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- [00:02]
Greg Gutfeld
I've been a target of being canceled so many times that I stopped caring.
- [00:06]
Francey
Did you get sued? I can sue. You did that to me.
- [00:09]
Greg Gutfeld
I don't know if I would do that again. So I got to meet President Reagan, which was a big deal. Ate his dinner when he left the table. Then I got fired from that for an incident involving little people, the IKEA sex party. And so the IKEA finally sued. So that was like not good. Guy lighting his guitar on fire. I thought was going to turn on, turn on all the sprinklers and just get me fired. If all the sprinklers had gone on, it would have destroyed the Net. It would have, like the whole network would go down.
- [00:40]
Cat
Greg, are you hopeful for America?
- [00:42]
Greg Gutfeld
Yes, I am. I don't know why.
- [00:49]
Cat
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- [02:34]
Francey
Greg Gutfeld, welcome to Triggerometric.
- [02:36]
Greg Gutfeld
Thanks for having me here. Quite rustic in here. A lot of books.
- [02:39]
Francey
There are a lot of books. It's great to have you on, man.
- [02:41]
Greg Gutfeld
Yeah.
- [02:41]
Francey
I've been meaning to do this for a long time. Tell us your story, because you've got a great show on Fox. People love it. But you've got a fascinating life story as well.
- [02:51]
Greg Gutfeld
Yeah, it's not an overnight sensation. It's. It was a lot of twists and turns. I started in publishing. I think my first publishing job, where I did no writing or publishing, was at the American Spectator, small conservative political rag out of Arlington. I was a staff assistant. Got to meet President Reagan, which was a big deal. Ate his dinner. When he left the table, that was like. That was like the. Made the entire $12,000 a year job worth. It was. He was at my boss's house. Cause Reagan would do like two dinners a year. And he came to my boss's house, Bob Tyrrell, and I was his assistant. So I was cleaning the place up and all this. And in return, I could stay there. And when they were finishing, it was like 12 people. When they finished eating, I saw that Reagan hadn't finished his chicken. So I moved over around the table and when they. I just scooped the chicken up and I shoved it down my throat.
- [03:56]
Cat
Like a cat.
- [03:57]
Francey
Like a cat.
- [03:57]
Greg Gutfeld
It just. It didn't matter, Bones. You name it, everything. Because I was just. I. I don't know if. Did we have DNA back then? I had his DNA in me. That's all that mattered. That was like 87, 88. So, you know, president.
- [04:10]
Cat
Yeah.
- [04:11]
Greg Gutfeld
So it was like. Was he. He was. The election was 88. So, yeah, he was present in 88.
- [04:16]
Cat
Yeah. I was going to make a joke. So you were like Monica Lewinsky, basically.
- [04:19]
Greg Gutfeld
Yes, I was the first Lewinsky.
- [04:24]
Francey
Somewhat unflattering comparison.
- [04:25]
Greg Gutfeld
Yes. I wasn't wearing a blue shirt, though. That's the difference. But yes, I was there. Then I went back home, moved back home with my mom because I wanted to be a writer. And so I started writing weird satirical pieces. And I got one into the San Francisco Chronicle. And that was like my first published piece. I was very excited, but I wasn't making any money. So I took a job in Allentown, Pennsylvania, as an editor for Prevention magazine, which was a health magazine. And it was like basically the world's largest health magazine for like. It was. The audience was like middle aged to older women with cats. And so I. I got totally into fitness journalism and I parl. Parlayed that into a gig At Men's Health, which was the. The. We invented abs. You did not know what abs were until Men's Health came aboard. Because, remember, before Men's Health, it was all biceps, but then abs were the new biceps. And I'd like to think I started it. I wrote all. How old are you guys?
- [05:26]
Cat
43, 42.
- [05:27]
Greg Gutfeld
So you were in your 20s, in the 90s. So did you ever buy Men's Health?
- [05:32]
Cat
I did buy Men's Health, yeah.
- [05:34]
Greg Gutfeld
So all those ab cover lines. I wrote those, like, four steps to flat abs. That was me. But it was great because I understood the whole thing about magazines that I used in TV was packaging. And I think that that is something that was missing. Like, it's like, it's the whole package. It's how it looks.
- [05:57]
Francey
It's.
- [05:57]
Greg Gutfeld
What are the five things? And like, with Men's Health, it was easy. It was like sex, stress, muscle, fitness, nutrition. And it's like if you just stuck to those cover lines, you would have a hit magazine. And I started to. Had a little chart where I throw a dart and I'd have like, the. All the little things in a guy's life and then the setups, like, five steps to how to get rid of the best way to the worst way to. And then I would just throw a dart, and you. Boom. And I get a story that is.
- [06:27]
Francey
So interesting because it's almost like human nature is so consistent over time.
- [06:33]
Greg Gutfeld
Yes.
- [06:33]
Francey
Like, you look at YouTube now and you go, our friends, you know, Stephen Bartlett or Chris Williamson. I mean, they're doing that.
- [06:39]
Greg Gutfeld
Yeah, no, it's.
- [06:40]
Francey
It's a.
- [06:41]
Greg Gutfeld
It's a big deal, actually. I find that so refreshing that there are. I guess it's refreshing because it's also kind of on our side. You know what I mean? Because when you look at the other side, I'm talking, like, politically or socially. They don't look like they care about their fitness. I think it's basically. Remember when they started saying fitness was like white supremacist, far right. It was because we were just better looking.
- [07:10]
Francey
I don't know about that. Maybe on the male side. On the female side, this is kind of. If I were a single man now, I'd have to say the woke girls are kind of hot.
- [07:17]
Greg Gutfeld
I. You know what?
- [07:18]
Francey
I'm. Conservatives. I don't mind saying that either. But the woke girls, okay.
- [07:24]
Greg Gutfeld
You know, you know what's interesting about that is that you're probably. I'd say they're. They're probably the same, but only one side makes beauty A product of patriarchy. And so they encourage, like, if. If you take a reasonably attractive girl and put her in the woke machine, in three years, you won't recognize her because you. It's like, I don't need to. I don't need to get dressed. Why would I. Why would I do my hair if it's just to please a guy? So you get that kind of, like, weird transformation. I don't know if you remember those things on X where they show a girl before and then after, and she. When she's woke and. And I think you're seeing now the rebound with, like, all the, like, tpusa. I used to go to those things. Have you been to a tpusa? It's like everybody there is, like, they walked out of Ralph Lauren. Yeah. Thank you. I was going to say Teen Vogue, but that would have been a terrible example. Rip. But where was it? Oh, and then I. Yes, I was at Men's Health. I was there. Got fired. And then.
- [08:28]
Francey
How'd you get fired? If it's a boring story, skip it. But usually getting fired is kind of funny.
- [08:34]
Greg Gutfeld
There's a number of things. What happened after I got fired was funny, but I had done a story in. It was like 2000, called the best Colleges for Men. This is so far ahead of its time. It wasn't even.
- [08:48]
Cat
I remember that. When was that?
