Brooke Shields, Blake Lively, and Celebrity Meh-moirs

Summary

Glamorous Trash: A Celebrity Memoir Podcast
Episode: Brooke Shields, Blake Lively, and Celebrity Meh-moirs
Host: Chelsea Devantez
Release Date: January 28, 2025

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Table of Contents

1. Brooke Shields' Controversial Surgery
2. New Celebrity Memoirs Announced
3. Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's Court Case
4. Book Recommendation: "Bright Young Women" by Jessica Knoll
5. Documentary Reviews
6. Oscar Nominations Discussion
7. Personal Reflections: LA Fires and Community Support

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<a name="brooke-shields"></a>1. Brooke Shields' Controversial Surgery

Chelsea Devantez opens the episode with a heated discussion about Brooke Shields' recent memoir titled "Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Age." An excerpt published in The Cut reveals that Shields underwent a vaginal tightening surgery without her consent.

Christina Lopez expresses profound horror:
"I was horrified. The thought that you could go in for something and come out with something else... it's women's health at the mercy of other people's decisions." (03:03)

Chelsea shares her initial reaction:
"I felt a little cringe... it felt like such a... luxury niche surgery, only in Hollywood..." (03:03)

The hosts delve into the implications of such unauthorized procedures, emphasizing the shame and physical trauma women endure when their bodies are altered without consent. They critique the societal pressures that equate such surgeries with maintaining virginity or youthfulness, highlighting the deep-seated issues of body autonomy and consent.

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<a name="new-memoirs"></a>2. New Celebrity Memoirs Announced

The conversation shifts to recent memoir announcements that have stirred reactions.

• Sheena Shay: Her memoir reportedly starts "from before birth" and narrates how her parents met. Both hosts express skepticism, questioning the depth and originality of her story.

• Lucas Gage: Known for his role in "White Lotus" and a brief marriage to Kim Kardashian's hairstylist, Gage's memoir comes with the tagline "I did this for attention." Christina finds it intriguing, especially considering his lesser-known status and recent public persona shifts.

• Eladia/Hilaria Baldwin: The hosts are baffled by Baldwin’s decision to pen a memoir. Chelsea speculates it might be a move to boost her public image or support a rumored reality show. They critique Baldwin’s public persona and question the authenticity and motives behind her memoir.

Notable Quote from Christina Lopez:
"It's also the way that Justin and his lawyer have handled the press... it's hard to judge." (14:06)

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<a name="blake-justin"></a>3. Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's Court Case

A substantial portion of the episode is dedicated to the ongoing legal battle between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni.

Christina admits to not following the case closely but observes the polarizing public opinion fueled by media portrayals. Chelsea, however, has read the legal filings extensively and shares her insights:

• Court Dynamics: She breaks down the case into two main parts: sexual harassment on set and defamation—whether Lively's allegations were used for personal gain.

• Public Persona vs. Actions: Chelsea is critical of Baldoni's public persona as a male feminist ally, suggesting that it may have influenced public perception and the handling of the case.
  "If his brand hadn't been a male feminist ally, would I feel differently about how things are unfolding?" (17:02)

• Evidence and Legal Strategy: She discusses the evidence presented by both sides, including video footage, and questions Baldoni's and his legal team's tactics in leveraging the press to shape public opinion.

Notable Quote from Chelsea Devantez:
"There is a lot of red flags about his, like, male feminist brand before any of this ever happened." (22:15)

The hosts emphasize the importance of withholding judgment until all evidence is presented in court and express frustration over the complex interplay between personal branding and legal proceedings.

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<a name="book-recommendation"></a>4. Book Recommendation: "Bright Young Women" by Jessica Knoll

Chelsea recommends "Bright Young Women" by Jessica Knoll, praising its depth and unexpected real-life connections. Initially perceived as pure fiction, the novel intertwines elements from reality, specifically the Ted Bundy murders, offering a gripping narrative that blends memoir and fiction seamlessly.

Chelsea shares her enthusiasm:
"I loved this. It's incredible." (31:13)

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<a name="documentaries"></a>5. Documentary Reviews

The hosts review three documentaries:

• Lisa Frank Documentary:
  Chelsea finds it "solidly interesting" but acknowledges its off-putting aspects, particularly the familial dynamics and the portrayal of Lisa Frank's divorce.
  "The son is like, I love my dad more than I love myself. My dad's the best." (32:47)

• Jerry Springer Documentary:
  Disappointed with its content, Chelsea feels it skimmed over Springer's political dedication, focusing instead on his scandalous behaviors.
  "It was a boring waste of time... nothing the show can give me." (34:16)

• HBO Max's "An Update on Our Family":
  Chelsea appreciates its focus on adoptee voices and the nuanced portrayal of the Stauffer family's journey, highlighting their efforts to monetize their adoption story responsibly.

Christina's Insight:
"It's a fascinating and sad story for sure." (36:12)

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<a name="oscar-noms"></a>6. Oscar Nominations Discussion

The hosts discuss the recent Oscar nominations, expressing surprise and critique over certain choices:

• Emilia Perez: Surprised by her numerous nominations, Christina attributes it to the Academy's efforts to diversify, including more international voters.
  "I think it's partly because the makeup of the Academy has changed." (37:26)

• Comparison with Golden Globes: They note the divergence between the Oscars and Golden Globes due to differing voting bodies—peer-based for the Oscars vs. journalist-based for the Globes.

• Critique of Select Nominations:
  Chelsea voices skepticism over certain films and performances, questioning their qualitative merit and the Academy's decision-making process.
  "I think Jamie Lee Curtis is a great actress, but I don't necessarily think that role merited the sort of range that she needed to display to actually be awarded." (45:06)

• Excitement for Underrepresented Nominees: Enthusiasm is expressed for nominees like Colman Domingo, hoping his recognition will highlight diversity and talent.

Notable Quote from Christina Lopez:
"I think it is maybe like the crash effect, where it's this movie that seems to be talking about things that are happening in the Zeitgeist." (40:00)

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<a name="personal-reflections"></a>7. Personal Reflections: LA Fires and Community Support

In a heartfelt segment, Chelsea and Christina share their experiences and coping mechanisms amidst the devastating fires in Los Angeles.

Chelsea describes the emotional toll:
"I've really just been in a place where I'm just like, okay, one. Just try and get what has to be done." (49:05)

Christina recounts her history with trauma, comparing the current situation to the impact of 9/11 on her and emphasizes the importance of community support:
"I have a friend who loves getting on the phone to argue with medical bill people. And I hate talking to anybody on the phone. So sometimes I leverage her to fight against medical bills." (60:07)

They discuss active efforts to support those affected, such as:

• Organizing Locally: Focusing on community-based initiatives like sorting donations and supporting local shelters.

• Fostering Pets:
  Chelsea shares a touching story about fostering a "needy quarantine dog", highlighting the therapeutic benefits of helping animals during crises.
  "If you are animal sensitive, take care when listening because I'm going to tell you the real story... We put him in the car." (75:38)

Chelsea emphasizes the importance of reclaiming joy and finding snarky humor as coping mechanisms:
"The stuff that makes you laugh is usually a lot darker." (63:35)

Both hosts advocate for mindful consumption of news to mitigate anxiety and stress, advising listeners to read or listen to news rather than consuming it via traumatic video content.

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Conclusion

In this episode of Glamorous Trash, Chelsea Devantez and Christina Lopez tackle a range of intense and thought-provoking topics, from celebrity controversies and legal battles to personal struggles amid natural disasters. Their candid discussions, enriched with notable quotes and personal anecdotes, provide listeners with deep insights into the complex interplay between public personas, personal lives, and societal issues.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Christina Lopez:
  "I was horrified... it's women's health at the mercy of other people's decisions." (03:03)

• Chelsea Devantez:
  "If his brand hadn't been a male feminist ally, would I feel differently about how things are unfolding?" (17:02)

• Chelsea Devantez:
  "We have to organize locally. That's where I'm putting my heart this year." (68:44)

• Christina Lopez:
  "It's a fascinating and sad story for sure." (36:12)

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This comprehensive summary captures the essence of the episode, ensuring that listeners who haven’t tuned in can grasp the full scope of discussions, insights, and emotional narratives shared by Chelsea and Christina.

Transcript

[Chelsea Devontez]

This episode is brought to you by Companion. Iris and Josh seem like the perfect match, but when a weekend getaway turns into a nightmare, Iris realizes that things aren't as perfect as they appear. From the creators of Barbarian and the studio that brought you the Notebook comes a twisted tale of modern romance and the sweet satisfaction of revenge. Companion Only in theaters January 31st. Rated R. Under 17. Not admitted without parenting.

[Christina Lopez]

I have that stupid Emilia Perez song in my head that's like, oh, no. No penis to vagina.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Oh, my God. Well, now, yeah, now it's gonna be in my head. And actually, that's great. Welcome to Glamorous Trash. This is a celebrity memoir podcast where we dive into all of the glamour and all of the trash. And I am your host, Chelsea Devontez. I'm a TV writer, comedian, filmmaker, author, and sometimes I'm in stuff, too. Today's episode, we're actually not discussing a memoir. We're discussing everything. Glamorous Trash. This is a cookie jar episode where me and producer Christina Lopez get on the mic and discuss everything in the trash can or the cookie jar, depending on what branding we're going with. Christina. Hi.

[Christina Lopez]

Hi.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Hi. Okay, so let me give you all a little prep of all the topics we're going to talk about today. We have the Brook Shields article about her vaginal tightening surgery. We have some new memoir announcements. They all kind of make me want to. To vomit a little bit. I have a book rec. We're going to discuss Oscar Noms. There are three wild documentaries that we gotta touch on. Listen, I could do seven hours on Blake and Justin Baldoni's court filings, but we'll do at least 10 minutes. And then at the very end of the episode, Christina and I are going to talk about our personal lives, what it was like making it through the fires in Los Angeles, and just some bigger thoughts for our life for 2025, for our future. I may have fostered a dog. We'll get into all of that at the end. We're going to do hot topics up top. Christina, do you think there's one of these topics that like. Like, what's the juiciest one we should start with for you personally?

