← Miss Understood with Rachel Uchitel
Miss Understood with Rachel Uchitel
It Started With a Whisper: Rob Shuter on Taylor's Secret Wedding, Diddy's Freedom & Madonna's Master Plan
00:53:20
Loading summary
Transcript147 lines
- [00:01]
Weight Loss by Hers Announcer
If you've felt stuck trying to lose weight, you're not alone. Enter weight loss by hers. It's designed to support you in reaching your goals and hers now offers access to an affordable range of FDA approved GLP1 medications including the Wegovy pill and the Wegovy pen. With WeGovy at hers lose up to 20% or more of your body weight. When combined with diet and exercise, it helps you regulate your appetite, eat less and keep weight off. Plus, WeGovy is the first GLP1 available in a pill so there are no needles needed. Everything is 100% online. Through hers, you'll connect with a licensed provider who will determine if treatment is right for you. If prescribed, your medication is delivered right to your door, no insurance necessary. And it doesn't stop there. Weight loss by hers goes beyond medication by offering access to 24. 7 messaging with your care team and tons of in app lifestyle and nutrition tips like recipes, meal plans, fitness videos, sleep content and more. Even better, with a range of affordable GLP1 options, hers makes it simple to find an approach that fits your needs and your budget. If eligible, you'll get a treatment plan personalized to you and unlimited dosage changes as needed. It's weight loss designed to work with your life. Ready to reach your goals? Visit fourhers.com women to get personalized affordable care that gets you that's F O R H E-R-S.com women fourhers.com women Weight loss by hers is not available in all 50 states. WeGovy is the registered trademark of Novo Nordisk as to get started and learn more, including important safety information, week ov, clinical study information and restrictions, visit forhers.com
- [01:53]
Grainger Commercial Announcer
if you work in university maintenance, Grainger considers you an MVP because your playbook ensures your arena is always ready for for tip off and Grainger is your trusted partner, offering the products you need all in one place, from H vac and plumbing supplies to lighting and more. And all delivered with plenty of time left on the clock. So your team always gets the win. Call 1-800-GRAINGER visit grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.
- [02:23]
Rachel Yukatel
This episode is sponsored by oho. Are you having trouble sleeping? I know that feeling. Your body is exhausted, but your mind just won't shut off you. You're tossing, turning, checking the clock and then you wake up the next day feeling even worse. That's why I wanna tell you about OHO and their BlackBerry hush Gummies because this isn't just another sleep aid it's something I've actually made part of my nighttime routine. These gummies are formulated with a really thoughtful blend of thc, cbd, and cbn. So instead of knocking you out, they actually help your body naturally ease into sleep. You take one, or I personally take only half, but about 30 minutes before bed. And what I love is there's no grogg heavy feeling the next morning, just real deep sleep, and you wake up actually feeling refreshed. So if you're struggling to fall asleep or stay asleep, you need to try this. Go to weareoho.com that's w e a r e o h o dot com and use the code miss15 for 15% off. Trust me, your sleep will. Thank you. Rob Shooter. I'm so happy to have you again on Misunderstood. How are you?
- [04:04]
Rob Schutzer
Hey, my friend. Thanks for having me back. It was a treat the last time, and it's gonna be great today, too. Thanks for having me.
- [04:10]
Rachel Yukatel
I know. Well, now, your book, It Started with A Whisper, is out now. I'm so excited for you. What was the process of writing this like?
- [04:19]
Rob Schutzer
It's really exciting. So the book is about four entertainment insiders, four gossip columnists who get a morning show on a struggling cable network. And each day, five days a week, they gossip about all the celebrities. However, it becomes evident very, very quickly that the real gossip, the real secrets, it's not about the stars, Rachel. It's about them. Each of them has a secret. Now, as you know, I had my own morning show for four or five seasons on VH1, and so a lot of people are comparing it to the Gossip table, my morning show. But I've been doing this for a really long time. The book is fiction, but obviously, all my experiences, the. The amazing life that we live, all of that is in the book, right?
- [05:01]
Rachel Yukatel
So how long did it take you to come up with this and to write it? Did you do it yourself?
- [05:06]
Rob Schutzer
Yeah, I did. So initially, I thought this would be a great scripted TV show. So I thought this would be a great Netflix show, a streaming show. There's something really delicious about morning tv or TV in general. And that's why we have so many shows set in the newsroom. We have 30 Rock. We have. We have the morning show with Jennifer and Reese. We also have, like, Mary Tyler Moore. Morning shows is just such an interesting environment as a backdrop. So while I was on the gossip table, I kept notes of all the crazy stuff that happened to us, all the funny stories, and I started to draft a few scripts. Then I had of all Things Drinks with Star Jones. Remember Star Jones on the View? Star told me that she tried to write a scripted show about the View and she couldn't sell it, so she wrote a book. Then she sold the book, which became a TV show. So the book, in many ways, I'm thrilled with it. I'm so proud of it. It's sort of a step maybe, maybe in this direction. So nobody's going to invest millions and millions of dollars on me as a first time TV writer. However, publishers will. It is much cheaper to publish a book than to produce a TV show. And so I turned my scripts, each chapter, each episode has become a chapter. I turned my scripts into a novel. And now, believe it or not, I'm getting calls from streamers. I had a really big meeting just a few days ago, Rachel, with a streamer about turning it into a TV show.
- [06:36]
Rachel Yukatel
Oh my gosh. Fingers are crossed. You know, everyone needs good content. And this sounds like something that people are gonna want to watch, they're gonna want to consume. And I'm really excited. I'm taking my honeymoon in a couple weeks. I ordered, as I told you, it comes tomorrow. I'm saving it to read while we're on the yacht, like you know, sailing around. I'm so excited for you. And what I love is this sounds like, I mean, again, I haven't read it cause I haven't gotten it yet. Sounds like it's in the vein of maybe Sex and the City or something where you're kind of guessing who you could be talking about. Right?
- [07:07]
Rob Schutzer
Yeah. You all know this. There is a wedding that we attended together that makes a little bit of a scene in the book. Started with a whisper, don't tell. And so you will recognize a lot of people in this book. My greatest part is now that it's out, critics and people are reading it. And my favorite review compared me to the Devil Wears Prada. And I sort of understand where they're going there. The Devil Wears Prada is about Anna Winter, but they changed the name to Miranda Priestley. And so you're gonna know a lot of legends in the gossip world, in the TV world, and I've changed all their names, but the essence of it is the truth. I live this life and so it's easy for me to tell this story. You're gonna recognize a lot of people.
- [07:49]
Rachel Yukatel
Rachel, I'm so excited. And are you of doing follow up writing? Like, did you like the process enough that you want to keep doing this?
