think about what you're saying, what you're actually saying. How much is that doggy in the window?

Speaker 8:
[36:20] Who's the doggy? I'm a doggy.

Speaker 7:
[36:22] So you're for sale. No.

Speaker 8:
[36:24] What you're saying is, you can buy me. It's just a funny video.

Speaker 7:
[36:29] Except you're not a doggy. You're a grown woman. So that makes you a what?

Speaker 4:
[36:42] Now, Sydney looks shocked, shocked, a prostitute. Wait, you mean if I'm selling myself sexually, online or otherwise, I'm a prostitute? Now, let's watch Nate, who just right there, morally outraged, morally offended. This will not stand, except it will, except it will. He's going to degrade this character some more, here we go.

Speaker 8:
[37:34] You don't need to worry about money. I've got money.

Speaker 4:
[37:38] Well, I have only remodeled the living room, the kitchen, or the master en suite.

Speaker 8:
[37:43] Baby, who will? But right now, I'm investing in myself, in the business, when it takes money to make money. Then let me chip in.

Speaker 4:
[38:13] So, aside from everything that's completely disgusting about that scene, you know, the Jacob Elordi character has to explain that he's making the money, because he's the man. And she's just the little lady who doesn't need to worry about money. And when she expresses her worries about money, it's not about health insurance or like a six month emergency fund. No, she wants to do like really sad, feminine things, like do a remodel of the kitchen. Now, we're gonna go to a montage, which really depressed me, really depressed me, because I have to think that Sydney Sweeney has some considerable power now. And I have to think that something is deeply wrong when a young woman with this amount of power thinks she either has to or that it's artistically valid for her to be put in these positions by a male, quote unquote, filmmaker. I use that word so loosely. We're gonna watch what he does to the Cassie character here. And it is, it's just so depressing. It's so upsetting. Here we go.

Speaker 6:
[39:50] It was a shame she was with Nate. Cassie was exactly the kind of girl you'd dream of signing. Beautiful, but directionless.

Speaker 3:
[40:00] You're okay.

Speaker 4:
[40:04] Licking ice cream, spilling all over her breasts.

Speaker 6:
[40:07] So desperate for taste, and she's willing to humiliate herself.

Speaker 3:
[40:10] There you go.

Speaker 6:
[40:12] She's good.

Speaker 4:
[40:49] Sydney puts the pacifier back in her mouth, spreads her legs open on the sofa, wearing white underwear. So she's trafficking in like, I would call it child porn adjacent, really, when you're dressing up as a baby to market yourself to the men and the deviants who find that sexually arousing. To say nothing of the classism, the disgusting classism in that piece in which the Sweeney character says to her own employee, don't you dream of something more for yourself even though you're just a housekeeper? There is dignity in good, hard, honest work. Okay? I don't care what you do, if it's good, that housekeeper has more fucking dignity than the Sydney Sweeney character, even though that character is meant to represent money. Fuck this guy, fuck this show, and please can the culture be done with Sam fucking Levinson, and can the women inside the walls of HBO and Hollywood at large, continue having their fucking reckoning, because it's not over yet, sisters. It's not. That's it. Coming up, coming up, Troublemaker, feedback, we will lighten the load back in a minute. Do you love wearing lip gloss, but get bothered by the sticky feeling? Jones Road Beauty has just launched their lip recharge. It is a powerful lip treatment that refreshes, smooths and hydrates on contact while actually nourishing your lips over time. All with a soft shine of a light gloss in nine gorgeous, versatile shades. It is lightweight and never sticky or tacky. Best of all, Jones Road Beauty products are actually packed with skin-loving ingredients that are clean and high-performing. No phthalates, sulfates, silicones or other junk. Because clean beauty is a no-brainer. Modern-day makeup that's clean, strategic and multifunctional for effortless routines. For a limited time, our listeners are getting a free shimmer face oil on their first purchase when they use code NERVE at checkout. So just head to jonesroadbeauty.com. Use code NERVE at checkout. And after you purchase, they're going to ask, where did you hear about us? Tell them, please, you are a troublemaker and that the NERVE sent you.

Speaker 9:
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Speaker 6:
[43:53] Choice hotels get you more of what you value. Here's a little tune to help you remember.