[Christina Lopez]

If it was, like, me in the cookie spot, I think I would probably pick the Blake and Justin thing. But for me personally, I actually do think the Brooke Shields thing is fascinating. So maybe let's dive into that.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Let's start there, and then we'll go Baldonian Blake. So Brooke Shields put out another memoir. It has a great title. It's Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Age. Fantastic. I love it. This is her third memoir ish book. And as part of that, there was an excerpt in the Cut. I fucking love the Cut. Christine. If I could pick a favorite place for articles, it's the Cut. And the title of it was that she had received a vaginal tightening surgery without her consent. Before you got into the article or read it, what was your initial take on this coming out? The book, the headline, all of it.

[Christina Lopez]

I was horrified. I mean, absolutely horrified. The thought that you could go in for something and come out with something else. It's not unlike what women who have given birth go through, and they get the quote, unquote, husband stitch, which is where they, like, stitch you up to, you know, be a little tighter or, you know, and it's for the husband's benefit, but it could lead to complications from healing and certain mobility issues. And it was something that isn't necessarily done with your consent. And it, again, is like, women's health at the mercy of other people's decisions.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah. A dude doctor in this situation, and most of them. And while she's, like, under anesthesia, like, she's not conscious. Okay. I want. I want to be honest about my reaction. When I first saw the headline, I felt a little cringe where I was like, come on, this can't be in, like. I don't know, it felt like such a, like, luxury niche surgery, only in Hollywood type issue. At first, I just had this, like, now this, you know, I mean, like. And like, what? Like. And I stopped and I said, chelsea, you have had this response specifically to Brooke Shields before when she takes something to the news. I'm serious. Like, postpartum health and meds and things like that, where the style in which it's presented. I was initially. And I think some people initially, you're like. And then you look deeper, and she's saying something really important and really beautiful. And that's what. How. That's how I found her book, where I'm like, some stuff was, like, little off, but the heart of it is so important. I said, set your damn judgment aside. I read the article, and I was like, holy shit, this is a real fucking problem. It speaks to all the memoirs where they would give birth and they would wake up and they'd be like, surprise, we gave you a hysterectomy. Or, surprise, we tied your tubes. All these decisions made without women. And I think specifically the vaginal tightening one feels so rough because it inherently gives you the message that your Vagina was shitty the previous years. So now you have that shame. Then you have, like, I didn't fucking ask for this. You did it without my consent. Now you have that shame. And then your physical body has been altered without your knowing, and now you have that shame. And I just left the article, like, ragingly angry. And the idea that tighter vaginas, it's basically virginity. It's being childlike that child, female, young virgins are somehow the societal goal. And, like, we all agree on it. Like, no.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah. It's also for somebody else's pleasure. Right, Exactly. I mean, it's not necessarily for her pleasure. If it was, it was something that she would intentionally seek out. Right. And. And so even the way the doctor sold it to her is like, hey, you got, like, a little bonus treatment. And it's like, well, this bonus treatment could have completely different ramifications for her sexual health. Her recovery from the surgery. You know, initially she went in because she was having discomfort with her labia.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah.

[Christina Lopez]

And that was the issue. And to come out and, like, have internal surgery done to you, that's a whole different recovery. For her physician to make this decision, the surgeon to make this decision. It clearly wasn't designed or thought out to be for her benefit, ultimately.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah. And also, like, you had plenty of meetings with this woman. Did you get off on doing it while she was, like, under? Like, this isn't.

[Christina Lopez]

I bet he probably was like, I gave Brooke Shields vagina a little tightening up. And that was the ego of it all.

[Chelsea Devontez]

And it's so disgusting, too.

[Christina Lopez]

If we were coming at this honestly, we would be talking about, like, pelvic floor health and making sure, like, women were, you know, doing their kegels or other aspects of, you know, public for help that, like, I know a lot of physical therapists also help women with, you know, but to come at it with that approach of, like, fixing it all away for someone who isn't complaining about it as an issue in the first place is really disturbing.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah, I completely agree. And I guess last thing I'll say is, I've always known, like, women can do Kegels and pelvic floor health. So can guys. Why don't we have teenage YA books about the dudes Kegeling to make their better pelvic floor health. Whatever. And then the other thing is that I learned from my God sister, then I swear to God, you guys will move on. It will stop being like, a public health podcast. But, like, how big do you think the clitoris is?

[Christina Lopez]

Oh, well, I know For a fact that it's larger than, you know, the main area that people tend to focus on.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah, it is a full, like, basketball player's hand. It's huge. It's massive, and it is, like, there's so much, like, underneath, you know, it's pretty easy to Google something I've never heard about. So I just. I just hate all this, like, misinformation, and I'm very happy that Brooke Shields once again, had the courage to speak out against something that is, like, pretty. Could be seen as cringe, even by her fellow lady. Okay, I need a little palette cleanser. So actually, I just want to say, in the past 24 hours, we're recording this on Friday, January 24th, there have been three memoir announcements that all gave me the shutters. Sheena Shay has her memoir coming out, and in her interview, clip about it was like, it starts from before birth. It tells the story of how my parents met. Boo. I mean, I hope you did a good job, but maybe.

[Christina Lopez]

Oh, is she also doing a family memoir? Is that where we're going?

[Chelsea Devontez]

I'm like, huh. All right. And then Lucas Gage.

[Christina Lopez]

Mm.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Who is for anyone who doesn't. So he was in White Lotus. He's an actor. He also went viral for the director of a pilot on Zoom, talking shit about how poor his apartment was. You know, those auditions are recorded. So then I think he released the clip. These poor people live in these tiny apartments. Like, I'm looking at his, you know.

[Christina Lopez]

Background, and he's got his tv, and.

[Chelsea Devontez]

You know, I know it's a shitty apartment. That's why give me this job so.

[Christina Lopez]

I can get a better one.

[Chelsea Devontez]

All right? Oh, my God. I'm so, so sorry. No, it's totally. Listen, I'm living in a. I'm living in a 4x4 box. It's fine. Just give me the job and we'll be fine. He also married Kim Kardashian's hair stylist. Very briefly on the Kardashians. He has a memoir coming out, and the tagline is, I did this for attention. Which, honestly, hilarious. Okay. Just those two. What's, like, initial hit of if they make it on the podcast. What do you think?

[Christina Lopez]

Oh, well, the Lucas Gage one is fairly interesting, I think, because, like, what was going on there with the marriage to Kim Kardashian's hairdresser? But that one fell apart pretty quickly and pretty publicly.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah, it was all for pr, but.

[Christina Lopez]

Also that kind of background of, like, being an actor but not a marquee name per se. It might reveal some things. I don't know.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah. Yeah. I wonder. And Sheena, I. I just kind of feel like an overload of, like, I don't know what is going to be in Sheena's memoir that I don't know already. But, yeah, I'd have to, like, give it a scam. And then the last one is Eladia Baldwin or Hilaria Baldwin, really, depending on your take on her. Yeah, I can't. I. I truly cannot believe that. I cannot believe this. The only thing I can think is that the reality show they've been rumored to be doing has failed or this is a way to help launch it.

[Christina Lopez]

Listen, even if it has failed or even if it's successful, they still have seven mouths to feed. And so they will need every outlet they can to be able to provide life for those seven children.

[Chelsea Devontez]

I. Yeah. And listen, I don't know. I don't know how money works. I need to learn. It's on my agenda. But that man has had a massive, massive, long standing career. Is there really not enough money in the bank that they have to do this? Like, maybe his legal fees with the trial and maybe the level of life they want to live where they're like, well, we need a $60,000 a month life, then. Okay, I guess you have to have a reality show. But I kind of think it's not for the money. I think it's. I think neither of them can access any reason to live beyond clout.

[Christina Lopez]

That's absolutely true. I mean, I think she's been trying to make herself into a public figure for a while now, whether it was through her cooking or. Or through this reality show.

[Chelsea Devontez]

But what I think is, like. And I want to be, like, hilarious. You had one of the biggest cancelings for the most egregious, shoddy chop job of. I don't even know what to call it. Of a cosplay spanning a decade. If all you care about is clout. Like, you really didn't work that canceling correctly.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah.

[Chelsea Devontez]

It seems like she actually wants to be like, no, really, you guys? I'm a good mom. Can I tell you how to be a good mom? Which is different from I want to be famous. I'll sell anything out for money. Like, the book is like, how to be a mom. And it's like, oh, you definitely don't know how to do that. Like, why is that with the. Like, the book should be about, like, how to be a bitch and be.

[Christina Lopez]

Wrong and continue how to pretend to be Spanish.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yes. How do you say, how do you say my husband do manslaughter? Yes. We need money. My family needs money. My family needs money.

[Christina Lopez]

I think it's also, and we see this a lot with memoirs of setting the public record on my own terms.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah, yeah.

[Christina Lopez]

And I wonder how much of it is, yes, I am a Spaniard, you.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Know, but she's already said like, no, I'm not. No, I don't. I think given the New York Times profile when that broke and the information she gave over, my guess is that there is 0% about her fraudulent behavior and there is 100% on why yoga is good for a 4 year old. That'd be my guess. And like, filled with some quotes from Abraham Lincoln. Being like, when people, hey, journey onward, Abraham Lincoln. And she'll like, this really inspired me.

[Christina Lopez]

Oh, my gosh. If there is an Abraham Lincoln quote in the book, I have to drink myself into oblivion. Right. Because that's the biggest drink.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Oh, I was going to say. Then it has to come. Okay, so. So what's our feeling? Does it come on the podcast?

[Christina Lopez]

Maybe we wait and see. And like, who would be the perfect guest to sort of do that one?

[Chelsea Devontez]

Well, that one has to be our monster memoir correspondent.

[Christina Lopez]

Oh, yes, of course.

[Chelsea Devontez]

I mean that. I mean, this is the biggest monster of all.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Sheena Shay. I feel like we would need. We'd gotta get Ronnie and Ben on, y'all.

