[theme music]
ANNOUNCER: Coming to you from New
York City, the only city in America, it's The Daily Show.
Tonight, Herschel Walker builds a wall, Ondi
Timoner, and Gabrielle Union.
This is The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.
[cheering]
What's going on, everybody?
Welcome to The Daily Show.
Thank you so much for tuning in.
Thank you for coming out in person.
That's something else.
Good to see you, everyone.
We got a great show for you tonight.
Take a seat. Take a seat, everybody.
Let's get into it.
Let's do this thing.
Oh, man, we got a fun show for you.
San Francisco is using tech to fight crime.
Herschel Walker is using gibberish
to solve immigration.
And Elon Musk is using free speech to try kill us all.
So let's do this, people.
Let's jump straight into today's headlines.
[cheering]
All right, before we get into the big stories,
let's catch up on a few other things going on in the world,
starting with the fact that today is Spotify Wrapped day.
Yeah.
[cheering]
Yeah, the day that Spotify looks at our music
and reminds us that we're all a basic bitch.
[laughter]
And, you know, I was thinking, thank god Tinder doesn't do
a year-end wrapup just to remind
you of all the terrible decisions
you made on desperate nights.
It's like, wow, I dated a lot of people with pet snakes
this year.
In international news, the United Nations has officially
added the French baguette to the UNESCO World Heritage
list, which is cool, but it's another reminder
that the United Nations really needs to eat lunch
before making big decisions.
It's like, should we give Chinese food a seat
on the Security Council?
I'm so hungry.
And you would think that this is great.
I hear some of you clapping.
Oh, yeah, I love baguettes.
But, remember, now it's protected by the UN.
Yeah, so now every time you try and take
a bite out of a baguette, a peacekeeper is going
to jump out and kick your ass.
It's like, pow, stop that shit!
Meanwhile, in presidential news,
Joe Biden's Secret Service detail had a bit of a scare
recently when five cars they had rented suddenly
burst into flames after they were
returned to Hertz rent a car .
Yeah, now the good news is Biden has
got full coverage insurance.
The bad news is Senate Republicans blocked it.
So he's going to need to borrow some money from Kamala now.
But my question is, why is the Secret Service
even renting cars from Hertz?
Am I the only person who was thrown by that?
Like, what happens if the SUV they want isn't there?
What?
Now the president is rocking up to a state dinner
in a Hyundai.
Is that how it's going to work?
Oh, and while we're talking about things exploding,
experts say the United States is now facing a shortage
of bomb-sniffing dogs.
Yeah, which probably explains how
Morbius made it into theaters.
And it makes sense when you think about it.
You know?
Of course, this was always going to happen.
If you had the choice of being a bomb-sniffing dog
or a drug-sniffing dog, what would you choose?
[laughter]
Huh?
What would you choose?
[applause]
So simple.
Yeah, option A, you might explode.
Option B, free cocaine.
I mean--
[cheering]
It is hard for us humans, though, because now
you know what this means.
We're going to have to resort to bomb-sniffing cats.
And their noses are good.
They can figure out where the bombs are.
But they just won't tell us about it.
Yeah.
The cat will be there like, I have nine lives, bitch.
Not my problem.
Meow.
[applause]
All right, let's move on to some
of the biggest stories of the day,
starting with the 2022 midterms.
And I know what you're saying right now.
You're like, but, Trevor, the midterms are over.
I killed them.
I watched them die.
Well, you thought you did.
But you never took a headshot.
And after you left, the midterms
busted out of the dirt.
And now they're back.
Because down in Georgia they're just a few days away
from a runoff between incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock
and the reason you're pulling your son out
of football, Herschel Walker.
And we're going to tell you all about the latest
updates in another installment of Votedemic 2022.
[music playing]
[applause]
There is now less than one week to go until the Georgia
runoff election.
And, once again, Herschel Walker
is battling controversies.
First of all, he might not even live in the state
that he's trying to represent.
Yeah, according to new reports, the Georgia home
that he's claimed as his residence
has actually been rented out for years.
Yeah, and, apparently, Walker even admitted in a speech
earlier this year that he lives in Texas, which I was shocked
about because I did not think Herschel Walker knew the names
of two different states.
This was really impressive.
[applause]
And I know.