- [07:56]
Rob Schutzer
I loved it. I really loved it. The hardest part for me, is like you. I like people. I like being around people. I'm not that good by myself. Writing is really solitary. When you write, you're not on a team. You're not in an office. You're sitting in your living room, maybe in your underwear, just for hours and hours by yourself. So once I got over that, it was a really therapeutic thing. Rachel. I learned to. To be happy in my own company, which I'm not sure is a skill that a lot of us ever learn. And so I forced myself to do an hour of writing every day, five, six days a week. I took Sundays off. And if you do something every day for an hour, even if you don't start very good, you become much better at it. You do get good. So the first, like, six months I was writing away, and I ended up throwing all that stuff out, but I needed to start there. It's like, you don't run a marathon. You take a step. You don't have to climb to the top of the mountain. It's the first rung on the ladder. And so the thought of writing a book that was too big for my brain, I couldn't compute that, but I could write a chapter. I know how to do that. And then one chapter leads to another chapter. It's stepping stones. And so I'm still pinching myself that it's here, it's out, it's actually a real book. But it started. It started with a whisper, and it started with a first sentence.
- [09:12]
Rachel Yukatel
Oh, my gosh, I love it. That's such a good way to talk about the process, because I feel like there's so many people that want to write a book, whether whether it's about their life experience or just because it's fun and they don't know how to get started. And there's so many easy way outs with ghostwriters and, you know, chatgpt essentially now. And it's so interesting to find that hour a day. Put it aside, and it probably is very cathartic.
- [09:35]
Rob Schutzer
It was great. Like, I can find an hour a day to watch the Kardashians, right? I can find an hour a day, like you can find it. And so I had to say to myself, I'm not too busy. It's just not a priority if you invited me. Not you. But if somebody invited me for drinks tonight, I might not want to go. But if Madonna invited me, I'd find an hour to do that. So I had to make writing this book a priority. I had to put it on my schedule as if it was a job. And every day I had an hour meeting, I had an hour scheduled where I had to write, and that hour was non negotiable. Every day at noon, I, for two, like a year and a half, two years, every day I just sat there and I did the work. Honestly, I'm not, not looking for, to be humble here, but I'm not the most talented. I just do the work.
- [10:26]
Rachel Yukatel
Right?
- [10:26]
Rob Schutzer
You've got to do the work. And one of the greatest things about working for JLo and Diddy and Jessica Simpson and all the stars that I worked with, Rachel, is not all of them were that talented. The one thing they had in common, they did the work. They did the work every single day. When people make fun of Kim Kardashian, I get it, she makes fun of herself. She the work.
- [10:46]
Rachel Yukatel
Right?
- [10:46]
Rob Schutzer
She gets up, she does the work. No one's going to do this for you. Everybody wants to have a hit podcast. Everybody wants to be on Good Morning America and television. Sounds great, but what are you doing behind the scenes to learn the craft? I took writing classes. I, I met with other writers. I had somebody that helped me develop the, the story. I, I did all the writing myself. Yeah, but I did the work, and it's unglamorous. Nobody's cheering, nobody's telling me how great I am. I'm just sitting by myself doing the work.
- [11:17]
Rachel Yukatel
I love that. And what's interesting about that too, is I can imagine there was a lot of times you said you threw out some first editions of it, but isn't that part of the process? Like with me doing the podcast too? It's like there are reasons that we go through the process of things and then say, oh, forget it, that all that work was for nothing. But it's such a good learning experience because you have to do that. You have to fail to be able to say, we're not gonna do this again. And that's the best lesson.
- [11:42]
Rob Schutzer
You have to start at the beginning. I've been listening to your podcast now for years. Like, you've been doing this a long time. This podcast is a very different podcast than when it started, but you had to start at the beginning. One of my favorite stories is I was working for Ashley Simpson in my PR days and her first live gig, her first live television appearance was Saturday Night Live. It was a disaster because she shouldn't have started there. She should have started on New York 1 or local TV or local NBC. To start on SNL was just not fair. She started at the top and Nobody can succeed when they start at the top. I started answering telephones. My first job was working for a PR company. I was the receptionist. I went on to run the entertainment division. But I started at the bottom. And there's no shame in that. In fact, there's something to be proud about. It's something really important. Start at the bottom. It's embarrassing when you start social media or a podcast and you have one listener or two, but we all one, of course. You just gotta keep going. Perfectionism was my biggest stumbling block. I wanted to be great. I wanted to write the next American novel. I wanted to be Tulski. I wanted to write these great books. And I had to say to myself, stop. Stop with the perfectionism and you're good enough. We've all got the horrible little voice in our head saying, how dare you? What? Who do you think you are? You're not good enough. I've learned to turn the volume down. You never get rid of it. But I've turned the volume down. And once again, I have this lovely little cheat. When you don't feel confident, when you don't think you can do something, think of the most successful, least talented person. You know. It might be somebody in your office. It might be somebody that's in your family. There are a lot of very untalented people who are very successful. Andy Cohen. And so you think so. You think so. That's what inspires me. I don't compare myself to the best. If I did that, I would do nothing. I compare myself to the worst who are doing really well.
- [13:43]
Rachel Yukatel
Right.
- [13:43]
Rob Schutzer
You can do it.
- [13:44]
Rachel Yukatel
And you're absolutely right. The one thing those people have in common is they show up and they're hard workers and they believe in themselves.
- [13:51]
Rob Schutzer
That's the hardest thing. That combination makes you unstoppable. I used to think I was lazy. Cause I didn't do it. I was like, oh, I put it off till tomorrow or the next day. And then I realized I'm not lazy. I'm scared. I'm frightened. I'm not a lazy person. I like work, but I get frightened. And when you get frightened, you procrastinate.
- [14:12]
Rachel Yukatel
Yes.
- [14:13]
Rob Schutzer
And when you procrastinate, you don't do it. Do it and be willing to make a fool of yourself. I'm aware now that this novel's out and there's gonna be a lot of people, some people who don't like it. And I've gotta be okay with that. I've gotta be fine with that. You've had a lot of people come after you over the years. At first it was awful, but it's just, you gotta keep moving forward. I know who I am. My friends know who I am. I know it's a good book. I know people are gonna laugh and enjoy it, and there will be people that say awful things and push them off.
- [14:42]
Rachel Yukatel
Exactly. Okay. I love it. Wait, you brought up Ashlee Simpson? She was the one who went on snl, and they caught her lip syncing, right?
- [14:49]
Rob Schutzer
That's right.
- [14:50]
Rachel Yukatel
Were you around for this like I did?
- [14:53]
Rob Schutzer
So a former publicist booked her. I would never have booked her on SNL because she became famous as Jessica's sister on a reality show. So when Ashley put out a cd, her level of fame was far greater than any of her skills because she hadn't learned them. She'd never, ever learned her craft. I worked for Alicia Keys. Alicia played all these little tiny bars and learned how to be a performer. Barry Manilow used to play backup, played piano for all these singers. He learned how to do this. What they did to. Ashley wasn't there. So after snl, the next day, her career was over. And her dad phoned me, Jo Simpson, and said, can you help? And they brought me on as her publicist. And she did a lot of smaller concert. She learned her craft, and then we returned to snl. I booked her back on snl, and she came back, and she was great.