[Christina Lopez]

That'd be great. Yeah.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Here's the thing, y'all. If you feel strongly that we should bring these on the podcast, make sure you say something in our Patreon comments. We listen to the listeners. So if you want these books, say something because, I don't know, they're kind of giving me the bomb.

[Christina Lopez]

I do. When we do our episode planning, I recently came up with the term memoirs.

[Chelsea Devontez]

A memoir.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah. So it might be a memoir that we either decide to skip or cover and find the. The fun in it that way.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Now I want to do it, Christina. I want to do a trio of mehmoirs. Me H Dash Moir. Copyright tm. Glamorous trash. Yeah, Christina, that's genius. And now they're all coming on the podcast. Okay, wait, let's talk about Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively's court case. How closely have you been following this?

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah, so it actually makes me a little bit nervous to talk about it because I haven't been following it super close. I haven't read the full filings of either of them. I occasionally get served videos in my like for you page or on my Instagram about the case. And people have taken like both sides, like wildly embedded deeply within both sides and feel so strongly about them. And it is just interesting to see how the press is being leveraged to form the popular opinion. And obviously I think the latest that I saw was Blake Lively's lawyer is going for a gag order against Justin's lawyer because of that, because of how much he's been leveraging the press, this case. One could argue they've also equally, or at least have dabbled in leveraging the press for their advantage as well.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Absolutely.

[Christina Lopez]

But I mean, that's what legal cases and the court of public opinion is kind of fought on, so it's hard to judge that. But yeah, I'm curious what your thoughts are. Obviously the cookies also feel a very strong way. There's been a couple of chats coming up every time a new news item is posted. So I'm very curious.

[Chelsea Devontez]

I'm in deep. So there's some cookie lawyers in the chat, a bunch of them. But I want to shout out Chris and Nicole because every time something drops. Chris and Nicole and I are in the Patreon. They're lawyers. I have read the full filings front to back, like it was the best book of the year, to be honest. I am in so deep, I could probably host an eight episode series on this. I won't.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah.

[Chelsea Devontez]

But I've kind of come away with like, well, right now at least, and it changes often. I have sort of like three big points I feel about it. I'm curious how you feel. One is that we absolutely cannot be taking sides yet because the court case hasn't begun.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah, I feel really strongly about that too.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah. And I think extremely importantly, at least right now when we're recording, Justin and his lawyer have dropped a bunch of evidence refuting rebuking the sexual harassment claims. And to be honest, having read it, it's pretty convincing. But we have to remember Blake hasn't been deposed, she hasn't dropped her evidence. So. So that's just not in the sphere yet. The other thing I've been thinking about a lot is that this case should really be in two parts because there is. What is criminally at play is. Was there sexual harassment on set?

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Then in responding to that, it's defamation. Did she lie about sexual harassment? And then the actual court case that most people have been discussing is not criminal in any way, which is just how did these two fuck with each other? Via pr?

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Which is what? That is the part I find myself most fascinated with this summer, when all the anti Blake press came out, I flagged, like, this feels like off. And I really flagged that because I was reading his interviews where he was actually talking about domestic violence and talking about these things, and something felt off with me in those. It felt like someone being a master of a subject they don't understand to me personally. So I was like, red flag for me. What I think I'm angriest about is having a brand about being an ally and, like, doing TED talks and, you know, picking a domestic violence movie and being an ally. And I thought to myself, like, if his brand hadn't been a male feminist ally, would I feel differently about how things are unfolding? And I realized the answer is yes. Is that weird?

[Christina Lopez]

I think it's fair.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Okay. Okay, good. I. I mean, the thing is, is that it doesn't change the specifics of what happened or did not happen, but to me, it changes the degree of which I have rage for you. And I just think there's a lot of red flags about his, like, male feminist brand before any of this ever happened. But then, you know, they come out and they drop this, like, seven minutes film of these three takes on set. Did you see this? So in Us Weekly, his lawyer was like, here is seven minutes of the three takes where Blake alleged that he had sexually harassed her by, like, dragging his lips along her face and telling her that she smelled good.

[Christina Lopez]

I have seen people dissect this on TikTok like it's the Zapruder film. Like, it's, like, back and to the left and, like, analyzing. And the different takes that people have from it, too. What are they of whether, like, some people think that she was enamored by Justin, and you can see the moment he says cut that his entire demeanor changes, and he's not in character anymore, but she's still in character. And then some people saying that she's very clearly uncomfortable in a way that a lot of other people might not be seeing. And I. You know, it is. Sometimes people don't react the way you do to a situation. And so what looks like me being uncomfortable is very different than, like, what Blake Lively might look like when she's uncomfortable. And whether she was pulling away from him, even subtly, or, you know, the way that he's touching her face. But she touched his face first.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah.

[Christina Lopez]

How any of that is at play. And there's also. So I know that TMZ released an excerpt of it, but that there's. I. I had heard that there was 10 minutes yeah. Of footage that he had given.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah.

[Christina Lopez]

And so I don't. Wasn't sure if the full 10 minutes was available anywhere to watch uncut, because there are, of course, moments that you can cherry pick out, like. But the way that TMZ video did and circulated.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah.

[Christina Lopez]

That lack that context.

[Chelsea Devontez]

I think I watched the whole thing, and a few things really struck me. And again, not, like, most of what I'm about to say, like, isn't part of a criminal proceeding. Like, I really think people are fighting a case that, like, doesn't exist, like, in the terms of sexual harassment. The video I saw, like, if I was a judge, I'd be like, that is not sexual harassment. Also, before that, she has been like, oh, your nose is hitting my face. I think you need to take a month of insurance and get your nose fixed.

[Christina Lopez]

Also, Jenny Slate catching astray from Justin.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah. And he's like, yeah, that's why we cast Jenny. Our noses match. You know, but it was like, that's. That was actually the rudest thing that happened in that. You know, again, not illegal, but rude.

[Christina Lopez]

It goes back to that thing of needing the perfect victim. Right.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah.

[Christina Lopez]

And Blake could be someone who makes distasteful jokes, like what she did with Justin. And someone can be both sort of unkind or not sort of a mean girl or whatever. These clips or these assumptions people are making about Blake. Also the whole plantation wedding thing, the whole Antebellum preservation brand. And, like, all these things can be true. She can be a person who, like, has some distasteful qualities to her, but that still doesn't mean that she's not a victim of sexual harassment. If the law finds that to be true, at the end of the day.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah, I completely agree. That's what I've been thinking about a lot. And that is what has made me most judgmental and angry at him and his camp, which is that Blake Lively does have a lot of tangible, unlikable qualities. Some could say rude. Some could say casually racist. You could also say actually racist. You know, there's the plantation stuff. There's the Antebellum magazine. There's now a video of her talking about doing blackface. And even weirder is that her logic is, Justin Long is like, you're not a geek. And she's like, no, I am a geek. One time I stalked a guy and did blackface. And you're so. It's like, okay, well, the logic that you're a geek, that doesn't track. And also, I'm sorry, what? So There's a lot. A lot on her end that she has done. But, you know, not only do you have to be likable in order for the public to value you and take you seriously, but what has been really frustrating to me from the start, in the way he won in the press, us, was because people fucking love to hate a woman. Love to hate a woman way more than they love to hate a man. So it was an instant win. And I think when your brand is like, I'm an ally, you do know already know that you already talk about that. It's part of your brand, it's part of your TED Talk. And so then to, like, weaponize. Well, people are going to love to tear this woman down. Just seems insane to me. The point I'm at now and again, we just have to see how this happens is if she wasn't sexually harassed and she wielded that accusation for her power and gain, that'll be monstrous.

[Christina Lopez]

Yes.

[Chelsea Devontez]

And that is like, to the one claim where we've now seen video footage of it happening, that is categorically not sexual harassment. And again, her evidence hasn't been presented. So I'm reserving judgment to pivot a little bit. The other really specific thing from that footage that got me, Christina, is that did you notice that it is a scene being shot in slow mo? So for anyone listening, when you shoot in a certain frame rate, it creates really beautiful slow motion footage. Then she's like, I think we should be talking. I think we should be talking. In what world would talking show up beautifully in slow mo? Like, it only looks comedic. It looks ridiculous. It ruins a slow mo shot. Like, it'll play comedically. And she keeps insisting on talking, and he keeps trying to get her to not talk, and till finally he's like, why don't you direct the next one?

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah. I had seen people say that she was using that as a tactic to get distance from him touching her.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah, it's. That's why it's so nuanced where it's like, if you feel like you need distant from someone who you are scripted. Supposed to be falling in love with and kissing it. It's like, I don't. I don't know how you do that.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah, I mean, that's where the intimacy coordinator would come in. Right. And you negotiate those things.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Okay. But she refused to meet with the intimacy coordinator. Did you see that?

[Christina Lopez]

Yes, I think I saw something in her claims.

[Chelsea Devontez]

She's like, there must be an intimacy coordinator present on set. As if there wasn't one when previously Justin had one, and she was like, I don't want to meet with them.

[Christina Lopez]

Did she respond to that or no?

[Chelsea Devontez]

So that's the thing. She hasn't responded to that. And so that's where it's like, okay, if she's using that as a tactic to get away, I get it. But it's like, but then why have we refused the intimacy coordinator? It's just really complicated. And again, I. I'm. You know, right now we're reading all his stuff, and I think the last thing I want to say is that I don't think his lawyers do it a great job. What do you think?

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah, I mean, seeing him on interviews, he definitely doesn't come off with the authority. I would expect somebody who was, like, such a heavy case would have, like, you're not trying to get zingers in or whatever it is. Like, maybe he's trying to make a name for himself or something. It is a more public figure or what.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah. But it's like, this is not the talking head you want. It's seems like he and the PR people kind of decided to lead with two anecdotes. First one being that Blake had him put in the basement on the premiere.