I know this might piss some people off.
But when you think about it, this
just proves that Herschel Walker
views Georgians as family.
Because he's never around them.
And, of course-- of course, there's
the other problem for Herschel Walker,
which is that every time he speaks, things go wrong.
For instance, Walker was recently at a campaign stop,
giving his views on the border.
And in his speech, he's trying to explain why he will build
Donald Trump's border wall, but in a way
that only Herschel Walker can.
He goes on to debunk his own argument about a wall,
and then takes us on a wild ride
that somehow involves his dog.
[laughter]
I'm sorry, what?
Did this man just win an argument with himself?
Because he's like, I think his plan is to what?
Build a border wall so that he can trap
immigrants inside America.
Is that what he's doing?
(IMITATING WALKER) You see, once they get in,
they can't get out.
Then they've got to get a job and raise
a family, settle down, and that's how we get them.
Yeah!
[laughter]
It's almost like-- it's almost like--
[applause]
It's almost like Walker started out talking about border
security, and then ended up telling everyone
how to break into his house.
And, personally, I don't think he
needs a wall because the hardest part about breaking
into Herschel Walker's house is figuring out
which state it's in. (IMITATING WALKER)
[laughs] Joke's on you.
I actually live in Kansas, Hawaii.
[laughs] Yeah.
But let's move on to some news from social media.
Ever since Elon Musk pranked himself
into buying Twitter for $44 billion,
he has been trying to reshape the entire website
according to what he likes.
He's brought back thousands of suspended accounts.
He's made it easier to get a blue checkmark.
And now any number you tweet is automatically changed to 69.
Yeah.
You post that your dad only has three days left.
Now he has 69.
Nice.
[laughs] Rest in peace, but nice.
But Elon's biggest promise is that under his leadership
Twitter is completely open for free speech
no matter how wrong that speech might be.
REPORTER: A potentially dangerous new change
on Twitter, the social media site
is no longer enforcing its policy
against COVID misinformation.
REPORTER: Twitter suspended more than 11,000 accounts
for breaking the policy and removed almost 100,000
pieces of content between January of 2020
and September of 2022.
And Musk is promising to restore
many previously banned Twitter accounts as soon as this week.
REPORTER: Health experts are concerned that it could
diminish efforts to stop the spread of the virus
and could discourage vaccinations.
OK, look, maybe this is my vaccine microchip talking,
but I don't think it's responsible for Twitter
to bring back the people who are spreading
COVID misinformation.
But, on the other hand-- on the other hand, it is 2022.
Like, how can you still be misinformed about COVID?
You know?
Were you just running around like,
I heard the vaccine turns you into a lizard.
Mother-Mother-[bleep],, it's been three years.
Do you see any lizards?
You see any lizards here?
[cheering]
They're probably hiding.
And forget COVID for a second.
It's crazy that anyone would go to Twitter
for any medical information.
People should be going to the doctor for this stuff.
But because no one can afford a doctor in America,
people are out here searching hashtag #BumpOnMyDick
and hoping to find a cure.
Like, cocaine on my penis, that's
not what I was looking for.
Anyway, let's move on to some news
coming out of San Francisco.
Like many big cities, San Francisco has been struggling
to get crime under control.
And if you're thinking, oh, it's San Francisco.
What are they doing, prescribing
all the criminals CBD oil?
No.
I mean, yes, but not just that.
They also have more hardcore solution.
REPORTER: New this morning, San Francisco officials
voted to allow city police to have
remote-controlled robots that could use deadly force
in extreme situations.
Critics of the decision say it militarizes
San Francisco's police.
But city supervisor Rafael Mandelman,
who voted in favor of the robots,
said that the killer machines would only
be used if lives are at stake.
REPORTER: SFPD said they don't have prearmed robots.
And they don't plan to arm the ones they do have with guns.
Assistant Chief David Lazar said they could deploy robots
equipped with explosives.
Wait, wait.
What? What?
They're not going to arm the robots.
They're just going to give them explosives.
That is much worse.
[laughter]
Who came out with that PR statement?
Don't worry, people.
The robots aren't going to have guns.
They're just going to be suicide bombers, OK?
Calm down.
Everyone's going.
This is such a bad idea.
Do you know how often robots make mistakes?