- [15:38]
Rachel Yukatel
Oh, wow. Well, I saw her recently. I don't watch the masked singer, but I saw that she was on it. Right?
- [15:44]
Rob Schutzer
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [15:45]
Rachel Yukatel
By the way, she looks unbelievable. When I was working with her, a hundred times better than her sister, who we all thought was the beauty queen.
- [15:54]
Rob Schutzer
Yeah. But this is so interesting. She lost her audience. So let me be clear. There are more misfits in the world than beauty queens. So Ashley, always outside, sold Jessica. Ashley sold more covers. When Ashley was on the COVID of Cosmo, I repped Jessica and Ashley. Ashley outsold Jessica because there are more misfits in the world than beauty queens. Jessica appealed to those perfect girls with perfect blonde hair and perfect boobs and perfect teeth. Ashley appealed to all the people that were a little overweight, were a little odd looking, maybe had a bigger nose. When Ashley changed, when Ashley became the Ashley we know today, she lost her audience. So she might look great. She does. I always thought she did look great. Yeah. But it is interesting out there. Your superpower might be your big nose. That's my. Like, your superpower might be that you're not perfect. It's that perfect thing Again. And so even though Ashley, she looks fantastic, there was a price to pay for. For. For changing the way she looked. And it was her fan base. Yeah.
- [16:53]
Rachel Yukatel
Wow. All right, so let's talk about some of your Hot Topics that you're all over right now. The first one being about the Met Gala. I've started to see a lot of people talk. You kind of were the one I saw first talk about it, but they're struggling to sell out. And it's just in, what, a couple weeks from now?
- [17:09]
Rob Schutzer
Yeah.
- [17:10]
Rachel Yukatel
Okay, tell me what you're hearing.
- [17:12]
Rob Schutzer
It's amazing. So this is the big gala in New York City put together by Anna Wintour and Vogue magazine. It's a fundraiser for the costume exhibit within the musician within the museum. They've been doing this for years. And for years, every designer really felt like they had to buy a table. I don't say blackmailed, but they were sort of strong armed into it. And these tables are really expensive. We're talking hundreds of thousands of dollars. It's very hard to buy an individual ticket for you or I want to go to the Met Ball. We can't really get a ticket. The way you get invited is a designer invites you. I've been twice. One year I went Dolce and Gabbana invited Jennifer Lopez, and I went as Jennifer's date. I was working for Jennifer at the time. I know. Another year I went with Kate Spade. I worked for Kate Spade, may she rest in peace. Kate bought a table, and I think Dolce and Gabbana and Kate Spade felt as if they had to buy a table because she didn't want to upset Anna Wintour. So a couple of things have happened here. The power of Vogue has diminished massively.
- [18:10]
Rachel Yukatel
Why?
- [18:11]
Rob Schutzer
As social media, as podcasts like this, as influencers have stepped forward, now more people are getting fashion advice from Meghan Markle and Kim Kardashian than probably Vogue magazine. And so Anna's power has depleted, diminished. And if you don't have to impress the queen anymore, why am I paying all the money for this table? Another thing that's happened is the fashion houses don't have the money they used to have either. The whole economy has changed. And instead of paying all this money now to buy an ad in Vogue, which is what you used to remember when you used to buy Vogue, and it was this thick, totally. And it was all of ads, and they were all luxury ads. Now Vogue's this stick, and there ain't so many ads in it anymore because all that budget is now going to influence us to social media as it should. The world has changed, and so the Met Ball is sort of like a casualty of all these changes that now Anna doesn't have the power. Magazines don't have the power. Remember, like 10 years ago, to get into People magazine could be life changing.
- [19:10]
Rachel Yukatel
Oh, for sure. Now people pay for their articles.
- [19:14]
Rob Schutzer
There you go. It doesn't really make a difference anymore. Just with this book. I've been really aggressive about selling this book, so I want to do more. And if this book's a hit, it gets me a chance to do another one. And so that's why I want it. Not necessarily for my own ego or to have a better life, have a great life. And so the reason I want to do it is I want to keep doing this. But what's interesting is as a former publicist, I know bookings. I know how to sell something. My strategy for this book has not been People magazine, has not been the Today show, has not been the Tonight show has not been Access Hollywood, has not been et all these brands that we used to really look up to. My strategy has been your show. Podcasters, people out there who have a fan base, who have an audience, your listeners trust you in a way that Billy Bush's don't trust him. It's a different connection that we have. And so my, my strategy for, for this book, and it's been working so far, is influencers. I, I've asked celebrity friends, I've asked people who, who have followings. I've asked people who, who had have podcasts. And so my strategy has changed and so has many other people. I'm not the only one to figure this out. Cartier has figured this out. Dolce and Gabbana has figured this out. And so why would I spend $300,000 on a table to a ball? Let's be honest, I've been twice. It ain't that good. Once you get up that staircase, it's mean girls. They're not that nice. You're really uncomfortable. You're squeezed in. You have to do this weird reception line where you feel like you're meeting Queen Elizabeth. You have to like, almost like bow and curtsy. That SC Prada where they whisper the name into Anna's ear. That actually happens. You walk up the steps and you go into the main foyer, which is turned into a bar, a reception area. And as you walk through the main doors, there's literally a receiving line. I felt like I was on the Gilded Age.
- [21:10]
Rachel Yukatel
And there's Anna, there's Anna shaking everybody's hand that walks in.
- [21:13]
Rob Schutzer
Anna and the co host. So the year that I was there, JLo was one of the co hosts. So Jennifer had to stand there and she was really embarrassed by it. So awkward. Like, hello, Hello. And so that went on. And then they have the dinner nobody eats. So there was 10 people at my table. Rachel. I ate of the desserts. It was delicious. I was the only one nobody ate.
- [21:30]
Rachel Yukatel
So I was like, oh, well, now, especially in this day and age, everybody's on GLP1. So really, nobody's eating, Nobody.
- [21:36]
Rob Schutzer
Everyone's uncomfortable. And then the minute that thing is
- [21:39]
Rachel Yukatel
there dancing, Is there a band?
- [21:41]
Rob Schutzer
There is a band and there's normally a guest performer. I think Hugh Jackman performed the year that I was there. But once again, you know, Madonna performed a couple of years ago. Why celebrities don't do this because they want to do this. If you called me up and said, can we get Jessica Simpson to perform at our event? I'd say, what are you paying and what's in it for her? And if the COVID of Vogue's in it for her, she might do it. Now, though, I don't even know if the COVID of Vogue means what it did. We've seen two, and this is interesting. I don't do politics. It's not my thing. But there's certainly people that are aware that Melania Trump and Vogue have a very difficult relationship and it feels politicized. Is that the right word? It feels like we're getting involved, involved in that. And so a lot of people, a lot of designers have not bought tables this year. A lot of celebrities aren't going. The mayor of New York has, has boycotted it. Jack Schlossberg, who's JFK Jr's grandson, is telling people to boycott it.
- [22:36]
Rachel Yukatel
Really?