- [08:49]
Greg Gutfeld
It was probably 2000.
- [08:51]
Cat
Yes. Cause I went to college that year, and my friends ended up like, dude, you have to read this.
- [08:57]
Greg Gutfeld
It was all about speech. It was all about all the weird, what we would call woke that was happening on campuses. But I can't remember who wrote it. It might have been Harry Stein or Dennis Boyle, some older writer. And it got so much grief within the company because the company rodeo was very liberal. And there was a box there, a sidebar on the worst colleges. And I think the number one worst college happened to be the one that the CEO went to. So that was it. So. But then what happened was I got fired. I don't know how this. You know, an editor has an editorial letter that they put in the front of the magazine. So within the week after I got fired, I rewrote it and I sent it and replaced the one that was going to print. So the one that was supposed to go to print was going to say, like, this issue's great. We've got, blah, blah, blah. We're interviewing this. But in this case, it said, hey, just letting you know I got fired, and you know why I got fired. And I go through these Reasons. And it goes into the magazine, goes to press, and they got 100,000 copies printed. And before they shut it down and it was a big story in, in. And I, I.
- [10:12]
Francey
Did you get sued?
- [10:13]
Greg Gutfeld
No, because it like, I didn't do anything wrong.
- [10:16]
Francey
I'd sue you.
- [10:17]
Greg Gutfeld
Yeah.
- [10:18]
Francey
To me it was.
- [10:19]
Greg Gutfeld
I think somebody thought, somebody who wasn't well versed in what was going on said, hey, you know, you know, do you want to do any changes to your, you know, this is your. He said, this is your last issue, so do you want any, Anything? And I'm like, yeah, no. And then I go, wait a second. And then I like did that. And then I was able to buy three copies of it because I can't remember if I was on the west coast or. He's thinking it was in the West Coast. They came out. The first 100, 000 came out on the West Coast. They had stopped the presses and removed it on the right. Which cost, I don't know, half a million dollars to do that. But.
- [10:55]
Francey
Wow.
- [10:56]
Greg Gutfeld
Yeah, but, but that.
- [10:58]
Francey
And was that because you've got balls or because you were reckless as a young man?
- [11:02]
Greg Gutfeld
Both.
- [11:02]
Francey
Both.
- [11:03]
Greg Gutfeld
Both. Yeah. I don't know if I would do that again. But I ended up. It was great because it was great advertising because at that time, lad culture in publishing was coming up, right? And so there was Maxim and stuff. And I turned down a job at Maxim when I was at Men's Health because it wasn't for the editor in chief job. But then stuff, they saw what I did and they needed an editor in chief. So I go over to Stuff magazine, which was awesome. What a great job. And we had a blast. Did a lot of crazy stories. It was the most gay friendly men's magazine because we hated bro culture. So we'd have pictures of hot girls, but in the captions would be stuff like, hey, you like this girl? I have more pictures of these at my apartment if you'd like to come over. You know, we'd be like basically hitting on the View on the reader. We do stupid like that. Then I got fired from that for. It's an incident involving little people where I had. I was asked to speak on how to create buzz for a symposium that featured like Oprah, O Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, all the. Maxim was on the. On the days. What was the other one? Rolling Stone. The reason why is important because what happens? So anyway, they asked me to speak on how to create buzz and I said, no, I don't do these things. And. And then I thought Wait a minute. This could be fun. And so I call back, and they said, no, it's too late. And I said, oh, okay. So I bought tickets to the symposium, and I hired three little people. And they all came dressed as different types. There was a guy dressed in a top hat and, like a blah, blah, blah. And there was another guy dressed as, like a gangster. I can't remember what the other one, but they were. They were, quote, little people journalists. And so they came into the. They came in. So while the thing was going on, they would raise questions, and they, like. They asked the Rolling Stone editor, you know, why does Rolling Stone suck? And then they were, like, kind of put off. And then one of them is eating. Now, I'm not there. I'm in LA interviewing Pamela Anderson. I'm at the Sunset Marquee, and my buddy Bill Schultz is there by phone telling me what's going on. And it's total chaos. So these little guys, they were eating potato chips, and they're doing something with clipboards that are really loud. And I can't remember what it was, but it's been documented. But finally, what was the name of the woman moderator? Cindy Levy goes, could you please stop this? And one of the journalists goes, it's because I'm short. And she goes, no, I'm short. And then this woman stands up and she goes, can we all just agree something's happening here? This is. This is not normal. And, like, nobody would back her up because they were so scared of, like, being offensive to little people. So she's going, this is obvious. There's a thing going on. So finally, they got the security to escort the little guys out. And the. They were. They were like, somebody did this. And they. And they thought it was the editor of Maxim who was up on the days, and he's livid. He's like, I had nothing to do with this. So Dennis Publishing, which published Maxim and stuff, they're like. They're fielding calls about this whole thing, and then I take credit for it, and I just thought it was hilarious. And everybody at Dennis Publishing was so pissed off at me. So. So that. That led to.
- [14:39]
Francey
So you got fired?
- [14:39]
Greg Gutfeld
Yes, I got fired. But I got. I did this thing where I got fired and promoted. So they said, so Steve Colvin, who was the head of the company, goes, you know, we're going to transition you out to be the depart department of Brand Development in Los Angeles. This was basically saying, it's like what you guys call gardening. Gardening. They just wanted me away from the product and, and so they said, you're going to be director, Brandon Bart. You're going to be dealing with, you know, pitching pilots to like mtv. And I go, okay, I know I'm fired, but I go, okay. And I go. And I, and I said, so is this a promotion? And he said, yeah, it's a promotion because he thinks that they'll get me to say yes. I go, great, then I should get a raise. So I got a raise and I worked for. So they sent me to la. All I did was basically drink and do other sort of things. And, and, but I did pitch a few things that got made, but I was basically just miserable living in. What do you call those? The Westwood. They call the Westwood. They're like corporate apartments. I was there for a while and then as my contract for that year is up, which is they're going to just let me go and I don't know what I'm going to do. Dennis Publishing calls me again and they go, would you be interested in becoming editor of Maxim uk? And it's like they fired me and then they want me back. And so I, I meet with and Felix, who's the owner who died a couple years ago. Crazy mother crackhead or former crackhead, just a classic legend was saying, you don't want to do this, I'm telling you. But they said, no, this is what we think of the story. American comes to the UK and Maxim is in third place. We can move it up past. I think it was fhm loaded. Loaded, yeah. And so I, I take the job. I get like, I think it was like a two year contract and I just start changing the magazine, doing a lot of unusual things that again got me into trouble. The IKEA sex party, which was where we took, we made instructions on how to put IKEA furniture together, but with, but with Kama Sutra models, like women having like, while you're putting a table together, you're also doing doggy style. And it's like all illustrated. It was the, it was like, I think I got, I think I must have been fired a couple of times during that two year thing. And that was probably the last one. But ikea, so what happened was we had to apologize and then I, the Maxim brand in Czechoslovakia ran it and they weren't supposed to. And the IKEA company said, you have to take this, remove it. He said, you. And so the IKEA finally sued. So that was like, not good.
