E975 - JaNa and Kenny Breakup Contd, Maggie Q, The Valley Reunion w/ Elizabeth Wagmeister & RHOA Reunion

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You're crazy.

What's going on, everybody?

Welcome back to another exciting episode of the Vile Files.

I'm your host, Nick, and my co-host, Natalie, is not with us today.

She's not feeling well.

I feel so bad.

We're a very sick family lately.

I don't know what's going on.

What is going on in the house in the house?

Yeah.

I think she had like a like a food thing last week.

And I on, I don't, who knows, but I think now she has what I had.

Oh, no.

No.

Like hers was isolated.

I don't know.

I don't know what's going on.

Man.

It's gross.

I'm just sick in the head.

It's gross.

No.

I mean, like.

Natalie, a beautiful, gorgeous, obviously queen, not her.

She's not gross, obviously.

But like,

we're just sick.

No.

It is.

And then river for some reason just like decided like for the first time ever just like not wanting to fall asleep you know

she's got that joy de vie decided to stay up to like 11 30.

yeah it's the other shoe drop when the time you guys need the rest the most like let's party it's uh it's really something i don't know how it is you know what and lay and leia's not with us today it's louis first birthday happy birthday leia did did call to try to do some work today and i said leia i need one thing from you i need you to tell Louie that we love him and have a happy birthday.

And she said, okay.

Well, I don't know for all the parents listening out there, I don't know what it's like for you guys, but it really feels like River.

It's like she began this month as like a one and a half year old and now she's four.

She's like, she's a runner.

She's a track star.

She's, she's running around.

You know, she's got so much personality.

It's, it's, it's really, it's really something.

She's growing fast.

Is she sassy?

She's getting, yeah.

No.

Yeah.

She knows how to not listen.

So she runs that house?

Well, no, because like now it's just like, I don't really, like, we're definitely in the like, what do we do?

Like, how do we punish her?

Like, do we punish her?

Is she too young to be punished?

Does she really even under?

We know that she is choosing not to listen.

You know what I'm saying?

Like,

she knows what no means.

She knows what yes means.

And she looks at us and goes, no.

Okay.

Yeah.

But, you know, like, I, you know, what I, she's too young to understand, like, a timeout, you know?

i don't know that kind of stuff i i don't have children so i can only say what worked on me when i was a child which was

well i doubt you remember how it was with well i yeah i guess i remember that by the time i was old enough i know i was like a terror yeah i know i hated a timeout yeah yeah but you were like three or four by the time you remember that yeah

I know because my siblings all just told me I was like terrible and awful is is my what I know of you're the youngest right

yes by far by a lot too so so they all play tricks on you yeah kind of but I also like I just terrorize them did your siblings ever convince you you were adopted no but also like I'm they're all my half siblings so it was kind of like I was weirdly an only child but then also had a bunch of siblings but there were a lot of people that didn't think I was my mom's kid growing up they thought I was one of her stepkids because I mean my hair is dyed blonde now but I was bleach blonde when I was little, and my dad's blonde, and his kids are blonde.

And then my mom has like dark, dark brown hair.

So they all thought that I was her stepchild.

My dad and his siblings convinced their youngest sister that she was adopted for a while.

That's pretty cool.

When their parents were on a cruise and they were so bad that they had to call their parents from the cruise and get them to come home early.

You had to, how did, how does one come home from a cruise?

I don't know.

This is like, you know, back in the day.

You literally have to get off the ship and then get off the plane ticket from where you're at yeah because you get one yeah probably right yeah like that episode of below deck that just came out i i watched one episode of below deck last night because my friend was like you have to watch it and i do have to say it was one of it was an incredible reality tv episode i do love below deck i haven't seen the new season a drunk woman gets like so aggressive and has to get taken off the boat by french push is this your first time watching below deck yeah okay it's a good show it is good series i haven't really gotten into it, but it's the most watched show on Bravo by men.

Which makes sense.

The boys like it.

My boy roommate only knows about Below Deck.

And what does he say he likes about it?

I think he just watches it with his family.

Like, why are the boys into it?

Connor will watch it too.

He's from Florida, and so he grew up on boats and whatnot.

So like watching the whole...

below deck lifestyle and like working on boats.

It reminds him of growing up, but also it's like there's a lot of like guy stuff in it.

