Everybody Gettin Veleers

Summary

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The Friend Zone – Episode Summary

Podcast: The Friend Zone
Episode: "Everybody Gettin Veleers"
Air Date: April 1, 2026
Hosts: Dustin Ross, Hey Fran Hey (Francesca), Asante
Network: Loud Speakers Network

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Episode Overview

This week's episode is a classic Hot Topics catch-up, blending the show's signature blend of pop culture commentary, black community highlights, personal anecdotes, and plenty of hilarious, unfiltered opinions. With Dustin steering the production, the crew doles out sharp insights on viral scandals, political hypocrisy, black business promotion, and landmark legal cases — all while keeping things light with plenty of music, reality TV talk, and some wild listener stories.

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Key Topics & Discussion Points

1. Breaking News: Kristi Noem's Husband Scandal

• Timestamps: [01:22]–[13:11]
• Summary: Dustin brings major, breaking tea: South Dakota’s former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s husband, Byron Noem, is allegedly exposed for bimbofication kinks in online chat rooms. The details involve photos in breastplates, booty shorts, and hundreds of messages sent to various women.
• Insight: The crew connects Noem’s public anti-LGBTQ rhetoric to classic conservative hypocrisy.
  • Dustin: "These fake ass conservative people who are behind closed doors are living their... He's living his chest life, not his best life. Living his chest life, living his breast life." ([07:38])
  • Francesca: "Do y'all wonder if our own government put this out because she embarrassed Trump during those depositions?" ([07:52])
• Memorable Moment: Introduction and education on the term "bimbofication," plus a running joke about “living your breast life.”

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2. Community Health & Allergies Segment

• Timestamps: [13:11]–[18:50]
• Summary: The crew vents about allergy struggles (especially Dustin in Atlanta’s heavy pollen) and shares joy about the onset of spring, blooming cherry blossoms, and run-ins with listeners out in public.
• Notable Quote:
  • Francesca: "This is my favorite time of the year, so I'm excited. How are y'all feeling?" ([16:16])

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3. Listener Connections & Announcements

• Timestamps: [18:50]–[22:29]
• Summary: Shout-outs to listeners, run-ins at stores and Sephora, and enthusiastic thanks to everyone supporting their Patreon and live shows. Dustin promotes his other shows with Carlos King and Funky Dineva.
• Resource Highlight:
  • Dustin’s projects: Monday Night Live and Reality After Dark
  • Patreon for bonus episodes and live wind-downs
• Black Business of the Week: Yummy Tummies Kitchen, Brooklyn – shoutout to owner Melissa Johnson. “Put something yummy in your tummy for us!” ([22:40])

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4. Listener Recap: Last Week's Financial Wellness Episode

• Timestamps: [23:30]–[31:27]
• Summary: Recap of last episode with “The Budgetnista” — budgeting, financial anxiety, home-buying, and new resources like FindHelp.org.
• Notable Listener Quote:
  • “Don’t be afraid of buying a home. Location matters. My mortgage only increased $100 over five years… but I also don’t have street lights or sidewalks.” —Kiki ([25:24])

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5. Nostalgia: Music Store Memories & Cultural Shifts

• Timestamps: [31:27]–[34:27]
• Summary: Reminiscing about music’s golden era: trips to The Wiz, Tower Records, Sam Goody. Discussing how music and video culture has changed.
• Key Quote:
  • Francesca: "I don't want to be that old person — but damn, they don't make music like that." ([32:12])

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6. Hot Topics: Pop Culture & Viral News

a. Brandy's Hollywood Star

• Timestamps: [38:04]–[43:33]
• **Brandy Norwood receives her star; who else deserves one? They discuss the (literal) price of fame and why podcasting needs its own Walk of Fame.

b. Tyler Perry's Gift Cards Controversy

• Timestamps: [44:07]–[49:32]
• Summary: Tyler Perry tries to give $1,000 gift cards to struggling Atlanta TSA workers, but the agency tries to demand they be returned for “security reasons.”
  • Dustin: "Why would I give you some money somebody else gave me? You didn't even give it to me. Kiss my entire ass." ([45:15])

c. Viral "VeNeers" Disaster

• Timestamps: [49:57]–[57:57]
• Summary: Wild story of a Memphis woman who spent $1,200 on unlicensed “valeres” (veneers) from a Facebook “dentist” in a salon suite, only to be left in pain and embarrassment.
• Iconic Title Drop:
  • Francesca: "Now we have to name this episode. ‘Everybody Getting Valeres’." ([55:14])
• Lessons: Don't cut corners with your health; social media isn’t Yelp.

d. Fantasia Announces Final Album

• Timestamps: [58:24]–[67:36]
• Summary: Fantasia says her next album will be the last. The team laments industry economics, lack of R&B visibility, and missed acting opportunities — and call for more established artists to get support and mentorship.
  • Francesca: "There's no return on investment. With streaming, you're really getting ripped off." ([59:36])

e. Conservative/Religious Controversies & "Idiot Circuit"

• Timestamps: [67:57]–[109:48]
• Summary:
  • NBA player Jaden Ivey released from Bulls over anti-LGBTQ Pride comments ("proclaiming unrighteousness" rant, [68:04]–[72:30])
  • Swae Lee’s confused political statements, Nick Cannon & Amber Rose’s “conservative” posturing despite their lifestyles; all callouts of black MAGA supporters, including Chilli (TLC), Big Boi, DaBaby, etc.
  • Florida judge makes racist cotton-picking remarks—discussion of racist nostalgia and institutional bias.
• Key Quote:
  • Dustin: "You motherfuckers do whatever you want to do, and you just have conservative views about what others do." ([108:11])
  • Francesca: "You hate gay people that much? That's deep." ([101:32])

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7. Wellness Segment: Landmark Lawsuit Against Social Media Giants

• Timestamps: [119:51]–[135:27]
• Summary: Fran discusses the landmark $6 million verdict won by a young woman (Kaylee GM) against Meta and Google for negligent platform design/addiction. The case opens the door for more lawsuits regarding tech, mental health, and youth addiction.
  • Quote: "Thousands of individuals and families continue to litigate..." – Discussing bellwether, precedent-setting cases ([125:12])
  • The hosts debate: Is this the end of social media as we know it? Or will companies just update their terms and keep going?

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8. Music & TV Segments

a. Music Man Segment

• Timestamps: [137:06]–[169:25]
• Rolling Loud festival update (including Natalie Nunn), festival season, praise for Lotto, Megan Thee Stallion's branding victories, and Drake breaking Billboard 200 records.
  • Playlist highlights include Tank, Aaron Ray, Alex Isley x Sid, Ghostface Killah, and viral “Juice Week, Pt. 2.”
  • Quote:
    • "Their voices sound like literal instruments." – Dustin on Alex Isley & Sid ([153:46])

b. TV Segment

• Timestamps: [170:56]–[180:53]
• Reunion recap: Married to Medicine Atlanta, Married to Medicine LA nostalgia, Bell Collective’s new Birmingham spin-off, and a breakdown of "Paradise," featuring a hilarious connection to the Denver Airport conspiracy theory (longtime Friend Zone easter egg!).
  • Francesca: "We were screaming at the same time…" ([179:38])

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• "He’s living his chest life, not his best life." – Dustin ([07:38])
• "You chewed so you don't have to." – Dustin on the ‘valeres’ fiasco ([57:57])
• "That's why Chili always dressed like she finna break dance." – Dustin ([111:01])
• "You can't sit here and act like you're unaware." – Francesca ([111:44])

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Important Timestamps & Segments

• 00:47: Real show starts
• 01:22: Breaking news – Kristi Noem’s husband
• 13:11: Transition into allergy season/personal updates
• 18:50: Listener run-ins & Patreon announcements
• 22:29: Black Business of the Week
• 38:04: Hot Topics begin (Brandy’s star, Tyler Perry, VeNeers story, Fantasia)
• 67:57: “Idiot Circuit”: Religious and conservative scandal commentary
• 119:51: Wellness segment – social media addiction lawsuit
• 137:06: Music segment
• 170:56: TV segment

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Tone and Vibe

• Authentic, unfiltered, and hilarious. The trio’s banter is highly relational, blending sharp socio-political critique with Black pop culture inside jokes, internet memes, nostalgia, and sincere mental health advocacy.
• The episode is rich with call-outs of hypocrisy, especially around politics, religion, and race, while always circling back to themes of community care, accountability, and cultural pride.

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Summary for the Non-Listener

If you missed "Everybody Gettin Veleers," you missed a jam-packed ride: from the jaw-dropping Kristi Noem scandal, to a viral dental disaster, to the musical and TV hotness in Black pop culture. The crew calls out hypocrisy wherever it pops up, drops lessons about watch-your-money in both politics and wellness, and keeps listeners laughing (and thinking) all along. The running theme? Know who you’re supporting — and who’s really living their “chest life” versus best life.

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# Stay Black & Protect Your Magic! #TheFriendZone

Transcript

[Francesca]

If you thought HBO's euphoria was intense in high school, saddle up. Starring Zendaya Sydney Sweeney and Jacob Elordi. Season three of Euphoria picks up five years later, and life looks very different. Now these characters are on their own with the freedom to make choices that can build them or break them. No matter what they're chasing. Money, fame, power, love, or redemption, no one can escape their fate. Don't miss the third season of euphoria, premiering April 12 on HBO and HBO Max.

[Asante]

When I damaged my car, I was

[Dustin Ross]

worried it could be a long process to take care of it. Like a landscaper's first day trimming a hedge maze. I've definitely already been here, but the Geico app let me file a claim

[Asante]

in under two minutes.

[Dustin Ross]

It feels good to get help quick.

[Asante]

It feels good to Geico.

[Dustin Ross]

Welcome to the friend Zone.

[Francesca]

Every time I'm in the zone, My name is Dustin. I'm Francesca, also known as. Hey, friend.

[Dustin Ross]

Hey.

[Asante]

My name is Assante.

[Dustin Ross]

This is the friend zone. Let's start the show

[Asante]

live.

[Dustin Ross]

Clip of the week. This week, consider this like the friend zone. Tiny desk performance, Baking noose. Thank you. Thank you.

[Asante]

Thank you very much.

[Dustin Ross]

What's a live vocal? You know, I see it straight.

[Francesca]

Sounds just like the album.

[Dustin Ross]

Thank you. Yeah, I'm saying it just like the record, but that's right, because God damn it. I had had something else planned, but we literally had breaking news, and this news got to be broke on today, okay? For several reasons. Number one, happy Transgender Day of Visibility International. Transgender Day of visibility is today. Open the floor with that. And then let's move on to today's breaking news. Now this literally was posted an hour ago from my friend Kevin. You guys should follow him. Here's why Kevin is his Instagram account. It's one of the best ways to stay informed about news in the political space. One of the best. So follow his account. Kevin posted a story via the Daily Mail. You all know the good people over at the Daily Mail, right? Shout out to the Daily Mail. This is breaking news. Former Department of Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem. You know her. The ugly woman who was

[Francesca]

newspaper and

[Dustin Ross]

had $260 million spent on that commercial. The one that's always having hateful rhetoric towards gay trans. Anything other. You know her, right? Christy Noem. So her husband, okay, his name is Byron Gnome. Okay? And they live in South Dakota. Byron Gnome has been exposed by the Daily Mail. They have unearthed photos that show Noam's husband, Byron Gnome, wearing breastplates, skin tight Pink booty shorts. This is what Kevin wrote. Padded leggings and engaging in so called bimbofication kinks day in online chat rooms. This is a real headline. Now, I had never heard of bimbofication.

[Francesca]

Claremont Twins. Oh, oh, bimbofication.

[Dustin Ross]

Oh, wait, it's happening all over again. Jade, if you listening to this, you know what conversation I'm talking about. And you do too, because I had never heard of bimbofication. So what? Okay, well, look, I didn't know. Oh, wow. So that's like. I thought they just.

[Francesca]

You know, he's like that meme with all the dots connected.

[Asante]

Yeah.

[Dustin Ross]

I mean, it's just all the more. You know, because I thought that that was just an aesthetic. I didn't know it was a kink. I thought they just wanted to look like. Like dolls like that, you know, like blow up, do. What's her name?

[Francesca]

Oh, yeah. Amanda.

[Dustin Ross]

Who else? Look, Tamar, you know, all of them.

[Francesca]

You know what?

[Dustin Ross]

I thought it was a. You know what I'm saying? But it makes sense. Bimbofication makes perfect sense. Now we got a name for it, y'. All. And you know I love shout out to my girl Crystal. Words mean things. Okay, so bimbofi. Wow. You know, I've always loved and favored a classic insult any damn way. So I'm the person who will call you a bimbo in 2026. That's my style. Anyway, so I'm. I love this bimbofication. Back to this bimbo. So he's been online doing bimbofication. According to the Daily Mail, he would chat with women and tell them that he coveted their, quote, huge, ridiculous boobs, end quote, and then send them photos of himself. Hundreds of messages from at least three women were shared. That's at least. You know, that's a hundred messages each. That's a lot of back and forth, huh? Hundreds of messages from at least three women were shared with the Daily Mail.

[Asante]

What if they were being nice and there were like a bunch of messages from a bunch of other women? They were like, let's see how low we can get that hit this part.

[Dustin Ross]

A representative for Kristi Noem's ugly ass told the Post that she is, quote, devastated and the family was blindsided by this revelation. Now, I'm calling bullshit. We all know that Kristi Noem. I have to look up his name. But you all know she had a open public side nigga that she was taking into her congressional meetings with her. Remember all of that? They were having sex all on the jet. Allegedly. And all that shit. Making the staffers uncomfortable. You've heard all these stories. And so this, the timing of this, along with those stories about her, her exit from Department of Homeland Security, this all is connected. All of this is connected. And this also will explain a lot of her vitriol and hatred towards marginalized communities, quite specifically gays and trans communities.

[Francesca]

Right?

[Dustin Ross]

This would explain all of that. And it's so funny because a lot of times people think, and some gay people do be gassing, they trying to call every homophobic person secretly gay or what. Always the case. It's just not. But a lot of times it is. And you see in this situation that even that he's gay, he's just engaging in a kink that crosses lines of gender expression, okay? And people associate that with. They. They confuse gender identity and sexuality all the time. And so this is going to land him and her right, in that same hot water that they boiled the fucking pot of. Okay? And so I am so happy that this happened. I hope they are embarrassed. I hope that this is ringing through the state of South Carolina right now and making everybody go into cardiac arrest that has ever voted red in that state. I hope that this is really like that song said. I hope it gives you hell. Hope it gives you hell. Because this is exactly what it is all about. These fake ass conservative people who are behind closed doors are living their. Living a bet. He living his chest life, not his best life. Living his chest life,

[Asante]

living his breast life.

[Dustin Ross]

That's what he was doing. Okay. He might as well do the sausage Santana. Okay, I want to shake my tits. I saw Santa. Kid was singing that.

[Francesca]

This makes me wonder. Do y' all wonder if our own government put this out because she embarrassed Trump during those depositions by Broken clock is right.

[Dustin Ross]

Broken clock is right twice a day. So thanks, y' all for nothing, you know what I'm saying? But thanks anyway. I'm glad they got them. Let them hoes fight. That's how I feel. Yeah, I mean, literally die from the inside. That's how I feel personally. Like, I want it all to crumble. And things like this expose the cracks so beautifully. No pun intended. Cause you know, he was in pictures all tooted up, had his ass poked out to the side and showing his little booty. I was like, look at this right here. Doing pictures.

[Francesca]

It was real. How sad is that? I was like, ah, look in today's world, because you just, you know, you don't know.

[Dustin Ross]

You never know. They just made pictures of Tyler Perry and Marlo Hampton kissing us. What a Week ago. No, it was AI. So you just never know what's real. But we know this is to be real. Matter of fact, let's play a gay ass disco song. So that's our breaking news. Y' all shout out to Christy Noam and her family. Her whole damn family on today. Okay? I hope your food is cold all day. Okay? That's what I hope. Burn. I hope you are upset and embarrassed. You deserve. You deserve it. Okay, hold up. Remember all them videos she was making? They probably was doing their makeup together. That's why her looked like a drag makeup all the time, because he was probably doing it every time you seen her. Once them ice race started and she could really say it with her chest about being racist and acting on them horrible deportation practices, you know what I'm saying? That's why she would be sitting today, thumbs through her vest, and we're gonna. Yep, I gonna. Huh, huh, huh. Okay, about the husband. What they say on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, let's talk about the husband. Okay?

[Asante]

Don't you talk about my husband.

[Dustin Ross]

That's right. And your goddamn bimbo ass husband, too. The bimbofication of both of you. So that being said, you busted. Cold busted. Okay? Busted. Welcome to the.

[Francesca]

No pun intended.

[Dustin Ross]

No pun intended, baby. Welcome to the Friends on your weekly look into all things mental health, mental hygiene, and breastplates. Because who in the hell wants to now know what bimification is? I do. I didn't even know it was a thing. I just thought them look like that. Now I know it's vivification.

[Francesca]

That reminds me of when we saw the. The RuPaul Drag Race show in Vegas. Selena Estiddies. Is that her name?

[Asante]

Selena S. Titties. Remember? That's the one. I told you when she went on her season that the other drag queen was like, oh, your name's Selena? Well, I'm gonna be Yolanda.

[Francesca]

Oh, terrible joke.

[Asante]

I told her that on the. On the show. I was like, why did y' all air this? VH1 or MTV, whoever was responsible.

[Dustin Ross]

That was vicious.

[Asante]

And that same drag queen that I'm talking about that made that statement, she's been on with Luscious massacre on her YouTube channel.

[Dustin Ross]

Christy, no husband. How about that? Let's get back to the shame of it all. That's what I'm on. You know what I'm saying? I want to shame him. That's what deserve. They're the most deplorable, worst people in the world, and it's not because they engage in things like bimbo vacation. Because do your thing. 21, right? The fact that you deceitful about it and you try to stop other from doing it, you demonize. Demonize it. You know what I'm saying? When you are doing it. And that's what makes you a piece of. Yeah, that's what makes it okay for us to make fun of your titties now, Byron, you know what I'm saying? Now we on your ass and your titties too, apparently. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Christy Noem, we got you, bitch. Cause you've been through. You've been raising too much hell, and now you got a husband that's doing this. As much shit as they talk, as horrible as they done did, people, we're talking about it. So I'm happy to share with our audience. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, we got you, Christy. N ho. Now your husband. You know what your husband doing.

[Francesca]

This is crazy.

[Asante]

We know what.

[Dustin Ross]

We know what your man doing.

[Francesca]

Sorry.

[Dustin Ross]

And word up, whoever at the Daily Mail was hitting the gas pedal on this shout out to you. Doing the work. You know what I'm saying? Getting it done. I know it wasn't easy to get that green, you know, all the way across the finish line. We got it. Shout out.