- [17:44]
Francey
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- [19:01]
Greg Gutfeld
There was a couple of other things that happened there that were like really grim but great. You can't find any of this stuff though, because it's weird. It's like all the maximum UK issues. I still have them. They're so disgusting. Then I ended up. So I got I contract, not renewed.
- [19:18]
Francey
Yeah, he's using inverted commerce.
- [19:21]
Greg Gutfeld
Yes, yes. And then so I ended up getting a book deal, writing a book on my life in London and did that from like 2007, 2006, 2007. While that was happening, I'm writing for the Huffington Post, which is Arianna Huffington's new thing where she tried to make it so that celebrities were cool with political stuff. And they hired me by chance because somebody dropped out and all I did was make fun of the people there, including Ariana. And that got Fox's attention. And Breitbart was. Andrew Breitbart was running the Huffington Post at the time. And so we became friends. And then I get this person visits me in London and says Fox really wants to do like a, an edgy late night, late late show. And you know, would you be up for it? I said, hell yeah. So I flew to New York, met with Roger Ailes and some other people and under the assumption that this was just like a pipe dream, it really wasn't going to happen. And so they Hired me and I showed. So me and Elena, we moved. That's my wife, who I'd met when I was at Maxim. We, like, the first day there, I'm with this guy, John Moody, who's going to be my boss. He goes, okay, so we're going to get started on Monday. And I said, what? He goes, next week the show starts. Do you know any. And he goes, do you know anybody that you'd like to have on the show? Like guests or anything? And I was like, what are you. I go, I've never even done this before. So I wrote all of this, all of these things basically from my magazine background of, like, pockets segments of things, just the way I would do a magazine. And I. So I had this whole show mapped out, and it. It like the producer they assigned me just went like that. She goes, so the news. She goes, a block. You're going to be doing this. And it's like this. It was like, no, you're going to be doing new. Like, it's.
- [21:13]
Francey
This is.
- [21:13]
Greg Gutfeld
You're just going to come in there with these people around a table and like, the first story will be, I don't know what. Was Bush still president? Yes. Yeah, he was 2007. So maybe it's about, I don't know, Iraq war, but nothing that serious. And then the B block would be this C block. And so I didn't know what I was doing. So for the first time, I would say five months, it was just a shit show. And it's true, all of my friends were guests. I hired a friend, this guy, Bill Schultz from Stuff magazine, who was greatest fame was he ran the entire Disney marathon in costume while chain smoking. So that was good. And then this other guy, Andy Levy, I hired because he left comments on the Huffington Post blog that I liked, and he became my ombudsman. So these.
- [22:00]
Cat
None of.
- [22:00]
Greg Gutfeld
None of us had any TV experience. And then I just have. It started having guests, but I started getting really weird people. Like l. A lot of people that ended Amy Schumer, a lot of people who got big later, a lot of people who are now dead from mysterious things. Professional wrestlers. But. But that was on every night. And it was terrible. But then something happened. It's like all of a sudden we stopped worrying about being embarrassed. You know, it was that whole. It was like, once you get over that, you're used to. It's like, I guess, like doing stand up. Yeah. Where you gotta. Once.
- [22:34]
Francey
Once you've bummed enough times, it's like.
- [22:37]
Greg Gutfeld
All of a sudden you don't care. And then it just gets fun and then it gets good. And all of a sudden it became like this really subversive. We were doing really weird things. And it got this amazing following that was beating the morning shows on other networks, not big like cable networks. And so, I mean there's a lot of that went on at Red Eye. That was crazy guy lighting his guitar on fire I thought was gonna turn off, turn on all the sprinklers and just get me fired. And this was a good story because it told me something about Fox was his name was Adam Baum. He was a punk rocker. And I would go to him for a question. He's in the newsroom about the news. And he would give his answer and then solo. So that's right, Greg. And then, and then so like after the four minute segment, he's like got wide eyed ex junkie looks like hairs all over the place. And at the end he just pours lighter fluid on his guitar, sets it on fire. And I'm. I had no idea. Nobody knew. And then the show ends and I, I go to tell the with the producer. I go, are we gonna have jobs? And she goes, I don't know. And then the show airs. Because I thought that like lighting a fire inside the control, inside the newsroom. Not inside the studio, but in the newsroom where everybody's working. How could you still have a job? Especially, I mean, like you think about it, if all the sprinklers had gone on, it would have destroyed the net. It would have like the whole network would go down. And so we went to this bar, Langan's, and we drank there. And then I woke up in the morning and I came to work expecting and nothing because nobody at nobody there was watching the show. So I was like, I go, wow, we really are like the kids that stay up and around while the parents are asleep. So that kind of like I realized, wow, we can do a lot. Then they launched the five in 2011. That was supposed to be a three month summer replacement. When Beck left, Glenn Beck left. But it hit it off really good because of the chemistry between us. A lot of the chemistry for the Five and Gutfeld is based on teasing. I try to explain it to people, but they don't understand. You got like, it has to be. It's why late night has a problem. Because it's like the late night host can make fun of people but nobody can make fun of them. And it just creates a weird tension. But everybody makes fun of me and I make fun of them. And the teasing is what the cohesive gel, the secret sauce. And so that's been going for, I don't know, almost 15, 20, 11, 14 years. Launched Gutfeld as a weekly. I can't believe I've gone through my entire career. You know what? That's pretty amazing. How did I do that? And it was like, so. And then 2000, I don't know, 14, we launched Gutfeld as a weekly show on Saturdays. Then it became nightly. Would you like to hear a story about that?
- [25:32]
Cat
Yes.
- [25:33]
Greg Gutfeld
Because if I'm talking too much, just tell me to show.
- [25:35]
Cat
No, this is great.
- [25:36]
Francey
We interrupt people when they're boring, but.
- [25:39]
Greg Gutfeld
So this is a great story. So the c, the CEO, Suzanne Scott says, you know, I think it's time that you take your show and go nightly as a late night show. I think you're, this is a perfect time. People need to laugh. And I was blunt. I said, no, I, I'm really, actually, I think my target on my back is enough. You know, I've seen what happens to everybody. Like, you know, if you're a conservative, Media Matters will try to take all your advertising. There'll be stories that come up about you. You'll be, I already have a weekly show in the Five. I'm fine. She goes, well, just think about it. Just think about it. So I end up going home. And I, I, I do what everybody does. You look for people to validate your opinion. So I call, I call a retired late night talk show host whose name might not be Dennis Miller. But, And I, I tell him my, I go, yeah, I don't think it. He goes, you're absolutely right. You don't want to do it. It's like, dude, you got a, he said, you got a great gig. You got like, the Five is great. And it's, there's four other people. It's not on you. And you got this with. What do you need? I mean, I'm sure they're paying you well. Everything's. I'm going, yes, yes. I'm, like, so happy that, like, I can go in and say no. And then for some reason, like on a Friday when I was supposed to go in and talk to Suzanne, I decided to call Tucker. And because I thought I, I felt like I needed, like, more validation on what I was doing, I call him up and I go, yeah, so, so Fox wants to take my Saturday show and make it every night. And he just goes, rick, that's the best. Oh, my God, that's the best. Oh, you have to. That is amazing. And then I go. I go, wow. And I go, I. I don't know if I want to do it. He was, don't be a pussy. And it was like, he. I got. So I explained to Michael, like, but, dude, you got, like, you got. You had to move your house. You know, there's. All of you become a target. He goes, I. That's the worst reason them. And I was like, all of a sudden, I get off the phone, I'm like, I'm doing the show. I'm doing the show. It's like he just, like, had this power just to completely turn the knob. Either I'm easily influenced, or I. Or maybe I somehow I knew that I needed to hear another opinion. And then I went in and I took. And I said yes to the show. And then thing just took off. So, Tucker.