Yeah, I think what's interesting about Below Deck is it is for me, the reason I haven't watched it is because I know it will become all consuming for me.

And I don't have time for that right now.

Like I, you know, I have to do my job.

So if I start watching Below Deck, and I'm even doing it right now.

See, we're talking about Below Deck after I've just watched one episode.

So I know I can't really, really get into it because it will come.

Corinne was on your season, right?

From Bachelor.

Yeah.

She was on an episode of this previous season.

Yeah.

Like they always have

yachting guests, and some of them are like recognizable.

So like Jill Zarin from New York was on the same season as Corinne.

Yeah.

Well, that's going to do across the street.

That does track.

I think I've told this story before, but Corinne was on a group date with me in the Bahamas, and we were on a boat swimming with sharks.

And for some reason, we were talking about cruises.

of which she was a big fan.

I've only been on one cruise.

It was with my father.

The bonding experience was wonderful, but the cruise itself, I fucking hated.

And I was like, I will never go in a sardine can full of a bunch of people.

I honestly do not want to be next to in a bathing suit.

Yeah.

And then it's just like, again, like, it's just like themed nights.

It's like, it's not vacation.

It's work.

It's, you know, by the way, like, there are, like, literally, you're on the sea.

It's like international waters.

Like, you can get murdered and.

No one can do anything about it.

But that aside, I said to Corinne, I hate cruises.

And she goes, well, that just means you haven't cruised right.

Sounds like Corinne.

She meant yacht.

No.

Apparently.

All right.

Well, we do have a great episode lined up for you today.

Joining us shortly, returning to the show, Elizabeth Wagmeister will be covering some pop culture news with us, also getting into the valley as well.

We also have Maggie Q, who's a lead in the new hit show Ballard that's streaming now on Prime Video.

If you love a cold case TV show, a procedural, you'll absolutely love this one.

You've definitely seen Maggie Q on your screen before.

She's been in incredible movies like Mission Impossible 3, Divergent,

Live Free, Die Hard, Designated Survivor.

She's always playing a badass, and she joins us later this episode.

But before we do, we absolutely have to dive into the breakup of Janae and Kenny.

More information is getting out.

It's getting wild.

Sierra, you got to break it all down for us.

It broke on Tuesday.

Janae and Kenny broke up over the weekend.

No one knew what was going on.

They went to a party.

They went to David Dobrik's party over the weekend as a couple.

There were videos and pictures of them seemingly being in love as a couple on Saturday night.

By Sunday evening, word was getting out.

They were no longer in a relationship.

Janae had wiped Kenny clean from her Instagram.

The rest of the cast of Beyond the Villa in season six have unfollowed Kenny.

He's just bleeding followers.

And then last night,

more just,

it just seemed like things really came to a head.

I don't think we know the full scope of what happened, but more information is getting out there.

So here, can you take it away and bring our audience up to speed with some of the stuff that's being posted on the internet, starting with Janae's kind of like, hey, thanks for the support.

Here's what's going on type of stuff.

I got you.

Okay, so yesterday, Janae had posted, hi, my loves.

Thank you for all of your love and support.

It means the world to me.

As you know, Kenny and I are no longer together.

Please know that I have seen all the breakup theories, and none have matched up to how terrible, disgusting, and disappointing it truly is.

Discovering that someone you loved isn't who you thought they were and that the relationship you thought you were building hasn't been genuine since day one has been truly devastating.

Thank you for respecting my privacy and please know as a child of God, I will be okay.

Moments later.

Moments later.

Kenny posted his own Instagram story.

Janae's, is the story correct?

Yes.

Story post, black background, white.

I really wish Janae would have gone to the grid.

I, you know?

Yeah.

I feel like that deserves to be cemented on the internet.

I mean, it is.

Screenshots.

No, I know.

But anyway, I digress.

Kenny responded also in Instagram stories.

He says, the past few days have been incredibly difficult.

I've been quietly sitting with a lot of emotions and doing my best to process everything privately.

Breakups are never easy, especially in the public eye.

Sometimes, despite how deeply you care for someone, you come to the hard truth that the relationship is not something that you could last long term.

I'll always be grateful for the time we shared and the memories we created.

I release this chapter with no ill will, only a hope that Janae's path forward brings her nothing but happiness.

This was giving

Shaggy, It Wasn't Me, energy.