[Francesca]

You know, they let her know a couple days before it was published because

[Dustin Ross]

they haven't her fingernails bit down to the quick right now. You know, she been over there biting right all day, man. Christy Gnome. Yeah, let's talk about it. Christy. How you doing, Christy? Hey, Christine. Wanna chat? Okay. Yeah. So I'm excited, personally. This has some breaking news, right? Breaking news.

[Francesca]

What?

[Dustin Ross]

Yeah. How you doing, friend?

[Francesca]

Doing good.

[Dustin Ross]

That's good.

[Francesca]

Adjusted today. I feel like this pollen. I'm not even a child. Allergies, girly. But the pollen's strong.

[Asante]

Pollen is real.

[Dustin Ross]

It had me in the head. Like in Atlanta this weekend. I was sneezing. I was with Alex. Shout out to Alex. She was like, you want to stop and get an allergy pill?

[Asante]

So we stopped at the gas station. Yes.

[Dustin Ross]

That's how bad I can stop. Sneeze every five. Every five seconds.

[Asante]

Listen. I couldn't stop being a car owner, being a black car owner. I gotta keep that clean. And every time I go out there,

[Francesca]

I see that green.

[Asante]

Oh, actually, my car, whatever, a little protectant or whatever was put on it. It's been working pretty well. So every time I go through the car wash and rinse, it's like a light little shade of some pollen on there. And I'm like, well, I'm still gonna go renter again today. I can't. It always got to look clean. I joined the car wash thing for a reason, and I just got to. I don't get my scratched. I can't wash it too much. There are so many people that just be letting their cars be, like, stacking that pollen, and I don't have allergies, but in my mind, I'm like, this is why people get allergies, because activated, like, that's nasty.

[Dustin Ross]

Also,

[Asante]

like, a blanket of pollen on their car. I was like, I'm not trying to judge because I know I'm new here, but, like, wow, this is crazy.

[Francesca]

Well, sometimes you can't help it, because where I park is right under. You leave the car there for a couple hours, and when you come back, the whole windshield is green. I mean, so it's like the trees are just really heavily

[Dustin Ross]

shaking.

[Francesca]

So it's. It's crazy. I put the windshield wiper on, and it was like. Because of how much pollen. I was like, yo, this is crazy. I was like, literally, this is how people get out allergies because it was so intense, but. But, yeah. Just trying to survive out here. But I am glad that the weather is beautiful. My pink tree outside my house is blooming, and it's so beautiful, and it just makes me happy. I actually went. We have this section of cherry blossoms that bloom in March, and they're down by the waterfront out here, and it's a big thing. Like, everyone goes to the waterfront to see the trees blooming. And this year, they added some pink lights under the flowers to really illuminate it at night. I mean, it was so beautiful. Oh, my God, it was so good. It turned it into. I know how you feel about lights, Dustin.

[Dustin Ross]

You know, I love.

[Francesca]

You know, they turned it into, like, yeah, there we go. An art exhibit, low key. And it was just so beautiful. I was just so happy. I actually bumped into a few of y', all, too, which was always funny because y' all be like, oh, my God, you're out. Outside.

[Dustin Ross]

You hit him with the top model. Oh, no, baby.

[Francesca]

So that was those. That's always a pleasure. But, yeah, the trees. I'm just happy. This is my favorite time of the year, so I'm excited. How are y' all feeling?

[Dustin Ross]

I feel great. Hopeful, excited, but just sneezing. Nighttime sniffling, sneezing. Like that medicine said.

[Francesca]

I could imagine.

[Dustin Ross]

Your nose is super itchy, tingly to the touch on the outside, so it's not even the inside of my nostrils. It's literally like the tip of my nose. And that's the part that's so miserable. Then you look like you. You know. You know, people don't know why you touching your face like that. So it's embarrassing. You know what I'm saying? It just. It's the worst.

[Asante]

But I feel bad for you, Dustin, and I know it doesn't help, but I'd be feeling, like, emotionally bad because I just. I don't have allergies, but I can't handle nose stuff. Like, I can't handle, like, I' outside nose pain. I can't handle, like, itchy, like. Like I can't handle no stuff. So Let alone, like, congestive. Congestive sinus stuff. Like. So I'd be feeling, like, emotional for you, Jackson.

[Dustin Ross]

Like, I'm telling you, it's horrible. But. Yeah, but I'm all right, though. So all that. Because who's gonna complain, you know? Not us, right? So that's.

[Asante]

I too would like to shout out some. Some friend zone friends as well. I don't want to say where I bumped into the people. I was not outside this weekend, but there were dueling events happening while I was outside where I bumped into the people. They were like, we didn't expect. I was at one of a big chain store. I don't want to say the name of the store, but they were like, you shouldn't get this one. And I was like, what do you mean I shouldn't be at this one? They were like, this is the hood one.

[Francesca]

Dang.

[Asante]

Charlotte is so funny because Atlanta has hood ones of a different type of store. So I knew what they were saying when they were saying it, and we just kept. They were like, the only reason that we were up in here is because we were on this side of town. But normally we don't come to this one. You go to these two. So shout out to the listeners for putting me on. I like when I can bump in. I like when we bump into each other and we have a fruitful exchange. It was a very, very fruitful exchange.

[Dustin Ross]

You know what? Hell yeah. Shout out to the young lady that helped me at Sephora in Atlanta. It was a young lady at Sephora in Atlantic Station. Shout out to you, baby. She was a beautiful listener. She gave her love to y'. All.

[Asante]

Yes.

[Dustin Ross]

So, yeah, shout out to her. Yup. I didn't forget about you. I just thought about you right now. Cause they mentioned it.

[Francesca]

Do you guys have any announcements, anything you'd like? Listeners to know about before we jump in.

[Dustin Ross]

Yes. So you can catch me on Monday Night Live. Every Monday with Carlos King, Claudia Jordan and my girl Blue. We also have another show with myself, Blue and Quentin, Funky Dineva, where we talked about dating, being black and gay and dating. So check that out. It lives on Carlos King's Patreon page, so you can go over there and look for that. I know I hadn't talked about it here yet. So check that out. And we have a show. It's myself, I'm sorry I conflated the two, but we have a show. Reality After Dark with myself, Mandy, Claudia Jordan and Carlos King. So you have to check that out too.

[Francesca]

Reality After Dark with Mandy.

[Dustin Ross]

Yeah.

[Francesca]

All right,

[Dustin Ross]

Carlos. And we went viral last weekend, so just check that out. And then check out the black and gay dating show. That with Carlos, myself, Funky Dineva in blue. That one was good. So check that out. Yep. I'm plated them, but you can rewind.

[Francesca]

Yeah, I love funky. He's a part of my afternoon cardio. I just get on my walking pad, put him on. I know he's gonna talk for an hour.

[Dustin Ross]

We're nessa. You know what I'm saying? We're nessa. But yeah. So that's it for me.

[Francesca]

Nice. Assigned to anything.

[Asante]

Speaking of Patreon, last week we had our wind down. Thank you to everyone that pulled up. Shout out to all of the people that always pull up lechat, you're amazing. And shout out to all the people that put up for their first last week. It's crazy that we have been doing this for a while now.

[Dustin Ross]

Just a little while.

[Asante]

We don't want to age ourselves, but we still have new people join us all the time. So if you want to be one of those people in that Number to join patreon.com friendsonpodcast and just because you missed last week doesn't mean you can't go back and watch it because that's available along with ad free episodes of this show and video episodes of this show as well as print more premium content. But again, if you want to see more information, patreon.com the Friendzonepodcast and it

[Francesca]

was such a fun time as it always is. Y' all was so funny in the chat. Dustin Ross, you have a black business of the week you'd like to highlight for us?

[Dustin Ross]

I sure do. And this one is for Brooklyn. You heard. Hey, I want to introduce you guys to a business that was started by a black woman named Melissa Johnson. She's been in Business for a few years. The place was actually on the verge of closing last year, but they brought it back, back. So we want to continue with an influx of business because the shit looks good. Okay? So you can go to Instagram and look up Yummy Tummies Kitchen, just as it's spelled. That's the name of the account. It's a bake shop called Yummy Tummies. It's open in Brooklyn. Their hours of operation are Wednesday to Sunday from 2pm to 8pm the address is 793 Grand street in Brooklyn, New York. And you can go to Yummy Tummies ny.com for the information about the business, where to find it other than here. But the treats look so good. There's all this. When you go to their Instagram page, you can see there's all this media that they've done a lot of community outreach. Just a really dope bake shop. And the shit looks good. So click on one. We want to give our system Melissa a little bit. You know what I'm saying? We want to give our system Melissa

[Asante]

a little bit individual too. You know, they look good. I just want to see something.

[Dustin Ross]

I mean, I really, you know, make it bigger. Really, you know. Yes.

[Francesca]

Oreo cupcake, My Lord.

[Dustin Ross]

Right down there in the middle like that. It just looked good. So we want to give our sister Melissa Johnson some, you know what I'm saying? Going out there to Yummy Tummies and tell her that the friend zone sent you and put something yummy in your Us.

[Asante]

Yes, for us. Because I wish I could have that in my tummy.

[Dustin Ross]

That's right.

[Francesca]

I'm on a sugar cleanse right now,

[Dustin Ross]

so that just can window shop.

[Francesca]

I told y' all about those Girl Scout cookies I ate. I've been upside down since yes made me do a sugar cleanse. That's all. But yes, those look great. Please support the link will be in the description box. As always,

[Dustin Ross]

that's it for the black business.

[Francesca]

Let's jump into the recap segment. Last week's episode titled Let Me find Out featuring Tiffany the budgetista aliche. We were joined by the financial educator and New York Times best selling author Always that's right. We talked about, quote unquote, this economy, how budgeting alone is not enough. How to make steady money decisions during economic uncertainty. Some practical shifts that can help reduce financial anxiety. Asked about ethical investing and she shared the 10 pillars of financial wholeness, which has everything to do with her book Get Good with Money, which just released the paperback version. This week. So we love talking to Tiffany. She's always a pleasure. She's so fun.

[Dustin Ross]

Yes.

[Francesca]

But most importantly, she is so informative. So many of you left messages, emails, comments, you name it, saying how helpful this was, how thankful you are. So asante, who stood out to you in those comments?

[Asante]

A lot of amazing comments in the Spotify streets. A few people stood out to me for various reasons. Quickly, I'll start with Adrian Read2727. The comment says needed this, especially in times like these. Yes, everybody needs this. So I thought that was a great comment because I felt like when I read that I was like child. Me too. Another comment that I wanted to share was there were a couple of random comments that I very much enjoyed. Monica, actually Monica said, I would just like to leave this here for fr. Because I can't sleep. We have bananas and avocados. I didn't do it the way that it was written. But you know, to me, friend, that's a deep cut. For the listeners that have been around, I'd also like to shout out Sierra Moore. Sierra Moore's comp comment simply, simply reads, wow, mine for joy in quotes with a heart emoji afterwards. When Tiffany said m for joy last week, that was so amazing because for a person to come on and talk about money, she don't make it all about money, but everything that she do is about money. And she our rich friend and I love that she makes it so accessible. And when she said mine for joy, I think that that's a key component that people are missing when they're trying to, you know, get their finances in order. Like they still have to enjoy life and continue to enjoy life as they're getting that money to enjoy their life with. Okay, last comment that I want to share. This one comes from Kiki because we do love you. Don't be afraid of buying a home. Location matters. My mortgage has only increased a hundred dollars over five years. However, location was key. I chose an area that was low tax rates, but I also don't have street lights or sidewalks and well, it's worth it. The city taxes are way more expensive and a flashlight and a gun were cheaper. Oh, I like her. It was something so real about that comment. Especially when we talk about a lot of these types of purchases and this and what people, you know, what's worth it for people and what's not. Like, like you see that reaction for Fred, but like for Kiki, like it's been working. I love that I house and I don't especially Look, I had just bought a car and I wish somebody would explain to me some of the different pros and cons and things that you weighed out outside of just price tag. But those were the comments that I found. Friend, what did you find out there in those streets?

[Francesca]

So Dara said, clinical social worker here. The website Tiffany's friend is referring to is called Aunt Bertha. If you Google Aunt Bertha, it'll take you to their new website find help.org but you can still search aunt bertha.com. another really helpful resource resource is the United way. You can call 211 and it'll connect you to the United Way. So remember she was mentioning for those who don't know what we're talking about in reference to this comment, Tiffany was talking about a website where you can find jobs bartering any way that the neighborhood, locally, globally. I don't even know how big this website is, but people helping each other basically if they're in any kind of a bind. And apparently this was a good website to find some help and whatever bind you're in.

[Asante]

So D. Nice had left that site on Spotify as well. You said who a comment on Spotify Just quickly just because you read that they said the website tiffany talking about findhelp.org or dial 211-I- WORK IT or STAR211. I don't know if it's STAR or if it's just two on one. Anyway, I work at a church and I'm involved in ministry and it's a very useful tool. So it's funny that you had shared that because they get. They've been sharing that in the comments on Spotify too.

[Francesca]

Too Nice. Thank you guys. I'll definitely include that in the description box. Kendra said, in Alabama when I got my tents, the place told me if I wanted an illegal percentage, I had to pay cash and couldn't have a receipt.

[Dustin Ross]

Okay, but you got that tank.

[Francesca]

That is hilarious.

[Asante]

Well, how much was it though? Because if look, I want me a tent with a lifetime warranty on it, you know, I need that ceramic.

[Francesca]

They need you to not remember it was them.

[Asante]

One of them advertising real hard on my algorithm, showing me, showing me the blacked out front window and I'm like,

[Dustin Ross]

ooh, that's asking for it.

[Francesca]

Lastly, Crystal said, yes, Mother Rose had a great bookstore and she was loved by the community. I live in Sacramento and grew up in the neighborhood where the bookstore still thrives. Let's get out and read and support your local black bookstore. And this has to do with our wellness segment I love that. I love that idea that she still has that bookstore all these years later.

[Dustin Ross]

That's the beauty of them.

[Francesca]

I miss that. Right. Having like that community hub. It's really important. So that's it. What about you, Dustin Ross? Would you find in the Twitter streets.

[Dustin Ross]

I'm trying to see what the least problematic tweet I can share is right now, because that's where I'm at with things. You know what I'm saying? Let me see, Let me see.

[Asante]

Let me see the most first.

[Francesca]

Why you. Look. Look for those on Patreon. Look. This is how beautiful.

[Dustin Ross]

The gorgeous. That's the block. The. The tree block. The cherry tree. The cherry. Right.

[Francesca]

Gorgeous cherry blossom. And that's so gorgeous.

[Asante]

Yeah.

[Dustin Ross]

Gorgeous friend.

[Francesca]

Yeah. I just have to show you, as I was scrolling, I saw them.

[Dustin Ross]

Absolutely gorgeous, man. I've been saving a lot of political tweets. I'm trying to keep it light. Yeah. So, you know, hey, here we go. There's an account called Nick the Great. N I C T H E E G R the number eight. As we know, this past weekend, there was a versus battle that took place between Tank and Tyrese. I don't know if anybody's seen any of the clips.

[Francesca]

I did. I saw the replay.

[Dustin Ross]

Yeah. And you saw how Tank was playing with Tyrese, like, literally tearing his ass up. And so this Twitter user. Okay, you couldn't do nothing but laugh. Tank is funny about. He's gonna be in the next season in reasonable Doubt too. I think they're shooting it right now. Shout out to him. He just finished on Broadway in Hell's Kitchen too. So. Shout out.

[Asante]

Go ahead.

[Dustin Ross]

This user posted this video and said this was Tank playing songs that he wrote during verses.

[Francesca]

I don't give a rat's ass.

[Dustin Ross]

Hit the door. I said hit

[Asante]

the hell.

[Dustin Ross]

Yeah. I said hit them.

[Asante]

I thought that was hilarious.

[Dustin Ross]

That tickled me. So yes, that's it for me this week in these Twitter streets. Everything else is about politics.

[Francesca]

Tank sent us on a rabbit hole that night. Just after we. After he finished, we were like, damn, I haven't listened to maybe I deserve in years. And I wanted to hear the original because obviously he flipped it a little. Huh?

[Dustin Ross]

You gotta play that in your car.

[Asante]

And like, you know what I'm saying?

[Francesca]

I was like, damn, I love this song. So I went and played it on YouTube, looked for it, played the music video. Then of course, that aggregated all bunch of other videos from that era, and we liter literally just watched music videos. I kid you not. Till like Two in the morning. I love those nights. We just. It was so great. I was like, damn, I don't want to be that old person. But damn, they don't make music like that.

[Dustin Ross]

It's different. It's just so different now.

[Francesca]

Different. Even the videos with the girls look like. Everything just so different. Even the concepts of the videos style like. Like. We're so blessed though, because I think we came up in such a great time musically and I'm thankful to have been outside and experienced these songs live, you know what I mean? Like when they were coming out, we were in school. Them being like soundtracks of really important times in our lives. I'm grateful for that at least.

[Dustin Ross]

Going to purchase the music was an event and it was fun. Waiting on release days, trying your best to get shit early. Oh, it just was. It was all a part of the excitement and the fun of. Of being a fan of music artists and.

[Francesca]

Right. Remember going to the Whiz? Yes, we had the Whiz to go get your. Your tape or your CD or whatever. The

[Dustin Ross]

Record Town, Circuit City, Fye, Sam Goody.

[Francesca]

Sam Goody especially.

[Asante]

Yeah, you had the Virgin Mega Store.

[Francesca]

Sure did. We had.

[Asante]

Never forget going to that. I was like 17, 18 in that in Times Square. Like I'm at the Virgin Mega Store.

[Dustin Ross]

They got imported in here.

[Asante]

Like it was the biggest place everybody in my life.

[Dustin Ross]

You pulled up like Tanisha at the bad girl's house, didn't you?

[Asante]

Lost my damn mind. Yep.

[Francesca]

Because they would have like the international releases. Never heard that version. And the COVID would be all different. You'd be like, oh, my God, I never saw that.

[Asante]

This like, that you will find on Napster, but like actually had like packaging and so it's like we could go

[Dustin Ross]

to the edge of existence for those sort of stories. Borders, Y' all remember Borders? I used to love going to Borders, man. Like listening to music and putting them headphones on to the music. And Borders. I love that. So yeah,

[Francesca]

what a time. But anyway, that's it for this week's intro. Let's jump into this week's episode.

