Best Of Full Interview: Gia Casey Talks New Book "Real Life, Real Love", Cheating Scandals, Rags To Riches + More

Summary

Summary of "The Breakfast Club" Episode: Best Of Full Interview: Gia Casey Talks New Book "Real Life, Real Love", Cheating Scandals, Rags To Riches + More

Release Date: December 31, 2024

Introduction and Guest Welcome

At [02:51], DJ Envy introduces Gia Casey to "The Breakfast Club," highlighting her roles as an actress, author, wife, and mother. The hosts—DJ Envy, Charlamagne Tha God, and Angela Yee—set the stage for an in-depth conversation about Gia's new book, "Real Life, Real Love," and her personal journey through relationship challenges.

Gia Casey’s Relationship Journey

Gia opens up about her long-term relationship with DJ Envy, detailing their meeting during high school when she was 15 and he was 16. She describes DJ Envy's initial charm juxtaposed with his insecurities, which led to possessive and controlling behavior. At [07:04], Gia shares:

"I thought to myself, wow, he's a lot of fun. Like, he's like a friend, you know? And that's part of the magic."

Writing "Real Life, Real Love"

During the COVID-19 quarantine, Gia and DJ Envy embarked on the challenging task of co-authoring their book. Gia explains the emotional difficulty of reliving painful moments but emphasizes the importance of documenting their experiences to help other couples. At [08:16], she notes:

"It was a journey, but I think it was difficult."

Cheating Scandals and Forgiveness

A significant portion of the interview focuses on DJ Envy's infidelity and Gia's path to forgiveness. Gia candidly discusses the pain and betrayal she felt, but also the steps she took to forgive DJ Envy. At [16:08], Gia articulates a pivotal realization:

"When you forgive, you don't forgive to ease the burden from the other person. You forgive to ease the burden from you."

DJ Envy adds his perspective on understanding the depth of his actions:

"I don't think we realize how much we do hurt our women when we do those things." [13:37]

Rebuilding Trust and Relationship Reinvention

Gia and DJ Envy delve into the efforts made to rebuild trust and reinvent their relationship. Gia shares how DJ Envy's consistent acts of kindness and accountability were crucial in healing. At [05:25], Gia explains:

"We have a lot of fun in that space, but we don't have to think like, God, how am I gonna stop being bored of you?"

Impact on Family and Children

The couple discusses the impact of their struggles on their children and the importance of modeling resilience and forgiveness. Gia highlights how their journey has strengthened their family bond:

"Our house is really magical. [...] It's always jokes. It's always roasting. Rashawn and I play fight a lot." [32:19]

Personal Growth and Overcoming Insecurities

Both hosts and Gia reflect on personal growth and overcoming insecurities. DJ Envy shares his battle with depression and the realization that his actions were tied to his wounded ego. At [53:22], he states:

"Once you figure that definition of what love is and what Ghia meant to me, you realize, I don't want to hurt her."

Charlamagne adds his insights on male behavior and the importance of self-awareness:

"Men cheat for ego. [...] It's wounded ego. It's something that we're lacking." [39:35]

Forgiveness and Moving Forward

Gia emphasizes the transformative power of forgiveness and how it liberated her from the cycle of hurt. She explains the concept of "reparations" detailed in her book, which are actions taken by the offender to demonstrate genuine remorse and commitment to change. At [65:16], she shares:

"Every gift comes with something special. A little note, a little treasure hunt to find the gift. [...] It's about the intention behind it."

Conclusion and Book Promotion

As the interview concludes, Gia and the hosts promote their book, "Real Life, Real Love," encouraging listeners to purchase it and share their feedback. They highlight the book's role in providing valuable lessons for couples facing similar challenges. DJ Envy urges:

"What we want you to do is we want you to tell us what you think about the book." [65:14]

Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• [09:19] Gia Casey: "Because when you hurt, and you say it all the time, hurt people hurt people."

• [16:08] Gia Casey: "When you forgive, you don't forgive to ease the burden from the other person. You forgive to ease the burden from you."

• [53:22] DJ Envy: "Once you figure that definition of what love is and what Ghia meant to me, you realize, I don't want to hurt her."

• [39:35] Charlamagne Tha God: "Men cheat for ego. [...] It's wounded ego. It's something that we're lacking."

Key Insights and Themes:

• Communication and Accountability: Open dialogue and taking responsibility are crucial for healing.

• Power of Forgiveness: Letting go of resentment frees both parties to move forward positively.

• Faith and Spirituality: Gia emphasizes the role of faith in guiding their relationship through tough times.

• Personal Growth: Overcoming insecurities and understanding self-worth are vital for a healthy partnership.

• Family Impact: Demonstrating resilience and forgiveness provides valuable lessons for their children.

Conclusion

Gia Casey's heartfelt discussion on "The Breakfast Club" offers listeners an intimate look into her personal journey of love, betrayal, forgiveness, and growth. Her collaboration with DJ Envy on "Real Life, Real Love" serves as a beacon for couples navigating similar challenges, highlighting the strength found in resilience and unwavering commitment.

Transcript

[Coca Cola Voiceover]

The holidays are about spending time with your loved ones and creating magical memories.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That will last a lifetime.

[Coca Cola Voiceover]

So whether it's family and friends you haven't seen in a while, or those who you see all the time, share holiday magic this season with an ice cold Coca Cola. Copyright 2024 the Coca Cola Company.

[DJ Envy]

Life is an act of constant reinvention. That's true for you and for cars. Nissan reimagined the all new Kicks around you. The Bose Personal plus sound system with speakers in the headrest keep you in the groove while The Nissan Safety Shield 360 technologies keep you safe. If Nissan reinvented the Kicks, you can reinvent yourself. Drive the all new reimagined Nissan Kicks today.

[Coca Cola Voiceover]

Available Features Compatible device service and consumer activation of Nissan Connect Services package required Use only when safe and legal. Subject to third party service availability. For more information, see nissanusa.com connect legal Apple CarPlay is a trademark of Apple Inc. Intelligent all wheel drive cannot prevent collisions or provide enhanced traction in all conditions. Always monitor traffic and weather conditions.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Taking control of your career is empowering. Just don't tell my boss I said that.

[Gia Casey]

Just kidding.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I am the boss. This is Carlos Miller from the 85 South Show. And building a career isn't just about a job. It's about creating a path that impacts our community and future generations. Whether you're starting out or even making big moves, State Farm is here to support you with resources to help protect what you're working hard to achieve. They've got your back every step of the way. Because like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Find out more@state farm.com Critics and audiences.

[Coca Cola Voiceover]

Are falling in love with the Fire Inside.

[Angela Yee]

As long as I'm boxing, I'm gonna be okay.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Based on the inspirational true story Damn.

[DJ Envy]

Proud of you y'all.

[Angela Yee]

Golden girl.

[Coca Cola Voiceover]

It's a knockout crowd pleaser.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

The whole family can agree on my baby going to the Olympics.

[Coca Cola Voiceover]

It's this generation's Rocky.

[DJ Envy]

Can't nobody beat me.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You'll stand up and cheer. Let's go. It's one of the best movies of the year.

[DJ Envy]

You represent out there.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Something I would do with it.

[Coca Cola Voiceover]

Flynn the Fire Inside Based on the incredible True Story Radio PG13 inappropriate for children under 13 now playing only in theaters.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Peace to the planet. I go by the name of Charlamagne Tha God and I wanna introduce you to Uber Teen Accounts. A connected account for your teen with trackable trips and highly rated drivers. Now I am the father of a 16 year old daughter so I need things like Ubertin okay. Your teen can feel a sense of independence and you can feel a sense of relief. You can follow their entire ride on a live tracking map. Perfect for those times when you want to be there but can't. When your teen request a trip, they are matched with highly rated and experienced drivers and you receive real time notifications. Every trip comes with enhanced safety features. Pin verification to ensure your teen enters the right vehicle. Live trip tracking for parents. Plus you, the parent can contact the driver directly from the app. Add your teen to your account today. Available in select locations. See app for details. Wake that ass up early in the morning. The Breakfast Club.

[DJ Envy]

Morning, everybody. It's TJ Envy, Angela Yee. Charlamagne, the guy we are the Breakfast Club. We got a special guest in the building.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Never met her before.

[DJ Envy]

She's an actress. She's an author. She's a mom.

[Angela Yee]

Ladies and gentlemen, she's a wife.

[DJ Envy]

And my wife. Yes, Gia.

[Gia Casey]

Hello.

[DJ Envy]

Welcome.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Gia. What? That's just one name. She's like Madonna, Beyonce. This one name. Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. How nervous are you, sir? Seriously?

[Angela Yee]

I know. He's been acting real weird all morning.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I'm fine.