Yeah.

You know, truly.

You guys are familiar with the song, or am I dating myself?

No, no, no, no, very familiar.

It's a classic.

It wasn't me.

Shot it coming.

And it was just like, no matter what, deny, deny, deny.

This is This is a crazy response for some of the things that Janae was floating out there.

Right.

Yeah.

Just like, no accountability, no acknowledgment.

So, yeah, we dated.

It was cool.

We're no longer dating.

Wishing her nothing but the best.

You know, follow, subscribe, like for more.

Yeah.

That was Kenny.

How did Janae react to that one?

Wow.

Sarah.

She threw an at.

Kenny Rodriguez.

Shut the fuck up.

You manipulative liar.

Let's go.

You not taking accountability and telling people the type of person you really are is insane to me.

My first statement was me being nice.

Do not piss me off.

Incredible, iconic.

No, no.

She once again bodies this man.

And then the PPG steps into the chat.

Leah's comment.

First, she commented on a post that has Kenny and Miguel.

This is unbelievable.

Wow.

Unbelievable.

That was...

Awesome.

And so she comments on his last post with Miguel and says, delete my man off your page, you clout demon.

Clout demon is

something that is immediately entering my vernacular.

Oh, 100%.

I was like, oh my God,

did she make that up?

I feel like she made that up.

She had a point of term.

She had clout demon.

Clout demon.

And like, this is like where we're all starting to get the little bits and pieces because it's just like, okay,

Kenny proceeds to delete said comment.

Wait, wait, Kenny deleted.

He did.

Oh, he deleted the comment.

He deletes the clout demon comment.

Oh, after I got 40,000 likes?

In 13 seconds?

Yes.

And then she commented again, how about you delete my man off your page instead of deleting my comments?

And also, Leah's now being like clout demon.

We're like, okay, so it has to do with him needing attention.

Like, what, what could he have done?

Is he sliding into DMs?

What's happening?

Serena also comments underneath somebody's post about him saying that he's a narcissist and a racist.

Serena called him a narcissist and a racist.

Yes.

Yes.

So then

Leah takes a screenshot of Kenny's post and then writes her message at Kenny Rodriguez.

Put a sock in it, chat GPT headass.

Tell the truth for once.

Racist, clout, money hungry, and a scammer since day one.

Trying to make it seem like it's something it's not.

Don't worry.

Arnae is blessed and highly favored.

Let's go.

Then Liv enter.

Olivia Walker.

Liv enters a chat.

Your pathetic excuse for a story is laughable.

I can't even put into words how good of a person Nay Nee is and how hard it is to watch her go through something like this.

At Kenny Rodriguez, hope this gives you the clout you always wanted, you fucking loser.

Janae's BFF also enters the chat.

My advice for women in relationships.

If you have access, go through your man's phone today.

Search keywords like, I don't like black women.

I thought I would get more money from this.

I'm faking this relationship.

Going on the show would be for clout.

I can't wait to be done with this so I can fuck hella bitches.

You'll thank me later.

P.S.

Never Spare a Man.

Dog them out, baby girl with a heart.

So I'm assuming this means that for whatever reason, Janae went through Kenny's phone or had a reason to go through his phone

or was told to go through his phone.

And allegedly, Kenny had just gotten back from a trip before they went to this party.

And an influencer posted a video of the two of them slow dancing.

And Kenny's like religiously on his phone while he's like slow dancing.

Like he's barely paying any attention to Janae.

So I'm like, and then at one point, Janae has his phone recording him.

We don't know when, but there's a block of time to which they stopped posting.

And then the next thing we know, so she might have had the phone, maybe a text came in, maybe she just got the inkling to look through it.

But she found some things on his phone that very much proved he was not who she thought he was throughout the entirety of their relationship.

You know, I don't want to speculate too much, but I'm assuming like she found messages of Kenny saying these types of things to someone or many people, which is like crazy.

It's so deeply disgusting and disturbing to be like to be dating a black woman and be saying these things about her.

Yep.

RS watches anyone too, just to like fake an entire relationship and make someone believe that you're in love with them.

Like, she slept next to this man.

Right.

Like that is so, like, it's so evil and tortured.

Diabolical.

It's diabolical.

Oh, I just make, like, just, why didn't, you know, break up?

Literally.

But that's the thing.