- [22:36]
Rob Schutzer
So I think there's a real. There's a stink about it too. I think it's a ball for rich billionaires. And I'm sick of the billionaires. Like at the minute, we're all struggling. I'm just so sick of rich people patting each other on the back and paying hundreds of thousands of dollars. And so there's a lot of empty seats this year, which is why the price has been reduced.
- [22:55]
Rachel Yukatel
Right?
- [22:56]
Weight Watchers Med Plus Announcer
You're on a GLP1, but now you're wondering, how do I manage my side effects? What do I eat to stay strong? Because reaching your weight loss goals can take more than meds. That's where Weight Watchers Med plus comes in. Get access to trusted experts, food plans that work with your body and habit coaching to keep you on track. Plus plus access to GLP1 medication get started@weightwatchers.com all medical services are provided through our affiliated medical group, Weight Watchers Clinic. Medications require eligibility and prescription. Individual results may vary. See site for more details.
- [23:26]
Rob Schutzer
With the American Express Platinum card, I
- [23:29]
Grainger Commercial Announcer
can unlock experiences like no other.
- [23:31]
Rob Schutzer
Since I'm always booking my next trip. I love that I can earn points on travel.
- [23:35]
Grainger Commercial Announcer
Plus I get a resi benefit. So you know I'm hitting the restaurants everyone's talking about.
- [23:40]
Rob Schutzer
And you can find out your welcome offer after you apply, which could be as high as 175,000 points. For experience like no other, there's nothing like platinum. Learn more@americanexpress.com Explore Platinum Terms apply
- [23:56]
Grainger Commercial Announcer
if you work in university maintenance, Grainger considers you an MVP because your playbook ensures your arena is always ready for tip off. And Grainger is your trusted partner, offering the products you need all in one place, from H VAC and plumbing supplies to lighting and more. And all delivered with plenty of time left on the clock. So your team always gets the win. Call 1-800-GRAINGER visit grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.
- [24:27]
Rachel Yukatel
And this year it's being co hosted by Lauren Sanchez, right?
- [24:30]
Rob Schutzer
Well, that's another point this year too. This year the sponsors are Lauren Sanchez and Jeff Bezos. It's interesting because on the invite on the press materials has all the sponsors. It doesn't have Amazon, it doesn't have Jeff Bezos. Lauren Sanchez and Jeff are very controversial figures. There's some political overtones about them as well. And Lauren's not the most respected in the fashion world. I get that. She was on the COVID of Vogue for for her wedding. I guess a couple of weeks ago during Paris Fashion Week, Lauren and Anna were hanging out. But Anna's hanging out with Lauren Sanchez because she wants the money. Like let's be clear here, she's not hanging out with her because she thinks she's a great style icon. And so there's a little bit of hypocrisy there. So the combination of Vogue no longer being relevant, the combination of billionaires and everyone's just feeling sick of these, like people showing off. And the combination of Bezos involved in it, I think this year they're suffering. I know they are. My reporting is that they're struggling to sell tickets.
- [25:28]
Rachel Yukatel
So I have a question for you. You were talking about influencers. Do you think there's something to be said for the Power of the dupe. Have you noticed on Instagram that all these influencers are talking about. Click here and you can get this from Restoration Hardware or Dolce and Gabbana. And here's the dupe, and it's. It's $69 or whatever. Do you think that people care about these upper echelon, you know, all. All these companies that we used to care about labels?
- [25:54]
Rob Schutzer
I. It's a very interesting question. I think we're still figuring that out and we'll know the answer by. If it continues. It's very easy to figure something out because if they cancel it or they stop doing it, it didn't work right. And so they get the results really, really, really fast. And so I think the jury is still out. But I do think the world has changed so, so much.
- [26:15]
Rachel Yukatel
People are buying Birkins at Walmart now and no one cares. They're, like, excited. Look, I got the. Whatever they call that Birkin, right?
- [26:24]
Rob Schutzer
Walmart. Nobody cares. There's been something about social media that has really, really even the playing field. And now we're all in this together. And you know, Justin Bieber was discovered on YouTube in the old days. He would kill to get a record label. He would be doing, doing little concerts, they call them showcases, where you invite all the music. Now forget that. Sit in your living room and play your guitar and put it on YouTube and you can be discovered. And I think there's something really, really exciting about that. As somebody that came from inside the system, I was very much entrenched in the system. Now I'm outside. Now I'm independent media. I love it. I love doing this. I love doing these podcasts. I love doing stuff on TikTok and social media. Took me a minute. Took me a minute to adjust, but I think it's a new world, an exciting one, and you can find people and discover people. Look how many people. It's amazing. If I told you 10 years ago, you'd have the number one entertainment podcast. I see you on the charts, Rachel. I see you, I'll give you your flowers like, you wouldn't have believed it. Rachel. There's no way, the Rachel that I've known for 20, if I said, one day, Missy, you're gonna have the number one enter. You beat TMZ on podcasts. You beat me. You beat people like you do it. It's extraordinary. You did the work.
- [27:42]
Rachel Yukatel
Thank you. I do the work every day. I take it very seriously. And it's become my purpose, you know, which. And you know what that's like, all right, let's talk about something else in the news. I keep seeing Meghan Markle and Prince Harry and everybody still hates them. What is going on? They just got back from Australia.
- [27:59]
Rob Schutzer
Yeah, it's complicated with these two because they're inventing a new format. They pitched when they left the royal family. They pitched Queen Elizabeth on this new model of royals where they'd be half in and half out. There'd be part time royals. They would be allowed to do private enterprise and make money, but they also too would go and visit hospitals and go to Commonwealth countries, countries within the Commonwealth, and they would support the Royal family. The Queen said, no, that is not going to work for me. You can't go to hospitals, you can't do walkabouts, you can't kiss babies and then try to sell me a pot of jam. That just does not work. Harry and Meghan said, okay. Then they dropped out of the family. They came to America and they tried to make a lot of money in Netflix and podcasting. That didn't work. Then the Queen died. And I'm not sure they would have done this if the Queen had still been alive because she explicitly said, no. She said, you're not doing this. The Queen has now gone and they have figured out it's surprising it took them so long. They don't need the palace's approval. He will always be Diana's son. He's a royal. Maybe not so much Meghan, but like Princess Diana lost her title. They took the hrh, Her Royal Highness. They took it off Diana. She was still a princess. She was still the people's princess. Harry will always be the King's son and Princess Diana's son. And it doesn't matter if he goes to a hospital or a McDonald's, he will be greeted like a royal. So they went to Australia and they did really like three days of sort of royal looking. Hospital visits, charities, homeless shelters, really lovely, lovely royal moments. And then at the end of the trip, they made a ton of money by doing some events. This is not that different from celebrities. They all do this. They sell their products, they sell the concert tickets. I think the difference here, why people are so angry with them is that Harry and Meghan didn't really do the work. He was born into this and she married into this. When Beyonce goes to London and sells tickets to her concerts, you buy that ticket and you want to see this incredible artist.
