← Keeping It Real: Conversations with Jillian Michaels
Keeping It Real: Conversations with Jillian Michaels
From Mafia to Politics: Michael Franzese Reveals Shocking Parallels in Power, Corruption & Control
01:44:59
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- [00:00]
Jillian Michaels
Who doesn't love the good things in life? I mean, I enjoy a little luxury, but it doesn't mean I want to spend crazy amounts for it. And then I discovered Quince. Quince is straight up my go to for luxury essentials at affordable prices. Quince offers a range of high quality items at prices within reach. Like 100% Mongolian cashmere sweaters for only 50 bucks. Washable silk tops and dresses. You don't have to spend a ton on dry cleaning. Organic cotton sweaters, 14 karat gold jewelry. And the best part is that all Quint's items are 50 to 80% less than similar brands. And they do this by partnering directly with Top Factory. So they cut out the cost of the middleman and they pass the savings on to us. And Quince only works with factories that use safe, ethical and responsible manufacturing practices. Premium fabrics and finishes that I love. Team. Did I mention I'm obsessed with my Mongolian cashmere sweater? So give yourself the luxury you deserve with Quince. Just go to quince.com jillian and you'll get free shipping on your order. Quarter and 365 day returns. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com Jillian to get free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com Jillian he was a made man in the Colombo crime family. Running multi million dollar rackets, outsmarting the feds and living the high life of organized crime. At the peak of his power, he was one of the most profitable mobsters on the streets. Until it all came crashing down. Betrayal, prison. A choice no one walks away from. But he did. And he lived to tell the tale. This is the story of Michael Franzese keeping it real with Jillian Michaels. I would imagine our entire audience probably already has this. Tell me a little bit about the book.
- [01:57]
Michael Franzese
I didn't realize the book was going to be so appropriate. You know, it's just something I had in my mind. You know, I wrote a business book a couple years back and I owed my publisher another book. And I said, what do you want me to do? And they said we want you to do a political book. I said, okay. He said, do you have a title in mind? I said, mafia Democracy. He said, right off the top of your head? I said, well, our government is operating like the mob. Why is that so difficult to see? And they said, we love that. Can you write the book? So here's what happened, Julian. This was like six years ago. I said, they give me an advance, I start writing the book. I get into four chapters. And this is right down the middle. This is our system of government. Not Democrat, not Republican. The system, right? And I wrote about four chapters and I went to my wife and I said, why am I doing this? Nobody's bothering me. I said, I have no problem with law enforcement, with government, you know, I said, I'm not going to write it. I went back to my publisher, I said, here's your advance. I'm not going to write the book. Right. Cut to two years ago. I said, I have to write this book. What are these people doing to us? And all of this stuff that's coming out now with Doge, I experienced this. I knew it. This is nothing new to me. I just didn't realize the extent of it. I mean, what I'm hearing, it's just unbelievable. So I said, I have to write the book. So I wrote. And it's been very well received. And like I said, it's right down the middle. This is how our government is operating. It's all about money and power and control. And that's what we did on the street. It was all about money, power and control.
- [03:26]
Jillian Michaels
Since I don't understand at all how the mob works, but I understand loyalty and rules and necessary, obviously, but you draw these parallels. Clearly. People need to read the book to understand it. But top line, I would never imagine there'd be parallels. Government just seems like bureaucracy and waste and bloat and fraud and bullshit and people just wanting to get to positions of power, but they have no intention of actually fixing anything or doing a job of any kind. It's like Karen Bass. Carolla was telling me this the other day. He's like, she doesn't wanna be governor. If you told me I had to go 26 hours over to Ghana for a photo op, I would myself, absolutely. He's like, that's not governor. She doesn't wanna be the governor. So anyway, the point is how. What is the connection there?
- [04:21]
Michael Franzese
You know what? And I've always say this, money and power are very powerful aphrodisiacs, let's call it. When you get a taste of it and you have a certain mentality. Have you visited dc? Have you gone through any of the. Okay, these people don't even get wet in the rain. I mean, they got underground time, they get everything catered to them, everything. And they have the ability to make a lot of money. Why do these politicians go in as blue collar people and come out as multimillionaires on a $200,000 salary and nobody Asks these questions. It's obvious they're getting paid for it. They're putting these programs and, you know, I just pray people.
- [05:01]
Jillian Michaels
They're outsider trading. Right. But it's legal.
- [05:03]
Michael Franzese
Absolutely. It's legal for them.
- [05:05]
Jillian Michaels
There's a kid.
- [05:06]
Michael Franzese
It's legal for them. We go to jail for it.
- [05:08]
Jillian Michaels
This kid who's one of Trump's advisors, I won't say his name, but only just. God forbid I shouldn't. But he's like, yeah, I've got this new company where you can invest your money, and it automatically invests you in everything Nancy Pelosi's investing.
- [05:20]
Michael Franzese
Exactly, exactly.
- [05:21]
Jillian Michaels
I was like, wait, this is legal? He's like, yeah, totally legal. I'm like, okay, sign me up. I'll send over 100 grand.
- [05:28]
Michael Franzese
Like, she's the biggest thief. I. You know. And her father was a mob affiliate.
- [05:33]
Jillian Michaels
Shut up.
- [05:34]
Michael Franzese
Absolutely. In Baltimore. 100%. And I don't say things out of school. 100%. The mob supported him. He became mayor of Baltimore. He had mob connections all along. 100%. This is fact. And she was. She must have got it. Got it all in her head. She watched her dad. She's like a mob boss. Nancy Pelosi. I mean, what they get away with is just terrible.
- [05:56]
Jillian Michaels
Why is it legal for them, though? And not for.
- [05:58]
Michael Franzese
Because. Because they exempt themselves. They have an exemption, and they do it through the back door. We would go to jail. There was recently a hearing when Josh. What's his name, the Republican congressman, I forget. But they want to prohibit, you know, investing in stocks. And they won't do it. They won't do it. There's people fighting against it for different reasons, whatever. Because they all become wealthy, Republicans and Democrats.
- [06:24]
Jillian Michaels
Yep.
- [06:25]
Michael Franzese
And listen, I don't begrudge anybody making money, but when people are suffering and. You know what I mean? And you're taking their tax dollars and becoming wealthy and then in turn, not doing anything for the people. You know, Look, I said the mob life is a bad life, and we were criminals, and I admit to that. But I didn't take an oath to help people. You didn't vote for me, and I didn't take an oath to do the right thing for you. Do you know what I'm saying?
- [06:48]
Jillian Michaels
Yep.
- [06:48]
Michael Franzese
But these guys. And this is why I had such. I had such animosity towards Biden when people said, oh, he was dementia and he's only a puppet. Don't give me that excuse. He's been in politics for 50 years, okay? This guy took a. He took an oath to be do the right thing for people. And you let people come all over the border and destroy neighborhoods. You let taxpayer money go astray when people are struggling to pay their rent. You know what, Gillian? I was no angel. But you know what my targets were? Banks, the government, insurance companies. I'm not gonna hurt people in my neighborhood. I'm not gonna hurt innocent people that are trying to make a living. What kind of person can you be to do that? And you're the president. You take an oath to do the right thing to protect people in this country, and you let murderers come in and rape women. And it's in my view and people, you're probably gonna get some pushback in your comments. Do it.
- [07:42]
Jillian Michaels
I love it.
- [07:43]
Michael Franzese
I'm telling you.
- [07:43]
Jillian Michaels
Let's go.
- [07:44]
Michael Franzese
He's worse than any mob GU on the street for doing that. For taking an oath to take care of people and then doing the exact opposite. What he did, the damage that this party did in the last four years, God forbid. And again, I want people to understand, it's not about Republican. Democrat. I'm not in. People say, oh, you bought into the Trump Kool Aid.
- [08:04]
Jillian Michaels
I know.
- [08:05]
Michael Franzese
And let me explain something to you people.
- [08:08]
Jillian Michaels
Maybe I am there.
- [08:09]
Michael Franzese
You know what? Yeah. But you know what the answer is, Julian, You're a very successful woman. You're very bright. You understand things. I don't have to buy into anybody. I'm 74 years old. I've been through all this stuff. I ain't got to buy into anybody's Kool Aid. I'm looking for the guy to do the right thing. And if Trump doesn't do the right thing, I'll call him out on it.
- [08:25]
Jillian Michaels
Right.
- [08:26]
Michael Franzese
Because I care about the country, you know, and people don't get that. What do I. What could I say about Biden that he actually did to benefit us? Give me something. I'll gladly say it.
- [08:39]
Jillian Michaels
Do you know, here's the problem. We would need a person that watches CNN to answer that question. They'll give you a long list. By the way, I've heard it's like, oh, the economy was actually doing great. It was. Oh, my gosh. Unemployment was low and market was high and trade was good. And he did this and he did that and he. Michael, it's actually fa. I mean, I'm sure you've heard it. My argument to that on Biden is that as a former lefty, he was always the bad guy. He was the guy that, like, invented systemic racism with a 94 crime bill.
- [09:21]
Michael Franzese
Exactly.
- [09:22]
Jillian Michaels
He was a Bad guy. Exactly. He was anti gay. He was eulogizing Strom Thurman like one of the great segregationists of the 60s. He was a good old boy all day long.
- [09:36]
Michael Franzese
They have no principle. No principle. They go from like the wind. And then, you know, Gillian, again, I was praying, as a Christian, I was praying, please don't let this woman become president because she's just not qualified. End of story. You don't. Black, white, red, green. She's just not qualified to be the president of the most powerful country in the world that so many people depend upon us for security, for peace, for everything. God forbid.
- [10:05]
Jillian Michaels
Why do you think Trump's qualified?
- [10:08]
Michael Franzese
Number one, he's a business guy. You can't. I was listening. I'm going to the gym one morning and I'm listening to Kamala Harris plan to help small business. The woman never had a hot dog stand. How could you probably never had a payroll, never had to write a check. How could you be qualified to run the biggest economy in the world here in the United States? It doesn't make any, you know, all we're talking is common sense. Common sense. It makes no sense. That's why, you know, Trump is doing what he's doing. He's trying to cut costs, he's trying to, you know, see where the fraud and abuse is in the country. This is necessary.
- [10:46]
Jillian Michaels
I want to push back on you only cuz someone pushed back on me. And I want to hear your answer to this. Cuz I just had this conversation recently, okay? He said he was going to cut the Pentagon and all he did was re appropriate the funds. Reallocate the funds. If you look at the budget, but they just put. This is an intelligent person, mind you, who pushed back on me. So just. So I just, I try to keep it like as real as I can keep it. Even if I have a bias. When you look at the budget, he gave the biggest tax cuts to the wealthy people and we didn't actually see a change. The little guy got screwed.
- [11:30]
Michael Franzese
And this was back in his first presidency.
- [11:32]
Jillian Michaels
This is supposedly now. And then Hegseth was like, actually we're gonna take the funds from the Pentagon and we're gonna, excuse me, Put them elsewhere. Not sure where they're going. We don't know. But the argument was he isn't gonna keep that promise. He didn't drain the swamp the first time. He never finished the frickin wall. And he's not gonna do it this time again. And all I'm asking you to do, Jillian, as a person who's now center left is to look at that budget when it comes out. The same way I ask people on the left to look at the crazy shenanigans that go on there. What do you think about that? Like, we're getting duped. He's playing us. He's corrupt. He's only out for himself, which I think. I mean, listen, I think they all are to an extent. Then for me, I'm like, okay, if I'm gonna say they're all bad, then I'm gonna pick the one that I think is less bad, more good. But what do you think about that?
- [12:26]
Michael Franzese
Here's what I think. Here's what you have to give. You have to give this to Trump. Number one, he embellishes things. There's no question. Trump is the best out of everything in the world, all the time. Best presidency, best this, best that. You have to understand that. Tariffs. He throws all these tariffs out. You know, I'm gonna do tariff this, I'm gonna do tariff that. And why did he do that? I understand. I'm in business negotiating. He's bringing people to the table, trying to get them to come to the table, try to make a deal. He's a dealmaker. I get that.
- [12:52]
Jillian Michaels
Yes, I see that.
- [12:53]
Michael Franzese
Some of the things he says. I'll give you one thing. I'm going to solve the war in Ukraine before I become president. He said that? Yes, before I take President Donald. Why did you say that? That's not going to happen. You can't do that. You're not even in a position to do it. But why did you do it? I understand he embellishes things. Here's my take on Trump. I believe he loves this country. I don't believe. I don't think Biden loved this country.
- [13:21]
Jillian Michaels
I don't think he cared.
- [13:23]
Michael Franzese
I believe he loves his country and he's gonna do everything he can to straighten it out. Maybe some of it is because of his ego and his narcissism and his legacy. I don't care. That's your goal. Fine. As long as you get the job done. The guy's been president for four weeks. We don't have a crystal ball. We can't predict what he's going to do in the future. I'll tell you one thing that he's doing that drives me crazy. Every day I get something on my text. You know, buy this, buy that, I'm selling a watch, I'm doing it. You're the president. Yeah, I don't. I don't Know why he's doing that?
- [13:54]
Jillian Michaels
I don't either. I don't either. There are things that were all kind of like. No, no, no, no, no, no.
- [14:02]
Michael Franzese
Exactly.
