ANNOUNCER: Coming to you from New York City,
the only city in America,
it's The Daily Show.
Tonight,
tracking the abortion conversation,
a look back at Pride Month,
and Van Lathan Jr.
This is The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.
(cheering and applause)
What's going on, everybody? Welcome to The Daily Show.
I'm Trevor Noah. Thank you so much for tuning in.
Thank you for coming out in person.
Thank you for being here.
Good to see you. Good to see you.
Take a seat. Let's do it, everybody.
We've got a great show for you tonight.
Russia is turning Europe into the Avengers,
Desi Lydic finds out where Pride Month came from,
and I'm sorry to tell you,
but your flight this weekend has just been canceled.
So, let's do this, people.
Let's jump straight into today's headlines.
-♪ ♪ -(cheering and applause)
Okay.
Let's kick things off with some major international news.
It has now been four months
since Vladimir Putin sent his troops
on the shittiest road trip ever,
and not only has he failed to quickly overwhelm Ukraine,
he's managed to unite the rest of Europe against him.
A landmark announcement today.
NATO formally invited Sweden and Finland
to join the alliance, and President Biden announced
that the U.S. will strengthen its military posture in Europe.
NEWSWOMAN: NATO's 30 member countries
are poised to add two more.
The move will more than double
the length of NATO's border with Russia.
I'm pleased to announce that we now have an agreement.
NEWSWOMAN: Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership
last month.
Putin's decision to invade one neighbor
had them worried he might be willing to attack another.
After 200 years
of military nonalignment,
Sweden has chosen a new path.
Wow! This is huge.
Sweden is joining NATO.
You understand they've been a neutral country
for 200 years.
200 years.
Even when the World Wars were happening,
they were sitting on the side like,
"Well, that's none of my business."
(laughter)
But today, they are ending their neutrality.
This is so wild. This is like the moment in a kung fu movie
where the monk drops his broomstick and is like,
"I'm taking a new vow. Mm!
To whip some ass." (grunts)
And, surely, at this point, even Vladimir Putin
can admit that this invasion has been an abject failure.
Right? Because y-you realize
the whole reason he gave for invading Ukraine
was to stop the expansion of NATO,
and now his war has caused
the expansion of NATO.
You know?
(cheering and applause)
It's sort of like...
It's sort of like those, um, those DARE antidrug programs.
Remember those? They try to scare kids away from drugs
by sending cops into schools who are like,
"Gather round. Let me teach you about drugs."
And then 12-year-old kids were like,
"Okay, crack sounds fun.
We're doing crack, guys."
(laughter)
Now, look, it is a big deal.
It is a big deal that Sweden and Finland are joining NATO.
But I-I'll be honest.
I don't know if it's gonna scare Russia into retreat.
'Cause let's be honest.
These people aren't exactly the Vikings
they used to be, you know?
Yeah. Back in the day, they would pillage your village
and have sex with you on Showtime, you know?
(laughter and applause)
But these days, they're not exactly military superpowers.
I mean, their fighter jets are probably made by IKEA, you know?
Yeah, they look great,
but you don't want to sit on them.
(laughter)
Actually, you know what? Maybe...
Maybe that's what they should do.
Yeah, they should use their IKEA powers
to help them win the war in Ukraine.
That's what they should do. They should...
(cheering and applause)
They should try and distract the troops with meatballs.
Just be like, "Would you like some? Would you like some?"
Or-or they should put those stickers on the floor
all over Ukraine. Yeah.
'Cause that way, the Russian troops
will never get where they're going. Yeah.
"Where's Kyiv? I keep ending up in the kitchen section.
Goddamn it, again. Again, Boris. Again."
(laughter)
But let's move on from the war in Europe
to the war that America is waging on women's bodies.
Ever since the Supreme Court decided
that having a child is a sacred choice
between a woman and her state legislature,
abortion laws have been chaos.
Because, you see, some states banned abortion,
some states are protecting abortion,
and other states banned abortion,
but then their courts unbanned those bans,
so abortion is legal again until they reban it.