[Angela Yee]

Well, you're nervous.

[Gia Casey]

Boo.

[DJ Envy]

No.

[Angela Yee]

You guys have a book out. Real life. Real life lessons on joy, pain and the magic that holds us together. And I've been dying to ask you this question, Gia. In person. Oh, boy, Here we go. How do you feel about Charlamagne and Emby flirting with each other every day?

[Gia Casey]

Kind of turns me on.

[Angela Yee]

We didn't expect that answer.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Now I'm nervous.

[Gia Casey]

I had that effect on people.

[Angela Yee]

Okay, explain.

[Gia Casey]

No, I mean. I mean, I think it's a little strange, but I'm amused by it.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

It's just brotherly love, that's all.

[Gia Casey]

I'm amused by it.

[Angela Yee]

Does anything go too far, ever or.

[Gia Casey]

No, it's all in good fun and entertaining.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That's all it is.

[Gia Casey]

I don't mind it.

[DJ Envy]

So you didn't mind when he gave me the ass?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

First of all, context, please. Or context, Everybody doesn't watch the show every day. Context, please.

[Gia Casey]

Okay, wait. Can you guys sound bite when he.

[DJ Envy]

Gave me a mold of his ass?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That's right. And it wasn't my ass. It was a mold of a ass. Yes.

[Gia Casey]

I thought it was a mold of your actual ass.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

No, no. My shit ain't that fat.

[Angela Yee]

And then what about when they touch each other and stuff that's never happened.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That.

[DJ Envy]

We don't touch each other. We don't touch each other. You just make it stop.

[Gia Casey]

You've never Seen them touch each other.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That hasn't happened.

[DJ Envy]

No.

[Gia Casey]

You want to tell me something? I need to know.

[Angela Yee]

Oh, no. They, like, rub up, brush against each other if they're walking out the door or something.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That's not true. They threaten to rub up against each other. We don't ever do it.

[Angela Yee]

They go on the revolving door together.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That happened one time by accident.

[Gia Casey]

Explain that that was true. Now I need answers.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

It was stupid. Stupid. I don't even know how that happened. It was really. It was really stupid. It was really dumb.

[Gia Casey]

That had to be very intentional.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

No, it wasn't. I don't even know how one is.

[Gia Casey]

In and then one makes his way in.

[DJ Envy]

Door together. Walking around was so stupid.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

All we did was giggle because it was so stupid. We just had to giggle our way through it.

[Gia Casey]

You just added insult to injury. You're sitting there in the one slot giggling together.

[Angela Yee]

They shuffled right through together.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Oh, man.

[Angela Yee]

All right.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Well, anyway, back to the matter at hand.

[Angela Yee]

I don't lie.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Real life, real love. What is that magic that holds y'all together? You think? How would you describe it?

[Gia Casey]

You know, whenever I find that people come to our house or are around us. I think they're kind of surprised at how much fun we have together. I find him to be very charming and charismatic. And one of the things that I love most about him is his boyish nature. So we really have a lot of fun together. And we always have since we first met. The first week we spent together, I thought to myself, wow, he's a lot of fun. Like, he's like a friend, you know? And that's part of the magic.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

And you knew that this was the person you were gonna spend the rest of your life with?

[Gia Casey]

After about two weeks of knowing him? Yes.

[Angela Yee]

But he knew before y'all even spent a day together.

[Gia Casey]

I did explain before we even spent a day together.

[DJ Envy]

Well, when I first seen you, I mean, I wrote in the book that I thought you were beautiful and amazing. And the first time I saw, you were actually running track. And for people that don't know, you know track.

[Angela Yee]

She's playing track.

[Gia Casey]

That was a good one. I like that.

[DJ Envy]

It was a skimpy outfit. And, you know, Gia had, you know, big double Ds. And I would basically stalk her outside and just watch her run track. And watch her breast bobble.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I don't like that word. Don't say stalk. He wasn't stalking.

[Gia Casey]

Yeah, but that's actually what he was doing. It was actually stalking. And I would see him. I would see him Sitting with his friends in this bright blue Con Edison van, because that's what his parents bought him to transfer his DJ equipment from Sweet 16 to Sweet 16. That's what he was DJing at the time. I just had a condom as a vanity.

[DJ Envy]

Cheap back then.

[Gia Casey]

And I would see it parked behind the fence. I'm thinking to myself, like, yo, why is this van there every day at track practice?

[Angela Yee]

Power out.

[Gia Casey]

Every van.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yo, that was crazy.

[Gia Casey]

Yes, it was bright blue. He wasn't low. He was not low.

[Angela Yee]

He was just sitting in the van doing. And then one day, he emerged.

[Gia Casey]

Actually, babe, do you remember one day he emerged from the van and approached me and kicked it. And I was like, oh, so you're that weirdo? But that's in the van.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

But y'all were both kids?

[Gia Casey]

Yes, she was 15.

[DJ Envy]

I was 16. We went to the same high school, so.

[Angela Yee]

And, Gia, you guys skipped a grade, right?

[Gia Casey]

Yes, I skipped a grade.

[Angela Yee]

Okay. All right. So then initially. So, Envy, you say that you knew that she was going to be your wife, like, right away. You think it was before y'all even spoke, when you were stalking her?

[DJ Envy]

No, when we actually spoke. And, you know, I found out how, you know, beautiful she was inside and outside and how smart she was and caring, and she was just that she was the one. She was the most beautiful thing I ever seen in my life and the most precious thing. So I was like, this is gonna be my wife.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I want people to get the book. But I do want, you know, to explain. How do you keep reinventing the relationship when you start that young? Now, envy's 50 something. You know what I mean? You're much, much younger. But how do you keep. How do you keep reinventing?

[Gia Casey]

And I think that that's part of the magic. We don't have to try. We don't intentionally. We do a lot of things intentionally and deliberately, but we don't intentionally reimagine the relationship and act on that. The only thing that I would say that we're good about is keeping it sexy and making sure that that part of our relationship doesn't get too monotonous and doesn't get stale. So we have a lot of fun in that space, but we don't have to think like, God, how am I gonna stop being bored of you? Or how am I gonna get to a point where you don't annoy me anymore? He legitimately does not annoy me. I look forward to his phone calls every day, and we probably speak on the phone about maybe eight or nine Ten times a day. Because he's away a lot, you know? So he calls me on his way to the Breakfast Club. He calls me on his way home from the Breakfast Club. He calls me if something happens. He calls me incessantly. It's. And I'm never like, oh, you again. I'm like, ooh, same again. You know, it's just that feeling that I've always had that no matter what ups or downs we were going through, that never left me.

[Angela Yee]

Now, he told us a story about the cowboy outfit that he wears.

[Gia Casey]

Wait, he told you about that?

[Angela Yee]

Yeah.

[Gia Casey]

Wait, wait, wait.

[Angela Yee]

The cowboy outfit in college with the assless chaps?

[DJ Envy]

No, assless chaps.

[Gia Casey]

They were.

[Angela Yee]

Yeah, you told us about it.

[Gia Casey]

Hold, wait, Rashawn, did you actually tell them about that? Like, on air or in private?

[DJ Envy]

I forgot I told y'all about that.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

He did.

[Gia Casey]

Because if it was in private, this is a whole double cross.

[Angela Yee]

He told us he dressed up as a cowboy and he had the.

[DJ Envy]

Why are you looking at me like that?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Cause I remember that day, okay. Cause I remember that day. Cause after he told the story, he goes. And I was like, what?

[Gia Casey]

He did when we were in college? Yeah. We went through a stage where we were doing, like, a lot of role playing. Role playing?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah.

[Gia Casey]

And one night, I dared him to be a cowboy. So we went and got the cowboy outfit. He had, like, the big brown hat, and then he had, like, the little holsters and everything. And. Babe, do you remember I took pictures?

[Angela Yee]

Where are those? Are they in the book?

[Gia Casey]

About maybe three years after, he made me physically burn them on the grill. Wow. He put them on the grill and told me I had to light it.

[DJ Envy]

Yeah.

[Gia Casey]

They don't exist.

[Angela Yee]

Don't you wish you still had that?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

No, but y'all talk about roleplay. In the book, you say, he likes to put on the ROC Nation paper plane hat. And he goes, what's my name? And he wants you to say, jigga.

[Gia Casey]

I didn't contribute to that chapter.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Okay.

[Gia Casey]

That wasn't my work. No, I didn't do that.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

No.

[Angela Yee]

Okay, so wait, they really. So he was in line. They were assless chaps.

[Gia Casey]

Yeah. Yeah. He had a whole. It was a whole thing.

[Angela Yee]

I just pulled a U on you, Gia. He did not tell us that.