[Asante]

As you know, last week we had another one of those amazing financial episodes. And one of the tools that helped me in my financial hygiene, if you will, is Rocket Money. I just got a car, so one thing that I needed to do was to make sure that my credit was on point so I could have me a good apr. And with Rocket Money, I was able to look at all of my finances, figure out how much I was spending and figure out how much I was saving so I could spend that money on that car. Okay, Rocket Money, just so you all know, is a personal finance app that helps find and cancel your unwanted subscriptions, monitors your spending, and helps you lower bills so you can grow your savings. Let Rocket Money help you reach your financial goals faster. Try for $[e-mail] zone that's rocketmoney.com zone

[Dustin Ross]

rocketmoney.com zone Spring testing is around the corner, projects are picking up and the push toward the end of the year is officially y' all IXL helps kids stay confident and prepared during this important stretch. IXL is an award winning online learning platform for Pre K through 12th grade with personalized interactive lessons in math, reading, writing and science that adapt to each child's level and pace. Now this is proven in all 50 states. To improve grades, students who use IXL score higher on tests. IXL is in fact used in 96 of the top 100 school districts in the US. We have actually tested this. I know I'll speak for myself. I'm very close with my family. You guys know that. I've had my family on the show before and there's young school age children in my family as well. We've used IXL to help them and has been the perfect benefit and supplement to their education. My little cousins, they need to have their key skills reviewed before they go up for state testing. We know how critically important that is to their success in higher education. So IXL is really a useful tool and you can make an impact on your child's learning. And you can get IXL now and the Friendzone listeners can get an exclusive 20% off IXL membership when they sign up today at ixl.com friendzone visit I x l.com friendzone to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price. Refresh your space and make your home work better for you with Wayfair. From furniture and decor to organization solutions and outdoor scent, Wayfair makes it so easy to find the pieces that fit your style and your needs. Spring is the perfect time for a reset and Wayfair has everything from outdoor furniture and patio decor to lighter bedding that instantly makes your home feel so much brighter. Plus you can get a head start on spring cleaning with closet systems, storage solutions and garage organization all from Wayfair. You know your garage is a fool right now. You can upgrade your space with quality pieces that are going to work within your budget along with fast shipp and easy assembly options. I'm talking about things that I know I have a table in my home right now from Wayfair that I love with all my heart, and it was the perfect addition to my space. Along with mirrors. I love I word with Wayfair, so you guys should, too. You can find furniture, decor, and essentials that fit your unique style and budget. Head to Wayfair.com right now to shop all things home. That's Wayfair. W a Y F A I R.com Wayfair Every style, every home.

[Francesca]

This week's episode is a Dustin Ross production. We're going in.

[Dustin Ross]

That's right. It's my turn. So give it to me, baby. This week. Listen, there's so much going on. There's so many things that we need to talk about, so we're just going to talk about all of it. We haven't done Hot Topics in a long time, so why don't we catch up, shall we? It's time for Hot Topics. No, but there's so much going on this week, so I say we start things off with some good news. Right? Okay. So we want to give a huge shout out to none other than Brandy Norwood, who was just honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

[Francesca]

Oh, I didn't know that.

[Dustin Ross]

She got it. This Monday, March 30, Brandi star was the 2839th star on the Walk of Fame. She got it for music, and she had Issa Rae and Babyface at her side when she accepted her star. Monica was there. Monica pulled up looking gorgeous. It was just beautiful. So Brandi got her star, y'. All. About time. Well deserved. Brandi has done so much in entertainment, you know what I'm saying? Even beyond music, but given so much. She matters so much to music. It's good to see her get her things. Now, who else do you think deserves one that doesn't have one? If you could pick somebody to have a star in the Walk of Fame, who you think deserves one?

[Asante]

All my people.

[Dustin Ross]

Really? Mary got one. Jennifer Hudson got one. I'm good over here. You know what I'm saying? But who would you like to have one? I wouldn't mind seeing future get one.

[Francesca]

You know what?

[Dustin Ross]

They could do it. Perfect purple. Yeah.

[Francesca]

I don't see. I'm also fully unaware of who has one or who doesn't have one. So I don't even know.

[Dustin Ross]

Okay, well, who would you give it to? Friend Prince.

[Francesca]

Prince has one, right?

[Dustin Ross]

Yeah, he probably got three.

[Francesca]

There's no way. Prince is probably one of the only people I can think of immediately

[Dustin Ross]

Sherry shepherd just got one. That was dope. You know what I'm saying? Her and Niecy Nash's stars are across the street from each other. You know, they best friends, so that's cool.

[Francesca]

Oh, that's cute.

[Dustin Ross]

Sher Shepard just got one. I'm trying to think, who else? The Isley Brothers just got one. Who else? It's been a few people, but Brandy got her. So I would like to see Monica get one. I think Monica, Monica deserves one. Give Monica one. Who else?

[Francesca]

What makes I wonder how they decide it. What's the criteria?

[Asante]

Like Brandy, the Isley Brothers, Alan Cummings.

[Dustin Ross]

I think you got to pay like $75,000 or something like that.

[Asante]

So funny.

[Dustin Ross]

It's like a little fee you gotta pay.

[Francesca]

But do they come to you like, hey, we want to do this, or do you come to them like, hey, I want a star. Here's 75.

[Dustin Ross]

It can work both ways.

[Francesca]

Interesting.

[Dustin Ross]

Let's see, let's see. Let's get confirmat information on what the exact process is. How do you.

[Francesca]

This is no different than awards even for anybody, right? Like we have to pay a million dollars for Webbies, right? It was $800. Like, what?

[Dustin Ross]

Which is. Which is like you what, y' all are recognizing me and I gotta pay you.

[Francesca]

That's always been so backwards, but it's business.

[Dustin Ross]

According to Google, getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame requires a formal nomination, a rigorous selection process, and a 75 to $85,000 sponsorship fee to fund the star's creation, installation and maintenance. Nominees must have significant experience, five plus years, professional achievements, community contributions, and agree to attend the ceremony. The nominations are submitted online and require a non refundable $275 fee. Like I said, you have to have those criteria met in one of six categories. Motion pictures, television, recording, radio, live theater, slash performance, or sports, entertainment. And committee of peers managed by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce selects roughly 24 to 30 honorees annually from all the applic. So if you're selected, you have to pay a fee and then so you apply, you have to pay the fee, whatever. But sometimes they give it to people anyway because who, how they doing posthumous ones? You know what I'm saying? If you only can get it if you apply because people pass away all the time and get a posthumous star.

[Francesca]

Where would the podcast version of this be?

[Dustin Ross]

I feel like we could get one, you know what I'm saying? What's the categories? Record recording. We record this every week. We have definitely made contributions to the community. We have. Well, over five years. Yeah. Now if we could cough up that 85K, you know what I'm saying? Can you imagine if we got a star on the Hollywood Walk? Oh, my God.

[Francesca]

Nah, the podcasting would be on Times Square.

[Dustin Ross]

Oh my God.

[Francesca]

That Dances with the Cookie Monster.

[Dustin Ross]

You know, they have the Apollo 1, the. The Apollo Walker show right there in Harlem.

[Francesca]

That would be cute. Put us on.

[Dustin Ross]

We could be on 25th street and on.

[Asante]

I'd love to be on 125th Street.

[Dustin Ross]

We could do both, you know, Both. Why not do both?

[Francesca]

Dreams. It was called magic. Dream your dreams.

[Dustin Ross]

Dreams, man, you gotta do, man. In other good news, right, let's do a little bit more good news. This is like good and bad news. Tyler Perry made his way through the Atlanta airport with thousand dollar gift cards for TSA workers. At first he was trying to give away cash, but then he had his team, according to reports, reach out to the legal department at the airport and the FAA and figure out how they could do it legally. And so they came. They approved him to give gift cards to the employees. But after he gave them to them somehow, some. They are now requesting that the employees give the gift cards back.

[Francesca]

Yeah, right.

[Dustin Ross]

I just wonder how they think they are going to.

[Francesca]

There would be contact with Tyler Perry to give him.

[Dustin Ross]

Get in contact with me to give you my gift card back. That's where the blockage would occur for me. Why in the fuck would I give you some money? Somebody else gave. Gave me. You gonna tell me I can't have it and you didn't even give it to me. Kiss my entire ass.

[Francesca]

And you're not paying me.

[Dustin Ross]

What? And if you want to play this workplace game, whatever. Okay, well, I already spent the money. Gift card still in the envelope. I already spent the money. It's gone. So I don't know what you want me to do. We want.

[Asante]

I act like I never got one to begin with and just waiting on mines, right? Mine never came. I never signed off that I got one or received one.

[Dustin Ross]

I just can't believe that they would even ask them to return those gift cards at a time like this. Everything going on, it just is the last headline that you expect to read, to read after something like that. Somebody that has the money to give away and is trying to do something nice with it. Feeling bad for these people that are literally saving everybody's lives by allowing the airports to still operate even though they're not getting paid. Paid.

[Francesca]

Crazy.

[Dustin Ross]

Mind you, the only reason they're not getting paid is because it's Tied up into a political game that's being played. So they're playing with people's livelihoods. And here comes this person who really feels like an angel on earth at that point, giving you money, and you got the audacity to say, give it back? I wish I would. I've never heard of anything more ridiculous in my life. The way I was.

[Asante]

Cases.

[Francesca]

They're claiming it's a matter of national security.

[Dustin Ross]

Sure is. It's gonna be. If you try to take that money out of my pocket, it's gonna be a security issue, I can tell you that.

[Francesca]

What the.

[Dustin Ross]

That is ridiculous. They just don't want to see people have a solution. They want people to be harmed by all of this. They want your life to be harder. They want you to be out of your mind and not able to think clearly. They're trying to cause as much chaos and confusion, which is why they would interrupt a blessing like. Like that. What a hater. I've never seen anything like that in my life. And, Tyler, you come over here, too, because you got enough money to go to a couple airports. Why would you just. At Hartsfield, you need to be taking your ass to Hobby LaGuardia. MSY down in New Orleans. You know, Dallas might need to see you. It's a few more you need to go to.

[Asante]

I don't know. Atlanta is big enough. I feel like he did his big one just hitting one. One whole airport. Personally, like, I feel like that was, like, a big enough statement, and maybe it should have prompted. I feel like maybe it should have prompted some other people to be like, well, you know, if they didn't have to return the gift cards, other people should have been like, you know what? We love our airport, too. You know, we're New Yorkers. We gonna, you know, hold our airport down and do xyz. But I know everybody ain't got it. Like Tyler.

[Dustin Ross]

All of them. Give it to him. Tyler. Whoever else, the David Grain, the man that they just announced. I believe his name is David Grain, right? Lisa Grain's husband. They just announced him as the new billionaire there. I hope he take his ass down to the airport. Byron Allen.

[Francesca]

But that's so dangerous to me. And not on the security tip that the government's claiming, but more so, like, do you really want cash? Yeah. And now you making these agents marks because everyone knows that cash was dropped off. I don't know something about it. I'm like, there's. There has to be a more seamless, safer way to get to be.

[Dustin Ross]

But I can Tell you this in

[Francesca]

their pocket at the airport. Don't seem like it.

[Dustin Ross]

Like if I hadn't been paid in six weeks, right. Take a risky walk, right. I was going to tell you you

[Francesca]

could go and give me because it's like these are desperate times and you got you got to do. But I just felt.

[Asante]

But I feel what you mean friend. Like it's like, hey, this form for some sort of like temporary compensation from us and we love y'. All.

[Francesca]

Like I'm thinking as a woman like you gonna I'm walking out the airport cash like that. People know Tyler Bay dropped off. I'm gon be shook. No, let's not act like Atlanta ain't okay.

[Asante]

No, I just know some bad at the airport. I know some that will cut your ass. I don't know no that in Atlanta want to with. So I just.

[Dustin Ross]

I'm gonna take the money. I'm gonna have to worry about them security concerns later. I ain't eight, you know what I'm saying? It's been six weeks. I got.

[Asante]

Then you want to keep that off the books. Cuz you know the government try to be petty on the backside and be like why there was a freeze. You had a some income.

[Dustin Ross]

That's gonna be the one day you see me carry a purse. I'm be burking down coming out of that.

[Asante]

You go girl.

[Dustin Ross]

I got to put it in something. All right.

[Francesca]

Doing something, you know at the end

[Asante]

of the day, that's something safe. Some safer.

[Dustin Ross]

Some come on now. Speaking of something safe that's supposed to be safe. Memphis woman seeks justice after receiving twelve hundred dollars veneer service that she found on Facebook. Okay, you heard it right on the marketplace. This is according to the neighborhood Talk. A Memphis, Tennessee woman is speaking out after receiving cosmet dental work that left her in constant pain and without options for repair. Vash Bowens says that she is now desperate for help after getting veneers from an unlicensed provider. According to Bowens, she discovered the provider, Kane Jones, through Facebook where he advertised high end cosmetic dental services. Hoping to enhance her smile. After having her partial dentures and gold teeth removed, she booked an appointment. Appointment. However, the setting immediately raised red flags. Bowen said the procedure took place inside a salon studio suite.

[Asante]

No, no, no, no, no, no, no. And I'm not saying not far fetched.

[Dustin Ross]

But she chose to move forward anyway despite her hesitation. After the veneer were applied, Bowen said she quickly realized something wasn't right. You ready for this next quote? This is the one that made this that made this story make our list today. Quote, I knew it was something when he didn't put my pictures on Facebook.

[Francesca]

No, you playing.

[Dustin Ross]

She returned to the suite in hopes of correcting the issue, but by then, she says the damage had already been done. Desperate for answers, Bowens reached out to the Tennessee Health Department, only to learn that Jones was already allegedly operating without a license and impersonating a licensed dental professional. When contacted for comment by the Neighborhood Talk, Jones denied the allegations, calling Bowens a liar before blocking any further communication, and did not respond to additional requests for an interview. Now, y' all know I got audio, right? There's some things you got to hear this person say for themselves. So here's a little audio of Vash. I'm gonna these clips for you, and then we're gonna discuss.

[Francesca]

Bowens told me she found Kane Jones on Facebook and thought he would be able to enhance her smile with veneers after having partials and gold teeth removed. I also took the partials out my mouth and show him a picture of how my mouth looked without the partials. And he was like, oh, yeah, I can cover them. And, you know, even that teeth you got in the bag, you ain't gonna notice none of that. During her appointment, Bowen says she went against her better judgment when she allowed this provider to to work on her smile in a salon studio suite. She says it wasn't until the veneers were done and she got home that she realized something was wrong. I knew it was something when he didn't put my pictures on Facebook. Yo, do you regret doing this? I do. I do. Cause I could walk around with my partial. I was fine. I just. Like I said, you know, everybody, you know, that's the style. Believers.

[Asante]

Hey, let me give me some to it.

[Francesca]

He doing them for 1200, but I should have known something. 1200.

[Dustin Ross]

That was the trick.

[Francesca]

This client says all she wanted was a beautiful smile, and now she's out of thousand my people.

[Dustin Ross]

Where you want to start? I know you want to start. Let's start on Facebook. You? Facebook?

[Asante]

She didn't even say marketplace, so that makes me feel like she just saw, like, a message or something

[Francesca]

worse.

[Dustin Ross]

I don't know about y', all, but I'm not looking for dental services of any kind on fucking Facebook. Not sorry. You go where that stuff lives. You don't wait for it to matriculate over into spaces that it has no business occupying. There's literally no reason you should be looking for a dental service provider of any kind on Facebook. And that's her damn problem now. All she's worried about is on Facebook. You heard her say, I knew it was someone. He ain't put my pictures on Facebook. Facebook.

[Francesca]

I'm confused at how that was. What let her know something was wrong.

[Dustin Ross]

Not the pain, not the. Not the setting, not. Not the. You never asked for any type of licensing, license information, nothing. Like, that's what your red flag was, that you was mad that he didn't put your pictures on Facebook and now your teeth are under your arms. You know what I'm saying? Like, I, I, yeah.

[Francesca]

So choices.

[Dustin Ross]

And then you heard her motiv, what her motivation was to get the service anyway, you know, everybody getting Valeres. She called him Valers.

[Francesca]

No, she didn't.

[Dustin Ross]

Everybody getting valeres. Would you like for me to play it for you again? She said, everybody getting Valeres. I, I. Give me some. You know, see him, he doing for 1200. I said, okay, 1200.

[Francesca]

Now we have to name this episode. Everybody getting Valeres.

[Dustin Ross]

Everybody's getting Valeres.

[Asante]

I don't want ve.

[Dustin Ross]

No. From Vos, Bowens, the Cavaliers, Memphis.

[Asante]

What are we doing?

[Dustin Ross]

Yep. Valias. Twelve hundred dollars. If that. You can't. There's no, like, you can't get veneers. Quality veneers for twelve hundred dollars. You can't even get one, one, two.

[Francesca]

You can't even get good, regular dental work for twelve hundred nowadays. That's the, that's the part that's bad about it, right?

[Dustin Ross]

That's why people on Facebook, that's your

[Asante]

mouth, you know, like, connected to your

[Dustin Ross]

brain, apparently, is the next thing that needs to be in the service bay. Because why were you even there? And why would you move forward once you saw that? It was at a salon suite, studio.

[Francesca]

Go with that first. Mind, girl.

[Dustin Ross]

Your mind drilling in her mouth.

[Francesca]

Oh, my God.

[Dustin Ross]

So he couldn't go up on that Brick.

[Francesca]

And the hard part is it's hard to find a good dentist, even when they're licensed. I've had dent, like, prop, quote, unquote, proper dentists that were still shitty. So imagine, Imagine so hard, man.

[Dustin Ross]

Like, I literally just have never. So to this young woman, first of all, we wish you the best. Hopefully somebody's going to see. See that. Yes.

[Francesca]

Oh, yeah. And give her some free.

[Asante]

Yes.

[Dustin Ross]

I mean, and please, they're gonna put her teeth back together. Because the pictures I want, I'm gonna. I'm gonna place this picture in here.

[Asante]

Helper.

[Francesca]

What is the. Of how it's looking now?

[Dustin Ross]

Yeah, of how it looked then basically, let's just Go with that. Because if you can see that. I mean, just the.

[Francesca]

Oh, my. Yeah,

[Dustin Ross]

so. And that's what he did. And then got the nerve to put a little diamond chip in it. You see it? So get. I don't know, Memphis. You know, I don't know who it is. We just want her to. We just. I don't even know what they to say. $1,200. Veneers don't exist. Let's just leave it there. So be warned. Consider this a warning. You know, she chewed so you don't have to. You know what I'm saying? Make sure you just heed her warnings and don't go get your veneers out of a salon suite studio.

[Francesca]

And people, please focus on your actual dental health before you're trying to get veneers. Y' all just be putting veneers on top of all kinds of rotten.

[Dustin Ross]

They're not lashes and cracks.

[Francesca]

Yeah, yeah. It's like, I don't understand. I get everyone wants celebrity teeth. Do your thing. But at least have a baseline before you even get there, you know, for your health, for your blood, for your brain. Like, damn.

[Dustin Ross]

Speaking of health, blood and brain. Fantasia is in the news. Oh, okay. So Fantasia's in the news. She recently announced that her next album will be her last. Let's take a listen to what Fantasia had to say, and then let's discuss it.