- [29:59]
Rachel Yukatel
Sure.
- [29:59]
Rob Schutzer
What do they give me? They give me royal. They've got no skill set. Like what Are they selling me? They haven't figured that out yet.
- [30:07]
Rachel Yukatel
But do you think that that's Harry's faul. I mean, he was born into it. What is he gonna do, become an actor? Become. I mean, it's limited for him to even show his skill set, Right? And then she's along for the ride, and everybody hates her for a number of different reasons. But, like, if you think about it, what other options do they have?
- [30:26]
Rob Schutzer
Right. I agree with you. I think you're right. But the point where I think they've tripped themselves up is the only thing that interests me about Harry and Meghan is the one thing they're trying to run away from, which is the royal family. They should embrace it, stop moaning about it. Harry on this trip said, I don't want the job. And I'm like, then why are you on TV doing the job? Like, you don't have to do this. They have enough money maybe not to live like royals, no pun intended, but they have enough money that they could retire. He made about $10 million when his mommy died. The Queen Mother left him money. He made a lot of money from his book. They enjoy this. They want this, and I respect them for that. I know a lot of famous people who love fame. Fame's a drug. The problem is with them is, then stop bashing the royal family. Stop trying to run away from the one thing that makes you interested. It would be as if Madonna said, I'm never singing Vogue ever again. No. Not doing it. No. Give us the hits.
- [31:19]
Rachel Yukatel
Right?
- [31:19]
Rob Schutzer
That's who you are.
- [31:20]
Rachel Yukatel
Lean into what you're famous for.
- [31:22]
Rob Schutzer
Lean into it. And they can say, like, we are royals and we're American royals now. And we might disagree with our family, but we love them and we support them to bash the family and then make money off being part of that family. That's the dilemma that Harry and Meghan have to figure out. And I don't think they've done that yet.
- [31:40]
Rachel Yukatel
I agree. And it's one thing for them to bash the family. It's another thing for the family to remove themselves from wanting to even be part of their life as well, considering he is the son. Right. But not only that, they make it seem like they're the most scandalous in the group. Where, hello, we have Andrew, who's getting in trouble left and right, and is really the stain on the family. And they kind of don't want to deal with that, but they want to deal with. With this rift between the brothers. And it's like, that's not the scandal.
- [32:10]
Rob Schutzer
Yeah, they're totally missing the point. But I would argue the royal family are distracting us here. They would rather talk about Harry and Meghan than they would Andrew. Talking about Andrew is really difficult because the question is, what did you know and when did you know it? He was bringing people in and out of Buckingham Palace. The Queen knew he was scandalous. The royal family. I know people in Britain, I grew up in Britain, who work in the intelligence agencies in Britain. Andrew's always been dodgy. Andrew's always been somebody that was a red flag. And he got away with it because the Queen made him untouchable. She should have knocked him down long ago. She didn't. He was her favorite. And so I think as much as the royals complain about Meghan and Harry, I think it's sort of wagged the dog. I think they want to talk about Harry and Meghan because it's a much easier conversation to have and a conversation that arguably the royals are winning. They can't talk about Andrew. If they do, they're going to get themselves in real, real trouble. But my latest reporting is that the royal within the palace now, they've come to this conclusion where they're not going to fight anymore because they're not going to win. They can't stop Harry. They can't stop Harry going to a hospital. They can't stop Harry doing charity work. So they're really following sort of the let them theory. Like, let them. Let them. If Harry and Meghan want to do this, let them. We can't stop them. At the end of the day, the royals are going to win. They live in Buckingham Palace. They have the jewelry, they have the money, they have the crowd. Why am I fighting with him? It'd be like, you know, Taylor Swift fighting with Katy Perry. Why? Just let them. If there's enough room in this world for Katy Perry and Taylor Swift to exist, there's enough room in this world for William and Harry to exist. They both can exist. And I think moving forward, we're gonna see the royals really just ignore them. Do what you want. Knock yourselves out. They're not gonna respond.
- [34:01]
Rachel Yukatel
Speaking of someone that people dislike, let's talk about Blake Lively for a minute. What are your thoughts here? Because, you know, people are still talking about it. I can't talk about it anymore, cuz it's too boring to me. But I wanna hear what your, you know, what your thoughts are on it.
- [34:16]
Rob Schutzer
Yeah. Background on Blake. She's not the kindest person in the world. We work in the world of celebrities. Whenever there's a red carp, a big celebrity interview, people in my office, like, line up. People want to interview. They want to interview Beyonce. They want to interview Nicole Kidman. They want to. They want to have that. That moment with them. Whenever a Blake Lively opportunity comes up, nobody wants to do it. Nobody raises their hands. That's a sign. So that's gone on for the last decade. She's not very nice on red carpets. We've seen her be quite rude to reporters. Now there's a lot of video that has come out of Blake being really just not a good person. So when this drama exploded, we knew that it was in our back pocket. We knew that she was trouble. We knew that she was difficult. And then she just didn't think this through. She sued people to try and prove that she wasn't a bully. And in the process, she proved she was a bully. She went after little bloggers. Forget the Perez Hiltons and the Megyn Kellys. They've got lawyers. They can defend themselves. Go after somebody with 100 followers on Twitter because you did not like what they said about it.
- [35:28]
Rachel Yukatel
It's so bizarre. Can you imagine if we went after everybody who's talked shit about us? Oh, my God. I'd be in lawsuits all day.
- [35:38]
Rob Schutzer
So I think that Blake lives in a bubble where nobody ever tells her the truth, and they. They filter information. And so when you say something about it that she doesn't like, it could be factually true. She sues you. And so I think now Blake has got herself into a position where karma's a real bitch here, and people have turned on her. Hollywood's turned on her. And so I'm told my reporting, my original reporting, is that her inner circle is begging her to settle this. Settle this. No one's gonna win but the lawyers. You've destroyed your career. You've destroyed your friendship.
- [36:13]
Rachel Yukatel
She's starting to take Ryan Reynolds, her husband, down with her.
- [36:16]
Rob Schutzer
She'd bring him down. And so at some point, Blake, just stop. Let this go away. Even if she wins this lawsuit, in a couple of weeks, the trial starts. Even if she wins it, she's lost. It's over. The damage this has done to her. It's so amazing that nobody managed to shake her, including Ryan, and say, just stop this. You might think you're right. You might even be right. It doesn't matter. Proving you're right is not as important as proving you were kind. And I think that now we know Blake's not a good person. We know that it's like when we found out Ellen was not a good person. You've treated people terribly for years, and if you had been nicer to people, you would still be okay. I remember when Billy Bush got fired from the Today show after the Donald Trump tape grabbed them by the. You know where one of the reasons Billy was fired is? He wasn't liked. Nobody at the Today show stood up for him. Had that cast, had that crew said it was an awful thing and it was embarrassing. But Billy didn't say it. Somebody else did. We stick by him. He could have survived. Survived it. He didn't survive it because nobody wanted him to survive it. Because he had been an absolute. Really sort of a dick.