Speaker 4:
[44:27] We are back. Now, before we get in to some Troublemaker feedback, which all of it is so great. By the way, thank you to everyone who in email, and comments, and DMs sent really lovely congratulations and cheers for The Nerve hitting its first birthday. Yeah, we're up and walking and talking, rocking and rolling. Thank you. We have loved celebrating with you this week. Now, here's something that I love, and Marlena loved this story too, because it just goes to show how fake Hollywood is, and wait till we get to our mini this weekend, because we're really going to roll around in some real true Hollywood fucking fakery. The Devil Wears Prada 2 is about to come out. I suspect this movie is a bomb, because everything's like, look at all the red carpet events, and the press junket, and look at everything they're dressing in. And listen, watch that trailer. I defy you to tell me what the movie is about. And that's the point of a trailer, to tell us what the movie is about. So I think it's going to be a big bust. It might make a lot of money in its first weekend because we don't know what it's about. You know what I mean? The marketing is the marketing, and it's keeping our eyes over here, so here we go. But anyway, so famously, that's the movie that made Emily Blunt a name. Hollywood has been trying to make Emily Blunt like a leading lady movie star ever since. It's not happening. But she introduced her co-star on that film, Stanley Tucci, who was a widower, to her sister, who I believe is named Felice, I think. I mean, her sister is a literary agent, and they fell in love, and so Stanley and Felice are now married, and so Emily is his sister-in-law. And they're always like, oh, we're just one big happy family, right? Emily and John Krasinski, her husband, and Stanley and Emily's sister. I don't think it's that happy. I don't think it's that happy.

Speaker 9:
[46:34] E!

Speaker 4:
[46:34] News. Why Emily Blunt's brother-in-law, Stanley Tucci, called her, quote, shameless on The Devil Wears Prada 2 set. Whenever they would cut, the actress exclusively told E!s creator, can't, you know, E! is dying.

Speaker 9:
[46:48] E!