[Francesca]

And then you heard it for me. I'm going to do my last album. I didn't say my last shows, but I said my last album.

[Dustin Ross]

Now, why is what I want to know. Fantasia's in. She's young, she's healthy. She is a once in a lifetime talent with a voice like nobody else on the earth. There's nobody else that sings a song that sounds like her. Nobody. Her voice is in tip top shape. She said that she will still be performing. She said not her last shows, but her last album. Why do you think she's not motivated to make music anymore? What do you think the reasons could possibly. Possibly be?

[Francesca]

No money in music,

[Dustin Ross]

but it's money and touring. So you see, you see, she still says she's hitting that stage because you

[Francesca]

don't need to make new music to tour forever. Albums and songs. And she's good. Making more music puts you more into the hole because you got to pay so many people out and then you don't get that and you know in return. So I can. I get it. Everyone I know that makes music is kind of in that same boat with streaming. You're really Getting ripped off to the point where there's no return on investment. Which is sad, right? Because you make music because you're good at it or you love it or you breathe music, but you also have to sustain. And I think the older you get, right, there's less you're going to do that doesn't have a return. Especially if you have a family or bills and expenses. And in this economy, I mean, there's a lot to consider. It's not just about making art because you love it. We sometimes you get beyond that, you know, so I get.

[Dustin Ross]

Why do you think people are not buying Fantasia's albums like that? I can't think of a reason. I mean, everybody that I know that supports Fantasia buys her music and goes to her concerts, right? I don't know how she can still. It's just crazy to me because Fantasia, like I said, it's a once in a lifetime type. And her not making no more music is just crazy to me because we met her on American Idol. Singing. When you think about Fantasia, you think about somebody that's really gifted as a singer. And so I don't know, I hope she continues to act. I don't know why, because we all hear know she was great in the Color Purple. You know, we all loved her in the Color Purple. We all loved her in the Color Purple. So I don't know why she didn't continue to, you know, she was in a studio, huge studio film like that, you know, all that press, why wasn't there a push toward that? Why haven't we seen her campaigning openly for the Patti LaBelle movie? You know what I'm saying? She should be talking about that in her interviews and shit and creating other opportunities in that space. Because she was good in the Color Purple. I thought, Fran thought, Asante thought, we thought so I don't understand, you know, why we haven't heard anything on the acting front.

[Asante]

Maybe she really does just want to sing. And like France said, like singing, making new music just puts you in a hole. I feel like the way that this industry is or the way that media is now, it's just so much harder to be seen. Whether it's because of these different platforms to stream on, whether it's because it's the different people being put into place. There just aren't as many opportunities. Even MTV doesn't show videos no more. Everybody's award shows or, you know, once in a blue moon now I feel like they're the big ones that always happen every year. And then there are the ones that used to happen every year and they go sometimes and they might come back or they randomly pop up and we just don't know. So R B music, somebody like Fantasia, who is, you know, started on TV during that, like, big fandom, that craze, I do see that. I do feel like there should have been a trajectory where she's, like, deeply embedded in Hollywood. Even if she's just always on the carpet, not even doing TV or putting out new music. She's just always around. But it's like, why hasn't that happened? Like, I don't know either.

[Dustin Ross]

But that's interesting too, probably, you know what I'm saying? Going to. Going on carpets, getting glammed up, all that kind of shit. And if you ain't got nothing to promote. But that's our kind. That's what we're saying, though, is she should have something to promote. Fantasia's too talented not to have opportunity. That's why I was so excited about. All jokes aside, that's why I was so excited when she got the Color Purple. Cause I really thought that she was gonna be able to use that as a springboard into, like, a multitude of opportun in whatever medium of entertainment she wanted. And so Broadway. I've been wondering about that. Like a return to Broadway, you know, just like other areas, people were really talking about her positively, you know what I'm saying? She was in dead smack in the middle of the press cycle again. Just like she was at the level that she was when she was when she won American Idol, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, mainstream. So, like, I just. It's like, okay, we got it now. What's up? You know, what are we gonna do with it? And I just haven't seen anything else. And so now to hear that she's no longer gonna be producing new music, making new albums, I'm just like, well, what's up? You know what I'm saying? What does that mean is gonna happen next? I just wonder, especially in a world where, believe it or not, R B music is popular again, you know what I'm saying? Look at how Leon Thomas and Kehlani won them Grammys and shit. Duran just won a Grammy. Like, people are talking about R and B again. Coco Jones, you know, several artists, you know. And so the conversation is happening. Brandi and all these artists are touring. She said she was still gonna tour, but I just don't want to count Fantasia out just yet.

[Francesca]

Has she still shouldn't be. She's a phenomenal Talent. So I understand. But I also understand the back. Yes. Like, a lot. It makes you not even want to sing. How much you got to deal with. It makes you not even have the energy to be in no booth when you got to deal with all the politics. You know what I mean? You just don't even care no more. So I'm sure that has a lot to do. Who knows what that woman has been through in the industry on the back end with producers and executives and everybody telling you this and that, and it's like, even her own dad. Wasn't her dad talking smack. We don't know whose side was. True. But even the fact that your dad is talking, you know, it's like. It's just a lot, I guess. Yeah.

[Asante]

One thing about the music game, too. Those. The way that it's been held, nothing has been appropriately passed on. Like, I feel like there's. There hasn't been, like, appropriate passing of batons, whether it be, like, management or, like, I feel like back in the day, there used to be, like, a thing where it was like, you know, these people are going to represent, you know, these artists or, you know, like, if those people would have brought some other people in the game or something like that, I feel like it would have given us something to look forward to, like, if we were like, all right, this is XYZ's protege. You know, they had artists, so I wonder what they got coming up, too. Like, that would have been so amazing to see just, like, new levels of things, like, expanding, but because people wanted to just be, like, the only one, or they didn't want to share their sauce because the industry is so, so vicious. It just. No one's surviving now. And I feel like everyone's doing what they can to, you know, get what they have. But I feel like the only players that really change and, like, help are those people, like, around the industry. Like, I love when we go to events and we have those people that, you know, do stuff for us as a podcast, whether they're doing, you know, artist activation for other type of entertainers. I feel like those people are the ones that help, like, Catapult. And then people like us, we help Catapult, but we can only do so much when the industry so, so big. But I hope someone's listening and they got some money to put behind Fantasia. You know, Candy be doing her thing on Broadway. You know, next project, you know, call Fantasia or something for it. Like, I just feel like there are new avenues that. That build as these new people grow. Up. So for those listening, when y' all get in these positions, remember these artists that are around, okay? We do love fresh talent, but remember, there are some great artists that are still here that. That still have a lot to offer,

[Dustin Ross]

and these rappers and that are making music right now. Y' all need to be reaching back and using these talented singers for sa. For hooks, all that. Like, there's no reason. Like, if you sample a song, put Fantasia on and singing that. Sam singing over the sample. You know what I'm saying? So dope. You know what I'm saying? Like, I just. I hate to hear Fantasia say that. And she said it like she was sad about it. I don't know that. I'm just guessing based on the way her voice sounded when she said, sure she is.

[Francesca]

Yeah.

[Dustin Ross]

So if I was a rapper, I

[Asante]

was simple, hyper, pathetically, but I would take Fantasia and life on the road again. Maybe. Well, maybe not life. I don't know. But Fantasia for sure. I need her to, like, do her part.

[Dustin Ross]

I love that song too. Okay, let's go into an idiot. Let's go through the idiot circuit.

[Asante]

Talk about Taylor. Taylor. Mormon wives. Okay?

[Dustin Ross]

That's white people's mess. So this guy, his name is Jaden Ivey. He is a. Well, he was a basketball player for the Chicago Bulls.

[Asante]

Yikes.

[Dustin Ross]

And he recently got released from the Chicago Bulls because of comments that he made about the NBA celebrating Pride Night. Let's take a listen. Yup. Let's take a listen to what Jaden Ivy had to say about Pride Night.

[Francesca]

Is he a big player the world

[Dustin Ross]

can proclaim lgbtq, Right? They have. They have. They proclaim Pride Month in the NBA. They proclaim it. They. They show it to the world. They say, come, come, come join us for Pride. Pride. For Pride Month. To celebrate unrighteousness. They proclaim it. They proclaim it on the billboards. They proclaim it in the streets. Unrighteousness. So how is it that. That one can't speak righteousness? How is it one that. How. How are they to say that?

[Asante]

You.

[Dustin Ross]

You. Man, this man is crazy. You are crazy. You are crazy. That's the thing. And beyond that, this is what really, like, throws me for a loop. Why does everybody start speaking Shakespearean when they go to. When they start talking about biblical stuff?

[Asante]

Because where did righteousness come from when

[Dustin Ross]

you first get into your bag as a new Christian and shit? Why Listen to them? So how can they say that? One cannot. What do you mean, that one.

[Asante]

They proclaim it in the streets.

[Dustin Ross]

They're Right. They're proclaiming. Being celebrate pride.

[Asante]

Yes, they proclaim Pride Month.

[Dustin Ross]

Exactly what they're doing. Like, what are you talking.

[Asante]

The NBA is an organization, an association. They just want the money.

[Dustin Ross]

They don't even care about the gays. What you talking about? What you talking. What are you talking about? Nobody. He's young friend. He's only like. He's married. His wife. I haven't seen a picture of his wife. But he's a very Christian faith led young man and his wife, Caitlyn. C A I T L, Y N. So got you. And they have a daughter. But he got released. They got his ass up out of there. And that's the thing. Have your views, have your. You are 100 entitled to have whatever kind of faith you want to have. But don't nobody want to hear that. You know what I'm saying? Once you start doing all that casting judgment and all of that, you know, being holier than thou and all of that other shit and having something to say about stuff that doesn't have anything to do with you. If you're not a fad, get out the gay. Okay, well, you don't have nothing to do with that. You shouldn't even be concerned about the NBA having a pride celebration. It's one moment, that's it.

[Asante]

No one has. Attaching yourself to it.

[Dustin Ross]

Right? Like, what the fuck? Bounce a ball shooter. Who. That's all you got to be worried about. You don't need to be even concerning yourself with this shit. You supposed to be practicing. No damn problem now because I've seen them stats. That's his problem now, you know what I'm saying? I just. To me, the religious grandstanding, the moral grandstanding of it all is just really tired. Yeah, either I'm tired because I'm getting old. So I'm just sick of it. They've been doing it my whole damn life, you know what I'm saying? People been doing shit like this. What is it to you and your young dumb ass. Ain't even seen nothing yet. You ain't even been through nothing. Like my aunt and them used to say, you still yellow. Okay? You ain't even been through nothing yet. Talking about why one. One cannot do righteousness. Spell it because I doubt you'll make it through a third of the word. Exactly. So I didn't like what he had to say. The Chicago Bulls didn't like what he had to say and they waved his ass.

[Francesca]

Wow.

[Dustin Ross]

Really AI V E D and stamped. Gone out of here. Figure it out somewhere Else Chicago ain't having that. All them problems people in Chicago been having, they just. All that terror they've been going through. You think they trying to hear that bullshit right now? No, get the out of here with all that. Take it to church.

[Francesca]

So the way people pick and choose, the righteousness they want to focus on, right?

[Dustin Ross]

Oh my God.

[Francesca]

To me.

[Dustin Ross]

Oh my God, you know, be trying to question you.

[Asante]

It's like, I don't have the question. It's you. So you need to continue walking me, right?

[Dustin Ross]

Well, I know you play a. Play with a ball, but damn, you got to be on minds, you know what I'm saying? Like, what is the problem? What I just don't understand when it comes to these fanatical, you know, religious zealots, you know what I'm saying? I don't understand why they are so hell bent on terrorizing gay people and trans people, right? Of all of the sins, of all of the things that they deem to be sins. It's just like those two things are just the, the worst that you can be when it comes to them. And they go out of their way to smell it, sniff it out, find it. They're curious, they want to know about it and, and, and all of those things and they hate it and swear. You about to do something today, ass. What does anything about the way that I have sex have to do with that little boy? What? Nothing. You supposed to be living your dreams. You playing a sport that you supposed to to love. You're getting paid well to do it. You should be a happy person. And I don't believe. Now this is totally a dusting statement. This is just me talking. I don't believe that anything godly is supposed to make you negative and hateful like that. That's not godly to me. Ain't nothing about a focus on negativity and a focus on just things that are not godly. That, that's not godly to me. Why is that even your fault? Why is that your messaging? Why is that your. Your focus? All of that shit. And I don't want to hear that. I wish he was in front of me with a plate of food so I could hit the bottom side of it up in the air like that. That's what I want to do to him. You know what I'm saying? I'm tired of people like that. And he's so young and just dumb and stupid. I'm gonna tell you another young, dumb stupid that needs to shut the up Swae Lee from oh, God what's your name? Ray Shimmer. Okay. I saw him if he just. He's. He's been around. He's been doing some ads with Chipotle, some new music out. I was happy to see him. I didn't know that he had gone on all these rants previously telling people not to vote for Kamala Harris.

[Francesca]

What?

[Dustin Ross]

And they asked him about it in a recent interview which I didn't even know that he had said none of that. But they I don't even think I did. But they if I did, I blacked it out and him because I actually hadn't thought about him until I seen that Chipotle commercial recently. And I was like huh, the mannequin challenge. How them little niggas know? But they asked him about it and in recent interview and he was like, well, at the time, you know, I didn't. I was hearing some things and I like seeing about the children sexualizing children or whatever. What a that makes song about. Makes songs about and hoes and all that stuff. You talking about something about Kamala Harris and sexualizing children and all this other.

[Francesca]

What is talking about? Shut the up and help me out out here. I can't worried about children being sexualized. So you voted for Trump because two

[Asante]

plus two is six.

[Francesca]

What?

[Dustin Ross]

And like Cardi B said your favorite color is 5. So like you have to be like at a point. What. What did old girl say? When do. When do it become

[Francesca]

like I die when Carrie tweets that?

[Dustin Ross]

Because shout out to my Carrie man,

[Francesca]

Gary, I love you. You are so.

[Asante]

Yes.

[Dustin Ross]

I just don't understand like, like why are these people talking? Welcome to the friends.

[Francesca]

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[Francesca]

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[Dustin Ross]

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[Francesca]

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[Dustin Ross]

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[Francesca]

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[Dustin Ross]

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[Francesca]

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[Dustin Ross]

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[Francesca]

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[Dustin Ross]

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[Dustin Ross]

one thing about me. I know I don't know something right when I don't have the knowledge I know. And that's why you don't hear me talking about that I don't know about. At least learn before I form an opinion on something. I'm older than them little so you know, maybe that's something that come with time. But no. Damn. Even when I was young I didn't want to just sometimes, you know.

[Asante]

Sometimes you know and you ain't even got to say nothing.

[Francesca]

And that's okay too.

[Dustin Ross]

In this case they was flat out wrong, you know what I'm saying? So shut up because you're going to eat those words, you know what I'm saying? And it's not going to taste good. What Biggie say make my name taste like ass when you speak it.

[Francesca]

My thing is I heard some things so. You didn't even hear it yourself. You didn't hear her say it. You didn't look it up. Like the critical thinking. Right? These are the critical thinkers. Supposedly. I'm a critical thinker.

[Dustin Ross]

Yeah, I don't. I don't just go with group think. Yeah, you need to start having conversations with people about thinking. That's exactly what your ass need to do. So anyway, there's that with him. Let's go on to another idiot. Okay, there's a judge. We're going to get this.

[Francesca]

Oh God. If this is who I think think it is.

[Dustin Ross]

Judge Florida Judge, might I add, I don't know what the be going on. It's like Florida is a playground state for up ass people. It's like if you a piece of move to rural or central Florida, you know what I'm saying?

[Francesca]

And just we joke. But for real, I want to know what it is.

[Dustin Ross]

There's a heavy concentration of people in Florida that are really rotten. I don't know what it is.

[Francesca]

Do they have more like chemical plants down there or something like we need to look into this.

[Dustin Ross]

I don't know what it is. I don't know because everybody I know from Miami I love. But the red. The rest of these people is, you know, it's just getting more harder to. Anyway, this Florida judge, Johnny Jordan iii, is facing a public reprimand after he made several racially insensitive remarks, one of which was asking a black woman if she had ever chopped cotton before.

[Francesca]

Oh, this is a different judge. What is this?

[Dustin Ross]

So scary. According to law and crime, right? Which shout out to law and crime. He urged a black man. Excuse me. That he asked if he had ever chopped down cotton before. He basically had already been called to the carpet for his behavior, telling public defenders in the court, he's from the Orlando area. He was telling court, public defenders in the court to shut up and I'm not listening to you. He had been reported for several different things. One of the last straws that broke the camel's back was he asked this man that was facing sentencing for something. You ever worked on a farm before, chop that cotton down. You know what that is? That'll straighten you out. That'll straighten you out. That's what he said. Chop that cotton down.

[Francesca]

And this is a judge, Florida judge?

[Dustin Ross]

Yep. Yes. What I have to say about this right here, white racist motherfuckers, right? That. Oh, by the way, he insists that he's not a racist and that he doesn't make rulings or decisions improperly based on race. And the commission has no evidence that such has occurred. By the way, they investigated him for these statements or whatever and said that the remarks were inappropriate, especially in the light of the historically demeaning stereotype associating black people with picking cotton, which was a read low key. Y' all didn't have to break it down like that to let us know you understood. You just wanted to say them words. But Jordan apparently agreed with the commission that his remarks were ill considered. And he said it was the first time that he had ever used the term chopping cotton in the courtroom. He insists that he's not a racist, blah, blah, blah. And so he's not being removed from office. And he also wanted to let them know that Florida A and M University, which we know is a hbcu, had invited him to join the School Laws, the school's law Advisory committee. Now, that's not surprising because we always know that a lot of these black colleges have often had Republican politicians come and speak at commencements, all of them niggas. And everybody's always up in arms about it. Staff has walked out, got up and turned their backs, all that kind of shit. And what a way to pull the I have black friends card. Right? That's literally what that is. Why do the. But the cotton picking part is what I want to focus on for just a second. Why do these people that. These racists that love racism and shit like that, they love the old tenets of it, the old. Just. Just the old ways. Remember that motherfucker that ran for governor in Alabama and rode a horse to the polls during that Trump shit? You know what I'm saying? Shit like that. Why you want to ride a horse? Horse? And. And. And you know what I'm saying?

[Francesca]

There's no modern, more modern races.

[Dustin Ross]

There's no. You all are obsessed. You just want to cosplay as if you were in those stories that you've read, you know what I'm saying? About the times back in the day. And that is so weird to me and sick. It's like they specifically want to do that. I don't know. It's just crazy to me. And his old ass gonna get just what he looking for because people not having it. You see the story that made its way all the way way up here and things are being done. Those public defenders that he told to shut up, they've been complaining that they were treated unfairly and rushed. And they've been alleging that he's been raising his voice and like I said, telling them to shut up and shit. So they're filing reports on him and, you know, hopefully the ax is going to drop down on him. But he down there telling people that they can pick cotton and that'll straighten them out for a couple of years. Couple of years. And you can't say nothing back because he's the judge.