- [37:27]
Rachel Yukatel
Right.
- [37:28]
Rob Schutzer
For. For many years. And so be nice to people. You know, I'm sure a scandal is going to come along and bite me. Goodness knows.
- [37:35]
Rachel Yukatel
You.
- [37:35]
Rob Schutzer
You felt it. The people that. That let you survive it are the ones that you've built capital with you built friendships with you, built like. Like some sort of trust with. And so I can really proudly say, and I'm proud of this, more proud of this than my novel or anything else I do. I've got really good friends. I'm a nice guy. Be nice.
- [37:56]
Rachel Yukatel
Right? So do you think that her relationship with Taylor Swift is gonna survive this? I mean, there's rumors that she's getting married this summer.
- [38:03]
Rob Schutzer
Yeah. Yeah. My insiders tell me Blake is so delusional, she still thinks that she might get invited to this wedding. The invites are at Blake. You are not going to that wedding. Taylor doesn't do Messi. She never has. I'm a huge fan of not only as a person, a business person, but as a performer. She just doesn't do Messi. She's buttoned up. When she played New York, her people invited me. They were smart enough to give me free tickets in the best seats at Taylor Swift. And I was like, this is a really savvy organization because they know the big mouths. They know people who. Who are going to talk about it. And so I'm so impressed with Taylor, this Blake stuff. I don't know how Blake gets around it, because even if she wins this, if she reaches out to Taylor, if Taylor starts hanging out with Blake again, people are gonna say, taylor, why are you hanging out with a mean girl? Right? It's just such a bad look. I. I think this friendship is over. I think Taylor's embarrassed by all this, and she wants to know part of it, part of me. I hate it when friendships end. I. I hate that when I Feel like people. Part of me wishes Taylor picked up the phone and said. Said, can we mend this? But I don't. I don't know how that's possible.
- [39:15]
Rachel Yukatel
Right.
- [39:15]
Rob Schutzer
I don't know how possible.
- [39:16]
Rachel Yukatel
Are your sources saying that she is getting married this summer?
- [39:19]
Rob Schutzer
Definitely. She's definitely getting married this summer. It is definitely happening. The invites are out. I know two people who have got an invite. Oh, this is exciting. Rachel. I've not told anybody this. The reason we've. We've. We've announced the date. It's going to be July 3rd. Her favorite holiday is July 4th. So she's getting married the day before the date has been released, but the location hasn't. And I'm like, why is that on the invite? There's no location, so the guests don't know yet. So remember when Kim and Kanye got married, we knew it was in France, but they didn't know where the wedding was. The guests are gonna be told to meet somebody where in New York. And they're gonna jump on some buses, luxury buzzes that's gonna take them to the venue. My insiders are speculating. Cause once again, I think only two people know where this wedding is. It's Taylor and it's Travis. And they're not telling anybody. And so I'm predicting. My sources are saying they don't know with this. They think it could be at their apartment downtown. Beyonce and Jay Z got married at home because it's very safe. It's very private. They can make sure that there's no paparazzi or people that sneak in. So, yeah, they're going to get married this summer. And the reason you have not been told it's the Plaza or it's a fancy hotel, another fancy hotel in New York, or the Botanical Gardens. Ciprian is the reason we don't know where it is is not because people aren't leaking. They don't know.
- [40:38]
Rachel Yukatel
Interesting. So you think it's going to be in the location around New York City, not at her home in Rhode Island?
- [40:45]
Rob Schutzer
Yeah, I think it's going to be in new. In New York City. I think it's easier for people to get to. I think there's better. You know, a friend of mine had a destination wedding. It was a pain in the ass.
- [40:55]
Rachel Yukatel
Such a pain in the ass.
- [40:56]
Rob Schutzer
It looks beautiful, but I want to go home after the wedding or I want to go to a nice hotel. Yeah, I don't want to get married in a little, teeny, tiny town. That's beautiful. Beautiful. And then there's no hotels. New York is so easy. It is set up to be, you know, the capital of the world. And so the restaurants are here, the car services are here, hair and makeup is here. Everything is so easy. If you get married in New York, it just makes. It makes it easier, not just for the guests, but for Taylor and Travis. And so I will project it's going to be here in New York.
- [41:26]
Rachel Yukatel
Amazing. Okay, couple more things. Britney Spears and her rehab again. Where are we with that? What are you hearing?
- [41:33]
Rob Schutzer
The sun's made this happen. So Britney did not want to do this. After the DUI arrest, there was some reports she was rushing to rehab because it's a really good legal move. If you've got a case coming up in a couple of weeks in front of a judge, if you can say to that judge, my client has been in rehab for two weeks. That's a really good, smart, not just PR move. But a lot of people do that when they get in trouble. Trouble. They rushed to rehab. So the legal implications do change a little bit, or at least the context. So a lot of people thought she was going to rush to rehab, but she didn't. We waited two, three weeks. And then what I'm told happened was the boys are back in her life. She lost those kids. For a mom to lose custody of her kids tells you how bad it is. The kids are back. They don't want a conservatorship. They're young men. They don't want to look after their mom. But they made it really, really clear that we can only be in your life if you're sober, if you keep it together. And so I'm told that Britney now has a real shot at doing okay because she loves these boys. The only two people in the world that could change Britney's life, could change her behavior are her sons. And so she has nobody else. She doesn't care about her mom and dad. She doesn't care about her sister. She doesn't care about her ex husbands. The one person that Brittany. Two people that Britney cares about are those two boys.
- [42:49]
Rachel Yukatel
Isn't it shocking to you though, that it seems that she really has no friends? Like, I don't get it.
- [42:55]
Rob Schutzer
I do. That life is really rough.
- [42:58]
Rachel Yukatel
I know. But there are so many people that want to be in her life that are good people. And it seems like she doesn't let anybody in. And these videos of her spinning and her bad hair and her outfits and, you know, it just seems so odd. So I wonder, is this an addiction problem? That she should be going to rehab for? Or is there more mental health issues that she needs to be getting help with? Like, what is it?
- [43:20]
Rob Schutzer
I think it's birthracial. I worked with Britney about 20 years ago and the Britney then was polished and sharp and just, you know, dating Justin Tim, like, she was the perfect pop princess. It was all a lie. She was always messy. She was the Britney that you see on the videos today is who she was. Her record label, her publicist. The media presented this perfect pop princess. It was always a lie. Britney behind the scenes has always been the Britney that we now see on the videos. And that's why it's so difficult for the public for you and me to accept her because we were sold a lie for 20 years. Whitney Houston was another example. Whitney was the perfect pop princess. Lies. She was never that person. She was never buttoned up. She was never so like she was always.
- [44:02]
Rachel Yukatel
It was their teams holding them together and holding them up. And then as soon as the lights went down, it would all fall apart. I do remember.
- [44:09]
Rob Schutzer
And we would say, oh my goodness, it's fell apart. What I would say is, no, no, that's the truth.
- [44:14]
Rachel Yukatel
Right?