- [14:02]
Jillian Michaels
Cause it's like you fought for it. You fought for it. You vouched for it. But I still. You're right. And I don't like it. I don't like the meme coin and all of that. I'm still in a place, though, where I feel like the threat that we were facing on the other side, especially you and I talked about this on your show, especially in my line of work. When you are taking licenses away from doctors who are questioning the orthodoxy, which is their job is to have this, that science is actually debate and put forward a hypothesis, then test the hypothesis and that stuff. When Bill Gates is developing AI to sift through the web and cherry pick truths.
- [14:47]
Michael Franzese
Yes.
- [14:47]
Jillian Michaels
Holy shit. No, I don't want a meme coin, but I really don't want that.
- [14:54]
Michael Franzese
Exactly. You just, you summed it up. You're right. And that's it. He's not going to do everything perfect. Is he going to keep every campaign promise? He already couldn't keep one. He was going to solve the war before he got into office. But that's how he is. Yeah, but you got to look at the overall picture with him. Are we going to be better off with Trump than we are with Biden? And there's not even. You can't even question that.
- [15:16]
Jillian Michaels
Yeah.
- [15:17]
Michael Franzese
After what this country has gone through, you know, for four years and, you know, a lot of people don't understand this, why did Biden get that many votes? And I'll tell you what, I'll tell you my theory. I don't have to.
- [15:29]
Jillian Michaels
Because in 2020, obviously, that's the only way to get it in 2020.
- [15:34]
Michael Franzese
2020. I don't want, I don't want to go review that again. I cannot understand how that election was lost. I think there was some hanky panky done there, but we'll leave it at that. There's no sense of going over it. But even now, because you have people working very hard, this economy has not been good for normal, everyday blue collar people.
- [15:55]
Jillian Michaels
Agree.
- [15:55]
Michael Franzese
Not at all.
- [15:56]
Jillian Michaels
No way.
- [15:56]
Michael Franzese
Okay. They've been struggling and selling.
- [15:58]
Jillian Michaels
Can't buy a house, can't buy food. Everything's. I love the way they say, by the way, I'm no economist, but inflation is 3%. It's 9%. It's this percent. Okay. When I left California in 2021 to buy a coach ticket to Miami, it was like 250 bucks a coach ticket. Now is $700. I'm like that. Is that not. I, I'm not a mathematician, but that feels like, I don't know, 300%.
- [16:22]
Michael Franzese
Oh, and can I tell you this, too? It was Thanksgiving. We had less people at our house. Thanksgiving. We always have a big thing Thanksgiving, right? We had less people at our house this year. And my wife, she'll tell you, every time I get to the checkout counter, I'm looking at, how much is it going to cost me? I don't know why. I just have a thing at the grocery store.
- [16:39]
Jillian Michaels
Do you guess at it? My son guesses at it.
- [16:41]
Michael Franzese
I don't know.
- [16:42]
Jillian Michaels
You put a good game.
- [16:43]
Michael Franzese
My bill was $300 more this year than it was the year before, and I had less people this year. So you know what immediately goes into my head? How do people afford this that are on a normal salary?
- [16:55]
Jillian Michaels
Exact same.
- [16:56]
Michael Franzese
So here's my theory.
- [16:58]
Jillian Michaels
Why are they surviving?
- [17:00]
Michael Franzese
Why do people vote for Biden? Because these poor people that are working 7, 8, 9, 10 hours a day trying to put food on their table, pay their rent, they don't have time to research and look at, they've been a Democrat all their life. May as well vote for a Democrat. Oh, Trump's a bad guy. I've heard that on I can't vote for Trump. They don't have the time to really look into it. That's why some of these celebrities that are knocking people that vote for Trump don't knock the people.
- [17:23]
Jillian Michaels
I saw that.
- [17:24]
Michael Franzese
Yeah. I mean, these people.
- [17:25]
Jillian Michaels
I know. So disappointing.
- [17:28]
Michael Franzese
I don't understand why they would do that.
- [17:30]
Jillian Michaels
I don't really either. You know, I've hashed this one out a few times, but like the Tom Hanks SNL skit, oh, my God. And you know what's a bummer about that is I know him. Not well. I met his wife many years ago at Maria Shriver's Women's Conference, which the governor, who was Schwarzenegger at the time held. And she invited me to speak there. And she's always lovely to me. And I met Rita Wilson there and she's lovely and she's like, oh, I want you to meet Tom. I met Tom, nice guy. And I was just a reality TV star. I mean, this is a super A list actor. He should have and could have been a douche and couldn't have been nicer. And then he's like, we should all go to dinner. Went to dinner with him. Couldn't have been Nicer, more humble. And you now I understand if you're a democrat, I understand if you're a liberal. But then he's on SLL as a MAGA voter.
- [18:32]
Michael Franzese
Yeah. Like why, why did you do that?
- [18:35]
Jillian Michaels
Why are we all flat out like a KKK esque kind of a racist? And I don't know, I felt my heart sink. I wanted to write. I know it's been a while.
- [18:50]
Michael Franzese
Yeah.
- [18:50]
Jillian Michaels
But can we sit down? Like you want to sit down and just say, let me tell you about that guy in that hat.
- [18:58]
Michael Franzese
I know, goes to church, he's got.
- [19:01]
Jillian Michaels
A couple of kids, he works three jobs, he's an upstanding citizen. He's like, he's, you know, God forbid, they're one health crisis away from complete bankruptcy. The government doesn't work for them, it works against them. Like how could you do that? And no wonder you are losing.
- [19:22]
Michael Franzese
No wonder you have to lose.
- [19:23]
Jillian Michaels
Yeah, there's no question, no frickin wonder. You know, there's something I really did save though for you and I to talk about and I've never explored it and I saved you as my teacher for this. Today I want to introduce you to an amazing tool that's helped me in my work with literally tens of thousands of people in helping them boost their energy, helping them feel better in their body, helping them lose weight, helping them maintain a healthy body weight. It's Lumen. Lumen is the world's first handheld metabolic coach. It's a device that measures your metabolism. Metabolism through your breath and on the screen of the device and on our app, it lets you know if you're burning fat or carbs and gives you tailored guidance to improve your nutrition, your workouts, your sleep, and even your stress management. Your metabolism is your body's energy. It's how your body turns the food you eat into fuel that keeps you going. And because your metabolism is at the center of everything your body does, optimal metabolic health translates to a bunch of benefits, including easier weight management, improved energy levels, better fitness results, better sleep. Did I say that? Did I say that already? You know why? Because it matters that much. Lumen gives you recommendations to improve every aspect of your metabolic health. And it can also track your cycle as well as the onset of menopause. And adjust your recommendations to make sure that your metabolism is healthy throughout all hormonal shifts. So, guys, it doesn't get better than this. Just go to Lumen me Jillian to get 20% off your lumen. That's L u M E n me Jillian for 20% off your purchase. Thank you Lumen, for sponsoring this episode. Who doesn't love the good things in life? I mean, even though I enjoy a little luxury, it doesn't mean I always want to pay for it. And then I discovered Quince, my go to for luxury essentials at affordable prices. Quint offers a range of high quality items at prices that are within reach, like 100% Mongolian cashmere sweaters for 50 bucks. Washable silk tops and dresses, organic cotton sweaters, 14 karat gold jewelry. By partnering directly with top factories, Quint's cuts out the cost of the middleman and passes the savings on to us. And the best part is that all Quint's Items are priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands. And Quint's own only works with factories that use safe, ethical and responsible manufacturing practices and premium fabrics and finishes, which I love. I mean, I personally love. The sheets are amazing and you don't have to spend 500 bucks on them. So give yourself the luxury you deserve with quince. Go to quince.com Jillian for free shipping on your orders and 365 day returns. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com Jillian to get free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com Jillian okay, but you do understand.
- [22:33]
Michael Franzese
With Trump, we gotta give him some time. He's not gonna do everything he said he's gonna do because he can't.
- [22:38]
Jillian Michaels
I'm hit you with the Trump.
- [22:39]
Michael Franzese
What are you gonna do? The most?
- [22:40]
Jillian Michaels
The worst one.
- [22:40]
Michael Franzese
Right? Okay.
- [22:41]
Jillian Michaels
The worst Trump moment. The most egregious. The super unforgivable. January 6th. Okay, I don't actually know what happened. I've heard on one side antifa and there's secret FBI agents in there and there's like, you know, rabble rousers and secret guys stirring up the shit. But at the fricking end of the day they were saying, hang Mike Pence. Hang Mike Pence. And he said he deserves it and then posted something on Truth about the I know you got this. What am I not? This one's tough to defend, Michael, you.
- [23:21]
Michael Franzese
Know, man, okay, I'm gonna tell you my personal belief based upon a couple of things. Number one, I've spoken now to two people that were pardoned. I had them on my podcast and terrible what they did to these people. One guy's an ex Marine, a veteran, works for the veterans, never arrested in his life, never had a problem. A patriot, you know, defended our country. They locked him up and gave him a Ridiculous sentence. Five years. Did five years for something, for no reason.
- [23:49]
Jillian Michaels
Did he hurt a cop?
- [23:50]
Michael Franzese
No, didn't hurt a cop. Nothing. He was inside the building. He went in. He was inside the building.
- [23:55]
Jillian Michaels
Five years from being inside the building.
- [23:56]
Michael Franzese
Yeah. Another guy who was standing next to. And he was a cancer victim, cancer patient, I should say. Was standing next to Nancy Pelosi's son in law who was filming everything. Oh, no, no, I'm sorry, let me get it right. Who was telling people to go into the building where Nancy's daughter was in there filming people coming in. Okay, so I say, okay, I heard that from them. Then. Then Kash Patel says when he was in the Department of Defense, he was second in command there. I believe Donald Trump sent word in, we need the National Guard on January 6th. When I'm there, we don't want to heard this. He testified, he testified to it under oath. Cash Patel. And they had the National Guard ready and Nancy Pelosi and the mayor of Washington D.C. said no.
- [24:44]
Jillian Michaels
And that's true.
- [24:45]
Michael Franzese
I've never looked into it 100% unless he lied under oath. Kash Patel said it.
- [24:49]
Jillian Michaels
Got it.
- [24:50]
Michael Franzese
Yeah. Okay, so why not? Why didn't they want. If the President is saying, hey, we don't want any trouble, make sure the National Guard is there and no, you don't do it. There was no additional security there. None. There was no additional security. They knew it was going to be a big crowd. He always drew big crowds. Why? Why not? You got to ask this stuff. Why did they throw the Republicans, other than the McCain who hated Donald Trump off of that committee that was investigating it? Why didn't they just do it? Fair? Gillian, I can't trust it. I'm a little bit different. You lie to me once, hey, we're all entitled to a mistake. You know what happens? You lie to me a second time, I get a little bit weary. You lie to me three times, hey, we're done. You're not my partner anymore. That's no good. You can't do that. These people lie all day, every day. They lie on video, they change, they lie like, how could you believe or trust anything? And then, and then go back to this. Do I believe that they incited that? Well, okay, January 6th. They tried to destroy him forever on January 6th. He was a insurrectionist. He was this and that. Well, that didn't work. Okay, so let's indict him four times.
- [25:57]
Jillian Michaels
Mar a Lago's worth $18 million.
- [25:59]
Michael Franzese
Let's indict him.
- [26:00]
Jillian Michaels
My neighbor's house is worth $18 million. And it's a three bedroom.
- [26:03]
Michael Franzese
Jillian, I am telling you this. I've been to trial.
- [26:06]
Jillian Michaels
I know.
- [26:07]
Michael Franzese
Are you kidding me?
- [26:08]
Jillian Michaels
Come on. I agree. That part, when you got the Mar.
- [26:12]
Michael Franzese
A Lago look at the pattern was.
- [26:14]
Jillian Michaels
The ridiculous one for me. That's the part where I was like, okay, come on. Hold on a second. You're telling me that Mar a Lago is worth $18 million? Can I buy it? Are we going to sell it?
- [26:26]
Michael Franzese
Listen, you know, a 5,000 square foot house here in Santa Monica is $15,000. Yeah, 5,000 square foot.
- [26:32]
Jillian Michaels
Literally. I'm living in Miami and my neighbor's house. 18 million. Now it's like 50 million because, by the way, there's no inflation, but it's tripled since 21. It's a big house, like 8,000 square feet in Coconut Grove. It was 18 mil at the time.
- [26:49]
Michael Franzese
So look at the pattern. Look at the pattern. What they did to this guy. Why would you trust that? January 6th was done pristine and transparent and everything was right. Now, I believe that they believe that there was fraud in that election. I believe now they tried it again. They tried it again this election. But Lara Trump and the committee or the people that she had, they were ready at every single polling stage. Yes. So they were able to avoid it this time. But did they try it? Of course. With all these write in votes, Gillian, nobody knew who was. There was more write in fraudulent votes that were sent in. Did it tilt the election to Biden? I don't know that for a fact. I don't say things that I don't know. But was there a tremendous amount of suspicion there? Of course. And January 6th, they thought they would destroy him. On January 6th, it would be all over. That didn't work. Look at the pattern that he went after him afterwards in every which way.
- [27:47]
Jillian Michaels
Oh, my God.
- [27:47]
Michael Franzese
So how do you trust them?
- [27:49]
Jillian Michaels
I agree with you on that.
- [27:51]
Michael Franzese
How do you trust them?