It's like, I think he knew that, like, she is the star quality of their relationship.

So he was going to ride that, those coattails to the house.

According to Janae's friend, he was even acknowledging he wasn't making what he thought he was making.

Yeah, he's disappointed.

Thought he'd be making more money than this.

Like, it's so sick and twisted.

And that is like.

No, it's really sad.

I mean, like, again, we had the pleasure of interviewing Janae.

We thought we had the pleasure of interviewing Kenny as well.

And they really seem, again, like just like two good, nice people

to

realize that I hate to say that I'm not, you know, just that

you're going to see more stuff like this, you know, just the way the, these shows work and the pressures.

This is not like what Kenny does horrible, horribly wrong.

But

I'm honestly shocked that you don't see more stuff like this come out in terms of people like.

faking relationships or not being true with their feelings and staying in relationships for money.

That's what's so crazy is that it's just like, that's like, that's a real con.

Like, I'm like, for a year after the fact, to like, I just, I don't even, I don't, you know what I mean?

Like, how diabolical to be able to keep that up.

Before all these messages came out, it was giving like, he, he has another girlfriend in a different city.

Because when we interviewed him, he was like, wasn't he living in Texas and she was living in L.A.

or vice versa?

Or they were.

They weren't in the same place.

They were not in the same state.

She was in Vegas, I think, and he was in Houston or Texas or something.

Something like that.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Has that changed?

I mean, I know, obviously, they relocated when they filmed Beyond the Villa.

Well, even in Beyond the Villa, he wanted a separate apartment right next there.

Yeah, he didn't want to live with her, which was a very big red flag.

Yeah.

Also, I have to add that Kayla entered the chat as well, saying that at Kenny Rodriguez is a poor excuse of a man.

You lost the most beautiful, genuine soul.

Shame on you.

And Serena, to wrap out the PPG post, she said, let's all remember this is not a show and someone's actual feelings.

It may just be tea for y'all but that's not the case for us y'all already know how i'm coming behind janae and trust so does he have any of the men spoken up none of the men as far as i know let me feel disappointing why why are only women coming for

do we really need to hear from these men right now i think they which like not saying that they're similar to any group they've all unfollowed them i mean yeah i honestly think that like yeah i i actually do yeah i think it's one thing for the girls to like like back up their girlfriends and like call a man, you know, it's like we live in a time where it's just like what Kenny did.

Or it sounds like what Kenny did was horrific, right?

But it's like, you're always going to have your girls back.

But like these men are seemingly or were friends with Kenny.

So yeah, unlike we often see on Bravo where like the men are silent while some other guy on the show is, you know, displaying some kind of bad character or bad behavior, I would like to see the men stand up and say something about, you know, Kenny's actions and how it's not okay to do what he allegedly has been doing.

And so, yeah, I would absolutely, I think you need good men to stand up and like take a stance against like bad actors or men who are acting like you know, like Kenny right now, his response is acting like his response is gaslighty in the sense that like he's downplaying whatever it is he did.

Um, Kendall posted 10 hours ago a video of him and Janae dancing on a sidewalk and says, love you forever, Nene.

So I don't.

That's not what I'm talking about.

Yeah, there's no idea.

No, I know exactly what you're saying.

I'm like, this, but that's the only post from the men that I've seen.

But like, yeah, why are the men so quiet?

You know, like.

Yeah, that's a fair point.

Yeah, I mean, overall, Janae deserves the entire world.

This is such like an awful thing to have to go through and especially publicly.

And it's just like, you know, that shouldn't happen.

Like, no one should have to experience that.

And I, yeah, I just think that's the most terrifying thing you could go through.

Yeah, to have someone just lie to you like that.

No, it's terrible because as I forget, I don't know who pointed it out, but like to Janae, obviously, this is her real life.

And coming from the reality TV world, the struggle is like, yeah, it is your life that you have, sure, you sign up for it.

You, you choose to be a part of this very bizarre universe that is only getting more and more bizarre and more and more popular.

It's, you know, honestly, the reality TV space is taking over like, you know, your traditional entertainment.

It's, it's cheaper to make.

More and more people are watching it.

You have, you know, season seven of Love Island breaking streaming records.

And reality TV stars are becoming real stars, right?

But they are stars because they are.

willing to show their lives on camera or at least a glimpse of it or some part of it.