- [44:15]
Rob Schutzer
The lie was the perfect hair, the perfect makeup, the perfect dance moves. That was a lie. That is not who Britney is. Wendy Williams is another example. Wendy was always messy. Part of the. And I love Wendy. Part of my joy of being friends with Wendy was she was outrageous and she was messy and she drank and she was sloppy and she was delicious. And then they polished her for television. And then when she fell apart, everybody was like, she fell apart. And I was like, no, she was always a mess. We just pretended she wasn't. So this is Britney almost at neutral. This is her at her base level, which is why she won't change. She'll never be that pop princess again. Because it was all a lie. She never was.
- [44:53]
Rachel Yukatel
Wait, I love that you brought up Wendy Williams. Do you still talk to her? Where. What's going on with her?
- [44:59]
Rob Schutzer
So she's on 35th street and 10th. She's here in a living, an elder living facility. She was fighting this conservatorship tooth and nail. And now that has stopped my reporting is that she's resigned to the fact now that she's not leaving there ever. Her mental health is not good. The last time I saw her, it was really messy. It was not a fun evening. It made me sad. There was one point.
- [45:24]
Rachel Yukatel
And again, is this mental or is this addiction?
- [45:26]
Rob Schutzer
It's both. I mean, the mental, I think you Know that movie, Silence the Lambs? When your head, like Wendy wants. She has voices in her head and she wants to silence them. And she does that by drinking or drugs. And so the last time, not the last time, but a few, a few months when we spoke, she asked me to come to her place and bring water bottles, but to pour out the water and fill them with vodka. And I was like, Wendy, I can't do that because I'll end up on Dateline. You'll die. And they'll be like that guy in the elevator with the water bottles and the big nose is Rob Shooter. So I was like, I'm happy to meet you at a bar, Wendy. Not that happy, but it's so heartbreaking. I do believe, though, and I believe this with Brittany, Britney's dad saved her life. We might have hated that conservatorship. We fought to free Britney because we didn't understand it. We didn't understand it. And so Wendy's friends initially were really fighting to free her. She hired a lawyer. They announced that before Christmas she was going to be out of this conservatorship. She was gonna have a podcast. She was going to be back. None of it's happened. It's April and now Wendy is still in the conservatorship. And I think it's for a good reason even. I spoke to some friends of hers, really close friends with her just a few nights ago, and they've changed their tune now. They said, we think it's probably better for Wendy to stay, to stay there. Wow.
- [46:44]
Rachel Yukatel
Heartbreaking. That really upsets me. All right.
- [46:46]
Rob Schutzer
Your eyes will love this. Cash Avalanche Casino slot features stunning visuals, smooth animations and immersive sound design. Explore vibrant themes while collecting rewards along the way. Designed for smooth play across devices. Download Cash Avalanche Casino slot on the App Store and claim your bonus. Bonus.
- [47:04]
Rachel Yukatel
Let's talk about something that I'm really interested in. First of all, where is Nancy Guthrie? Like, I know you were just on Nancy Grace, my favorite person ever.
- [47:13]
Rob Schutzer
Love it.
- [47:13]
Rachel Yukatel
But was Nancy giving you any ideas of where this beloved grandmother is still? Like, where are we at with that?
- [47:19]
Rob Schutzer
It's so heartbreaking. This story absolutely breaks my heart. I can't believe that we can send people into space and get them to spin around the moon and we can't find Nancy Guthrie. That there are so many questions. None of this makes sense. I've spoken to so many police enforcement and law insiders. Nobody gets it. None of this makes sense. Nobody kidnaps an 80 year old woman without a reason. It wasn't a break in. Were they after. Was this a kidnapping? But where's the ransom note? None of this. None of this makes sense. Now I know over time the truth always gets told. That's part of my novel, is that you can hide stuff, but the truth always comes out. So we will find out. But I don't think we're going to find out for a while. I'd love to be able to tell you. I have a theory. I know what happened. I don't. Rachel. I speak to people at the Today show. I speak to people in law enforcement. I don't know where she is. I do know, though, that the longer we wait and Nancy Grace would agree with me here. It doesn't look good.
- [48:17]
Rachel Yukatel
Right?
- [48:17]
Rob Schutzer
This is not. This is not good. I think Savannah has sort of said that in one of the videos she talked about her mom now being with God. And so I think the family has accepted that they might not see this lady ever again. But even if that is true, I hope it's not. But even if that's true, there needs to be some closure. They wanna know what happened. Where is she? We don't know.
- [48:42]
Rachel Yukatel
Yeah, it's a terrible feeling to not have that closure. I know that feeling from losing somebody at 9 11. But Savannah Guthrie has now gone back to work. I know you talked about that. People. NBC really expected this would be a huge turnout. And it wasn't as big of a deal as people thought. What were you hearing about that?
- [49:00]
Rob Schutzer
Yeah, I was hearing they thought this would be like Justin Bieber on the plaza. Remember when they used to do those concerts with pop stars? Yeah. And there was like thousands of people on the plaza. It was really exciting. We had helicopter shots of 30 Rock, like, basically being shut down. That didn't happen. When Savannah returned, there was extra security there, but they weren't really needed. There was not that many fans that turned up. The ratings were a bump. I just got the ratings for Savannah's return. They did go up, but not massively. They were not. I think people move on very quickly with news and the news cycle is very difficult. And the Today show and NBC is in a real dilemma here because they do care about her. I'm not saying they don't. And this is awful and people are really heartbroken. But they're also a business. They're there to make money. They want to get ratings. And so, you know, somebody at NBC really asked me to stop reporting on it. And I still said, you're reporting on it more than anybody. NBC are Doing more. More reporting on this case than anybody. And so I didn't accept their request. I hope I covered it with decency and. And the right tone. But this was a big story that NBC pushed, and it was on the nightly news. They had an hour special on Dateline with Hoda. They had their anchors wearing the yellow ribbons. And so they built this story up. And I think that because there's no end to this story, good or bad, we don't know. I think it's a very difficult story to keep telling. And so the show has tried to pivot and move on from this story, but every time you see Savannah, you're thinking, where's her mom?
- [50:33]
Rachel Yukatel
Of course. And I think it got a little messy, too, because there were so many accusations, right? There was these fake or non. Fake. Do we really know? Ransom notes. You know, you heard about accusations about the sister or her husband. You know, you didn't know if this was in retaliation for something Savannah did. Something with Epstein got brought into it. I mean, the whole thing kind of felt gross and a little bit weird. And so, I don't know. You know, I feel terrible about what happened. Right. I mean, it's just a horrible thing. But at the same time, I can understand why people are kind of. I don't wanna say over it, but they're just sick of hearing about it, and they don't know how to feel because they don't know who was involved. And I think it just makes an awkward feeling for everybody. And so no one wants to hear about it anymore.