Which means right now, women's reproductive rights
are as unpredictable as the McRib.
It's here. It's gone. It's here. It's gone.
It's back again. It's gone.
And it turns out the overturning of Roe v. Wade
has been such an earthquake
that it sent shock waves through the rest of the world.
In fact, France and Israel
saw what happened in America
and decided to strengthen their abortion rights
in their countries. Imagine that.
-(cheering and applause) -Just imagine that.
And I don't know... I don't know if you remember this,
but that's what Canada did with guns.
Right? They saw the two mass shootings in America,
and they took away Canadian guns.
(cheering and applause)
So, I guess in a way...
In a way, America still is a world leader, you know?
Yeah. America does something,
and that leads the world in the opposite direction.
Yeah, at this point, America's almost like
the dumb kid in class that you reverse-cheat off of.
You know? It's just like, "He circled 'C'
so it's definitely not 'C.'"
But the big question in the States is,
if abortion is illegal,
how are the states going to enforce that?
Well, it turns out
they might have a snitch in your pockets.
NEWSWOMAN: In the wake of the Supreme Court's decision
to overturn Roe v. Wade,
many women are now deleting their period-tracking apps.
Now, privacy experts are concerned that data from apps
like Flo and Clue could potentially be used
to identify someone that's seeking an abortion.
The data on your phone in apps,
search data, and other digital data
is not necessarily protected by HIPAA.
I think it's important that people realize
there have been past court cases
where online searches for abortion pills
or abortion services have been used
-to prosecute women. -That's right.
That's right. If prosecutors are aggressive enough,
they could use your apps or your search history on your phone
to prove that you had an abortion.
Which, first of all,
is a very unhealthy practice in a relationship.
You don't search through anyone's phone, okay?
It destroys trust. Don't do it.
And, also,
what a shit world for women to be living in.
Think about it. Like, you need to use your phone.
For everything.
Especially period tracking
or where you're gonna find an abortion clinic.
Like, how are you gonna search for abortion pills
without Google?
What, you're just gonna have to write a question
on a piece of paper, throw it out the window,
and hope for the best?
But that's where-- that's where we are in America right now.
Women taking care of their own health
have to cover their tracks online
like they're planning a heist.
They got to disable location services.
They have to talk to each other through encrypted apps.
They have to kill the Duolingo owl before it snitches on them
in English and Italian.
And, you know...
(applause)
You know, this puts into perspective
just how much our phones know about all of us.
Right? Only when they say the government's gonna use
the things on your phone to come after you.
'Cause your phones know where you go,
you know, who you're with,
what we eat, what we buy,
which actor we can't remember from that movie
whose name we forgot.
It means, at any moment, cops could just bust down your door,
like bam! "You're under arrest!
"And, by the way, it's Richard Gere!
Yeah, that was him."
That's why, whenever I use apps or anything online,
I try to throw the authorities off.
Yeah. Like, whenever I'm doing something shady,
I never search "Where do I find weed?"
No.
I search
"Where does Mitch McConnell find weed?"
(cheering and applause)
Yeah.
Now,
now the cops are looking for Mitch McConnell
and I've got the munchies.
All right, let's talk about summer vacation,
that special time of year where you don't get laid
in a different city.
The U.S. travel industry is expecting record numbers
this weekend, as the summer season kicks off
with some 42 million people
driving to their vacation spots.
So if you have to pee, go now.
Because we are not stopping.
And, believe it or not,
as chaotic as it's gonna be on the roads,
it turns out it could be even worse in the sky.
NEWSMAN: Hundreds of flights canceled across the U.S. today.
More than a thousand flights canceled over the weekend.
The summer travel season is heating up
and so is frustration.
NEWSWOMAN: For thousands of Americans this week,
their summer getaways landing them in an airport Armageddon.
More than 2,000 flights axed just since yesterday.
Travel app Hopper reports more than a quarter of recent flights
have been delayed, fueled by industry staffing shortages,
soaring demand, and severe weather.
The chaos comes just as airports brace
for another flood of travelers July 4 weekend.
