← The Nerve with Maureen Callahan
The Nerve with Maureen Callahan
Former Prince Andrew's Depraved Secrets EXPOSED, Stephen Colbert's Ego Trip, & Brad Pitt Ostracized
01:33:16
Maureen Callahan targets "Entertainment Tonight" as a leading example of why shows like this are a dying culture, highlighting their lack-luster coverage of the latest drama surrounding Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, including their empty story of how their daughter Zahara is the fourth child to drop his surname, the commentary from the show's hosts that does not move the needle, and the obvious slant and source of the inside details. She then goes after how the show fawned over Stephen Colbert with an overly indulgent segment on his late-night departure, treating him as a far bigger cultural force than he really is. Maureen is then joined by Royal biographer and author Andrew Lownie to discuss his bombshell reporting on the depraved details continually unfolding around former Prince Andrew's predatory behavior and Sarah Ferguson's scandalous affairs. Later in the show, James from Corporate returns to The Nerve for an in-depth review of a batch of new films with Maureen. Andrew Low...
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Maureen Callahan
Foreign. Hello and welcome to your Friday edition of the Nerve. I am your host, Maureen Callahan. This show is a banger. We had to remove things. We are so excited to bring you a fully successful, stacked and packed show as we kick off Memorial Day weekend, which here in the US is considered the unofficial start of summer. So it's a, it's, it's, it's going to be great. We're going to luxuriate in a lot of great stuff. Got a lot of people we're packing into the woodshed to keep those mean streets clean. For the rest of us law abiding citizens, we're going to begin. Now this, this is a pun that Marlena put in without telling me with an ending or Marlena says an imp. Ending impending. The rapper. Okay, I saw this piece on Entertainment Tonight the other night and if I could have just grabbed it through the screen with my, my hands, I would have. But you know, you have to wait till they post it and then like they don't post like the actual host banter that I always want to get because it's so inane and ban. And it just goes to why all of these shows are dying. Access Done. It's dead. E News done. It's dead. Entertainment Tonight. I'm sorry, you guys, the Nerve is an asteroid now. We're coming right towards you. We're gonna, we're gonna go into two of their stories. Their lead story, I think this was Wednesday night. And then their second story, the first one involves modern day hobby Hollywood royalty which has been dethroned like no other. And then we've got someone extremely stubborn in the culture, you know, and if this guy thinks we can't take him on, I'm telling you, we've done a number on Oprah already. Never forget Pilot Gal. Her tarot reading said that Oprah was considering suing the Nerve because we want to know where Stedman is. She thought better of it because of discovery and the like. And then we have an author who, who has an explosive addition to his book about the British royal family. I mean, usually I'll tell you a little bit about how publishing works in this way, but like this guy's paperback, you know, there's always sort of like publishers love to ask you to do like add a little bit of new information and then we can repackage. The paperback is like new and updated, you know, and often it's like an author has maybe written a new forward. You know, this author dug deep and has many, many bombshells. And I'm going to encourage all troublemakers to buy his book because this is the kind of journalism we need to support. It's real deal stuff. Then, then of course we have troublemaker feedback. And then as we kick off Memorial Day weekend, I thought there was no better episode to to have a really fun, deep conversation about movies. The movies that are out, the movies that are coming out, the big summer movies, the state of the movie industry. What movie I'm going to be watching this weekend or maybe the day after this weekend. It's a great show. It's a great show. So I ask you, are you ready? Are you ready? Let's go. Do you ever feel like your makeup makes you look like a completely different person? We've all been there. Makeup shouldn't erase your face. It should bring out what you already love and enhance it. Jones Rhodes Miracle Balm is the ultimate, no fuss multitasker. It replaces your highlighter, your bronzer, your blush and your lip tint in under 60 seconds of application. No brushes, no complicated steps. Just use your fingers and go for that. Your skin but better glow. And if you want a bit more coverage without that cakey feel, their new foundation stick is a total game changer. It is weightless, buildable and packed with skin loving ingredients like ceramides and Squalane. It nourishes your skin while giving you a natural, healthy finish in 30 different shades. Plus, everything from Jones Road is clean, high performing and free from sulfates and phthalates. So if you would like makeup that brings out your natural glow instead of concealing it, Jones Road is the way to go. For a limited time, Nerve listeners are getting a free gift on your first purchase when you use Code Nerve at checkout, just head to jonesroadbeauty.com use code nerve at checkout after you purchase. They're going to say, hey, where did you hear about us? Please support our show. Tell them you're a troublemaker and that the Nerve sent you on to Entertainment Tonight, which thus far has evaded the nerves crosshairs. No more. No more. They their lead story. May 19, 2026. So this, I think, was Tuesday. It was, it was their lead story. Brad Pitt's daughter Zahara is the latest member of the child army to drop the pit surname. This is their lead story. Now you can tell they're trying not to, they're trying not to alienate Brad and they're trying not to alienate Angelina. But we're going to take apart the way they chose to tell this story. And again, our forensic dissection of this is just going to show exactly what is wrong with these, these dinosaurs. Here we go. And your children are your best friends. It's kind of a, it's a nice life. Now that's setting the table because one of these children graduated. What needs commenting upon, in my opinion is that your children should not be your best friends. Parents should not be in the business of making sure their children like them. Parents should be in the business of raising conscientious, decent, responsible, contributing members of society. That's the job description. If you, if you're that invested in your kids liking you, you got issues. Secondly, Angelina, just my opinion in that clip there and in others is often on red carpets looking as if she is visibly high. Let's get real. Now, ET is going to tell us that Zahara's graduation has made headlines. Here we go. Sunday afternoon, Angelina was there when 21 year old Zahara accepted her college diploma, notably dropping her dad's last name, Pitt, Zahara, Marley Jolie. Then yesterday, a report citing a source close to Angie called out Brad for heartlessly skipping the ceremony. An ET Source defending Brad and FOX firing back, calling it, quote, sad that someone would distract from this happy occasion by needlessly attacking a father who has been alienated from his family. Now, how did this graduation make headlines? I think Angelina wanted to make sure it made headlines and fed that quote about being heartbroken that their father missed such a momentous occasion. Is this woman for real? I mean, I have columned on, on the FBI report that about what happened on that plane, you know, and it was ugly by all accounts. It was very ugly. But it's, she's made it very clear. Zahara is now the fourth Jolie Pitt child to have dropped the name Pitt, Shiloh, Vivianne, Maddox and now Zahara have dropped the name Pit. The guy has gotten the memo. He's not welcome, he's not wanted. So why is she going to ET and saying, I can't believe he would miss such a momentous occasion. How can ET not comment on that or go back to her reps or to Angelina herself if she's the one who dropped that? It sounds awfully close. Close to Angelina and say, hey, sister, you've made it very clear that the family wants nothing to do with this guy. Why would he think he's got an invitation to show up? How did ET get that footage with an unobstructed view of Zahara Jolie accepting her diploma? Brad's camp. Very smart, Very smart. They kept, they kept, they kept it vague. They didn't personalize it. They didn't make that point, though. Any sentient human being can figure that out. They said, listen, the guy's alienated from his kids. And when four of six kids drop the surname Pit, you, you know, yeah, bad shit went down on that plane. The guy seems to have gotten clean and sober and gotten his act together. He said publicly, I fucked up. I've tried, I'm trying. You know, you gotta wonder, you have to wonder. Here's ET Their coverage of sandwiching in this private, this fight, this, this, this, this really, really, really ugly scene that went down on that plane. Listen to the way a particular word is mispronounced. Here we go. The FBI investigated their private jet altercation in 2016. Altercation. This is a pre record, this is a pre recorded packaged segment. This. Et, this highly paid correspondent does not know how to pronounce the word altercation. And apparently nobody working on that prerecorded segment knows either. It's altercation. We're coming for you, man. We're coming for you. This is it. And then at the end of this segment, that's about as long as it was, it was like two minutes. At the end of this segment, Kevin Frazier, who we've already gone after for his interview with Jafar Jackson, you know, you can revisit it on an earlier nerve. He's standing there next to his co host, whose name escapes me, and he makes this pointed, specific, unique observation. He goes, you know, wow, alienated. Brad's alienated from his kids. He feels alienated. You know, I can say as a father, I can tell you, wait for it. I can tell you that must be really difficult. And his co host stands there and she goes, you Know what, Kevin? That's a great point. Great point. You're so right. Nerve Awards 2026. Okay? It's a competition between Kevin and his co host whose name I can't even be bothered to remember, and Jenna and Chanel. And then we'll at least have a third co hosting duo in terms of like limited wattage, limited brain power. Okay, now on to Stephen Colbert, who is their second story. Stephen Colbert is. This is the second lead story on et and ET went and visited with Stephen at, on his set or what remains to, you know, the waning days of his realm at the Ed Sullivan studio in New York City. Here we go
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Commercial Narrator
with the Colbert Report. I knew how I wanted it to end.