Can you imagine if Siri had a bomb?
Just like, hey, Siri, play 21 Savage.
Now killing your family.
No!
Wait, which members of my family?
But still, no!
But let's talk about it.
Now, to be clear, just so we're on the same page,
the robots will not actually be deciding
when to use deadly force.
All right?
There will still be trained human police officers
on the remote-control trigger.
So don't worry.
It's still going to be mostly Black people that get killed.
And it's wild-- it's wild how cities
can always find money for high-tech gadgets for cops.
But when it comes to investigating or, like,
investing in long-term solutions that
might actually fix the problems,
then their pockets are empty. Have you noticed that?
Yeah.
They're like, oh, yeah, robot money, we got that.
We got that.
People asking, you're like, wait, you're building robots
that are police with bombs?
Can we do something about, like, the homeless people?
They're like, oh, yeah, the robots can blow them up too.
Yeah, we can handle that.
It makes no sense.
But that's it for the headlines.
Before we go, let's check in on the traffic with our very
own Roy Wood, Jr., everybody.
[cheering]
What's happening, Africa?
TREVOR NOAH: It's craziness, Roy.
Yeah.
TREVOR NOAH: Absolute craziness.
Yeah.
Good time.
Hello.
Yeah.
Traffic.
Yup, what's happening in the traffic?
I mean, you see the traffic.
Some people out there.
Some people at home.
They ain't out there.
That's how it is.
Hell, they need to get a robot to do this shit.
This what need to be automated.
Also, man, I don't know why everybody
is so worried about these robot cops, man.
Because truth be told, this ain't the first time
that this happened.
There was a robot cop program in Detroit
back in the late '80s.
And it was a robot officer.
He took down a heinous drug dealer
named Clarence Boddicker.
But, ultimately, the program got
scrapped because the robot thought he was a real person
on some Pinocchio shit.
So they had to stop that.
[laughter]
Roy, that was RoboCop.
Yes.
Yes, that was RoboCop, whose real
name was officer Alex J. Murphy, who
was shot in the line of duty.
And they turned him into the RoboCop.
No, no, Roy.
Roy, that's not a true story.
That was a movie.
You bullshitting.
[laughter]
TREVOR NOAH: It was a movie.
Oh, OK, well, if you say so, man.
But, anyway, I don't know why everybody
is assuming that the robots are going to be bad.
Why do you assume that the robot
cops are going to be bad?
If anything, the robot cops will
get all of the-- the-- the messed up cops off the street.
I ain't scared of no robot cop. You scared.
TREVOR NOAH: Of the robots?
You're scared of a robot cop?
You're not scared of a robot cop?
No, I'm not scared of no robot cop, man.
Half of these robots don't even recognize Black people.
I can't get the sink faucet to turn on.
TREVOR NOAH: What are you talking about?
Robots don't recognize Black people.
I can't get water out the sink.
The facial recognition don't see me.
Bring on the robot cops because maybe
now Black people will finally be invisible to the police.
I'm with it.
[cheering]
I'm perfectly fine with that.
Black people are invisible to the police,
and now, finally, we can commit our crimes in peace
just like like white folks.
[laughter]
But you want the traffic though.
You want the traffic.
Yeah, let's do the traffic, Roy.
Yeah, this thing with the bomb dogs,
though, this is a question I feel like nobody's
asking about the bomb dogs.
If there is a shortage--
if there is a shortage of bomb-sniffing dogs,
shouldn't you shut your ass up about it and not tell anybody?
Shouldn't you not tell anybody?
[applause]
Just shh.
You just can't let everybody know you ain't
got enough bomb-sniffing dogs.
ISIS at home, watching CBS like, yes, now is the time.
TREVOR NOAH: [laughs]
Plus, you don't need a bomb-sniffing dog.
You just need people to think you got a bomb-sniffing dog.
Just put regular dogs in the airport.
That's all you have to do.
All these dogs up for adoption, put them in the airport.
TREVOR NOAH: It's just in the mind?
Yes, the illusion of security,
that's all you've got to do is make
people think your stuff's-- I got a car.
It ain't got no car alarm.
People walk past my car. I beep, beep!
I make the noise with my mouth.
[laughter]
That's all you gotta do.