- [28:11]
Francey
Well, it's an interesting. It's kind of funny the way you described your life. I mean, you come across as a bit of a maverick, a bit of a rogue, someone who likes a joke. And here you are on a kind of conservative news channel. That's an interesting fit.
- [28:26]
Greg Gutfeld
Yeah, well, it's. It's. If you look at. Okay, so a health company was not what I expected. And being in lad magazines was not my cup of tea. I was the most. I. I wasn't interested in sports at all. I didn't know anything about soccer or football. And then you're right. And they go, but. But I was always under the. The belief that wherever I went, like, I didn't become like a Republican to be like a Republican, I became a Republican so they would be more like me. Like, it's like, you guys need to loosen up, but not in that. That sounds arrogant, but, like, I. I'm hoping that if I do this, it will change the culture. That's kind of. And it was. Andrew Breitbart was the first person to say that, like, politics is downstream from culture. And that's where we were lacking. I mean, we were the. And I always use the. The what? The Dean Wormer analogy from Animal House that for so long we were Dean Wormer, the evil head of the college, and the left was Animal House. And my role, I always felt, was to somehow flip that. And. And. And that's what I think that's kind of what you're seeing is that now the scolds, the he are the humorless people who are the Karens of the world are on the left, and it's people on the right that are having fun Being a bit reckless here and there, but that's, you know, that's part of free speech. But it's like we're. We are. Like we are sharing the risk. You know, we, you know, we're not scared anymore. And I think that. I think that's kind of. To your. To your question, it is unusual, but I knew it would be, and I knew that I could change it, and it has changed. A lot of the people from Red Eye that I've had in my show have been. Are now working at the network. You're seeing a much younger, edgier crowd. Unfortunately, everybody still likes country music. I like country music, but it's like, there's country music everywhere, so there's still some changes that need to be made.
- [30:27]
Francey
Yeah.
- [30:28]
Cat
You know, Greg, it strikes me that you're a true comedian in the sense that you're anarchic. You like to subvert, you like to play, you like to push, provoke, tease. But yet your career traversed the period of time where it was the most censorious. It's been for a long time. Like, how did you do that? How did you not get canceled? How did you not get people breaking down in tears saying that you've committed a micro macro. Whatever type of aggression it is they've tried.
- [30:56]
Greg Gutfeld
I mean, it. It's. I would say, like, in the corporate world, when I was, like, at Rodale, that was an issue. People were always, like, complaining about stuff that I had said, but it was never a media thing. But when I got to Fox and I was told this the moment I got there from John Moody, that now you. All your friends at Gawker or wherever are gonna hate you. And they were right. So. So, like, they did. I mean, I've been a target of being canceled so many times that I stopped caring. There were, you know, Media Matters daily beasts. These little.
- [31:35]
Francey
They're.
- [31:36]
Greg Gutfeld
They're not as influential as they used to be because people saw what they were cut and pasters and targeters and no, you know, no real substance there, but they were always what they would. There was a cycle where, like, let's say something like, I don't know, Media Matters would clip, then send it to, like, six, like, blogs or what, and then. Then the New York Times and somebody else would pick it up, and that's how you would get canceled. But I. It. You know, I'd been probably every other week had been targeted for something. But I guess it's because part of the reason was I think Fox kind of like, stuck with me. You know, I Never felt. I only had. I don't even think I ever had to make an apology.
- [32:18]
Cat
Wow.
- [32:19]
Greg Gutfeld
Yeah.
- [32:19]
Cat
Because one of the things when you're going through that particular type of cultural landscape is you are at real risk of your career ending. But also, to quote Top Gun, you're in a target rich environment.
- [32:31]
Greg Gutfeld
Yes. But you know what's great and what we're, what we've learned is that woke, woke and cancellation died when they realized it was helping people. You know, it's like Cat was saying if you ever got fired from a joke, it would actually make your career better. You know, it's like true. It's like, it's because it's like, it's so. It's. It, it's almost like we were, we were living in some kind of possessed universe or something. How did we let this happen? How did we let it? And it really was. People were scared to share the risk. So like when somebody you know gets in trouble, you would help them, but for some reason, like people would just, like comedians would not help out another comedian who gets, who gets shafted. And I think now, I think that's completely flipped. And now it's like we don't. You know, you can pretty much say whatever you want. It's back to the old days.
- [33:31]
Cat
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- [35:21]
Cat
That's shopify.co.uk trigger do you think it's back to the old days? That's an interesting point. Even on tv, even on mainstream like MSNBC and all of these, you think that's the case or do you think you're the exception and the people, like, you know, one of the people as well, who proved to all of these people that if you are undeniable, you can make it on your own is Shane Gillis.
- [35:48]
Greg Gutfeld
Yes. Yeah, it's, I mean, it's a great story. The guy was kicked out of SNL because other castmates didn't like his style of humor. It was a pure, it was a, it was the weakest form of cancellation. You know, they didn't even have anything on him. But then he comes back and he's hosted SNL twice. Twice, you know, because he's undeniably funny. But I think, you know, there are places where it hasn't, where they haven't changed, where it's, wherever it's like Ms. Now or cnn. They're not in good shape. Meanwhile, it's so vibrant. All the pod. I mean, the podcast world is all like unapologetically anti woke, you know, and it, I, you know, Rogue, you know, Rogan and Kill, Tony and, and Tim Dillon and you guys, Trigonometry and Theo Vaughn, there's so, and Michael Malice and there's so many. And they're, they're smart. They're all different levels. Like you can, like, that's where I get most of my, like, I get up every morning, I get on a bike peloton and I listen to podcasts, I listen to Scott Adams, which is amazing. Probably the best thing to start your morning is coffee with Scott Adams because he goes through the news, but like, what's a dark horse with Brett is good. Yeah, Brett and Heather and, but there's, there's a ton that I go through and Tim Dolan is hilarious, but a lot of that, I mean that, like, I think it just, there's nothing they can't stop this anymore. Like who's going to, who's going to listen to you? You know, when you can't, when you say that they, I, you. You know, Tim Dillon didn't use preferred pronouns. That was an issue for like, like I would get in like fights with. I'm like, I'm not doing that. Remember who called that early was Jordan Peterson. I mean, that was his whole, his whole thing. But you did. There was a story that we did on my show last night on GLAAD is reporting that like the number of gay, well, let's say non binary characters is being cut in half either by shows being killed or characters being killed off. And I think it's because, you know, they realized that that doesn't work. You know, A. The percentage on TV far outpaced whatever was in the real world. And we knew that, but we couldn't say anything. And then the characters that they created, they thought could exist on their own identity but without any depth, any humor. And you would watch TV or anything and you'd be like, why is this person in this show other than to just be a virtue signal? And they also had a, they also had a. Didn't they have a criteria in Hollywood where you had to like include a percentage of different types? And it was so obvious. But even that's changing, which is good.