Speaker 4:
[46:49] is dying. Anyway, this is the hot, she gave to E! on the red carpet. Whenever they would cut, Stan, she calls him Stan, Stan would be like, you're shameless, shameless. And she said that what he meant by that was, quote, how much I was overacting. So Stanley Tucci does not think much of Emily's acting skills, as do most paying audiences because she's not become a leading lady. Troublemaker feedback. Dear Maureen, Troublemaker since episode one. Wow. We love to hear that. We will use your name. She says, I don't mind you reading my email on air, but for anonymity, please refer to me as Kana from Vegas. So you do know who you are. She writes, I have survived childhood trauma. And this is in context of our episodes on Lena Dunham, Rob's comments about gossip and why it matters, and the clip we played and discussed about Charlize Theron and the abuse that she survived. Her mother killed her father defending the both of their lives. I have survived childhood trauma, Kana from Vegas writes, and celebrity gossip took me into a world that was vastly different from the harsh reality I lived in. It was a form of escapism. I think many of us who had childhoods that were maybe a little bit... My parents really did love me, but it could be... I always say I'm a product of a difficult home, okay? Product of a difficult home. So this I can relate to. The stories in celebrity gossip, it's like the first time I heard the Lana Turner story, Shades of Charlize and her teenage daughter, Cheryl, either stabbed or shot Lana's mobster boyfriend to death because he was abusive and it was a matter of life or death. Then the rumor mill in Hollywood was always, did Lana actually do it and did Cheryl take the fall? Lana and Cheryl both knowing that the criminal justice system would go way easier on a teenage girl. Anyway, you know what I'm saying? Okay, back to Connors email. If I was honest about my reading list that I had to submit to my English teacher, oh my God, how much do I relate to this at your age? It would consist of Essie Hinton, Judy Blume, The National Enquirer and People Magazine. Of course, the last two reading materials were omitted in my report. She goes on to say that she thinks Lena Dunham, and I agree, just my supposition, has gone through some kind of childhood abuse. She does, in her memoir, speak about being molested by a babysitter. I think it was more than that. I think Lena was probably abused by others as well. Just my opinion. Lena, this troublemaker writes, embraces her victimhood like a warm blanket. Yes, and that is not healthy. It is not healthy. This troublemaker says, when I finally shared the abuse that I endured as a child, I went through a similar phase of victimhood. You need, when you have been gaslit by adults as a child, it's affirming to have other people say to you, you're so strong, you're a survivor, you should write a book. I believe that's what Lena is doing. I do too. I think you're right. This troublemaker also says, I was struck by how Charlize Theron was able to tell her childhood trauma, devoid of strong emotions. I could tell, and I may be wrong, that as she recounted the violent events that she survived, it wasn't to evoke emotions of victimhood or draw sympathy. It was a fact. This is what happened to me. This is my story. I agree with you. That's why I think she's been through a lot of therapy. This troublemaker says, it has taken decades for me to look at what I endured as a child, as objectively as I can. Years of therapy, self-reflection and prayer have brought me to where I am now. Gossip is fun as long as it doesn't hurt anyone. Being a career victim is soul-sucking. And to have a family and career, despite what I survived, is a miracle. Lena Dunham should take note. Dear Maureen, you can use my name. This is Troublemaker from Roz, excuse me, Troublemaker Roz from Texas, previously LA to our conversation about gossip. And what we were talking to Rob about this week, Roz thought of her brother, George, who was a year and nine months older than me. I was his shadow as a child. We Irish Catholics would call you Irish twins. He was very well read, had hundreds if not thousands of books all over his house and law office. He married a vile and selfish woman. No, really, Troublemaker, I love you. The way you just put that detail right in there. I love it. Okay. I would go and visit him on Sunday mornings. She would ask me to bring bagels. No way. She was a moocher. She never in 20 years even bought me a coffee. Anyway, I would walk the one and a half miles and say I didn't want to carry anything. My brother would have his Sunday Times and all the rag magazines. That's what they call the National Enquirer, The Globe, etc. He would say that these newspaper tabloids would always be way ahead of the actual papers and more accurate on basic media stories. George was right. My brother, Roz, I'm so sorry. My brother died of a heart attack 10 years ago. Parenz, we all know his wife was the catalyst. Roz, I love you. She writes, I miss him every day. I truly enjoy your podcast with your brother, Bill. Thank you. I do too. I can see that Bill really thinks through his answers to your questions, and it so reminds me of my relationship with my brother, George. Please pass my best wishes to Bill. Consider them passed. We're going to show the full screen from Troublemaker. Vanessa, I love the show. I too love being a troublemaker. I saw this meme and had to share it with you. Thank you for sharing it, Vanessa. She thinks this sums up Meghan Markle perfectly. We're showing it on screen. Word of the day. I've never heard of this word before, so this is electrifying to me. Snatch Badger. One word, not two, no hyphen. Snatch Badger. Think of Meghan Markle when you hear this definition. A person who aggressively reclaims any situation, compliment or conversation and makes it entirely out themselves within seconds. Whatever you've done, they've done it better. You've got a headache, their head once fell off. Hey, you know what? Meghan Markle is not just trolled. She's the most trolled person in the world for the past 10 years, and we've only known her since seven. Four, seven years, I think. Regrettably, it could be closer to nine. I don't think it's 10. Thank you for the alert. I did not see this. I have been out of the Today Show this week for multiple reasons, but this troublemaker who says I can use her name. Thank you, Haley, from Kansas City area, got an email this morning from my favorite independent bookstore, and we're in it, people, we're in it. Even the independent bookstores are currently being befouled. Haley was informed that Jenna Bush Hager will be coming to Kansas City, Missouri on Thursday, June 18th with one of her authors to promote her publishing imprint. I also happened to note there will be no autograph or photo line, but there is an option to pay $287 to go to an after party with the on-stage talent. Now, Haley, I may have screwed this up for you. Here's what you're going to do. Haley has offered very kindly to go and report back for the Troublemakers. This is a very generous offer because that's highway robbery. You know what I'm saying? But if you do want to do it, get a friend of yours to sign up and then just Venmo her the money because chances are they're going to flag you. You have an unusual name. Ask Maureen, who tried to do it with Hoda. Flagged and denied. Final two emails. Oh my God, Maureen. Zach Galifianakis is a Troublemaker. He has a new silly gardening show on Netflix and he has roasted Ryan Reynolds in a couple of different episodes. He is a secret Bobo Troublemaker for sure. I love it if true. Okay, Maureen, last one, we're going to show this full screen. I just saw this while scrolling on YouTube. I was looking for episodes of The Nerve to watch tonight. The word woodshipper jumped off the screen. I looked again. It wasn't The Nerve. It was some other show, a copycat, some true crime show, and the full screen we're going to show here in huge font. Put her in a woodshipper. Get original, please. The Nerve is going to trademark it. Hey, if Meghan Markle can trademark Lily and Archie, I think we can trademark fucking woodshipper. Maybe we can. Maybe we can't. I don't know. Anyway, a quick reminder, please keep your feedback coming. Email me at maureen at devilmaycaremedia.com or DM me on Instagram at maureencallahanwriter or at The Nerve Show. Remember to subscribe to our sub stack thenerveshow.com. Up next, one of the worst Hollywood marriages of all time. How do we know this? Because the two people who are married to each other, can't shut the fuck up about it. Back in a minute. Listen up, mo bros. You know all of you hot heterosexual men who have manly man jobs and like lots of hot heterosexual sex. This is not for you, okay? This one is for the ladies. The ladies in the troublemaker cohort, are you having trouble sleeping through the night, thinking clearly or just feeling like yourself? Biologica may have the answer. They make a drinkable daily supplement that goes beyond what a multivitamin does. Their supplement combines vitamins, minerals, probiotics, electrolytes and clinically researched botanicals in one simple drink. So you're not juggling multiple pills in the morning. This drink is an effervescent powder that gets mixed with water. It tastes great, easy to remember daily. It's made with clean ingredients, no added sugars, developed alongside women's health experts. 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Speaker 10:
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Speaker 11:
[60:07] Close your eyes. Listen to monday.com. Feel the sensation of an AI work platform. So flexible and intuitive, it feels like it was built just for you. Now open your eyes, go to monday.com. Start for free and finally breathe.