Plus, we ain't got to really worry about bomb-sniffing dogs
because let you tell it, the bomb-sniffing dogs
will eventually be replaced by robot dogs, right?
TREVOR NOAH: Yeah, probably.
And then robot dogs will be operated by fully robot cops.
And, eventually, one of those robot cops
will go haywire and kill a bunch of people
because it needed drugs.
And the only way to stop a crazy robot cop
is to get a brave robot cop to jump on the back of that robot
cop and pull off his access panel,
get into the neural cortex, pull out the brain,
and bash the brain on the ground.
[cheering]
That's how you stop the crazy robot cop.
I feel like that's the plot of RoboCop 2.
Yes!
Based on the life of officer Alex J. Murphy!
RoboCop 2 was a brave biopic!
How do you not know this shit, man?
I thought you was educated.
Man, let me just do the traffic, man.
You know what?
Actually, we don't have the time.
Roy Wood, Jr., everybody. - No, no, we got time.
We got time. - We don't have the time.
You got time.
We should get a robot to do this.
ROY WOOD, JR.: Only need a second.
All right, don't go away.
Because when we come back, we're going to tell you how
you can kill yourself legally.
And Gabrielle Union is joining us on the show.
So don't go away.
[cheering]
Welcome back to The Daily Show.
My first guest tonight is an internationally-acclaimed
filmmaker whose latest film is about her father, who chose
to die at the age of 92, and the California's
End of Life Option Act.
The film is called Last Flight Home,
and it's streaming on Paramount Plus.
I want to ask for advice on, like, how to live your life.
Mm-hmm.
Please, welcome Ondi Timoner.
[music playing]
[cheering]
Ondi Timoner, welcome to The Daily Show.
Thank you for having me.
You know, the clip that we play from the movie--
we can only play a clip because we
can't play the whole movie-- makes it
seem like this is a sad story.
It even sounds like a sad story.
If you tell anybody that somebody made a film
about their father choosing to end their own life, you'd go,
this is a sad story that, well, no one
might even want to watch.
Why would I want to?
And yet I feel like it's an inspiring story.
It's a beautiful story.
It's a funny story.
It's made me see life in a completely different way.
So let's talk a little bit about your dad.
I mean, he has lived quite the life.
There are few human beings who can say that they have
personally known kings and princesses, somebody who
started their own airline essentially,
somebody who's running an airline,
getting low-cost airlines for people to fly around,
wanting everybody to be able to travel,
having this infectious attitude that lit up every single room.
We see you chronicling this life.
We see you telling us the story.
And we also see how quickly it can change.
Your father was 50--
how--
53.
TREVOR NOAH: 53, and then had a stroke,
and everything changed.
Yeah he went in for a massage,
and his neck was manipulated.
And and 10 minutes later-- he was in perfect health.
I mean, he had run 6 miles that morning,
and at the height of his career.
He had the fastest growing airline
in the history of the world.
And he led with love.
He led with love and kindness.
And the airline just was really at its height.
And then he was ousted.
There were no rights for the disabled at that point.
TREVOR NOAH: Right.
And lost everything financially
and all his social standing.
But the greatest thing about dad is he never complained.
He just rooted for all of us.
He was paralyzed for 40 years.
But he suffered with such grace, you know?
So when he said he needed to die at the end,
it was something we all had to get behind.
And thank god for that law.
The law was a gift.
We didn't know there was a right to die.
TREVOR NOAH: Right.
A medically-assisted death in California.
It's only in the nine states in America.
You know, we expected dad to be there forever.
I don't know.
We just never thought about it.
He always said he'd be there forever.
And, suddenly, he was not going to walk again.
He had been put in the hospital for breathing issues,
and not to do with COVID, but he was isolated in there.
He was terrified.
And he wanted to go, and he needed to go.
And my brother found this law.
And it was a gift.
I mean, having these 15 days, it
allowed us to really celebrate his life
and to really look at his achievements
and also to help him through a shame that he deeply held.
My sister, who's a rabbi, came with these age-old rituals.
And we all kind of came together.
You know, like, dad was an exemplary human being.
And he showed us how to love and how to live.
And so, yeah, it was terrifying, but also
the most beautiful and sacred space any of us
had ever been in.
It really is a story that touches on everything.