[Christina Lopez]

Mm.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Which if he sexually harassed her, you're like, then that would make sense. So I just. Legally, I don't understand how that's helping your argument. And then the other one they led with was Ryan Reynolds made fun of him in Deadpool, which no one was aware of, so it makes it worse for him. And then on top of that, his legal argument was, if he really sexually harassed your wife, you wouldn't make fun of that in a movie. To which I say, yes, you would. Of course you would. So. So again, like, the. Even the layman's logic of, like, so legally, it makes no sense. I'm going to read a text message from Blake that was in the filing where I was like, if you wanted to go and do a talking point, why would you not lead with this? And secondly, he did that talking point on, like, Megyn Kelly's digital show. And I'm like, I don't think that's.

[Christina Lopez]

What she has now, of course, because she's horrible.

[Chelsea Devontez]

And it's like, I don't know. No one else would interview you. This is a text message from Blake to Justin.

[Christina Lopez]

And this is from Justin's filing.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yes, from Justin's filing.

[Christina Lopez]

And we know for sure, because that was the big thing was, like, Blake had deleted some texts from those screenshots or they were omitted or something like that.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah, this isn't one of those. This is a text message from her to him that the lawyer is attempting to prove that she was coercing the movie away from him. And the sexual harassment claims are all a long ploy to seek power. And that she. She just wanted the movie. It's too long. So let me recap it. Blake has asked if she can take a pass at some scenes in the script, which, again, not thinking specifically of either of them. If I have directed a movie that someone else wrote and the actor wanted to rewrite the scenes, that's like, she's.

[Christina Lopez]

An executive producer on it as well, though.

[Chelsea Devontez]

That is not. That is not what an executive producer does at all. No way. No.

[Christina Lopez]

She doesn't have the power or the authority to do that as an executive.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Not only that, they are currently in a strike. You are scabbing. A writer has to rewrite a scene.

[Christina Lopez]

That was the thing with Ryan, too, right? Is that he rewrote a scene allegedly during the strike.

[Chelsea Devontez]

And that's what's going to tie into. To this message because. And let's just take scabbing aside. It is still pretty wild that, like, someone who was acting in a role would completely take the FDX file and do a pass. You would get on set, you would talk things through. You would bring the writer in. You could collaborate. But, like, hello, I'm gonna be the writer now. I'm signed onto the movie. I like the movie. Let's film the movie. We film tomorrow. I'm gonna write the script now. It's like, okay, wait, wait. The time for you to be like, I am a writer on this movie, and I'm gonna take a pass. Like, we're not in that place anymore. It's a collaboration. Like, you don't just take a script that's already been prepped to shoot the next day and rewrite. Messes up. Everyone on the crew. They've all prepped a certain script. Okay, again, I'm going to recap this. She's like, hey, can I take a pass on the script? And Justin is in a place where he's like, yeah, here you go. Here's the script. And she sends it back to him, and he's like, thank you so much. Really appreciate your passion. The final script is probably going to be some blend of your. Right. You know, what you have written and what the writer has written. And then she writes him a message that is five paragraphs long that says, and it's redacted, but it's pretty clearly like, Ryan Reynolds, Taylor Swift, and Hugh Jackman are the greatest creative gifts in my life, and they are the first people I go to for everything. And I'm the first people they go to for everything. And when those people said those pages were amazing, I felt good to send it to you. Then they were asking me, what does Justin think? What does Justin think? I swear, they're asking me, like, every day, like, what did Justin think of your amazing pages? They were all really upset with you for saying you appreciated my passion, but didn't specifically say anything about my contribution or, like, anything about my skill set. And none of them liked your responses. And all of them are really talented. And then she ends it with, if you ever get around to watching Game of Thrones, you'll appreciate that I'm Khaleesi, and like her, I happen to have a few dragons, for better or worse, but usually for better, because my dragons also protect those I fight for. So really, we all benefit from those gorgeous monsters of mine. Maybe like, a smiley heart face. You will, too. I can promise you.

[Christina Lopez]

Oh, my gosh. Can we not compare women to Khaleesi from Game of Thrones? Because that actually ended really poorly for her.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah, she, like, fully became a Nazi.

[Christina Lopez]

I mean, really, at the end of.

[Chelsea Devontez]

It, it's like, all Nazi mapping. I'm in a weird place with this in that, like, I still stand by my initial feelings of, like, something is amiss here. To what degrees? Obviously, like, that's going to unfold. I think the last thing I'll say is that having read 400 pages of legal filings, it is clear we're really missing something. I don't know what it is. Between them wrapping before the strikes and them coming back and her wanting to see what has been edited during the strike, I think something massive has happened that neither of them have come forward with yet. I don't know.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah, I. I hope we find out. Like, there's information that still needs to come out. There's information that still needs to come through either interview or cross examination or discovery or any of that that will give a more holistic picture than what these filings have kind of laid out for us.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah, that's right. That's right. So just wait for the evidence. Both sides have to show their evidence before it can continue. That being said, we went from Gwyneth Paltrow ski trial fun to some of the darkest trial content as pop culture fodder. Okay, let's pivot a little bit. I just want to Recommend a book called Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll. I've not been able to read fiction as of late. And I loved this. Loved it. I already knew I loved her. She's in my acknowledgments. I don't know her. She's just. Her art has really impacted me. And this book, if I knew what it was about, I wouldn't have picked it up.

[Christina Lopez]

Oh, interesting.

[Chelsea Devontez]

And halfway through the book I was like, you know, I just thought it was pure fiction, but halfway through the book I was like, wait, this is based in reality and it's based around the Ted Bundy murders.

[Christina Lopez]

Oh, wow.

[Chelsea Devontez]

And I'm not really into true crime and I don't need to hear about Ted Bundy murdering a bunch of women, so I wouldn't have picked it up. It is incredible. It's incredible.

[Christina Lopez]

Wow.

[Chelsea Devontez]

It's what I hope. Like, this podcast is like, where it's like, oh, in the sense where it's like, it's the Ted Bundy murders, but it's really not. It's about so much more. And then for us, it's like it's about celebrity memoirs. Okay, it is, but it's like, it's really about so much more. So highly recommend.

[Christina Lopez]

I love that you're getting into your fiction era.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah, I'm only kind of three books in, so I don't know if I'm in an era yet. I don't know if I have a leg of the tour of the Taylor Swift fiction tour yet.

[Christina Lopez]

I think much like serial killers, after three, you do become. It does become an era.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Well, then I'm in mine. Well, then I am in mine. Okay, let's talk about some documentaries. Okay. Did you see of these three documentaries, the Jerry Springer documentary, the Lisa Frank documentary, or the new HBO Max documentary titled An Update on Our Family? Only two episodes are out so far.

[Christina Lopez]

So I haven't seen. I was going to try to watch at least some of these, at least Lisa Frank, but I ran out of time. So, no, I haven't seen any of those three. But I am curious. So, yeah, lay it on me.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Okay, I'll give you my ratings. The Lisa Frank one, I would say was solidly interesting.

[Christina Lopez]

Okay, great.

[Chelsea Devontez]

It is not good, but it was interesting and I'm glad I watched it.

[Christina Lopez]

I had heard some things about the sun being a little bit resentful of his mother, Lisa Frank, in a way that is not equivalent to how maybe he should be viewing his father as well.

[Chelsea Devontez]

It is a horrifically off putting part of the documentary. And again, a part that is so interesting, which is that it is a divorce where the oldest son, whose name is Hunter Green. Okay, so let's take that in. And the youngest son is named Forrest Green. Now, Forest went with Lisa the moment Hunter went with the dad. And the dad is so, so stepdad energy on high to the nth degree.

[Christina Lopez]

I can't believe they parent trapped these kids.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah, it's pretty wild. And the son is like, I love my dad more than I love myself. Like, I would die for my dad. My dad's the best. Like, there's a lot of really deep, sad stuff going on. And I think, like, there's a lot of good points made about the dad actually being, like, kind of the core part of this brand and why it was successful, but also, it wouldn't have been without her. So. Okay. I immediately went to both their Instagrams. His Instagram is like, I am the man behind Lisa Frank. And then every, like, screen grab is, like, him playing guitar. And I was like, oh, okay. And then it was like, kind of same with the son. The son is like, here's my prank video. I hate My mom's a bitch. And you know what? She really might be given the documentary, but no one's in a good place. She does sound pretty wicked. That being said, the last episode is kind of like the equivalent of pseudoscience with like. Like, gossip, where it just doesn't have a real ending.

[Christina Lopez]

Okay, so the director is a woman named Ariana Le Pen. I want to say.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Interesting. Okay, that's. That one Jerry Springer documentary was kind of a boring waste of time for me. It skipped the most interesting part of Jerry Springer, which is that he was a dedicated politician with a lot of really great, beautiful ideas. Who paid for two sex workers with a check? A personal check, which is. I don't know, bro. Dumbest thing you could do.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah.

[Chelsea Devontez]

So then he either he. I think he resigns or whatever, right? And then he owns it. He's like, yeah, I pay for sex workers. I guess I shouldn't have used a check. Runs again and wins, and everyone's like, jerry, Jerry. And then it kind of snowballs from there to a place where he would be the type of person who would be hosting this show. But, yeah, once I skipped that, I was like, I don't. There's nothing the show can give me.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah, maybe just revisit our Jenny Jones episode.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah, good point. Okay. And then an update on our family on hbo. Max, only two episodes are out. I cannot get. I can't Look Away. It is about an influencer named Micah Stauffer. It's a Stauffer family who adopted a baby boy from China.

[Christina Lopez]

Yes, I remember this.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah. And they really monetized it and it was a big part of their platform. And then they gave him away. And you know how much I care about adoption stories and donor conceived stories. And so far, the documentary has done a really good job of centering adoptee voices.

[Christina Lopez]

Okay.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Because I think where it was easy for Micah to go wrong is that all of the content, adoption mostly historically has been like white savior ladies saving these poor children, which I think that's everything Micah took in, and then she went and did it herself. And it's really nice that the documentary is, like, showing all the things that were missed in this story and in many adoption stories.