- [27:51]
Jillian Michaels
I still don't like what he did, but I agree with you completely.
- [27:55]
Michael Franzese
You know, and look, I'm a New Yorker. We have a tendency, some of us, to fight back. He fights, he fights. He doesn't give up. He doesn't give in. He believed it was a fraud, so he went after it. You know, I mean, look, what happened was sad that day, but I gotta tell you this. I'm sorry. Who the heck are these people? So they're senators and congressmen. Our city was burning down. What did they do about it? Are you any better than these people that lost their businesses, lost Their lives. We are supposed to. Oh, the Capitol. And you poor people had security around all over you and everything else. I'm not worried about you.
- [28:33]
Jillian Michaels
First of all, I totally agree. I mean, Tim Walls let his city burn for three fricking days, and he's the guy that you want to run for bb Just the worst choice.
- [28:44]
Michael Franzese
I didn't worry about you. You had to be under the desk. Oh, we feel bad. These four people had.
- [28:48]
Jillian Michaels
It's the issue with the peaceful transition of power. Hang Mike Pence. Yes, Hang Mike Pence. It's that it's not great. But again, I come back, too. You know, my other issue, to be fair. Do you know how desperately I want to just lean in and like. And let myself fall into this sea of red love? Because there is that. There really is. I'm sorry. There is people on the. On the side of Republican. The people in the maga, they're much nicer. You can even push back, and you can be gay and whatever, as long as you're respectful and you're cool.
- [29:25]
Michael Franzese
Exactly.
- [29:26]
Jillian Michaels
You don't call them Nazis. And you see some of their points. They're quite lovely. You really do want to just be like, I'm gonna. You know what? January 6th. I love it. You want to do it because it's so tempting to get the love that you see, you know, poured upon people that really lean into it. But my concern is that my bigger goal is to try to bring people together, to try to maintain my integrity and call balls and strikes. And I feel like if I. If I can't do that, I'll never get someone on the other side to listen. Like, they don't want to listen. And then they're like, oh, yeah, well, what about this? Why do you answer that? You know, you aren't looking at this. And I also feel like if I don't stay purple, then you don't really hold the other side's feet to the fire, because it's like, yeah, well, all of us little people over here in the middle, like, we're watching, and you better do the right thing, because we could always go the other way. Like, there's a certain amount of holding people accountable.
- [30:25]
Michael Franzese
Could I tell you something? I agree with you 100%. I'm not.
- [30:28]
Jillian Michaels
Oh, you do?
- [30:28]
Michael Franzese
Oh, no, you're 1,000% right. We shouldn't trust any politician and give them everything and just, okay, whatever you do, we're gonna trust. Why?
- [30:37]
Jillian Michaels
Yeah.
- [30:38]
Michael Franzese
Why would we do that? I would consider myself purple. I'm an independent.
- [30:43]
Jillian Michaels
Me too.
- [30:43]
Michael Franzese
If Trump is gonna do something wrong. Hey, I'm worried about my wife, my kids, my grandkids, and my community. If you're gonna do something wrong that's not gonna benefit them, you gotta answer to it, man. And I think that's how we all should be. It's not a question of Democratic, Republican, Independent, whatever. We all should. Who is the best person and the best people at this point in time to do the job, whatever theywhoever they might be. I don't hate Democrats. They've just fallen off a cliff at this point. We need, you know, more than one party. We don't wanna be one party. We want the Democrats to come back, give us some good ideas. Give us something we can hang our hat on. Don't talk to us about, you know, letting 15 million people over the border that we don't even know who they are. You have. You have the. And this was. It was during their time. What was his name, the head of the FBI, Chris Wray.
- [31:32]
Jillian Michaels
Oh, yeah.
- [31:33]
Michael Franzese
Who gets on and says, we have terrorists in this country right now. They're here. They're planning things right now. Are you kidding me? No. And you're still letting them come in over the border? You're still not vetting them properly? What. What world do you live in? We need the Democrats. We need that party. We need them to come together and say, hey, wait a second, Republicans, we stand for this. They don't stand for that. We're right this time, but not all this DEI stuff. And I. And you know, I seen it today.
- [32:04]
Jillian Michaels
We go, di. I'm like, don't do that. You. Oh, God.
- [32:10]
Michael Franzese
And, you know, and it's not for anything, but I'm so tired of hearing it. Jeffries, Congress is talking to Dan Bongino. I happen to love Dan. I think Dan is terrific. And he says something. Well, you know, black lives matter. And Dan turned around and said, all lives matter. Why do they got to keep throwing this in our face?
- [32:30]
Jillian Michaels
Meeting is.
- [32:31]
Michael Franzese
You know how many friends dealing that I have? I'll tell you this. I'm in prison. One of the few times I was out on the yard. I used to hang around with a lot of black guys. Why? We played softball together. We walked the track, we did things. There was a contingency of Italians in there. The boss of la, a guy named Pete Milano, he's dead now. He was the boss of la. We didn't really regard LA that high estate.
- [32:54]
Jillian Michaels
LA had a boss.
- [32:54]
Michael Franzese
So they used to sit together and eat. They used to play cards together. They used to tell war stories together. I'm with the other guys playing ball, the Mexicans, the black guys. So Pete calls me one day. He says, mike, I really want to talk. I go in there. I sit down. He's got guys with him. He says, what is it with you? I said, what are you talking about? He says, you hang out with all these black guys. You don't sit with us. I says, yeah, so what's the problem? He said, well, it doesn't look right. I says, pete, let me explain something to you. You know, New York, we had it over these guys. Yes. Let me explain to you. I have a lot of respect for you. When I see you. Do I respect you? Yes. I respect all the guys. Yeah. I don't like to play cards. I don't like to sit around, tell war stories. I walk the track and I play ball. I said, then I'm going to do whatever I want. Don't tell me how to do my time. I don't tell you how to do yours. Very respectfully, you know, always be respectful. I don't. These were my friends in there. I got along great with these guys, you know, and we did things together. The black guys used to come to me and say, michael, all the Italians, why are they racist? They don't talk to us. I said, they're not racist. He said, what do you mean? I said, look, they eat the same food together. They tell the same stories together. They just feel comfortable around each other. They don't hate you. Get that out of your head. You know why people think mob guys hated black guys? Because of one line in the Godfather when they were at the table, if you remember in Godfather 1, and they were talking about drug business. So one guy gets up and says, you know, sell the drugs to the blacks. They're on animals. Anyway, that one line, I've heard it so many times since then. I said, that's a movie.
- [34:28]
Jillian Michaels
That's a fictional movie. That's Sharks.
- [34:30]
Michael Franzese
Same thing.
- [34:31]
Jillian Michaels
Yes.
- [34:32]
Michael Franzese
You know how many black guys have mentioned that to me? Oh, you guys? Yes.
- [34:35]
Jillian Michaels
Oh, that's heartbreaking.
- [34:36]
Michael Franzese
Yeah. I said, because of one silly line in a movie, I said, we don't think that way. And honestly, the guys that I hung out in that life, we had a lot of black guys around us. We didn't look at them in any different way. Some guys will come back on that, but it's not that way. But, you know, to get this thrown in your face every minute, you know, and that's, you know, that's where Obama. I voted. Well, I couldn't vote. Don't let me lie. I would have voted for Obama because I wasn't. As a felon. I wasn't allowed to vote.
- [35:05]
Jillian Michaels
I did vote for Obama, okay?
- [35:06]
Michael Franzese
I would have voted for him, too. I met him on a beach. I had a 15 minute conversation with him in Hawaii.
- [35:11]
Jillian Michaels
Charming charismatics.
- [35:12]
Michael Franzese
You know why? I said, this guy is going to unite this country. And he did exactly the opposite. He had such an opportunity and he did exactly the opposite.
- [35:23]
Jillian Michaels
He got captured. He did. He got captured. In my line of work, he was gonna label GMOs. I mean, I was like, oh, this is exciting. No. And then his wife's now hawking some healthy soda.
- [35:36]
Michael Franzese
That's a new thing. Now I'm hearing healthy soda.
- [35:39]
Jillian Michaels
Oh, my gosh. It's all. It's a scale, right? Some of it is complete shit. Some of it's like, it's okay, like 40 calories of sugar, not a bunch of chemicals. You'll be fine. But is it good for you? No. Is it better than water? Of course not.
- [35:57]
Michael Franzese
Right?
- [35:57]
Jillian Michaels
I mean, they're all sellouts, so.
- [35:59]
Michael Franzese
Yeah, but I mean, you know, there's everything out of their mouths. I mean, this woman here, what's her congressman here, I can't even look at her. Oh, gosh, what's her name? I can't even think of her.
- [36:09]
Jillian Michaels
I know who you're talking about, though.
- [36:10]
Michael Franzese
You know, I am everything about her, you know, God almighty, you know, saying, how does this woman staying in office. I don't get it. She must be just used to her. Just leave her in there, you know.
- [36:22]
Jillian Michaels
I think the answer is that in California, it does come down to the social issues. And, you know, it's going to be. It's going to be abortion. So, like, what? Larry Elder, his position on abortion is what put Gavin Newsom. And I understand you're religious. I'm just telling you the truth. That is what put Gavin Newsom back in that job. After which. Recall. Recall one or two. I mean, that's just. That is what's happening. You're going to. I think Caruso's a reasonable guy.
- [36:50]
Michael Franzese
Yes. Business guy. Reasonable guy.
- [36:52]
Jillian Michaels
I tried to get Biller on. I was like, bill who? Bill Maher. He's like, I'm not doing it. And I don't like to get up before 12.
- [36:58]
Michael Franzese
I was like, bill, is that what he said? Come on.
- [37:02]
Jillian Michaels
He goes, jillian, he's like, I don't like to get up before noon. And I'm like, but, Bill, you could win Here, we need you. He's like, no, I'm not gonna do it. I'm so fascinated by your personal life. I never do this in podcasts. Cause it's like, ah, no one cares about, you know, the person's history. You, I believe, very strongly are the exception to the rule. And I think our audiences are different enough that some of my audience may not know you and may not know your story. And I want to tell a little bit of it. Can you tell me, remember when you and I were sitting down on your show, or I think it was prior to us even starting, and you told me that there were like 50 guys in some sort of article. It was like Journal or Forbes or something that were like, top in the Mafia and they're all dead, but you are in jail. Can you start out with, like, who were you for? Anybody who's been living under a rock?
- [37:56]
Michael Franzese
Okay. My dad was the underboss of the Colombo family, one of the five New York Mafia cosignosa families. Very powerful position. And so I grew up in that life. But my father was extremely high profile. He was like the John Gotti of his day. Always under investigation, major target of law enforcement, in and out of prison, on trial, off of trial. So I grew up in that.
- [38:20]
Jillian Michaels
Right.
- [38:20]
Michael Franzese
But my dad wanted to keep me out of it. He said, no, you got a head on your shoulders. I want you to go to school, get an education. He wanted me to be a doctor of all things. He picked it for me. Right. And I love my dad. I mean, Jillian, I idolized my dad. He was a great father. He really very supportive of me. So I said, okay, that's what you want, dad. That's what I'll do. Cut to. He goes to trial three times. Twice for grand larceny, once for murder. He's in jail, out of jail during that time, he gets acquitted all three times, right? Then they indict him in federal court for masterminding a nationwide string of bank robberies. Goes to trial, gets convicted. They give him 50 years for ordering these bank robberies. It was the longest sentence for bank robbery conspiracy case ever given up to that point. 1970, they ship them off to Leavenworth Penitentiary. So I was a pre med student, Hofstra University.
- [39:13]
Jillian Michaels
Oh, my gosh, you really did.
- [39:14]
Michael Franzese
You went to. Yeah, I was.
- [39:16]
Jillian Michaels
You pursued it.
- [39:16]
Michael Franzese
Okay, I was pursuing it. And then I was devastated. My dad was 50 when he went in. I figured at 50 years on top of that, he'll never come out of prison alive. So I was devastated. My Family was devastated. And Joe Colombo, who was the boss of the Colombo family, who I knew, he kind of took me under his wing. I stopped meeting a lot of my dad's friends. What are you doing going to school. If you don't help your father out, he's going to die in prison. So I go see dad in Leavenworth. He was in the penitentiary. And I said, dad, you got to tell me something. And I said, why? I said, bank robbery. He said, I don't see that with you. Because my dad was. Always, taught me the right things. Be a man, treat women properly, be honest. I mean, my dad gave me good upbringing. So he looked at me and he said, son, I was framed on this case. I don't rob banks. He said, the government framed me. He said, look at the witnesses against me. They were all drug addicts. And my dad hated anything to do with drugs. Jillian. He used to make up stories about people that ruined their life with drugs just to scare me into never having a drug. I never. I've never taken a drug in my life. I've never smoked a joint, nothing. Because my dad put that fear in me. And then my brothers and sisters had problems.
- [40:25]
Jillian Michaels
Older people, older generations of the Mafia did not want anything to do with drugs. Am I wrong?
- [40:34]
Michael Franzese
Well, yes and no. There were some people that were into drugs, no question about it. During my time in that life, if we dealt with drugs, we got. We weren't allowed to touch it. And unfortunately, I knew guys had gotten a lot of trouble for doing drugs. I mean, we weren't. There was guys doing. Sneaking in on the side, but we were not major drugs, but not even.