An anticipated 11 million to pass through airports
over the holiday, despite the soaring cost of travel.
NEWSWOMAN 2: Envoy Air, a regional carrier
owned by American Airlines, is now offering pilots
triple pay to work on their days off,
saying it's part of a...
Industry experts say, big picture,
the airlines just weren't ready
for this kind of demand coming out of the pandemic.
I'm-I'm sorry, I'm sorry, hold on.
Did they say airlines didn't expect...
that there would be a surge in air travel
after the entire planet was trapped in our bedrooms
for two years straight,
speaking to our grandmas through a hazmat suit?
You didn't expect that shit?
What is-- Like, why? Why is it
that airlines are always shocked...
by things that should be easily predictable?
-You're shocked? -(cheering and applause)
"Oh, I was shocked!
"Oh. Who would have thought
"people want to travel after they couldn't for a long time?
"Oh, guys, it turns out
"that-that by booking too many people for the flight,
"there are now too many people for this flight.
"There is no way to know that this could have happened.
Who could have seen this coming?"
Of course people want to travel.
We've been cooped up for years.
In fact, I'll bet you half the people at January 6
were just there for a change of scenery.
You know? It was like, "I don't really want to hang Mike Pence,
but it's better than staying home in Idaho!"
And you got to admit, all the TV during the pandemic
made it worse.
We watched all those cool shows
where people were having fun in Fiji, you know?
Or in Paris.
Or in South Korea.
It made everything look so cool.
I want to play red light, green light.
(laughter)
So, of course, people are traveling in record numbers.
And you know, you realize we don't even care
that flying has gotten worse and worse.
Everyone wants to travel.
Everything has gotten worse about flying.
Everything's delayed, leg room is shrinking,
your bags are always on another flight going somewhere else.
But we don't have a choice, right?
Airlines have got us, man.
Yeah, soon the airlines are going to be like, "All right,
"we've replaced all the seats
-with just a spike that goes up your butt." -(laughter)
What are we going to do? We're just gonna be like,
"Well, lube it up, 'cause I'm going to Disneyland."
(laughter)
"I'm going."
(applause and cheering)
I will say I am happy that cabin crews
and pilots are getting paid more because of this, yeah.
'Cause they said that pilots are getting paid
triple their normal salary just to come to work,
which is great for them, yeah.
Although I will say, I'm a little worried
that the airlines being so desperate
might make the pilots a little cocky.
Uh, what's going on, bitches?
(laughter)
This is your captain speaking. And just, uh, FYI.
Today I'm balling out of control.
We're cruising at 50,000 feet to wherever the hell I want to go,
'cause what are you gonna do about it? Find another pilot?
Ha, ha!
Good luck with that. There are none.
I can do whatever I want. In fact, here.
Check this shit out.
Whoa! Oh!
Ha, ha! Man, that was fun.
By the way, uh, fasten your seatbelts.
Guess I should have said that first, right? (laughs)
Well, whatever. Enjoy your flight.
Uh, where's my copilot? I got to... pee.
Oh, there's no one here.
Okay, I guess I'll just do it right here.
(sighing): Ah.
Sit back, relax and enjoy the flight.
Balling!
(applause and cheering)
Can't believe you cheered for that pilot. What an asshole.
(laughter)
Oh, speaking of people getting paid more,
all across the United States,
workers are unionizing to fight for better rights, right?
-(applause and cheering) -Yeah. This is happening everywhere.
From Amazon to Starbucks, even Apple,
and now, the movement is gaining so much steam,
it's even stretching back in time.
NEWSMAN: Medieval Times workers
in New Jersey will vote next month
on forming the company's first union.
The group pushing for a safer and more enjoyable workplace,
citing safety concerns.
They claim, guests can be disruptive, make loud noises
and startle the horses
who will then throw the cast members off their backs.
NEWSWOMAN: Unruly children and drunken adults
have been known to grab actors and even reach out
to touch the falcon as it flies overhead.
Workers say Medieval Times skimps
on security to save money,
leaving performers to enforce boundaries and police the crowd.
Wow.