[Christina Lopez]

Okay, well, I would love to hear how, like, when it concludes, if you would still recommend it.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah.

[Christina Lopez]

So I might check it out. But, yeah, it's a fascinating and sad story for sure.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah. Yeah. Okay, we're gonna take a quick break right now, and we'll be right back.

[Christina Lopez]

Welcome to Nadia Yada island, next on.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Metro's Nadia Yada island podcast.

[Christina Lopez]

I almost fainted when the four new bombshells arrived.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Four free Samsung Galaxy A16 5G phones at Metro.

[Christina Lopez]

No way. And finding out the fourth line is free.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Thanks.

[Christina Lopez]

God. Heated.

[Chelsea Devontez]

That's wild. Join Metro and get four free Samsung.

[Christina Lopez]

5G phones only at Metro plus tax.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Bring four numbers and an ID and sign up for any Metro Flex plan not available currently at T Mobile or available with Metro in the past 180 days. Okay, let's dive back into the episode. Okay. Oscar Noms. I knew. I knew that would be your reaction. What are your thoughts and feelings?

[Christina Lopez]

Well, I'm so glad I don't have to wake up at 4am to make that list for whatever website I was working on at the time.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah. Wait, tell people your. Your past job.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah. So I used to work as an entertainment digital journalist for abc, the local ABC affiliate here in Los Angeles. But before that, I also worked red carpets. So I used to go to, like, the SAG Awards and have to ask Sandra Bullock to maybe, like, get out of the way so I can leave.

[Chelsea Devontez]

An honor a dream.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah. She's like, am I blocking the door for you, sweetheart? And she touched my shoulder and I felt something.

[Chelsea Devontez]

I feel. I'm feeling it through you.

[Christina Lopez]

I love her. She was great. And this was like when she was still married to Jessie James.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Oh.

[Christina Lopez]

Oh, yeah.

[Chelsea Devontez]

You said stop. Come back. Let me Save you.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah, I know. I wish. There's so many things I wish I could go back in that moment and say. So I'm glad that, like, I don't have to do that anymore. Me aside, these were some weird nominations. And I'm particularly surprised, and I said this in the Patreon chat, that Emilia Perez got so many nominations. And I think it's in part I was doing some research before we hopped on here. The makeup of the Academy has changed in the last couple years in attempts to diversify the Academy, but it also means that they've let in more international voters.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Okay.

[Christina Lopez]

And so that, to me, is sort of the impact we're seeing here with Emilia Perez getting as many nominations maybe as much as they have.

[Chelsea Devontez]

I don't know what happened with the Golden Globes because they had a ton of nominations there as well.

[Christina Lopez]

Okay. So the Globes are completely different voting body than the Academy. The Academy is people who have previously won or are established in the industry. They're usually voted on by your peers. So actors are voting on the categories. There are also, like, people who work in lighting, sound design. They're voting in the categories historically, and it might have changed in the last two years, but the voting body of the Golden Globes has largely been made up of international journalists. And so you're not having artists, peers vote on these categories. You're having international journalists who, you know, and people. And that's also the reason why over the years, the Globe's winners and nominees have diverged so far from the other nominees, like sag, which is also a peer voting block, and the Directors Guild, which is also like directors voting for directors and stuff like that.

[Chelsea Devontez]

But then how did you know? I'm saying with two entirely different voting bodies, this film that has really not been popular in the popular zeitgeist in the mass market, like, of, I don't know, majority people. How did it get so many awards in both nominations?

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah, I can't explain it. I think it is maybe like the crash effect, where it's this movie that seems to be talking about things that are happening in the Zeitgeist in a way that is palatable for white audience to feel like they're maybe doing something or that it's game changing because they're being exposed to it, when in reality, the communities that are being characterized in this media are excluded and alienated from the creative process.

[Chelsea Devontez]

And also, you're talking about, like, transgender creators and Mexican.

[Christina Lopez]

Yes, exactly. And the film was written and directed by Jacques Odillard. Who is French. He doesn't even speak Spanish. And when the New York Times asked him if he'd studied Mexico to make the film, he said, quote, I didn't study much. A lot of the cast isn't of Mexican descent. And so to have this French outsider, and even from linguistically, like, the way that the characters, the dialogue is structured, it is alienating to people who are of Mexican descent, Latino descent. And film critics from the trans community have reviewed the film and said it was offensive to their community as well. Ultimately, it's like, not only did you not involve these people, but it's a bad job. Terrible.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah, I. What. The Crash comparison is interesting because I feel like crash was a 101hallmark racism with the incorrect answers that the majority of white people would love. And they're like, yeah, we love this. I feel like Amelia Perez is, like, pretty alienating as a film to reach people. Does that make sense? Like, Crash felt like it. Like it was for, like, I don't know, a second grader, whereas Amelia Perez feels like it's pretty inaccessible. Unless you, like, really can watch not only a musical, but if you're an English speaker, something in subtitles. You know what I mean?

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah. I just don't know because I feel like I'm so mired in what the online dialogue about this film has. Has been that I don't necessarily know or have tapped into what maybe international viewers of the piece think of it.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah, no, yeah, good point. Okay, what? Did. Did you watch it?

[Christina Lopez]

Yes.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Did you personally like it?

[Christina Lopez]

I didn't like it. Like, I. I didn't think it was good, even from a musical standpoint. Like, the music wasn't good.

[Chelsea Devontez]

I want to know it all. What is the protocol, the techniques and the risks?

[Christina Lopez]

How many operations? How much time do you need?

[Chelsea Devontez]

Mammoplasty? Yes. Vaginoplasty? Yes. Oh, the music was like theater.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah. And so much of the portrayals felt so tokenized to me.

[Chelsea Devontez]

I made it three minutes in. It gave me a jump scare, because reading what it was about, I was like. I had messaged a friend. I was like, let's go see this in theater. Like a month musical. A journalist, you know, this. This criminal who wants to live as a trans woman. Like, oh, my gosh, yes, I gotta go see, this is for me. And I didn't make it. And I pressed play at home, like, at night. And I was so not ready for what that film was, because it was a type of musical that is, like, the songs are, like, talking, talking. We are Talking, talking, talking, talking, talking, talking, talking, talking. And I was like, theater school, theater school. So I didn't make it very far, so I can't really discuss it. I was really happy that Sebastian Stan got nominated for the Apprentice given how ostracized that film has been since Trump won.

[Christina Lopez]

I am actually maybe even more excited to see Kieran Culkin go up against Jeremy Strong in a war after playing brothers in succession.

[Chelsea Devontez]

I love. I. I love Kieran Culkin, man. His little sticker arm jewelry, his rings.

[Christina Lopez]

I'm also really excited for Colman Domingo to potentially maybe win something for the first time. You know, he's making records, even just being nominated. He's making history, being, like, an open black Latino performer. So I'm like, I want to drive that home because sing sing also was a really powerful film, and I think more people need to see it. So go check out sing sing. And I think that performance deserves to be awarded.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah. And I am excited for Coleman, Jeremy Strong and Kieran Culkin's fashion come.

[Christina Lopez]

Absolutely.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Imagine the weird velvet capes and tattooed hands. We're gonn. I'm thrilled. Yeah, it's a weird Oscar nominations. Normally I find myself more invested and excited, and I feel like the fact that I'm not is actually the headline, which is like, I think I need to see more of the films, too.

[Christina Lopez]

I really walked out of Wicked thinking that they had so many of these in the bag, too, so many of these awards in the bag. And it's been a little jarring to see it not be as an easy of a win for someone like Cynthia Erivo, who I thought, like, that has been shocking me.

[Chelsea Devontez]

I'm like, it doesn't even feel like she's going to win, and that's crazy.

[Christina Lopez]

And that should have been a slam dunk for her. I don't know. Like.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah. Although Demi Moore's Golden Globe speech was incredible. It was. It was just. Oh, I want to say, what.

[Christina Lopez]

What do you think? I think it's gonna be the Jamie Lee Curtis thing where it's like, yes, her performance in that film was good. Was it better than the amount of things Cynthia Erivo needed to accomplish to be able to execute her role? Absolutely not. But I think the academy is going to be like, we have this person who's technically like, Hollywood royalty or Hollywood legend, and we need to be able to acknowledge them as a figure rather for this individual piece of work against other individual pieces of work because, like, Jamie Lee Curtis, I really thought Stephanie Hsu should have won the best supporting actress category. Just because, like, her role was Meteor. She had more emotional range that she had to cover. And, like, I think Jamie Lee Curtis is a great actress, but I don't necessarily think that role merited the sort of range that she needed to display to actually, like, be awarded for that. Yeah, to get that award.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah. No, I hear that. I hear that. And, yeah, I hope Cynthia wins. I did. I still loved Demi's speech. And I have to say, every time there's an award show, the. The Patreon says. We have a chat thread in the Patreon. And the past few ones, you and I had started it where we were like, okay, we're watching the award show. It started. And for this one, I was. I was going over to the Patreon. I was like, oh, I gotta start the thread. I think Lauren. Maybe Lauren V. I'm unsure. Had already started it. It was already going. It's my. It's the best. It is so fun to watch an awards show with, like, I don't know. I can't quantify it. Hundreds of other cookies talking.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah, it happened. It captures the feeling I used to have when doing it on Twitter. But now Twitter has become like a sinkhole. And so, like, now we have good vibes. Curated live reaction area. So if you want to talk to somebody, you're like, I have no one to share this with. Come to the Patre. These people are sharing takes on best looks. We're. We're getting reactions to what the host is doing and whether or not they're funny. We're getting reactions to people's wins and their speeches. So it's. It's like. It's a fun place to discuss it.

[Chelsea Devontez]

That is exactly. I was like, why do I love this so much? And it's because it has the fleeting nature that Twitter used to have, where it's like. It's just. You know, it's just thoughts you don't have to hold on to. It doesn't have to be perfect. There's people being like, ooh, fun. Other people like, not for me. It just goes by. It's a curated space that doesn't exist anymore on open platforms like Twitter. Okay, Christina, what did you get? Dlo for her birthday?