Speaker 4:
[60:25] We are back. I'm going to ease us into this segment by saying that there were several years when I was still living at home where I just thought to myself, God, my parents, it's time. They really should just split up. They should just split up and eventually, they did wind up living in separate residences and I feel that I am now uniquely qualified to really comment with true authority on Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, who are two of the most dysfunctional people in the Western Hemisphere. Just get divorced. Will, take a note from Ben Affleck, who just lost $30 million to free himself from the remains of Jennifer Lopez, who's been white-knuckling through this divorce, allegedly reportedly. It's worth your peace of mind, okay? It's worth not having your wife continually emasculate you in the public square, okay? Bringing you on her lame Facebook show, Red Table Talk, to have you sit there while she talks about how she fucked your teenage son's best friend. Can you imagine what goes on in that house? Can you imagine? Okay, anyway, we're doing this because this clip has been making the rounds on social media this month. It's been rolling around. It looks like it's resurfaced, but it has become a talking point. And so let's just woodshed it, woodshipper it, and then burn it to the ground, okay? Here is Jada on her book tour full of brio and vigor. And she thinks she sounds like a strong woman, because you know what strong women do? They make their husbands feel like shit and cut off their nuts in the public square. By the way, Jada, currently that's Meghan Markle's job, okay? She's not going to be giving that up anytime soon. Here we go.

Speaker 5:
[62:33] I was really surprised and I felt, I was like, wow. He's like, I don't want you to be at the table by yourself. I want to support you. And so I was like, oh, okay. So he comes to the table and you know, I try to just, you know, and this is a really complex moment.

Speaker 4:
[62:55] We talked to your son's friend. It's not complicated. Multiple times. He's not red carpets.

Speaker 5:
[63:03] And he's kind of backtracking and he's going through this motion. And I'm like, so I'm like, well, I'm going to have to speak my truth. But I'm also going to protect you.

Speaker 4:
[63:20] Okay, you can stop it right there. Okay, so there's a lot of garbage language. My truth, protect him, blah, blah, blah. I don't know in what way you're protecting your husband who, who says, well, I need to sit there and get cuckolded all over again. Okay. It's very sick. It's very sick. And they put it out there for public consumption. Okay. It's all out there. So we all get to talk about it, you know, if and when they do separate and they ask for privacy at this very difficult time, the answer is a hard no. No. You made it our business. It's our business. We're going to have a lot of fun with it. Okay. Now here is a clip of Will. And this is how deep and long this sickness has abided. Of Will talking about how he needed to retire, not from show business, which really he docked himself out of show business and we're going to get to it. But he needed to retire from trying to make Jada happy. Here we go.

Speaker 7:
[64:23] That's it. I retire. I retire from trying to make you happy. I need you to go make yourself happy and just prove to me that it's even possible.

Speaker 4:
[64:35] That's real rage there. Will Smith has a lot of rage inside of him. A lot. And I think a lot of it has to do with being in this bullshit marriage. I think there's a lot about this marriage that is total bullshit. And why these two are... I have no idea. I have no idea. We're going to get to the lawsuit that Will is facing and why he may still be so invested in hanging on here. If you know, you know. We've talked about it on an earlier episode of The Nerve. We talked about it. The 50 Cent, that Troublemaker. We see you. We see you out in these streets. We think 50 Cent is a troublemaker. He went all in on Diddy, one of the very few. One of the very few. Made lots of jokes about Lube and like reposted that AI of Diddy like in Rikers. It's great. I think 50 Cent is a troublemaker. If you are not, sir, we crown you one. You just are. He posted this video to Instagram on April 5th of Jada talking about how she needs to find her own happiness instead of relying on her husband to do it. Just listen to her because it's going to be very easy to locate the source of Jada's rage. Here we go.