And when these type of things happen, it's devastating because like, yes, like Janae didn't get to choose this, right?

She, you know if what if what we're hearing and the story you know the things that are getting leaked out this is not something janae chose anything that she wanted to be a part of but she is forced to now deal with this and i hope bronnie comes comes to call in and i hope that obviously she is better for it in the future but right now she's just dealing with the heartbreak she's dealing with with so many you know women and people who go through these like you know these scamming relationships where someone they find out someone lied or duped them and they don't know who they can trust in their next relationship and it really affects them long term it's a really shitty situation but the problem with this world right now is it's like people look i mean again this i don't want to like throw bachelor in paradise uh into this drama But like, you know, when you start introducing things like money, think people get weird.

I mean, literally, Bachelor in Paradise is banking on the fact that when they're like, hey, half a million dollars is on the line, it's going to change the dynamic of people's behavior because it does.

I hate to say it's not shocking.

I mean, it's shocking that it's Kenny and Janae.

It's not shocking that stories like this, where you find out people who are famous for being in a relationship and are monetizing their relationship.

You find out that one of these people are just completely full of shit.

And it's devastating.

It's terrible.

Well, much love to Janae.

Janae, you're a queen.

Okay.

I mean, well, I'm sure more is going to come out.

Yeah.

At this point, we're accusing this man of being a narcissist and a racist.

It's serious.

It's serious.

Like, this is...

He also got dropped from Gersh Agency.

So, like, they're aware of what happened as well.

Yeah.

Yeah.

The fact that every single cast member has unfollowed him, Love Island unfollowed him.

He gets dropped by Gersh.

Love Island unfollowed him?

Love Island and unfollowed him.

Oh, Love Island.

Ariana unfollowed him.

Ariana unfollowed him.

I'm sorry.

But yes, it seems like obviously Janae and Leah and Serena and the Liv and Kayla, they've all seen, it sounds like they've all seen whatever evidence exists out there that they need to see to have this point of view about Kenny

that they do.

So

it's a terrible situation.

I mean, it's just so sad.

It really is.

Well, I'm hoping, I'm just wishing the best for Janae.

I mean, it's just, you know, I just, I don't, you know, people are going to start doing this.

So go back and looking at old clips of them.

And I already saw them.

I'm like behind the villas airing As We Speak.

And we're only on episode three.

And this third episode did not do him any favors.

Well, hell so.

I didn't watch it.

Well, A, watching him flex in the mirror before she showed up for the cameras was weird.

But they did a whole ask us anything or like, see how well Kenny knows me.

And like, he got every answer wrong.

It's just like very much like it's giving like hater boyfriend.

It's not giving like a loving relationship.

It's like Janae is really trying to be like, he's my everything.

He knows me well.

Like, da-da-da.

And he's just like, I don't know.

You like strawberries?

And she's like, no, like, my favorite fruit is cherries like why am i getting pissed that like i feel like you don't know me right now yeah so i think it's just going to be a downward spiral watching him yeah

all right well i'm sure we will hear more about this story as it unfolds and uh i guess we'll just see where it goes uh we're hoping for the best we're expecting the worst but certainly if nothing else we are thinking of janae because obviously Whatever she's going through, it sounds horrific and we don't wish it on anyone.

Let's transition to something a little bit more exciting.

Obviously, we're always sharing our hot takes, but now it's time we get to hear from you, our audience, with a new segment called the Mint Mobile Hot Take Hotline, brought to you by Mint Mobile, where we get to hear your scorching hot takes.

For those of you who aren't aware, there is a number out there for you to call to share your hot takes in the future.

So, if you want to get your hot takes onto the show, we'll be picking some of our favorites to discuss.

all you have to do is call 1-855-MINT T-L-K that's 1-855-646-8855 and leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the air well we got a lot of good ones but we uh picked two to start off with that we really enjoy now the first one i just want to say i don't agree with it but it is a hot take and while i don't agree with it other people may but we will certainly discuss coming out of the voice note Hi, Nick.

I'm your biggest fan.

My hot take is Shannon Bedour has to go.

I may not be on Alexis's side, but Shannon Bedour,

you've done enough on television and now you just make me sad.

You're signed up for a television show in which you get killed to behave as yourself.

It's really not the water date you think it is to be recorded by Katie when you're on set for something that has to do with like, Shoo,

Shannon!