[Christina Lopez]

So my mom's birthday was on January 18th, the day before Dolly. So Queen. And for her birthday, I got her a Pedro Pascal calendar.

[Chelsea Devontez]

That's hot.

[Christina Lopez]

And I will link to it in the show notes if you want to get your own Pedro Pascal calendar. But she's already hung it up on the fridge.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Is this, like, Pedro Pascal put this together or is this, like, a fan being like, here's 12 hot photos?

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah, it's definitely a fan. I got it from, like, a random Etsy, and I was like. And I went through and tried to find that one because there's a variety of Pedro Pascal calendars. So I tried to find the ones that were sexy but still tasteful.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Sexy but still tasteful for dlo. That's right. And what was her reaction?

[Christina Lopez]

Oh, she loved it. She sent me a GIF reaction and a picture of it hung up on the fridge. And yeah, she's like, I'm looking forward to April. I'm looking forward to March. She loves a mustachioed Latino man.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah.

[Christina Lopez]

Oh, yeah, my dad, Jimmy Smits. Pedro Pascal.

[Chelsea Devontez]

She's in.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah, the guy from Will Trent.

[Chelsea Devontez]

The guy from Wilt. That is exactly his name, because. Yeah, I don't. I know exactly who you're talking about now, but I don't. I can't. I couldn't give you a first name.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah, sorry. Sorry to that, man.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Or. Or. You're welcome, hot man. Okay, let's talk about this can. It's not even a month we've lived through. It's like two weeks, maybe.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah, I think we're on the third week, technically. Yeah.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Okay. So Christine and I and everyone except for our sound engineer, Marcus. What's up? We all live in Los Angeles, and the fires here have been so devastating. And to put it in context, just one of the fires, the Palisades, burned two and a half Manhattans. So LA is a lot more spread out, population is a lot bigger. So that is how many people and homes and acres that this fire affected. There was also a fire in Altadena, which I don't have. I don't have an exact Manhattan comparison, but it was huge. It was massive. It was the same type of destruction, and there were three other fires at one point, and it was so intense. I am back to a place where, like, I. I can get on this podcast and record a podcast with you. But definitely, I have been feeling a really low capacity basically every day. I have been like, what is the one thing I have to get done? Like, I had to finish a script, and that is it. And when I say that, is it like, our house is like dishes. Like, nothing like showering. I've really just been in a place where I'm just like, okay, one. Just try and get what has to be done. And I haven't really been able to do much Else because of how I think the fog of something intense like that is still with me. How are you feeling?

[Christina Lopez]

Even before this started? I have had a harrowing like eight weeks for a lot of different reasons.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah.

[Christina Lopez]

And I will say the. I did have to mandatory evacuate at one point because the fire in the Hollywood Hills was very close to my home.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah.

[Christina Lopez]

So I did have to leave my home for about 24 hours. Thankfully they got that one under control pretty quickly. And I had a feeling they would just because some fires have happened there before in that area and Lake Hollywood is right over there. So I knew the helicopters were going to be going. They were going to be doing the water drops. The helicopters doing water drops are like some of my favorite videos to watch now. They're so satisfying, they're so good at them. But it was something that made me take stock of my life in a way that I haven't had to in a long time. What things I want to bring. I still have my go bag packed. I, you know, am watching and making sure that my air purifiers are running. And you know, so the thing that I've been telling people is that this feels in a lot of ways like 911 did in New York. And so I was like about 15 when the 911 attacks happened.

[Chelsea Devontez]

You were in New York?

[Christina Lopez]

I was in Brooklyn. So I was about nine miles away from where it happened. But I could in school there was a window in my English class and also we had to cross the street to go to trailers that they had because too many kids. And we could see from where I was in Berridge we could see the buildings on fire. And I remember coming back from class, the buildings were gone and it was like this skyline that I had watched my entire life as a child destroyed. And then afterwards like here we had terrible air quality that led to a lot of other people having long term sickness from it. But there was also in a lot of ways comparatively the anxiety of not knowing what the next shoe was going to drop if something was going to happen. Which I think is very comparable to what's happening now. Like there's fires still popping up. There's an immense level of destruction to cities that have fundamentally and will fundamentally change the DNA and makeup of what the city is much like what 911 did to New York. And I think there's also a level of grief that the city is going to be in for the next several years. That's what I'm feeling going to have to reckon with. And I think it makes Sense that there's so much anxiety, nervous system dysregulation, because we're still not safe, quote, unquote, from it. You know, there's still danger lurking. And so that's the way that I've been able to intellectualize it. Most of my family's back home in New York, so that's the way I've been able to communicate it to them so that they understand the level of empathy. And there's also a level of, like, making sure that they feel okay, that I'm okay, and, like, being able to communicate geographically where things are happening and whether or not my brother is like, do you need to leave? I'm like, he downloaded Watch Duty.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah, sure.

[Christina Lopez]

Which is the app that, like, is giving us live updates about where the fires are. And so there's some caretaker taking in that as well.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah.

[Christina Lopez]

And it's been really difficult to feel settled and to feel like things are okay, but the things that I take comfort in and the way that I'm trying to, like, regulate and also just feel my feelings when they do come up is getting into a routine. And, like, having the show come back into production has helped.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Right.

[Christina Lopez]

Because I'm, like, going back into, like, you know, oh, what are we going to cover? What are we going to do? Like that. Those are the metaphorical fires that I have to put out now.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Oh, boy.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah. And I am sitting in the truth that I am very, very, very lucky to have not been as directly impacted by this as a lot of other people have been. You know, I didn't lose my home. There are people who are going to have to start from scratch. We know people personally who are dealing with it, and I am just taking the grace in that and that I am okay for now and that I have my little corner that I need to tend to. And I'm gonna do that by, like, sticking to my little routine in the ways that I can. I started having, like, citrus in the morning, like, an orange in the morning or something. A fruit in the morning. And, like, every day, I take time to, like, cut the orange and just, like, focus on what I can. For that second, I'm just cutting an orange, you know?

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yes. Where it's like, go get small, get local, get right in front of you. Today for today. Because we are very lucky. And someone I've worked very closely with and works very closely with glamorous trash lost their home. I've talked about it on the Patreon, and, you know, I have other friends who lost their homes or kept Their homes. But there, you can't live in it for. I don't know how long it's going to take because of the destruction. And I. And on top of that, it is so horrific to witness and to be here for it and to be here for the city and to try and help. Like, it's. It's, you know, different levels, but, like, I'm. Yeah, I'm really feeling it. I'm. I'm have. I'm struggling. I am curious, and I have an answer of my own. So I want to. I want to hear yours first. What is the weirdest thing you took with you when you evacuated?

[Christina Lopez]

It was funny because when I was packing, I had packed earlier that day, like, because I felt like I should be prepared. Right. And so I took all the things that I thought I would need, and it was fairly small. I feel like I could fit my life in a very, like, keen package. And there was some part of me that felt, like, proud of, like, that, but it also just like, oh, my life is so small. But the one thing I made sure I took was this podcasting micro, because it is the most expensive thing I own, and it is also the way that I make money.

[Chelsea Devontez]

It's your livelihood.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah. And it is my livelihood. So I was like, I gotta have my podcast mic.

[Chelsea Devontez]

I love that. I love that so much. We. So we never had to mandatory evacuate. Yasser's mom did live in an area, but my anxiety took over in a way that I, like, need to look at, because I entered a fugue state for sure. And then the wonderful thing about doing trauma therapy for so many years is that I was able to be like, okay, we are malfunctioning. We are not thinking clearly. We are making bad decisions. We are in an intense amount of stress and panic. Was able to get further than that. Absolutely not. I couldn't.

[Christina Lopez]

That's fine.

[Chelsea Devontez]

I was just like, I'm aware something bad's happening to me. And I was like, yes. Or we gotta go, we gotta go. And he's like, chelsea, we're not in a mandatory zone. I'm like, we gotta get out of here. We gotta get your mom. We gotta go. And I started packing early. I really have to confess here. I took a makeup bag that had, like, a bunch of makeup in it. Yeah. And instead of just setting that in the suitcase, unzipped it and dumped it all in. I was listen of. And I wasn't out of time. I was out of my mind.

[Christina Lopez]

Your executive function was malfunctioning. Yeah.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yes. And I looked at that, and I said, why would you do that? And I said, oh, oh, you're gonna lose brain power. My mom T. Mom Z was like, you're gonna get on the highways. The real fear for me is, like, just highways being shut down, and there's just so much traffic, so it's like, will you get out? So my mom was like, hey, you need to take extra supplies so that if you meet anyone on the road that you have extra of, like, food and stuff to give to them. I'm like, oh, right. I want to, like, bring supplies in case there's anyone who needs to be cared for. And then I also brought a knife. I brought a knife for the highway wars. I also brought snacks for everybody. So what. What was going on? Yes. Like, did you put a knife in this car? And I was like, yeah, I just. You just never know. You know what I mean? I couldn't find my mace. And he was like, you're out of your mind. And I was like, yeah, I'm having a pretty big trauma response. Why would I bring a knife, Christina, Why would I bring a knife? Ants. Next. Like, choose one.

[Christina Lopez]

I think you are mentally preparing for Mad Max and hoping for a more altruistic outcome from it where we are sharing. But in case it got Mad Max, you were running.

[Chelsea Devontez]

I'm ready. And that's what I realized. I'm like, you know, I want to be nice and kind and thoughtful, but if. But if I need a knife, I also would. I'd like to have the biggest one.

[Christina Lopez]

I think those are, like, two parts of you, right? It's like the person who wants to give and wants to share resources and help, and then the person who has experienced deep trauma and is trying to protect themselves from that trauma.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Christina, why do you have to be so smart and beautiful? That is. Not only is that so astute, but really, sadly, it just made me realize that we all have two wolves inside us, and those are mine.