- [40:51]
Jillian Michaels
Selling it, not dealing it, none of that stuff.
- [40:53]
Michael Franzese
Not use it. We couldn't sell it. We couldn't do anything with it. And, you know, I get a lot of blowback when I say this. Well, Beato Genovese was a drug dealer. Yes, he was. But we weren't allowed to do it during our times. You know, guys on the street, they try to get away with things, but we weren't allowed to do it, okay? So I said, my dad would never deal with people in drugs. He said, I'm innocent. He said, I gotta prove my innocence or I'm gonna be in here for a long time. So I said, I'm not going to school then, Dad, I gotta help you out. And we had a very long, kind of rough discussion because I never went against my dad, but this time I was going against him. And Julian, I'll never forget, we're sitting in A visiting room. He looked down, he threw up his hands, he said, okay, but if you're going to be on the street, you're going to do it the right way, Right? And that's when he proposed me for membership into. Because you have to be proposed, you have to be sponsored. You can't just say, hey, I want to join.
- [41:43]
Jillian Michaels
Right? Okay.
- [41:44]
Michael Franzese
So I was. I was 20 years old when he. 21 when he proposed me for membership.
- [41:51]
Jillian Michaels
So now he proposes you for membership. What is. This is all my questions for you. What's a day in the life?
- [41:59]
Michael Franzese
Well, here's what happened from that point. About two weeks later, another captain in the family, which is a ranking position, took me to see the boss. Joe Colombo had been and seriously wounded. And I was. I was 12 steps away from him. Delaney, when this happened, this was like the second eye opening experience for me in that life.
- [42:20]
Jillian Michaels
You're 20 at this time or.
- [42:23]
Michael Franzese
I was 20, yeah. When it happened. Got it.
- [42:25]
Jillian Michaels
Okay.
- [42:25]
Michael Franzese
And he was seriously wounded. He eventually died from the wound. So a new boss took over. His name is Tom. He's gone now. And I sat with him. He said, I got a message from your father. He said, you want to become a member of our life. Is that true? I said, yes. He said, well, here's the deal. From now on, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, you're on call to serve this family, the Colombo family. They said, that means if your mother is sick and dying, you're at her bedside. We call you, you leave your mother, you come and serve us. From now on, we're number one in your life. And when and if we feel you deserve this privilege, this honor to become a member, we'll let you know. And then you're in kind of like a recruit period where you have to prove yourself worthy to become a member. And for me, that lasted about two and a half years.
- [43:09]
Jillian Michaels
So at this point, you see a guy get shot 12ft away from you, and your father's in jail, facing 50 years, and you're not scared?
- [43:23]
Michael Franzese
No.
- [43:23]
Jillian Michaels
Oh, my God, Michael. This is where I would bury myself in med school. And I can't stand the sight of blood. I'd be terrified. And then it's like you're married to us, married to the mob. So, two and a half years. What is the. What are the. We've all seen the movies. You know what I mean? Like, what kind of stuff does the Mafia actually do? Are you even allowed. You're allowed to talk about it or. Yeah, I know that there's Some.
- [43:51]
Michael Franzese
Well, I'm not allowed to talk about it, but I'm not part of the life anymore. If I was in the life life, I could never talk about it.
- [43:57]
Jillian Michaels
Got it.
- [43:57]
Michael Franzese
You're not supposed to, let's put it that way.
- [43:59]
Jillian Michaels
Okay.
- [44:00]
Michael Franzese
And guys won't do it, but, I mean, I've been out of it now for quite some time, and I've talked about it. So, yeah, I can talk freely.
- [44:07]
Jillian Michaels
But it's my understanding that there are many misconceptions about it.
- [44:11]
Michael Franzese
I believe there are. Yeah.
- [44:12]
Jillian Michaels
See, you know, when you were telling me a little bit of, like, racketeering, and I've heard stuff about taking gas from this city and selling it into that city, or. It doesn't sound quite as crazy nefarious, the mob. Whoa. Or is it actually super scary crazy nefarious?
- [44:32]
Michael Franzese
It is. Gillian. Never mind. All right. Yeah, it's a life. Look, I've saw a lot of guys lose their lives. And sometimes for the wrong thing, you know, you notice. I'll tell you what we have. We have a very idealistic view of the life going in, because it's a life built on honor. Allegedly respect. I got your back, you got mine. You know, this brotherhood among men is very powerful. You know, I don't think anything other than a marriage is more powerful than, hey, I got your back, you got mine. Wherever you go in the world, you're going to have a brother to back you up. You buy into that. And then you're also told, we have rules, and you can't violate the rules. And if you violate the rules, you could pay for it with your lot. What are the rules? Don't ever, ever violate another maid guy's wife, daughter, sister, mother, ever.
- [45:21]
Jillian Michaels
The maid guy, forgive me, I'm sorry.
- [45:22]
Michael Franzese
Means guy that takes the oath.
- [45:24]
Jillian Michaels
And actually, so now it's two and a half years. The probation period's over. Your.
- [45:28]
Michael Franzese
I took the oath, right? Prove myself worthy. Took the oath. That was Halloween night, 1975. Was myself and five other gentlemen in a very solemn, serious ceremony. We took the oath, and we took it individually in a room. They want you to know the seriousness of what you're getting involved in. So, I mean, I had this very idealistic view. Hey, I'm part of a brotherhood. I'm part of. I have even more of a special bond with my dad now. You know, it's something. So it was great. I was on a high that night. And you come in as a soldier. That's the official position. And then you just live your life in that Life according to the rules. And were there a lot of bad guys in that life? I would have to say, yes, Julian. Guys that even I didn't want to, you know, look, I had to be around them. But you don't want to go out to dinner and associate with them. And because some of them were. There was one guy, I can just mention him, he's gone now. His name was Roy DeMaio. Serial killer, no doubt. But I say this to people, he would have been a serial killer whether he was in the mob or not. He was just that kind of guy. So you have some kind. That's the exception, not the rule. But you have guys like that, you know, that are in that life. And then you have guys that, you know, they just try to play by the rules. But unfortunately, if you're called upon to do something, you got to do it.
- [46:46]
Jillian Michaels
You got to do it.
- [46:47]
Michael Franzese
You have to do it. Well, look, you could always refuse, but then you're in trouble. You can't, you know, so. But you buy into the life, you know. And how do I justify things? Hey, guy broke the rules, he knows the rules. We all have our eyes open. He knows he shouldn't have done that. So if the consequences are severe, you caused this for yourself, you justify it that way. I'm not saying it's right now, right? But when you're in that life, that's how you think.
- [47:12]
Jillian Michaels
You moved up real fast though, didn't you? You were like. That was the article of like the 50 guys. And you were how old at the time?
- [47:20]
Michael Franzese
Yeah, it was. It was an article, Fortune magazine. I said, I'm sorry, in 86. And it was the 50 biggest and wealthiest mob bosses in the country was like half the mob magazine. It was a huge article, cover story, and they featured six of us. I was one of the six of the 50 that they featured. And then they had a chart with the 50 of us on there according to rank, wealth and power. I was number 18. I was the youngest guy on the list. And I always say it was a silly list, you know, they didn't ask for our tax returns. I don't know how they made it up, but they just did what they did. Sold a lot of magazines. But what's not silly about the list, Gillian, some 30 odd years later, 48 of those men are dead.
- [47:58]
Jillian Michaels
Right.
- [47:58]
Michael Franzese
Number 49 is still in prison. I think he's in his 90s. I'm the only one alive and free out of that list.
- [48:05]
Jillian Michaels
What do you make of that, though? What do you make of you being the one out of the 50 that.
- [48:11]
Michael Franzese
Well, you know, listen, when I walked away, I had a lot of trouble. Cause it became public that I was walking away. You can't do that. Your oath is forever.
- [48:19]
Jillian Michaels
I thought so I thought, that'll kill you.
- [48:20]
Michael Franzese
Well, I had a lot of rough time. And my dad turned against me for a while. Contract on my life by my boss, who I was very close with. He took it very personal. When I walked away, they all thought I was going to become a major witness and start testifying against people. Because that's what normally happens, right? But I wasn't into that. I didn't want to hurt anybody. I just wanted to get out. And so I had a lot of trouble. You know, when I was in prison, they locked me down for almost three years. They kept me in solitary because they said, there's, you know, contract on your life. All the way the street, everybody's talking about it. So I had a lot of trouble as a result. But I also knew I didn't hurt anybody. I didn't testify against people. I didn't put people in jail. I wasn't looking to do any of that. So I knew over time, I think I could work this out. That's what I always thought. You know, Jill, I always believed that I can handle things. That's just how I am. So I said, I'll handle this, too, in the appropriate time. And meanwhile, I'll be careful. I know the life extremely well. I know what these guys will do. I know what they won't do. I'll move out to California, away from everybody in New York. So I had kind of a plan, but I didn't know how it was going to work out. Because I don't sell my former associates short. They're very capable. But, you know, for me, it's a faith issue. You know, I turned to faith, and I believe that there's been a different purpose in my life. I was fortunate enough to marry a woman who is. You know, we're going on 40 years now. And Jillian, she was the reason, really the reason I walked away. Because I'll tell you what I say about the life. It's an evil lifestyle. I want to be careful. I don't call the guys evil.
- [49:53]
Jillian Michaels
I understand.
- [49:54]
Michael Franzese
You know, I was buddies with many of them, and some of them were really good guys. I mean, I. I love them. But the life is evil because I don't know any family of any member of that life, including my own. Not my wife and kids, but father, mother, brothers, and sisters devastated. I mean, My father did 40 years in prison. 40 years. He came out at the age of 100. He died at the age of 103. My mom was 33 years without a husband. She died in 2012. Her relationship with my dad at that point, ugly because she blamed him for everything that went wrong in her life.
- [50:27]
Jillian Michaels
She didn't believe they'd stayed married throughout.
- [50:28]
Michael Franzese
That, and rightfully so. She was right. What happens? My sister, 27, dies of an overdose. She was not. She just couldn't handle everything, right? My baby. My other sister died at the age of 40. She was never mentally stable. My brother was a drug addict, 25 years. What I had to do just to keep him alive, you know, with all the trouble he'd get in and what. He drove the family so. The whole family destroyed. So I meet this young girl. She's 20 years old. I fall in love with her. I said, am I going to do the same thing to her? Bring her into this life? I already was arrested 18 times. I was indicted seven times. I went to trial five times. I was indicted with two federal racketeering cases, one brought on by Giuliani, right? I said, these people are never gonna leave me alone. Never. I got too much of a bullseye on my back. My name is too big. They'll never leave me alone. So I said, if I want a life with her, I have to get out of this life. And that was it.
- [51:25]
Jillian Michaels
Giuliani wrote the forward to the book. So what put you in jail? What did he. Because Giuliani put you there, what did he actually get you on? Because you told me, I remember, like, they set you up, or they set people up. They set your dad up. And you were like, if you catch me, good on you.
- [51:45]
Michael Franzese
You got it.
- [51:46]
Jillian Michaels
But play fair. Exactly. Did he play fair?
- [51:50]
Michael Franzese
The case that he indicted me on, I was a lead Defendant. I had 15 copies. Defendants. And we were on trial for several months. I was acquitted in that case. I was supposed to have. I was supposed to have financed a big leasing company that had a couple of million dollars in loans that were illegal, okay? And honestly. And I told you, I didn't put up one penny. It wasn't me. I didn't do it. But I was indicted for it, and I beat the case. I was acquitted. You know, it was funny. The jury was out for seven days because it was 16 defendants, right? They came back after seven days, and they told me, when we pulled a jury, we acquitted you in the first hour of the first day. There was really no evidence against me. But then this whole gasoline tax thing that I was definitely guilty of. I was defrauding the government out of tax on every gallon of gasoline. That was the case I eventually pled out to. And you know, Rudy Giuliani was the most powerful guy in government at that time. So he was very aware of this case. And as part of my plan to leave the life, I said, okay, they're going to keep coming at me. I have leverage because I just beat a big case. They want a conviction on me. I beat them five times already. So I told my lawyer, let's try to deal. And so, long story short, for a three or four month period, I made a deal. Ten year prison sentence.
- [53:12]
Jillian Michaels
Oh, my gosh.
- [53:13]
Michael Franzese
I had $15 million restitution.
- [53:16]
Jillian Michaels
Wow.
- [53:16]
Michael Franzese
I had 5 million in forfeitures. I had a jet plane and a helicopter. I gave the government everything at that time. And I married my wife.
- [53:24]
Jillian Michaels
You know, you gave up a plane, a helicopter, 15 million bucks and took a 10 year sentence, alienated yourself from your father, risked your life for a girl.
- [53:36]
Michael Franzese
Yes, I would have met your wife.
- [53:39]
Jillian Michaels
But I mean, there's no woman. I'm sorry.
- [53:41]
Michael Franzese
Sorry.
- [53:41]
Jillian Michaels
I. I'd be like, listen, honey, I love you, but I did.
- [53:44]
Michael Franzese
Yeah, I did.
- [53:45]
Jillian Michaels
Somewhere along the line, I would. I would break. I idolized my father, brought me closer to my father. My father didn't talk to me for a long time. Okay. I mean, that alone, then it's like losing all of this that you worked for doing 10 years in jail. I mean, my God, what the heck is with the girl?