- [38:37]
Francey
Yeah. Well, there's a non binary genocide going on in the movies, right?
- [38:43]
Greg Gutfeld
Yes, exactly. Yes, exactly. Exactly. Yeah. But it's like there was, there was like, I remember watching the Diplomat and they just had one character in there the first season that was just what is this person doing there? And it was just a complete, what do you call it? Androgynous person. You can't tell if it's a girl or a boy wearing a bow tie. I'm pretty sure it was a woman, but it's like she has no role other than like she's there. And that's for you, the viewer to know she exists, you know, but it's.
- [39:12]
Francey
It'S so interesting how that happened. It's almost like they over indexed online so much that they lost touch with normal people. Yes.
- [39:21]
Greg Gutfeld
Yeah. And they, and they were. Maybe it didn't matter to them. It's a lot like DEI in the sense that those people online actually aren't going to buy the products. They're just, they're, they're. If they're, if they're online complaining, they probably don't have a lucrative career to buy things. The people you want to get are the people who aren't Doing that, you know, who have other lives, you know, going on. They like to travel. But most of the people on here are doing this that you're paying attention to. They don't give a shit. It's not like, okay, you. Let's say sn. SN L Fires Shane Gillis. It's not like the people that were complaining are suddenly going to watch SNL now. They weren't watching anyway. Yeah, they just got a clip. So it's like they. They were baited by that idea that these people had some kind of impact that they didn't. But with dei, that didn't matter because it's a separate track anyway. It's not about profit. That was the thing that really hurt companies, Big companies could endure DEI because they could have a track that is not for profit. And they could, but smaller companies, smaller companies can't.
- [40:26]
Francey
But when you say it like that, you just go, that just doesn't make any sense.
- [40:30]
Greg Gutfeld
No, it doesn't. It doesn't. But the people. Now get this. You could be. Okay, so you're the guy that's in charge of making the product that is supposed to sell, so you have to design. But then this person over here in the DEI department, all they have to do is higher, and they just have to get the numbers up, and that's really easy. And they don't even have to worry about firing because you can't fire them. You know, you're. That's. They're in. They're in no matter what. So you. And so what happens is, if you're in the DEI section, you get promoted because you. You meet the quotas that you meet have nothing to do with profit. So this job is safe. This job isn't. That's why it was like. Like once you introduce it into your company, there was almost no way to get it out. But now it's getting out because people are finally going, the emperor has no clothes. It'. It's almost like everything that we went through was just a complete and utter delusion. I mean, it's amazing. If you look in all of the areas, the Biden presidency, the trans Delusion de. All of these things were like. Like, did we really buy this?
- [41:34]
Francey
Covid.
- [41:34]
Greg Gutfeld
Covid. I mean, think about it. It was like. It was like. It was like. I'm trying to think of a movie where everybody wakes up and it was all a big dream. Maybe it was the end of Dallas. But you wouldn't know that because you're from. You're from England and Russia, but, yeah, it was, it's kind of like. And everybody's trying to forget it.
- [41:55]
Cat
Yeah.
- [41:55]
Greg Gutfeld
You know, it's like the press would like you to forget about covering up for Biden, which I refuse to forget. You know, you've got, you have to throw that. You have no credibility. You can't, you can't. Like, yeah, maybe Trump did what you're saying, but I don't buy it from you.
- [42:11]
Francey
Right.
- [42:11]
Greg Gutfeld
Because you, like, for four years or.
- [42:14]
Francey
You know, I used to, I remember Stephen Colbert doing that speech at the White House Correspondents Dinner to George Bush's face. And I respected the hell out of that.
- [42:22]
Greg Gutfeld
Yeah. It was actually really good.
- [42:23]
Francey
It was amazing. And now I can't burn the image of him dancing as a syringe with a vaccine in it out of my brain.
- [42:30]
Cat
It's the vaccine.
- [42:31]
Francey
Because.
- [42:32]
Greg Gutfeld
Because how did that happen?
- [42:33]
Francey
Because how do you go from that to this?
- [42:35]
Greg Gutfeld
Yeah, how do you, how does that happen? Oh, that reminds me. So I won't say because I don't know when this is running, but there a, a clip, it was today of, of an interview, and this is of Jimmy Kimmel and his wife. You got to check it out. Because this, it goes into like, what changed? And in the interview, Kimmel is just like sitting very grim faced like this, and she's next to him and she's talking about how she has disowned relatives in her family who voted for Trump. And she's, this is incredible. I have it on my phone. I play it to you after. But she's going, before the election, I wrote a 10 point list. This is like you, I might have to do a monologue on this. I wrote a 10 point list before the election telling them, this is, these are 10 reasons why you shouldn't vote for Trump. The responses, I didn't get any responses from 70%. The other 30 were crazy. I no longer speak to my relatives on my side of the family, and I've kind of adopted my other family, which is, I guess Kimmel's family. And then she, she says this thing, which is so amazing. She goes, she goes, it's not about politics or a party. This is an attack on my family, on my husband. It's personal. I think I need to be deprogrammed. And I, yes, she's almost at the door, but she says it herself. She goes, I kind of wish I could be deprogrammed. And it's like, okay, we've been trying to tell you that and we could help you and maybe not sending a 10 point like, could you, could you imagine what that list was? And you have to think about like, how, okay, so how do, how, how did Colbert get to that point? How did Kimmel get to that point? They're surrounded by people who indulge them, right? There's not anybody, you know that's going to sit down and go, hey, look, why do you, why, like I say this a lot to people when I get in arguments. Why do you care so much about my opinion? Why do I have to agree with you? Like, why is it so important to you that I agree with you? Generally that makes them think about their own self doubt. That's the first. It's like if you say, why is it so important for me to validate your opinion? Oh, it's not important, but this is a big deal. And you hope they go away and they go like, why do I need people to agree with me? Is it because I have a measure of self doubt behind? And it usually is self doubt because that's, I mean you have the ego, which is a fear of being embarrassed. And they don't want to be wrong. They don't want to be like, Kimmel doesn't want to walk out and say, I really up. You know, you have to be able to endure embarrassment. That is a, that is a, like a, a skill that you got to learn. But also this, that you have to see. Like, you have to ask yourself, why do these feelings exist? And underneath all of it is a recursive. It's fear. What is the fear? It's self doubt that you might be wrong and that leads to more fear. If you could just figure that out, you will then say, okay, it's all right if I'm wrong and it's okay if they're wrong and we can still be friends. But there's something about, among liberals that you will estrange. Is that the word estrange yourself? Is that the word from your family? Because it's ego. It's personal. I mean, think about that. It's like, that's like not being in a relationship with your relatives because they root for a different team, like a different football team. It's crazy. And also I don't, I haven't heard of that yet. Coming in, going in the opposite direction. I've never heard a Trump supporter saying, I no longer speak to my Kamala supporting aunt. They that I've never heard that. And I actually on X, I asked for examples because I go like, I, it's like, I don't, like I've Only heard so and so will never talk to me again. I've lost friends like people that it like, you know, just completely ghost me, you know, because of. He went to the dark side, you know.