[Gia Casey]

Damn it. Tahelse, get my book. And you will learn a slew of.

[Angela Yee]

Tactics, tricks and techniques.

[Gia Casey]

But how to get what you want out of life? Okay.

[DJ Envy]

It was a holster, by the way. They were holsters?

[Gia Casey]

Yeah, it was a holster.

[Angela Yee]

What were some other dress up things.

[DJ Envy]

You guys did all right.

[Gia Casey]

It was more so me dressing up, and he was just like, the recipient of that. That was a one little. And that's why it was a dare, because it was kind of supposed to be a joke. But he never really dressed up. He was a doctor. That was once, huh?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Did you really burn the pictures?

[Gia Casey]

I really did.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Really?

[Gia Casey]

In front of him.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Wow.

[Angela Yee]

You didn't have copy?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I kept those.

[Gia Casey]

Just put those in the set. I have the negatives. Okay. I was gonna share that, but in case anything ever goes left in our relationship, I have that. I will ruin his entire reputation or never be able to work again.

[Angela Yee]

Am I crushing over to a new audience?

[Gia Casey]

Oh, we got that coming, definitely.

[Angela Yee]

So how was everybody? Cause I know Covid hit. You guys had planned to put this out earlier, and then Covid hit. So what was it like for y'all actually sitting down and reliving some of these moments?

[Gia Casey]

Well, Covid and the quarantine was great for us and our family. It affected different people differently. But we really realized that we could spend damn near 100% of our time together and love it. When quarantine. When the quarantine lifted, everybody in my house was kind of sad, you know, about that. But we did take that opportunity to write the book. And some of it was fun. Some of it was fun. It was nice to be creative and get your thoughts down on paper. It was work. But a lot of it was difficult. I'm a very open person. I'm a realist. Rashaun, I think, had a difficult time because he had to relive a lot of the negative things that transpired in our relationship. And he can tend to be surface in some respects. Where you ask him a question, he gives you an answer. I'm a lot more of an in depth person. You know, I think critically about things. And when we would go over these chapters that he's assigned to write, I would ask him questions like, okay, you can't just answer it with a yes or a no or a simple blanket. Like, one question would mean 10 more questions to really get to the meat. And, you know, I had to keep reiterating, we're writing this book so that people have something tangible, a reference point for them to make changes in their lives if necessary, or to recognize that the person that you're with needs to make changes in their lives. And it was a journey. It was a journey, but I think it was difficult.

[DJ Envy]

Yeah, no, for me, it was difficult. I had to relive a lot of the fboy Ish. I put you through and you don't. You forget about a lot of it because you don't have to relive it. But then when you start.

[Gia Casey]

No, you forget about a lot of it. I ain't forget nothing.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah, I think as men that's the point though, right? Cause it's like we don't realize how much we do hurt our women when we do those things.

[Gia Casey]

That's true though.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah, I think so. I don't think we realize how deep that.

[Gia Casey]

That sounds like an Okie doke to me.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

No, I don't think we. Until you actually sit down and have those, you know, uncomfortable conversations, you don't realize how much you.

[Gia Casey]

If your wife cheated on you and told you that she would have no idea how much that it stood to hurt you, would that make sense to you?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Probably not. But I mean, men don't make sense.

[Gia Casey]

You believe that. You believe that you're born inherently with like a deficit.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Not a deficit, but I just don't think. Common sense. I don't think we're thinking about it. You know what I mean? Like, we. Like that's the sad part.

[Angela Yee]

It's selfish.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

And that's what keeps. That's what keeps you from doing it in the future. You know what I mean? Cause you do not want to hurt the woman that you love. And it's so crazy. Cause I saw that with my pops. Like, I saw the pain that that caused my mom with his infidelity. So when in my mind I was like, damn, I'm about to make the same mistake. So I think it is difficult when you gotta relive it. Cause you don't wanna talk about it. Cause you don't wanna trigger you.

[Angela Yee]

You know, Some people feel.

[Gia Casey]

I don't get triggered, though. Damn. What?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What? No, that scared me just now. About to call security.

[Gia Casey]

No, once I got to a point and it was a process, it was a long process, it was years. But once I got to a point where I accepted that it was my job to move on because I decided to forgive him and because he had done all of the work and then some, to regain my trust, to earn grace from me, I got to a point where I no longer wanted to punish and I didn't have that inherent need to see him suffer. Because when you hurt, and you say it all the time, hurt people hurt people. When you're hurt, you want not just people, you want the person that hurt you to hurt. And anytime that I felt any type of way, I made sure that he felt some Type of way. So once I learned how to forgive, and that was a process because I wasn't necessarily a forgiving person before, everything was very black and white to me, not very much gray. But once I learned and I understood that that's what was expected from me, of God, I had to commit to that and do my best to live up to what forgiveness meant. And that's what set me free. Because when you forgive, you don't forgive to ease the burden from the other person. You forgive to ease the burden from you.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That's real.

[Angela Yee]

What was the work you guys did together like? You had to work on forgiveness and when you said, okay, I'm gonna, you know, have to move on from this, but what was the work that he did that let you know, okay, he's serious and, you know, I can finally just say, I'm not getting triggered anymore. I'm gonna let this go.

[Gia Casey]

Well, one of the first things was I realized that he understood the impact of what had happened, what he did. He understood it. He didn't just accept it and was accountable for it, but he actually understood. He would do things that a lot of men wouldn't do. He would sit there through those eight hour conversations, locked in a room. He answered every question that I had, and I had a lot of questions, and he answered them all truthfully. And you know, when you ask somebody a question and you can tell by their answer because, I mean, the answers weren't pretty. They weren't things that I would have wanted to hear. He went through all of the sufferation, as I call it, and he did it until. Because a lot of guys, when they mess up, and I mean, a lot of them have told me, I have friends that have gone through it. It's like, listen, I did it. I apologize. I said I was never gonna do it again. I mean, that ish, right? But it's like every day I'm being punished. I'm being punished, I'm being reminded. It's like, let it go. I apologize. Like, what more do you want from me? Blood? He never took that approach with me. It was the until. Until you are good, until you are healed. If I have to be a punching bag, I will be that. If I have to be a doormat, I will be that. I will do anything that it makes to survive this, because I cannot be without you. And he proved it. Every single day. It was as though. And he was like this before, but it was even more so during this time. It was as though he communicated to me that the only Thing that he wanted was to make me happy. And that's pretty much how he lives his life. He lives his life every day, waking up thinking, like, damn, how can I make Gia's life easier today? How can I make Gia happier today? And every day almost, he does something sweet, something special. He works so hard. You guys know, he might sleep three hours a night, but he'll come home, and if I have a tray on the bed and I was eating, he'll come into the room and take it down for me or be like, babe, can I bring you up some food? If I wasn't eating, like, he does special things. But to answer your question, it was the. Until it was the indefinite. And it was the willingness to do any and everything to earn what he lost back.

[Angela Yee]

And was there ever a question in your mind? I know there was a point when you thought, no matter what I do, she's never gonna take me back. Was there ever a time when you were like, you cry.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I'm gonna come over there and hug you. I'm just letting you know, you better hold them tears. I'm gonna hug the shit out of you from the back if you cry in front of your wife and then flex your pelvis.

[DJ Envy]

But, yes, the answer your question, yes.

[Gia Casey]

Catch that little feel. At that point.

[DJ Envy]

At that point, I just had, you know, I didn't know what was gonna happen, but I was like, I have to be honest to at least get my friend back, you know? And at that point, you know, I didn't know what Gia was gonna do. I thought it was a rap, but I was like, I still wanted my friend. I still wanted somebod, you know, I still wanted a relationship with her that we can bounce, things like this. She's all I knew since I was 16. So I still wanted my friend back.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

And she's Jamaican, so that could have been forever beef.

[DJ Envy]

That could have been forever beef.

[Angela Yee]

But, you know, it's interesting that you didn't kick him out of the house. You were still polite to him. You still wanted to maintain a co parenting friendship. I feel like that hurts more when you're like, we're not having sex and I might end up with somebody else one day, but, you know, we're cool. That hurts more, I think, sometimes than just completely, like, being nasty to somebody and cutting them off.

[Gia Casey]

Yes. Well, when I found out divorce was imminent, it was never a question. I was raised by a very strong mother who taught me that if a man ever disrespects you to that degree, then you walk so it didn't matter how much I loved Rashawn and how much I would have missed him. And it didn't matter if I cried every night. It did not matter one iota how I felt. The only thing that was important to me was that I operated with my head and not my heart. And that I did what I always said that I was going to do. So when I found out, when it was confirmed for me, and you can read the book and see the entire.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

No, we want you to go get the book.