- [54:04]
Michael Franzese
I just loved her.
- [54:06]
Jillian Michaels
Seriously?
- [54:07]
Michael Franzese
Yeah.
- [54:07]
Jillian Michaels
You just met a girl and loved her?
- [54:10]
Michael Franzese
Yeah. And, you know, up until. And I have to say this, I was married once before for a short time. I got married young, right. To a girl that was very, very good to my mother and me when my dad was the one, you know, very good guy. I have nothing bad to say about her. And we had three children. Three and three years. And. But it wasn't. I married her for the wrong reasons, you know, it's that kind of a thing.
- [54:34]
Jillian Michaels
Sure.
- [54:34]
Michael Franzese
And I feel bad talking about it because she was a good woman, you know, I have to say that. But it just wasn't right. I was too young and it just didn't work, you know, and so. And then I'm in that life, Jillian. And in that life.
- [54:48]
Jillian Michaels
Hold on. No, stay with the wife.
- [54:49]
Michael Franzese
Okay.
- [54:50]
Jillian Michaels
What happens when you see a woman or a person that you love so much? Like, did you know her when you saw her? Did you were you thinking, this is my soulmate? Did you. You. I'm sorry, but. But this is a very rare story. A 40 year marriage that's happy that you make these kinds of sacrifices for and hold zero resentment over is exceptionally rare. Can you. And she was young. From what I remember.
- [55:18]
Michael Franzese
You told me she was 19.
- [55:20]
Jillian Michaels
Okay, and you're 30.
- [55:21]
Michael Franzese
I was 31. Yeah.
- [55:22]
Jillian Michaels
Okay. Was it like freaking hummingbirds and stars and rainbows when you saw what.
- [55:31]
Michael Franzese
What I'll tell you. Come on now understand, when I'm in that life, it's a little. I'm out every single night, Right?
- [55:37]
Jillian Michaels
Women throw themselves at you. That's what I'm saying.
- [55:39]
Michael Franzese
All the time. Yeah, all the time. So what I was. The nightlife was, was big for me. I was out every single night in a club. I had interest in clubs at that time in New York. So I had moved around quite a bit. And I'm producing a movie, among many things I was doing. I had a production company and I'm making movies, right. So I was making this dance movie in Southern Florida, in Fort Lauderdale. And she was one of 20 dancers that we brought in to dance in the film. And Jillian, honestly, I'm sitting by the pool. We had just finished pre production and we're going to start principal photography on a Monday. So Sunday I throw a party for everybody. I had them all staying in a hotel, right? And I'm just sitting by the pool. And she came out of the pool, out of the water, and I saw her and it was like, like, whoa, you know, just like that. And so I asked the choreographer, I said, you know, who is that girl? Is that one of your danceys? I said, yeah. I said, introduce me. And that's when it started. Now, she didn't want to have anything to do with me, Nothing. I tried to take her to lunch, she was running the other way.
- [56:36]
Jillian Michaels
Shut up.
- [56:37]
Michael Franzese
No. Which got me even more interested. I said, this girl? Yeah, I'm the producer. She didn't want to have anything to do with me. I wasn't used to that.
- [56:42]
Jillian Michaels
Right, I would imagine.
- [56:43]
Michael Franzese
Yeah. So she really got me intrigued and I really pursued her. And you know, look, she was a young girl of faith, I have to say that. And I just really respected the way she carried herself. There was just something different about her. She didn't, you know, she did her dance, she didn't hang out. There's a lot of stuff that goes on in a movie set when you have things like that. She didn't get involved in that. I mean, she had friends and all of that. Did her dance. And I just saw something different in her that I never had witnessed in another woman. And so when we wrapped the movie, she said, you gotta come home and meet my mother. And I said, great, let's go. Right. So I jumped on a plane. She was from Anaheim, California. Julian. She didn't know anything about the mob at all. She had no clue. She saw the Godfather one time. That's all she said. She didn't know anything. She didn't know anything about me. And I didn't sit down and tell her, oh, by the way, this is who I am. Until today. I've never had a discussion with her about that. Never talked to her about it.
- [57:36]
Jillian Michaels
Wow.
- [57:37]
Michael Franzese
What she knows about me, she knows from social media and from movies and stuff like that. We don't talk, so. And I fell in love with her. And that's when I said, if I'm going to marry this girl, I can't do this to her. She's a good person. I'm going to go away for the rest of my life at some point, or I'm going to get. We had three wars in our family during my era there. I said we were a warring family.
- [58:02]
Jillian Michaels
What does that mean? Mean, like over turf, leadership.
- [58:06]
Michael Franzese
It's always over leadership.
- [58:07]
Jillian Michaels
Oh, I understand.
- [58:08]
Michael Franzese
Yeah. You know, the boss, somebody else wants to take over. You take sides and you go to.
- [58:13]
Jillian Michaels
War within the family. Not family against family.
- [58:16]
Michael Franzese
It's within the family. It's civil wars. It's not wars with other families.
- [58:20]
Jillian Michaels
It's far worse than, I'm your brother, I've got your back. I mean, that's like an ultimate betrayal. I would expect it from Lucchese to Gambino or however the heck it all works.
- [58:29]
Michael Franzese
But it doesn't happen like that anymore. There's no. Yeah, that was before Luciano created the commission and divided the families. Then they used to war among each other. Once that happened whenever we had an issue with another family, we worked it out. You didn't go to war. Yeah.
- [58:45]
Jillian Michaels
So the worry about the bullet in the back of the head comes from.
- [58:49]
Michael Franzese
From your own. From your own. Yeah.
- [58:53]
Jillian Michaels
So you say to. At this point, to your maybe fiance. I'm guessing it's time frame.
- [59:01]
Michael Franzese
Yeah. I mean, well, here's what happened.
- [59:02]
Jillian Michaels
I'm gonna give up everything. I'm going to jail for X amount of time. Stick around.
- [59:06]
Michael Franzese
Here's what happened.
- [59:07]
Jillian Michaels
Okay.
- [59:08]
Michael Franzese
I'm falling in love with her, but I'm on trial with Giuliani. Giuliani. The day of my Arraignment, he gave me a million dollar bail. I think when I got arraigned, he came up to me and my lawyer in the courtroom and he said, francis, if I convict you on this case, you're getting double what your father got. I'm giving you 100 years.
- [59:23]
Jillian Michaels
Oh, my God.
- [59:24]
Michael Franzese
That's what he told me.
- [59:25]
Jillian Michaels
How do you not hate him?
- [59:27]
Michael Franzese
Well, I didn't like him much back then.
- [59:28]
Jillian Michaels
Okay, we're fair.
- [59:30]
Michael Franzese
But here's what happened. So now I'm in love with this girl. I'm on trial. I said, this guy's gonna give me. Let's say he gives me. He doesn't give me 100, he gives me 50. What's the dad? It's the rest of my life.
- [59:40]
Jillian Michaels
Yeah, dying.
- [59:40]
Michael Franzese
I said, am I gonna marry her now? And I said, no. So I waited until the trial was over, and fortunately, I was acquitted. I was acquitted on a Friday, right? She was in New York waiting for me. I wouldn't let her come to the trial that day, especially because if I got convicted, they were going to take me away right then and there. And that would have been it. So I run out of the courtroom, I said, I was acquitted. Pack your bags. And her mom was with her and everything else, right? Get home. She said, where are we going? I said, we're going to Vegas. I'm marrying you tomorrow. So we went. It was May 9, we went to Vegas. I got married in a chapel there with her. And then I said, now plan a big wedding out in California. Invite your whole family. And then we got married again three months later in a church in Westwood.
- [60:26]
Jillian Michaels
Right here, when you're sitting in a courtroom and your whole life is on the line, 50 years, I get. I'm trying to anticipate. Like, I get a little bit sick to my stomach waiting for my blood work results. Or you do full body mri. I'm like, that's normal. But my point is, I can't imagine the stress of sitting in that chair watching that paper go to the judge, having them open the. Open the paper. It must feel like every second is a year. Like, did you know it was gonna be okay? Were you feeling like an out of body? What is that? That feeling of your whole life can end in a second.
- [61:11]
Michael Franzese
I'm gonna tell you this, Julian. I handle stress pretty well. I'll give you an example. I went to the doctor maybe a year ago, and I had your beard. Something happens with your beard. It's. I forget what they call it. You may get a spotlight. The beard doesn't come in. Yeah, for a minute.
- [61:25]
Jillian Michaels
Yeah, sure.
- [61:26]
Michael Franzese
So the doctor says, you must have a lot of stress. Do you? I said, doc, I don't know. You know, I've lived one way my whole life. I don't know what stress is about, right? But I will tell you this, because that's just my life. It was just normal from the time I was a kid. You know, you're in that life, you're always on your guard. And then I got the government coming after me every five minutes, so I'm always on my guard. I just lived that way. It was normal. But the one time I had stress, anxiety, whenever. When they tell you, will the defendants rise and face the jury and that jury foreman starts to read, all you want to hear is one word, not. That's your whole life. You're waiting there, and you want to hear that word because you're gone forever at that point or a long time.
- [62:11]
Jillian Michaels
Oh, my God.
- [62:11]
Michael Franzese
And you hear that word not. And like, oh, God. That's the one time I. Five times I could say that I've had anxiety because I beat all those cases. But, yeah, that's stressful.
- [62:23]
Jillian Michaels
You're not a normal person. And I don't mean you're. Your life is not normal. That goes without saying. But, you know, when we look at the other 49 guys on the list. Right. You're the one last man standing. Okay. I'm sorry to say, but out of all the siblings, the three other siblings, essentially, your brother is still alive.
- [62:46]
Michael Franzese
But my brother's still alive.
- [62:47]
Jillian Michaels
23 years on drugs. Fought to, like, obviously, it broke him. It broke your two sisters. Sisters. It cracked the other 48 men and the one that's doing life in jail. So despite the fact that it's like, I know stress. I know stress. I know stress. I grew up this way. I grew up this way. You are for sure an anomaly. And it reminds me of, and I'm curious to know what you think of this comparison. Whether you love Trump or whether you hate him. And I would say when I began to really respect this about him, I probably still didn't really. I didn't like him. He got indicted, like, seven times. 34 counts. Some were criminal. One lawsuit takes one, takes years. It drains every moment of your time. All you do is play defense. You can't enjoy your family. You can't run your business properly. You are wasting time. We need you to go through 10 years of emails and see if you can find one about the fact that you are approve this ad or this or that. I mean, and you're just like, oh, my God, I have a million things to do. I'm trying to move the ball down the field and I gotta spend three hours looking for an email. And it's every day for years, and it's thousands upon thousands of dollars. And that's a frickin like, civil case. There's no criminal charges associated with it. And you lose hair. Not from your head. I cannot imagine having that stress exponentially magnified. So Trump gets in the head. Any given moment, you could literally be in the head. You know it. You could die in jail from how long you're there, or somebody putting a shank in your fricking ribcage. You are losing everything that you've worked for. Financially, the family is falling apart. What is it? What, what is it? That. That. Is that exceptional resilience? What is the takeaway? Can it be learned? Can it be crafted? Is there a mindset? Is it a combination of biology versus psychology? What is it? I want to know because I. I want some of it. The littlest shit, I think, can send people spinning. And sometimes I have to sit back and I'm like, for God's sake, Jill, what if you got diagnosed with brain cancer? You would be praying for these problems. Get your shit together. How many hours of my life I've wasted stressing over stuff that isn't life threatening, let alone that is. What is it about you or about a Trump that can do this when no one else can?
- [65:39]
Michael Franzese
Well, you know, I think. I mean, I don't. You can't claim credit for it. I think it's something innate. It's just who you are and how you deal with things. You know, some of it you compartmentalize.
- [65:52]
Jillian Michaels
Is it a viewpoint?
- [65:53]
Michael Franzese
You know, my wife tells me all the time, you have an amazing way of. Of just putting things on the side and getting past them. You know, about three days I was out on parole. I had done five years on the 10. They let me out on parole for 13 months. I made parole, good prisoner. And then I got violated and went back to prison. And the government was very upset with me. I wouldn't cooperate. They wanted me to do things. And few days before, when she saw something, she said, why is your parole officer calling you up? And I said, oh, it's going to be. Don't worry about it. And then, boom, I'm gone, right? I get locked up. She says, I don't ever want you to say, don't worry about it again, you know, but that's my attitude, I'll handle it. We'll get past it. And I do have a way of compartmentalizing things where, you know, we're over this, just move on. And I try to instill that in my kids. It's hard because I think it's something that's just inside of you, the way you do it.
- [66:47]
Jillian Michaels
Do you have faith it'll be okay, or a faith it's meant to be, or a belief in your ability that you can, like, carry the burden or like, I want what you have. I want a fraction of what you have. I wish that it could be taught. I just sang, like, when. And I think we were all that moment. Trump gets in the head, he gets up and goes, fight.
- [67:13]
Michael Franzese
I gotta say something about him because I think it's appropriate. Whether you like Trump or not, what this guy has gone through, I have gained so much more respect for him as a man.
- [67:24]
Jillian Michaels
I have to admit the same as a man. Yes.