Because, as you said, one part of the story
gets into how much people with disabilities
lose not just their income, but their access
to a life of dignity.
You know, your father experienced that when
he's pushed out of a company that he was running
successfully because they didn't like
the optics of a person in a wheelchair running this
company, even though he could.
We see him lose everything.
We get into that conversation.
Then we get into the conversations
around the morality.
And it's interesting that you bring up the fact
that your sister is a rabbi, and how so many of us
have these ideas of how your life should end
or shouldn't end.
It's not your decision, but there's a line in the film
that someone says where they say, none of us
chooses how to come into this world,
but we should be allowed to choose how and when we leave.
And for many people, that's a controversial statement.
I know that the family was on a journey.
And I would love to know, what changed
some people's minds about your dad
being able to make that choice?
You know, it was dad's spirit that was just so uplifted
by finally having agency and power to make
a determination over his own body
and what would happen with his own life.
It was just an incredible shift that happened.
And we all saw it.
And, I mean, I am very passionate now,
and our whole family is, that this law be passed
in every state where it's been--
because I think it's in front of 22 state legislatures
right now.
It's not a law here in New York,
but it's a basic human right.
It's a basic human right.
Who should make that determination?
And even when the film--
I was terrified sharing my family at this--
their most raw and vulnerable, but especially
for my sister, who's a rabbi.
TREVOR NOAH: Right.
Because it was against Jewish law for the millennia.
You know, you can't end your life.
They've since reversed that decision.
TREVOR NOAH: Wow.
Yeah, they've reversed that law.
Yeah. TREVOR NOAH: Wow.
Yeah.
[applause]
Reform Judaism has.
Wow.
And the reason they say, a law without tenderness
is wickedness.
And that when the rabbis wrote that law,
suffering lasted maybe five days
with your terminal illness.
TREVOR NOAH: Right.
But now there are thousands, tens of thousands
of terminally ill patients who need-- and their families
who should have this right.
It's compassionate.
TREVOR NOAH: It's a really powerful story.
[applause]
And, like, I can see--
when you watch it, you can see why
the film is getting Oscar buzz because it's made so well.
Congratulations, honestly, because you
bring us into a world where--
Thank you.
Really, you bring us into a world that's really gripping.
It feels like we're there with your family.
I feel like I know your family.
Your dad seems like the wisest human being.
There was, like, no moment where he goes
like, I don't really know.
He just says things.
He answers so confidently and also so earnestly
as well and so honestly.
And one of the most amazing aspects in it for me
is him talking to his wife.
And they're having this conversation.
And it's so fascinating to see what
happens when people also have the chance to say goodbye.
You know?
Where people have the chance to say,
this is how I wish for it to end.
I wish to still have this dignity
and to have this moment.
But talk me through that before you go,
just that part of their love story
and witnessing that, which many children never get to see.
This is a double happiness heart
that mom bought for dad and for their one-year anniversary.
And they broke it in half, and each wore one half.
TREVOR NOAH: Wow.
Yeah, so I wear it for good luck
and just to keep them close.
[applause]
Yeah, yeah.
She's a phenomenal woman.
You know, 54 years they were together.
17 of those, he was able-bodied,
and she was jet setting.
And the rest, she was caregiving.
We were just doing a Q&A together last night.
She's 84 years old. She's such a firecracker.
She really is.
But, you know, the filmmaking wasn't really the main event.
The main event was getting mom to face the fact
that her partner of this many years was going to be gone
and to really spend time with him.
And it was hard with all the hospice workers around
and everyone around to kind of get her to zero in.
But she finally did face it at the end.
And she's seen the film.
She watched the film every day for a year first year
he was gone.
TREVOR NOAH: Are you serious?
Yeah, she watched it-- she watches it,
like, a few times a week just to spend time with him now.
- I can see why. - Yeah.
I can see why.
Honestly, you have captured a human being in a way
that few films have captured anybody.
You've told a story that I think millions of people,
not just in America, but around the world will connect with.
And congratulations.
Thank you so much for joining me on the show.
Thank you so much. Thank you.
Wonderful having you on.
Really appreciate it.
Make sure to catch the film.
It is truly spectacular on Paramount Plus.
All right, stay tuned.