[Gia Casey]

The entire story. But when he confirmed that we were in a parking lot, and when I drove away from that parking lot, it was a few days before Christmas, and his mother was at the house helping me decorate because we were hosting that year. But I walked into the house and I told her, I said, christmas is canceled.

[Angela Yee]

Shit.

[Gia Casey]

And she said, oh, hot. She said, what do you mean Christmas is canceled? And I said, well, I just found out that Rashawn cheated on me and we're getting a divorce, so there's not gonna be any Christmases this year. At least I'm not hosting.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yo, it's wild that people actually cancel Christmas. I thought that was just a figure of speech.

[Gia Casey]

No, no.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

If this should happen, we canceling Christmas. You canceled Christmas?

[Gia Casey]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

Cancel Christmas.

[Gia Casey]

Well, in. In the sense of us hosting. I wasn't going to cancel it for our children, but, you know, we didn't have to decorate for 30 people to come over. And my lovely mother in law, hi, Mama. She defended her beautiful son with everything that she could because. And bitch is lying, pretty much. And when she said something to that effect, I said, but for the fact that he just told me that it was true. And he came home maybe 20 or 30 minutes later, and it was a whole thing. Right? But I was adamant that we were getting a divorce. I contacted an attorney, paid an attorney. It was decided. But thankfully, there were a whole host of things that happened that that convinced me that God had other plans.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What did God say to you?

[Gia Casey]

God didn't say anything to me. See, I was raised Catholic. I went to Catholic schools my whole life. So did Rashawn. But I was never spiritual. You know, got to school and said the Hail Mary and the Our Father. And, you know, if I prayed at night, it was like, thank you, God, for all my blessings. Thank you for my life. You know, can I get that new Nintendo for Christmas? You know, I wasn't raised with this. This deeply instilled faith where I felt as though I knew God and I lived differently because I Didn't know God in that way. So when God revealed himself to me, and he may have tried for years, you see, but I wouldn't have. I didn't speak his language. I would have never been able to interpret God trying to reach out to me. So I really believe that this happened so that me, particularly not even Rashaun, so that I could be humbled, you know, because I thought so highly of our relationship. I thought so highly of Rashawn because he was. Despite what he did, he was a wonderful husband, a wonderful father. I was utterly blindsided when this happened because there was no red flags within our house. He was thoughtful, affectionate, kind, sweet, generous, romantic. Everything that you would want him to be with a little dose of crazy. And there is that in the book. I'm not saying that it was amazing. I was really blindsided. But when God spoke, he spoke through other people. And when he found. When I found out what happened. It's funny. We were being approached for reality shows at the time. And when he took someone's terrible advice to apologize to me on the radio and make our personal woes private. Yeah, our personal woes public.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I didn't know, though. I didn't know what he was going through. He just be. He being here laying on the floor.

[Gia Casey]

Because you guys would.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I didn't know he'd be, like, out of it. I'm like, yo, what the is your problem? I didn't know what it was. So as I'm prodding him, like, what the hell is going on? I didn't know that was coming.

[Gia Casey]

Oh, okay.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah, I didn't know that.

[Gia Casey]

So when they apologized, you didn't know what he was apologizing?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

He would literally come in here and be, like, laid out on the floor in the fetal position the whole show. Like, he would not be here with us. He wouldn't be present.

[Angela Yee]

And I just knew something was wrong.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

So I'm like, so. No, I was like, when he gets on the air, I'm gonna ask him on the air, what the fuck is his problem? Cause I was tired of asking him behind the scenes, and so I asked him on the air. I didn't know that was coming, though.

[Gia Casey]

It was a terrible idea. But maybe it was the same dose of common sense that you guys are talking about. Men seems to be born with men think differently.

[Angela Yee]

Like, that's a grand gesture or something.

[Gia Casey]

Yes. But when it was made public, my. One of my best friends, his name is Rashid. He's the husband of my other best friend. Her name is Sasha. He Called to see if what he had heard was true because he thought that maybe it was just something being drummed up because we're supposed to be on a reality show or something like that. When he called, I said, no, everything that you heard is absolutely true. And it. It's a terrible story, as you said. You know, Rashon was circling the drain at that time, and Rasheed decided to come to New York from California because he lives in la. But we had a very. A horrible event happen at our home. And you can read about it in the book.

[DJ Envy]

But mind you, Rashid didn't like me. Rasheed. You know, he always thought our relationship was toxic, which was.

[Angela Yee]

You were too controlling.

[DJ Envy]

He thought I was too controlling, which I was at times, but so he didn't like me. So the fact that he flew in to try to save this relationship meant a lot because he already didn't like me.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I thought you said Tyrese saved the relationship.

[Gia Casey]

That too. Well, that's coming.

[Angela Yee]

That was the heat.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

See, we're telling too much.

[Gia Casey]

Well, what happened was he flew in, and I didn't want him there because our marriage was ending, and I just wanted to be by myself. But he insisted. He said, I'm pulling into. I'm flying into Newark International Airport at such and such a time. Come get. I went and I got him. And that was the start of the biggest change that we. That we needed to go through. He came to our house, and I said, why are you here? And he said, God sent me here. I said, of all people, you. You're the only person in our lives that didn't champion our marriage. You're the only one that ever told me that maybe he's not the right person for us, for me. Why you? He said, kia, I don't know. I've been praying since I got off the phone with you after that terrible thing happened. And I walked into my boss's office, told him I had to take a leave of absence, went home, packed a bag, and got on a plane and headed here. And it's only through the assignment of God. God spoke to me. I said, so what does that mean? Like, are you hearing voices? Like, what do you mean God spoke to you? And he said to me, when God speaks to you, it's as though he puts an overwhelming feeling on your heart. And when he tells you to do something, you don't ask any questions. You just do it. I said, okay, well, basically, I'm have to wrap my mind around that, because I didn't have the tools to really understand that. And he stayed with us for about maybe 10, 12 days. And he taught us a lot about God and faith and spirituality and what his assignment was. And he brought in his pastor. Her name was Sister Nancy. She had the same feedback from God when she prayed. And this was all new to me. And I was actually very angry because now I have people in my life that I respect and love that are telling me that I have to stay in a relationship that I'm adamant on getting out of. And it was very, very heavy. I can't describe to you how heavy it was and how insistent he was in his assurance of what God communicated to him.

[DJ Envy]

And to fast forward. Tyrese, same thing. I didn't know. You know, we knew Tyrese was coming up here doing interviews, but I didn't know Tyrese. I didn't have his number. You know, he didn't have a new song. But when he heard me on the radio that day, he called and wanted to speak to Ghia. And you can read it in the book. Cause he got us together. But he said the exact same thing. Like, Tyrese and Rasheed was speaking to each other. And it was kind of like those two were the ones to really save my marriage.

[Angela Yee]

And they didn't know each other. And Gia, you had asked for a son.

[Gia Casey]

Well, that was the thing, because I was so angered by what I was hearing. Like, oh, I was a victim being cheated on. Now I'm being victimized again by God telling me that I have to stay in a relationship that I'm adamant about leaving. I don't understand this. And I was. And I'm not a big crier. But one day I was taking a shower, and I began to. And I began to pray in the way that I was learning how to pray. And I asked God for a sign that I can interpret for myself so at least it would feel as though I was making my own decision. And a decision wasn't being made for me. So I damn near begged for a sign. And then shortly after, Tyrese called Rashaun and asked for him to set something up. And we went to Philippe Chao's. He came in with a backup singer and a guitarist. He performed Stay just for Rashawn and I. Then he sat down for about four hours, and we had a conversation. And he tried to explain to me how a man can love you and still cheat at the same time, because I didn't really understand that. But at the end of the conversation, I asked him, I said, you know, why are you here? You didn't you don't even know if I'm a good person. You don't know if this relationship is even worth salvaging. Why would you do that? You didn't know, Rashawn, you have no dog in this fight. You have nothing to gain or lose. You're supposed to be at a wedding somewhere else. You changed your flights to be here. Why? He said, God sent me here to do this. Damn. I said, what do you mean, God sent you here to do this? He said, God sent me. I said, are you hearing voices? He said, no. And then he reiterated verbatim exactly what Rashid said no to me in my kitchen that day. And I had to ask Rashid, Tyrese, I said, is that like in the Bible? Is that what you just said? Is that, like, a thing that people know? And he said, no, I'm just telling you how I feel. Like, what do you mean? At that moment, I just, like, threw my hands up and I said, okay. Like, okay. And I looked at Rashonda and I said, I forgive you. I don't know what that means. I will work on this with you. I don't know how long that will take. I will do what I'm now believing is required of me. But we're gonna be in for a ride, because I'm not really there. But I can commit to you in this moment because there is not that much coincidence in the world for what just happened.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Thank you, God.