Do you know how wild a crowd has to be
to mess with people in armor carrying swords?
(laughter)
I mean, I knew white people get drunk,
but this is a whole other level. This is...
"I want to fight that horse, bro!"
You know what they need to do, actually?
They need to make a new policy that if you cause shit
at Medieval Times, you get a medieval punishment. Yeah.
Yeah, forget getting escorted to the parking lot.
You're making peoples' jobs a misery.
You're going down to the dungeon where a group of,
like, plague rats are gonna eat your dick off.
-That's what they should do. -(laughter, applause, cheering)
You're in Medieval Times. 'Cause here's the thing.
You're never going to stop people
from getting rowdy at Medieval Times.
It's never gonna happen.
Those people are just trying to act
like they're in medieval times.
That's why they're trying to grab the falcon.
People in the year 1130--
they were definitely getting drunk and messing with birds.
That was one of the only hobbies back then, right?
You could drink mead and throw shit at a falcon,
or you could die in the street. Those were the main activities.
"What are you doing next weekend?"
"I'm dying."
"Oh, no, no. I'm going to catch a falcon."
So I'm glad. I'm glad these workers are trying to unionize.
First of all, I love Medieval Times, you know?
Where else can you get a glimpse
of what America's gonna look like
when the Supreme Court is done?
-But also, but also... -(laughter, groaning)
-(applause and cheering) -these people deserve protections.
I mean, these are serious performers.
Have you seen them in character? They never break.
Never break character.
Almost made me wonder if, like, they stay in character
during the union negotiations, you know?
(formal voice): "We hereby demandeth
"that our health care plan cover leeches.
Also, our wenches and whores want maternity leave."
(normal voice): "Oh, shit. I'm sorry. Kimberly and Amber.
"Kimberly and Amber want maternity leave.
I'm sorry. I got carried away. I got carried away."
You know, whenever I see Medieval Times, I always wonder
if 500 years from now, they're gonna have a themed restaurant
where people come to watch actors pretend
they're in the 2020s.
'Cause we're in the old times of then, you know?
Is there someone who's gonna stand in the middle like,
"Welcome to Millennial Times.
"Watch as this man of legend binges Netflix
"while also scrolling on his phone.
-Ooh. Ah." -(applause)
All right, that's it for the headlines,
but before we go, let's check in on the traffic
with our very own Roy Wood Jr., everybody!
(applause and cheering)
Oh, yeah. What's up now?
-What's going on, Roy? -What's up?
-Oh, man, good to see you. Good to see you. -Now...
So, what's happening with the traffic, Roy?
Look, I don't even think we need to talk about today's traffic.
-You never want to talk about the traffic, Roy. -No, I do.
I do want to talk about traffic. I want to talk
about the weekend traffic, that holiday traffic.
-That's gonna be wild. -Okay, okay.
We don't need to talk about this, we need
to talk about this weekend. It's gonna be a huge traffic weekend.
-It is, it is. -It's gonna be a lot of-- you just need to be
wherever the traffic ain't. That's where you need to be.
-Wh-- I'm sorry, what? -Yeah. Look, look, I just want to
give people a couple tips. I just want to give people
a few tips on how to deal with the holiday traffic.
-Now, we-- -Oh, like, which roads to go on and like that?
We already know the basics, right? We already know
if you're stuck on the freeway, you just take the shoulder,
you drive on the shoulder. If you're in the carpool lane,
you just get-- you blow up the sex dolls and put sex dolls
with you in the carpool lane. If you got a rental car
you hit the curb but you bulldoze people out the way.
Those are-those are the bread and butter. But this traffic--
Fourth of July traffic-- gonna be crazy.
We got to level up.
You stuck in traffic right now-- whatever street you on,
call in, like, a fire or a heart attack or an emergency
up the street where you're trying to go,
and then follow the ambulance to wherever you need to go.
-You just follow the ambulance. -That-that sounds crazy to me.
That's-- I got that from Die Hard 3.
It's a great movie, lot of good traffic tips in that movie.
Like, you-- but you-- That only works for a couple of miles.