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Maureen Callahan
Okay, look at that. Look at that pose. Marlena just laughed out loud in my ear. So I saw that. That was from his People magazine photo shoot, his farewell photo shoot. I think other things are going on with Stephen Colbert than wanting to fuck the likes of Michelle Williams. I do. Here is the People magazine photo. I don't know about you guys. The front page, the COVID I'm really sick of being assaulted by this guy. I really am. Got some other images here. I died, I'm dying at the piano. Image in the box or shorts with a hand. I'm dying, I'm dying. Now maybe, maybe there's a reason that Stephen Colbert just loves to work, work, work, work, work, and doesn't want to be in his own head. I don't know. I got a troublemaker email for the ages. We're going to talk about in this segment too. It's not even. We're not even. We're pulling it out of what would normally be troublemaker feedback. Now Colbert, you know, as the nerve did extensively, I think last week we did that Strike Force five podcast where he was with his cohort of fellow failing middle aged late night talk show hosts. And this, this, this, this is a, this is a different take on what a. This guy is. How high on his own supply. As discussed, sir, you are a late night talk show host, nothing more. And David Letterman says late night is dead. It's just a matter of when the doctors pull the plug. Here's Stephen Colbert on who he most enjoys speaking to on his program, his very, very important sociocultural impact, socio culturally impactful program. Here we go.
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Commercial Narrator
I don't really like, I don't necessarily want to talk to like the second male lead on a sitcom, even though I probably want, you know, was it Second City with him?
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Maureen Callahan
Seth Meyers is over this. So. So Stephen Colbert Says, I don't particularly want to talk to the second male lead on. Are you sure? That photo shoot seems to indicate otherwise anyway. Maybe he wants to speak to the first male lead on a sitcom. I don't know. But if you're a second male lead on a sitcom or any kind of show who has been a guest on Colbert, now, you know he really didn't want to fucking talk to you. You're not at his level. No, he'd rather talk to some starlets he'd like to fuck. You know, I got it. I got to give it to Seth Meyers. He's sitting there like, at this point, he's just like this. He won't even look at the guy. He's like, how much longer do I have to endure this tribute to himself? Stephen Colbert is marinating in these tributes to himself. Back to E.T. back to E.T. you know, America, nay, the entire western world, is on pins and needles.
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James from Corporate
Who.
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Maureen Callahan
Who will be the guests on Colbert's final show? Who will it be? Here we go.
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Commercial Narrator
The final show's guests remain shrouded in secrecy. Fan theories include former president Barack Obama, his first guest, George Clooney, or Even
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Maureen Callahan
wife of 32 years, Evie. Really? We at the Nerve highly doubt that unless Evie herself has a humiliation kink, that she would be among her husband's final guests. Why? In case Evvy missed this, we're going to replay it. Here we go.
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Commercial Narrator
Has there been a guest who was so attractive that you found it distracting? I'll tell you who I did not expect to be wildly attracted to. Like, I could. I didn't know what to do with myself is that I did not. Cause I don't. I like this person's work. But I never thought of them as like a bombshell. I could not. I didn't know what to do with my eyeballs. When Michelle Williams was on for the first time, she sat down across to me and I went, fuck. What is wrong with my head? I cannot. I better not look directly at her. For this entire interview, there was something about her vibe, her face, everything.
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Maureen Callahan
Have you interviewed her?
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James from Corporate
Yeah.
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Commercial Narrator
She's so beautiful.
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Maureen Callahan
Dear Maureen and nerve free family, love that my husband and I were small potato actors at the time when Stephen Colbert, who is clearly then Stephen Colbert, was at Northwestern at acting school. And may I just make an aside here that Northwestern has a lot to answer for because they also gave us Megan Marle. Okay? They were at the Goodman School of Drama, which is now the DePaul Theater School. And upon graduation, they were all Thrown out into the streets of Chicago, duking it out for improv jobs and acting gigs. Okay, this troublemaker continues. Stephen comes from a. Comes from a long line of pretentious, politically cogent, sanctimonious. You nailed it. Troublemaker. You nailed it. Sanctimony is particularly insufferable and that is Stephen Colbert. Sanctimonious performers that made my life a living hell while trying to make it as an actress in the 1980s. Now there is a graph here, a paragraph that this troublemaker would like me to keep private. And I will, I promise you. Troublemaker. But I'm going to say that there is mention here of a. Of a character in this story who was born with like a regular name. Like, consider the name. It's like Jane, but then like gave it, you know, bells and whistles with like a different spelling. You know what I'm saying? And this troublemaker says that seeing Stephen Colbert's wife Evie, who is a very like she, as discussed, she's not in the Hollywood maw, okay? She's not starving herself. She's not taking the jab, no matter what the side effects are, like blood blindness. Who cares? You're going to drop half your body weight. She's, she's, she looks like a very. She looks like a woman who takes care of herself. She's a woman of a certain age, but she's not a Michelle Williams or Rachel Vice. Okay, you know the actresses among the people that Stephen Colbert told his Strike Force 5 cohort that he wanted to. And this troublemaker said, you know, it makes sense that he would marry someone who has no interest in fame or show business because his ego is so enormous that he could never stand sharing the spotlight. And that totally tracks these groups of actors. While in Chicago before their launch to New York City, this troublemaker writes, were exhibit A as to why I gave up acting as a profession and became a troublemaker before I knew what one was. They just can't be satisfied practicing their crafts. I love this paragraph. Troublemaker. These people need to feel important, worldly, smarter than us, savvy and relevant what the end product of their neediness for glory manifests. It does not register with most of the nation outside their hive mind community. To the troublemakers of the world, Colbert and Colbert adjacent performers efforts come off as predictable, dripping with sanctimony for their approved causes, a preponderance to virtue and a disdain for anything that doesn't keep them at the center of attention. This is why I got out of show business, which is the best thing I ever did, frankly. Those in the acting field know that acting unto itself is just a job. It's a job. This is why so many of the Colbert types need to elevate themselves up to something more. It is truly a messiah. Ish, complex. And you're so right. Stephen Colbert had a job. As of Today Friday, he no longer has a job with CBS. They fired him. They were like, your show costs $100 million to produce per year and it makes 60 million in revenue. You failed. Not only did he fail, he killed the entire late night franchise. It's over. It's done. He killed the house that David Letterman built. Let's go with Stephen on his creepy little studio tour. Here we go back to E.T.
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Commercial Narrator
this is a beautiful view. Stephen took Architectural Digest on a tour of this nearly 100 year old 30,000 square foot theater revealing some incredible, behind the set, secrets.
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James from Corporate
They're trapdoors.
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Commercial Narrator
There's a secret door on that balcony.
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Maureen Callahan
If you're, if you're listening and not watching. So he's got this little secret area, it looks like behind either up on a balcony or behind the set. And it's, it's actually really creepy because in the middle of it it like illuminated like a, like an, like a, like a piece of art, like a sculpture is the Captain America shield. So not only are we a middle aged man with a comic book fixation. Again, this guy screams insult. Okay, Middle aged man, comic book fixation. He clearly sees himself as Captain America. Clearly it's not subtle. And then he's like, here's my secret door. Here's my secret door. Why does Stephen Colbert have a secret door in his studio? Why? I'm not saying anything untoward is going on there, but you would think that. Major networks post Matt Lauer, who allegedly reportedly had a rape button installed on the bottom of his desk at 30 Rock. Somebody installed that. Somebody signed off on that install. He had a secret button on, under, under his desk so that when people walked into his office, women, he could lock the door behind them remotely before they even knew what was happening. Why does Stephen Colbert. And you know, you know what I, you know my theories on guys who present themselves as like, I'm decent. I'm. I'm a decent man. I'm a fundamentally d. I stand for all that is good and right. Like you're fucking perfect. Nobody's fucking perfect. Why does this guy have a secret door? Here's Stephen Colbert telling ET that he doesn't know what's going to happen to The Ed Sullivan Theater. But he does know one thing for sure. Here we go.
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Commercial Narrator
I don't know what's going to happen to the Ed Sullivan Theater, but you're never going to get this again.
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Maureen Callahan
You're never going to get this again. Hey, America, you're never gonna get this again. Goodbye. We don't want you anymore. Okay, the Today show. The fourth hour with the brain trust known as Jenna and Chanel. Their top story again. It's everybody's top fucking story. In a certain lane of the media. Stephen Colbert is leaving. This is the longest goodbye ever. And I hope his wife has a really nice excuse. Expensive vacation booked with like her best friends in the world. And vacates that suburban New Jersey house that she shares with her insufferable husband. Because the moping and the self pity when he exits this stage is going to be for the ages. This guy is not going to believe that we are all going to be able to continue on with our lives as if nothing has happened. Because nothing has happened. A middle aged talk show host lost his job. Okay, here is. And this is again, just like Entertainment Tonight's coverage. The beauty of it is in the, the presentation. It's in the way Jenna and Chanel talk about this little clip they're going to show from Stephen Colbert's video interview with people, his video exit interview with People. He's also spoken to the Hollywood Reporter and Architectural Digest and Popular Mechanics. And then we're going to see how Chanel uses her considerable brain power to offer us a unique take that really is additive to all of our lives. Here we go.