[Gia Casey]

Yes.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I'm sorry, Gia. I'm sorry to my wife, too. I just feel like apologizing. This is just a two great conversation. I just feel like apologizing. I'm sorry to all women as well. Cheater.

[Angela Yee]

This is what did your mom.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I don't know why we do it that way.

[Angela Yee]

Your mom was so strong, and you knew, you know, initially what you had to do, and your families were so intertwined. So during this time, was she supportive and wanting y'all to get back together, or was she like, gia, you gotta go.

[Gia Casey]

It's funny. Rashawn and I have a podcast called the Casey Crew, and I did an all girls podcast as a book review last week. And I shared something during that podcast that I don't know if I've even ever told Rashawn. It's a very, very private and personal thought, but I'll share it now, since you're asking. My mother passed away in May, and she suffered from dementia for about maybe 14 years. So when this all happened, she had dementia. If my mother didn't have dementia, Rashawn and I wouldn't be married today.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Wow.

[Gia Casey]

Because there would have been no way, God, no God. That I could have gone to my mother and told her what happened and told her that I was staying. It couldn't have. It could not have happened. It would not have happened. God literally would have had to have appeared in front of me and my mother and convinced both of us, because I wasn't raised that way. So what's personal about this to me is that I believe that whatever Rashawn and I have to accomplish, either through our marriage or through our children, is so great that I think my mother was a casualty of that. I think that God took my mother's sensibilities away from her so that I wouldn't be in a position where I had to make that decision. I just think that what we have to accomplish is so great. And maybe one of those things is this book. Because I think that our book will help a multitude of couples. And I think that there are things in there that can be life changing for people.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah, go get the book. Real life, Real love. But let's. I want to talk about something positive because, you know, you said something women have intuition. You said you had no clue though, right? No, but how do you know when he's right? Because I think that's something we don't talk about enough. I think women know when their man is no longer really out there in the streets, when he's actually changed. How did you know he had actually changed?

[Gia Casey]

That's a good question. I didn't because there was no. Aside from his over commitment to me after the fact, there was no change. He was wonderful then. I had faith in God and a lot of people. I'll phrase the question a little bit differently. The way that people ask me, how do you know that he'll never cheat again? And I tell them, because once Rashid started something, we carried that torch. Now we're very spiritual together. We pray together every morning before he leaves to come here. And we have an individual relationship with God, each of us. So if he cheats, he doesn't have to worry about me. He has to worry about God. He has bigger fish to fry than me. So when people ask me, you know, what's the best relationship advice that you can give me for my marriage? And it honestly is to keep God at the pinnacle of your marriage. Be honor him, keep your faith in him, be a child of him. Because when you do that, that is what's going to guide you to be a good person, to be honest, to be committed and faithful. It's to him. Don't be loyal to another human. Be led by goodness, because in that goodness you will do right by your spouse. And that's how I feel. And that's how I knew. That's how I knew envy.

[Angela Yee]

Let me ask you because you know, for women we always are like and like you said, Tyrese was having a conversation how a man can't cheat on you but still love you. Yeah, but why? Like, you know, that's something that for women, we always want to know. And I'm sure you had so many conversations.

[Gia Casey]

I still don't like his answer.

[DJ Envy]

I don't necessarily agree with what Tyrese said. I really feel that until you know the definition of what love really means, I think a lot of times people just say I love you and oh, it's oh, I love you. But until you the holidays are about.

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[Gia Casey]

Sup, y'all?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

This is Questlove and I'm here to tell you about a new podcast I've been working on with the story pirates.

[DJ Envy]

And John Glickman called Historical Records.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

It's a family friendly podcast. Yeah, you heard that right. A podcast for all ages.

[Gia Casey]

One you can listen to and enjoy with your kids.

[DJ Envy]

Starting on September 27th, I'm going to.

[Gia Casey]

Toss it over to the host of.

[DJ Envy]

Historical Records Nemeny to tell you all about it.

[Gia Casey]

Make sure you check it out.

[Angela Yee]

Hey y'all, Nimini here. I'm the host of a brand new history podcast for kids and families called Historical Records. Historical Records brings history to life through hip hop.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Smash, Slam. Another. Another one gone. Bash, bam. Another one gone. The crack of the bat. And another one gone. The tip of the cap. Cause another one gone.

[Angela Yee]

Each episode is about a different inspiring figure from history. Like this one about Claudette Colvin, a 15 year old girl in Alabama who refused to give up her seat on the city bus nine whole months before Rosa Parks did the same thing. Check it. And it began with me. Did you know? Did you know I wouldn't give up my seat nine months before Rosa?

[DJ Envy]

It was Claudette Goldman.

[Angela Yee]

Get the kids in your life excited about history by tuning in to Historical Records. Because in order to make history, you have to make some noise. Listen to Historical records on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[DJ Envy]

Understand the definition of what love means. Then you realize if I love somebody, like I say, you don't wanna hurt them, you don't wanna cheat on them, you don't wanna disrespect them, you don't wanna have them looking crazy because you love that person. And I don't think I knew the definition of love, but when I figured that definition of what love is and what Ghia meant to me, you know, you realize, I don't want to hurt her. I don't want to see her cry, I don't want to see her feel away. I don't want to disrespect her. I don't want to be controlling. I don't want to be any of those things. And when you realize what that definition is, your outlook of life changes.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I agree with Envy. And I'll add on because I've explored this in therapy. When you say you can cheat and still love a person, you might, but you don't really love yourself. Yeah, I think a lot of times, not a lot of time, all the time. Men cheat for ego. Oh, yeah, like that's it. It's wounded ego. It's something that we're lacking. It has nothing to do with our wives, nothing to do with our girlfriends. It's something that we feel like we're lacking for whatever reason. And that's what we, we go and do. It's literally just to feed our ego. Nothing more, nothing less.

[Angela Yee]

You think women cheat for the same reason as men or you think it's different? Like when women cheat, you think they cheat for different reasons.

[Gia Casey]

I think women also cheat for ego. Who doesn't like to have the attention of the opposite sex? You know, especially when you are at a deficit and you do have holes and you need those holes filled. And most people have slight holes, you know, not that you're out there thirsty for the attention of the opposite sex, but even if it's of the same sex, when someone pays you a compliment, like it's nice to be wanted is essentially what I'm saying. So for women, Yeah, I mean, I think that if you're with someone and you cheat, I think a big part of it is ego. But then, you know, you'll have people that say that they cheat because the person at home isn't doing what they're supposed to do, you know, and we have a son, Logan, he's 18, so he's starting to date seriously and whatnot now. And I had a conversation with him the other day and I said, listen. I said, listen, if you commit to a girl and you make her your girlfriend, one thing I do not want you to do is cheat. Do not come to me and tell me that you guys broke up because you cheated on her. Because I've raised you better than that. If you decide that you want something else or she's not satisfying whatever needs you have, break up with her and move on to the next. And if within a week you feel the same way about that girl, break up with her and move on to the next. Do not cheat because you're sacrificing your own integrity when you do that. And that's pretty much a sign of really not loving yourself. When you love yourself, you want to be self actualized. You want to be your best self. You want to reach your highest potential. You want to be a kind, a good person. And you owe that to yourself. You don't necessarily owe it to the other person. You owe it to yourself to do those things. And that's what I'm trying to instill in him as my oldest male child.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You know, Logan be gonna be breaking up with a lot of girls. Unless he find that one like y'all did early, he gonna be breaking up with a lot of girls.

[Angela Yee]

Now, during this time, did anybody get in your DMs?

[Gia Casey]

I'm just curious, um, when the cheating happened?

[Angela Yee]

Yeah, like, you know, when people were thinking maybe it's, you know, it might be back on the market.

[Gia Casey]

I wasn't on Instagram at the time.

[Angela Yee]

Okay.

[Gia Casey]

I didn't even know how to operate Instagram. I've never been on Facebook. I've never been on Twitter.

[DJ Envy]

So Gia has no social media. She has no Twitter, no Facebook, no black.

[Gia Casey]

Well, now I have Instagram. But at the time, which is probably why he was able to accomplish what he accomplished in all of his deceit. But it's not funny.

[DJ Envy]

The book is more about cheating. Guys, can we get.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I mean, this is a very triggering conversation.

[Gia Casey]

It is very triggering.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

No, it really is. Because I've heard all of this before.

[Gia Casey]

Oh, have you really?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah.

[Gia Casey]

Yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

It's like. It's not. It's not. Nevermind. I don't even wanna talk about it.