-Yeah. -That only works for a couple of miles, you know?
If you're trying to go somewhere far, you got to call in
eight, nine tragedies to get to where you're going.
So if you're trying to get far,
it's got to be bigger than dealing with traffic.
You got to avoid traffic altogether, Trevor.
-How do you do that? -You got to avoid traffic altogether.
Everybody talks about, you know, the best way
to avoid traffic is to leave early.
Uh-uh. Leave late.
Oh, you mean, like, like, 8:00 p.m., 9:00 p.m.?
I'm talking about for July 4th travel,
you should leave July 10th.
-Leave late... -Yeah.
-No, Roy. -Leave late.
-Yeah, okay, fine. -Late-late.
Yeah, but then you miss the traffic, but you also miss
July 4th. Like, the hot dogs, the fireworks.
-You miss it all. -Yeah, you miss all of that, but you also
miss sitting on your ass in a car for three and a half hours.
You miss the traffic too.
-That's the beauty of it. -But you miss July 4th!
Trevor, what are you missing with July 4th? What you missing?
-What-what-- what you-what you missing? -Well, like,
-the hot dogs. -The hot dog. This is America.
Every day we eat a hot dog and try to blow up some shit.
This-- July 4th is just a reason to do what we was already doing.
People was popping fireworks in the hood
where I grew up all the time.
Fireworks and barbecue is a regular occurrence.
-No, Roy, no. No, I mean-- -This is not something new, man.
Okay, miss July 4th to escape July 4th traffic.
All right, that's-- that's a tip.
It's a damn good tip.
I don't like your judgment in your face right now.
I'm not judging you, I just think it's weird. All right.
Look, I'm just-- But I'm-I'm-- Look, it's just important
over the holiday weekend
-that you stay safe, you know what I am saying? -Yes.
-Yes. -Stay safe. You do your best to obey the speed limit.
If you feel yourself drowsy, pull over. Do not drive drowsy,
especially if you've got kids in the car. If you got kids
in the car and you're feeling drowsy, pull over,
let them kids drive.
Kids got to kick in and they got to pull they weight.
-So you let them kids drive -Yeah, but that's illegal.
and you just get in the backseat, get you some sleep.
You got them sex dolls back there anyway, you can cuddle up.
Yeah, but Roy, that's illegal. That's a crime.
It comes off their record when they 18.
There ain't nobody trippin' on no kid hitting a couple--
So, what-- your six-year-old sideswiped a couple cars--
don't nobody care. They-they seal the records.
I'll teach you about that later.
Well, these are some fantastic tips, Roy. Any-Anything else?
No, you know, man, I got to bounce, man.
I'm headed down to Alabama for Fourth of July.
And I think my son just pulled up.
I got to-- My son driving.
How-how old is your son, Roy?
Eight.
-You know what, Roy Wood Jr., everybody. -He can
reach the pedals, though.
-(cheering, applause) -He can reach the pedals, though.
All right, when we come back, Desi Lydic
is gonna tell us how June got so gay,
so don't go away.
(cheering, applause continuing)
(cheering and applause)
Welcome back to The Daily Show.
Tomorrow is the last day of Pride Month,
after which Ron DeSantis
can safely look at a rainbow once again.
But how did Pride Month start?
Well, Desi Lydic has the answer.
Happy Pride Month, everyone.
Or, as it's called at Mike Pence's house, June.
Pride is a celebration of queerness, acceptance
and club remixes you can actually dance to.
And today, I'm here at RuPaul's private pool
to tell you how Pride Month came to be.
Because, just like all queer people,
June has a coming out story of its own.
You can say Pride's roots go back to the '60s
with Philly's Reminder Day pickets.
Reminder Day was like the precursor to what Pride is now
in the same way that Madonna was the precursor to Lady Gaga.
And if you don't get that reference,
you should probably stop watching now
because this is a pride segment, and you're a terrible ally.
The '60s also saw protests all over America,
like the Black Cat Tavern riot in L.A.
and a protest at the White House
demanding equal employment opportunities
for gay people.
That's right. It used to be legal to fire people
just for being gay, which makes no sense.