- [67:27]
Michael Franzese
Because I know what it is. I mean, I fought all these cases. I know what it is. It is time consuming. It takes away from everything. Oh, it's just. Forget it. What they've done to this guy, people say, well, he would be on a revenge tour. I said, well, I certainly can understand that. What they've done to him, in many cases, illegally and unjustly, all of it unjust, but the fact that the guy just has an amazing constitution, that's innate. You don't. You can't just buy that or develop it in some way. I think some of it is environmental, but some of it isn't innate. And again, going by my own family, my family couldn't handle it. And I don't blame them. You know, I was very upset with my brother. My brother became a cooperating witness, and he actually testified against my father. Wow. And put my father back in jail. When he. He was out on. He'd gotten out parole. My brother was wired up against him, testified against him. Right. We didn't see him for 10 years. He went into the witness protection program. And he wasn't a maid guy. He didn't take the. He was a street guy.
- [68:26]
Jillian Michaels
Okay.
- [68:26]
Michael Franzese
And I was very upset with him. And then my 70th birthday was a surprise party my wife gave me, and she invited my brother. They were in touch because she loved my brother. Right. They were. They were.
- [68:37]
Jillian Michaels
How long had it been?
- [68:39]
Michael Franzese
10 years.
- [68:40]
Jillian Michaels
Okay, sorry, sorry. Okay, so 60. Okay. So he talked when you. He ratted your dad out again when you were 60 years old.
- [68:48]
Michael Franzese
I was going back to when Was that my dad was.
- [68:50]
Jillian Michaels
And then he got it.
- [68:52]
Michael Franzese
And then he was away for two years.
- [68:53]
Jillian Michaels
I had my time frame screwed up.
- [68:54]
Michael Franzese
Gotcha. So he came and. I love my brother. I loved him. You know, I raised him. My dad was away, and then we had a conversation, and I said, bro, I gotta talk to your. And he let me understand some of the trauma that he went through. I never really grasped it, because I was a part of that life, and I just didn't understand it. But I said, you know what? I get it. I really get it.
- [69:19]
Jillian Michaels
It breaks some people.
- [69:20]
Michael Franzese
Yeah.
- [69:21]
Jillian Michaels
Yeah.
- [69:21]
Michael Franzese
It broke my sister. It broke my younger sister. It almost broke my mother. And my mother was very strong and independent. Strong and independent woman. But it got to her after a while. And I said, you know what, bro? I get it. I said, now I feel bad for feeling the way I did with you. I said, I always loved you, but I didn't understand how you can do something like that to our dad. And he let me understand, and it made sense. And it's just something I never was able to grasp during that time.
- [69:50]
Jillian Michaels
Most people cannot take the stress. They really can't. I don't. There's. People are built to do certain things, you know, I was watching a show about a mathematician. Long story short, I thought your brain has to. I mean, for you to do math like this and see the world in this way, there's. You gotta have a brain that is carrying something most of us don't have. Musical geniuses. People that have these innate talents that, yes, they develop and, yes, they hone, and yes, there's 10,000 hours of effort, but the Magnus guy who plays chess and with his eyes closed on 10 games at the same time, I mean, come on, you know, I don't care how many hours I play chess.
- [70:31]
Michael Franzese
We can't do that.
- [70:32]
Jillian Michaels
There's no shot, right? So there is an absolute gift, and there's even studies that link epigenetics for certain individuals that have a lineage who their ancestors were stressed, and now they tolerate stress better. But we can't even apply that here because of your three siblings. But, okay, so there's something. Something there that you have this gift, but in this continuum of you to your brother, most people are gonna fall more towards him.
- [71:03]
Michael Franzese
Michael.
- [71:04]
Jillian Michaels
Most people are. I think that's why they say the masses of men, or Thoreau, lead lives of quiet desperation. You cannot. It's like you can't manifest it to a certain extent. If there's just not an innate ability, you can grow your resilience you can build your toughness and your strength, and you even see it in media figures that I'll point out. Like, you look at Rogan or you look at Megyn Kelly, and, man, these guys are forged in fire. I mean, they tried to ruin their lives over and over and over. And now they're both fearless individuals. And I sit back sometimes on my, like, oh, oh, my God, what's happening?
- [71:46]
Michael Franzese
And I'm gonna be with Megan, I think, next week.
- [71:49]
Jillian Michaels
She's the queen. She is the queen. And they try to kill her like Art of War style, you know, chop her into a million pieces, leave her for debt, and burn every bridge back to the village. You know, it's like Sun Tzu. They went after her, and her and Joe became more resilient with each and every time. But for most people, you don't make it past the first time they knife you in the back. And I have tried to, like, overcome these things in my own life, but there is a level of courage that is just absolutely foreign and inspiring. And it's that moment where, man, you could sit there with a straight face and not pass out waiting for the word not, you know, or be willing to make all of these sacrifices for love, or get in the head and stand up and say, fight. I would be like, let's get the fuck out of here.
- [72:43]
Michael Franzese
I know. But you know what? You know what, Gillian? If you ask Trump or you're asking me, we don't know. Like, determination. You don't know. It's just something that's in us that says, this is what we need to do. We're not going to give up. When they locked me up the second time and they put me in the hole, I was in solitary for 29 months and seven days. Whoa.
- [73:06]
Jillian Michaels
You were in solitary for 29 months?
- [73:08]
Michael Franzese
Yes, seven days. Okay, so describe that six by ten. Cell. Six by eight, ten. Cell 24, seven. No, that's it.
- [73:17]
Jillian Michaels
No.
- [73:17]
Michael Franzese
Yeah, that's it. They're supposed to. By policy in federal system, they're supposed to take you to the yard, which is a cave.
- [73:25]
Jillian Michaels
That's what I thought.
- [73:26]
Michael Franzese
Five hours a. A week. That's all you get. But normally they don't even do that. They'll come to you at three in the morning, and they'll say, hey, Francis, it's yard time, three in the morning. Oh, you're. You're passing, you know, you're saying no. And then they just write down, he refused yard. So rarely do you get out. You know, maybe if you get a vision 29 months. 29 months and seven days. You count. You count every day when you're in the hole? Yeah.
- [73:47]
Jillian Michaels
So almost three years. Just under two and a half years.
- [73:50]
Michael Franzese
Yeah.
- [73:51]
Jillian Michaels
You yourself?
- [73:52]
Michael Franzese
No, I would.
- [73:53]
Jillian Michaels
Myself.
- [73:54]
Michael Franzese
Well, you say that.
- [73:56]
Jillian Michaels
No, I think I would.
- [73:58]
Michael Franzese
You would get through it, Jillian.
- [73:59]
Jillian Michaels
No, Michael. Maybe because of the kids. Maybe because of the kids. No, Michael. I don't think so.
- [74:08]
Michael Franzese
A lot of people say that. How am I gonna do it? And then you get in there and you do it. But, you know. But here's the thing. When they locked me up the second time, I was coming out of a bank lock. Locked me up, Took my car away. Went to my house with a search warrant. Took every penny that we had in the house. Took every penny from my wife in her purse. This is your husband's money. You don't work. We're indicting him on another racketeering case. They told me they were going to indict me for murder. That I would never come out of prison again.
- [74:34]
Jillian Michaels
But you didn't.
- [74:35]
Michael Franzese
No, but this is what they had informants. They were trying to build another case on me because I wouldn't cooperate.
- [74:41]
Jillian Michaels
Okay?
- [74:41]
Michael Franzese
To the extent that they wanted me to. I sat down, I admitted everything about myself. But I wasn't looking to put people in trouble. And they wanted me to quarrel.
- [74:49]
Jillian Michaels
Of course. Yeah.
- [74:49]
Michael Franzese
So they said, you're never coming out again. And you're going to stay in solitary for the rest of your life. That night, I was devastated. If there was ever a night that I was broken, it was that night. Because I said, okay, I'm married to this girl. Five years she waited for me. Five years, 13 months on parole. We had two little babies. I said, I'm going to lose a girl. I did all this for. She's not going to wait for me. She's 27 years old. Why should she? They're never going to put me out on the yard. I got people who are going to kill me. I'm going to spend the rest of my life in a six by eight cell. That was a bad night. I'll tell you how bad it was. Everybody has a weakness. I used to demean people that were suicidal. I would say, you're weak. How do you not face up to your trouble? That was just natural for me. It was like a weakness. If you. I don't feel that way anymore. Because that night I honestly felt. I want to lay down. And I don't want to wake up. Because I visited my father. 25 years. I saw my family fall apart. I'm going to lose the girl. What do I want to live like this for? That's one reasons why I'm against the death penalty. People think that, you know, life in prison in a six by eight cell is some kind of party. If that was me, put me to sleep. I live like this for right. I don't want to live. Live right. I was shot. I was really done. And you know, for me, I've told this so many times, it was a prison guard that handed me a Bible that started me on a journey that night. And it was really my reading of scripture that started to bring me back to who I am. You don't do this, you don't lay down. What do you mean? The rest of your life? I didn't commit murder. And then I right away I'm going.
- [76:26]
Jillian Michaels
To fucking from the Bible.
- [76:28]
Michael Franzese
Yeah. Yes. It just gave me. I mean, look, I mean, these two verses, they're right here. Because I don't ever want to forget these two verses inspired me that night.
- [76:39]
Jillian Michaels
Okay. My whole life grew up without religion, I think simply because one parent had a mother who was a Jew and another parent had family who was Greek Orthodox. And I think my parents were like, let's just leave it, we'll do presents. I grew up with people, but mostly Jewish kids and some kids that were Christian or Catholic and never thought anything of it. That said, as I got older, being gay, you develop or I developed a bit of a bias towards people who are religious because you think like, you know, okay, they don't like me. It's in the Bible or whatever book, the Quran, you name it. Then you get like, you get bristly and you have less tolerance and you saw it, you saw it at the Olympics. I'm sorry, that's what that was, that was a giant F you. That's what it was. I know it, I'm positive of it. My wife is Roman Catholic, such a big trumper.
- [77:48]
Michael Franzese
And I grew up Catholic, by the way. I grew up Catholic.
- [77:51]
Jillian Michaels
She's from New Jersey, you know, you know, I've had these off camera conversations, so. Nevertheless, she rips into me about religion when we first start dating, I'm like, this is ridiculous. This is.
- [78:05]
Michael Franzese
Rips into you because you don't believe.
- [78:07]
Jillian Michaels
I didn't believe it. Not only did I not believe it though, Michael, I didn't respect it. I didn't respect it. And she's like, you know, you think you're so tolerant and you're so left and you're so liberal, but you don't tolerate this and you don't understand it. And I feel sorry for you because you don't have the culture and you don't have the community and you don't have the heritage. And you're not taking away the lesson. She's not Bible thump, but she grew up Roman Catholic and she respects her. Every night she says a prayer and does the. And I began to talk to people who are religious and what they take away from their religion is truly inspiring. They find strength, they find community, they find guidance. People like myself think like, oh, if I do the heroic dose of mushrooms, will I talk to God and find guidance? We're looking for that connection. And I never respected the fact I never even opened one of the books to find out what is in those two proverbs that.
- [79:15]
Michael Franzese
I'll tell you what, that made you.
- [79:16]
Jillian Michaels
Not wake up the next day.
- [79:21]
Michael Franzese
Well, I'm broken. And when he handed me the. Well, he didn't hand me the book. He pushed it through the slot on the door. It fell on the floor. I got up and I slammed it against the wall. Because my wife was a Christian and she would talk. And my mother in law, most devout Christian I ever met in my life. My mother in law would pray daily. I believe my mother in law prayed me to where I am. I believe in the power of prayer because of my mother in law, because she was so steadfast in her faith. Wonderful woman. Except just loved everybody. Just a wonderful person. Our door was always open. You're on the street, she's bringing you in. And wonderful woman. I watched her. I said, wow, this woman is for real. She said, I'm praying for you every single day. She prayed, right. But I wasn't buying into it at that point. And my Catholicism was like a subject in school. I wasn't, you know, okay, I believe in God. Has to be. Somebody created all this.
- [80:15]
Jillian Michaels
Yeah. I'm not without the belief in something.
- [80:18]
Michael Franzese
Don't know what, but you know, I can take care of myself. That was my thing. I'm in control of myself, life. Right. And then this happens. And so I threw the Bible against the wall. I said, I want to hear this. I want Prozac or something. I want. I don't like what I'm going through. Right. Oh, yeah. But then I picked the book up because I said, you know what? I do believe in God, and it's me and him in this cell. That's exactly my thought. So I opened the book and I had never read the Bible. I don't know if your Wife will tell you, in Catholic school, we don't read the Bible. You read the catechism, okay? The priest reads the gospel from the pulpit on a Sunday, right?
- [80:51]
Jillian Michaels
Okay.
- [80:52]
Michael Franzese
And I. I didn't even know where to begin. So it falls open to the book of Proverbs. And I don't care what faith you are, you got to read the book of Proverbs because it's brilliant. It's a brilliant book. So many things crazy that my father taught me were taught in the book of Proverbs. How to keep your mouth shut, huh?
- [81:11]
Jillian Michaels
Was he really?
- [81:12]
Michael Franzese
No, not at all. It was just his way. It was just what my dad believed.
- [81:14]
Jillian Michaels
Okay, like life lessons?