[Angela Yee]

But you're right, it is about a lot more than that. And we got to see, like, early on, things that you guys had to work on within yourselves, you know, for you, Embi, when did you get over being so possessive? Cause there's one thing about being protective, but then it crosses the line when it's overly done. And it feels like you were very jealous and possessive and insecure. How did you manage to cope and overcome that?

[DJ Envy]

Well, it happened because, I mean, I was DJ Shrimp at first, right? I was five foot four, had glasses, had braces. I had acne. I wasn't running around. You know, gear hates when I say this, but, like, my mom would say, I wasn't the cat's meow. Like, nobody was. I wasn't hollering at nobody. Nobody was hollering at me.

[Gia Casey]

Cat's meow.

[DJ Envy]

That's what my mom would say.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You was doing charity giz.

[Angela Yee]

Yeah. That's why I'm always like, kudos to Gia.

[Gia Casey]

I thought that he was very cute and like I said earlier, charismatic.

[Angela Yee]

He was like a Fix it rapper.

[DJ Envy]

Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

He was your first renovation.

[Gia Casey]

That's how we got into real estate.

[Angela Yee]

We got to take the ball Down.

[DJ Envy]

So, you know, I wasn't. I was very insecure. So when she would go out, I would always think, damn, she going to find somebody that's smarter, that looks better, that does this, that does that. So I was always insecure. So I never wanted her to go out. If she did go out, I never wanted her to wear anything sexy. I kind of wanted to control it. So I was always fearful that she would find somebody else. And I think what changed me, I think she did, you know, to basically say that, you know, I was worthy, that, you know, she wasn't gonna leave me for somebody else. And it was just conversation. It was my own insecurity that was affecting and hurting our relationship at the time.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

As you got older, you think it was guilty conscience 2. Because you knew what you was doing and you might have been projecting on her, thinking she might have been doing the same thing.

[Gia Casey]

No, he had been like that since the very, very beginning.

[DJ Envy]

It was insecurity. And then you got to think she was beautiful. So she had all these different celebs and all these different people hollering at her. So she would come back and tell me one time, I don't know if we put this in the book, but somebody gave you a watch, right? Like a Movado, A Rolex or something like that?

[Angela Yee]

Yes.

[DJ Envy]

Just gave her a watch. Bought a watch at the mall and gave it to her.

[Gia Casey]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

You know what I mean? I'm like. While I was shopping, he liked me. I did what any odd guy would do. I put it under the truck and ran it over seven times.

[Angela Yee]

Damn envy.

[Gia Casey]

He sure did. I couldn't even give it to his mother or my mother. Like, I understood that he didn't want me to wear it, and the person didn't give it to me directly. I was shopping, and I was looking at Movado watches at the time, and he hollered, and I turned him down. Then when I left, he went and asked the salesperson, what was she looking at? What was she interested in?

[Angela Yee]

Wow.

[Gia Casey]

And he bought me an Esperanza. A Movado Esperanza. Yeah. He was a little bit older, though. He was clear, like in his 20s or something. Yeah. And he took the box and the bag and wrote a note and put it on my car. So he had seen. Obviously he had seen me, you know, come from the parking lot, and then it was a faucet.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Drug dealer.

[Gia Casey]

He was. Yeah. So. So I didn't. I wouldn't have accepted it from him if he tried to give it to me. It Was on my car, so I brought it home. I was like, oh, my God, guess what happened? Like, I told him the story. Rashawn was irate and literally put it behind his back wheel and ran it over and then put the car in drive, ran it over again, put the car back in reverse.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I'm talking about King.

[Angela Yee]

You could have donated that watch.

[Gia Casey]

I was like, we could have given it to somebody.

[Angela Yee]

Could have re gifted, like, goodness, or.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

The Envy now would have sold it.

[Gia Casey]

Envy 9 would have sold it.

[Angela Yee]

He would have flipped that watch.

[Gia Casey]

Yes.

[Angela Yee]

Look, there was also an instance where he caught you in the club grinding on somebody. Can we talk about the grinding on the nice. Oh, my gosh.

[Gia Casey]

Why?

[Angela Yee]

But this is funny to me. Cause Envy is like, you know, he acts really different here than, like, does he?

[Gia Casey]

I'm changed.

[DJ Envy]

I'm evolved.

[Angela Yee]

I would not.

[Gia Casey]

You don't get any doses of his crazy, though.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What?

[Angela Yee]

Well, he.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Who have you been working with the past 12 years?

[Angela Yee]

But you know what it is?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What is she talking about?

[Angela Yee]

Envy is petty. Envy is petty.

[Gia Casey]

He's petty.

[Angela Yee]

But I don't.

[Gia Casey]

Don't cross him.

[Angela Yee]

Like, certain things that he does. I'm like, envy was out of his mind.

[Gia Casey]

Well, that night we were in college, and. And he had a party at Virginia State. Now, Rashawn saw to it that every single. And I mean every 100% of the parties that he did while we were in college, he made sure that I was at every single party with him. I was in the DJ booth. I was not allowed to leave the DJ booth. If I wanted an Amaretto sour from the bar, he would send little Sean, who is our friend, to the bar to get it for me.

[DJ Envy]

Telling you a little Shaw story that.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Has nothing to do with this. We're talking about your book, okay? Real life. Real.

[Gia Casey]

If I tried to break out of the DJ booth when he wasn't looking, then I would always have two of his friends escorting me to make sure that no one kicked it to me.

[Angela Yee]

Like, let me out of this cage.

[Gia Casey]

Yes. So it would be me. Every time we hung out, it would be me and, like, seven or eight dudes. I was always just like, the homie. I was always there. And this one night, he had a party at Virginia State, and I couldn't fit in the car because he was bringing, you know, his friends for security and whatnot. And that night, there was a party at the Army. I was like, okay, I'm going to the party at the Armory. He was like, no, you're not. I was like, oh, Yes, I am. Turned into a big argument. I was like, all right, well, I'll just tell you that I'm not and go anyway. So that's what I did. He's on his way. I'm at the party, I'm dancing with a dude. Little Sean is at the Armory too. He sees him, he calls Rashaun. Rashawn buses a uey. Now you know how important this is to him. Cause there's nothing that he loves more besides me than making some money. We know that he forfeited that money, made a U turn, came back. I'm dancing with the kid. I look up, I see Rashaun charging towards me. The fear of God came over me and it was as though I felt like my life flash before me. Like I felt whatever that hormone is, I felt it rush through my body. And he came, he grabbed me, he threw me over his shoulder, caveman style, and then rushed me to like the other side of the, of the dance hall.

[Angela Yee]

See, this is next level.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Like, this is just stereotypical light skinned nigga shit to me. I don't know what you're talking about. Sounds known to me.

[Angela Yee]

Next level.

[Gia Casey]

Yeah, I mean, and then we had a conversation where, you know, he made me very well aware how disappointed he was, how hurt he was to see me. I guess just with some of the other things. You didn't realize that while you was.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Over his shoulder, he didn't realize I hurt you.

[DJ Envy]

Austin, I'm glad we can laugh about this, man.

[Gia Casey]

Thank God, right?

[DJ Envy]

You know how you met me with shoulder?

[Gia Casey]

No.

[DJ Envy]

How when he first moved to Jersey, he moved in.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I don't think we should tell this story because this makes you sound even more horrible. Okay, I don't think you should tell this story. All right?

[Gia Casey]

That's going to be on the chopping block.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I mean, we could if you want.

[Gia Casey]

To get it now, now I want to know.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Well, I moved into an apartment complex and the woman at the apartment complex said, I think I think you should, you know, watch envy. And I said, what do you mean, watch envy? Like, I think you should, you know, just be. Be careful around Envy. And I'm like, all right. I'm thinking she about to tell me like, oh, he's a grimy dude. He's a snake, whatever. She was like, cause you know, he's got a boyfriend in this building.

[Gia Casey]

And I'm like, I know what building you moved into. Okay, go ahead. Yes, yes.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

He's like, you got a boyfriend in this building? He looks like you. You're like, the same height.

[Gia Casey]

Wow.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

And he's sitting. You both got bald heads. Y'all got the same complexion. And I'm like, what? And she was like, I mean, I just see him come over here, and then you just hear moaning, moaning. Moaning?

[DJ Envy]

Oh, there was no moaning. But I went to Sean's house. I would visit Sean, and. And for a long time, they thought that me and Sean, I guess, were gay lovers.

[Angela Yee]

Oh, because we're moaning? Probably.

[Gia Casey]

Look at how rumors get started. Boy, I don't know.

[Angela Yee]

But why were you guys moaning, you and Sean?

[Gia Casey]

We weren't moaning.