Who you have sex with should have no bearing
on whether you get to keep your job.
Unless do you it on the copy machine.
Little-known fact: that is how most paper jams get started.
I learned the hard way.
-(clamoring) -But then, of course, came Stonewall in '69,
when police raided a gay bar in New York City
called the Stonewall Inn
and the queer community fought back.
It was such a significant moment in America's gay rights movement
that, to this day, that whole block is now a historic site
visited by people from all over the world.
The only way that corner of Christopher Street
would attract more gay people
is if Britney had a residency there.
Stonewall was the big turning point.
Though they still faced so much discrimination,
the LGBTQ community finally felt empowered enough
to hold big public celebrations.
The first ever official Gay Pride Parade
was held in Chicago in 1970.
But, one day later, New York held an entire Pride Week.
During this seven-day celebration,
the community marched from the Village to Central Park,
with slogans like "Gay, Gay All the Way"
and "Gay Power,"
which isn't just a good slogan--
it's also the energy source
that keeps the lights running on Broadway.
-(sings high note) -Of course, we can't talk about Pride
without talking about the symbol of it.
No, not your grandparents googling "What is scissoring?"
I'm talking about the Rainbow Flag,
which was designed in 1978 by Gilbert Baker.
He called himself "the gay Betsy Ross."
Which makes sense. Not only did they both design
iconic flags, but they also belonged
to communities where wigs were very popular.
One of the coolest things about Gilbert Baker was
that he refused to trademark the Pride flag.
He wanted everyone to be able to share it
and reinterpret it, which is why today,
the flag has become as fluid as sexuality itself.
By the time we reached the '80s,
the AIDS crisis came to the forefront,
and Pride took on a new mission.
It wasn't just about visibility and acceptance.
It was about destigmatizing and promoting public health,
which was especially important
because the federal government pretty much just pretended
AIDS didn't exist,
like what Tom Hanks does with Chet.
Once we made it to the '90s,
Pride was even more mainstream than ever before.
And in 1999, President Bill Clinton signed
the executive order officially recognizing June
as Pride Month for the first time.
Yeah, if two people of the same gender wanted
to have sexual relations, that was fine with him.
Even if he didn't totally understand
the definition of "sexual relations."
I did not have...
Clinton's executive order referred to June
as Gay and Lesbian Pride Month.
Then, in 2009, President Obama changed it
to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month.
Then President Trump dialed it back a little
and just called it LGBT Pride Month.
Which makes sense--
no big words and it's less scary for Mike Pence.
But these days, the Biden administration
extended the name again to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
Transgender and Queer Pride Month,
making, it as of now, the only thing
that's been built back better.
But whatever you call it, Pride has truly become
a global phenomenon. It's celebrated everywhere.
Manila, South Africa, Brazil, Madrid--
Pride's gone to so many places, if it had an Instagram,
you'd have to mute their stories.
We get it, Pride, you had fun in Spain.
Stop making the rest of us feel so boring.
So, this month, don't forget where Pride came from
and all the people who fought to make it a reality.
The LGBTQ community still faces many challenges,
but it's also experienced a lot of progress.
And if you ask me, that's worth celebrating.
RUPAUL: Hello, hello, hello.
Shit. RuPaul's back from vacation early.
♪ ♪
(cheering, applause)
Thank you so much for that, Desi. All right,
when we come back, Van Lathan Jr.
will be joining me on the show, so don't go away.
(cheering, applause continuing)
(cheering and applause)
Welcome back to The Daily Show. My guest tonight
is the cohost of the Higher Learning podcast,
and he's here to talk about his new memoir,
Fat, Crazy, and Tired:
Tales from the Trenches of Transformation.
Please welcome Van Lathan Jr.
-♪ ♪ -(cheering and applause)
Trevor, how you doing?
-What is up? -Welcome to The Daily Show.
-What's up, my man? -It's, uh, good to see you here,
uh, especially after reading the book.
You know, I-I know many people will probably know your face
-from TMZ. You know? -Yeah.