[Christina Lopez]

He was right. Dr. Phil was right.

[Chelsea Devontez]

And which one of those succeed? The one you feed. So probably the one that brought extra highway snacks.

[Christina Lopez]

I will say, like, I had digitized a lot of my family photo. I don't have a lot of my family photos out here. My mom has them, and we digitized a lot of them after my dad passed. So, like, I didn't have an incentive to grab those. The only thing I left behind that I was kind of like about was my dad's prayer card from his funeral service. And I have it on my bathroom mirror, and I look at it every day as I'm brushing my teeth and I say hello to him and, like, I didn't grab it. And my mom was like, that's fine. I have a bunch of them. And I'm just like, yeah, I know. But it was just, like, something that I was like, oh, why didn't I grab it? So I have it. I have a copy. I have two of them. So I have one of them in my go bag. So, like, one is always. He's always gonna be with me, you know?

[Chelsea Devontez]

I love that. Krisina. I had the same thought where I thought, oh, my God, it's all in the memoir. I put all it all in the memoir, and I pulled a lot of photos and put them online because of the memoir. And I also had that sense of levity, which did make me think of, like, passing it on to people, of just taking time to digitize and make meaning or write a story about the keepsakes. But did I throw my journal's dress and a bedazzled book that a cookie made me in the car? Yeah, I did. I drove out with a gown.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah. We had a conversation. I was like, do I keep my go bag in the car? I decided not to because I don't want my birth certificate and Social Security card just hanging out on the street parking. Yeah. But, yeah, your. Your dress, is it still in the car or.

[Chelsea Devontez]

I finally took it back out.

[Christina Lopez]

So now I desperately need Yassir to drive you out to the desert and take a Mad Max escape photo of you in the dress holding a knife with the snacks. Like, I need that to happen.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Okay. I love it. Group photo shoot, and then you come out with your life in the backpack, and it's, like, chic and efficient.

[Christina Lopez]

Holding my microphone.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Holding your microphone as I hold a knife. Honestly, our new brand. I think so.

[Christina Lopez]

Somebody get the crow.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah, I know. Oh, my God. Get the crow with a knife. Okay, let's do a little snark. A little, you know, we're in a tragedy, we're trying to survive, but we still have some snark because, you know, when you're going through a tragedy or a hard time, the stuff that makes you laugh is usually a lot darker.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah.

[Chelsea Devontez]

And it's usually. It's like, I don't have brain capacity for anything not fire related in the middle of a fire. So the stuff I'm gonna find funny has to be related to the fire because, like, I'm not gonna go watch, like, I don't know, an episode of 30 Rock, you know, like, I don't have the capacity for that. Yeah, you know what I did have the capacity for? Sharing screen caps of crazy people's fire postings with my friends, including, like, I mean, I have no idea who this was. This, this random woman took a friend to, to the beach of Malibu to walk around crying as they, like, got a cinematic shot of it. But I loved it. I felt, I felt grateful to her. I said, thank you for this video. Made me laugh. Did you see any, like, funny? I mean, there were, there were people who like, listed their acting resume as a way to, to feel sad for la. Like, here are all the films I shot while in la, but it was like, yeah, I loved it. Can I say I'm not even being mean. Like, please do it again. Please exist as who you are. Like, this is the content I need in a tragedy. I like, next time something bad happens, I need someone being like, here's my outfit of the day for the fires. Like, that is the level of delusion that'll bring me joy, I think.

[Christina Lopez]

During one of the recent hurricanes in Florida, there were people making memes, singing like boys to men as, like the rain and the wind are blowing their clothes off and stuff like that. And I'm like, yeah, I love that stuff. I love that coping mechanism. But also, get inside. So fucked up.

[Chelsea Devontez]

It's over. I'm a little darker and twisted. Like, I need the person who, like, doesn't know that it's funny. Like, I need the person in the wind being like, oh my God, the winds.

[Christina Lopez]

And you're like, get inside.

[Chelsea Devontez]

But yeah, no, it brought me joy and I. It was fun to find snark in such a sad, horrible time.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Now that said, we put a lot of time into organizing and helping in different ways. Letters from Charity is an organization I work a lot with and they created Letters from Altadina with Ashley Nicole Black, which I spoke about on a previous episode. So I won't speak about here. They have reached their goal. I have just signed up to help at like, a friend's warehouse where it's just like, they're getting donations. You need to sort them, get them to the right people. That's kind of the thing that is bringing me light right now, not only with the fires, but for the rest of 2025 and the next four years is to remain local and remain community based. It's the only thing getting me through it in the sense of like, I posted this on Instagram, so I'll share it again here. I think one of the reasons I Lost my mind in the fire is that I had the news on for hours and hours and hours. And they replay the same stuff. They show you the worst stuff. And my therapist was like, video images are the most traumatic for the brain to process. Get your news by reading it.

[Christina Lopez]

I would agree.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah. And she was like. Or by listening. And it has been the best advice. And it. And I'm carrying that through the year. I am reading my news.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah. I would also argue that you could also support, like, the local NPR affiliate stations that you might be working with. Local journalists don't make a lot of money. And there's so many local news outlets that are being shuttered because much like what's affected any digital media, the ad revenue game is completely different. And so a lot of these are being bought out by large companies or completely going away from existence. And that local level of shoe leather reporting, Boots on the ground is so essential, and so many of them really work hard. I know a lot of journalists from kpcc, which is the local NPR affiliate here, but it's owned by American Public Media, so a different public radio entity. And a lot of those journalists work hard to be informative and listen.

[Chelsea Devontez]

I worked in comedy news. You worked in news news. And I think, like, a way forward for me this year and I've seen a lot of people doing it, is like, I'm really gonna curate where my information comes from, even down to, like, I. I was like, oh, shit. Like, I already get so much by going to our Patreon and in the chat threads, like, people post the books I want to be talking about, or they post articles where I'm like, oh, I'm so glad that's here. It already is, like, a curated feed. It's a curated, glamorous trash feed. I'm just putting more time into that. I'm like, thank God we built this. That is where people, like, post the stuff I want to see, just. And then, like, keeping it local. I'm even talking about, like, a couple of times after we came back to our house. We got. Yasser's phone was going off with, like, you need to leave now. And mine wasn't.

[Christina Lopez]

Oh, yeah, mine. Mine did that too. Oh, gosh.

[Chelsea Devontez]

And I realized I immediately went to go open, like, Watch Duty, and I went to go Google the news, and I was like, what are you doing? Like. And in my, you know, it's four in the morning. I just stood up and I went outside and I said, I don't see anything with my eyes and ears. I'm also looking at my neighbor's houses. Are their phones going off? Are they? Like, it was just. It was just this moment of clarity of like, look around right in front of you and put your attention there because going to the. Like, let me check the app. Let me check the app to see if a fire is on my street. Let me check my neighbors.

[Christina Lopez]

Let me check the windows.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Do you know what I mean?

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah. I mean, like, it's a shame that the. The emergency system was being faulty at that point. And, like, they had questioned the LA people running it about it. And yeah, verifying with watch duty was also something that I was trying to do, but it was. It was scary times. Yeah.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Okay, Christina, listen. We haven't talked for a while, so it's a long episode, and I'm fine with that. I saw Tick Tock on someone's Instagram story.

[Christina Lopez]

Okay. That's a lot of medium jumping, right? Three points.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Three points from it. We'll spend this year reclaiming our time. Okay, so I'm not going to endlessly scroll. I'm taking that time back. I've curated where I'm getting my information so that I don't have to waste time. Yeah, we're going to focus on our joy in person, with friends, in community. So it's like we're having people over for snacks. Snacks. We are getting on fun chat threads. We are going to the movies. Like, we're reclaiming our joy. And the third thing is that we're going to organize locally. Organize locally. That's where I'm putting my heart this year. And we had such a wildly amazing response from the cookies in both the behind the Banks group and the just the patreon of, like, there were cookies who were like, hey, I read insurance claims for a living. I will volunteer my time to read other people's insurance claims to make sure that they are not getting fucked and just let them know if I see any loopholes. And that is just one of, like, a hundred skills that came forward in the fires. And you've been talking about it and Jordan's been talking about it of, like, going forward, we have a community for whatever comes next. How do we utilize it best to help each other? That's. That's what I'm focused on.

[Christina Lopez]

Absolutely. I made this analogy in meetings, but if you've ever seen the movie she Devil, which I'm not advocating for, you.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Know, I think you should watch it. It's funny.

[Christina Lopez]

It's a fun movie. Is it a great movie? No. Is Meryl Streep great in it?

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yes. Is Roseanne great in it?

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah. Ed Begley Jr. He's environmentally friendly and I love watching his daughter's tiktoks. Oh, Hayden.

[Chelsea Devontez]

You know, I work with Hayden and Ed.

[Christina Lopez]

Oh, I didn't know that.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah. Ed Begley Jr. So funny. We were on Bless this mess together. Hayden was in the writer's room. She's a dream. And you know, he's a lover, lifetime climate activist who has been ignored since the 70s. And he and Hayden, like, take public transportation to every awards show as a way to, like, publicize public transportation. And she's become an incredible voice in the climate change aspect of these fires and just shout out to them.

[Christina Lopez]

That is actually how I stumbled across her TikTok because she was documenting her and her dad going to the Oscars via LA public transport. And I just found it so, so cool and cute. So she double at the end of the movie spoilers for this, you know, 30 year old movie. But at the end of the movie, she starts an agency that helps women with a certain set of skills, whether it's housekeeping or accounting, and it creates this network of women who also deliver her intel that helps her get revenge against her husband.

[Chelsea Devontez]

My dream business.