[DJ Envy]

What's wrong with you? Sean was there with a girl. I wasn't moaning.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Oh, my God, man.

[Angela Yee]

Okay, whatever.

[Gia Casey]

There's nothing positive in the book that you read.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

There's a lot in there that's positive, man.

[Angela Yee]

Listen, the positive thing is you're both together, and that's. Sometimes, you know, to get to the positivity, you gotta go through a lot of ugliness.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

But that's the thing, right? I already know that it's gonna be a lot of judgment. You know what I'm saying? People are like, oh, how could you stay through that? And then they gonna try to paint in for you to be some controlling, abusive person. But y'all were young. Like, people don't factor that in.

[Gia Casey]

Well, let's just clarify. You know, when we use the word abusive, that's a heavy word. Right? And abuse comes in all different forms. So I understand what you're saying, but he was never physically abusive, and I've never been scared of him. I just knew that his controlling nature was rooted in his insecurity. And I felt as though I could show him enough love that he would eventually get to a point where he would feel secure and understand that he's worthy of all of the love that I give him.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That's right.

[Gia Casey]

You know what I mean? Because it. It took convincing, and I literally had to commit. Like, I am. I'm not leaving. Like, I'm not going anywhere. I am thrilled to be with you. I am happy that we're in college. I'm like, we plan on getting married, starting a family, like. But he. He wouldn't let go of it.

[Angela Yee]

Right.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

One of the biggest things I think, that came out of this was all the work that he did do on himself. And he. He was suicidal at a point. That's. That's. That's. We know that, right?

[Gia Casey]

Yes.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I don't think that was all because of what was going on with you. I think it was, like I said, it was other things that he was dealing with inside of him that probably got him to that point.

[Gia Casey]

Yes, we would have to ask him because we've never had a conversation of it being about anything besides the threat of losing our relationship.

[DJ Envy]

I would say this, I would say, you know, I used to look at people who committed suicide as soft and soft, like that's because that's what society made you think. Until I got into that predicament where I felt like my life, well, everybody's life around me would be better if I wasn't here. And I couldn't shake it. And majority of it was losing my wife, losing my family, losing the thing that I knew and that I loved. And I really feel like I didn't want to be there. And I guess it was everything else that we said, like the insecurities that made me do it, the insecurities around me, and I just didn't know who I was as a person.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Ooh, that's powerful. That's the biggest part.

[DJ Envy]

But I will say during all of that, in all those conversations and all those late night talks and with praying, you feel like you realize who you are as a person. And once you figure that out, you figure out who you want to be, who you want to live like, and you don't care about anything else. You know, at one time, I used to care what people thought. Now I don't care. As long as my wife and my family's happy. Everything else is just white noise behind it.

[Angela Yee]

Just think about how much stronger you guys are as individuals. And your marriage is so much stronger after everything you've been through.

[Gia Casey]

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Embi said something powerful too. Because this business. This business will have you living a lie. Because we're characters, right? So we create these characters that kind of protect the Rashawn and protect the Lenard, and we go home and we one way, but then we out in the street being another way. But you can't do both. Eventually that negative is gone. Catch up.

[Gia Casey]

Yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

So that's. That's why I think he was going through, like, not only just the threat of losing you, but just like, who am I?

[Gia Casey]

Was that hard for you, having this dual personality? Almost.

[DJ Envy]

Absolutely. Because, I mean, like, nothing's better now than to not care what people think. You know, I would have to think freedom. Yeah, freedom. I would have to think about what I was saying on the radio and how it would affect me, how people would look at me. I would have to think about this or think about that instead of just being Free and say, hey, it is what it is. Take it how you like it. If you like me, you like me. If you love me, you love me. If you hate me, you hate me. And once I got to that place, life became a whole lot better.

[Gia Casey]

So to his question, was there anything aside the threat of the loss of the relationship that made you feel as though that was why you were occupying that mental space?

[DJ Envy]

Um, I think it was a little bit of everything. I think it was the insecurities of not being free. I think it was the fact that I was losing my best friend. I think it was the fact that I feel like I disappointed my best friend, disappointed my family, disappointed my kids. So I think it had a lot to do with all of that.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

And I think wearing that mask, too. I think a lot of times what we really want to kill is our ego, but we don't necessarily know how to do that if we weren't doing the work. I wasn't doing the work then. It was when I started going to therapy and everything else that I learned how to kill the ego. Before you learn how to kill the ego, only thing you think is, like, he said, I don't need to be here.

[Gia Casey]

But you said that you wanted to kill the ego. Did you actually want to before you went to therapy and realized that you should. Should kill the ego? You enjoyed the ego?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah. I didn't even know what it was.

[Gia Casey]

Yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah. I didn't even know that's what I was projecting. I didn't even know that's what I was leading with was ego. I didn't even know that till I sat down and like, oh, okay, I get it now.

[Gia Casey]

Yeah. When everything happened and came to the surface, it was like a ton of bricks fell out of the sky and hit me on the head. It was like, wow, he really is damn near two people. Like, he's Rashawn husband and father in this house, and he gets tens across the board for that. But when he leaves, there's an ego, there's a bravado, there's a whole Persona separate and apart from what I experience in this house. And I've been out with him and whatnot. But this was at a time when things were starting to shift. This was. You know, we just got married, and we have two beautiful children, and now I'm not going to the clubs with him because even though he would want me to and he would want me to travel, I have two kids at home to raise, and I wanted to give them all of my free time attention and then his celebrity started to grow. You know, he became more successful and his dreams became realized. And he went off, I realized later, in that direction, enjoying that and then also enjoying have the faithful, loving wife and children at home. So it was pretty much the definition of having your cake and eating it, too.

[Angela Yee]

And it's probably also difficult. You guys got together so young, you know, and didn't experience other relationships, really.

[Gia Casey]

So let me tell you, when I found out, Angela, I knew that I didn't want him to be my husband anymore, but I understood. Understood how it happened, because we were together, like he said, since we were 15 and 16. He was my first and only everything. The furthest I've ever gotten before him was second base, you know, which is letting a boy go up your shirt, right?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah, we've been to second base, King.

[Gia Casey]

That's what they call it.

[DJ Envy]

Let me just tell you something right now.

[Gia Casey]

You let him feel on your nips.

[DJ Envy]

No, he has not been.

[Gia Casey]

You haven't exposed him to your nips. The camera's in here.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Hey, I'm Jones. Side note, we've definitely gone to second day for them. Easy, though.

[Gia Casey]

Yeah, yeah, we did that. We did that with mz, though.

[DJ Envy]

Second base.

[Gia Casey]

Goodness, Grace.

[Angela Yee]

I feel like y'all went to third, but go ahead.

[Gia Casey]

But that was the farthest that I had ever been, so. And he was, like, virgin ish.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What does that mean?

[Gia Casey]

He was in a relationship with his first, like, girlfriend. I think they were together for maybe three months. And if. If I'm telling it right, they started but never finished. So he was like, virgin ish. Right.

[Angela Yee]

He just died and he couldn't handle it.

[Gia Casey]

No, that's not what I said.

[DJ Envy]

I was a turtle. I was slow. I was scared.

[Angela Yee]

Okay.

[Gia Casey]

Yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Explain that to me, King. I'm just over here. You know, I was a turtle because.

[DJ Envy]

I was so slow. I wasn't.

[Gia Casey]

And it was nice because when people called you Turtle.

[DJ Envy]

Yeah, I mean, that was my nickname.

[Angela Yee]

Let me write this down.

[DJ Envy]

I don't want to forget that shrimp Turtle. Go ahead.

[Gia Casey]

And it was good. I was a turtle, too, you know, I lost my virginity to him on our one year anniversary, and he made it very sweet and special, and it was. It was really nice. But what were we saying? What did you.

[Angela Yee]

I was talking about. You guys were so young, so you had never seen.

[Gia Casey]

Oh, yeah. So, yeah. So I understood because it was like, he was so inexperienced. We were in high school together every day. We were in college together every day. Then as soon as we graduate, we get married. We have children, and then he's on a path towards his career and he's out of the house and he's traveling. And now he's around celebrities and being influenced by our hip hop culture, which glorifies having groupies and cheating and always having women around you and being in the club. At that time, you didn't see your favorite celebrity showcasing their wife or their family or speaking on the importance of family. The way that you guys do on this platform and doing that changes lives. I'm sure. I know that we were taught to hide them, and you were taught to hide them.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Don't tell people you got a girlfriend. Don't tell people you've been in a long term relationship. Like, they would say that.