- [51:16]
Rob Schutzer
Yeah, this is real life, and let's be very clear about that. But it's still a narrative. Television is telling a narrative, and magazines tell a narrative. We tell narratives. On our podcast, when I was writing my book, one of the editors who really helped shape it told me to be clear and don't be frightened about being clear. And people like things to not be confusing. This story's confusing. It's frustrating. People are not moving on. People are not untouched by it. People are very much emotional about this story. But it's a confusing story to tell. It's a difficult story to tell. It's a frustrating story to tell. Those type of stories don't last very long in the media because we don't want to feel frustrated. We don't want to feel uncomfortable. We want clear beginnings, middles, and endings. And this story doesn't have that. So I understand why the public has lost interest in this. Maybe not lost interest. Frustrate is a better word. Yeah. Why the public Is so frustrated about it. Once again, this is not a story to Savannah. This is real life. And it breaks my heart. I know it breaks your heart. I wanna. I wanna approach this with so much respect, But I also, too, I'll call out hypocrisy when I see it. NBC cannot run stories about this every day and then expect the rest of us to not say anything. And so that is just not the way it works. They opened the doors. Savannah made the videos. She was on a dateline special, the nightly news. Tom Yilmas was covering it. Your anchors were wearing yellow ribbons. This is a story that, although might not be in in the headlines anymore, is in the back of all of our minds. And that's why it's so difficult now to watch the today show and see Savannah sitting there. It's complicated.
- [53:01]
Rachel Yukatel
It is complicated. All right, last three questions for you got rapid fire questions, bigger picture. What is the biggest whisper right now that hasn't broken yet?
- [53:11]
Rob Schutzer
Ooh, that's a really good whisper. The big whisper that I'm hearing is Diddy's come back. Diddy's family did. His friends are pretty sure that this case will be thrown out and he could be out of jail within months. They're very confident about that. I know they're confident because they're already talking about a party. To go to jail for freak off parties and then to come out of jail and do a party is a terrible look, but that's who Diddy is. And so I'm hearing a lot of rumors about when Diddy will get out. And when he does get out, will he want revenge? He is somebody that doesn't often forgive, certainly doesn't forget, and so watch out. Diddy might be back. Wow.
- [53:50]
Rachel Yukatel
What story is being planted as we speak?
- [53:54]
Rob Schutzer
Oh, that's a good story that people are seeding as we speak. Madonna's comeback is something that's been planned out and really planted. And to her credit, there's truth to it. She performed at Coachello. What is she, 67, 68? Yeah, she was great. She sold the show.
- [54:09]
Rachel Yukatel
And she looked.
- [54:10]
Rob Schutzer
She looked great. She sounded great.
- [54:12]
Rachel Yukatel
And thank God she's doing her iconic songs. Like, I kind of hate when she does her new stuff. I hate to say it, but it's so her old stuff is what we want. Yeah.
- [54:20]
Rob Schutzer
She did vogue. She did like a prayer. And now because of that, a new audience, Sabrina Carpenter. And to his audience, who didn't know, Madonna has now embraced her. And now Madonna has a number one song on iTunes. Madonna has not had a number one song in decades. Decades. She's got one. So I think the story that people are seeding her publicists are Madonna has a very witty team. Madonna, too, is really savage. Is the Madonna comeback amazing?
- [54:46]
Rachel Yukatel
Okay, last one. What headline right now is completely false?
- [54:50]
Rob Schutzer
Ooh, that's a real false headline. The false headline is that everybody at CBS News is just so happy and Gayle King loves working there and the new management is just lovely. It's a nightmare. Everybody I know at CBS News is miserable. They don't like the new owners. They don't like the new boss. And so if you read stuff about CBS News, it's just a happy, happy place. Place all lies. Wow.
- [55:16]
Rachel Yukatel
Okay. Well, listen, Rob Shooter. It started with a whisper is out now go get it. Tell people where they can get more of you and where they can get the book.
- [55:26]
Rob Schutzer
I've started a substack, Rachel. So my publisher told me that the way to sell books, the way to connect, is to substack, is to podcast. I've been podcasting for a long time and not as successfully as you. May I add number one on the charts. I'm at number 20. I'm few curious, but I have a podcast, the daily podcast Naughty but nice. All the celebrity gossip. And on substack, I am Rob Schutzer. And if you go to Amazon, check out it started with a whisper. I really mean this. I'm not good at asking people to. To pay or to do stuff, but I'm gonna put that to one side and just ask. It really would be a treat. I want to keep. I want to keep doing this. And the only way I can do that is if I sell enough books. And then my publisher called me this morning just before I started your show, Rachel, and said, said we're really close to being on the New York Times bestseller.
- [56:13]
Rachel Yukatel
Wow.
- [56:13]
Rob Schutzer
We're this close. So if I can sell some books over the weekend, over the next few days, I think it might happen.
- [56:21]
Rachel Yukatel
The pre sales look like they've been unbelievable. You have over 10,000 reviews already from people, which is amazing. Just talking about how excited they are for the book. And I'm just so excited for you. I wish you the best. I can't wait to see you next time in New York. And I can't wait to get my. Everybody who wants this book. It comes in 24 hours on Amazon. I wish you the best of luck. Thank you. Mwah.
- [56:43]
Rob Schutzer
You're the best, pal. Let me just say that everybody know this. This is a lady who looks after her friends. You're the first person to cheer for anybody else's success. It's a beautiful quality and I'll never forget it. Thank you for your support.
- [56:54]
Rachel Yukatel
Love you. Thank you so much for listening to Misunderstood. I'm your host Rachel Yukatel. Please be sure to subscribe to the show and give us a five star rating and review. You can support the show by joining our patreon@patreon.com misunderstood with Rachel you could tell do you have ideas for the show or want to reach out? Email us@infomisunderstoodpodcastmail.com that's spelled M I S S. Understood. Thank you so much and I'll see you next.
- [57:32]
Weight Watchers Med Plus Announcer
You're on a GLP1, but now you're wondering, how do I manage my side effects? What do I eat to stay strong? Because reaching your weight loss goals can take more than meds. That's where Weight Watchers Med plus comes in. Get access to trusted experts, food plans that work with your body, and habit coaching to keep you on track. Plus access to GLP1 medication. Get started@weightwatchers.com all medical center services are provided through our affiliated medical group, Weight Watchers Clinic. Medications require eligibility and prescription. Individual results may vary. See site for more details.
- [58:02]
Rachel Yukatel
Are you really buying a car online on autotrader right now? Really? At a playground? Yeah. Really?
- [58:08]
Weight Watchers Med Plus Announcer
Look at these listings from dealers.
- [58:10]
Rachel Yukatel
Wow, your search can really get that specific. Really? And you just put in your info and boom. Cars in your budget. Mom needs a second, honey. You can really have it delivered. Really? Or I can pick it up at the dealership. One sec, sweetie.
- [58:23]
Weight Watchers Med Plus Announcer
Mommy's buying a car.
- [58:26]
Rachel Yukatel
I think your kid is walking up the slide.
- [58:27]
Rob Schutzer
Kyle.
- [58:28]
Rachel Yukatel
Again? Really? Auto trader. Buy your car online? Really?