[Francesca]

Right? That's the scary.

[Dustin Ross]

So what do you do? Horrible.

[Francesca]

I thought you were talking about. You seen the judge that the it. The black IT dude came to his desk to try to help him figure out something that was wrong with his computer. And when the IT dude Realized like it was nothing. And he was like all false alarm. The judge was like, get out of my courtroom. And called him disrespectful and was talking to him so crazy. Just because the IT dude was back and said false alarm. Like it. It triggered the judge so crazy. He went nuts on him. Were like, this is weird. So they started looking into him. And it's the same thing. He talks to people crazy like, you know, and I thought that's who you were about to bring up because the video was so strange.

[Dustin Ross]

Very strange. Judges, we all know the judicial system has been infiltrated by people. People who have agendas, who have, you know, y' all know the game. We've seen all the radio for sure. They're purposely infiltrating these systems. And so when they basically lose their poker face and just behave like this, it's always like, whoa, right?

[Francesca]

Like, what are you cracks? Yeah.

[Dustin Ross]

This is crazy. They get to. They usually be drunks and. Or drug users. So a lot of times they just stop giving a fuck and stop trying to pretend they so high and drunk out their minds on pills and shit in the bench that they just start being sloppy and do shit like this. And every time it results in a car wreck, anything. Look how Tiger woods ass. This ain't even on my script for today, but look how Tiger woods ass. Then tow up another car in Florida. Got another damn ticket. Okay? Another damn dui. He's going with. Is he married to that lady that was married to the Trump son or are they just dating? I can't remember. But he's going with.

[Francesca]

It's his medication. It wasn't liquor. Some.

[Dustin Ross]

Mind you, he's in the picture with swollen red eyes, looking drunk as a skunk, looking like it smells like a distillery in the goddamn pictures from the. The accident. So Tiger Wood, y'. All. Tiger. Tiger Wood, y'. All. Next up on the list. Let me see. We got time for one more, but it's a good one. We're going to take a little bit of a deep dive. I know y' all seen the headlines that have been circulating the past few days about Chili from tlc. If you haven't seen the headlines, talk about it. So recently, Chili from TLC reposted a meme that was making disparaging false comments about Michelle Obama being a man and having went and voted as a man. It was a horrible, nasty, ridiculous, you know what I'm saying? Tied into some of those right wing, ultra conservative Christian nationalist talking points. Chili reposted it. Of course, people Saw that started being on her ass. And then they went through the list of people that she follows. She follows Donald, all the Trumps. She just unfollowed Donald Trump, I think yesterday. But she still. Tommy Lyon. Exactly. One of the Twitter accounts was like, nigga, do you know, we can see you here. But anyway, so all of that comes out. Then it's also reported, according to, you know, public records, her history as far as the campaign donations that she's made, it was in the teens, the number of donations to Win Red, which is a Republican political organization, the Trump Organization. All of these donations, Right, Right. I mean, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom listed, right. She goes on to the Internet after all of that backlash. Because we all know that tlc, Salt and Pepper and En Vogue just announced a multi city tour, huge tour.

[Francesca]

Oh, no.

[Dustin Ross]

Like a week ago.

[Francesca]

No.

[Asante]

Yes.

[Dustin Ross]

They just did. Salt and Pepper was just all on the. They was on Tamron Hall, I believe it was one of the shows. They've been all over doing the press, you know. So Pepper just was inducted into the Rock and Roll hall of Fame.

[Francesca]

So that was a big moment for them.

[Dustin Ross]

They just pieced it up with Spinderella. So they got their business together now and they were about to do a huge tour with En Vogue and tlc. All of this comes out. Chilli goes onto the Internet, right? And she makes a statement. She posts this, this meme right here, okay? And it says, I want to be clear. I am not MAGA and do not support any of the many policies that are causing great harm to the American people. I made a mistake too many make. I did not read the fine print. I thought I was supporting causes against human trafficking and for veterans. Two things I care deeply about as my dad is a veteran and everyone knows I love children. That's the best you could come up with? Anyway, I have learned a valuable lesson and asked for grace as I navigate this. Love Chili. No. So then I want you guys to hear this other lie she told and then we're going to break down the lies.

[Francesca]

Wait, but what is she saying? She didn't read the fine print. In regards to.

[Dustin Ross]

In regards to the campaign contributions that she sent to Trump.

[Francesca]

Right.

[Dustin Ross]

And when in red. What fine print?

[Francesca]

You really think we're that dumb? This wasn't a charity org that you sent it to that have to do with veterans or children. So help us understand how you didn't talk about.

[Dustin Ross]

So here's what chili. Here's a portion of what Chili had to say.

[Francesca]

Let me say this first.

[Dustin Ross]

I have the utmost respect and admiration for Michelle Obama. And I would never say or anything that is disrespectful to her or to any woman. We're going to stop right there. Number one, in order for you to repost that shit, that meant you was looking at it in the first place. Why would you even on that account, on any account that would be sharing anything as filthy and fake as that. So that's strike one, you're lying. Number two, you're talking about you would never do anything or say anything to any woman like that. I'd like to direct your attention to exhibit A. When she told their fan that they don't look alike, okay? So she never would say to no woman or any woman like that back in this is 2019, you know what I'm saying? It was a fan on Twitter like that said, I get I look like Chili a lot. What y' all think Chili call her? Quote, long, long straight slash wavy hair in similar skin tone. Don't mean you look like someone, you're a doll. But we don't look alike. That wasn't nice to another woman. That don't sound nice to another woman, you know what I'm saying? Mind you, everybody all like telling the girl, oh, you beautiful people. That was mean and cashed. I was like, girl, you pretty as hell to the girl, you know what I'm saying? People was making her feel good because Chili had just been so cold and

[Francesca]

for what, why and for what?

[Dustin Ross]

That's another one. Now she always talking about she wouldn't do that to no other woman or whatever. Okay, what about this right back in 2024, when she corrected that friend who said, that fan who said she was chocolate, she had made a post, Instagram video or whatever and somebody said something about, oh, they said she had made a post with that white boy, Matthew, the actor that she's dating now or whatever, right? Matthew Lawrence. She had posted a picture with them. A commenter said, okay, Matthew, he got some chocolate. Now he got the moves I approve. She responded back, caramel.

[Francesca]

Oh, oh.

[Dustin Ross]

What? And so then somebody said, somebody responded to that like, you wanna be light skinned so bad, sis, you're brown skin like chocolate, it's okay. She responded to all of that, chocolate is beautiful. Also never said it wasn't. But without a tan, I'm caramel. What's the hymn in being truthful? Good grief. Always negative, always going back and forth, firing with fans. Now let's get back into the lies she told so we could break em down a little more. I had no clue that this repost had happened until I started getting phone calls and text messages from everybody. And I immediately went to my page

[Francesca]

to see what was going on.

[Dustin Ross]

Now, mind you, I'm not very computer savvy, so I'm looking for this repost button and I see that all of them, all of these buttons are very,

[Francesca]

very close to each other.

[Dustin Ross]

And clearly I was scrolling and my thumb hit the repost button again. I had no clue that something like this happened until I got all the calls. But of course I took that down. And you know, I would never post anything like that.

[Francesca]

I would never do something like that.

[Dustin Ross]

That is not my character. Lie. Let's talk about her character.

[Asante]

You got caught red handed, Chili.

[Francesca]

Now, I will say this. I have to be honest. I don't think she meant to repost that. I really don't. I don't think she's that stupid. Like, even if she agrees with it. And let's talk about how algorithms work, right? That means that's the type of content you engage with. Because I wouldn't even have a meme about. I've never had none of that pop up because it's not content I look for in search bars. I don't save them with the bookmarks. You know, all the secretive ways that people engage with that type of content

[Asante]

to be able to show up.

[Francesca]

It doesn't show up. So. So she. I do think that she does agree with a lot of these points. I do also feel like I've had times where I've reposted some shit by accident and it'll be, you know, just some silly comedian, like, nothing crazy. But then I'll go back like, what the. I did not mean to post that. And it does happen, especially as you're older, you clicking and the buttons are mad sensitive. The little repost button, you could be trying to like it and end up reposting someone's.

[Dustin Ross]

I've done it too. But it wasn't that. And that's the point. The point is.

[Francesca]

No, but that's what I mean. I don't think. I don't think she reposted it purposely. I do think she secretly does agree with those, especially considering who she's following, the people that she's donated to and that it being the content that's aggregated.

[Dustin Ross]

Yeah. And if she would have been able to get away with reposting it without shame, she would have. She just did it on accident. You're right.

[Francesca]

Well, yeah, that I agree with. She could post that without pushback or,

[Dustin Ross]

you know, she would have a timeline full of that shit. Example a few years ago when she was being asked, this is back in 2017, I think, when she was being asked about the Black Lives Matter movement by that UK journalist, it was a UK journalist named Jasmine Dotywalla, I believe is how you say her last name. And she asked him about, you know, the Black Lives Matter movements impacts in the United States and in the uk. And Chili's response was, well, I personally didn't go into any marches or anything like that, but for me, you know, all lives matter. You know what I mean? Y' all don't remember that she was very All Lives Matter. She did that, said that the rest of the quote says, because there is a time when different groups are targeted for different things. You know what I'm saying? So I just think that just the whole what happened, police brutality against these young black boys, all of that kind of stuff is wrong. Even if it was a Caucasian teen kid that this was happening to or whatever, right?

[Francesca]

Especially when someone says all of that type of stuff. Girl,

[Dustin Ross]

why are you talking about what's not your character, Chili? And the thing about about it is this. Feel how you want to feel, do whatever you want to do, support who you want to support. But right now, aligning yourself to that shit makes a statement about who you are. That's just the reality of it. You can't get a. You can't, you know, my choice for my vote, your way out of this you will fully support in these kind of actions is telling, you know what I'm saying, you're entitled to do it,

[Francesca]

but it's telling you at this point.

[Dustin Ross]

And so when you do that, you don't. You don't then get to hide about it, sneak about it and pretend not to be like that. Flat out lie and say you're not maga. That's what her post said. When we see she's donated all this shit she's been talking, talking points, all of that just so that you can sell concert tickets to black women, right? Who that same organization that you are so loving and insecure support of, have completely disenfranchised. Let's talk about all the black women that lost their jobs working for the government thanks to them dumbass white doge boys that sat there flippantly in those depositions a couple weeks ago. Them the same women that's gonna find you, scrounge up whatever kind of money they can find to go buy tickets to hear your ass sing. No scrubs and Baggy jeans. That's not fair. You don't get to do that. You don't get to pretend to do all. And then why? Why should I buy a ticket to that concert so you can give the money to Donald Trump, Right? I'm not donating to that, so I'm not supporting you doing it. You don't get to double dip, take your ass over there and perform at that Kid Rock Festival or with the rest of the motherfucking MAGA people going over there with Nikki and them at Turning Point usa perform for them. Don't. You don't get to double dip over here because the same people that you're asking to support you and make sure you got food in your mouth and you make sure that you not. Right back in the. That RAV4 from that first bad deal, those are the people that are harmed by these policies that you've been donating money to. And lying about, lying about is not just Chili. There's Big boy from fucking outkast. He's a Trump supporter. Walk across the flame, Dawn Robinson from En Vogue. You know what I'm saying? All of them Dababy, all of them. Of them motherfuckers, all of them. I'm not personally putting my dollars behind none of their ass because I don't want to support none of these things that are going on right now. And it's just that simple. So I just want people to be aware that that's going on before we, you know, we. Our audience is supportive and we believe in. Our audience supports people that they fuck with and that they want to enjoy their art. I want our audience to be aware of who they support. And if you choose to go have your fun, whatever. But just you should know up front, you know what I'm saying? So that's the service we're providing here.

[Francesca]

And I agree. That's like when I was talking to Budgenissa about ethical investing. Right. What is our money funding? And I don't think it's any different when it comes to artists and us funding their tours. And like you said, what are they funding?

[Asante]

Right?

[Dustin Ross]

Yeah.

[Francesca]

What's their millions contributing towards? Because a lot of celebs do push behind politicians and support their campaigns, whether secretly or not. So definitely adding that to the docket as far as auditing where your money's going. For sure.

[Dustin Ross]

That's right. So good luck with that. And salt made it worse. Salt from salt and pepper made it worse.

[Francesca]

Oh, my gosh.

[Dustin Ross]

Coming out with a statement. Hold your head up, Queen. And if Somebody don't want to come miss the show that's on them. Okay. Has very conservative views. Very. You know, she wouldn't even perform some of them salt and pepper songs for a long time because of the. Her Christian faith or whatever. She's been very faith. So. So who knows. I've never heard her say anything MAGA or whatever. But that line gets really, really blurry when you start talking about faith based, you know, ideology. And then the Republican maga, that can very easily overlap. So her support to me too, you know.

[Francesca]

But how you religious was supporting Trump, even the way he speaks, his track record. It's like I'm not. Not understanding the connection there for people

[Dustin Ross]

because they hate gay people.

[Francesca]

It really just comes to that. Literally just that simple.

[Dustin Ross]

You. But they will betray their blackness to spite gay shit. Gay. Like you'll vote for Donald Trump who just put a gorilla on the face of the Obamas and lied and told you motherfuckers. It was what you saw. And y' all will support that because you hate gay people that much. That's deep. And I ain't. I'm aware. I know the world I'm walking out into every day. I know that's what time a lot of these be all smiling in my face.

[Francesca]

They raised in listing age to 42. We would what we. We were on a walk and my partner was like, everyone who voted for Trump should be on the front line.

[Dustin Ross]

Everybody.

[Francesca]

He was like, support your president. If you voted for Trump, you should be the ultimate patriot. You should be drafted. There shouldn't even be an enlisting instantly.

[Dustin Ross]

Support the president with the same vigor. And that you had to go join ice. To me, them knew how. Because there were people who were working for ICE itself before it turned into what it is now.

[Francesca]

Right? Right.

[Dustin Ross]

So not everybody that's working for that arm of the government is a bad person. Okay. Clear. However, those. Those of you who are new hires at ICE and join just to make these mass deportations happen and enact harm on these people that you have had in the most vulnerable, vulnerable positions. You don't get get to play Call of Duty in real life anymore. Take your ass right over there to Iran and go right to the front lines. Y' all should be the first pool, okay. Of. Of people. Of people who they select to go over to war. It should be you. You want to do it. You want to carry the guns and be a vigilante and live out your dreams of this. That's why none of them can't last three seconds in Combat. They always falling over after. Every time they kill somebody, they turn around looking exhaust. Every time.

[Francesca]

Right?

[Dustin Ross]

All right, Good job. That's what they do. Out of breath, out of shape. Legs bad. You see them all the time. Send their asses over there, put them in the front. I'm with your partner on this. Yeah, send them over there and put them in the front.

[Francesca]

I agree. We were walking down the street going, support your president. Support your president.

[Dustin Ross]

Surely you get your ass over there too.

[Francesca]

Yeah.

[Dustin Ross]

Going over to Iran Chili, since you with it, take your ass on over there and do that.

[Francesca]

I really believe that wholeheartedly.

[Dustin Ross]

So I know. Salt and pepper pissed. I know. In Vogue pissed too.

[Francesca]

To do this before. I didn't realize they were about to embark on a tour.

[Asante]

Actually before this came out, so much promo they had.

[Dustin Ross]

They shot all these promo videos, like original videos.

[Francesca]

And for it. I just saw them on the iHeart. Is it the Iheart Awards? A clip popped up on. On my YouTube and it was them performing the three groups. And I was like, oh, this is kind of random. It felt random because they did each other's songs and they were on stage together.

[Dustin Ross]

But I didn't realize.

[Francesca]

Right. I didn't realize this was prepped for a tour. Girl, your timing. But you know what? That's how life works, right? They say the you do in secret is going to bite you in the ass at some point.

[Dustin Ross]

Point.

[Francesca]

And this is that to me, right? You want to support these things with your hidden hands. Now your tour may be like, that's just how life works.

[Dustin Ross]

You should have seen the donations list too, because you know, they use their government name. So every donation is Thomas Come a Rozonda, Sandy Springs, Georgia. I'm like, she really was donating her ass off to these goddamn things. Like. Like, damn, you really just.

[Francesca]

And then veterans and kids and.

[Dustin Ross]

And then friend the messaging. Because everyone knows I love children.

[Francesca]

The two. First of all, veterans are the way our government treats veterans. You feel donated. That's killing me. That's what's like. It's like the two worst.

[Dustin Ross]

Taking every they have taken. They have literally, literally ripped through the va. Ripped through the VA with that doe. Ripped benefits from people up people's medicine up people's care. Veterans are dying. You see how they just broke the veteran's arm? Remember a couple months ago veterans arm.

[Francesca]

Yep.

[Dustin Ross]

And didn't kill dragging him out. But you support that. He supports that, y'. All. It's just like I seen them two other dickheads. Y' all getting some too nasty ass Amber Rose and Skeet Nast. Nick Cannon. Did you see that? They was in the. They was riding around in a car talking about how they both have really conservative views. She's just a little bit more outspoken with hers and him. But you know, Trump, he getting the job done. I like how he cleaning house. You know what I'm saying, Trump? This is Nick Cannon and talking. You know, Trump, you know what I'm saying? He. He charging $5 million, like, bottle service to get in the club. You know, I'm. You know, the way he doing it. This is Nick Cannon as him and Amber Rose are riding around la, and he says to her, you know, me and you both, we share pretty conservative views. Let's stop right there. Amber Rose. Amber Rose, whose life is what it is. She literally used to have a defining event for her brand called the Slut Walk annually.

[Asante]

And even the way she discusses how she separated herself from that event, she was like, I found out that bitches ain't shit, and you can't trust bitches. It's like, whoa, what?

[Dustin Ross]

Conservative sounds really conservative. Then we have Nick Cannon, who has 12 kids by six women.

[Francesca]

I don't even.

[Dustin Ross]

Not married to none of them, divorced from one of them. And y' all have conservative views. No, you don't. You motherfuckers do whatever you want to do, and you just have conservative views about what others do. That's what you have conservative views about. Amber Rose is a hoe, and so is Nick Cannon.