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Sponsor Voice
And he told the magazine he actually owes taking the job to his sister Mary.
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Maureen Callahan
Take a look.
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Commercial Narrator
My sister Mary was sort of the deciding factor for me. I would have talked to my mom about this, but she had passed at this point. And so nobody knew that I had been offered this job by my family. And I asked my sister Mary, I said, Mary, could you come up? She lives in D.C. i said, could you come up to New York? I just want to talk to you about something. She said, sure. So she, she gets on the train, she comes up the next day and she goes, what's going on, kiddo? Well, you know, Dave is stepping down. And she just burst into a huge smile. And I said, okay. Okay, Mary, if the show works out, CBS should send you a bouquet of flowers. Cause I'm gonna take the job because you just smiled.
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Maureen Callahan
Aw. Why? What's wrong with us? That's so beautiful. That's so beautiful. I love that you Know, I think. Look at me. I'm saying I think, and then I'm quiet because, you know, our affirmation of others matters.
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Sponsor Voice
Yeah.
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Maureen Callahan
And when people are in your life and you're present with them and they see you light up, sometimes, it's almost like a sign that you're doing the right thing. I think that's so special. You know he lost his parents.
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Sponsor Voice
Yes.
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Maureen Callahan
So I think she was probably like an older, like, you know, maternal. Oh, oh, okay. Here's the right reaction, sister. Here's the right reaction. This guy, this fucking malignant narcissist, just my opinion, called his sister Mary. Well, you know, my mom died, so it's Mary now, you know? Okay. If you're lucky, that's the natural order of things. So he says. So I called my sister Mary, and what I thought was coming, because I'm a normal person was like. I had a phone conversation with her and said, hey, can I run something by you? Instead, he says, can you come up to New York? And she has to drop everything and get on a train. And that trip, on that train, it's like over three hours. It's exhausting. And so she gets in, and clearly it's like the next day she gets to see her brother, and he's. And this is what he wants to spread. He just wanted to see her expression in person. He just kind of wanted to rub it in. He's the star in the family, you know, Mary, Dave. I don't need to use a last name here, do I? I mean, I know you're not. You're not. You don't have a TV show. Like his wife, you know, these. These peons that he's related to, they don't have TV shows. But, you know, Dave is stepping down. Oh, and then she just broke into a huge smile. And then I said, okay, because of you, I'm going to take this job. Like, he wasn't gagging for it. Okay. His sister Mary. That's the re. Oh, and so cbs, I'm going to tell CBS they should send you a huge bouquet. Why don't you send her something better than a. I can't. I can't. This guy cannot exit. Stage left. Soon enough. Soon enough. Now. And. Oh, and then Chanel, Jenna and Chanel, they're like, it's so beautiful. It's so beautiful. It's not beautiful. The guys. And then Chanel's like, you know, it's really. I. I have to say, like, when it. This is. This is a really important thing, because when People. When you have people around you who love you and support you and are present with you, you know, I hate that word there. You're present, you're pre. Where else are you? You're present. You know, you're affirming all this bullshit garbage language that no doubt litters the book she wrote that was, I think has just fallen right off the times list. Okay, we have one other today relate. The nerve moves the culture. We are continuing to move the culture. I saw this in my inbox right before we came on with you guys. And I said to Marlena, we've got to tell the troublemakers about this. A Rob Shooter exclusive. You know, the other day on the Nerve, I think it was the nerve at night. Was it the Nerve at night? It was either Tuesday's nerve or the the other one. I said the Today show th those ghouls over there have learned nothing from what happened to Savannah's mother because they're putting their children, video, audio, photos, life events on the Today show. Still Savannah's mother, whoever took her, it easily could have been a stranger because the Today show, months before or weeks before Savannah's mother was abducted, had Savannah go back and do a hometown visit with her Today show crew in tow, taping her and her mother at their favorite eateries, their favorite haunts. Savannah's mother did a segment on how to make your bed properly from her bedroom. Visible to the left of the frame was the extremely low slung first floor window which would tell anyone looking to do harm, hey, you can get in, no problem. Rob exclusive Carson Daly regrets as he should, putting daughter not just 12 in spotlight after viral Today show moment leaves her with mortified. I don't think so. I don't think so. That that was a pre tape. That was a prepackaged segment. Who provided those photos and videos? Carson. If he didn't run those by his kids, he's darker than we know. If he didn't run that stuff by his wife, he's darker than we know. And if his wife was okay with this, she's up too. Stop putting your children and your immediate family members who don't have anything to do with your job. It's a job. It's a job. You're on tv. It's a job. Stop putting them on tv. Stop putting their images and likenesses and voices and life events on tv. Learn from this unspeakable tragedy, you morons. Now on to a very welcome guest and a very welcome topic. Andrew Loney is the best selling author of entitled the Rise and Fall of the House of York. His newly updated paperback edition is out now. And in this newly updated edition, excuse me, Andrew has broken multiple bombshells, important, important pieces of reportage that are going to change, I think, the trajectory of how the British royal family moves forward. Andrew, welcome to the Nerve.
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Andrew Loney
Lovely to be here. Very nice to meet you.
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Maureen Callahan
Lovely to meet you. Congratulations. You know, as I was saying at the top of the show, most of the time when an author updates their hardcover for paperback, it's something like a new forward, you know, a new thought you are breaking hard all kinds of news we're going to get to. What I think in America at least, was one of the bombshells that just really reverberated in the culture. From the Daily Mail exclusive, your book, Your byline, published May 8. The headline Sarah Ferguson's secret quote friends with benefits relationship with P. Diddy. It lasted for years. You, Andrew, revealed the trists with Sean Combs. I'm going to read just a little bit for the troublemakers and then we'll talk about it. From your piece, from your book. A former employee at P. Diddy's Bad Boy Record said the rapper was obsessed with the Royal Family, bragged about, quote, slamming Sarah and once said, quote, he could not wait until Fergie's daughters were come of age. This is confirmed by another associate of the singer who says that Diddy, real name Sean Combs, first met Sarah Ferguson in New York in 2002. Where else? a party thrown by Ghislaine Maxwell. And that their, quote, secret friends with benefits relationship began in 2004, lasted for years. These specifics are incredible, Andrew. In 2006, Combs launched his own perfume, Unforgivable. When I tell you who these people are, they tell on themselves. Unforgivable, which Combs claimed was inspired by Sarah and how she liked a man to smell, I guess smelling like he commits unforgivable acts. She then introduced her two daughters to the rapper many times, including a yacht party weekend with Eugenie, then 16 in 2006. Sean's parties were wild. A Royal Family staffer said the fact that Sarah brought Eugenie around was alarming. Andrew, this is, I mean, I cannot believe. Not much shocks me. This shocks me. Not even so much that this, this ghoulish couple got together, but that Sarah Ferguson was willing to bring her daughters. We know she brought them around Epstein as well. What does this mean for Andrew, for Sarah Ferguson, for King Charles in his future dealings with them? What are you hearing out of the palace in the wake of your bombshell reporting.
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Andrew Loney
Well, I'm hearing nothing from the palace, but actually this disclosure didn't really surprise me. I mean, Sarah Ferguson had a habit of taking her children to meet sex predators. I mean, she took them when they were young to meet Peter Nygaard. It was the first to greet Epstein. He came out of prison. And this is what's so extraordinary. She presents herself as a good mother, as a woman whose charitable work is about saving a woman who've been trafficked and yet she doesn't seem to care about women who've been trafficked. And the way that she consorts with these rich men, I mean, she liked, I knew she liked rap music. She, she also gets these sort of obsessions with men. She chased Tiger woods across America. She had a thing about John F. Kennedy Jr. She had a thing about all sorts of people. Kevin Costner, who she met in China. So I mean, no, it didn't really surprise me. In fact, there are pictures of her at P. Diddy's birthday party in 1998. So they'd met clearly before the Ghislaine Maxwell party in 2002. But yeah, I mean it is extraordinary that someone in her position was, was consorting with people like him. But I mean he, we know was keen to be involved with the Royal Family. It was a sort of notch on the bedpost. And she likes bad boys, so she has a whole history. All her relationships with men have been with totally unsuitable men and it's part of her low self esteem. And one of the interesting things is I talked to a long term PA of hers who said that she really had no boundaries. She slept with lots and lots of her financial mentors. In fact, I was having dinner last night with the ex wife of one of them and it was the ex wife who told me about Sarah sleeping with, with her husband.