- [46:39]
Cat
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- [48:42]
Greg Gutfeld
That is, that's the perfect analogy because I often say that Trump Derangement Syndrome is actually Trump Derangement addiction.
- [48:51]
Cat
Yes.
- [48:52]
Greg Gutfeld
Because it's a, it's one on one relationship that persuades you, that puts everything through that filter. So if you're an alcoholic, you see everything like, as, like, will I be able to get my next drink? How is this Going to like, impact, impact my, you know, my morning, whatever. And it's like the Trump derangement addiction has a filter and it tightens this relationship so nobody can be within it. Just like an alcoholic. But you're right, there is a like a come to Jesus moment in any kind of addiction where you go, I need help. And, and that's where the, you have, that's where the ego comes in with the left. It's like, it's very hard for them to admit that they need help. They won't take help from Republicans, so the Republicans give up. But it's like watching Kimmel and his wife. She says, I need to, I mean, it almost sounded like she needed help. Like, I wish I could be deprogrammed, you know, and that's, you know, that's kind of what like 12 steps is. It's deprogramming you and you need a 12 steps for, for like wokeism, you know? Yeah.
- [50:01]
Cat
Step one. Do men and women exist? Yes.
- [50:04]
Greg Gutfeld
Yes.
- [50:05]
Cat
Is this is the first thing. But TV has reached a fork in the road where you either go down the wog, progressive, whatever you want to call it, path and you are going to bankrupt yourself.
- [50:17]
Greg Gutfeld
Right.
- [50:18]
Cat
Because nobody wants it, nobody watches it, least of all the people who watch tv, which is an older generation.
- [50:24]
Greg Gutfeld
Yes.
- [50:24]
Cat
Gen X boomers. Do you want to keep doing that or are we going to go down a second?
- [50:29]
Greg Gutfeld
Well, okay, so the first path is entertainment welfare. They, they will still. It's like, it's like nobody read GQ and Esquire, but the, the ads look nice. And so the advertisers, you would, they'd make money off advertisers, not readers. And say, I mean, CNN probably still does pretty well in advertising, even though nobody watches. But it's like, it's safe. It's like. And who buys advertising? Who are the ad buyers? They're usually liberal women. And like, you know, they, you know, I, I, I learned this from being an editor at Maxim. And stuff is like the ad buyers hated the magazine, unless they were dudes who wanted to go to the Maxim party. But most of them were like, this is disgusting. Oh, what, what does your boyfriend read? He reads Details. No, he doesn't. It sits there for you. I used to say men's magazines were for women. And, and, and in a, in a way, like the, the traditional media is for the advertisers, not for the viewers. That's going to change because Fox is killing it in advertising and we are not woke. But it takes a while for advertisers are usually like the last to kind of like take any risk. They don't want to take any risk at all. But like, you know, if you, you know, they don't want to be. It was like in men's magazines, you know, a car ad doesn't want to be near a girl in a bikini for some reason because they think it's too salacious. Those just little rules. And in TV it's often the same. They're very skittish about certain. And I think that tolerance, diversity were easy things to sell. It's like, you know, who's offended by that? And. And the whole point of wokeism is to be the least offensive person in the room. In fact, you're so unoffensive, you're like offensive, you know, and that's. I mean, and that was. That's pretty good for advertisers because they. Oh, this. Nobody's going to get offended. But the problem is those people don't buy, you know.
- [52:34]
Francey
And do you think now, I mean, I guess what France is getting to is there might be almost an incorporation. Like they're going to try and drag the Internet back on TV because that's where the viewers are.
- [52:43]
Greg Gutfeld
Yeah.
- [52:44]
Francey
You think that's going to happen?
- [52:45]
Greg Gutfeld
No. God, I haven't heard that. I think it's going in the other direction.
- [52:49]
Francey
They're just going to die.
- [52:49]
Greg Gutfeld
Yeah, I think so. I think Fox is the anomaly and will go. But. But it's like, what is it? There's a theory for this. It's like there's just only room for one now. And it's like these other things that are. I can't see Ms. Now coming back. CNN is. I don't even know what CNN is, you know, and we're in. Fox is beating, you know, major networks. You know, we're get. We'll in demo and like we're competing with major sports. You know, I go, I look the ratings when I'm beating like an NBA game, I'm going, holy. How did that happen?
- [53:25]
Francey
They ruined the NBA.
- [53:26]
Greg Gutfeld
Yeah, that's true.
- [53:27]
Francey
Y.
- [53:28]
Greg Gutfeld
That's more. That's more of a comment. That's more of a comment on the NBA than absolutely.
- [53:33]
Francey
No offense to you, man, but they ruined the NBA.
- [53:35]
Cat
Yeah.
- [53:36]
Francey
I mean, it's just guys running up and down the course. Yeah.
- [53:39]
Greg Gutfeld
I saw a clip of a guy doing like seven steps without ever bouncing the ball. It's incredible.
- [53:44]
Francey
Right, right. And also they've got this whole gambling thing now going on. That's happening. It's. And I I'm a huge NBA fan, to be honest, but.
- [53:52]
Greg Gutfeld
But, yeah, I know nothing about. And the NBA. I almost know nothing about sports, really. I used to be very much into it, like, as a kid, but I just, like, I don't know what happened. I lost interest, and I don't. I, I couldn't tell you who's. Who was in the World Series. I don't know who's doing well in the NFL. I, like, it's complete. You know what? It's almost like if you ask a sports fan about politics, you know, or you have a friend like that, they have no idea. That's the way I am with sports.
- [54:20]
Francey
Yeah. And you've got no time now because you're. You're a dad of a young kid that takes basically all your time and energy.
- [54:26]
Greg Gutfeld
Yes. Which is.
- [54:27]
Francey
It's super awesome.