Because when we come back, Gabrielle Union
will be joining me right here on the show.
Don't go away.
[cheering]
Welcome back to the Daily Show.
My next guest is an actor, a producer,
and a best-selling author.
She was just nominated for an Independent Spirit Award
for her role in the new film, The Inspection,
which is now in select theaters and opens nationwide,
December 2nd.
[video playback]
[music playing]
This little piece of paper, it's all I have left
of the dream I held for you.
I you don't come back, the son I gave birth to--
consider the certificate void.
[end video playback]
Please welcome, Gabrielle Union.
[music playing]
[cheering]
Thank you.
Thank you, guys.
- As I live and breathe. - Oh.
Well, well, well.
TREVOR NOAH: One of my favorite people in the world.
Gabrielle Union, welcome back to The Daily Show.
How ya been? [cheering]
I've been wonderful.
Is that Africa I smell on you? What is that?
It is. TREVOR NOAH: What is that?
What is that. - It is.
TREVOR NOAH: Mm.
That aroma is so familiar to me.
[singing "circle of life"]
What is happening here?
How was your trip? You just got back, right?
- It was amazing. - Yes.
It was amazing.
You know, of course, I had called Trev,
as one does when you go to the motherland,
and I was like, tell me where to go.
TREVOR NOAH: You say as one does,
like everyone just calls, Trevor,
I'm going to Africa, OK?
Well, I feel like you pick up the phone.
I do. I do.
You do. You actually pick up the phone.
I do.
You're like hey, hey, yeah, let
me give you some suggestions.
But we started off in Tanzania, then
went to Ghana, then Namibia, and then to your home country.
- That is amazing. - Yeah.
But this was a different trip.
This was a big trip, because you were learning,
you were exploring, you were also celebrating.
They wrote 50th birthday, but that's not right though.
Yeah, yeah, 50th.
[sounds of disbelief] AUDIENCE: Damn.
[cheering]
Yes.
Yeah.
[inaudible] You've seen me drop it low,
Trevor, and you see how long it takes me to get back up.
[laughing]
So you know.
You know my hips are like, yo, no, she's 50.
TREVOR NOAH: Oh, please.
Please, I don't think so.
I feel like you are one of those people
who is eternally young.
You are-- you-- you're so curious about life.
You know, everything you do, whether it's
in the writing of your books, whether it's in how you travel
the world, what projects you engage yourself,
in Broadway productions, I mean,
this film is another example of that.
We've seen Gabrielle Union in so many
different types of movies.
Forgive me if I'm wrong in saying this,
but I've never seen you like this.
I've never seen you in a role like this.
I can see why people are saying,
oh, man, if the Oscars are not watching this movie,
then they're not watching movies, because you play
a character in a movie that is so touching, painful,
and brilliant.
And it's the story of a young Black man,
as we saw just in that preview, whose
mother basically says because you are gay,
I'm going to disown you.
And he goes off to join the Marines.
And her hope is that this will turn him straight.
Talk me through how you even get into this project
and everything that the story was,
because it has a lot more to do with real life
than most people would think.
Way too much to do with real life than I'd like.
Elegance Bratton, our director, writer, producer,
he came to me, sent me this script,
him along with Effie Brown, and they're like, what
do you think of the script.
I was like, this is a winner.
I absolutely want to be a part of this.
I will come on as an executive producer.
I know how I can be additive.
And he's like, great.
I want you to play my mother.
And I was like, ugh.
I tend to, you know, when I come across people
who behave and speak like this, I tend to read them for filth.
I tend to not be inspired to want to play them in a film.
And I just didn't think that I was the right fit.
And he said, no, it has to be you.
It can only be you.
And later, I came to find out that him and his mom
had been estranged for about 18 years.
TREVOR NOAH: Wow.
And he knew that I was one of his mom's favorites.
And he knew that if I played her, she couldn't deny him,
and she would reconnect.
[cheering]
Woo.
Unfortunately, we got green lit February 14, 2020.
His mom passed February 18, 2020.
TREVOR NOAH: Wow.
So I'm not only playing a real person,
I'm playing my director and writer's mother,
who has passed and they've had a pretty fraught relationship.
And I just wasn't--
I just wasn't sure this was the right time for any of us.
And he assured me.
He said, no, we have to tell this story.