- [37:22]
Maureen Callahan
It does seem that Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew were exceptionally well matched. I mean there's liking bad boys and then there's having sex with and exposing your teenage daughters to sexual predators and traffickers and men who are violent against women. We all saw that video of Sean Combs beating Cassie in that hotel elevator bank. He's a dangerous guy. So the power.
- [37:52]
Andrew Loney
Yeah, well, absolutely.
- [37:53]
Maureen Callahan
Go on.
- [37:55]
Andrew Loney
Well, there's a whole history of these sort of people. I mean, and I think there will be more revelations coming. I understand from other jumps we need to this story.
- [38:03]
Maureen Callahan
What does this mean for Andrew? And are you hearing anything in terms of the investigation into his wrongdoing in America? Our understanding is he is basically living in a trailer on Royal property right now.
- [38:17]
Andrew Loney
Well he's living in Marsh Farm which is a pretty nice farmhouse. A nice large screen TV that he watches a lot of. There's breaking news here in Britain. It's been embargoed until for another 12 hours but there are investigations going on. They've been widened so it's not just the financial misdemeanors but some of the sexual misdemeanors. Had a report last week of historic social media sexual abuse investigated by Surrey police in which Andrew's been named. So I think we're going to get a lot more. The former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has intervened now in a very big way talking about the woman who had trafficked to Britain that there need to be investigations into who they were, how they were allowed in and certainly I talk in the paperback of People there's a woman in Florida who's come forward saying that she was trafficked to him as well. So I'm afraid it's not going to be a good weekend for him and this story is only going to get bigger and bigger.
- [39:18]
Maureen Callahan
Another bombshell from your book Andrew. This to me makes you know, Andrew abused his dogs I'm sure still abuses his dogs. From your book. While staying with the Royal family at Sandringham one weekend, one long standing friend of the family attended a pheasant shoot. Mid morning everyone gathered for hot soup and sausage rolls. And I just want to make an aside here, it's these details Andrew that that make this, all of this seem incredibly credible. Hot soup and sausage rolls. The guest was standing next to Andrew who had his Labrador by his side. Suddenly the dog leapt and snatched the guest sausage roll from his hand causing the guest to laugh. Andrew kicked the dog in the head leaving her whimpering on the ground. The guest said to Andrew this is the, that is the most disgusting thing that you have just done to your beautiful dog. You should be ashamed of yourself. Piss off. Andrew retorted it is none of your business and I will do precisely what I want to my dogs. Andrew, what else do we know about Prince Andrews or sorry he's no longer the Prince, he is Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. What else do we know about his predilection for cruelty? Because I think anyone who could do that to a defenseless dog is a monster and is probably capable of, of atrocities. I mean there have been reports that Andrew is being investigated for torturing some of some of the girls and women who have been sexually trafficked to him.
- [41:13]
Andrew Loney
Yeah, well I mean that account is Vivid, because, in fact, I interviewed this close friend of the Royal family. So what you've just said is exactly as he sent it to me, all that detail. In fact, there were bits I hadn't picked up, like the sausage roll. But, yeah, during the course of search, a lot of people came up to me saying, you know, Andrew's involved in satanic rights. I just could. Didn't think it was credible. But now, you know, we're seeing some pretty horrific stories coming out of what was going on at the Zorro ranch and people coming forward. The story in Surrey is involved with. With. With pretty cruel behavior. So, yeah, it doesn't, you know, that wouldn't surprise me. I think the interesting thing about that story is that the Royal family were there when Andrew kicked the dog. And at that evening, Prince came up and said, look, thank you for correcting Andrew. He needs scolding sometimes. And the big question is, why weren't they disciplining themselves? How did they leave an outsider to do this? And that kind of explains, you know, he knew he would get away with this behavior and it would never be held to account. And our only hope is that he is now finally being held to account.
- [42:21]
Maureen Callahan
Andrew, you referenced the Surrey location and what may or may not have gone on there. Is that the same location? The reports that I have read are that he has been accused of torturing a young girl with electroshock in front of other people in that residence.
- [42:48]
Andrew Loney
Yes, I think that is the Surrey story. But, you know, there are all sorts of things beginning to emerge. I mean, you know, one can only hope that more of this material is released to the Epstein files. There's more detail there. I know the British police have been trying to get those unredacted emails, and for whatever reason, Department of Justice is now kind of protecting Andrew. One wonders if some sort of deal was done when the King and President Trump met. But we've now got the frustration of the British authorities trying to bring Andrew to account and actually not being able to do so, because the Americans in the past, it was absolutely the opposite. I mean, the British were preventing the Americans investigating him. But these are very, as you say, serious allegations. And we've now got, I think, nine police forces in Britain investigating him. And I think there's a good case for him to be tried in America because many of these offenses were carried out on American soil.
- [43:46]
Maureen Callahan
What's the likelihood of that, Andrew, though, of the British royal family allowing Andrew to be tried in America?
- [43:56]
Andrew Loney
Well, I think it's very unlikely. I mean, he will find some excuse, they'll find some way that he won't be charged. The line already is being peddled that he wasn't a government official, he can't be charged under malfeasance in public office. I think the sex trafficking will be difficult because, of course you've got to give, get women to come forward and talk. And many of these women are completely anonymous, have disappeared back to Ukraine or wherever they came from. So I think it's going to be really tough to, to land anything here. And of course, the last, you know, thing is the, the Royal family do not want a trial. They don't want their dirty linen washed in public. They closed down the Paul Burrell trial in 2002 because of the secrets he might reveal. And Andrew just needs to say, look, you knew all about this, you protected me. Why am I going down and I'm going to spill the beans on you. So I'm sure there's a lot of, a lot of very serious discussions going on behind the scenes to kind of keep this, make sure he never faces justice.
- [44:53]
Maureen Callahan
So we're going to talk to your point about the Department of Justice. You know, you have in your book also reports that his sexual predation began at a very, very young age. I think any woman who has been anywhere near Andrew has a very similar story. At the end of January 2026 came a further release of Epstein emails by the US Department of Justice. These new documents provided further evidence of Andrew's closeness to Chinese officials spent a great deal of time with Xi Jinping, the country's leader. They also revealed that a woman who was not British and who was then in her 20s, had given a statement to the FBI in July 2020 in which she alleged she'd been abused by Epstein and Andrew between 1996 and 2018 in the UK and France, including being taken to Royal Lodge in 2010, 2010, and afterwards being given a tour of Buckingham Palace. And in this dump came this image of a woman on the floor laying down underneath Andrew. And she's so passive, it almost looks like she could have been drugged. I'm not saying she was. Her lawyer, Brad Edwards, said she was considering a civil case against Andrew. He and Andrew, she said, have dragged me through hell and back. They tore me and hurt the very soul of me. He became a controller and sexually abused me. He was friends with Andrew. She was speaking of Epstein here, I believe, who did the same thing. It goes on and on and on. And Andrew, I don't know about you, I despair, I despair that we will ever see Andrew Mountbatten Windsor in handcuffs or on a stand or put behind bars for the crimes he has committed lo these many years?
- [46:58]
Andrew Loney
Well, I think there is a two tier system and I think what I'm finding is the King is saying on one hand, let law take its course and we will cooperate. And on the other, I'm hearing of police protection officers being sent letters reminding of them of their obligations of confidentiality. So this is all window dressing, it's performative, it's pretending that they're doing something, but of course they're just trying to shut the story down. And I've seen pressure put on people about their pensions and they're now hiding behind the fact this is an active investigation, should be sub judici and there's a real danger this is going to be kicked into the long grass that will be in a new reign before anything is even sort of raised. And I think we've seen it time and time again where the Crown Prosecution Service will say we haven't got enough evidence for a conviction. So I'm afraid your, your suspicions are probably absolutely spot on.
- [47:49]
Maureen Callahan
I think, Andrew, the best chance for any sort of justice to be meted out is the media, reporters such as yourself continuing to investigate, to bang the drum, to demand. We know that the British Royal family reads every single. They physically get the papers, they are arrayed on the table, they read everything. I don't understand how the British monarchy survives this because the truth does always come out. You just mentioned satanic rituals which even a year ago you would have, it would have been like tin foil hat conspiracy theory stuff. Now it sounds completely legitimate. I believe I could believe it. There are reports that the police were investigating the remains of a female body found on, on one of Andrew's residences. I mean, it's going to be the media, if anyone, it's not going to be the British police. It's not. You're so right. You're so right. Is there anything else that you think that the general public needs to know in terms of the COVID up that seems to be going on as we speak?
- [48:58]
Andrew Loney
Well, I mean, I think, you know, we're in the hands of the DOJ in terms of releasing paper paperwork. But as you say, it's actually not the mainstream press. It's the podcasters and the substackers and others who are really doing the work here. Citizen journalists for Parliament. We've seen that with Congress and Senate. So I do think it's a mixture and it may be that in the law also plays a part that, you know, people are taken to court and, you know, pressures come in from the legal establishment as well as elsewhere. But, you know, this story has a long way still to run. I mean, I think we're only at the beginning of it.
- [49:36]
Maureen Callahan
I couldn't agree more. And Andrew, as it unfolds, we hope you will come back and join us at the Nerve. Congratulations on the book and your incredible reporting.
- [49:46]
Andrew Loney
Well, thank you and look forward to returning.
- [49:49]
Maureen Callahan
Wonderful. See you soon. Thanks to Andrew Loney. Go buy his book this weekend. Support this kind of journalism. It's reporters like Andrew who are going to get justice for the untold number of victims who are out there. Coming up, troublemaker feedback. We are back in a minute. This one is for the female troublemaker cohort. Ladies, are you having trouble sleeping through the night, thinking clearly, or just feeling like yourself? Well, Biologica makes a drinkable daily supplement that goes beyond a multivitamin. It combines vitamins, minerals, probiotics, electrolytes, and clinically researched botanicals in one easy drink. So no juggling pills in the morning. This is an effervescent powder that you mix with water. It tastes great, it's easy to remember to take it daily, and it is made with clean ingredients, no added sugars, and it was developed alongside women's health experts. What really sets Biologica apart, though, is that it's designed for different hormonal life stages. Primary Essentials supports women in their reproductive years. Midlife Essentials supports women navigating perimenopause and post menopause Essentials supports women in post menopause. So you can choose what's right for your body right now. Head to biologica.com nerve to get started and take their quick Hormonal Life stage quiz to find the formula that's right for you right now. Subscribers can receive up to 32% off their purchase. Again, make sure to go to biologica.com nerve and get up to 32% off your first subscription order today.
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promo code sxm Outdoor deterrence requires a Simplisafe Active Guard Outdoor Protection plan starting at 49.99amonth. Visit simplisafe.com licenses for alarm license information. Tennessee 2012. We are back and it is time for troublemaker feedback. Hi Maureen, this is from David Granger, not the former editor in chief of GQ magazine, but a frequent writer to the Nerve from California. Recently you said that most cultural figures aren't remembered beyond three generations. I actually also mean none of us are going to be remembered past three generations. I mean, can you name your great great great grandfather or even your great great grandfather? Do you, like most people, like you're here for the blink of an eye and then nobody really remembers, you know, and Stephen Colbert could take note of that, but he won't. He won't. At this point, David writes three generations out is about 60 to 80 years. Is Gen Z really familiar with anyone from that period? Maybe Elvis, Marilyn, and Sinatra? David, I hate to tell you it's a no. It's a no. I asked a member of Gen Z if they knew who JFK Jr. Was. Nope. Hello, Maureen and Team Nerve. I don't know sports stuff, but when athletes and their obnoxious, dangerous, entitled behavior spills into the general media, Bill from Brooklyn easily explains the core problem with these athletes. I don't know if Bill is aware of that. He brought forward a new classic line that is a parallel to Tiger woods saying to a friend after his wife Elin caught him cheating, he needed to do a Kobe and go to Zales and basically buy a house on a ring. Put a. Put a house on a finger. Bill said, don't humiliate your wife anymore by getting her any further. By getting her a gift at the airport. Go to Amazon and have it shipped. I laughed at the truth of his remark because I've had experience receiving airport gifts. Haven't we all? Bill from Brooklyn gets it. How to be an upstanding person. Or man in this case. Cheers to Bill from Brooklyn. OG Mo, bro. Keep tossing papers, Maureen. You got it, Troublemaker. K. Oh, that came right back at me. You dissected Meghan's visit to Geneva the other day with Rob. But I was surprised that you didn't mention how few people were there to listen. We are going to get to it on Tuesday's nerve. We will have a brand new nerve waiting for you guys as soon as the holiday weekend is over and we are going to cover the 12 or 15 people watching. Maybe you know, it was very much a rubbernecking scene. Hi Maureen, I am not causing trouble today. That is okay. Troublemaker baby. I am a career coach at a local low income rural public high school. I have an 11th grade student that is interested in pursuing a career as a writer, editor or proofreader. What career advice do you have for this young student? To read everything you can get your hands on to question everything that you read and get a job at some in some sort of media outlet that is nearby. And if, if the job is getting coffee and making printouts, do it like you have been handed a key to the kingdom. Maureen, wow. No fire your eyebrow artist as discussed. I'm out here with no glam team, no hair and makeup. I think though that Blake's bots are definitely, definitely in the email because I've gotten oh and you know who else I think is in there? Jack Schlossberg. I think Jack is exactly the kind of guy who would be like, you know how I'm going to get back at that? Going to make fun of her eyebrows. That'll really hit her where she lives. I also just wanted to say that we got this, this Troublemaker K and Hamlet in the mail in advance of our 100th episode, sent this to me to Marlena and team Nerve and it just finally landed on my desk. And this is, I am so moved by this. This is a a hand painted, handwritten put together booklet marking the nerves hundred episodes. And again when I say that the Troublemakers are the absolute best community going. I mean look at this. She even she drew Ted. I mean some one of you guys asked me why Ted doesn't have an IMDb page and I was like, you know what I should really get on it. Look, the mini me as the cultural criminal prosecutor Troublemaker K also made handmade bookmarks for me like with Paul from New Zealand's art on them. I mean I think we have to figure out a way to get bookmarks into our merch. We'll show Meghan Markle a thing or two about how to sell bookmarks. Except you know, like Meghan Markle's remaining followers, Troublemakers are smart. We actually read and are creative and like again, I like I am dying over this. I am dying. Thank you so much. Troublemaker K and Hamlet. It's going in the Smithsonian wing. In the Smithsonian wing. Um, also, by the way, the substack. If you haven't subscribed to our substack, go do so go over to thenerve show.com which is our mothership you're going to see at the top of the screen. Would you like to subscribe? Just put your email address in every Friday after the last full nerve of the week. Few hours later, in comes our substack. It's our weekly email slash conversations with troublemakers bonus content video. This week you should definitely subscribe. It's only five bucks a month and it really, really helps the show to grow. And we're going to do a very special video content where I'm going to be answering directly even more troublemaker email and I'm really, really, really excited about that. So go subscribe over at the Nerve Show. Up next, we've got some really fun, intriguing movie talk. James from Corporate is back to give us his opinions. And we're also going to talk about one of the greatest living documentarians going who does not get nearly enough love from the mainstream media. Again, a quick reminder, keep your feedback coming. Email me at maureenvilmakeremedia.com DM me on Instagram at Maureen Callahan, writer or at the Nerve Show. And of course, there's the sub stack. 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- [62:16]
Maureen Callahan
joining us again for some real talk about movies and the state of the film industry is none other than my favorite cineast, James from Corporate as troublemakers who know know that James is a longtime friend of mine and one of the things that we most love to do is talk about pop culture, but film in particular. We are both avid, avid film buffs. James welcome back to the Nerve.
- [62:47]
James from Corporate
Maureen what a pleasure to be back. And to be back. As I said to you before, I feel like I'm now officially a friend of the pod. So now I have a new title, James from Corporate Friend of the pod. Feels really good to be back, Maureen, so thank you.
- [62:59]
Maureen Callahan
Oh, you're so welcome. Okay, first I wanted to talk to you about the blockbuster that is the Devil Wears Prada too. The Hollywood Reporter box office from over Mother's Day weekend. Devil wears Prada 2 sews it up Victory over Mortal Kombat 2 crosses 433 million globally. It is well on its way to doing close to a billion in box office. I am sure, sure we will get. Oh Hollywood Reporter says It's becoming the first Hollywood studio film of the year to clear the 2 billion mark in worldwide ticket sales. So at least close to a billion in the U.S. have you seen it. And I mean, clearly we're going to get a third. But have you seen it, James? And what are your thoughts?
- [63:49]
James from Corporate
Huge success for Disney. I think Disney now is the first studio to pass 2 billion. I saw that team in preparation for this. You know, it's funny, Maureen, I have to admit, you asked me to talk about movies. I had not seen this movie. But I have a list of questions for you because I. I have a soft spot for legacy, unnecessary sequels, being a superhero fan of myself. So do you mind if I have a few questions for you?
- [64:12]
Maureen Callahan
Let's do it.
- [64:13]
James from Corporate
Okay. How many unnecessary cameos were in this film?
- [64:19]
Maureen Callahan
Well, you know, I do think the Lady Gaga one was. You know, it was. There was a cute nod to an interlude with Lady Gaga and Miranda Priestly in which Gaga talks about the favor trading that goes on in the industry. You know, she. She says. They say to each other, oh, we hate each other, but you need me and I need you, and I'll never get another cover unless I perform at your event in Milan. But it was a. It was. It felt like a lengthy music video had been like, jackknifed in there. And then I read about. Oh. Oh, God. Okay. My least favorite cameo. James, I thought of you when I saw this. So there's a part of the film where Miranda invites Andy to her Hamptons house to meet all of Miranda's fancy media world friends, among them, none other than who I find the supremely unlikable Kara Swisher. When I think Confection, the. The confection that is the Devil Wears Prada, the Love Letter it is to fashion in the industry. This could have been a very different movie. I surprised myself because I really enjoyed it. But it could have been a very different movie. It could have been a spikier movie. It could have been a darker movie. It could have been a meaner movie. I've never, ever experienced a fashion industry in which nobody has an eating disorder, a drug problem, or rampant amounts of debt to keep up with everybody else. But here we are.
- [65:45]
James from Corporate
How are they going to cross the $400 million mark without keeping it fan service and really Sequelitis, Right? So how many direct callbacks to the original were there in this movie? Is it just many, one after another?
- [66:00]
Maureen Callahan
There were many. There were Easter eggs and references, but it was done very artfully. You know, it's one of those sequels where you do not have to have seen. You know, that's the template for a sequel, right? You don't have to. It's better Call Saul you're enriched if you've seen Breaking Bad first, but you don't have to watch them. In order, I will say the screenplay was very, very tightly written. It was adroitly done. Aileen Brosh McKenna, who created with Rachel Bloom. Did you ever watch My Crazy Ex Girlfriend, the WB show?
- [66:31]
James from Corporate
I have seen it. Yeah. That show's hilarious.
- [66:34]
Maureen Callahan
It was brilliant. There was nothing like it. And she is the mastermind behind it. Rachel Bloom actually has a small role in Devil Wears Prada too. It was really nice to see her there. But. Yeah, no, you're absolutely right. It has to be like you are kind of dropped into like a warm bath. You're like luxuriating in a warm bath with these characters. The Anne Hathaway character is as unlikable as, you know, it's like on the rewatch with the original Devil Wears Prada, which I know you've seen. Every time you see it, it's like, well, who's really the villain here? Is Miranda really the villain? Is Nate, Andy's boyfriend really the villain? Is Andy really the villain? And there's this exchange in Devil Wears Prada too, where Andy has begun dating this very age appropriate success. Successful, smart, nice, solid guy. He's a contractor, but not just any contractor. He guts and redoes buildings in Brooklyn and turns them into luxury apartments, one of which she rents with her new salary. Right. Working for Miranda again, she gets word that like, her former outlet has been just like, everybody's been fired, it's been leveled to the ground. And she's commiserating with him over a glass of wine in said apartment that he designed and says to him, you know, it's nice that you feel bad, but like, get real, journalism is way more important than what you do. Like, she's a total bitch. And it's just treated in the movie like it's a little bump on the way to their. Their full realization as a great love story.
- [68:08]
James from Corporate
I love it. So I really think of this movie as I think of like the new Spider man movie with Tobey Maguire coming back. And this is just that version for a different group of people in terms of this sequel. And two final questions for you. Who was the new villain that united Streep and Hathaway? I have to imagine there's a new. You talked about villains and did they save print media in this movie?
- [68:29]
Maureen Callahan
Interesting question. Okay, by the way, to your callback to the spider verse and Spider Man. Was it no Way Home? What was it? The one where Toby's in that movie is so Clever. I think that movie succeeds both, like, commercially and as a real piece of art. And there was another trailer before Devil Wears Prada for the new Spider man. And I was like, I would totally go see that in a theater. Totally go see that in a theater. The villain who unites is Justin Theroux playing a version of Jeff Bezos. He's got way too much filler in his face. I don't know if this was deliberate or not. I would imagine it was a misstep on Justin Sturm's part, but Justin plays him as really dumb, which Jeff Bezos most certainly is not. Print media lives to see another day through some backroom wheeling and dealing by Andy. But what's really. I'm not. I'm not spoiling anything. If you haven't seen the movie, this is. This. I'm gonna talk about the final shot being a reference to a beloved rom com. So if you don't wanna know, I would say silence the show right now. The final shot, James, is a direct reference to the final shot of Working Girl. Do you remember the final shot of Working Girl?
- [69:48]
James from Corporate
I've certainly seen that movie. I do not recall, but okay.
- [69:52]
Maureen Callahan
Mike Nichols, directed, starring Harrison Ford and Melanie Griffith and Sigourney Weaver. And Melanie Griffith is a girl from the outer boroughs. She's from Staten island trying to make her way up in corporate New York City. And it's a Cinderella story. And all she aspires to is to getting into like that office, like getting an office where she is working in finance. And she, she gets it at the end of the movie and the camera pulls back from her outside the office window in a skyscraper and it pulls back and back and you see she's one of a million of millions of people in New York inside a building having realized their dream. But what does that really get you, right? Because you're a person in an office and blah, blah, blah. And it's such a lovely reference though, to Working Girl. It's a smart one, it's a savvy one, but it's also a lovely reference to it.
- [70:45]
James from Corporate
Probably a lot easier to get that shot now with the amount of drones that we have flying around the city. But I love that. That's nice. So I do have a time and a place for well earned sequels. This, to me was. It felt unnecessary. That's why I didn't jump to see it. But if I'm hearing correctly from you, Maureen, you did enjoy it. It is worth seeing.
- [71:03]
Maureen Callahan
I surprised myself. It's worth seeing. And I think what it gets to the commercial success of it, I was dubious because they really kind of tried to critic proof it. You know, they were only screening it for influencers. And the whole press junket was all about the clothes. It was really nothing about the content of the movie. The trailer was very vague as to what the actual plot was, but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. And I will say, you know, this, I believe, is the first female led summer film in a. I'm going to say probably. I think Pretty Woman was a summer film, you know, but since the days of Julia Roberts, like My Best Friend's Wedding or the Sandra Bullock rom coms, like, there's been a very fallow period where female led films just were not considered viable summer blockbusters. And I think the success of Devil Wears Prada too, puts the lie to that
- [71:58]
James from Corporate
Barbie would be the other one. But, you know, if you want to
- [72:00]
Maureen Callahan
compare Barbie, that's a great point. I mean, Barbie felt to me just such like a hollow commercial, like brought to you by Mattel, like that. I know they were sort of packaging it as this great feminist experience. Like, I did not feel that way at all. Weirdly, this one, this Devil wears Prada 2, feels like it has more heart and soul than Barbie did.
- [72:23]
James from Corporate
So final thing for me in this movie, you know, one of my hot takes, I think Meryl Streep is incredibly overrated.
- [72:30]
Maureen Callahan
I mean, I love this conversation.
- [72:34]
James from Corporate
Just. I mean, everything she does has to be anointed as a really important piece of work that she's a part of. You know, certainly has hallmarks in her filmography, but let's be honest, like, hasn't been relevant for some time. Did she turn in a. Did she revisit this character and add anything to this character or was it just a cash grab?
- [72:56]
Maureen Callahan
She, you know, the trouble I had with this in terms of the Andy Miranda relationship, which is the primary relationship, like Kenneth Branagh is in the movie as Miranda's life partner. And like, he exists there as, like, he's the realization of the female fantasy. Right? He's rich, he's handsome, he's kind. He's just there to be in service to her. You know, that's it. He's not fully fleshed out. He's two dimensional, fully. But there's no real softening of Miranda. You know, she's still the same person. There are nods to wokeness, there are nods to dei. They have, outside of her office, one of her assistants. Now, James, this would still never fly at Conde Nast. A Morbidly obese young gay man, the morbid obesity. He would be in the fact checking closet. I'm sorry, he would not be out front as one of. You know, I think of the two assistants that Anna Wintour has as the two lions outside the New York Public Library, the main branch, you know, they're there to protect and as Bastions and his represent. And that's what those two assistants recommend. Anyway, I want to move on to Disclosure Day, the forthcoming Spielberg film about Earth realizing or the Truth about Alien Life and how long it has been with us and that it is indeed real. This is a fictional film, but there is much going on around it and I want to discuss it with you. We're going to take a look at a quick segment of the trailer. This film is out on June 12th. Here we go.
- [74:44]
Sponsor Voice
What did you steal?
- [74:46]
Maureen Callahan
Secrets. The data they paid me to protect. Are they people? No. James, I'm curious as to what you make of this film. Its timing is interesting. It's out a few months following the documentary Age of Disclosure, which caused a huge ruckus at south by Southwest. The word disclosure is now really entered the lexicon as referring to alien life. The Trump administration just released a ton of files regarding the existence of alien life, such as the American government claims to know of or understand it. Talk to me about what you think this film may be saying about where we are at culturally and as a civilization. Really. It's a big question. I know.
- [75:53]
James from Corporate
Yeah. I was gonna say what a question. Yeah. Wow. Do I think this is part of a larger psyop or we're gonna have a new alien overlords and a new religion about, you know, praying to the aliens above? I don't know. It's interesting. I mean, that was. The marketing behind this movie was so obtuse and purposefully vague. I mean, even the imagery of like a bird in a human's eye, it was very unclear what this movie was about. You know, is that marketing? Is that timing? Is that the larger Illuminati working? I. I don't know. I am, I will say as a cinephile, I will certainly see this. This is a movie I'll see opening weekend.
- [76:32]
Maureen Callahan
Absolutely.
- [76:33]
James from Corporate
See if Spielberg still has the juice. I mean some of my, some of my favorite films, even like his Minority Report, which seems to be a similar sci fi one to one. I love that movie.
- [76:45]
Maureen Callahan
I think that movie, that movie absolutely saw the future. This is, this is, this is my thought about Disclosure. Disclosure Day. Spielberg. I think that, you know how the White House will no matter who the President is, from time to time they will privately invite the Elon Musk's of the world, the Steven Spielberg's of the world, to a private dinner in the residence. And they will say, tell us your greatest fear, your greatest conspiracy theory, the thing you would, you would warn the US government of. What's the kind of terrorist attack you think we don't see coming? And they, they use this stuff, this, this creative thought to inform like the Department of Defense. And I think they also use it as a way to sort of get a bead on the way in which these, these people have antenna in a sense for the rest of us and what we're ready to hear and what we're not ready to hear. I found this, the use of the word disclosure and documents related to either astronauts or military fighter pilots with the visuals. This is what we've seen and what we can't explain. This is what we've seen underwater and what we can't explain. So I find the timing interesting. That's all I'm saying.
- [78:03]
James from Corporate
Certainly I think Spielberg has the Midas touch. So I think he certainly could be an element of him being lucky, but it could be element of him being at real dinners and having access to powerful people and knowing what's coming on the horizon. I will be seeing this opening weekend.
- [78:22]
Maureen Callahan
I can't wait to discuss this with you. Okay. I want to talk to you a bit about documentaries. There are three that are in the news and the first, I'm curious if you haven't seen it. I don't know that it's worth us talking about the Baz Luhrmann Elvis documentary. Epic.
- [78:40]
James from Corporate
Elvis because of you. Because of you. And I'm happy to talk about it. Sorry, finish please.
- [78:47]
Maureen Callahan
What did you think?
- [78:49]
James from Corporate
So it's so funny. You know, I always thought of Elvis in Vegas. It's almost like a pacliati, like sad clown era of Elvis. So I never really gravitated towards even like taking in the videos or watching his performances. You recommended it. I sought it out and I really did enjoy it. I thought it was wonderful. You had mentioned like the rehearsal elements being standouts. I agree. I mean just watching Elvis interact with anybody is. Is really enjoyable and how he either lifted people up or joked around or really his musicality was interesting to see. So it of an era that I thought I had a negative perception of Elvis in his life. It really illuminated more especially in the early on era of his Vegas residency. You know, the title epic was horrible. It shouldn't have been Elvis Presley in concert. Baz Luhrmann should have workshopped that a bit. But documentary very much worth seeing. So thank you for recommending it.
- [79:49]
Maureen Callahan
You're welcome. I'm glad you saw it. I actually kind of liked the title and it's very, you know, it was, it was very. I, I enjoy Baz Luhrmann's larger POV on the world. Like Baz Luhrmann just wants us all to have a giant effing party, you know, and there is, there is a. That is a version of Elvis. It's his version of Elvis as. As still an incredibly relevant and an artist who is very deliberate with what he's doing. One of the things I loved was he captured Elvis saying to his backing band and his singers, like, we're. We're gonna do this two times a night, every night. But every crowd that comes in, it's the first time they're seeing it and we have to treat it that way. And I feel like there's like there's a slew of performers today who could take that note. Okay, Werner Herzog has a documentary about elephants out at the moment, which is on my list to see. I love Werner Herzog. I am obsessed, obsessed with him. But this made me think about one of, I think the greatest documentaries of the aughts in my top 10 for sure. Grizzly Man 2005. We're going to take a look at a little bit of the trailer. If you are unfamiliar, this was a film Werner Herzog put together from footage recorded by a man named Timothy Treadwell, who left society for huge chunks of time and went out to the wilderness to live among grizzly bears and met the only end one's really going to meet when one does that. But we'll take a look and then James and I will discuss. Here we go, Expedition 2001. I came here and protected the animals
- [81:31]
James from Corporate
as best I could. In fact, I'm the only protection for these animals out here.
- [81:35]
Maureen Callahan
Animals rule. Timothy conquered. James, when was the first time you saw Grizzly Man?
- [81:42]
James from Corporate
High school, certainly. And it was shown to me by friends older sibling who thought of themselves as a cinephile. Sort of like a rite of passage. It felt like at a certain time such a great movie, like equal parts hilarious as it is tragic. And Werner Herzog is like really one of one.
- [82:03]
Maureen Callahan
Yes.
- [82:03]
James from Corporate
Passion in his voice. I mean, I love that. I love that he inserts himself to a degree in his documentaries. I haven't seen the Ghost Elephant one yet. I wasn't even aware that was a movie until you flagged it. So thank you. They need to be doing a better job marketing that. But Grizzly man is a fantastic movie that I think of often. I think especially that audio that they show you. I mean, I don't want to spoil
- [82:26]
Maureen Callahan
it at the end, so to. Not to spoil it for anybody. But, yes, it is a. It is a movie unlike any other. I have recommended it to people who would never consider themselves fans of independent film or alternative cinema, who would never even know the name Werner Herzog. And they've all come away, like, really affected by it and having really enjoyed it. The subtext of the film is really what. What was really going on with Timothy Treadwell? You know, why did he choose to go. To leave society, live among grizzly bears? What was animating his death wish? And I. Actually, there's something of a Mandela effect with the end of that movie. You know, the Mandela effect being this collective memory that everyone is sure they have. And when you go back and look at the historical record, it's actually not the same thing at all. It's kind of this mass delusion. I thought that that movie had shown the end that Timothy came to, but it didn't. The brilliance of it is that it's all. It's only what you hear. And your brain actually kind of fills in the rest. And that, I think, is the genius of Werner Herzog.
- [83:43]
James from Corporate
Yeah, 100%. I mean, his interest is more in the characters than they are the subject matter. The subject matter to him is this person who would be obsessed with this, you know, his wildlife mission. But then what that really means for him, what is he running from, people he surrounds himself with. I. Yeah, I. In my memory, you heard the audio, but it's very possible that only you see someone hearing the audio. But I. Correct me if I'm wrong, but, yeah, that is. That is a very memorable experience that everyone should see just to appreciate who Warner Herzog is.
- [84:18]
Maureen Callahan
Yeah, he is one of one. And I wanted to talk about him in particular as we come to our final documentary, which I have not yet seen in a theater. And I kind of. I thought about it, and then I realized it would not be worth not even so much the money, but the time, you know, to go to a movie theater. It is a huge chunk of your day. And it's the Sofia Coppola Marc Jacobs documentary. She is on the COVID of Elle magazine this month. She got a lot of media attention. But this is how, you know, like, the worm is turned, you know, the New Yorker, and I believe the New York Times both kind of panned it. She has been friends with Marc Jacobs for decades now, and this documentary really gives us nothing. And this is a part of a larger trend that's happening with documentaries right now, James, where I feel like the days of, like, the D.A. pennebakers and the Maisels brothers, like, it's over. It's over now. These docs are like vanity projects, like, Made by Friends or Hired Hands, like Taylor Swift or whomever. You never get a real glimpse behind the curtain. That's Baz Luhrmann's Elvis. It's not a documentary, but it feels way more real than any of this stuff. That's, like, positioned in the culture as, like, we're gonna take you behind the curtain. We're gonna give you a glimpse inside of a unique mind, and we don't get that anymore. And I also just think Sofia Coppola is wildly overrated. Your thoughts to come here?
- [85:47]
James from Corporate
The last documentary, I think, that broke through the culture, in my experience, really was the Octopus Teacher, if you remember that.
- [85:53]
Maureen Callahan
Yes. No, that was during COVID Right. Was the Octopus Teacher. So that was different, though, because that's not like people going to a movie theater. Right. Like, I feel, you know, there's that. But talk to me about the Octopus Teacher, because I remember talking to you about the Octopus Teacher.
- [86:11]
James from Corporate
I mean, it's so funny. I had a view of it, like, what a wonderful. And then you. You reframed it in my brain of, like, what a weird person to basically be, like, leaving his family and. And to be obsessed and having some sort of psychosexual relationship with an octopus. Like that. When you see it from that lens, it sort of colors everything else. But I thought that that was also a really interesting study of obsession.
- [86:32]
Maureen Callahan
That was an amazing study of obsession. That, again, like, Werner Herzog was probably killing himself at the. This other documentary and got to this guy first, but that was. There was that. So this was a guy, a single dad, a recent divorce, say, who was having kind of a midlife crisis like no other. And so he was Australian, I believe. And what he would do was just go free diving and, like, he would search out this one particular octopus he knew was a female, and you get a look at octopus life, which is incredible. But there's. So the scene for me was. It was the middle of the night, and he was like, I can't sleep. And he goes, I wonder what the octopus is doing right now? And he gets out of bed in the middle of the night and goes down to the beach and goes free diving to find the octopus. And I said to you, James, that was the moment that I knew what this movie was really about. And this movie was really about, is this guy going to try to fuck this octopus?
- [87:22]
James from Corporate
Very memorable conversation, Maureen. I remember you changed my whole view of that movie. But on the piece of Marc Jacobs, right? The title of that movie is Marc Jacobs by Sophia. It's the fact that she inserts herself into it. It's just, you know, you don't see Grizzly man by Werner Herzog, right? It's by Sophia. Why do I care what really her relationship is to Marc Jacobs? There's such a vanity to it. I have no interest in, in seeing that movie. It's not, it's not going to be something that really is on my radar. I did seek it out thinking for this podcast. I couldn't even find it. But you've seen it, right?
- [88:03]
Maureen Callahan
I haven't. Like it was playing it like the Angelica in New York City. And you know, the marketing, this is the legacy of Harvey Weinstein. They position it as such a special boutique release. You know, it's only going to be in like two theaters in New York. It's like, don't try to kid a kid her. There's not an audience for this movie. Five people are going to go see it. You know, but that's, that's the thing. And you know, thinking about it before talking to you, her mother, who was underrated as an artist, she wrote a memoir and she cut together. You know, she was filming behind the scenes during Apocalypse Now. And Eleanor Coppola, who has since died, released a documentary called Heart of Darkness. And I have yet to see it. I really want to see it, but apparently it's an incredible film. And I just think Sofia Coppola is so fun, flimsy and, and, and her work is so thin. It's always about the same thing. It's a grown woman or a young woman who's plopped somewhere in a very gauzy, highly art directed milieu. She's got a lot of daddy issues. And the question she's forever asking is, how did I get here? That's it.
- [89:12]
James from Corporate
Very much so. Yeah. The, the movie she made elsewhere. Yeah, they were, they. It's all. Milieu is the perfect word. It's all vibes without much substance.
- [89:21]
Maureen Callahan
And the dialogue is so scant. You know how they say In Stanley Kubrick's 2001, there's 12 minutes of dialogue in that entire movie? I feel like in any Sofia Coppola movie. There's like 12 minutes of dialogue and it's a lot of like staring balefully out a window while water comes down the windowpane. Speaking of, before I let you go, the Odyssey. Christopher Nolan's the Odyssey. I want to talk to you about this. It's June 12th. It's going head to head with disclosure day. Okay. Matt Damon is in the lead. And I just think this is a Christopher Nolan film. You and I are very big fans of Christopher Nolan even when he's a miss. The casting intrigues me and I don't feel good about it. I think Matt Damon is far too modern looking. Far too. He looks like a guy from Boston. You know, he could be your accountant. He could be your plumber. He looks like a guy from Boston. Elliot Page. I'm going to deadname for those who don't know who Elliot Page is. Formerly the actress Ellen Page has since transitioned. Is playing Achilles, I believe most recently depicted in cinema by Brad Pitt in Troy. Okay, James, talk to me about your thoughts.
- [90:45]
James from Corporate
Well, in Christopher Nolan, I trust. I feel like he has. Every movie he made is. Is been worth seeing.
- [90:50]
Maureen Callahan
Even Tenet. Even Tenet Tenant.
- [90:53]
James from Corporate
Totally worth saying that. Really?
- [90:55]
Maureen Callahan
I was just told. Don't bother.
- [90:57]
James from Corporate
Oh, it's fun. It's funny. If it's sort of uncork your brain a bit and just enjoy it. But it's very fun. That movie is. Is great. Definitely not one of his highlights. But in Christopher Nolan, I trust he has his people he likes to work with. He's worked with Matt Damon, who it's so it's interesting that you don't think Matt Damon's a good fit here. Good casting because I view Matt Damon very much as that every man and is Odysseus. Could an everyman really play the Odysseus role? I think it's be interesting to see. You know, I thought we might be talking about project Hail Mary.
- [91:31]
Maureen Callahan
I want to talk about that with you as well because that is another film that. Okay. Outer Space. There's an alien. It's a friendly alien. Ryan Gosling's up there. Now. This film is about three hours long and this is. This is my issue with it. I want to go see this movie. I do not want to go sit in a movie theater for three hours.
- [91:55]
James from Corporate
Okay. To that point, I initially didn't want to see the movie either. I wanted to read the book. I feel like I didn't want to spend. I was reluctant to spend two and a half hours with Ryan Gosling. Like in my face the whole time. Unlike a Matt Damon, who in the Martian can hold a movie alone for two and a half hours because he's great.
- [92:12]
Maureen Callahan
Point.
- [92:13]
James from Corporate
You know, I see him as like a Tom Hanks survivor. Like he can keep your interest. He's relatable. There are elements that you can really. You root for.
- [92:23]
Maureen Callahan
Yeah.
- [92:24]
James from Corporate
Ryan Gosling, to me I was concerned would be more like a Ryan Reynolds where it's just like one stick one. You know, he has his jokes and his way of seeing the world and it's pretty much uniform across characters. In seeing the movie, it was great. It's totally inoffensive. It's totally enjoyable. I don't want to spoil. Because you haven't seen Project Hail Mary, but great, really worth seeing. Doesn't. It's not groundbreaking by any means, but very enjoyable.
- [92:53]
Maureen Callahan
Ryan Gosling won me over first in Blue Valentine and then in Drive and I was like, I think this guy has real versatility. You know, he really. And he's. He. I don't know what he's like in real life, but he's extremely pleasant to watch on screen. And like you're saying about Project Hail Mary, I will say, just to wrap up what we were talking about at the top with devil wears Prada 2, one of the most notable things that is not being discussed about devil wears Prada 2, James, you could take your child to it. There is not. I think it's like a PG movie, Topps. There's barely a swear word. There's barely any situation that feels way too adult there. There's zero nudity. There are zero sex scenes. There's nothing. It felt like a very well done, deliberate attempt to, as you said, make that kind of audience capture as big as humanly possible. And it sounds like that's what Project Hail Mary has too. And it's something we've really been missing in the culture.
- [93:54]
James from Corporate
Very much so. You know, I think you could bring a 10 year old to Project Hail Mary very easily. It's not scary all that much. There's some heavy themes, but it's dealt with in a way that keeps it light. You know, the one thing I'll say it's. And I brought up Survivor, the movie with Tom Hanks.
- [94:13]
Maureen Callahan
It makes you think, wait, wait, wait. Was it called Survivor or you Are you still so hooked on Survivor on cbs? It was Cast Away.
- [94:21]
James from Corporate
Cast Away.
- [94:22]
Maureen Callahan
Thank you. Castaway.
- [94:24]
James from Corporate
Castaway. It makes the. Ryan got the Hail Mary, makes you think of Castaway, but in essence, like he's unable to leave Wilson behind. That's what I'll leave here.
- [94:35]
Maureen Callahan
Oh, I feel like I feel my heart breaking a little bit. I feel my heart breaking a little bit. You know, it's e. T. It's Steven Spielberg. It's space. The aliens are here. They've been here forever. That's the big city secret. I think the aliens have been here forever. We're the newcomers. That's what I think. You don't have to say a word, James. It's okay. I know you have a real job to attend to. So you know, I'm going to keep your place in polite society safe and secure. Thank you for joining us again on the Nerve to talk summer movies and I'm sure we'll, we'll have a nice recap when the summer's over. Over. The best and the worst.
- [95:10]
James from Corporate
Would love to. You have a great day, marine.
- [95:12]
Maureen Callahan
You too, James. Thanks again. That does it for our Friday edition of the Nerve. Subscribe to the substack. Check us out over there and then come back tomorrow and see us for the Mini Nerve. It will drop on YouTube at 10am Eastern. The minis are only on YouTube for the time being and this is a seasonal celebrity walloping again. We are going to move the culture. Promise. I promise you that. If you haven't already, check out our substack atthe nerve show.com and we will see you back here tomorrow for the mini and then next Tuesday after the holiday weekend for a full edition of the Nerve where you will never guess what we're about to say next.
- [96:11]
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