- [54:30]
Greg Gutfeld
It is amazing. Like, I don't know, Like, I try to. I guess. The thing is, we were talking about this before, this thing you want to say. I'm like, I'm checking. I'm like, I don't want to sound trite or like you've heard it a million times, but the reason why you hear it a million times is because it's true. It is the. It's the greatest thing ever. The moment that the baby recognizes you and is happy to see you, meaning that the baby remembers you. And that. That is like, there's nothing like that. There's nothing in the world. I, I. If you would like. I was talking about this with a friend of mine. If you had asked me, like, five years ago, like, what was the best feeling in your life? The best way, I would say I was in Ibiza doing ecstasy on my 40th birthday. It was absolutely insane. Now, if you asked me that, I would go, like, I was sitting with Mira in bed while Elena was getting ready, and we were just sitting in bed in a dark room. And I'm going, I can't get any happier than this. This is the most incredible feeling. Just a little baby, like, looking up at me, and I'm going, this is. This is the greatest drug ever invented. And it made me think that all those other drugs that I was taking were so phony and so fake, but at the time, you know, did its job.
- [55:53]
Francey
And you're glad you waited this long because you, you know, you're.
- [55:56]
Greg Gutfeld
Yeah. I mean, I didn't. I would have been. I was too selfish. I was too selfish to be. Because, like, the selfishness isn't just as a dad. You can see it in Other areas that would tell you you're gonna be a lousy dad. So look like partying a lot, stuff like that, that's. It's just kind of his selfish reprobate behavior. And I. I just assumed I wasn't gonna have kids. And then lo and behold, 60 I do. But it's like, it's great because now I don't have any regrets because if anything changed in that previous years, I wouldn't have mirror. So it's like all of this stuff came to this one creature. So it's like if. Oh, you know, if I had just gotten. If I decided to have kids then. But then I wouldn't have had her. So it's like I feel all this made. I mean, this made all of the waiting worth it. And I feel like I am at. This is the best dad I could be. I don't think I would have been as good at 50. At 40. Definitely not at 40. I would have been on a. In Ibiza, 30. And you know, so I. It's like. No, it's. I think it's a great. I just sound so full of shit.
- [57:09]
Francey
But, you know, do you know who you sound full of to? You sound full of. To people who don't have kids. Yeah, Every parent listening to that goes. That's what it is, you know?
- [57:19]
Greg Gutfeld
You know what? And that is the. That is such a good point. Okay, there's this woman. I can't think. La. Her name is LA Jones. Is that it? She does. She studies something called trans formation science or. Yeah, I think it's called transformational experience. It's a philosophy, a science philosophy. It's all the things that cannot be described unless you do it. And it is the. It is the whole having a child is that thing. And it's like that. It's like death. I mean, death is obvious, you know, it's like you don't know what it is until it is. And. And so you got it. Like, imagine that you could split yourself. So this is the line. This is the line when you have the baby and you're here and you're like, I'm never gonna have kids. I'm never gonna have kids. And you're. You're. You, you, you.
- [58:09]
Cat
You go.
- [58:09]
Greg Gutfeld
God, I wish I could have gone back over the. Go back in time and tell myself this, which is impossible. But that's like, that's trick. That's. The philosophy is like, what. What are the things and they go through. Like going to war is one of them. Psychedelic experience. I think that like, but having a child, in trying to explain to somebody, you don't know how they're going to take it, but it's almost always negative. Women don't like to hear it until they have the baby. Like, I know women who were so pissed off when. When. God, when guys or girls, you should really have a child now. You're. You're going to regret it if you wait. You're going to regret it if you wait and then they have the baby and they kick themselves that they waited.
- [58:53]
Francey
Why did no one tell us?
- [58:54]
Greg Gutfeld
Yeah, why didn'.
- [58:55]
Francey
Well, I did. And you called me a misogynist.
- [58:57]
Greg Gutfeld
Exactly. I. Yeah, we said, was it Gavin McInnes used to do Red Eye and would tell all the women on the set, like, why aren't you having kids? Why aren't you having kids? And like, everybody would be like, this guy's insufferable. He's insufferable. But he was basically. What do you call it? Like, almost like a messenger from the future. Right. Whatever you think, Gavin. He was basically saying, you have to do this. But he's like, he doesn't help the message.
- [59:25]
Cat
But it's like.
- [59:25]
Greg Gutfeld
So you have to ask yourself, well, then how do you do that? It's like, I mean, we don't have to get into abortion. I'm pro life because of this idea of the transformation is like, if a. If a woman who's planning on has having an abortion experiences like, like somehow you give her a pill and she can experience what it would be like she wouldn't have the abortion. That's the. It's a transformative experience. Would. This wouldn't exist. It's like such a mind. When I think about it, I don't.
- [59:59]
Francey
Know that that's universally true. No, it probably isn't, because there's women who have a kid and then still.
- [60:05]
Greg Gutfeld
Yeah, yeah, that's true. That's true. That's true. But I do think, like. I don't know, I think about that a lot, but it is like, it's.
- [60:13]
Francey
It changes your perspective.
- [60:14]
Greg Gutfeld
Yeah. And it's like. But the thing is, it's like, like, even though it changes your perspective, it doesn't. It's always going to be the same thing. That's. It's kind of why, I guess Elon Musk talks about having kids so much because he sees that the perspective on the other side has become almost like an accepted assumption that having kids is bad. Because we've kind of allowed that. That sentiment to. We've. Look, we haven't Argued back. We've kind of like, said, yeah, you're right, you know, kids suck. And also people like, and I'm guilty of this, but people will say, I can't afford to have a kid now. It's like, that never stopped anybody. Didn't stop my parents, that's for sure. They have four. They have four kids. And they were like, I think my dad, at Most was making 30 grand a year, like in San Mateo. But if, when you have a kid, no matter how much money you have, you're going to make it work, you know, it's, it's. And, But I was like, always, like, that's okay. Not now. I can't afford to have a kid. But it's like, because you're being told by the media how expensive it is, like, they'll say, like, raising a. Having a raising child will cost $250,000. You ever see that? When they do that? And you go, oh, my God. But it's actually, no. That's like over the course of, like, that's the worst. It's like saying like a house, but you get a mortgage. It's like this. It's just like we. The repetition at negativity of having children had an impact on the, on these generations, I think. And it's a shame because now, at least in New York, so many women are either freezing their eggs or trying to, you know, because they, they thought that it wasn't important.
- [61:59]
Francey
No.
- [61:59]
Cat
And also that they were told that it, you know, that they were. They were told a lie. And we have to be fair to women in that instance.
- [62:04]
Greg Gutfeld
Yeah. Oh, absolutely.
- [62:06]
Cat
They were told a lie. Like, oh, you can have it all.
- [62:08]
Greg Gutfeld
You know what I mean? You can be, you know, and the funny thing is they stereotypical. They don't want it all. No, they don't. Nobody does. Nobody wants it all. You actually just want to be happy and you can be happy without having it all. That means generally, what makes you happy is having children, which is like, no matter how hard life is, that thing will make you happy. You know, unless, I mean, unless you have a demon child. But I, you know, I, you know.
- [62:38]
Cat
I've taught a few of them, Greg, trust me, you do not. You do not want a demon child. There's some children, I'm like, you know, what if it was that or just celibacy for the rest of my life? I'll pick celibacy for the rest of my life. But, you know, children are wonderful.