- [81:16]
Michael Franzese
Yeah. So I'm reading the book and I'm saying, wow, this guy Solomon, he was the king of Israel. He's pretty smart. This is a brilliant guy. And I'm reading it and I'm saying I'm just getting inspired by his brilliance, not by anything else. Right? Because I'm into that. When people are smart, I respect them. And then I come to this verse, Proverbs 16:15, and it says, when a man's ways are pleasing to the Lord, even his enemies are at peace with him. So there I am, the enemies first got me. I said, everybody hates me tonight. The guys once I want to kill me. The government's looking to keep me here for the rest of my life. I got nothing but enemies. I wouldn't even thinking of my friends. A lot of them turned against me. They become informants.
- [81:56]
Jillian Michaels
Right.
- [81:57]
Michael Franzese
And then it was almost as if, and this was, I guess, you know, reassuring to me, if you would believe in me, I'll take care of your enemy. That's how I interpreted that verse that night. And I guess because of my wife talking to me, my mother in law. Okay, maybe there's something real about this. I need to investigate a little bit more. So I keep reading.
- [82:19]
Jillian Michaels
You happened to open to this verse?
- [82:22]
Michael Franzese
Just fell open? No, no, it fell open to that book.
- [82:25]
Jillian Michaels
It fell open to that.
- [82:27]
Michael Franzese
I'm reading the book and then I came and this was the verse that really got to me. It really got to me. It made me think, because my wife was trying to tell me, you know, I mean, look, we got married in a Christian church because she asked me to. No problem. You know, I'm a Catholic. That's fine. And I met the pastor, who was a wonderful guy, really nice guy. I liked him a lot, but that was the extent of it. And then after I read that verse, I kept reading and then I came to this verse and this verse. Proverbs chapter 3, verses 5 and 6. It says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Now I'm thinking my whole life was built on trust. But look what happened.
- [83:07]
Jillian Michaels
Uh huh.
- [83:07]
Michael Franzese
Look what happened. Of course, you know, lean not on your own understanding because sometimes we just don't have the answers. I didn't have them that night. I had no clue what I was going to do with my life. In all your ways, acknowledge him and he will make your path straight. So I said, okay, I don't believe this.
- [83:27]
Jillian Michaels
I would say the same.
- [83:29]
Michael Franzese
I said, I don't believe this.
- [83:29]
Jillian Michaels
I would say the same.
- [83:30]
Michael Franzese
But here's what else happened. I said, listen, I love my father more than anything. I followed him blindly really into this life. And look where it got me. I said, I took a blood oath. Yep, I surrendered my life to cause an ostrich.
- [83:44]
Jillian Michaels
I paid the ultimate price and I.
- [83:45]
Michael Franzese
Gave it everything I had during that time. I said, I can't do this again just because my wife told me and my mother in law told me. I said, I'm going to investigate. So I said I had nothing but time on my hands, right? So from that point on, Julian, I had my wife send me in. If I had a count, 200 books, every faith. I said, I may die in here, I may spend the rest of my life in here. I want to know everything. She sent me in 200. I said, she said, why do you want to. I should just send it. Go. I want to read about Muslim, I want to read about Judaism, I want to read about Buddhism, I want to read everything. Send them all in. And I said, any books that have to do with proving the Christian faith based upon evidence. And she said, what do you mean evidence? I says, cam. I told her I went to trial five times. I've been in front of grand juries, I've been in front of the Supreme Court on constitutional issues. In my dad's case, evidence to me is based upon evidence. If the evidence is there, I don't believe it. Okay, send me in. And I spent three years in, in jail, 29 months and seven days in a hole.
- [84:52]
Jillian Michaels
And you read these freaking books.
- [84:54]
Michael Franzese
I read everything. That's all you do is read all day long. And I had a Sony Walkman, you know, back then, you know what?
- [85:00]
Jillian Michaels
That of course. Oh heck yeah.
- [85:01]
Michael Franzese
And there was one pastor, his name is Greg Lori, he's a big pastor, who as I was having some trouble interpreting scripture. It was almost miraculous. And I mean this, I would listen to him. He Had a radio show, and within that week, he was on. Every morning, he would interpret that scripture for me. So I understood it. Now, I wasn't conversing with him, but I just listened to him every morning. And I just came out of there a total believer. I said, this is real. There's enough evidence here to convince me. So what I. What I say now, Julian, I'm not the perfect Christian. I'm. I mean, I can lose my temper and, you know, I tell people, no, there is no perfect question, you know, and. And I make my mistakes and I give in to things. But my faith is rock solid based upon the evidence. I believe it with all my heart. So. And nobody can tell me any different based upon that experience and what I've witnessed over the past 25 years. Because what am I doing here? Why am I alive and everybody else is dead? Why am I not in prison? Yeah, why am I not in prison? Everybody else. And all of a sudden I get out of prison. I wasn't even out of prison. It was funny. I never thought I'd be speaking to anybody in my life. I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to straighten my life out. I got a lot of work when I get out. They took all my money. I mean, I had enough money, thank God, for my wife to live. She didn't have to go to work while I was there. But right till the penny, as soon as I got out, I had to get to work. Whole new world. I'm in Los Angeles now. I'm not New York anymore. I'm not affiliated with the mob. I got to start all over again. That's what I'm thinking about. Cut to. I'm in a whole 29 months. Every single day, I would write the warden. I had a yellow pad and a paper. Warden, I'm not afraid of anybody. I'm in Lompoc, California. Let me out on the yard. I lost like £20, £30. I said, I got a young, pretty wife. Let me out. Don't worry about it.
- [86:58]
Jillian Michaels
They were going to kill you.
- [86:59]
Michael Franzese
I wasn't worried. I wasn't worried to be in the yard in Lompoc, right? And. And I have to tell it to Jillian. I was sending messages to my father. I said, dad, I'm not going to hurt anybody through the prison thing. You know, every once in a while, somebody came to visit me. I said, you make sure my father knows this. People know that I'm not going to hurt anybody. Because you know what the FBI did to me. They Put my name on the witness list of trials that were coming up. Yes, to try to break me. And so I was saying that. And people saying, we don't believe you. You're on the witness list. I said, I don't care what list I'm on. I am not going to testify. And this is while I was on parole. So now people are even more worried because I could have hurt a lot of people. And then I get violated. Why are they violating him and putting him back in prison if he's going to be a cooperating witness? That doesn't make sense. So things start to, okay, something's. And then these trials come up. I don't appear. Now people are saying, well, he's not going to testify, but he shouldn't have left us anyway. My boss was still mad, right? Well, there's that kind of a thing. Okay, so this is how this whole course is going. So now I get out of the hole. The warden brings me up. He says, I'm going to let you out. You've been so persistent writing these letters. He said, if you thought you were going to get killed, you wouldn't ask me to come out. I said, well, thank you for that. I said, warden, look at all the weight I lost. I'm going home in six months. Because every case they tried to put against me, it fell apart. Fell apart. They only were able to get me on the violation. They gave me four years. That was it. And it was a maximum. Okay, so now I'm going home in six months. I said, let me go in the yard, get myself in shape, you know, and see some sunlight. He says, okay, you have to sign a waiver. If anything happens to you on the yard, you're not going to sue the Bureau of Prisons. I said, give me it, I'll sign it. Right? They said, we want you to wife sign it. She didn't want to sign it. I said, sign it. Nothing's gonna happen to me. Yeah. She said, I said, sign it. I had to beg her to sign it. She signed it. Okay, so now I'm walking the yard. I have a Sony Walkman on. I'm listening to Billy Joel. I'll never forget. Beautiful day in Lompoc. Lompoc. And over to loudspeaker Francis back to the warden's office. I said, oh. I was what you call a central monitoring inmate, meaning any movement had to be approved by Washington.
- [89:08]
Jillian Michaels
Oh, my God.
- [89:09]
Michael Franzese
So I said, they're going to lock me up again. Whoa. They're going to lock me up again. Right So I get to the office and as I walk there, there's two guys in suits standing outside. I said, oh, no, they are going to lock me up again. This was the FBI. I said, they must have built the case. I'm ready to. Oh, no. They said, francis, we need to talk to you. I said, well, why do you need. If they needed to arrest me, they wouldn't want to talk. Talk to me. I just arrested. So I go in the office. What do you guys want? I'm not cooperating. Is. We don't want you to cooperate. We get it. You're not doing it. I said, well, thank you. What do you want? They said, we need a favor from you. I said, favor? I said, that's cooperation. No, we. This is totally different. I said, explain. Major League Baseball, the NBA, NFL, NHL are getting together to do an anti gambling video. I had a. I had a big gambling operation on the street. We had a lot of athletes gambling with us, right? With my bookmakers. They said, okay. They said, we want you to participate in the video. You claim you turned your life around. There was a big story came out, you know, in what? In Life magazine. You turned your whole life around. I said, that's right. Yeah. I said. They said, come and talk to the athletes. Tell them how to stay out of trouble because we got a lot of problem in the league. I said, I don't talk to athletes. I said, you guys have been telling me I'm gonna get killed. Now you want me to do a video? I said, this is a setup. Told them just like that. They said, no, this is for real. I said, I don't do videos. They said, listen, if you agree to do this, we're gonna sweeten the pot. I said, what do you mean? They said, we're filming it in Chicago. We're gonna take you out of here for three days. We're gonna put you up in a hotel. They said, you can sleep in a king sized bed, real pillows, real blankets, real. They told me, order room service, pasta, macaroni, whatever you Italians eat. They said, for three days, you got it. And do the video. They're going there to film it. I said, who's filming it? They said, NBA and Major League Baseball. I said, I can't do this. They said, but I said, but I thought about it a minute. I said, guys, I've been down eight years. You get my wife in that room with me, I'll do a video on anything that you want. And I really meant it. And they said, okay, we'll try well, what happens the day they're going to take me out? We have an earthquake in California.
- [91:22]
Jillian Michaels
Was this 94?
- [91:23]
Michael Franzese
Yeah, it was. It was 94.
- [91:26]
Jillian Michaels
Quiz Monster.
- [91:28]
Michael Franzese
And so they couldn't take me out. All movement stopped. But since I agreed to do it, the NBA came in and they filmed my portion of the video inside the room, right? And I told them exactly how we set the athletes up. This is what we did. This is what they got to stay away from. This is. And I gave, I did the whole thing, right? And so I get out of prison. They put this video together. It was like quarter of a million bucks. All the leagues chipped in and they featured me throughout the whole video. I was telling the whole story, right? So the leagues come to me directly and they say, michael, you know, we have a problem. This is powerful. You got to take this to our players. So in 1996, I spoke to every major League baseball player in spring training. Went to the NBA, went to the NFL, and then in 1998, the NCAA jumped on board. And since then, I've spoken over 350 universities, both Division 1 and 2, all the student athletes, about gambling. We've had a great program.
- [92:23]
Jillian Michaels
Hold on. When you say this is how we set the athletes up, what do you mean? They're gambling?
- [92:29]
Michael Franzese
They chose to gamble, but they get themselves in trouble. I'll tell you how an athlete would come. And they're usually bad gamblers, okay? Believe me. And they gamble a lot. So they go to a bookmaker and Dylan, they're into the book May. Remember this is 1980s, okay?
- [92:45]
Jillian Michaels
We just saw this whole Shohei Ohtani scandal.
- [92:47]
Michael Franzese
Exactly.
- [92:48]
Jillian Michaels
Oh, no, it's the whole interpreter guy.
- [92:52]
Michael Franzese
So bookmaker calls me up, so and so from the Mets, is into us for $50,000, okay? Should I cut them off? I said, why would you cut them off off? All you're doing is putting an entry on a piece of paper. I said, let him get into you for 250,000 and then bring them to me. So now they bring them to me because they're going to get deep. I said, hey, you owe us some money, how are you going to pay us, right? I said, okay, how you do it? Go rob a bank, you got a rich uncle, Go ask your team, whatever you got to do. You got to bring me the money. You have to pay the debt. Gotta pay it. I said, but you know what? I'm really a fan of yours. I love your team.
- [93:31]
Jillian Michaels
I love it.
- [93:32]
Michael Franzese
I said, so here's what I'm gonna do. You don't have to pay me all the way.
- [93:34]
Jillian Michaels
You're a Mets fan?
- [93:35]
Michael Franzese
Yeah. No, I'm not a Mets fan.
- [93:36]
Jillian Michaels
No.
- [93:36]
Michael Franzese
I'm a Yankees fan. Oh.
- [93:37]
Jillian Michaels
I was gonna say, I'm like, my wife is a Yankees fan.
- [93:39]
Michael Franzese
No, that's why I won't talk about the Yankees. I'll talk about the Mets.
- [93:43]
Jillian Michaels
I was gonna say, are you happy about Soto? But. Okay, good.
- [93:48]
Michael Franzese
I don't like Soto anymore. I loved him last year. But anyway, so I said, I'm gonna give you a break. I said, every Monday you come here and you pay me 2% on the money that you owe me in cash. Bring it here every Monday. Don't miss. Don't miss, I says. And take as long as you want to pay me back. So now he'll do anything to get out of the room, right? Okay, great. Yeah, no problem. So he'll pay me one week, he'll pay me another week. What is he doing? He's going to another bookmaker somewhere else in town. We know them all. We know what's happening. He's getting himself more in debt.
- [94:18]
Jillian Michaels
Oh, my gosh.