First off, I just want to say, this person is hilarious, a star.

I couldn't disagree with her more.

First of all, I love, when we watch Shannon Bedora, we know that we're getting her authentic responses.

And I, you know, like when we talk about like the Valley and we talk about, which we will coming up shortly, talk about Jax and we talk about Jesse and we talk about Sema, you know, Janet.

like I don't know if those people

are well-intentioned you know

I don't know if they have a good heart but Jax I can confidently say he doesn't Jesse I've never met him so I'll reserve the right to like have an opinion but like I'm just not sure like Shannon like many of us has her flaws but I think she's a good person and I think she means well and I think why do we watch these shows is to see people being their authentic selves and being vulnerable and being messy for us to critique and criticize.

And I don't know.

I think she's great.

Also, the whole recording thing, I don't think she's blowing out of proportion.

It's not the same.

I get it's a TV show, but like she signed a contract with Bravo or whatever production company.

She didn't sign a contract with Katie or the eventual bloggers that will certainly be given these voice notes and these recorders.

for them to do what God knows with and it's just not the same like

Shannon signed up for to be recorded by Bravo, she didn't sign up to be recorded by Katie.

I just don't think it's the same.

And the watergate of it all, though, is the fact that she was in litigation with the person that Katie did show it to.

So, I'm like, it is one of the ultimate betrayals because if Alexis had used that to her advantage, or if they proceeded with court or with the suing,

I guess, but I think it's, I think, my issue with this thing about Shannon, and where I do agree with this voicemail

is that Shannon is acting as if Katie has committed cardinal sin, that Katie is on the level.

She said verbatim, you are on the level of Alexis Bellino and John Jansen.

And I just think that that is being a bit dramatic because you're saying,

and I don't disagree.

I know.

I know.

I know, but also like...

I don't want her to be like rational.

I'm not looking for for Shannon to be like

mature about this.

Katie to be rational or mature about anything either.

I don't understand why Katie is not also allowed.

I think it's like when we talk about Shannon and we talk about how she has a good heart, I think Katie also has a good heart.

And I don't think Katie is like some evil villain in the way that Shannon is like kind of patronizing.

This is just about whether Shannon's time has run its course and whether she deserves a platform that is being on Bravo.

For the record, I want to keep seeing Shannon on TV, but I just think that Shannon has a misconceived notion that because she had such a hard season last season, because of what she went through, which she deserved like the love and support.

Like it was a very justified hero moment that she got last season.

And I think that she is operating as if the same level of threat is happening to her again.

And that she's also getting the hero edit again.

And it's beautiful, but I'm not on Shane's side.

That's okay.

All right.

Well, we have one more to play before we wrap up our Mint Mobile hot take hotline.

Take it away.

Hi.

My hot take is that everybody complains about Jack Taylor being on their screens and that he's toxic and a terrible person.

But you all talk about him.

So you all give him a platform.

And it's terrible.

And it's just her

like making it go on and on and on even longer and getting him more of a platform so stop talking about him if you don't like him all right

okay diva

i appreciate this note

um yeah um thank you for bringing this question to our audience's attention i hate that we have to talk about it but we do talk about the tv shows that they're on there are a ton of people in the pop culture reality TV space that are not currently on TV that times I want to talk about because some of the dumb shit they do and the way they like sell their souls it's like

it it would make great content for our show but we don't fuck with it and we don't talk about it because like we choose not to platform people who are just like messy not great people but there's nothing we can do when it comes to a show that we cover and if bravo wants to cast these characters we're kind of stuck having to talk about them like if jax Taylor wasn't on this show we I wouldn't be covering his downfall I wouldn't give a fuck

you know I wouldn't care and again like there are other people out there who are out there doing messy things that I don't deserve that I don't think like deserve our attention even though like sometimes the things they do would be fun to talk about but we just like don't because we don't want to platform them or we don't want to like give them the the attention they so desperately want.

But we're at the mercy of the the shows that we cover sometimes, you know?

What do you want us to do?

So I, for one, am glad that the Valley finally made the right decision or Bravo, whoever it was, to axe Jax off the show.

And I hope they give us people that, again, that's why we've been like clamoring for like give us people who have at least some redeeming characteristics, like who are making like some attempt at like not being, you know, terrible people.