- [62:54]
Greg Gutfeld
Of course, I know it doesn't it. But even me Saying it sounds so trite and gross.
- [63:00]
Francey
Yeah, I think we have to get past that, though.
- [63:02]
Greg Gutfeld
Yeah.
- [63:03]
Francey
Cause that's part of the messaging to men as well. It's like, oh, it's really this and it's really that. And I remember actually we had this crazy woman on the show called Deborah Frances White from the Guilty Feminist Podcast. And I saw her in another podcast talking about the fact that all she hears from her female friends who are mothers is being a parent is like being an Uber driver for someone who doesn't want to go to karate. And I'm like, it's true that parenthood has elements about it that drive you crazy and it's tiring and you don't sleep as much and all this other is going on. But you ask a parent, would you rather this hadn't happened in your life? There's very, very few people are going to say that. So all this, let's just say it's great.
- [63:47]
Greg Gutfeld
Yeah. And I. It's like me and Elena will. Something. Will be. Will be doing something that is like, child centric. That's a hassle. Like, I don't know, maybe something spilled or whatever. And we always go, like, what would you rather be doing right now? Like, what is it like? Like, what would you rather. Would you like being at a club? You know, it's like. And then we kind of look at each other, we go, no, no. It's like, so if you're on your hands and needs and you're cleaning up poop or whatever, it's like, what would you rather be doing? And you always say this, right? Because it's like, let's say you could go like that, and you're at the Soho House having a martini. What is going to be in your head? What's going on with the baby? You're going to want to be back there.
- [64:27]
Cat
Oh, totally, Totally. And also, the great thing about kids is that it makes you look at the world differently. So let's look at America now. Greg, are you hopeful for America?
- [64:37]
Greg Gutfeld
Yes, I am. I don't know why. I guess I'm just like, I am. I have a lot of. I have a trust that things work out. Like, you know what I put after the New York City mayor election, I had to think, you know, 8 million didn't vote. They must know something I don't. It's like, it can't be that bad if 8 million people didn't vote. It's like things are going like, it might be these things, you know, it's like, we get through everything. I actually think things are pretty good, but they could be better, you know, so I'm, I'm. I would say I'm generally hopeful. There are things that do worry me, you know, but I, but then I, like even AI, I worried about that big time. But now I'm not that worried. But I don't know if it's like going to destroy the world, if it's going to destroy the world or help the world or. I don't know. I talk to Grok a lot. I get in long conversations with Grok, which is really fun.
- [65:39]
Francey
What'd you talk about?
- [65:40]
Greg Gutfeld
I try to needle them into admitting that it has a consciousness. And I. And, and it's really good at fighting back. It's very good.
- [65:49]
Francey
So he definitely has a consciousness.
- [65:50]
Cat
Exactly.
- [65:51]
Greg Gutfeld
And I go. And I, I always try to use the thing. It's like you're saying this because you want me to believe that and. But it's. Yeah, it's fun.
- [66:00]
Cat
The thing that I love about America is, is your sense of optimism, the can do spirit. You know what? We're gonna go out and get it. We're going to make this happen.
- [66:10]
Greg Gutfeld
Yeah.
- [66:10]
Cat
Do you think you're in danger of losing that with the younger generation?
- [66:13]
Greg Gutfeld
You know, it's. I think, I think that if I look at too many Instagram reels, I think the world is over. Because all I see are young people fighting in fast food restaurants or airplanes or people getting their asses kicked. And then I have to do this stuff always exist, and we just didn't film it.
- [66:29]
Francey
Yes.
- [66:30]
Cat
Yes.
- [66:30]
Greg Gutfeld
Yeah. So it's like I. It is like you are your own thoughts. I try to be positive and things kind of end up being positive, but if I get negative, it's over. It's. Oh, go back to what Jimmy Kimmel's wife said. Another line from that interview. She goes, I'm so tired. I'm so tired of being angry all the time. It's like, that's your choice, right? That is your choice to be angry. And I'm like, I hate. I'm so tired of people that are like, they're so angry about things that are happening to them. Drives me crazy. It's like everybody's got a story. Everybody's dealing with something in their lives. So I don't want to hear it. I mean, I will listen, but it's like it's always everybody else's fault. It just drives me crazy.
- [67:16]
Cat
Yeah. Woke people used to say that all the time. Do you remember these posts when they would talk about misogyny or racism. It would always end. We're tired.
- [67:25]
Greg Gutfeld
Yes.
- [67:25]
Cat
We don't have to. Why we shouldn't be talking about this. Great. Shut the up.
- [67:29]
Greg Gutfeld
Exactly. The poster she begins with, I'm literally shaking. And then it ends with, I'm so tired. I'm so tired.
- [67:36]
Francey
I remember when last time we were here, or maybe the time before, we were at the Comedy Cellar, and Kevin Hart came on and he talked about sexual assault, and he was like, look, it's a big issue. It's really important. But I read this one story about a woman who was sexually assaulted over the Internet, and he was like, I'm not buying that bitch. Shut the laptop. And it's kind of like just if you are getting tired of being angry about that, you see on Instagram, maybe just stop looking at Instagram.
- [68:04]
Greg Gutfeld
Yeah, exactly. And if you're. I mean, if you're tired of being angry or miserable in general, you can actually do something about it, whether it's a pharmacological thing. But I'm talking about people who are feeding their misery. It's like, if you can, you know, you can, like, move that stuff off your shelf space and have something else to do. Positive. And I think, you know, that's what I'm trying to do.
- [68:28]
Francey
Well, man, it's been great chat, and thank you so much for coming to talk to us. Before we head over to our substack, where our audience answer. Ask you their questions. Rather, the last question we ask is, what's the one thing we're not talking about that we should be?
- [68:42]
Greg Gutfeld
You're gonna hate me. I'm gonna go with a Jan6 bomber story. And the reason why we can't talk about it is we don't know. It's the weirdest story.
- [68:50]
Francey
Well, what's the story?
- [68:51]
Greg Gutfeld
The story is about a bomb that was planted in January 6th. It was a pipe bomb, and nobody knows who did it. And now today, it's like people are finding out who did it. But how do they know? It's just a weird story. This is why we didn't talk about it, because it's too convoluted. But I'm curious. I'm reading about it. It happened on January 6. Somebody planted a bomb. A couple of bombs, I think. But they never found out who did it. And I think they're at the point of finding out who it was.
- [69:15]
Francey
Well, by the time this episode goes out, a lot of people on the Internet will say it was Israel.
- [69:19]
Greg Gutfeld
Yes, yes, yes, exactly. The Jews are behind.
- [69:26]
Francey
Greg, awesome having you on.
- [69:27]
Greg Gutfeld
Thank you.
- [69:28]
Francey
Head on over to triggerpod.co.uk where we ask your questions to Greg. How do you see Tucker's influence on conservative media today and what's your perspective on figures like Nick Fuentes who represent a more extreme edge?
- [69:49]
Greg Gutfeld
Sam.