[Francesca]

They do have a lot of hoes,

[Dustin Ross]

you know what I'm saying? Riding around in a car. And in that same. Same conversation, they both said that white people should be able to say, okay, but my thing is. Well, then let them call y'. All. Let them call y' all one. Cause you call me one, you gonna die about it. So let. Let them call y'. All. Call y' all. All the niggas y' all want. Fine. Don't say it to me. That's where I'm at with it. So I just wanted to stamp the idiot stamp on all of those people. And I think it is, My God. Coincidental, right, that all of these black, black MAGA people are being exposed. Tristan Thompson just did an interview the other day talking about how he really liked what Donald Trump has been done for the country. He's doing good for the country. And talking about immigration policies. Talking about immigration policies. Tristan Thompson's stupid ass talking about immigration policies. And didn't even. He couldn't even finish his articulating his thought. He just Stop. I think that's the right way to do it. I think you just need to be fair. What? You're a idiot. And so for you to be saying you made a decision about how you feel about something when you don't even know what the you're talking about is so problematic. So problematic. Because dummies like Sway Lee will see that and be like, see, I knew it. That's why. So I'd like to use that section, of course. Close out the idiot half of our conversation of Hot Topics. And that's it for Hot Topics this week. You guys were caught up. Aren't you mad now?

[Francesca]

Exhausted, more like it. Talking about why do they all have the same talking points? Yeah. But nothing to support when you really try to dig deeper into why they have that position. That's the part that I don't get.

[Asante]

What's that meme y' all talk about with the two. Two people looking at each other? 2 dumb looking at each other.

[Francesca]

Exactly.

[Dustin Ross]

That's literally what that was. Nick Cannon and Amber Rose. I'm surprised he wasn't pregnant right in the car with his ass. You never know. You know what I'm saying? Like, that's all he's good for is having children and saying stupid. I know. Mariah seen that. It was like, I'm so happy.

[Francesca]

I know. She's so embarrassed.

[Dustin Ross]

I can't believe I have children.

[Francesca]

And like you said, this. This. This all has to do with how they feel about gay people. But also with wealthy people needing to protect their money. It's one or the other. That's really all it comes down to. Yeah. Follow the money. Who's gonna have me pay less taxes? Who's gonna support corporations? Like, it's. It's that or this. And we're seeing that. There's no empathy. There's. What a time to be alive.

[Dustin Ross]

Fuck them. That's why Chili always dressed like she finna break dance. That's why big boy always smelling like food and charcoal, leaning over that grill all the time. Fuck him. You know what I'm saying? Fuck all of these people. Man. I can't believe anybody would see the shit that's going on and understand how dangerous and how compromised we are as a country when it comes to, like, even just being safe right now. I can't believe anybody would understand that and then align themselves with that shit in anyway.

[Francesca]

That's what I don't get. It's that simple.

[Dustin Ross]

It's Remy. Where's Remy when we need her? Are you dumb? Are you dumb?

[Francesca]

But it's really that simple. And you can't sit here and act like you're unaware. I don't care how rich you are. And disconnected and in a silo, whatever the. Unless you're literally living under a rock, there's no way you're unaware of how the people are being affected 100%. So, like, I saw Funky D played this woman. She's not maga, but she's Republican. And now there's a whole movement now, apparently, where white women are, like, we're so apologetic. Yeah. Like, we didn't know. And the biggest thing is there we didn't know I was married and raising kids. I didn't know. You didn't know what?

[Asante]

That's even worse.

[Francesca]

Shut up. Like, that is so frustrating listening to this movement because it's like, why y' all acting like y' all didn't know?

[Dustin Ross]

You knew damn well is what you knew. And you just didn't know that it was going to end up tapping you on the shoulder. You thought you were saying. When anyone who has studied American history, world history, understands exactly what's going on, understands that a tap on one shoulder of a marginalized group is a ripple in the pool of everybody else. Once you tackle one, it's easier to tackle the. The rest. We also. You really have to be a dumbass in this particular administration because we literally had it written out as a plan called, hello, Project 2025. So you were literally told up front what the fuck could happen and was going to happen if they won. And by the book, even down to this shit with the TSA. Okay. I believe they said that's on page 159 of Project 2025. I believe that was the page number that referred to privatizing tsa. Okay. And putting ice in the motherfucking airport. All of this shit is in there. So you're really dumb and stupid to not know this information. Stupid. It's one thing to know and don't give a.

[Francesca]

And seeing things like, I'm privileged. They kept saying, I know I'm a privileged white woman. Let's stop right there.

[Dustin Ross]

Yeah. What the.

[Francesca]

Everything.

[Dustin Ross]

Why are you even cool saying that, Dustin?

[Asante]

You know, on Betty's, when final was like, you're not a victim. You're not a victim.

[Dustin Ross]

Yes. Those.

[Asante]

That. Those women right there, they're. Y' all aren't victims. We don't need to hear y' all stories. Y' all don't need to emotionally appeal something about the bullshit y' all done

[Dustin Ross]

put us in and I'm glad you feel bad. I hope you're not sleeping at night and I hope you suffer real shit. Because you knew what you was doing. You just didn't give a fuck. So the suffrage you wished on everybody else, I wish it on them times

[Asante]

y' all kids give y' all hell. Cause they gonna grow up looking at y' all like, what the fuck were y' all doing?

[Dustin Ross]

Me too. Because please don't, please believe it's a lot of kids who will be influenced by this and be dumb asses like them little nut jobs that they had running Doge. But it's a lot of other kids too. I just saw a group of kids where they were in Hawaii, I believe it was Waikiki. And this man, a man put on an ice costume and was harassing them. He wasn't even an ICE agent. He went up to them and was harassing them and they him up. Do you hear me? His ass up. And while in Hawaii, and they were outside protesting and he went up to them with them, you know what I'm saying? So it's a lot of young people that get it and, and, and, and this, this climate and the things that are happening feel off for them. They recognize that it's not right. And even if their parents. And a lot of times, you know how much you hate your parents when you're a teenager anyway. So a lot of these racist ass white people that are saying whatever they want to say in front of their kids, them kids are listening and they not agreeing with that shit. They live in a different world, you know what I'm saying? So thank God for them. A lot of these kids is all right, you know, so that's very true.

[Francesca]

I see that even out here.

[Dustin Ross]

And we all right now, our parents ain't prejudiced, you know what I'm saying? But like, we have since, you know what I mean? Like, so it's hope for people. There's hope for people, man. And with people like us using our voices in ways we can like on this show. And, and by the way that we live in our lives, you know what I'm saying? Hopefully that can touch other people and encourage them to get away from that shit. Because I is really dangerous and harmful to so many different people. And all of us, really, because we just wait. Y' all seen how much shit they've been talking over there on that Iran and in the news and shit about America, like, gosh, and the things we

[Francesca]

don't know because it's so censored out here.

[Dustin Ross]

Yeah. But what we do know is Christine ome husband is in the bimbofication. That's what your husband and on that you know that's right. That's it for this week's High button. Thank you.

[Francesca]

Let's jump. Let's jump into this week's segment.

[Dustin Ross]

Welcome to the Friends.

[Francesca]

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[Advertiser/Announcer]

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[Francesca]

Ask your doctor about evgliss and visit evgliss.lily.com or call 1-800-lilyrx or 1-800-545-5979. When I got a new car, I thought my insurance premium would increase and empty my bank account. Like if a tween won the lottery, bro. I bought a house and trampoline floors are getting installed today. But switching to Geico saved me hundreds. So my bank account is safe.

[Advertiser/Announcer]

It feels good to save hundreds.

[Dustin Ross]

It feels good to Geico.

[Francesca]

This week in Wellness. So, speaking of important cases and judges and trials, there was a case that caught my eye this week. I don't know if you guys had an opportunity to look into it, but a young woman by the name of Kaylee GM, she's a 20 year old woman from Chico, California. She sued Meta, Scott, Snapchat, YouTube and TikTok back in 2023. It's just now going to trial. She alleged that using social media at a young age led her to have mental health problems. Kaylee and her lawyers argue that the platforms hook young users with features such as endless scrolling autoplaying videos and the beauty filters that then cause body dysmorphia. And they felt, they alleged that this is interfering with the development of young kids in their minds. And she feels that these features have contributed greatly to her depression. I'm reading all of this from the Los Angeles times.

[Dustin Ross]

Okay.

[Francesca]

So TikTok and Snapchat settled ahead of trial. They was like that. But Meta and Google/YouTube moved forward with the trial. And after seven week trial, 40 plus hours, just last week, deliberation. Yep. A jury determined that Meta and google/YouTube were found liable for negligent platform design and failure to warn about the risks of addiction and mental health harms. Y'. All. Y' all want to talk about a landmark case?

[Dustin Ross]

Huge. The ramifications of that.

[Francesca]

What now?

[Dustin Ross]

A lot of everything.

[Francesca]

Yeah. And. And I actually halfway through prepping this wellness segment, I was like, this is a dang episode. I. Low key.

[Dustin Ross]

Yeah.

[Francesca]

Which because there's just so much.

[Dustin Ross]

We can come back to it.

[Francesca]

Yeah. We'll circle back maybe for My next episode, I'll actually talk about it in more detail because the way that I was reading the court details of how Meta and Google's lawyers handle this case, the things that they. About this young girl, you know how they play dirty. They dug into mental health files and medical records. I mean, they played so dirty. Exactly. Because they felt. Yeah, their. Their thing was that this is a user error, but I need y' all to see this. So the jury initially awarded $3 million in compensatory damages, with Meta found 70% responsible and Google YouTube found 30% responsible. But then there' punitive damages. And for those who are unaware, that's usually additional monetary penalties awarded to plaintiffs in cases intended to punish the defendants for exceptionally harmful, malicious, or fraudulent conduct.

[Dustin Ross]

And they serve a bigger number, right?

[Asante]

Yep.

[Dustin Ross]

Damages. Yeah.

[Francesca]

Right. They serve to deter the defendant or others from repeating similar dangerous behaviors. So she won 3 million initially, but after further deliberation, they brought in 3 more million dollars. So she got 6 million in total for this case. And Kaylee. Kaylee's case apparently is one of thousands that are pending, with two more cases on the docket for this year alone. They're calling this a bellwether trial. I looked that up because I was like, I've never heard of the term bellwether. And apparently it's a. It's a bibliography, biblical context. It's the lead sheep that's fitted with a bell which guides the flock and indicates its location to the shepherd. And so essentially, they're saying that this is a predictor or indicator of future trends.

[Dustin Ross]

Yep, absolutely.

[Francesca]

What?

[Dustin Ross]

Now that they got me thinking, well, damn.

[Francesca]

We were talking about it last night. Like, can we all sue? Technically,

[Dustin Ross]

I ain't mad.

[Asante]

Good.

[Francesca]

No.

[Dustin Ross]

People losing their lives for, like, that. We talk about that all the time on this show. How trends like the. I'll be making fun of this, but it's really something to be considered, like, if people are taking their lives and. Yeah, clean that up. It shouldn't even be at the. There shouldn't even be no risk of harm like that for people by using these damn services, especially children. Once people start dying, it's not funny no more like, that's not cool. You know what I'm saying?

[Asante]

And we're introducing all this new technology, so it's good that we're kind of like, taking this look back on some of this technology that's been around, that's been harmful, and it's like, hey, there's been something going on. So before we move on, let's make sure we, you know, have some things in play as we move into that.

[Francesca]

And I think that's what it comes down to, right? Creating more safeguards because technology is only evolving and their lawyer is a linear law firm. I thought that was so telling. They're the, the ones that representing Kaylee. And they issued. That's all I kept thinking. They said this verdict is bigger than one case. For years, social media companies have profited from targeting children while concealing their addictive and dangerous decision design. Excuse me, features. Today's verdict is a referendum. I love the use that word from a jury to an entire industry. That accountability has arrived. Thousands of individuals and families continue to litigate in the Los Angeles Superior Court and we will carry this fight forward on their behalf with the same commitment and determination that brought us to this verdict today. Of course, Meta and Google disagreed.

[Asante]

Of course they did.

[Francesca]

With the ruling arguing that that users, not the company, ultimately control how devices are used. I got this from the Daily Journal. And then he said, mind you, this ruling is following a New Mexico jury that just found meta liable for $375 million in damages after the state attorney general, Raul Torres, alleged that the platform's innate enabled predators and pedophiles to exploit children.

[Dustin Ross]

See a hero. That man is a hero.

[Francesca]

Raul Torres. He's the state attorney. State attorney general of New Mexico. See, and it says, you know, this market research company was saying that these verdicts mark an unsurprising breaking point that people are reaching. Right. He said that negative sentiment towards social media has been building for years and now, now it's finally starting to boil over. You know what it reminded me of? I actually looked it up. Remember we had an episode called Emotional Contagion. And this was on. I looked it up. This was January 31st of 2018 that we had an episode which blew my mind, okay. Where we discussed Meta manipulating users emotions with target targeted ads and posts based on that user's expressed emotion. So if you were posting things that was showing you were going through a harder time, they would post darker, more violent, more vile posts to come to your. To your feed as well as more ads because they know if you're sad, you're probably going to be spending more money. I mean, just really with people's heads is a lot of psychological abuse. And this is. And it's only getting worse, right? He bought Instagram. They like the young lady said the endless scrolling. I remember when Instagram used to say you're done for the day or whatever it would say, like you reached the

[Dustin Ross]

bottom of the new posts or whatever.

[Francesca]

No new posts, whatever. And now it really doesn't stop.

[Asante]

It's good. This happens to the right companies too, like these. These are the companies that, that are pushing forward technology and social media interaction. So while he's correct, yes, this depends on the users. This is your opportunity to get with the courts and get with the laws and be like, okay, what do we need to do to map this out so it's safe for everybody? And then get with the people, whether it's the parents and schools, education, and be like, all right, we still want to have this accessibility. How can we all, you know, allow this in our classrooms? How can we allow this at home? How can we, you know, how can these things be utilized? Utilized to where they're not, you know, over policing? You know, parents don't feel like, all right, I have to check in on my child because you're giving them free access to do xyz. All right, well, we're only giving them free access on, you know, this, this part of the, the entertainment. An adult actually has to access this for them to be able to do anything else. Like these things, these kids, they have so much access because they're just given technology and told, like, you know, like, all right, you know, leave me alone for an hour. And I get it. The world is super stressful. So I don't feel like these companies need to go family by family and pay them 20 million each. But that's why they need to get in front of this now. So y. Y' all going to have to pay whoever is stepping up, because everybody has been affected. Everybody. Whether, even if you don't spend that much time on the phone, you've been on the phone enough to know sometimes you don't want to be there, or sometimes you've been on the phone long enough to know you don't want to be there. But you can't stop. You can't get out of it. So they need to do something about this now or else they going to end up getting bankrupt. Bankrupted long term. Because with these new robots in your house, too, once the robots start learning, robots start learning your behaviors and all of that. And now the robots are suggesting the wrong thing. Like, I feel bad, I don't want to bring up the story, but, like, you know, the car, the car recall, I don't know if y' all seen that because y' all know I've been looking at cars. Hyundai, they had a car recall because a child got trapped in the Seat. The technology was supposed to just easily fall, fold away the seat. But there's a video of a woman put up on YouTube where she put, I don't remember what she put in the seat, but she recorded the seat folding and how that just like claps down on your ass.

[Francesca]

Oh my God. Can you imagine?

[Asante]

It happened to a young girl.

[Dustin Ross]

So that's why it happened to somebody

[Asante]

and it happened to someone. So I think that it's now that we need to figure these things out and work these kinks out. This and these technologies. The cars have been around forever. So you know these people thinking like, oh, you know, we didn't know the car was going to do this. We thought we were making something convenient, we were making something helpful. It can happen to anyone. So any app maker out there, don't be discouraged. These are things that you need to take into account as you push your products out. Yes, there are users and they have their own responsibilities. But you have released something into the world. You still just because it doesn't end.

[Dustin Ross]

They're users, but they're using your shit. So the way they use it, it is up to you. It's not just on the users. You it is, but they're still using your. That operates the way that you determined it to.

[Francesca]

So like you. Yeah, and, and let's not front either. That's the part that was kind of like, come on now. Your whole job is to try to figure out how to keep people's eyes on your platform.

[Asante]

That's literally, literally you're picking the right shades, tones, placements of things to make me stay somewhere I don't want to be.

[Francesca]

They obsess over cookies, following us all damn everywhere, every, even when we leave their site. Like you're obsessed with data. You're obsessed with keeping us on there. What do we need to do to bring her back on the site? You're creating addictive behavior, you know that. That's the whole premise of how you make money. So don't act talking about, oh, it's the user. No, yes it is, because we do have to be mindful. But don't act like you haven't designed it to site psychologically with us. That's the whole point. And that's why I'm like those big

[Asante]

ass companies y' all have market tested

[Francesca]

and they have the money to get the best engineers to really tinker around in our brains in ways that a lot of us can't even fight against because it's billions of dollars in these small designs. Something as simple as endless scrolling. It might seem like not a big deal, but then it's like, yeah, that's why you're on Instagram for hours, because it never ends. Or tick tock. You don't reach the end of tick tock. You will keep going till next week. You know what I'm saying? So I just hate that they're really talking to us like we're stupid. Even one of the executives did kind of crack me up though because he was like, one of the Google executives was like, how's YouTube in it? We're not even a social media site. He wasn't understanding why they're even in it.

[Asante]

YouTube, they, they need, they deserve some too. Just because, because they be dabbling like, you know, they dabble with stuff and

[Francesca]

then they got 30% and Meta got 70% because it's like y' all not at fault the way they are. But y' all still be with kids though, because we've had to really be so mindful of the. That even YouTube Kids, you think, oh, it's YouTube Kids. They have parameters and safe. Absolutely not. We have YouTube kids. And I'll walk in there, I'll be like, how did this get through YouTube kids. Working on YouTube kids. You hear people cursing and then it's a lot of grown ass men creating content for kids and they sleeping in weird sexual shit and weird curses and weird little jokes that you'd be like, that's highly inappropriate. You know what I mean? So, yeah, y' all are all at fault because all you care about is money.

[Dustin Ross]

Yeah. And bitch. Not on our watch. Not today. All this shit going on. People are keenly watching what. Well, people should be, I should say, keenly watching what their children are taken in. May every one of their asses get busted. You know what I'm saying? Bring on more lawsuits. Bring on more expose of the motivations and the mechanics specifically behind all of these platforms. And if they are inducing harm like that, throw the book at their asses.

[Francesca]

100. Good for you, Kaylee. Right. And I hope that this is a bellwether trial and I hope that this is. And I clearly, And clearly this is a landmark case that I'm happy it went through. And, and obviously when we discuss it more in depth, I wanted to have more conversation about what are those parameters that they could put into place, you know, and even their, their appeal that they're all going to very clearly fight for. You know, like, I'm just curious what kind of. Because I did see a lot of people commenting saying, it's the end of social media. And I'm like, y' all are trying to sell headlines with that. I don't. I wouldn't say it's the end of social media because of this case. Maybe the end of it as we know it. Maybe because some changes will be instilled. But then there were other commenters that I thought were more realistic and said, nothing's going to change.

[Dustin Ross]

That's what I think.