People have seen you, uh, you know, on your podcast now,
which is weird 'cause now we watch people's podcasts,
-which is whatever. Um... -(laughs)
But yeah. But it feels like you've done everything,
and now you're in the world of being an author
-with-with... -Mm.
...what, I-I mean, I have to is-is a really,
um, I think it's a really revealing book.
-Mm. -You know? You-you open yourself up.
-It's really vulnerable. -Yeah.
Fat, Crazy and Tired.
Talk me through why you thought this was gonna be
what defined your memoir?
So... (laughing)
(laughter)
Um, so, initially,
like, part of my story
has always been my weight loss, right?
-Yeah. -I used to be, uh, a lot heavier.
Um, I was around, like, 370 pounds, right?
-Wow. -And, so, whenever you tell someone that,
that's kind of the response.
-Of course. -It's like, "Wow," right?
And I remember the first time
I ever expressed that to a lot of people,
they were so amazed by it that I was like,
"Well, let me do a... let me write a book
"and talk about, like, how it was
-that I took control of my health." Right? -Uh-huh.
-Uh-huh. -Um, and I know people are looking at me right now,
and they're going, "Well, wow. He's fat."
-And... (laughs) -(laughter)
-I don't think anyone was thinking that. -No, no.
What I'm saying is the pandemic came,
and like everyone else, like, you know,
-I put some weight on. -Right. Right. Uh-huh.
So, when I started reading the book, I had a revelation--
When I started writing the book, I should say, I had a revelation
that, like, there's something inherently wrong
about me telling people
how it was that I became socially acceptable.
-Interesting. -That there is something wrong
with me saying, hey, I was this one way
that people, for no good reason, excoriate you
and make you feel, uh, you know, ashamed for it,
-and look how I became one of you. -Right.
Even though it's inspirational for some people,
it didn't feel right.
So I thought it was better
to explore some of the stigmas,
some of the ways that sometimes people lose control
of their health,
and some of the very good reasons
that you might find yourself mentally or physically
or spiritually in a spot you don't want to be in,
and that's kind of what the book is.
(cheering and applause)
The, um...
The book takes us through your life, you know?
It touches on your relationship with your father.
It touches on your journey as a human being.
Many people recognize your face from TMZ,
and you talk about that in the book
and-and the place that it was
-and-and the life that you were living. -Sure.
I-I found it really interesting that you wrote
-about the environment at TMZ... -Mm-hmm.
...in what felt, to me, like a very measured way.
Y-You know, you talk about Harvey,
-who everyone knows as the face of TMZ on television. -Mm-hmm.
And you talked about how he shaped you,
how he encouraged you,
-how he nurtured you into a lot of who you are today. -Sure.
But, at the same time, you talk about the conflicts
that you had with him when you felt like TMZ
-was, you know, pushing Trump propaganda. -Yeah.
H-How-how did you find, you know...
I guess it's not a balance, but-but how did you reconcile
a relationship with somebody who you grew to admire
against a person who clearly had politics
that you were against? 'Cause that--
It feels like that's happening all over America.
It's insanely difficult, and I-- and my heart goes out,
uh, to anyone who's dealing with it.
It's-it's not easy.
And the-the thing that's not easy about it is,
um...
the feeling that you feel being Black,
being a woman, being gay in this country,
when you can see danger coming and you're saying to someone
who, for whatever reason, you had a relationship with,
"This is dangerous. This is dangerous."
As Black people, we are experts at sounding the alarm.
Like, my mother... I would bring people home.
My mother would be like, "That-that boy right there,
-the third one? He a snitch." I'm like, "What?" -(laughing)
(laughter)
Y-You know what I mean? You're like...
I'll be like, "What?" Like, "The third from over.
"Right there. Not the one with the pink.
The one with the blue is a snitch."
-And we're always telling... -It's hypervigilance, yeah.
Yeah, we're always telling each other,
-"Watch out for danger. Watch out for danger." -Mm-hmm.
So, Trump comes,
and I'm like, "Danger, danger, danger."
And it's not just me.
-It's so many people in the office. -Mm-hmm.