Speaker 5:
[65:54] It is not his responsibility to make you happy. He can't. It's impossible. But it took me forever. Hardheaded, stubborn, you know, because that romantic idea. And that's why I talk about checking the boxes. It's like, I did everything I was supposed to do. You get to have your dream. How come I'm not having mine? And that's because Will was doing what he wanted to do.

Speaker 4:
[66:21] Okay. That's the source of the rage. She says it, you got your dream. Why can't I have mine? Checking all the boxes. She married a man who went on to become an A-list movie star. A-list could make any project he wanted. Did Jada become a movie star? No. The culture doesn't want you. And the culture can sense how fucked up you are. I mean, Will's fucked up too, but Will could at least do a better, he's a better actor. He was better for a long time at just being friendly, sunny, happy Will. The Will who first got famous as a wholesome rapper and on the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, never cursed and wouldn't kiss a dude in that movie he made, Six Degrees of Separation, because he was such a Christian. I got theories, okay? I got theories. But that's the source of her rage. She's not famous, nobody likes her. Nobody wants to buy her shit. Okay, so let's just revisit before we get to the coda, the end of today's segment, today's episode. Till we see you tomorrow on the Mini. Will is being sued by a backup musician who claims that Will was sexually harassing him and broke into, well, someone. I don't think he names Will, but I think the implication is it may reportedly, allegedly have been Will, broken to his hotel room when he wasn't there, left a bunch of stuff that may or may not have included HIV medication, and a note that said, pretty soon I will be back here with you and we can just be alone together. Summon substance. I think a big fat check is going to get cut. And again, the rage in Will. You know, if Will got a divorce, I'm not saying anything, but I am, I do believe that if Will got a divorce, he would be a lot lighter and a lot happier. And I think had he been divorced before he was nominated for a best actor Oscar that he won for King Richard, that this likely would never have happened, never have happened. Let's look at the slap heard round the world.

Speaker 5:
[68:47] Jada, I love you, GI.

Speaker 11:
[68:49] Jane too, can't wait to see it, all right?

Speaker 4:
[68:58] She does not like that joke.

Speaker 5:
[68:59] Okay. I'm out here.

Speaker 11:
[69:01] Uh-oh.

Speaker 8:
[69:02] Richard.

Speaker 4:
[69:04] Here comes Will Smith.

Speaker 2:
[69:07] Oh, wow.

Speaker 4:
[69:09] Wow.

Speaker 8:
[69:12] Will Smith just smacked the shit out of me.

Speaker 4:
[69:15] Now, Will Smith swaggers off after he does that. Like he's some big tough guy defending the honor of his woman. The only big man that night was Chris Rock, who handled it with class and who I only wish had filed a criminal complaint. There is such a thing as killing people with one punch. That does it. That does it for our Friday edition of The Nerve. Come back and see us tomorrow for our mini, which drops on YouTube at 10 AM. Remember for now, the minis only live on YouTube. We have a banger. It's three cultural offenders who nobody has yet lumped together. We thank the culture, we thank the mainstream media for willfully looking the other way. Leave it to us. Leave it all to us here at The Nerve. We can't get enough. We can't get enough. We've got offenders lined up outside our criminal cultural courthouse for days. So join us tomorrow. If you haven't already, check out our substack. That is our weekly email. Go to thenerveshow.com. If you haven't subscribed, you will see a prompt. Would you like The Nerve substack in your email inbox every Friday, hours after the final full Nerve of the week? Sure. Why not? What else are you doing with yourself? Be sure to subscribe. It's only five bucks a month and it really does help the show to grow. We want to add another episode. So any help you can give us, we appreciate. Plus Nerve merch. Grab something for yourself or pick something up for a fellow Troublemaker at shopthenerve.com. And we will see you again tomorrow for The Mini. And then again, next week, Tuesday, right here at The Nerve, where you will never guess what we're about to say next.

Speaker 11:
[71:22] Close your eyes. Listen to monday.com. Feel the sensation of an AI work platform. So flexible and intuitive, it feels like it was built just for you. Thank you. Start for free and finally, breathe.