[Francesca]

I know. I hate to say it, but I think. Think they're gonna pay it and keep doing what they're doing. And that's just it.

[Asante]

They're gonna update their terms after the. After these little cases.

[Francesca]

Exactly. You know how with cigarettes it'll say may cause cancer. It's up to you to smoke it or not, but it's still selling cigarettes.

[Dustin Ross]

You're gonna have to check a box before you log on. Or some. You know what I'm saying?

[Francesca]

Are you 18?

[Asante]

I don't even think they're gonna do that. Sadly. I don't even think they're gonna do that. I think it's literally. Is going to be like when Facebook updates them terms and I'm like, oh, update agreements on email marketing. We don't have nothing to do with y' all kids. Click yes.

[Francesca]

Right? Or may have addictive nature or whatever. And then nobody reads these terms. We all press degree and then now you're not liable.

[Asante]

Y.

[Francesca]

That's what I think it's gonna be, to be honest. But I just wanted to bring your awareness to this case because when they literally just deliberately rated last week and I was so curious how this was gonna turn out, especially because she sued them back in 2023. So this took a while. But yeah, shout out to you to Tick tock and Snapchat. They just paid her out and kept moving. Yeah, it was like, we ain't going to try.

[Dustin Ross]

Bye, girl.

[Francesca]

What a mess. My God. Today. But yes, shout out to Kaylee. And I'm so curious what this. If this just opened up Pandora's box, you know what I mean?

[Dustin Ross]

We gonna see.

[Francesca]

We all need to sue for this week in wellness, this week in music.

[Asante]

Lots of amazing things. Just a few things I want to touch on. I am going to start this. I'm gonna start this off. Fakely serious Rolling Loud is coming up May 8th through the 10th. It is headlined by Don to Boy Cardi. NBA NBA Young Boy Loud. You said what I said.

[Francesca]

All right. Now

[Asante]

friend says she is going right now. They just recently announced to. Because the real reason that I Mentioned the story that. So I said, let me start this off. Faithly series is because it has just been announced that Natalie Nun is going to be performing at the Rock Rolling Loud festival. So if you want to see, and maybe the baddies, they will. Well, she will definitely be at Rolling Loud.

[Dustin Ross]

Hope she does that butt shake thing she did in that video on that boat. You know, it's doing what I want,

[Asante]

You know, Rolling Loud. Cool place, cool event, right? Like, I think. I think it's dope that there are still places for hip hop outside. Like, you know, the Roots picnic is coming up.

[Dustin Ross]

It's a good line up here this year too.

[Asante]

You said what?

[Dustin Ross]

It's a good line up there this year too.

[Francesca]

Yeah, I saw that. Jay Z. Erykah Badu.

[Asante]

There's a lot going on in the world, but, you know, there are still. There's still gonna be reasons to go outside, as I'm sure mo most people are gonna be doing. But as far as Rolling out is concerned, I just think that it's important that people remain safe when you're outside these seasons. I wanted to just touch on the Natalie Nun thing. I think it's dope that Natalie is making music or that doing what I want in particular has hit because I like that song. Do I think she needs a whole performance set? Me personally, I've never seen Natalie perform live in person, but from what I've seen on tv, I just don't see why she needs to have a set, per se, unless she's gonna rap the baddies again. But, like, just. Just to be seen, not each baddie perform. I don't know, but I think that it's a dope concept that Zeus is branching out with artists. I just hope that they don't fuck the artists over. But people are predatory. So if that's what y' all gonna do with y' all contracts, that's what y' all gonna do. Not blaming the user, just saying how the game goes sometimes.

[Dustin Ross]

I think if you're gonna make music, you should try to be serious about it. And so if they were able to secure a spot in the lineup as. As big as Rolling Loud, I think that's dope.

[Asante]

So hopefully they push their artists. With Zeus having that leg in and now having artists, I hope that they start pushing their artists out there as well at some point as years come, you know, with development and releases and things like that, I don't need an immediate, like, pipeline, like, oh, they deserve to be up there. Like Natalie got. Natalie been around forever. She Runs la. Speaking of people that have been around, I want to shout out Lotto because she has. She announced her pregnancy and we didn't congratulate her. So congratulations, Lotto, on your pregnancy. She's no longer Big Mama. No kids. I think that it's also dope that she's still releasing music. So Big Mama's dropping the album Big Mama. Lotto was originally introduced, you know, many moons ago as a child on a music show, but she's continued making music throughout the years. Lotto's one of those rappers that doesn't drop music all the time, but when she drops music, she's definitely, like, running that record. Like, whether it's that project or, you know, mixed up tape, ep, whatever. Like, you're going to get a visual of some sort. You're going to get some run. You're going to get a couple songs that are going to hit radio, if not the whole thing, because the whole thing be hidden. But I can just always appreciate a bitch about her business that's making music, and that's Lotto. So shout out to Big Mama speaking about bitches about their business making music. I know we talk about her so much, but Megan Thee stallion, is always out here doing her motherfucking thing. And y' all know I'm a hottie. Megan Thee stallion, she partnered with Cheetos. She did a collab. Oh, and along with this collab is Nickelback. Have you guys seen this commercial?

[Dustin Ross]

I watched the whole thing. It's like five. Five or six minutes long. I think it's long.

[Francesca]

What?

[Dustin Ross]

Yeah.

[Asante]

Yes. So in this commercial, it's like this parody. Megan, she's obsessed with these flaming hot deal pickles. And then she realized that they're discontinued or something. And then she's like, I want my. She's like, I want my pickle back. And the team hears Nickelback. And so then they just do this thing where Nickelback shows up, and then they perform their song, you remind how you remind me. And then she performs. She does her little singing part, too.

[Dustin Ross]

Her verse was cute on there, too.

[Asante]

It was cute.

[Dustin Ross]

Win, Megan, win. Win, win. We love to see it. Love it. And I'm going to see her in Mulan Rouge, too.

[Asante]

I would. I want to go airports. Once they, you know, things, you know, level out some more.

[Dustin Ross]

Let me know, because I want to go.

[Asante]

Because I. Look, ain't got much time either. Like, what. What a month she did?

[Dustin Ross]

Hey, she's doing something. Yeah, yeah. She leaves in May.

[Asante]

Yeah. Okay. Yeah. It needs to get there very, very Soon. But yes. Check out Megan. Go get some hot Cheetos. Just because I just gotta get my

[Dustin Ross]

Jay Z tickets first. I'm slaving. Yeah. Working my ass to the bone like Dr. Simone to get these Jay Z tickets because I want to go the first two days. I really want to go. Go all three.

[Francesca]

But three days. Oh, damn. I thought it was.

[Dustin Ross]

So the first show is the 30th anniversary Reasonable Doubt. The second show is the 25th anniversary the Blueprint. And the third show is called Extra Innings. I don't know. Okay.

[Francesca]

I didn't know that. I just heard about the first two.

[Dustin Ross]

I want to go to all three by myself. I don't even want to try to go with no group or no friends. I just by myself and soak it up.

[Francesca]

Yep.

[Dustin Ross]

You know. Oh, my God, I'm gonna levitate.

[Francesca]

Damn. Three days. Shout out to you, brother.

[Asante]

Yes. So shout out to everybody. Shout out to women having fun in hip hop. Also want to shout out Drake. Drake. Drake just recently broke the Billboard 200 record with 10 projects on the chart.

[Dustin Ross]

Damn.

[Francesca]

Wow.

[Asante]

Ain't that crazy? Drake does release a lot of music and I consume a lot of Drake. Drake. I just didn't realize how deep it was until I saw that earlier. I was like, oh, I love Drake's music. I do love Drake's music. I, I, I am a music person. I've said more than on more than one occasion. I am not choosing between Kendrick or Drake. That's not my. That's not what I'm here to do.

[Dustin Ross]

We ain't even in that.

[Asante]

You feel me? So, okay, that's happened. That's a Toronto on the West Coast.

[Dustin Ross]

Okay.

[Asante]

I give a.

[Dustin Ross]

Do I look like I give a? Cuz I don't.

[Asante]

Cuz I don't. The albums that are included on the 200 are. Take care. Number 23 views at 34. Some sexy songs for you at 40. Certified lover boy at 50. Scorpion at 62. Thank me later at 73 for all the dogs. At 74.

[Dustin Ross]

Great album.

[Asante]

More life at number 124. Nothing was the same at 171. And last her loss at at 100 and 98.

[Francesca]

God damn. That's crazy.

[Asante]

It's so many different projects in different places. Like, that's so cool.

[Francesca]

That's so crazy to think about. Wow.

[Dustin Ross]

Shout out to the Drake. We seen his dick.

[Asante]

Shout out to Drake.

[Francesca]

Yeah.

[Asante]

So yes.

[Dustin Ross]

Welcome to the Friends.

[Francesca]

Eczema is unpredictable, but you can flare less with Epglis. A once monthly treatment for moderate to severe eczema. After an initial four month or longer dosing phase. About four in 10 people taking Ecliss achieved itch relief and clear or almost clear skin at 16 weeks, and most of those people maintain skin that's still more clear at one year with monthly dosing.

[Advertiser/Announcer]

Emplis Lebricizumab LBKZ a 250mg per 2mg the milliliter injection is a prescription medicine used to treat adults and children 12 years of age and older who weigh at least 88 pounds or 40 kilograms with moderate to severe eczema, also called atopic dermatitis that is not well controlled with prescription therapies used on the skin or topicals, or who cannot use topical therapies. EBGLIS can be used with or without topical corticosteroids. Don't use if you are allergic to ebglis. Allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. Eye problems can occur. Tell your doctor if you have new or worsening eye problems. You should not receive a live vaccine when treated with ebglis before starting ebglis, tell your doctor if you have you have a parasitic infection.

[Francesca]

Ask your doctor about F Gliss and visit epglis lily.com or call 1-800-LilyRx or 1-800-545-5979

[Advertiser/Announcer]

and Doug there's nowhere I wouldn't go to help someone customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual.

[Dustin Ross]

Even if it means sitting front row at a comedy show.

[Francesca]

Hey everyone, check out this guy and his bird. What is this, your first date?

[Dustin Ross]

Oh no. We help people customize, maximize and save

[Advertiser/Announcer]

on car insurance with Liberty Mutual Together.

[Asante]

We're married.

[Dustin Ross]

Me to a human, him to a bird. Yeah, the bird looks out of your league anyways. Only pay for what you [e-mail] liberty liberty, liberty, liberty.

[Asante]

That is it for the artist to mention portion of the Music man segment. Now we're gonna move on to the songs to play listens lately segment. Cause I wanna know what y' all been listening to lately. Especially you friend, what you been listening to?

[Francesca]

I have to play Tank.

[Asante]

Yes friend.

[Dustin Ross]

Sidebar Latoya Lucky came out and tore that up. I saw she came out she tore

[Francesca]

regret and he whispered in her ear. I know he was like sing the whole thing.

[Dustin Ross]

Keep going keep going go right we

[Francesca]

were trying to get take it to

[Asante]

the bridge

[Francesca]

we were trying to guess who he was wearing the ear but Tank, maybe. Maybe I deserve.

[Asante]

Do you mind if I tell the truth for a second?

[Dustin Ross]

Y' all tell the truth. Calling so damn made for you to say I'm tripping Just a homie from

[Asante]

upstate it's just a homie don't he

[Dustin Ross]

know it's one o' clock in the moment? Say it's cool baby, it's cool Maybe I deserve for you to say he's coming into town. He was just wondering if you and him could out. I don't like it but I know I gotta trust you it ain't cool

[Asante]

Cause I know it's true

[Dustin Ross]

for you

[Asante]

to go out and find some other

[Dustin Ross]

for you to stay out with them all night for you to do all the things I did to you you Maybe I deserve oh yeah oh yeah Maybe I deserve for you to go

[Asante]

out and find some other maybe I

[Dustin Ross]

For you to stay out with them all night maybe I deserve for you to do all the things I did to you oh yeah oh yeah.

[Francesca]

Can I just say, Tyrese was so annoying.

[Dustin Ross]

He always is. He needs to get back on the bus.

[Francesca]

Why was he trying to turn it into something so, like, stank, you know? Like, it was like. It could have just been fun. Two musicians just having a good time. I really didn't understand the angle.

[Dustin Ross]

He's always a dramatic. Always.

[Francesca]

Maybe he wasn't so cute. For real. For real. Because he knows who Tanky is. You know what I mean? You know when some people are insecure, they get mean.

[Dustin Ross]

Yeah.

[Francesca]

Like, that's their defense. Yeah. People. There's some people that. That's their defense mechanism. They just get mean. So I was like, this is interesting here. My next record, Our fave, Aaron Ray, who was huge fans.

[Dustin Ross]

Wow. You on a roll. Do that thing Natalie did.

[Francesca]

Aaron Ray, Aaron Ray Got a song

[Dustin Ross]

called Both Dominique Morgan be saying My God, my God.

[Francesca]

Today both of us with paperboy fave and this is how it goes. Been a little selfish don't know why I lead you on Thinking you could

[Asante]

be the one knowing I'm a mess I'm in therapy trying to fix me

[Francesca]

no,

[Asante]

I don't know what's come up

[Dustin Ross]

with me yeah Drowning in my bad

[Francesca]

decisions I guess I probably should have

[Asante]

listened at least to pay the attention

[Francesca]

oh yeah, yeah, yeah maybe you should

[Dustin Ross]

run if I were you I'd go far Cuz I don't want to ruin

[Francesca]

both of us

[Dustin Ross]

I don't want to

[Francesca]

ruin both of us. So good, right? I was happy to hear him again. And then lastly, my girl Alex Isley has a new record with Sid. You know, we love. So the two of them together just A really nice feel.

[Dustin Ross]

Yes.

[Francesca]

And it's called pch. With promises made on pch. I've been thinking of your face image still ingrained Wonder if it stayed the

[Dustin Ross]

same

[Francesca]

I let it go not know you did too how could I forget a perfect view pch it takes me back to you. I remember we were only kids can you believe how the things we do I We love to reminisce after all these years driving while I'm thinking I let it go and I know you did too but how could I forget A perfect view and pacing Th takes me back to you you.

[Asante]

Sound like.

[Dustin Ross]

Their voices sound like literal instruments.

[Francesca]

God. You want to talk about relief? That just settles your nervous system. Such a beautiful record. I love hearing the two of them together. So. So those are my three for this week.

[Asante]

They sound amazing together. All right. Dustin Ross. What have you been listening to?

[Dustin Ross]

A whole bunch of shit. This is Ghostface Killer. It's on the Supreme Clientele 2 album. It's called Georgie Porgy. I was walking down one two six the other day and this guy was outside blasting it. And I stopped playing my tracks because me and my brother both love this album and you rarely hear somebody else playing it it. So, yeah, like, oh, my God. I FaceTime Damon. He was like, what? And I was like, listen. And then he started tripping. Okay. Hold on. This is Georgie Port.

[Francesca]

I love Ghost Face.

[Dustin Ross]

Yeah. Joe. Okay. Huh. You know can't write like this right One too. Okay. Let's. About the door. Yeah. I'm gonna show these something. Who can get.

[Asante]

Yeah,

[Dustin Ross]

yeah. Yo, we used to rob left and right a fiend try to get slick with slap and crush they pipes strong on robberies all done in harmony raised my weapon and then bow hit a artery Race to the staircase, shoot out the lights and let off a few shells at the door on the right they got dust, weed, half pound of E under the couch a shotgun, 12 teeth bow another. This song has been all. I'm about to play two horrible songs that I like. So I'm telling you up front, they're. They're trash. But I like them. This song is going viral right now. We're just gonna listen to part of it. This song is called Juice Week, Part 2, featuring Juice Tuesday Ray Dog, the hot one, Little Asia.

[Asante]

I love it already.

[Francesca]

Damn.

[Asante]

I love it already.

[Francesca]

That whole truth. I can't take myself serious.

[Asante]

Like, I don't know.

[Dustin Ross]

Don't. Yeah,

[Asante]

okay.

[Dustin Ross]

My name is Juice, I'm on the

[Francesca]

beat, your mama and your sister I don't give A everybody in this turned

[Dustin Ross]

up

[Francesca]

you can't take serious say y' all talk I put a on the leash taking for a walk White hoes always mad it ain't my fault allies run double Cs and mama boss you hoes on E14 doing a dirty wall

[Dustin Ross]

can't argue with a hoe who watch

[Francesca]

me like a hog411 in the G hey need a gangster n babe I need a big trick hottest in the city Mit's expensive counting bad gotta count me twice never bought a piece of J They're being nice.

[Dustin Ross]

It's been going viral. The girl be like on a yacht some Tuesday private island jet skis. It's like people have been using the sound on Tik Tok and Instagram. Hell yeah.

[Asante]

There's a video I'm watching the out of this as soon as we get over here.

[Dustin Ross]

So there's juice week.

[Asante]

Thank you.

[Dustin Ross]

The last song I'm gonna play is a gay song for those of you that watch. Now that's tv. If you watch the Doll House. It was a woman on on there named Pookie and she also was on another now that's TV show. She was on the Hookup part two as well. But she has a song with this rapper named Sway called Organic Freak. And these gay boys posted a video dancing to it. Like, I like this song that made me like the song. I'm gonna send it to Ty to put in the carousel. Organic Freak by Pookie and Sway.

[Francesca]

Welcome to the Organic Freak phone line. I am Hoodfish the crocodile C. We looking for a with his dick long

[Dustin Ross]

to come and give a young something to sit on It's a pay phone not a play phone if you don't got your funds then stay home Please

[Francesca]

let me talk to you real quick huh?

[Asante]

Look, look, look.

[Francesca]

I'm organically free and if you broke organically I'mma cheat if she ain't with her friends organically weak and I think I'm the so organically stink you yeah I'm organically a freak and if you broke organically I'm a cheat if she ain't with her friends organically a week and I think I'm as so organically bitches stink nuh take me to Chanel Raunchy ass bitches always giving on sale

[Dustin Ross]

when I fuck yo nigga put my

[Francesca]

money on the shelf Real hood fish

[Dustin Ross]

so I always give them hell I'm

[Francesca]

organically a freak I ain't your ho I just made him eat his face is my.

[Dustin Ross]

I can't I told you the last two was gonna take you a place. But that's it for me this week. All right.

[Asante]

First song that I want to play. I heard this song come up on my Spotify radio and I've heard it before, but I didn't know that this artist had made this song. This artist, ubi, they made the song. They're on the Little John Eastside Boys project and have a song called Knuckles Free that I love so much. But this song's called give me your loving. I ain't know that this was ubi. Here's how it goes.

[Francesca]

Love is so deep feeling so give me your love, Relax your mind.

[Asante]

That was a great little find. I was so appreciative. The next spine, great. This next song I actually heard on Don Rashad's Instagram, I believe. And I was like, that song go kind of hard. But this song's been out for a year or two, I believe. It's by an artist named Flag Boy, Jiz and the Wild Chapatulas. This song is called we outside. And here's how it goes.