"Danger, danger, danger, danger, danger."
"Ah, he's not gonna do any of that.
He's not gonna do any of that stuff."
We're actively out there peddling some of that stuff,
and where are we at now, Trevor?
Where are we at now?
Everyone who had whatever reasons they had
uh, for throwing their support behind him
and being as vocal about supporting him as they did,
millions and millions and millions and millions
of women now don't have control of their own bodies.
And I wonder, like, if I could even talk to him right now,
which him and I don't speak anymore,
how do you feel as it regards to part of your legacy,
-having been a part of something like that? -Mm.
Especially when it wasn't just me.
It was the women in the office, it was all kinds of people
saying, "This is not something that we are...
-that we're comfortable with." -Right.
And it ended up being, to be honest with you, something,
you know, I talk about it in the book,
that was a real sticking point between him and I.
And once again, I'm not gonna...
People can have whatever kind of opinions
they want to have about Harvey,
but at some of the lowest points in my life,
I thought I had an advocate there,
and it was just really, really disappointing
during that time politically.
It really is a fascinating book that takes us
through your life, though your journey.
And I know you've gone on to do, you know, many things now.
You know, you worked on, as an executive producer...
-Mm-hmm. -the Oscar-winning short film
Two Distant Strangers.
-Yeah. -You know, you're now an author.
-It feels like your life is opening up-- -(applause)
-(cheering) -And you-- you're getting into a place
where Van Lathan is changing. I mean, people--
I didn't know this. I didn't know that you
used to be a tour guide on one of those TMZ buses
-driving around in L.A. -Yeah. Yeah.
And-and, you know, your life has gone
in a really magical direction.
What do you hope to achieve from here?
Where are you trying to go, um, and-and why?
Are you guys ready for an L.A., like, super flaky, weird answer?
-Yeah. Yeah, we're ready. -Are you guys ready for it?
I'm peace, man. I-- Like, like, what I want out of my life
-is physical, emotional and psychological peace. -Mm.
-(applause) -Um, my father died, right?
Um, my father died, right? And, I'll be honest--
the way my father, who was, uh--
-he died while I was writing the book. -Yeah.
So, I have a chapter in there about him. Um, the way
that he died sort of, for me, reflected the way that he lived.
He was just going.
-He was a man that could run through any wall. -Hm.
You put a problem up in front of him,
he doesn't negotiate the problem, he obliterates it.
But he's always waiting for the next thing
to overcome. Right?
You never get to that point to where you have an understanding
of who are you, what you are and the environment around you.
And the lessons that I learned from him--
You know, the way-the way my dad died, I didn't get a chance
to even see him. I got a call. "Hey, your father's
-been taken to the hospital, he passed away." -Wow.
Um, and so, for me, I want to make sure
that I have things in my life in order
to where I feel good, peaceful and reassured
about where I'm going, who I am,
and how the people around me feel supported and encouraged,
and so, that's the most important thing in my life
beyond anything, uh, professional, beyond anything,
any amount of money I could get. I like money. Um...
But-- but I just want to have some peace, bruh.
-I love that, man. -Yeah?
Thank you so much for joining me on the show.
-I appreciate you. -I appreciate you.
Fat, Crazy and Tired
is available now wherever books are sold.
We're gonna take a quick break. We'll be right back after this.
(cheering, applause)
Well, that's our show for tonight.
But before we go, before we go,
if you or someone you know
needs help accessing abortion care,
please go to AbortionFinder.org
or call the national abortion hotline at the number below.
You still have options.
Until next time, stay safe out there.
And remember, they can't cancel every flight,
so just book a seat on all of them.
Now here it is, Your Moment of Zen.
♪ ♪
(crunching, smacking)
(slurping, gulping)
Oh. Oh!
(crunching, smacking)
Mmm.
Oh, this is good. This is the brie and fig.
MAN: This is the dumbest.
-It's-- You're the dumbest. -(laughing)
(crunching, smacking)
Oh, my God. It's everything you imagine.
(crunching, smacking)
(slurping)
Oh. Oh!
(chortling)