[Christina Lopez]

Yes, exactly. And so it's actually the character's name is Rose. So yeah, there's a lot of parallels there. But it is like that way of thinking of we have a network of people who have a unique set of skills not to get all, like, taken on us, but it can be so minimal as I love doing forms, filling out forms. I like the bureaucracy of that that massages my brain in a cool way. And like, someone who might be overwhelmed by that right now might need that level of help. I have a friend who loves getting on the phone to argue with medical bill people. And I hate talking to anybody on the phone. So sometimes I leverage her to, like, fight against medical bills and get stuff settled. And there are little skills like that that you can leverage and if you have them, cookies, let us know that can be beneficial to people. You might not have the finances to be able to help people financially and you might be far away to help physically the way that, like, you and I have been donating our time and will continue to donate our time. But there are things that you can do virtually with, with these little skills, like filling out forms, like being able to look through taxes and stuff like that that you can leverage to help people in the long run. So, yeah, I think I do want to encourage our community to like, take a second and think about that. And it, it can apply to helping people during these LA fires, but also mobilize us to help people beyond that.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Beyond that for, for whatever is. You know, this is a, this is a really dangerous administration. And to have community and to be able to help each other I think helps. You know, I, I'm stealing this from our friend Nora McInerney who I think put it in her newsletter. But who's to say Everything's a fog dream right now. But if you are feeling useless, do something useful. And that is definitely been helping my own mental health. Honestly, it's selfish where I'm like, I. This will. Okay, this will lead into my story. So the day of. Of lockdown for Covid, I was picking up needy quarantine dog at 7pm at this shelter that was like shutting down and people are like going crazy like throwing dogs into cars. And he's been with us ever since.

[Christina Lopez]

I love that you've gotten both dogs in crisis.

[Chelsea Devontez]

And that is what has become clear to me, which is that people started evacuating and I said, we gotta, we gotta help a dog. We gotta. There's. There. There were so many dogs. And. And if you are animal sensitive, take care when listening because I'm going to tell you the real story, which is that we put in to foster a dog, which Yasser was like, any dog who comes into this house is not leaving. Like, you know, we're not going to be fosters. But I don't believe in that. I'm like a foster is giving a dog a chance and we are going to be fosters. And what happened is that, you know, LA still has a lot of kill shelters. Lots of places do. And there were 42 dogs in a Lancaster kill shelter. And when the fires broke out, those dogs times were up at that shelter to make room for all the new evacuation dogs. A different rescue came in to that shelter and said, we're gonna rescue all of these dogs and put out the call. Like we'll so people come foster. So it was really beautiful in that we drove. Not beautiful in that we drove straight into the fires, but beautiful in that this, you know, rescue was open with all these people there. You know, it's half a mile away from the mandatory evacuation border. And I think like 90 people showed up over the course of four hours to come and take a pet home. And you're taking pets home to help those specific pets. But it's also, it's not at that moment in time in the fire. These are animals found in the fires who have owners or. It wasn't surrenders. It was foster the dogs who are here in LA who need help to make room for all of the animals about to come in. And so we went down and we waited for, like, two hours. That's how many people were there, like. Like, being. Processing, like, you know, here to foster, like, cats and. And dogs. And we finally get in there, and there's. There's only, like, seven dogs left, which is beautiful. But I forgot that because that's not what happened when we got Needy quarantine dog. I literally. Someone ran out to my car and just put him in. They're like, will you take this dog? Like, I. There was no. And I was like, what? So we had to walk through, you know, and they're in kennels, and it is an unbearable walk for. For. I know free aster. And I know for myself. And they were like, okay, like, do you want to pick a dog? And we were just like, any dog. Any dog. Like, I cannot do this. Whoever needs help. And they're like, that's nice. Please pick a dog.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah.

[Chelsea Devontez]

And it's like, I don't know how we're gonna do this. It just feels impossible. And, you know, we walk through, and I look down, and there is this dog solemnly making a level of eye contact that was, I don't know, mesmerizing. And this dog looks me in the eye noise, lifts his paw up to the cage and pushes it through. Obviously fell to my knees. I held his hand. He lets this, like, little noise out, and I'm like, I promise I'll get you out of here. I promise, I promise, I promise. And I'm like, yes, sir. Yes, sir. Come hold this dog's hand. Like, come on with this dog, because it's got to be this dog. As it comes, the. They hold hands. You know, I'm. You're trying to soothe the other animals. And we were like, this dog. And they're like, okay, let's. Let's check and see if we have any information on them, because it was really important. That needy, corny dog, you know, he. When I say needy, it's for his own needs. Like, he is a. He is an only child. He's a grumpy old man. He doesn't always like dogs. And they come back and they say, this dog, we only have one note on him, which is that he's the helper dog. He helps dogs get along with each other.

[Christina Lopez]

Oh.

[Chelsea Devontez]

So it feels like a sign. And we're like, oh, My God. So we're like, okay, you know, we'll go foster this dog. He goes through medical. We're waiting for him to come out. He walks out. He's huge. He is a little pony. He's like, I think he's a German shepherd husky. This is a giant dog in the kennel. This looks like a, you know, small to medium dog. And I, I. We were like, oh, my God, we have a giant dog. And then he comes out and this, like, soft, sweet hand holder is like, let's. Let's run down the street at 90 miles an hour. Like, he's like. So anyways, we put a lot of time into getting them to meet each other. Like, parallel walking separate rooms, giving them treats. This dog was so big, no gate could contain him. Nothing.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah, man. Those German shepherds are strong too, and smart.

[Chelsea Devontez]

We moved multiple pieces of furniture up against this door to keep them separated. We had a gate. I had a pulley system. Got out of it in a second. We put him in a room and closed the door instantly. Now, let me tell you the backstory in this dog. This dog was a stray. He's never lived in a home. He's a stray. He went into the kill shelter right before Christmas. He is only one year old, and he had a bunch of broken teeth to be 1 years old. Broken teeth because of decay. Like, and this man walks into a home, I assume, for the first time, turns the handle with his paw, walks out of the door. And I was like, what? It was the craziest nine days of our lives trying to keep these dogs separated and acclimate them gently.

[Christina Lopez]

And 30 minutes, like, nervous system's already fried as is. Yeah.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yes. And this is my. When you're feeling useless, do something useful. You know, where I'm like, okay, I'm gonna panic about the dog. Yeah, that's where I'll put my time. And it's been, like, beautiful and wonderful, and they've become friendly. And I was, you know, encouraging people to foster online, and I got. I got probably like 10 dms of people who went and fostered, because you don't. You don't have to foster for a long time. You can foster for a week. You can. It just. It gives an animal a chance to have a life.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah.

[Chelsea Devontez]

And. And so what I didn't tell people is that, like, 20 minutes after getting home, you know, I slept with needy quarantine dog in one room. Yasser have slept with the new dog in another room to keep them separate. It. Yasser sent me a Text message that said, I just want to let you know I will do everything in my power to keep this dog. I was like, yasser, we have to go slow. We have to make sure they get along. We have to, like, really protect the dog. We have. We have to protect the new dog. They both have to be able to have a good life. And he's like, that's fine. I would rather build a house in the yard for him to live in, like, than give this dog back. And I was like, okay. So I just started training the dog like crazy. He started training like crazy. Like, we, I, I just.

[Christina Lopez]

And they're so smart. Yeah, the Bul. Yeah, the German Shepherds, like, thrive on training.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Within 24 hours, this dog is laying, staying, and shaking my hand. Like, that's how that's. And so now need a quarantine dog. What can he do?

[Christina Lopez]

Vibe.

[Chelsea Devontez]

He can vibe. He can vibe if there's treats or love involved, but that's kind of it. So, long story short, we of course adopted this dog. We got his teeth fixed, he got neutered. We love him more than anything. We, like, cry all the time. And we had friends come over outside and the first thing he did was kneel next to him, put his paw up to hold their hands, and I said, you dog, Dirty dog. You knew it. We take him to coffee shops. He goes to each table and wants to meet every single person and say, hi, that dog is Yasser and I am needy quarantine dog. Just fearful and mean and shaking in a corner. That's me. And then, like, wants to talk to everyone. That's yes, sir. Anyways, my long dog story, please foster. And also Sarah Bareilles recently said, get on meds and get a dog. And I couldn't recommend it more.

[Christina Lopez]

Love it. That's so great.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Okay, extra long episode. For an extra long time. It's been since we had recorded. We're back. We're so excited to be back. Please go on the Patreon. You can request books. We take, we take everyone's voices seriously. I, I, yeah. Put out the call for topics to discuss today. If you're on the Patreon, weigh in if that's not your thing. But you do want all this bonus content we are talking about. You can also sign up on Apple subscriptions. Both Patreon and Apple subscriptions, they come to your podcast feed just like normal, so you don't have to like, open a different app. It just, it just comes to your podcast feed. But on Patreon, you get to like chat with other people which yeah, you know, is a special perk.

[Christina Lopez]

And sometimes you get essays from Chelsea, like little posts and stuff like that or like behind the scenes scenes, photos from the memoirs we're talking about. Like there are little bits of extras that we can do visually there and like textually there that we can't necessarily do on our feeds.

[Chelsea Devontez]

And the more we like try and get offline of meta spaces. Yeah, the more I am personally supporting like artists and creators. Like I really want to continue to see work from and if we are that from for you then we would love, love your support as well because we are also being really intentional with everything we can give back. And Christina, thank you for surviving these three weeks with me, for getting the show back up with me and for talking about Jake. And Jake for talking. Yeah, Jake, it's, it's Justin and Blake for talking about the Jake Baldoni case for so long with me.

[Christina Lopez]

Thanks for having me, Chelsea. And I can't wait to see how the cookies react to this one.

[Chelsea Devontez]

A huge thank you to our podcast producer, Christina Lopez, our executive producer Jordan Moncada, our sound engineer Marcus Hamm, and our amazing associate producer, Jaron Padre. I also want to let you know that if you love audiobooks but you want to support independent bookstores, go to Libro FM where it is easy to download audiobooks and support local bookshops. And right now you get two Libro FM audiobooks for for the price of one with your first month of membership using code Trash. That's right, Trash. T R A S H. Two audiobooks for the price of one at Libro fm. And if you have questions, go to the Patreon Chat Lounge and I will see you there.