[Dustin Ross]

I was sewing, hustling working for the Mardi Gras carnival in New Orleans I'm outside everybody talking about Boya sue cold it's only one super Sunday it ain't the Super Bowl I was someone husband working for the Mardi Gras call a boat in New Orleans I'm outside everybody talking about boy, you're so cold it's only one super Sunday it ain't the Super Bowl Mardi Gras walking in the street like I run the town don't blow your horn at me to move, drive around I ain't tell him he ain't have enough oh I told the engine he look naked I'm a whole park legend I was making car stop at the d shop at the liquor store I tell him who could go watch we walk across the city we gonna meet them all them other engines they be hopping out of U haul you a u haul engine U haul

[Asante]

engine and I'm a old school engine

[Dustin Ross]

walking across the city you a u haul engine U haul engine and I'm a old school engine walking across the city I'm buying feathers by the dozen just to play the dungeons telling interesting me they need to study I shoot shot and think that's what my chiefs say I'm walking up the street painted like Sting painted like e Honda don't let me get behind you coming with a cloud of ganja up at the

[Asante]

same time as walking to shop Last artist I Want to play? Ooh, I'm in between two artists.

[Dustin Ross]

Shit.

[Asante]

I'mma pull a page out of your book. I'm playing both. The first one I'm going to play is Samara Sin. This song is called Heist. Here's how it goes.

[Francesca]

Fast, like my mind,

[Asante]

anticipation

[Francesca]

go, give me time Calling a circus chaos at home God keep me gracious, could keep me whole.

[Dustin Ross]

Girl, that's Jackie Christie.

[Asante]

So that part, she says, that's the price of piece. Damn. Half of half. What's left of me, man will hate for free.

[Dustin Ross]

That's definitely right.

[Asante]

Damn, this girl hard. I have never really got into her music, but she came up on my play one of the Spotify playlist, and I was like, this. I'm gonna save this. I'm gonna revisit this before you move on.

[Dustin Ross]

While we're on Samara's. Samara Joy is the new Supreme. I just want to put that out there.

[Asante]

Oh, yeah.

[Dustin Ross]

She's already elite in the game. Already trophied up already touring all over the world. I love Samara Joy. She's one of my favorite artists. And I don't even fuck with, you know, like, traditional jazz, like. Like that typically. But I listen to her and I love her and I think that she's young and one of the greats already. And I like the success run that she's having. So I just wanted to put a little on Samara Joyce. I think she's sexy. She's beautiful. Like, yeah. Yes. And young and reps the Bronx. My boy just saw her in Atlanta and she was talking about she was representing the Bronx, you know what I'm saying?

[Francesca]

I love that she was from the Bronx.

[Dustin Ross]

From the BX. Yep.

[Francesca]

Oh, that makes her 10 times cooler.

[Dustin Ross]

You feel me, friend? Like, that's why I think it's so dope.

[Francesca]

She's so regal. So it's like, nice.

[Dustin Ross]

Shout out tomorrow Joy. So welcome tomorrow Joy, y'. All. I like jazz. It be scaring me sometimes I listen to jazz and they do that. I be, oh, I love it. I like it.

[Asante]

Last song I'mma play is by Central C. This song is called Feelings. Here's how it goes.

[Dustin Ross]

You got a dream I know and believes in you.

[Francesca]

I know that feeling.

[Dustin Ross]

Late night scheming lately you ain't been sleeping, baby. I know that feeling. Telling your family something they don't agree with. I know that feeling. Funny feeding need, family, financial freedom. Trust me, I know that feeling. You got a dream that you're trying to chase. You don't want a 9 to 5 but your parents are on your case if you don't have a job, how you gonna survive? Make up your mind don't follow your instinct Please don't follow your guys. We could go to the bank and take a loan out but we can't borrow no time.

[Asante]

You're broke and sitting at home not

[Dustin Ross]

trying to grow I don't know that feeling I ain't catching feelings how do you fall in love with a ho? I don't know that feeling I'm still loading them and hit their ceiling No, I don't know that. That's all we got to do over here. I got. I got all that upstairs.

[Asante]

That was Feelings by Central C. I'll be trying.

[Francesca]

I really do.

[Dustin Ross]

How can you say you try? My beaches?

[Asante]

Yeah, the cadence isn't for everyone. Definitely an acquired taste. I definitely just. I love the production on that and the messaging, the message, like, you know, because everybody know that feeling. He's like, I think I don't know that feeling. Like, great song. I must say. Definitely gonna live heavy in my cat.

[Dustin Ross]

It depends, cuz. One of my favorite artists is Spice. You know what I'm saying? And sometimes I don't necessarily understand what she's saying, but I love hearing Spice pop, her rapping and singing. I love Think about me and think about how Spice be acting when she performing. And that makes sense. Right? It would be something I would enjoy thoroughly. I love Spice. I do. Damon be making me sing anyway. Go ahead. But I love Spice. So it just. The cadence is you. Right. Sometimes it either work for you or it don't. You know what I'm saying? Yep. How can it be homophobic?

[Asante]

Yep. Honestly, I was obsessed after that line. I was like, you can be.

[Francesca]

But wait, so what is he talking about in the song?

[Dustin Ross]

Right. What's the messaging, Tay?

[Asante]

There's different types of feelings that you have. You know, there's been late night grinds, you know? You know, there's feelings that you can relate to and there's feelings that you can't relate to. There's a contrasting feelings in the song that he's like getting to. And I like that there's that sometimes you hear a song and it's like all like that beat, I feel like, can almost contrast. Like a luxury hip hop feel, if you will. But he's talking about things that aren't just all for show and flash. And I appreciate that. Like, I appreciate him coming across that way in that song, that type of beat. And if there was a remix, I feel like there would be some great people that could like really add to that value, to that.

[Francesca]

I'mma give it a go so I can know what you're saying.

[Asante]

I don't think. I don't know, friend again. I feel like I think the cadence is really going to kill it for you, friend. But it's hard.

[Francesca]

It's hard. I'll be trying because, you know, I'm really open. Like, I'll listen to anything that I know. I know it's not even a start with that. It's like my brain just goes.

[Asante]

It's not even a you thing, I really think, because I've had experience with the. The music and the culture for so long. Like, I remember like hearing different artists and being like that don't really sound like what I like. But what is it that's likable about this, huh?

[Dustin Ross]

When you say experience with the music and the culture, you mean when you be going on them secret trips overseas? Like when you go to the club? You mean they'd be playing that like in the club? Like in the nightclub? Sure.

[Asante]

I can remember being young before I went to the substance stuff on these journeys that Dustin wants to try to highlight for some reason. And I just remember discovering music. I remember listening to Dizzy Rascal and being like, this is crazy. But I remember like being able Skepta. Like, you know, they're just artists.

[Francesca]

Skeptic gets a pass.

[Dustin Ross]

Skeptic gets a few things.

[Francesca]

I go to skeptics.

[Dustin Ross]

The cousin, I. I hope he ain't homophobic. I'm gay.

[Francesca]

We could go back for bang.

[Dustin Ross]

Wow. I mean, you know, just wow.

[Asante]

We moved on from my experience to what y' all want to experience.

[Dustin Ross]

Wasn't he dating what's her name, Beautiful Naomi Campbell and somebody else. Oh, was it?

[Asante]

Weren't they?

[Dustin Ross]

I'm not mistaken.

[Francesca]

I haven't. I didn't know. No, I only heard about it.

[Dustin Ross]

Let me see. Hold on. Because we got to clear this up for our audience. History. Let me see.

[Francesca]

Dating history.

[Dustin Ross]

Let me see. Since I dating. Let me see. We got got to find this out.

[Asante]

It's funny say. Cuz all I've been seeing on Tik Tok are random girls singing her songs. But like, when I say random girls, I mean like, do you even know who Zara Larson is?

[Francesca]

I know who Zara Larson is.

[Asante]

She randomly. I was scrolling and her video came up and I thought that she had a new. I thought she was making Caribbean music. I was like, is she doing. But she was rapping the sh. Or mouthing Song.

[Dustin Ross]

And I was like, okay.

[Asante]

And there was another person, but I can't remember.

[Dustin Ross]

I can't find it. You could date somebody. Her performances look dope. She's the girl who's been touring with the blonde hair. Right. That can dance.

[Francesca]

That be dancing. Yeah. She's cute.

[Dustin Ross]

She's.

[Asante]

She's rising in the white girl pool.

[Francesca]

Her name's definitely coming up, and she could be. I feel like that's a pop star to me. Like, if you bring me a white girl pop star, that's what I'd be looking for.

[Asante]

And apparently she's got, like, a really interesting story. Like, she started from social media, so the fact that she was able to transform from, like, social media influencer to tik tok to like, actual, like, legit celebrity, like, artist star. Yeah. Somebody was telling me this, and I was like, that is interesting. But didn't have. Haven't done the research yet, but might do it soon because she just keeps coming up. Last thing I want to shout out, actually, because I didn't. I played a Naomi Naomi Sharon song. She just dropped a video for it. She looks amazing in the video, and I just want to say that. Go watch the video for Miss that. She looks so good. That's it for the music.

[Dustin Ross]

I love a raspy vocal this week in tv. Okay, let's go on over to TV land then. Why don't. Shall we? Why don't we. The Married to Medicine reunion concluded this week on Bravo with part two.

[Francesca]

Damn.

[Dustin Ross]

I loved it because there's only two parts instead of three.

[Asante]

Only two parts, Parts.

[Dustin Ross]

Pacing was. There was never a lull. You know what I'm saying? A valley in the.

[Asante]

They didn't spend too much time on anything.

[Dustin Ross]

Nope. The husband.

[Asante]

They touched on everything.

[Dustin Ross]

The husbands. The husbands, the husbands. Steve Sanders has come through Married to Medicine and changed the game for the husbands. Carlos King made a good point when we reviewed. We reviewed Married to Medicine on his Patreon page. So go look at that when you get a chance. But. But Carlos was like, Steve changed the game for the men the way Kenya Moore changed the Real Housewives of Atlanta with her casting in Season 5. The show was forever different after that. And I believe the same is gonna be true for Married to Medicine because Steve has created a story within the husbands, and that's never been done before. They've always.

[Asante]

And it's a fair one. It's a valid one.

[Dustin Ross]

Without getting into the women's business or whatever, it just happened. And we watched it play out right in front of our faces. So much so that we care about how that the relationship between him and Dr. Eugene Harris turns out. So we're going to be looking forward to next season. I encourage everybody to go on Peacock and watch the reunion for the season. Even if you didn't watch the season, just watch the reunion.

[Francesca]

Damn.

[Dustin Ross]

Yeah, it was good. Like, really good.

[Francesca]

I probably only only got like 15, 20 minutes into the first episode, so. I didn't like any of the looks.

[Asante]

Not one.

[Francesca]

I think Dr. Jackie probably looked the most refined, if you want to use that word. But everyone else, I don't know, I was like, was it the lighting? It's just like the makeup was harsh. The hair. Hair was harsh. I don't know.

[Dustin Ross]

Yeah, it was just a bunch of bad choices to me.

[Francesca]

And these are beautiful women. I don't think they need to do much.

[Dustin Ross]

They have the money to do better, too. So then there's.

[Francesca]

That kills me. I'm like, y' all are such pretty women that don't have to do much.

[Dustin Ross]

I'll be feeling like Melanie. Fiona too, friend. It kills me. It kills me. But yeah, so that's great. I encourage everybody to watch that. This Sunday, April or not. Yeah, that's this Sunday. Damn. April 5th, the Real Housewives of Atlanta returns for season 17. New cast members. There's eight Housewives, eight full time Housewives this year. They've added K. Michelle and Pinky Cole. And it's already a lot going on. So make sure y' all watch it. We're going to talk about it here every week, so make sure y' all watch it, period. Yeah, you have to check that out. You just. You just have to.

[Asante]

You just have to.

[Dustin Ross]

I don't know if anybody watches, but I do and I know Asante does. And I'm not gonna get into the minutia of the show, but I'll just like to say that Baddies USA Chapter 1 concluded its season this Sunday as well with their season finale. That's the most dignified way I can describe the show. If you watch and you want us to talk about it, Asante and myself are available for a season overview recap. If that's something you guys are interested in, let us know.

[Francesca]

Of course they are.

[Dustin Ross]

We'll make it happen for y'. All. I figured I'd ask after the way y' all did us about the burbs.

[Francesca]

That was for Patreon Insider.

[Dustin Ross]

So all of that television has been great. Also, Bell Collective is having an incredible season right now on own. Make sure you watch that. Get caught up it's so much going on. Leticia Pearson, who was one of the founding members of the Bell Collective, she had a moment that lives forever in the canon of reality tv that happens when somebody says something that becomes a quotable something that you end up saying, again, applying to your life. She had a moment in last week's episode when she was talking to Glenn. If you watch the show, you'll know what I'm talking about. So this is just a moment for us right here. You know what I'm saying? She had that moment, so make sure you watch it. Also, there's a new incarnation of the Bell Collective universe. I saw Bell Collective Birmingham that is coming, built around Stormy Steele, who we know previously from Love and Marriage, Huntsville. She's also the owner of Canvas Girl Beauty, which is a wildly successful beauty product line, hair care product line. I've heard her body butter, some of that, some shit like that. But it's the shit. The product is amazing. People love it. And she out of it. She's broken records on TikTok. She made a million dollars in an hour or some shit. And then she was the first person to do all that, like, sales records on TikTok. She's rolling, and the show is built around her and a group of friends in Birmingham. So we're excited about that. It actually premieres on my birthday, which is April 10th, so make sure you guys watch it. Happy birthday to me. You know what I'm saying? Because I want to talk to you.

[Francesca]

Ain't that crazy?

[Dustin Ross]

And it's a new black show. Supported a new black show about black women as successful entrepreneurs and burns Birmingham, Alabama. Let's support that and watch it. Let's turn them up on own. So. And it's a brand new show, brand new group of people. So you can start from the ground floor with the story and really get a chance to form opinions about it without having to binge, you know, 10 seasons of something and know what the hell people are talking about when they discuss the show. So let's start from the ground floor together. And that's it for me this week in tv.

[Francesca]

I have a question.

[Dustin Ross]

Okay.

[Francesca]

How come y' all never talk about Married to Medicine Los Angeles?

[Dustin Ross]

They didn't do it but one season

[Francesca]

because it popped up on my thing and I was like.

[Dustin Ross]

Or was it two seasons? It might have. They might have gone two.

[Asante]

I think they did come back for a second season randomly.

[Dustin Ross]

They went two seasons.

[Francesca]

But y weren't into it.

[Asante]

I was into it. Like, I remember, like, there was Dr. Imani that I like. There were a couple. Couple of them.

[Dustin Ross]

Like, she was the one with the bald head, right? Yeah, Yeah, I liked her.

[Asante]

Definitely watched it. Yes. But it didn't come back.

[Francesca]

It popped up for me on my peacock and I was like, wait, I thought it was new. Like, it just came out. This is like a new thing. So I clicked it, watched the first two episodes, and then I realized through watching the episodes that this is old. I was like, oh, wait, no, this is an old ass season. I'm just catching on. And then I met. I made a mental note to ask why y' all have never talked about this version of it. Because we did.

[Asante]

When it happened, it came. It came up. But I was a girl's name.

[Dustin Ross]

I couldn't stand on that show. Shantae Chanel.

[Francesca]

There was one where Heavenly kept making fun of her husband because he was little. That was killing me. He was like a really short.

[Asante]

She was like, I only remember the two doctors. I just remember the ball headed. One because I liked her a lot, and then the other one because she was Contessa's friend. Like that.

[Francesca]

Yeah, yeah. Her name was like Britain or something. Yeah. So just I watched it and. And I was so curious about it. Lastly, Paradise.

[Dustin Ross]

They returning for another season too, I think, right?

[Francesca]

Yes. But listen, so it was the final episode of the season.

[Asante]

How was it? Was it. What did you rate it, Fran?

[Francesca]

Amazing.

[Dustin Ross]

Yeah.

[Francesca]

This season was kind of blowing me a little bit and I was getting sad. No, it ended so well. But I will say this for those who listen to Friendzone and watch Paradise, I know y' all tripped out at that last episode because. Because they referenced the Denver airport.

[Dustin Ross]

That bull, that blue bull thing that.

[Francesca]

The horse, the mustang, blue eyes. They referenced it. I won't say how because then it'll give away a big part of the. Yes. If you. You already watch Paradise, Right. Sinatra told Xavier, you have to get to the horse. There's something, if you think about it, underneath the horse that kind of ties in with what they're doing at the show. And so he had to travel to the desert. Denver Airport. And I screamed because I was like, yo, we've been talking.

[Dustin Ross]

What an Easter egg for the Friend Zone audience.

[Francesca]

Such a phenomenal egg for the Friend Zone listeners that also watch paradise. Because I know we all collectively screamed when they did the shot. The. The camera pans over the horse at night and then it goes under the horse and shows what it shows. And I was like, we. That was a little catching up this weekend. A literal conspiracy Theory episode that Friend Zone did where we talked about the Denver airport being some kind of a portal, some kind of a bunker. So this was just like either they're with us because they know that that's like a lot of people are discussing or they're dropping clues. I was like, whatever it is. My tinfoil hat was on fire and I had to bring it up on this show because I know we all scream it at the same time. But anyways, I want to watch. Please watch. Yeah, it's so good.

[Asante]

You should watch. Dustin. I think you would enjoy the, the

[Francesca]

performances for sure and I'm happy to support him.

[Asante]

You're gonna be into the story.

[Francesca]

He's such a great actor.

[Dustin Ross]

Sterling K. Brown.

[Francesca]

Sterling and his wife, like, they're just so great. But yes, paradise. Those of you watching, please leave comments because we can talk about it.

[Asante]

I'm gonna be on Cut up for next week,

[Francesca]

but that's it. That means that's it for us this week. We love you guys so much. We're so grateful that you hang with us every week. We do not take you for granted. We love you and we will catch you guys next week.

[Asante]

Yes, we will. Stay black and protect your magic.

[Francesca]

Bye y'. All.

[Dustin Ross]

This is the

[Francesca]

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[Advertiser/Announcer]

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[Francesca]

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[Advertiser/Announcer]

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[Dustin Ross]

car insurance with Liberty Mutual. Even if it means sitting front row at a comedy show.

[Francesca]

Hey, everyone. Check out this guy and his bird. What is this, your first date?

[Dustin Ross]

Oh, no. We help people customize and save on

[Advertiser/Announcer]

car insurance with Liberty Mutual together.

[Asante]

We're married.

[Dustin Ross]

Me to a human, him to a bird. Yeah, the bird looks out of your league anyways. Only pay for what you [e-mail]. liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty.