Full Show: Stephen A. breaks down rap beef between Kendrick and Drake. Taye Diggs get Full Monty!

Summary

Summary of The Stephen A. Smith Show – Episode: "Stephen A. breaks down rap beef between Kendrick and Drake. Taye Diggs get Full Monty!"

Release Date: November 28, 2024

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Introduction

In this compelling episode of The Stephen A. Smith Show, host Stephen A. Smith delves deep into the escalating feud between two of hip hop's biggest names, Drake and Kendrick Lamar, unraveling the complexities of their rivalry and its implications within the music industry. Additionally, the show features an engaging interview with acclaimed actor Taye Diggs, who shares insights into his latest projects and personal experiences in Hollywood.

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Segment 1: The Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar Feud [01:02 – 16:56]

Overview: Stephen A. Smith initiates the discussion by addressing the surprising legal maneuvers taken by Drake against Kendrick Lamar, shedding light on the broader ramifications for the hip hop community.

Key Points:

• Legal Actions by Drake:

  • "Drake is now dragging lawyers into his beef with Kendrick Lamar." [03:14]
  • Drake has filed court petitions against Universal Music Group (UMG) and Spotify, accusing them of artificially boosting Kendrick Lamar’s track "Not Like Us," which allegedly defames Drake by insinuating involvement in pedophilia.

• UMG’s Response:

  • UMG refutes the allegations, stating, "The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue." [03:58]

• Impact on Hip Hop Culture:

  • Sparked at [05:18], Smith emphasizes the authenticity prized in hip hop: "This is hip hop, man. Somebody comes at you with lyrics, you're supposed to come right back at them with the song with lyrics."
  • The feud is highlighted as one of the most significant in recent years, especially with Kendrick Lamar set to headline the Super Bowl halftime show.

• Industry Insights with Torre and Anthony Anderson:

  • Torre explains the legal jargon, clarifying that Drake’s petitions are preliminary steps under New York law to gather evidence before a potential lawsuit.
  • Anthony Anderson critiques Drake’s approach, stating, "This is the most unhip way of responding to a beef ever." [18:09]
  • Anderson discusses how Drake’s legal actions may damage his credibility, portraying him as sensitive and unaligned with traditional hip hop responses.

• Potential Consequences:

  • Smith and Anderson discuss the long-term effects on Drake’s reputation, with Anderson suggesting it could erode his fan base over time: "It just erodes the fan base and more like, you know, like a rock on the ocean." [30:30]

Notable Quotes:

• Stephen A. Smith: "This is hip hop, man. Somebody comes at you with lyrics, you're supposed to come right back at them with the song with lyrics." [05:18]
• Anthony Anderson: "Every major song has a massive expenditure behind it. Nothing goes pop by accident, and it's just an organic success that had no help." [18:09]

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Segment 2: Interview with Taye Diggs – New Projects and Reflections on Success [17:05 – 75:17]

Overview: The episode transitions to an insightful conversation with Taye Diggs, where he discusses his newest venture, "Second Chance Stage," a talent competition series aimed at individuals who have had to postpone their dreams due to personal hardships. Diggs also shares his experiences in Hollywood, the importance of ownership in creative projects, and his perspectives on success and personal growth.

Key Points:

• Introduction to "Second Chance Stage":

  • Diggs explains, "It's called Second Chance Stage, and me and two other judges, we are blessed enough to watch all these people who have another opportunity at their big dream." [48:55]
  • The show focuses on providing a platform for talented individuals who faced obstacles like family issues or financial hardships.

• Personal Reflections on Success:

  • Discussing his journey, Diggs shares, "My son... he represents to me all of the good." [51:40]
  • He contrasts his relentless hustle growing up with a newfound appreciation for recognizing and celebrating success.

• Advice for Aspiring Actors:

  • Diggs advises to "keep your head down. Keep moving." [58:00], emphasizing perseverance and authenticity.
  • He highlights the importance of drawing inspiration from peers and continuously improving without getting sidetracked by negativity.

• Ownership and Producing:

  • Diggs discusses his role in producing his bourbon brand, Sable, alongside fellow actors, stressing the significance of ownership: "We are kicking it down... making it so we don't have to ask permission." [66:17]
  • He advocates for African Americans to take control of their narratives and business ventures within Hollywood.

• Impact of Hollywood on Cultural Representation:

  • Reflecting on Hollywood's progression, Diggs states, "We are kicking it down... ownership, making it so we don't have to ask permission." [74:53]
  • He emphasizes the need for continued efforts to open doors and create opportunities for African Americans in the entertainment industry.

• Upcoming Projects and Goals:

  • Diggs previews a second season of "Second Chance Stage" and aims to expand his bourbon brand, highlighting his commitment to creating and supporting new initiatives.

Notable Quotes:

• Taye Diggs: "My son... he represents to me all of the good." [51:40]
• Taye Diggs: "Keep your head down. Keep moving." [58:00]
• Taye Diggs: "We are kicking it down... making it so we don't have to ask permission." [66:17]

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Conclusion

In wrapping up the episode, Stephen A. Smith reflects on the intense discussions surrounding the Drake-Kendrick feud and commends Taye Diggs for his inspirational insights into ownership and personal growth in Hollywood. He extends warm Thanksgiving wishes to his audience, sharing personal anecdotes about holiday traditions and upcoming football games, ensuring listeners feel both informed and connected.

Final Remarks:

• Stephen A. Smith encourages listeners to enjoy the holiday season, emphasizing the importance of family, food, and football.
• He thanks his guests, especially Taye Diggs, for their valuable contributions to the show.
• The episode concludes with a nod to ongoing discussions about sports and entertainment, keeping listeners engaged and anticipating future episodes.

Notable Quotes:

• Stephen A. Smith: "Your pops already doing his thing. You got to do your thing, okay?" [75:23]
• Stephen A. Smith: "This is not the same thing." [Throughout Salient Moments]

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Final Thoughts

This episode of The Stephen A. Smith Show masterfully balances hard-hitting discussions on legal battles within the hip hop industry with uplifting conversations about personal growth and ownership in the entertainment sector. By featuring influential voices like Taye Diggs, the show not only informs but also inspires its audience to pursue authenticity and resilience in their respective fields.

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Note: Advertisements, promotions, and non-content sections present in the transcript have been excluded to maintain focus on the core discussions of the episode.

Transcript

[Greg Rosenthal]

What's up, everyone? It's Greg Rosenthal, and I'm teaming up with the king of spring, Daniel Jeremiah. He requires me to say that we're going to be bringing you 40s and free agents, the only podcast you'll need this NFL draft season. From DJs mock drafts to my top 101, free agents will have it covered for you with all new episodes every Thursday keeping you up to date as we head to the NFL Draft. Listen to 40s and free agents starting on March 6th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Julie Swearbinks]

What's up, everyone? Julie Swerbinks here along with former NHL player Nate Thompson.

[Nate Thompson]

We're doing a new podcast together. Here we go.

[Julie Swearbinks]

The name Energy Line with Nate and jsb.

[Nate Thompson]

Each week we'll get together and talk about hockey life. All topics are fair game, right?

[Julie Swearbinks]

Exactly. And you'll never know who will drop by to join us.

[Nate Thompson]

Julia's pretty well connected. She has text threads going that you wouldn't believe.

[Julie Swearbinks]

Listen to Energy Line with Nate and JSP on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Happy Thanksgiving Eve. At least that's the case for some of us, but not Drake. What the hell is going on with one of the most popular artists around?

[Torre]

This brother is going after Kendrick Lamar. Not with lyrics, but with a lawsuit. Ah, damn. Stephen A. Smith show in the house. Let's roll.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I thought this was hip hop, ladies and gentlemen. I thought this was hip hop, but evidently it's something a little bit different. So I'm learning something new every damn day.

[Torre]

Welcome to the latest edition of the Stephen A. Smith Show. Coming at you, as I love to do at least three times a week over the digital airwaves of YouTube and of course, iHeartRadio. As always, I'd like to take a moment to thank my. My subscribers, my followers. We've now eclipsed over 940,000, rapidly approaching a million subscribers. Can't thank y'all enough for the love and support. Also, we've. We've obviously had more than 3 million downloads on iHeartRadio over the last few months, so the love and support keeps pouring in. It wouldn't be a Stephen A. Smith show if it were not for y'all and y'all support. I thank y'all every single show and I will never fail to do so. I really, really appreciate the love and support. If you want to continue to like and follow the show, just click the bell for all of our newest content. And you too shall be the latest member of the Stephen A. Smith show family. And while you're doing that, make sure to pick up a times a copy of my New York Times best selling book, Straight Shooter, a memoir of second chances and first takes, now in paperback. To get yourself a copy, particularly for the holiday season, just go to straightshooterbook.com to get yourself a copy. Once again, That's Straight Shooter.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Book.com Ladies and gentlemen. I got to leave the show off not with sports, not with politics, but with hip hop. It's supposed to be hip hop. It's supposed to be hip hop, but that is not what the hell is going on right now.

[Torre]

Did you hear the latest news?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Did you hear it?

[Torre]

Drake is now dragging lawyers into his beef with Kendrick Lamar. I know y'all have heard about this by now. Drake filed a court petition Monday against his own record label, Universal Music Group and Spotify, by the way, accusing them of harming him by allegedly boosting Kendrick Lamar's Not Like Us. Drake's petition seeks the preservation and divulgence of information that might be used as evidence in a potential lawsuit against UN umg, which is the distributor for the record labels of both Drake and Lamar. A second petition filed in Texas alleges UMG engaged in a pay for play scheme with iHeartMedia to help boost the song, which the petition also claims defamed.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Drake, you may recall, Not Like Us.

[Torre]

Infers that Drake engages in pedophilia and the song has gotten more than 900 million plays, according to figures listed on Spotify, who obviously declined to comment on the petition. As for umg, they issued the following statement saying, quote, the suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue. We employ the highest ethical practices in our marketing and promotional campaigns. No amount of contrived and absurd legal arguments in this pre action submission can.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Mask the fact that that fans choose.

[Torre]

The music they want to hear, end quote. You know, it's interesting that we bring that up because before I go any further, that pre action, that pre action petition that they alluded to, understand that's a procedure under New York law that aims to secure information before filing a lawsuit. I just want to get that out the way. Okay? By the way, the lead between Drake and Kendrick, who by the way, is set to headline the super bowl halftime show, is one of the biggest rap beefs in recent years. The beef between them, it's one of the biggest rap beefs in years.

[Stephen A. Smith]

This is a bad look let's get this out of the way right now. It's a bad look and it's all.

[Torre]

Smeared on Drake, all of it.

[Stephen A. Smith]

This is hip hop, man. This is hip hop. Somebody comes at you with lyrics with a song, you're supposed to come right back at them with the song with lyrics. And I'm gonna tell y'all something right now. You know, the hip hop community prides itself on being authentic, straight up, real, in your face, let you know where they stand, how they feel, and not shine away from.

[Torre]

That's the hip hop community.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Let me tell you what's been happening.

[Torre]

In the hip hop community since last night.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I've been making calls. I appreciate the bevy of information that everybody has provided me with, giving me intel and let me know what the hell is really going on. Because, ladies and gentlemen, I don't cover this business. And yes, I'm a product of the hip hop generation. I grew up, hell, I'm from Hollis.

[Torre]

Queens, New York City, y'all. I'm from Hollis, Queens.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Run DMC grew up in the neighborhood. Jam Master J was best friends with my late brother, God rest both of their souls. LL Cool J grew up five minutes away in Farmers Boulevard. Finney was just a few minutes away. Ja Rule, the same thing. I mean, the list goes on and on. So understand, I'm a product of all of that. I'm a product of all that, but I've never been entrenched in it from a journalistic perspective. I don't cover it. I don't read hip hop magazines and.

[Torre]

All of this other stuff.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I just listen to the music that I like and to the stations that play the music that I like. That's all I know. That's all I know. I don't know a damn thing about the industry. I'm going to tell you this much, though.

[Torre]

I know a hell of a lot of people who do.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Here's why I bring it up. All of them want to remain nameless. All of them. The hip hop artists I know, the radio disc jockeys that I know, the journalists that cover it. Even though I got Tory coming on.

[Torre]

In a few minutes.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I mean, I've never seen an industry where you got folks, yo, I'm not touching this publicly, but I ain't stop.

[Torre]

A whole bunch of them.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I'm talking about 10, 15 different people bring. Let me know how they feel, because I'm gonna read some of this stuff, you understand? Can't tell you who, but I'ma just let you know. They looking at Kendrick Lamar. Song not like us with the 900.

[Torre]

Million.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Listeners, the downloads, all of this other stuff, and they going like this.

[Torre]

Damn right, Drake. Not like us. Didn't we tell you? Didn't Kendrick Lamar tell you?

[Stephen A. Smith]

All because of lawyers. Now, again, this is not a lawsuit. I want to make that very, very clear. Not yet. This is a pre action petition. So basically, if you're Drake, what you're doing is the procedure under New York law that aims to secure information before filing a lawsuit. You're trying to make sure you get access to all the information that you want because of the accusations that he's trying to say. And they looking at Drake and they like, they don't give a shit about that. The rap artists don't care. The DJs don't care. Now, my man Funk Master Flex was.

[Torre]

On TV or not on tv, I'm sorry.

[Stephen A. Smith]

He went on social media and he was saying, Drake ain't tell a lie, that this is the game that's played in the music industry where you got cats having money funneled to them to push one product more so than the other to push a particular song to make sure it gets airplay and stuff like that. My point is, I'm not challenging Funk.

[Torre]

Master Flex in any way because I know the brother knows a gazillion times more about this. This industry than I would ever know.

[Stephen A. Smith]

All I'm saying is, nah, people don't.

[Torre]

Give a shit about that right now. No, no, no, no, no. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no.

[Stephen A. Smith]

That don't matter right now, ladies and gentlemen. What matters right now is that two lyricists have been going after each other for months. And Kendrick Lamar not like us. She was off the chain. It was off the chain. Everybody, everybody been going. I mean, you got people, I mean, kids, adults, senior citizens, black, white, Hispanic, agent at everybody. And. And they know the lyrics.

[Torre]

Minor.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Remember that? I mean, they're like. But all they said was, yo, damn, Kendrick got him. Not damn, Drake's a pedophile. It's just talking about the lyrics and what he brought and what he dropped and how he came at him.

[Torre]

And we ain't hear much from Drake. And then we get this, we get this. Look, y'all, there's a several modes of thinking in this. And let me calm down a little bit because it's got me hyped. I'm not gonna even front, just read of it. Yo, one person wrote to me, Drake throwing away his hip hop credibility to use this leverage in label negotiations. The flip side is he's also in Effect helping Kendrick Lamar distance himself from Drake in a hip hop legend conversation. There are rumblings that defamation, that the defamation lawsuit is an effort by. By Drake to stop Kendrick Lamar from performing Not Like Us at the Super Bowl. Because Kendrick Lamar is the halftime show for this Super Bowl. And so now we got to look at it. Because if you're the Nash, if you're the National Football League and, and you, Jay Z and Roc Nation, who oversees the halftime entertainment for the super bowl.

[Stephen A. Smith]

And Kendrick Lamar doesn't perform not like us, the world is going to be in an uproar because everybody gonna be like that don't make no sense. Excuse my double negative grammatically era ass having self. That's what they gonna say. You gotta, you gotta play that.

[Torre]

Especially now.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Especially now. You gotta perform that. You can't be Kendrick Lamar at the super bowl in New Orleans and you don't play Not Like Us. And Drake walks away from that unscathed. Because I don't care who pumped what up. If the song wasn't straight fire, there's no way it would have had that.

[Torre]

Many, that many hits, that many downloads.

[Stephen A. Smith]

No way in hell. I don't give a damn what they try to pump. I don't care what they try to market. Nobody's having it because you want to hear that song. And so from a. From a legitimate perspective, that argument by Drake, in the eyes of a lot of fans out there is illegitimate. But more importantly, he comes off as very weak and very sensitive. And ladies and gentlemen, as a guy that covers sports, do you remember what happened when DeMar DeRozan was returning to Toronto to play now that he's a member of the Sacramento Kings? Drake used to love DeMar DeRozan, but DeMar DeRozan was on stage doing Kendrick Lamar's concert in LA months ago, dancing on stage with Russell Westbrook and a couple of other cats. Cause they all from. They all from the same. They all from the same hood off of Compton. And they were like, yo, demar derozan used to be a Toronto Raptor. Drake loved him. But then when a reporter asked Drake about DeMar DeRozan's jersey being hung in a rafters as a testament to his greatness as a Toronto Raptor during those years he played there, Drake said, yo, I'd go down there and pull it down myself. You don't believe me? Listen to this right here. Look. See it for yourself. Check it out.

[Torre]

Speaking of national treasure. Yes.

[Taye Diggs]

If you ever put a DeRozan banner up, I'll go up There and pull it down myself. That's the answer to the question.

[Anthony Anderson]

Is that what you're gonna ask?

[Torre]

No. Oh, I didn't mention.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Well, you know Kyle.

[Taye Diggs]

Yeah. Well, shout out.

[Stephen A. Smith]

The statues are next.

[Anthony Anderson]

Well, yeah, they are.

[Taye Diggs]

I'm a New Yorker. It's just gonna be that. Like this.

[Torre]

See what I'm saying? It's not far fetched to believe if he's gonna react like that towards DeMar DeRozan, who used to be his boy. They once on a magazine cover together, if I remember correctly.

[Stephen A. Smith]

If you're gonna act that way towards.

[Torre]

A cat that you once had love.

[Stephen A. Smith]

For, why would it be beyond the pale for you to try to get.

[Torre]

Kendrick Lenore not to be allowed to perform that song on a halftime show for Super Bowl?

[Stephen A. Smith]

That is not far fetched. That is not far fetched. It's bad. It's bad. And if that happens, I'm gonna tell you something right now.

[Torre]

It's not good for Drake.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Here's another thing that somebody said to.

[Torre]

Me from the hip hop industry, quote, it's not hip hop at all. He lost me with that. I'm sorry. Still love Drake, still love him, but gotta stay far away from him on the low after this ain't no excuse for him doing this.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You want to get back at Kendrick.

[Torre]

Lamar, you come, you, you come up there and you come up with some bars, you come with some lyrics and.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You go at him. You don't lose.

[Torre]

Use lawyers to do it.

[Stephen A. Smith]

That's how this is being viewed. And so I remember I was just, I just went and got myself a.

[Torre]

Haircut and I ran into a couple of. A couple of brothers when we were.

[Stephen A. Smith]

In the shop and they were like.

[Torre]

Yo, it's a legal issue. It's a legal issue, fine.

[Stephen A. Smith]

But this will detrimentally hurt Drake's credibility. And then one of the cats said.

[Torre]

Yo, he might not care. I said, why not? They said, because he ain't like us. I don't know what to make from that.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I mean, he's from Canada.

[Torre]

Kendrick's from Compton. You're saying Streets of Canada probably a lot different than Compton. I. I guess that's what they were alluding to, actually. I know it, but this don't look good. And just to read, just so y'all know, just so for those of y'all watching for the first time and didn't know, Drake initiated legal action against Universal Music Group, UMG and Spotify over allegations that the two companies, quote, conspired to artificially inflate the popularity of Kendrick Lamar. Is not like us. Nobody wants to hear that. That is an artificial inflation. Nobody believes that because everybody's loving the song. But nevertheless, I'll continue. In the following Monday, November 25th, in Manhattan court, Drake's Frozen Moments LLC accuses UMG of launching, quote, an illegal scheme involving bots, payola and other methods to pump up Lamar's song, a track that savagely attacked Drake amid an ongoing feud between the two stars. UMG did not rely on chance or even ordinary business practices. Attorneys for Drake's company Right. It instead launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves. Drake's attorneys accused UMG of violating a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations act, the federal RICO statute often used in criminal cases against organized crime. They also allege deceptive business practices and false advertising under New York state law. The court filings are a remarkable twist in a high profile beef between the two stars, which saw Drake and Lamar exchange stinging diss tracks over a period of months earlier this year. That such a dispute would spill into business litigation seemed almost unthinkable in a world of hip hop. Well, it ain't unthinkable now. It ain't unthinkable now. My next guest is a journalist that has covered the music industry for decades. He's also an author, podcaster, and television host.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You can watch his show rap Latte on YouTube and listen to the Toray.

[Torre]

Show wherever you get your podcast. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the show, the one and only Torre.

[Stephen A. Smith]

What's up, big time? How are you, man?

[Anthony Anderson]

Thank you. Stephen A. Thank you for that welcome. I appreciate that, man.

[Torre]

First of all, it's good to see you, man. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to do this. I really appreciate it and I'm, I'm gonna be straight up with you. I'm as ignorant as they come with this kind of stuff. Toray, this is that, you know, I.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Don'T cover hip hop.

[Torre]

I listen to hip hop music, but.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I don't cover it at all. How big of a deal is it.

[Torre]

In your mind that Drake is actually clearly entertaining? Filing a lawsuit with this. What is it called, this pre action petition.

[Stephen A. Smith]

How, how big of a deal is.

[Torre]

It in your eyes?

[Anthony Anderson]

You know, I find it bizarre and kind of a big deal that one of the biggest artists in the world wants to have a public conversation about whether or not payola was used against him, when certainly payola has been used to benefit him on multiple occasions, right? I mean, like, it's this case of where you accuse somebody of doing something because you know that's what you do. Right. That's what I would do if I was him.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Right.

[Anthony Anderson]

Every major song has a massive expenditure behind it. Nothing goes pop by accident, and it's just an organic success that had no help. There are bots, There is payola. There's all sorts of ways that radio stations and streamers and other ways that we get music to consumers are influenced by music industry money. And we have dealt with payola in large ways throughout our history. In the 50s and the 70s. Like, it's been a huge issue. It is something the music industry never wants us to talk about because it's unseemly. We don't want to think that somebody paid $1 million to make that song number one. We want to think that the fans fell in love with the song and it's a true representation of what the people want. This is not the case. And Drake is now saying that the company that he is a rainmaker for use its machine to help somebody else profit on his back. So on his image, because the song predicated on dissing Drake, and it robs Drake of chances to get streams. So they pushed the song up, made it large. It became gigantic. And this was personally damaging to Drake's business. This is the most unhip way of responding to a beef ever. But this is where we are.

[Torre]

All right, so this is where we are. And why do you think Drake is doing this? Is it because he's excessively and ultra embarrassed? Is it because he's using it as a negotiating ploy against the company that he works with or what have you? Or is it incentivized primarily in an effort to stop Kendrick Lamar from performing this song during halftime or this upcoming super bowl in February, we had a.

[Anthony Anderson]

Big conversation about this on Rap Latte. My partner, by co host King Green, really thinks that this is part of him trying to renegotiate and perhaps even get out of the deal that he has with umg. I don't know if that's even possible. I think we're really seeing more of an angry, egotistical, wealthy man not wanting to admit loss and would rather say to the people, there was a systemic reason why I lost. There was a machine that pumped up the song that made it gigantic. That's why I lost. Because the machine, the record company machine, made not like us so huge. I don't know if there's really any way that Drake could stop Kendrick from performing not like us at the Super Bowl. That's going to happen. But the song has already been one of, if not the biggest smash of the last 10 years, certainly within hip hop culture. The only thing I could think of close was N Words in Paris that was this gigantic of a smash. But I think Not Like Us was bigger, which is unwittingly. Drake is all reminding us of how much we loved Not Like Us at its height. So you see all these tiktoks where people are saying, well, I played the song a million times myself, so I can believe it got to a billion streams. It felt organic. It felt like it was everywhere. So of course we understand. Yeah, we know why. The record was big. We made it big.

[Torre]

I'm wondering, how do you feel this will affect Drake's credibility in the hip hop industry and how do you think it will affect him business wise?

[Anthony Anderson]

Overall, I think one of the things that we see as this situation overlaps to sports, we respect a graceful loser. You get knocked out, you get beat at home, whatever, you hold your head up and say, good job to the other team and you walk off without tears. And we're like, we respect you. And maybe Stephen A will go on first take and call you a dog, but you still respect him as a man because he dealt with the loss like a gentleman, Right? Drake seemed to be dealing with the loss like a gentleman, right? And like, take it on the chin. And he lost big battles before and kept it moving and the feeling was like, wow, Drake is so big that he can lose a battle. This makes him seem like the whiniest crybaby. Richie Rich went off and deployed his money to try to get back at you. And it really does say, I'm not like you. I am not hip hop. I did something in response to losing a battle that no rapper would ever do. I felt like, he's going to survive, not like us. He's going to survive, you know, a billion people screaming a minor all summer long. But this brings it to a different place where I think a lot of people have to start to be like, I really like the guy. And like, for some people, they want to like the person, right? And what we're talking about with Drake is not being part of the hip hop culture, right? That was really Kendrick's main thing. And this is pushing that notion. If you don't like the guy because you're like, he's a whiny crybaby and he handled it like a loser when he lost, that sours you on the records. Because his vibe, who you think he is as a person is critical to your relationship with him, your parasocial relationship with him as a listener. You gotta like him. If you don't like Drake, if you think he's corny, the music doesn't work. It doesn't matter how slick the raps are and how good the beat is. If I think he's corny, I'm not going to be able to rock with him. And this is like taking a big stamp and like, boom, boom, I am corny. Like, what are we doing here?

[Stephen A. Smith]

But listen, read it from the article, man.

[Torre]

Here's one thing he said. I want to read these two paragraphs to you. They say, in one particularly eye catching claim, the petition claims that UMG paid Apple to have its voice assistant feature. Siri purposely misdirect users to Kendrick's song. Online sources reported that when users asked Siri to play the album Certified Lover Boy by Drake, Siri instead played Not.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Like Us, which contains the lyric Certified.

[Torre]

Pedophile, an allegation against Drake.

[Stephen A. Smith]

This is what the rapper's lawyer said.

[Anthony Anderson]

What I'm asking also contains the line certified lover boy. Right? So that's right. That lights in there too.

[Stephen A. Smith]

So, so, so, so. But, but here's what I'm asking you is do you believe that's the primary.

[Torre]

Motivation for Drake going to this point to stop that from circulating out there any more than it already has because he was accused of being a pedophile?

[Anthony Anderson]

I don't know if that Siri thing happened, but if it did, or any sort of manipulation, as I said, has surely been deployed on behalf of Drake multiple times throughout his career. So, you know, whatever. Kendrick has benefited from this situation, Drake has benefited from it many, many, many times. You know, I mean, like, this would be like the Yankees crying about the Dodgers having bigger pockets. Like, what are you talking about? Like, you have been the big pocket at baseball for 40 years. Like, what are we talking about right now? I mean, you know, it's very Trumpy in, in that when Trump lost in 2020, he was like, it's the numbers, it's the counters, it's the machines, it's the. And that's what Drake is. He lost and he's like, oh, they miscounted all the machines. That's what really happened here.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Well, no, dude, what do you think about this?

[Torre]

Because when you, when you think about umg, right? I, I got, I got some notes in front of me. According to a Business Insider article from 2016, these are the top 10 biggest record label deals. Record deals, rather of all Time ranked before Drake's 400 million dollar deal. This is before Drake's 400 million dollar deal in 2022. Michael Jackson at 250 million in 2010, U2 at 200 million in 1993, Lil Wayne at 150 million in 2012, Jay Z at 150 million in 2008, Bruce Springsteen at 150 million in 2005, Adele at 130 million in 2016, Robbie Williams at 125 million in 2002, Madonna at 120 million in 2012, Whitney Houston at 100 million in 2001, and Prince at 100 million in 1992. When you consider Drake's $400 million universal deal, which was reported as being one of the biggest deals, if not the biggest deal in, in music history, is it possible that UMG and others may be guilty of what he is asserting and because of the money he gets from them and the money he was in line to get from them, that indeed, it's a negotiation, it was a negotiating ploy on their part which forced Drake's hand.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Is that, is that a sensible argument.

[Torre]

For Drake to try and make?

[Anthony Anderson]

I don't. I really don't know. I really don't know. You have gone beyond my understanding of the legal parameters of all this to be able to assess something like that. I think part of what we see with Drake's deal is two things. One thing is inflation, right? It's a different time. But also there are fewer superstars in the music world than there have been in the past. So somebody like Drake is even more valuable to a UMG than he would have been 10 or 20 years ago. There are fewer people who can move gigantic units. And he's basically taking care of the company, right? He is the big rainmaker. I mean, like, they aren't going broke on the salary. So if they're paying Drake 500 million, how much are they profiting off of Drake, right? Like it's got to be a multiple above that. And everybody in the music business gets fleeced. Nobody. Because this is how an artist told me this. This is how you can pay the music business is. It's like your boss gets your check. You don't get to see it. Your boss tells you this is what you made and then pays you out of that because you could never ever see the actual accounting from the, from the actual numbers. Like you. That would never, ever happen. So you never really know. One famous artist told me once, the label owes me between 5 and 10 million dollars and I'm like, wait a minute. That is a gigantic range between owe me five or ten. Like, those are two entirely different conversations.

[Torre]

Yeah, last. Last couple of questions, because I got to get out of here. And I thank you so much for your time. Tory, how does this all make Kendrick Lamar look at this particular moment in time and do you feel there's. There's no way on earth that he cannot perform not like us at the super bowl after this?

[Anthony Anderson]

Of course he's going to perform not like us. It is the biggest song of the year. It's the biggest song he's ever had. You know, they might do it three or four times in a row like they did at the pop out. I think Kendrick thinks this is hysterical.

[Harold Perrineau]

He.

[Anthony Anderson]

He's got an album that was. That's fresh out. The album is hot to death. Hip hop heads are like, this album is incredible. We're grinding on this album. We're doing the knowledge on this album. Because when Kendrick drops a project, you got to, like, dive deep and pull out the dictionary and Google and try to figure all these things to see, like, what he's doing. And, like, got to have, like, a literature degree. So we're doing all that knowledge on Kendrick. Well, Drake is doing this. He's at a courthouse filing a suit. What are you doing, buddy? He could not have played this worse. It's, you know, it's giving. I like to speak to the manager. It's giving. I'm going to snitch on the corporation. I'm going to call HR on Kendrick. Like, it's just the corniest move ever in the history of battling.

[Torre]

And what kind of thing. And what kind of consequences do you think Drake will pay for this? Last question. What kind of consequences do you think healing curve for this in the hip hop community, from the hip hop community.

[Anthony Anderson]

Directly, I don't think you see it, like, right away. Like, it doesn't happen like a lightning bolt, but it just erodes the fan base. It erodes the fan base and more like, you know, like a rock on the ocean. Like, it just erodes more and more over time. A famous rapper once said to me, you don't retire from hip hop. The audience retires you. And I imagine at some point, it'll be like, there just isn't the energy in the air for Drake anymore. He's still a big artist. He's going to drop an album. Probably some point next year. It'll go platinum. He'll still be able to tour, but, you know, it just starts to shrink a little bit. Like, you get the core fan base but not other people because they're like, yo, this. This man is corny.

[Torre]

Yeah, it was weight this week, Torre. Appreciate you, my brother. Thank you so much for taking time out of your schedule to hop on with me at the last moment. Notice, man. I really appreciate you. Take care. Right?

[Anthony Anderson]

Thank you. Peace.

[Torre]

All right, the one and only Torre right here with Stephen A.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Remember to check out rap Latte on.

[Torre]

YouTube and the Torre show wherever you get your podcast.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Coming up. He's an actor who starred alongside some.

[Torre]

Of the baddest women in Hollywood.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I've got Tay Diggs in the house, and we'll break down his project and.

[Torre]

Some of his favorite leading ladies. But first, the NBA is considering a change to the All Star Game format, and I'm placing the blame squarely on the players. Yes, I am. That's next right here on the Stephen A. Smith Show. Be back in a minute.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Okay, everybody, you know what time it is. It's time for Stephen A. Sports Picks.

[Torre]

If you're like me, that probably means you live and breathe sports. It probably also means you need to be in the middle of all the big time game action.

[Stephen A. Smith]

But how do you solve that problem exactly? I'll tell you how. You use Prize Picks. You see, Prize Picks is the largest.

[Torre]

Daily fantasy sports platform in all the land with over 3 million members. With Prizepix, you just choose 2, 3, or even up to 6 of your favorite players and then pick more or less on their projected stats for the game or contest. Choose any of the players you love to watch. Cooper Cup, Steph Curry, Travis Hunter, Cooper.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Flag, all in the same entry. All right. And now, since we're only a day away from Thanksgiving, Prospects is preparing for Pigsgiving.

[Torre]

That's where users can participate for a chance to win a free lineup.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Oh, yeah, everybody eats on pigsgiving. And that's not all.

[Torre]

If you sign up right now and use the code SAS, prize picks will give you $50 instantly when you play your first $5 lineup. You don't need to win your lineup to receive the $50 bonus.

[Stephen A. Smith]

It's guaranteed. All you have to do is play.

[Torre]

A $5 lineup on prize picks and you'll get $50 instantly. Now let's look at my winning picks. Okay. Today, of course, I'll be choosing from the Thanksgiving games that we'll all be watching.

[Stephen A. Smith]

First up, Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff.

[Torre]

Up against the Chicago Bears defense, more or less than 249 and a half passing yards. It's Jared Goff. He's still vying for league MVP honors. He's got a balance running attack. He's got balance at the wide receiver spot. And Laporta, he's got an elite tight end. I'm going to go with him more on this particular situation because Detroit's the best team in football and even though the Chicago Bears are up and coming, I don't know if they ready for that yet. Next up, Bears signal caller Caleb Williams, the number one overall pick facing the lion secondary more or less than 228 and a half passing yards. I'm going to go with more on this one too. I don't know about everybody else, but I like Caleb Williams. The brothers got size, he's got mobility, he's got a strong arm. He can make all the requisite throws. I think their head coach lost at least two games for them. At least two games. They came down to the why Hell, Mary against Washington and then obviously the other week, I look at them, I think they got a chance. And I'll tell you something right now, I like Kayla Williams a lot. I think he's got a lot of problems. Jaden Daniels is no joke with the commanders and I get that part. But Caleb Williams can ball and I think his future looks bright. Okay, let me move on to the next one.

[Stephen A. Smith]

We have Cowboys quarterback Cooper Rush playing.

[Torre]

The New York Giants. More or less than 207 and a half passing on. It's against the Giants. Y'all don't ask me silly ass questions. It's against the Giants. Hell, I could possibly throw for more than 207 yards against the Giants.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Finally we have Tommy D as in.

[Torre]

Giants quarterback Tommy DeVito facing the Cowboys.

[Stephen A. Smith]

More or less than 177 and a.

[Torre]

Half yards passing for him. I'mma go less. You got a wide receiver and neighbors that is disgusted with the team. You don't have any other requisite weapons to point to. Okay, you're going up against a cowboy team feeling themselves because they just beat the commanders. You're just looking at things in the way they're unfolding right now. Everything is nose diving for the New York Giants. By the way, congratulations to Daniel Jones. I don't know why the hell ESPN called it breaking news. Daniel Jones going to the Minnesota Vikings as a backup to Sam Donald. Donald, that's breaking news. Damn. That tells you what we need to know about the industry. But nevertheless, having said all of that, DeVito against the Cowboys, I think they're feeling themselves. They're going to show up and they're going to Limit him to less passing yards than that. That's it for this edition of Prospects. I hope you all enjoyed it. Remember, more, more, more and less. There's more than less when we're talking about prospects. That's the way we do it on the Stephen A. Smith Show. You heard me.

[Hunter]

I'm Hunter, host of Hunting for Answers on the Black Effect Podcast Network. Join me every weekday as I share bite sized stories of missing and murdered Black women and girls in America. There are several ways we can all do better at protecting black women. My contribution is shining a light on our missing sisters and amplifying their disregarded stories. Stories like Tameka Anderson. As she drove toward Galvez, she was in contact with several people talking on the phone as she made her way to what should have been a routine transaction. But Tameka never bought the car and she never returned home that day. One podcast, one mission. Save our girls. Join the search as we explore the chilling cases of missing and murdered Black women and girls. Listen to Hunting for Answers every weekday on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Harold Perrineau]

Hey, y'all, it's your girl, Cheekies. And I'm back with a brand new season of your favorite podcast, Cheekies and Chill. I'll be sharing even more personal stories with you guys and I know a lot of people are gonna attack me. Why are you gonna go visit your dad? Your mom wouldn't be okay with it. I'm gonna tell you guys right now. I know my mother and I know my mom had a very forgiving heart. That is my story on plastic surgery. This is my truth. I think the last time I cried like that was when I lost my mom like that, like, yelling. I was like, no. I was like, oh. And I thought, what did I do wrong? And as always, you'll get my exclusive take on topics like love, personal growth, health, family ties, and more. And don't forget, I'll also be dishing out my best advice to you on episodes of Dear Cheekies.

[Cheekies]

So my fiance and I have been together for 10 years. In the first two years of being together, I find out he is cheating on me, not only with women, but also with men. What should I do?

[Harold Perrineau]

Okay, where do I start? That's not love. He doesn't love you enough. Because if he loved you, he'd be faithful. It's going to be an exciting year and I hope that you can join me. Listen to Cheekies and Chill Season four as part of the My Cultura Podcast Network. Available on the iHeartRadio radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Torre]

Welcome back to the Stephen A. Smith Show. I want to get to the NBA and the changes reportedly coming to the All Star Game. Sources tell ESPN the league wants to introduce a new four team tournament style format this season that's expected to have two semifinal games played to 40, with the winners advancing to the final match played to 25. The event would be the first of its kind, expected to have competition that resembles pickup games in an effort to curtail lackluster performances seen in recent years. Again, according to espn, the NBA was in serious discussions to have three All Star teams of eight players each and the winner of the rising stars game take part in an All Star Game tournament. I hate it. I have no use for. Means absolutely, positively nothing to me. Matter of fact, I don't even want to go. I'm gonna call it what it is. It's straight bullshit.

[Stephen A. Smith]

It really is.

[Torre]

Let me tell y'all something, okay? Nobody should expect the players on All Star Sunday to play as hard as they play during the regular season or the playoffs. I understand that, but you trying to.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Tell me you can't play as hard.

[Torre]

As you play in the summertime when you're working out to get yourself in shape, you can't do that. We've seen plenty of footage, footages of NBA players working out in the off season, practicing in gyms, going up against one of the one another.

[Stephen A. Smith]

They play harder than we see what.

[Torre]

We see on Sundays for All Star Weekend.

[Stephen A. Smith]

How come you can't do that for.

[Torre]

For the All Star Game?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Now, from everything that I've been told, you know what the problem is, y'all?

[Torre]

It's the sponsors and advertisers because the league caters to them and the NBA players don't get anything out of it. I had somebody text me this, so I'm gonna share with y'all right now to make sure that we good with it, okay? To make sure that y'all know what I'm talking about, okay? It says here it's deeper than that, Stephen. A players know that the league does all of this for their corporate partners. They're paid heavily for this weekend and the players can't even get decent seats for their families. They feel like this is some. They're like, we have to show up for this stuff, but we don't have to play. Okay? That's what he said.

[Stephen A. Smith]

They got 51 different partners. Fair enough. It's cool. And the players want to talk about, well, we ain't getting any of that. Well, a hundred thousand dollars a piece goes to the winner of the all star game.

[Torre]

20,000, $25,000 go to the loser according to CBA. I guess you can bring stuff like that up, but that ain't even the point.

[Stephen A. Smith]

This is a multi billion dollar league. You got cats in the league worth.

[Torre]

Over a hundred million dollars, worth over.

[Stephen A. Smith]

$500 million, worth over a billion dollars.

[Torre]

You can't show just a little bit of effort in front of a packed house Inside of Arena 19. 20,000 press stars at press row all over the place. You can't just play ball like you playing ball in the off season. That's where it gets a bit extreme. That's where it gets a bit extreme.

[Stephen A. Smith]

There's an 11 year $77 billion deal that was just agreed to that kicks.

[Torre]

In for next season.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Players are getting that 50% of that. You can't show up. I mean the effort has been lackluster. And don't get me started with that sorry ass slam dunk contest.

[Torre]

I swear to Lord, I want to sponsor my own slam dunk contest nationwide.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I could do a better job. And I'm not blaming the NBA one bit. I'm blaming the players. You can't play as hard as you play while working out in the summer. Really? You just gonna have a glorified layup line All Star weekend. Really? Really.

[Torre]

That's why I was so proud of Steph Curry when he went about against Sabrina Unescu in a three point shooting contest. He didn't have to do that, but he's the elite shooter the game has ever seen and he was going up against one of the great shooters in the wnba. And I hope Caitlin Clark does it in the future and Klay Thompson gets in on it and other people. I hope all of that happens. It promotes the game.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Rising tide lifts all boats.

[Torre]

But when you think about previous players, when you think about Jordan and Dominique and, and, and, and, and, and Isaiah and Magic and everybody else and how they will perform for All Star weekend. And then you see the absence of pride and fervor and vigor from today's players. You got yours, huh? You got yours so you don't have to care. And see then I'm an, I'm a clown. I'm a jerk because I point stuff like this out.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Facts.

[Torre]

But I'm the bad guy. Just ridiculous. Just ridiculous. Jump shots from half court. Even though Damian Lillard made one, Steph Curry made another. But damn, it's a joke. I have no desire. I love basketball. I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for the NBA. I am incredibly grateful and I love the job that Adam Silva has done. I love him as a commissioner. Love, you know, what the NBA's done overall. But there's a lot of people out there that have been turned off by the NBA product. It's still big time in social media, still big time in the digital stratosphere. But on linear television, there's a reason for that. People got better things to do with their time because they could tell when people ain't giving max effort. I'm just saying, y'all, somebody got to say it. So I said it.

[Stephen A. Smith]

It.

[Torre]

Coming up, my interview with the superstar of stage and screen, the one and only Tay Diggs. You do not want to miss this, y'all. Your boy with Tay Diggs up next. Don't go away. Let me just take a second to make sure everyone out there knows I play to win. And if you're anything like us here at the Stephen A. Smith show, you do too.

[Stephen A. Smith]

And that's why we've decided to team.

[Torre]

Up with Prize Picks, America's number one fantasy sports app with over 3 million members to help turn all your sports knowledge. And it's some big time cash.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You see, Prize Picks is a daily.

[Torre]

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[Stephen A. Smith]

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[Torre]

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[Stephen A. Smith]

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[Torre]

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[Stephen A. Smith]

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[Torre]

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[Stephen A. Smith]

It's guaranteed. All you have to do is play.

[Torre]

A five dollar lineup on prize picks and you'll get $50 instantly.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Prize picks pick more, pick less.

[Torre]

It's really that easy.

[Hunter]

I'm Hunter, host of Hunting for Answers on the Black Effect Podcast Network. Join me every weekday as I share bite sized stories of missing and murdered Black women and girls in America. There are several ways we can all do better at protecting black women. My contribution is shining a light on our missing sisters and amplifying their disregarded stories. Stories like Tameka Anderson as she drove toward Galvez she was in contact with several people talking on the phone as she made her way to what should have been a routine transaction. But Tameka never bought the car, and she never returned home that day. One podcast, one mission. Save our girls. Join the search as we explore the chilling cases of missing and murdered black women and girls. Listen to Hunting for Answers every weekday on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Harold Perrineau]

Hey, y'all, it's your girl, Cheekies. And I'm back with a brand new season of your favorite podcast, Cheekies and Chill. I'll be sharing even more personal stories with you guys, and I know a lot of people are gonna attack me.

[Torre]

Why?

[Harold Perrineau]

Are you gonna go visit your dad? Your mom wouldn't be okay with it. I'm gonna tell you guys right now. I know my mother and I know my mom had a very forgiving heart. That is my story on plastic surgery. This is my truth. I think the last time I cried like that was when I lost my mom like that, like, yelling. I was like, no. I was like, oh. And I thought, what did I do wrong? And as always, you'll get my exclusive take on topics like love, personal growth, health, family ties, and more. And don't forget, I'll also be dishing out my best advice to you on episodes of Dear Cheekies.

[Cheekies]

So my fiance and I have been together for 10 years. In the first two years of being together, I find out he is cheating on me, not only with women, but also with men. What should I do?

[Harold Perrineau]

Okay, where do I start? That's not love. He doesn't love you enough. Because if he loved you, he'd be faithful. It's going to be an exciting year, and I hope that you can join me. Listen to Cheekies and Chill, Season 4 as part of the My Cultura podcast network, available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Stephen A. Smith]

What's up, everybody?

[Torre]

Welcome back to the Stephen A. Smith show. I couldn't wait to have my next guest next to me in studio. You see him on. You've seen him on Broadway, in television, in film, How Stella Got her Groove Back. All American. Okay, the best man.

[Stephen A. Smith]

One, two.

[Torre]

As far as I said one, two, and three, because I know Peacock, but damn it, it's one, two, and three. All right, the list goes on. Brown sugar. Can't forget all of that. He's here to talk about some new projects he's involved in as well. The one and only Taye Diggs in the house. My brother. What an honor and a privilege to be a pleasure. How's everything going, man?

[Taye Diggs]

It's going well. I've heard that you own all this, and that. That makes. That warms my heart, man.

[Torre]

Really?

[Taye Diggs]

Yes, yes. Now that we are coming up as a group and starting to take responsibility and ownership. Good for you, man.

[Torre]

I appreciate it, man. Thank you so much. But you know what? You ain't too damn shabby yourself. You're doing some big things. Talk to me about what you're about to do right now. I'm hearing something about a new talent competition series coming up. Talk about that for a second.

[Taye Diggs]

Yes, sir. Thank you. I've always loved watching American Idol and the Voice and America's Got Talent. I've always wanted to be a judge on one of these programs because I think I have what it takes, okay, to, you know, to lend my talent and experience. Never been asked. And miraculously, this opportunity presented itself, okay? It's called Second Chance Stage. And me and two other judges, we are blessed enough to watch all these people who have another opportunity at their big dream. So for whatever reason, they had to postpone whatever talents they were gifted and deal with life. Some people had to take care of sick family members or people that had died or they ran into money issues. So they had to postpone their dream. A dream deferred. We give them another chance. And. And the stories are amazing. You know, we get to judge them, we get to give them suggestions. But to hear the stories that these people have been through, it's quite emotional. And I'm very excited about the show.

[Torre]

What kind of a judge are you going to be? Because remember, you know, back in the.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Day when they had American Idol and.

[Torre]

Stuff, like, you see Simon Cowell and stuff like that, he just looking at people, you don't have it.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I mean, you just don't have no chance whatsoever and stuff like that. What kind of judge are you gonna be?

[Taye Diggs]

I won't lie. I wanted to be that kind of judge, but I'm too emotional. I don't know if it's my age or the fact that I'm a father. I just. I hear these people's stories, and it gives me a completely different perspective. So I'm far more empathetic than I thought I would be. I mean, I tell them like it is, but, you know, I can't help but be affected by what these people.

[Torre]

Have and what kind of stories. I mean, when you talk about being a storyteller and telling their stories, because you're basically justifying the fact that they're getting a second chance, essentially, right?

[Taye Diggs]

Yes.

[Torre]

100 these stories give us an idea of how compelling some of these stories are.

[Taye Diggs]

One, it's. It's heartbreaking. There was this one woman who is a standup comic, okay. And was. Everything was going her way. She was hitting other clubs in the city. And then her mother, I think she was hit with dementia.

[Torre]

Oh, gotcha.

[Taye Diggs]

So she had to completely pull out. And it's also just a testament to, you know, the quality of life that these people have where they put themselves second and they put their, you know, the people that are important to them first. So she, this comedian, she just, you know, stopped doing what she was doing and started living with her mother. And finally, once her mother was on the right track and she started to have those thoughts again, maybe I should give this another shot.

[Torre]

Right? What's your most memorable second chance? All of us have received second chances in life. In some point, in some capacity. When you think about yourself, your life, what would you qualify as a second chance?

[Taye Diggs]

I thought you stumped me just now. But my son. My son, to me, is the ultimate second chance. Because, you know, just living life with my first marriage and these relationships, I can see where I could have maybe stepped differently or, you know, acted more. A little bit more intelligently with my heart. And my son is that second chance. He represents to me all of the good. So thank you for asking me that. That makes me look at that relationship in a different.

[Torre]

Well, you can't just mention your son. I mean, that brother wants to shine. What's his name?

[Stephen A. Smith]

How old is he? How old is he?

[Taye Diggs]

Daniel Diggs. He's a little Hooper, a little point guard. He's, you know, we reclassed him so he could get bigger. You know, he's got his private, private coach, James, and, you know, training his muscles, the rj. He's got a whole crew behind him.

[Torre]

That's actually gonna be very, very helpful. Because when you're young and you're doing it when you're young, they not only teach you how to build muscle, get strength and what have you, they also teach you about stuff you need to avoid. I walk around in my 50s now with chronic knee injuries. Cause I was playing on cement all of those years and stuff like that, you know, they guard you against that in this day and age. So I think that's very, very helpful. But getting back to you, I want you to take a moment to really reflect. Reflect on all the work that you have Done. As you reflect on your career and what you've been able to achieve, how do you feel about where you are now and the road you had to travel to get here?

[Taye Diggs]

You're good, man. You're good. I feel. I feel good. It took me a minute because, you know, in my day and age, we grew up and it was like white Hollywood and black Hollywood. And for the longest time, you know, we were taught black Hollywood wasn't enough. So I would be making it, but then I would. And I would be proud, and I would have pride. But then it was always like, okay, I want to be like a will. I got a brave. I got to cross over. Got to cross over. And it wasn't until just recently where now I'm old enough to really appreciate, you know, young people coming up to me saying, you were in the classics. Like, you know, I grew up watching my mother watch you, and now I'm watching you, and. And now I want to be an actor, or now I want to do this or that. But realizing that the work that we've done has an effect on people, and now I'm proud of that. Where it used to just be, let's climb, let's climb, let's climb until I'm good, as they say I am. But now it's different, and I'm very, very proud. I'm very proud.

[Torre]

So you never took time to smell the roses until we smelled?

[Taye Diggs]

No. We were taught, you know. You know, you just keep moving, you know, just. You know, my mom would say, and now I'm realizing other parents would tell their children this. You gotta be like. You gotta be five times as good as they are. And if you're trying to be five times as good, there's no time to smell the roses. You're too busy trying to be five times as good as the next person. So now I'm still on my hustle, but I'm not letting that pass. I'm appreciating. I'm listening, you know, to the. To the compliments.

[Torre]

Did you ever take a moment to define or classify what exactly was five times better as you were on that grind? Because a lot of times I feel I know in my life when I'm on that grind, just like you just finished talking about, you get lost. Because all of a sudden it's like, well, what's really.

[Taye Diggs]

What's really success?

[Torre]

I thought this was success, and then I achieved it, but I don't feel all right. I'm gonna go after this, but damn.

[Stephen A. Smith]

It, I got it.

[Torre]

But it doesn't feel fulfilling.

[Stephen A. Smith]

What is it?

[Torre]

What. What did qualify as that?

[Taye Diggs]

5 times better for me. Another great question. For me, what I could control was. And I used to get fun of it. I used to get made fun of how I. How I presented myself. So my mother was a teacher, so I would listen to how she would speak. She made sure I was reading all the right books. I would watch how they. They would talk and interact with each other. So I had that down. No one was ever gonna come to me saying, you know, well, he doesn't really speak. I got made fun of. People just say, I spoke white. But you put me in a room with white people, and they could have messed with me. You know what I mean? I knew. I held myself accordingly. And you know what I loved about my mother? She used prominent African Americans, Sidney Poitier, Harriet Belafonte. And she was like, you need to be like this. You need to be like these people. That is what is required of you. So once I got that under my belt, it was a trip with my identity, because the cast from the hood, they didn't really get it at the time. So there was always this disparity of, I'm like you, but you're not accepting me, but then you think, I'm trying to be like them, but I'm trying to move us forward. There was a whole bunch of that. And it wasn't thanks to people like you, me seeing cats that, you know, are cool, but then still articulate. And, you know, growing up, it was. It was rough. But luckily the right people were in front of me. And, you know, I really feel like the universe, you know, kind of laid a path for me, that everything now is starting to make sense. And I can, you know, relay this to my son, and he gets it.

[Torre]

I'm thinking about what you just finished explaining and the pressure and what you do to really qualify. Just establishing yourself as one of the best, if not the best, having that peer pressure, trying to sort of pull you back and stuff like that. There's a lot of cats out there who wish they accomplished half of what you've accomplished, particularly in the act, you know, in the world of acting and what have you. I'm wondering, what advice would you give to them based on the experience that you've had to endure and ultimately overcome in order for them to have a chance at succeeding in today's day and world? Because times have changed so much over.

[Taye Diggs]

The last couple of decades? I would say, keep your head down. Keep moving. And I would say, listen to your. Your inner voice and keep the energy, keep moving forward. Because a lot of people will stop me at a street corner, outside of an interview, whatever, and say, do you have any advice for someone? And I never asked anybody, and we didn't have time. We just moved forward. So part of me wants to say, if you're worried about what somebody else is going to tell you, your head's not in the right place. Keep moving. When you keep moving, you'll find yourself, you know, next to other people that. Where you can just watch them. You don't have to ask. You can just watch. I like how this cat's moving. I like how this cat. Who's this dude who's talking about sports, Listen to his vocabulary. Okay, I can speak like that. You know what I mean? But when people are sedentary, what's that mean? When you don't.

[Torre]

Stationary, stagnant.

[Taye Diggs]

Those are the ones that are like, well, what can I. What can you do? You should be already doing it. You know what I mean? I like the cats that are like, I see you at the top. I like them cats.

[Torre]

I don't like the cats that say, I'mma take your spot. See, now you ignorant. Now I ain't doing a damn thing.

[Stephen A. Smith]

To help you because you trying to take my job. You ain't trying to join me. You're trying to replace me. That's just a dumb thing to admit.

[Torre]

Don't you.

[Stephen A. Smith]

What did you say, Tay? What did you say?

[Taye Diggs]

Hey, man, you know, I like that better than not moving at all.

[Torre]

That's fair. That's fair.

[Taye Diggs]

You know what I mean? I like that than not moving at all. At least you're moving because, you know, energy will come back to you.

[Torre]

What's the best role you've played?

[Taye Diggs]

Man, it's corn if I'm like, oh, father. But you know what? I had to play. I had to play. I had to dress in drag. Hedwig and the Angry Inch. It's this crazy play where I had to be in high heels and a wig and makeup was. Had to sing, I had to dance, had to act. It was on Broadway. Okay, that was crazy. And then. But then there's, you know, the best man. Just that crew. It's like going back to school.

[Torre]

Morris Chestnut, Terrence Howard, you know, Neil Long to NY Lathan. I mean, Lord have mercy. I mean, just bringing back memories. It's just bringing back memories. Stella got. How Stella got her groove back.

[Taye Diggs]

That was the first one.

[Torre]

I mean, that was with Angela Bassett. I mean, it was. We Must acknowledge that was with Angela Bassett. You understand? What did that do for your career?

[Taye Diggs]

Oh, man. Well, I was right on schedule. For me, that was like the universe telling me, all right, keep moving. You're on the right path. I learned so much from. From her and Whoopi, and I just knew to keep. To keep going, to keep going.

[Torre]

When you say you learned so much from them, what was it?

[Taye Diggs]

They acted like they belonged there, you know, and this was. I wasn't used to that. You know what I mean? You know, we were raised, you know, not to say that they weren't polite, but when they were on set, you could tell it was their set. And, you know, it's tough coming up where you want to be polite and you want to make sure you're humble. You know, you read the Bible and you say, turn the other cheek, and you don't want to speak too loudly or come off rude. But, you know, I saw at that early age that these were strong, black, prominent women who were to be taken very seriously, and that was that mental attitude.

[Torre]

It's interesting that you bring that up, because obviously I know Nia long a little bit. She's been absolutely wonderful to my daughter. I really, really treasure her. Angela Bassett is a legend in this business. And you would hear, like you just said, you know, they own the set, and, like, they didn't take any mess. They didn't play any. They didn't play any games. You weren't gonna bully them, push them around. You hear the same thing about the Denzel's of the world, the Morgan Freeman's of the world. You know, you hear stuff like that. I've even heard stuff like that about you. And I used to go like this. That mean the brother don't play. That mean he about his business. And you better. You.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You better be about your business, or it's gonna be a problem, all right? I mean, do you like having that reputation?

[Torre]

Is this something that an actor or an actress is leery about? Because it could potentially affect your work. What about that?

[Taye Diggs]

It could. It could. Especially with women. You know what I mean? And then with black women, you know, there's this idea that, you know, when a woman is direct, that she. She is a bee. You know what I mean? But. But it's slowly. It's slowly changing. And. And I. I love to see it. I love to see it. I love. I love a strong.

[Torre]

Let's get back to the best man, because it's one of my favorite. I mean. I mean, my.

[Stephen A. Smith]

My fa. My favorite.

[Torre]

I Don't mean to throw this at you. My favorite scene was when Morris went. Morris Chestnut whipped Ch.

[Taye Diggs]

Yeah.

[Torre]

You know, saying in the first one, right.

[Stephen A. Smith]

And about to throw you over the damn balcony. Here's why. It was my favorite ever seen. Because Terence Ali comes up in there, he goes. And he goes like this.

[Torre]

Oh, baby. Oh, baby, you ain't gonna do that, baby. You ain't gonna do that. You gonna marry a beautiful woman, a woman that loves you and only you.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I mean, it was like, yo. I mean, cute. I mean, that was my favorite character in the Best man, because he was.

[Torre]

He said, comma, don't come back that strong. L, baby.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Oh, it's hilarious. It was hilarious. You know, that I love. I absolutely love that movie.

[Torre]

How do you compare the three. The three best minutes?

[Taye Diggs]

Oh, three best minutes. Oh, man, they, they, they, they. Happens on its own. It really does. Once I get in the same room with them, we immediately just. It's like riding a bike, you know what I mean? And we. Those characters just come right back to us. And thank God the writing is such that, you know, we just have to say the words and. And show up and everything else kind of happens.

[Torre]

Is it true that the wonderful, nice, mild mannered Neil Long slapped the living hell out of you, for real in that scene?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Is that true?

[Taye Diggs]

It is so true. Yeah, that was a good lesson for me to. Yeah. A lesson to be learned now just.

[Torre]

For everybody to notice. Sorry to interject, but that was after you got your ass kicked by Jamar Chestnut.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Right.

[Torre]

And then you were. Cause you were supposed.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Supposed to be getting with Nia that night. You understand?

[Torre]

You were supposed to be cheating on.

[Stephen A. Smith]

S to get with N. And then. And then after that, you came back to.

[Torre]

To the house, but you were all beat up and she was all in the mood, ready to go spraying, you.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Know what I'm saying? And you just ruined everything. So she really slapped you.

[Taye Diggs]

She did. And it wasn't. It wasn't scripted.

[Torre]

Wow.

[Taye Diggs]

And, you know, I just come out of drama school and I was just so, so, so offended that she would. She would not tell me ahead of time. But it was one of the best choices, one of the best choices that was made in that film, I think. Yeah, sometimes you just gotta, you know, improvise and go with what you feel.

[Torre]

You brought up black women and you talked about the roles and the perceptions that they have and the stigmas they have to fight off and stuff like that. And I imagine working with your own people who look like you share your cultural identity Et cetera, et cetera can be a huge plus. But some would say it's also a plus to work with folks who are very, very different because it forces you to display your range. Which brings me to All American.

[Taye Diggs]

Yes.

[Torre]

Okay. And I'm wondering, juxtaposing or comparing the two, being amongst the cast and crew with best man compared to All American, was there a distinct difference? Did it call for a different challenge for you?

[Taye Diggs]

Oh, sure, sure. I mean, it is what it is. You know, it's different when you're working with family than when you're working with people that are just nice. But it's always lending itself to improvement. You know what I mean? All American was great just because it was so diverse. It was so diverse. And a lot of what we were dealing with on the program, these were issues that people have to deal with in real life, having to deal with diversity and race and, you know, identity, all of that. So it was a real blessing.

[Torre]

Did you like being a football coach?

[Taye Diggs]

I did. I did. You know, I consider myself athletic, not an athlete.

[Torre]

Right.

[Taye Diggs]

My kid is an athlete, but I got to kind of pretend. And when he was coming up, we would watch the show together, and he would correct me in plays. It was awesome.

[Torre]

How did that assist you with your parenting of your kid who you say is an athlete?

[Taye Diggs]

Very, very much so. Just seeing how I was forced to watch other coaches and, you know, watch how we have a wonderful supporting cast that did stunts. And hearing those stories, my assistant, Troy. Troy Brookings, who played in the NFL, and he had to tell me, you know, how he was raised. And so now I have just all these different people to draw from and apply that to parenting, because, as, you know, athletes, they're built different. You know what I mean? And I got to treat him different. He's got a mind, and he's hungry, so I got to let that animal out. So I'm not. You know, there are times when I'm a little bit less disciplinary, and I let him get a little big on the court and let him kind of roar.

[Torre]

And how old is he now?

[Taye Diggs]

15.

[Torre]

Okay, so he's not of age yet where he could drink alcohol and stuff like that.

[Taye Diggs]

No, no, no, no. But he shoulders me like I can feel his weight.

[Torre]

Okay.

[Taye Diggs]

I can feel his weight. So when I'm in the kitchen and he's passing me the refrigerator.

[Torre]

I was asking that question because I'm reading about some bourbon that you got right now, Sable.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I mean, I was wondering about that.

[Torre]

I mean, because, you know, you.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You out There doing that thing.

[Torre]

And I'm Tay Diggs, got some bourbon to. To market and promote.

[Stephen A. Smith]

People gonna take a sip of that, right?

[Torre]

Yeah.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You know, that's what I'm asking. That's what I'm asking about it.

[Taye Diggs]

I appreciate that. Yes. Me, Harold Perrineau, and Morris Chestnut and Malcolm. Malcolm D. Lee. We ownership. We. We have this bourbon, Sable. Yeah.

[Torre]

Four smooth brothers over the bourbon lady.

[Taye Diggs]

Yeah.

[Stephen A. Smith]

What y'all trying to do, man? What y'all trying to do out there?

[Taye Diggs]

We're trying to explore, you know, stretch out. You know what I mean? Expand. So that's been fun.

[Torre]

I know that. And one of the other things that I wanted to bring up was something that you got going on with Anthony Anderson. Because, I mean, there's. This is the whole. The real. The Fox is the real Full Monty. I need you to talk about that for a quick second, too, because, I mean, literally, there's no exaggeration. These people showing their ass. They showing their ass. I mean, explain.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Explain this, Tay.

[Torre]

Dig what's going on with this.

[Taye Diggs]

It's all for a good cause, for cancer awareness. Me, Anthony Anderson, Tyler Posey, a bunch of people got together, and we do a dance that's choreographed where it's. It's a striptease, but we're doing it to make people more aware and to hopefully convince folks to get out there and get tested for testicular and colon cancer. Great cause.

[Torre]

Great cause.

[Taye Diggs]

We need it. We need it.

[Torre]

The thing that really, you know, I remember when it was a scene, you know, in the Best man, when you had your shirt off and stuff like that, and Neil longs just looking at you like, lord, have mercy. And I often wonder where people like yourself and others who are in Hollywood and in shape, you know, the male model, I call him Zoolander.

[Stephen A. Smith]

That's Morris Chestnut.

[Torre]

This is a true story. I'm at an event, right? And. And literally, this is the truth. Morris Chestnut, Michael Ealy, okay? Boris Kojo, Jesse Williams and me.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Now, damn it, if there was ever a place that I felt out of place, it was that I'm. Like I said, you know, I said.

[Torre]

Y'All ain't shit, man.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I look horrible compared to this crowd right here. I don't want to be around any of y'all right now.

[Taye Diggs]

Nah, you got that hype, man. Ladies be liking that hype.

[Torre]

Do y'all ever think about, I mean, being a sex symbol? Do the fellas pay attention to that? Do you like that? Does that make you more money in Hollywood?

[Taye Diggs]

I'm sure it does. I'M sure it does. But, you know, like I said, I was raised in the church, and we were always taught to be humble, don't think too highly of yourself. And, you know, I started out really scrawny and skinny and insecure, so I've had to build myself up. And then sometimes, you know, when you're really successful or when you're blessed enough to be successful, you wonder if you're even supposed to be there. So I've had to do the opposite and just, like, talk myself up. And, yeah, I'm somebody. I deserve to be here. You deserve to be standing next to Boris Kojo.

[Torre]

Does it inspire you to be in the best physical condition possible? Is it the work? Is it the perception of how you're looked at? Is it the artistry? Or is it being a parent to an athlete?

[Taye Diggs]

It's that.

[Torre]

It's that.

[Taye Diggs]

It's that. Yeah, my son inspires me. And now he's old enough to kind of poke me in my little midair six pack.

[Torre]

What's six pack, dad? Where did it go?

[Taye Diggs]

So let me get this right. You work out so you can eat, right? And I said, yeah. He said, that's, that's not the way to do it, Pops. I said, leave me alone.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Exactly, exactly.

[Torre]

Look, man, I, I, I, I couldn't let you leave out of here because without bringing up a list, because I, I, I, I've sort of put together my own list of the leading ladies that have worked with Tay Diggs, and I sort of rated them in my favor. Would you mind if I did that.

[Stephen A. Smith]

In front of you? Would you mind if I did that.

[Taye Diggs]

In front of you, single man?

[Stephen A. Smith]

All right, we, we gonna put it.

[Torre]

Right up on the board right here.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Give me number five on the list, please.

[Torre]

That I got right there, please. One of the elite actresses in the business. No question about it.

[Taye Diggs]

She's hilarious. Yes, she and Regina.

[Torre]

And phenomenal.

[Taye Diggs]

Oh, yeah.

[Torre]

And phenomenal. Oh, you see that right there? Lisa Ray. Okay, second movie, but Lisa Ray was somebody now.

[Taye Diggs]

Oh, yes, she is.

[Torre]

You understand the wood? You understand what I'm saying? I love the scene when Pops threatened you. He was sitting there. When he walked up there, he whispered, because that's how I'm gonna be. That's how I'm gonna be. That's right. Now, Lisa, Rick, she's something special, right? Okay, let me show you the next one right here, please. Give it to me now. You see this one? Yeah.

[Taye Diggs]

We gotta do another something together.

[Torre]

Here's the problem. How do you have the best man Won the best man holiday. It was two. And then the series on Peacock, an eight part series.

[Stephen A. Smith]

And at no time did y'all get together. How does that happen, Tay?

[Taye Diggs]

That's the thing, man. That's good writing. They keep you feeding for it.

[Torre]

They keep you feeding for it. That's a lot of feeding. That's a lot of feeling. Two movies in an eight part series.

[Taye Diggs]

Oh, boy.

[Torre]

Now, this is my.

[Taye Diggs]

I thought I was gonna marry her at one point in real life before I met her. You know what I mean?

[Torre]

Right? Yeah, she is special.

[Taye Diggs]

Yeah, they're all something else.

[Torre]

I've always been a Sinai Lathan fan. She's a marvelous actress. She's a beautiful woman. Now, see, no, that's number one.

[Taye Diggs]

Okay?

[Torre]

That's number one right there. That's number one. Angela, she's in her 60s, bro. Come on.

[Taye Diggs]

That's crazy.

[Torre]

She's in her 60s.

[Taye Diggs]

That's ridiculous.

[Torre]

Courtney Vance, brother of mine. Love him dearly. I always shake his hand, man. You're a very, very, very, very.

[Taye Diggs]

He knows it too.

[Torre]

That was my order. I get it right there.

[Taye Diggs]

I get it.

[Torre]

You understand, in terms of being a level, it could fluctuate. It's fluid. It's fluid.

[Taye Diggs]

Of course, because they are. I'm fluid too, y'all.

[Torre]

There we go.

[Taye Diggs]

I feel you different.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I hear you.

[Taye Diggs]

I understand with them.

[Torre]

I understand. I understand. What's next for you?

[Taye Diggs]

Oh, man. Hopefully a second season for. For this second chance stage. And Sable. Getting Sable out there. And we're producing, Producing a bunch of stuff.

[Torre]

So producing has become important to you as well.

[Taye Diggs]

Yes, 100%. Like creating ownership. Yeah. I gotta get on that bus.

[Torre]

Do you feel like Hollywood has sort of opened the doors for those opportunities for African Americans in this country?

[Taye Diggs]

I think we are kicking it down. You know what I mean? And slowly, you know, it's changing. It's changing. It's not gonna be pretty, though.

[Torre]

What could be done by those outside of Hollywood to assist in helping to.

[Taye Diggs]

Kick those doors, in getting on the same side, getting on the same team, putting your money back, you know, back into ourselves. You know what I mean? Ownership, like you said, making it so we don't have to ask permission. We can just show up. Oh, I bought this. This is my.

[Torre]

Here we go.

[Taye Diggs]

We got it. You know what I'm saying?

[Torre]

Billy Baker, my man, amongst other things. The one and only Tay Diggs in the house right here with Stephen. Honor and a privilege to talk to you. Proud of you. Proud of all the work that you've done. You've been an incredible role model to so many, so many cats out there with the wonderful work that you've been doing throughout your illustrious career. And the thing about it for me is as long as you've been around, I think you just getting started, man. I think big things are the coming up. So there you go.

[Taye Diggs]

I like to hear that.

[Torre]

There we go.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Walk.

[Taye Diggs]

I like to hear that.

[Torre]

Work on your game, bro. Work on your game. Your pops, regardless of what you want.

[Stephen A. Smith]

To say, your pops already doing his thing. You got to do your thing, okay?

[Torre]

Which I know you will, my man. All the best to you. One and only Tay Diggs in the house right here on the Stephen A. Smith show. That's it for this edition of the Stephen A. Smith Show. I want to take a moment to thanks thank tor again for coming on and talking to us about the whole Drake, Kendrick Lamar situation. Really, really appreciate his level of expertise. And of course, the one and only Tay Diggs for sitting right here in studio or with me in my studio, obviously. I thoroughly enjoyed that conversation. He is big time. I want y'all to have a, a wonderful Thanksgiving. I know I'm about to. I know I'm about to. Some turkey wings, some candy, yams. The stuffing. We love the stuffing. The macaroni and cheese, that's automatic. And my mama biscuits by Abigail. My sister Abigail. My mama biscuits by my sister Abigail did absolutely, positively delicious. That was some football. I can't wait. Now, I'm not excited about the football games in Detroit and Dallas, of course, but I do love the notion of Green Bay and Miami playing tomorrow night together. I kind of like that.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I kind of like that.

[Torre]

Okay. Either way you slice it, it's football, so there's no loss there. And I can't wait to enjoy my Thanksgiving watching some football and eating some food. You know what I'm saying? I mean, it's never, ever, ever a bad thing. I hope your stomachs are going to be as full as mine because I intend to eat a lot. That's why I got exercise right now. But if y'all see me with a pot belly over the weekend, don't hold it against me. It's gonna take a little time to get that stuff out my system, the way I'm gonna eat over the next couple of days. Until then, this is Stephen A. Signing off. Peace of love, everybody. Talk to you later. Happy Thanksgiving.

[Greg Rosenthal]

What's up, everyone? It's Greg Rosenthal, and I'm teaming up with the king of spring, Daniel Jeremiah. He requires me to say that we're going to be bringing you 40s and free agents, the only podcast you'll need this NFL draft season. From DJs mock drafts to my top 101, free agents will have it covered for you with all new episodes every Thursday keeping you up to date as we head to the NFL Draft. Listen to 40s and free agents starting on March 6th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

[Julie Swearbinks]

What's up everyone? Julie Swearbinks here along with former NHL player Nate Thompson.

[Nate Thompson]

We're doing a new podcast together. Here we go.

[Julie Swearbinks]

The name Energy Line with Nate and jsb.

[Nate Thompson]

Each week we'll get together and talk about hockey life. All topics are fair. Her game, right?

[Julie Swearbinks]

Exactly. And you'll never know who will drop by to join us.

[Nate Thompson]

Julie is pretty well connected. She has text threads going that you wouldn't believe.

[Julie Swearbinks]

Listen to Energy Line with Nate and jsb on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.