[Gia Casey]

Absolutely. Even, you know, young people now on Instagram, they have the same thing. It's like, oh, I'm gonna pretend or I'm gonna. I'm not gonna post I love you to death, but I'm not gonna post you because, you know, I'm trying to do this business and it seems like I have a girlfriend, then it's not gonna be successful. It's that mentality. So all of these things contributed to him being put in a position where cheating might have seemed like the route that he wanted to go. And when we talked about it, I understood because we've been together so long and I know him so well. I love him. Not necessarily just as like my husband. I love him like he's my brother too. Do you know what I mean? And if it were your brother that got cheating, got caught cheating, and he came home and told you, like Angela, you know, I just got caught. She found out. What would be your knee jerk intuition to do?

[Angela Yee]

I'll cover for him.

[Gia Casey]

Exactly. That's the point. Like, you want to help. You want to be like, well, now this is what you need to do. You need to go apologize. You need to do this. Start helping him pull those tricks out of the hat. You know, you get protective. So even when he told me, I got protective in a sense, and I wanted to understand why he did now, while at the same time not wanting to be with him, as his wife, I was devastated. But as his friend, I understood how he was in a place where that happened.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Mm.

[Angela Yee]

See a lot of gems in this book, you guys. I was thoroughly entertained. And like I said, you look stressed. He does. I thought he'd been nervous all morning before you got here.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I was not nervous. It's a triggering conversation.

[DJ Envy]

Yes, it is.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

If you've ever been a man in that situation, and you've caused that kind of harm to your wife and your family. It's.

[Gia Casey]

But I feel like for him, it shouldn't be anymore because I'm not affected by it.

[DJ Envy]

But every time it comes up, you realize how much of a. How much I hurt you and how much I hurt our family. Like, writing that book was real difficult because we had to go through early stages of insecurities and things that we laugh at now. But back then, you'd be like, gosh, what was wrong with me?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

And do you also. Exactly. And do you realize how disappointed you are in yourself? That question he asked is the question, what the fuck was wrong?

[DJ Envy]

What was I thinking? But then I also think, you know, we got daughters, but, like, if my daughter brought a guy home like me, what, Like, I wouldn't want my daughter to date a guy like me back then?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Hell no.

[DJ Envy]

Now I'm a totally changed person. Different person. Mind frame's on a whole different thing. But back then, I wouldn't want that stress for my daughter.

[Gia Casey]

And you know what's nice for our older two children. They were maybe 8 and 10 when this happened. So they're well aware of what happened. So it's nice for them to be able to see that something completely devastating can happen and you can survive it if you go about it the right way. If you understand the definition of love, you understand the definition of forgiveness. You work at it. You have that until. Mind frame. You know, you don't act like you're too good to do those things until. And now they get to enjoy the beauty and the magic of our family. And our house is really magical. And that's why, you know, when we were coming up with the title of the book, I told our. I told Abrams. Like, that has to be in the title. Because I honestly feel like our house is magical. Like, you come into our house, and it's just filled with so much love, fun, and happiness all the time. We're. It's always jokes. It's always roasting. Rashawn and I play fight a lot. You know, we joke with our kids. Like, our kids come in and they talk to us for hours. They tell us everything. Madison, who's now out of the house, and she goes to NYU, she's a sophomore. She calls and FaceTimes me seven, eight times a day. You know, like, it's just this tight unit of a family. And they get to see that. But for forgiveness, but for perseverance, but most importantly, stop saying but.

[DJ Envy]

You turn it em on.

[Gia Casey]

But for Go. But for God, none of this would have been possible. So there's lessons in it for our children, specifically to live out what you preach.

[Angela Yee]

Well, I'm glad you're in this space, Mr. Logan.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Like, shit.

[Angela Yee]

Because it probably would have been weird. You know, he came home without underwear one day, right?

[Gia Casey]

Did you pee yourself out in public or.

[Angela Yee]

It's worse than that.

[DJ Envy]

I showed myself a pee one day.

[Angela Yee]

Yeah. Oh, did you notice that?

[Gia Casey]

I remember when that happened. Oh, wait, wait.

[Angela Yee]

So wait, Tyler, he had to throw his underwear away. And I'm like, any other time you might have been like, why doesn't my husband have on underwear when he comes home?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

The janitor found that. Janitor. Janitor said, I don't know what's going on in that studio, but there's some strange stuff going on in that studio.

[DJ Envy]

My goodness. The book is out today.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Go get it, man.

[DJ Envy]

Make sure you pick it up. Real life, real love. Get it today.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Life lessons on joy, pain, and the magic that holds us together.

[DJ Envy]

That's right, Amazon, Barnes and Nobles, wherever you buy books, your local bookstores, please.

[Gia Casey]

Please pick it up today, April 19th.

[DJ Envy]

Yes. And when you do, read it or you read it, please. What we want you to do is we want you to tell us what you think about the book. Whether it's a 30 second video tag here, and I. We want to repost it. Whether you love it, whether you hate it. We're going to repost all of them because we'd love to get you guys feedback.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah. And I think that y'all gonna help a lot of couples. And it's clear that y'all too are meant to be with each other. You know what I'm saying? But not all of y'all out there. Some of y'all gonna have to leave the person that you're with when they get caught up in these situations. But y'all are different.

[Gia Casey]

We did the work because a lot of people aren't willing to do the work. A lot of people don't have that until in mind. And until.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That's very important.

[Gia Casey]

Until it's just until, you know. And there's also a list in the book. One of my favorite chapters is called the New Deal. And it's pretty much about reparations that the offender has to make after offending their partner. And it's those things that will help to let. To signal to your partner that you just may be worthy of forgiveness and being extended grace.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

So what are those reparations? The first thing people gonna say is, oh, that's why he does the twelve Days of Christmas.

[Gia Casey]

You know, that's right. A lot of people do say that before. But you know what's funny? And that's the funny thing. We've always done 12 Days of Christmas. We just never made it public. And it's not the type of thing that at first I ever wanted to make public because it is grand. But I decided to start posting it because it's not about the material items that he gives me for Christmas. It's about the intention behind it. It's about the thought. You know, he starts shopping almost a year in advance for that. And every gift comes with something special. A little note, a little treasure hunt to find the gift. A prayer, a poem, something that is giving of his heart, not giving of his pocket.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

And that's why when you, you know, you read the book and you hear y'all talk, that's why you understand why he got so upset at Dedus and Mero that time. Correct. You know what I'm saying? Cause y'all relationship is so much deeper than that.

[Gia Casey]

Of course, you know, because with their comment, it almost to me suggests as though there's nothing else worthy about him that would signal me to stay aside from what he has to offer financially. And it's a joke, right? But we all know that all jokes are rooted in some truth. And that's what I think their truth was. Looking at it from an outsider, I wasn't some Jackie come lately and met somebody with money and was like, oh, come up. We ground it out from day one. You know, I was always there and supporting him and loving him. And if he failed and wound up being a secretary or anything followed another path, I would still be there.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah. I think he'd been a proctologist.

[Angela Yee]

He does it on the side.

[Gia Casey]

Did that take? It took a beat to get that.

[DJ Envy]

I can't believe he's with me with my wife. What are you talking.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I'm just suggesting other career options that you could have taken.

[DJ Envy]

I can't believe he's flirting with me with my wife here. Like you're disrespectful.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Real life, real love.

[DJ Envy]

Go get it right. And I just also want to say Charlemagne is not in chapter 69. He.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I'm on page 69.

[DJ Envy]

He's not on page 69 either. All right. Charlemagne is not in it. There's no love situation with me and charlamagne in the book. All right? It doesn't exist. But we appreciate you for.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I think you got to say that that lets everybody know that it's in there.

[DJ Envy]

Oh, my goodness. We appreciate you for joining us this morning.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Real life. Real life.

[Gia Casey]

Thank you for having me, guys.

[DJ Envy]

That's right. Pick it up today. And it's the Breakfast Club. Good morning.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

No, you got to tell this guest I love you before you sign off.

[DJ Envy]

Yes, Casey, thank you for joining us. I love you.

[Gia Casey]

I love you, too.

[DJ Envy]

I love you way more than charlamagne. It's the Breakfast Club. Good morning.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You wake up, put on your Ray Ban Meta glasses. You're living all in. You realize you need coffee?

[Gia Casey]

So you say, hey Meta, how do.

[Coca Cola Voiceover]

I make a latte brew two shots of espresso?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

After Meta AI gets you caffeinated, you're ready for some beats.

[Gia Casey]

Hey Meta.

[Angela Yee]

Play hip hop music?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You head to meet some friends but can't remember the place.

[Gia Casey]

Hey meta.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Call Eva Ray Ban Meta glasses. The next generation of AI glasses. Just say hey meta.

[Gia Casey]

To harness the power of Meta AI.

[Coca Cola Voiceover]

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[Gia Casey]

8.