We have to tell the story.
And we know that you can do this.
I was like--
And he was like, you know the Black
community has known that you've had the range to do this.
TREVOR NOAH: Right.
And I had to admit to myself that I had put myself
in a cage, in a box, and decided what I could do
and couldn't do.
TREVOR NOAH: You had typecast yourself and the roles
that you could play because of the roles
that were afforded to you. - Absolutely.
Right.
So I had to break out and give myself
the opportunity to try to--
I don't know-- to try to grow.
- Was it scary? - It's terrifying.
It's absolutely terrifying.
I don't want to ruin this man's story with pulling like a ISIS
from Bring It On, you know.
I--
[laughing]
I don't know what he's expecting, you know.
[cheering]
And yet-- and yet, I feel like--
I feel like, you know, it seems so perfect
and it seems so obvious now, because when you see
you in the film, I can see--
I can see what he saw.
And it's interesting, I would love
to know how your opinion of his mom
changed in hearing his story and his side of it.
Because to your point, there are many scripts,
and there are many stories, that are told of people
that give us an idea of them.
And then, once we're forced to be them,
in some way, once we're forced to empathize
and get into their lives, our opinion of them changes.
Talk me through that change, because you
don't play her like somebody that you hate.
You don't play her like somebody that we even hate.
So I'd love to know what you understand differently
about her that doesn't condone her views
on her son being gay, but in some way
creates empathy in us for her.
I had to find her humanity.
And I had to figure out how to keep the love not just
on the set as a producer, but the love
between these characters.
And the more I talk to parents who struggle in the way
that she struggles, they-- none of them
deny that they love their children deeply.
And a lot of them truly believe that by rejecting their child,
or denying their identity, which unfortunately denies
their humanity, is the way to love them properly,
is the way to protect them, is the way to save them, which
sounds very backwards, right.
But that's-- firmly in their hearts, they believe that.
And the more I started asking about her background--
she was orphaned at 10.
She was a top student.
She was a top athlete.
And she just wanted people to think that she was
good and worthy and deserving.
And I was like, now that's where I can relate.
We have these conversations often where
all the shapeshifting that you will do to get someone to say,
oh yeah, you, right, whether it's a relationship
or a business opportunity or just how
you move through the world surviving as a person of color
in this world.
You will minimize yourself.
You will barter with anything to try
to get this much closer to the power
structures or opportunities or whatever.
And that, we had in common, because I've
bartered with many things, just not my kids.
But I bartered with my soul plenty of times.
We talk about soul sacrifices and those moments
that you will never get back, that live in your memory
that you're ashamed of.
And I had those as well.
And I was like, OK, now I figured out how I can get in.
How do I keep the love in this space,
but still show that this is the most unhealthy way of showing
your love for your child? TREVOR NOAH: Wow.
Wow.
And hopefully, I can be a mirror to some parents.
I don't think-- I don't think hopefully.
I think you will be.
I think it's brilliant.
I mean it's exceptional.
The film is phenomenal.
The story that you tell is phenomenal.
It is everything.
And as I say, if the Oscars people don't come knocking,
I'm going to be free in like a few weeks.
I'm just going to go chase them.
You call me and you let me know.
You know I answer the phone.
I'm going to chase the people. You are phenomenal.
Thank you so much for joining me on the show again.
- [inaudible] - I love you so much.
[inaudible] [cheering]
Gabrielle Union, everybody.
Make sure to catch the film.
I promise you, you will not regret it.
We're going to take a quick break.
We'll be right back after this.
[cheering]
[applause]
[cheering]
Well, that's our show for tonight.
But before we go, before we go, please
consider donating to One Simple Wish, a charity
that grants wishes to kids and young adults
who are in foster care.
If you want to help grant a wish
or donate towards their holiday wish fund,
then please do so at the link below.
Until next time, stay safe out there.
And remember, don't get your medical advice from Twitter.
Use TikTok for that.
Now here it is, your moment of zen.
[music playing]
I used to have a beagle named Roger.
And Roger was a rascal.
About every two weeks, Roger would run off.
He'd always come back, but about half the time, he'd
come back dragging roadkill that he would
hide under my back porch.
President Biden's energy policy looks
like something Roger used to keep under my back porch.