- [94:19]
Michael Franzese
Should I bring him back? Back? Okay, sit down. I know what you're doing, I says, but I'm going to give you another break. Here's what you're going to do. Let's make sure. Let's make believe he's. Let's go football, it's easier. Or basketball. Okay, You're a quarterback, right? First three times you get the ball, you put it in a handy. The other receiver.
- [94:36]
Jillian Michaels
Son of a.
- [94:37]
Michael Franzese
You're a running back. First two times you get the ball, you fumble it, put it on the ground. You just do what I tell you to do, Michael, and I'll make up my own. I'll make up the money. Then you own them from that point. And believe me.
- [94:51]
Jillian Michaels
So are professional sports rigged?
- [94:55]
Michael Franzese
I don't want to say they're rigged. That would be the wrong thing to say. And today, I mean, you see it.
- [95:02]
Jillian Michaels
All the time, and everybody speculates.
- [95:05]
Michael Franzese
Listen, you know, we spoke to referees, we spoke to umpire. Let me give you an example. Let's go to basketball. I go to the East. You got a referee. You got a referee in a basketball game. They. They control the game.
- [95:17]
Jillian Michaels
Heck, yeah.
- [95:18]
Michael Franzese
They can call a foul every time you go down a court or they don't have to call a foul.
- [95:22]
Jillian Michaels
You saw the Bills game against the Chiefs. The guy's knee was over the line. It was giving them the whole game. There's a freaking picture of it. And my son was Having a meltdown, screaming, so it's my wife. I'm like, this is fixed.
- [95:36]
Michael Franzese
Okay, but listen, now. Now, let me. Let me tell you. Let me put it in your head. That ref, who knows, let's say he bet on the other team. He's got his cousin, his brother, his neighbor betting for him on the other team he can control. Remember, it's never about winning or losing. It's about the spread. You manipulate the spread. You don't even have to make the team lose. You just got to manipulate the spread. And so who's going to know? Who's going to know?
- [96:02]
Jillian Michaels
Right?
- [96:03]
Michael Franzese
You go back. I don't want to mention names. Go back to the Lakers, Kobe Bryant, okay? A referee bets the point spread. Lakers are supposed to win by 10. How do you not win by 10? Give Kobe three more fouls, put him on the bench for an extra 10, 15 minutes, whatever. And now you're manipulating the spread. And that's what it's all about. So how do you know? Of course, now am I saying everybody's doing it? Of course not.
- [96:28]
Jillian Michaels
It's happening.
- [96:29]
Michael Franzese
Is the probability that it's being done. Come on. Nobody's a saint.
- [96:33]
Jillian Michaels
I see it all the time. And that one was just. I don't really. My wife and my son, big sports fanatics. So they kind of pull me in tangentially to these conversations and watching the games and what have you. And so my wife is Bill's mafia. She's a New Yorker.
- [96:49]
Michael Franzese
She loves the Bills. Yeah.
- [96:50]
Jillian Michaels
Likes the Bills and the Yanks.
- [96:51]
Michael Franzese
Okay, I'm the Yanks and the jets, but that's okay.
- [96:55]
Jillian Michaels
Well, hopefully, I think you'll still get along. I think you'll be okay.
- [96:57]
Michael Franzese
I don't hate the Bills. I like the Bills. I was mad at them for one reason. Your wife will know this. They were playing the. I was in jail when this happened. They were playing Dallas, right? And they were up by 18 points at the half. And I bet on them, right? And I bet the spread. And I said, I got this. They're up by 18 points. I'm way ahead. Not only did they lose the game, they lost the spread and everything else. And I said. And I was betting in there. We were, you know, just fun stuff in there. And I said, how do you do that? They went to the super bowl four times in a row and lost every one of them. But anyway, so I was mad at the Bills for a while, but they're a good team.
- [97:33]
Jillian Michaels
Oh, my gosh. I went so far afield, but I couldn't help myself, because it's obviously a lot of people. You know, there's conjecture about, like, is it. Is it not? And you see these crazy things like that game with the Bills against the Chiefs, and the guy was clearly over the. Anyway, Michael, you're fantastic. Which I already knew because I was fortunate enough to do your podcast. Tell everybody about the podcast. Which book do you want him to get? And the wine.
- [98:03]
Michael Franzese
Yes. And the reason I brought this. This is a non alcoholic wine. Yes. Can you drink non alcoholic?
- [98:12]
Jillian Michaels
I can't. I'm just being a bitch.
- [98:13]
Michael Franzese
And I'm gonna tell you what's happened for some reason now. Non alcoholic beer. Non alcoholic wine. I can't even say it right. Exploding.
- [98:21]
Jillian Michaels
Yeah. Because people know how bad.
- [98:22]
Michael Franzese
Yes.
- [98:23]
Jillian Michaels
How bad actual alcohol is for you. But what was good about the wine was everything but the alcohol.
- [98:29]
Michael Franzese
Yes. And this. The taste is really good. You know, Walmart just picked it up. All the majors are picking it up. And because it's regular wine. And then we extract the alcohol out so we don't ruin the taste. And it's. It's very popular. That's for you.
- [98:43]
Jillian Michaels
I love it. Thank you so much.
- [98:44]
Michael Franzese
Can I tell you something? I really mean this. You were such a. You were such a great guest on my podcast because you're so emotional and you just. Everything is great. And this one was even better. Oh, I really mean that. It's one of the best sit downs I ever had.
- [98:57]
Jillian Michaels
Really.
- [98:58]
Michael Franzese
I mean that. And I've done only God knows how many I've done. I really mean that. It was just, we got into different things because, you know, normally, and I understand people get into the same thing. I get it. But we. We. This was great. You.
- [99:10]
Jillian Michaels
Cause there's a formula, and so you're like, okay, I know the formula. Let me come out of the thing. Did you anybody when you worked in the Mafia? Like, and then it's like everyone's like, oh, hold on, let's get the algorithm and let's keep it for. But I just. It's like, it's the same thing as not allowing yourself to take the dopamine hit. It's like, no, let's be smart and have an intelligent conversation and learn something about an incredible person. And what would I ask you if we were sitting at dinner? Nod. What would I ask you for the YouTube algorithm? And I was like, you know what? What? I'll do plenty for the algorithm. This one's for me.
- [99:43]
Michael Franzese
You got it down. It was really an enjoyable, enjoyable conversation. I mean that.
- [99:47]
Jillian Michaels
Thank you.
- [99:48]
Michael Franzese
So much. And, you know, and I hope people understand, you know, this whole Trump thing, this is not buying into any Kool Aid. All we ask people, common sense.
- [99:55]
Jillian Michaels
Yeah.
- [99:56]
Michael Franzese
What's best for us. Is anybody going to be perfect? Of course not. Are we going to get mad at things? Of course we are.
- [100:02]
Jillian Michaels
And explore. Explore these things you're terrified about. But before, like, my ex told my son yesterday that the reason we're having so many plane crashes is because Trump has fired so many FAA workers. And I said, honey, let's sit down together and let's Google this. I said, we can do this a couple of ways. First question is, how many people were actually fired and what were their jobs? 400 people were fired out of 40,000. None worked for air traffic controller and security. Okay. Like, let's go. Plane crash by plane crash. The Learjet had mechanical problems. You know, Trump had been in office nine days when the Black Hawk helicopter hit. The one had smoke in the cab, like, this is a plane issue. And she told him, well, Elon replaced the Mechanics with the SpaceX guys who know nothing. And I was like, listen to me. Finally, I messaged my ex. Cause the kids come home with these, like, crazy. My daughter's black. And she's like, trump. Mommy says that Trump says Trump is making it okay for him popular for everyone to be racist. I'm like, what are you experiencing that I don't know about? Cause I'll someone. So tell me what you are experiencing as racism against you. Cause I'll.
- [101:17]
Michael Franzese
I'll him, right?
- [101:19]
Jillian Michaels
And my daughter's like, no, no, no, no, no. I'm saying, mommy said this. So I called my ex and I was like, do you understand? I'm like, listen, I get it. You're scared. I understand. I know that he's got flaws. I see all of them. However, you realize the mechanics work for the private companies, right? They're not government employees. They work for American or they work for Delta. They work for Boeing. None of them work for the government. And I was like, her name's Heidi. And I said, heidi, before you freak yourself out and you freak out the kids, just Google.
- [101:53]
Michael Franzese
Yeah. You know, it's a shame that people I. You know, again, another example, my boss. Who's my boss? Carmine Persico. I love the guy. We got along very well, made him a lot of money. He was very good to me. So now I leave the life. He wants to kill me. No. Did I get mad at him? No. Why? Because he was supposed to me if I left the life.
- [102:16]
Jillian Michaels
Right. I Got it.
- [102:17]
Michael Franzese
So I can't say, oh, this is a bad guy. He's a horrible guy. Everything he did is wrong. Everything from this point on, because he wants to. I walked away from the life. I'm not supposed to do that. I knew going in that if I did something like that, my life could be in jeopardy. So now everything that he did, am I going to say he's a bad person? You know what I'm saying? And even when he got a hundred year sentence, he was sentenced to 100 years on the commission case by Giuliani. He died in prison in 2019. I felt terrible. And this is a guy that I had a lot of trouble as a result of what I did and what he was going through do. But so the point with Trump, you know, you can't blame him for everything because you don't like him. It's like anything this guy could do, you know, even if it's good, he'll uncover a zillion dollars and put it back in your pocket and you're still not gonna like it.
- [103:02]
Jillian Michaels
Resist. Yeah.
- [103:03]
Michael Franzese
Because it's. You're brainwashed.
- [103:05]
Jillian Michaels
I agree.
- [103:06]
Michael Franzese
And that's all I'm saying. You know, let's give him a chance and if he messes up, we'll tell him.
- [103:11]
Jillian Michaels
I agree.
- [103:12]
Michael Franzese
And that's it. And you know what? Stay purple.
- [103:15]
Jillian Michaels
I'm going to.
- [103:16]
Michael Franzese
You have to stay purple. Don't jump to either side because then, then, then maybe you do buy into the Kool Aid. Stay purple. Even MAGA people. I'll tell him, hey, make sure he does the right thing.
- [103:26]
Jillian Michaels
Yeah.
- [103:26]
Michael Franzese
Hold people accountable. I'm gonna end with this, please. I tell these young people, I visit these gang bangers in prisons and I, you know, I try to influence them to stay out of a bad way. And I tell them two things. I even tell them in church, all the young people, you want a shot in life. Life to go the distance in a good way. Two things. Remember, number one, you are who you hang out in this world. You hang out with the wrong people, you're going to be known to be the wrong type of person. And of course they're going to influence you. You can't be the only one in a group of bad people or people that you shouldn't be around and think you're going to convert them all. You're not going to do it. Forget it. Okay. You must surround yourself with people that care about you, that have similar interests, that are going to do the right thing, that want to make you succeed. That's Very important. Secondly, who you are accountable to in life is going to direct the path that you're on. Because accountability, when you're accountable to the right person, a lot of things come from that. Discipline comes from that. Respect comes from that. Authority comes from that. You know, so accountability is so important. We have people in life, they're not accountable to anything.
- [104:29]
Jillian Michaels
Right.
- [104:29]
Michael Franzese
And you can be accountable to yourself to do the right thing, but there has to be somebody else that you're accountable to, to that keeps you in line, whether it be a faith issue, you know, a person that you really admire that does the right thing. I tell these young people, if you can get those two things right, you've got a good shot of going the right way in life. You mess up on both of them, I guarantee you're going to have trouble. And so it's the same in anything else. Hold our people accountable. No matter who he is. If my brother was running for president and he did the wrong thing, I may not do, hey, come here. This is wrong. Straighten it out because you're hurting people or it's not gonna go right. And we do the same with Trump. We do the same with anybody's in office.
- [105:10]
Jillian Michaels
So for everything, the pod, the wine, the books.
- [105:15]
Michael Franzese
Yes.
- [105:16]
Jillian Michaels
And anything and everything in between, where do I go?
- [105:20]
Michael Franzese
Michaelfrancis.com and all over YouTube. You can find me anywhere. I'm everywhere. So it's really interesting. Yes. But I would go to the website. Michaelfrancis.com franzissewine.com we deliver all over the country, and we're in all the major stores. You know, we're in Ralph's here, we're in Costco. We're in Total Wine, Walmart, everywhere. Yeah.
- [105:41]
Jillian Michaels
I love it. Thank you. This was a blast.
- [105:43]
Michael Franzese
It was great, Julian. I really mean it.
- [105:44]
Jillian Michaels
I hope we're friends now.
- [105:46]
Michael Franzese
We are friends. No. As a matter of fact, my wife and I, we would love to go out to dinner with you and your wife. Yeah. You know, next time you're in. Are you leaving?
- [105:53]
Jillian Michaels
I am leaving, but I am back again the last week of March.
- [105:56]
Michael Franzese
Please get in touch with me.
- [105:57]
Jillian Michaels
I will do.
- [105:58]
Michael Franzese
And let's do it. Let's make it a. Let me shake your hand up.
- [106:01]
Jillian Michaels
I'm holding you to that.
- [106:02]
Michael Franzese
Yeah. Holding you to it.
- [106:04]
Jillian Michaels
Thank you so much for watching. If you enjoyed the podcast, please, like, comment, subscribe, and share and make sure to let me know what guests you want to see on in the future.