At least Tom Sandoval is winning America's Guy Talent.

And by not winning, I mean, you know, performing and not getting booed off stage, but it was something, you know?

Also, not for nothing, and I wholeheartedly agree with this caller.

I stand by what they said.

However, they did make their call about Jax Taylor.

You know, so it kind of like

negates their arguments.

Yeah, that is true, America.

You know?

I'm not wrong.

I was going to say, I would love to not talk about Jax Taylor.

You actively got us to talk about him more.

See, we were going to only talk about Jax Taylor when we get to the Valley, but now we're talking about Jax Taylor again

because of the person who told us we shouldn't be talking about Jax Taylor.

Use your logic, mama.

If you don't want to hear about him, don't call in about him.

But I agree.

I agree.

The whole like platforming people, like other people, everyone's deciding who should be platforming.

You know what?

When you create a show...

That's yours and everyone listens to it.

You can decide.

Until then.

This is reality recap.

This is reality recap.

Yeah, we recap reality TV shows.

We can only do so much.

We just work here, girl.

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All right, well, we have a great episode lined up for you today.

Momentarily, we have Elizabeth Wagmeister joining the show, returning to the show to talk about some pop culture news.

Also, she'll be getting into the valley with us.

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Welcome back, back, Elizabeth.

How are you doing?

I am well.

I miss you.

How are you?

Likewise, I'm doing well.

You may notice Nellie is not with us.

She is doing less well today.

She is under the weather.

She says hello.

She misses you as well.

She's sorry she cannot be with us today, but overall, we're doing well.

We're just in the heat of summer.

You know, we just survived Love Island C and 7.

I don't know.

I'm guessing you don't have time being the busy news correspondent that you are to watch 103 episodes of Love Island.

Yeah.

Well, first, Natalie, I miss you.

Get well soon.

I hope you're feeling okay.

And it's funny that you say that because I don't know if you saw Lindsay Lohan was on one of the late night shows.

I think

she was asked about Love Island and she was like, no, I don't have that time.

So I just stick to the housewives.

And that's how I feel, which is I dip in and out of Love Island, but it's just, it's so many many hours.

I can't do it.

Well, we obviously want to get into some valley and some Bachelor in Paradise as well with you, Elizabeth.

We also have some headlines we want to cover with you.

So, Sierra, why don't you go through some of our household headlines and we'll run through them with Elizabeth?

Are you familiar with the T-App?

Of course.

You are familiar.

Well, I mean, familiar because of this data leak.

Data break.

I'm married, so let me clear that up.

Familiar.

And like, you know, I wish the T-App was around when I was dating, but

okay yeah it's an in fact I I should let you get to the headline I promise I will but when I and I did I met my husband on Hinge so I am a dating app success story but it was so terrible dating on the apps that when I was on them my friends and I used to always say there should be a feature on Hinge or on these dating apps where women can give you know, their past experience with every man because certainly in LA, there were so many people that you would swipe on and five of my friends had been on a date with them you know like it would be really helpful so I like the idea of the T app but now yeah get into the headline of what's going on okay for those who are not familiar the T app lets women post anonymous dating reviews and it was hit by a data break that exposed 72,000 images the app tea dating advice allows women worried about their safety to share information about men they might date its premise was immediately polarizing some praised it as a useful way to warn women about dangerous men, while others called it divisive and a violation of men's privacy.

Last Friday, TEASE said that the hackers had breached a data storage system exposing about 72,000 images, including selfies and photo identifications of its users.

I mean, the security break obviously is like not cool.

And you can't help but wonder, like, is the polarization of like this app what led to people wanting to have a security breach or hackers, you know, as a retaliation for what the app is meant to do.

Like, I, you know, I'm torn on the efficacy of this app.

Like, in terms of like safety for all daters, especially women on these app, I think obviously who wouldn't want that and who isn't an advocate of that?

But where do you, I guess my question to Elizabeth, like, where do you draw the line, right?

Because, like, it makes a lot of sense.

Okay, like, who did you date?

Like, you know, like you mentioned, like, you'd go on an app, you'd match with a guy, and you realize five of your friends dated him.

It's like, well, you know what?

I'd rather save myself the time and just not go on the date that, you know, a handful of my friends have already dated and didn't like.

And unless there's a reason I want to go on, maybe I'll just save myself the time.

But like, I always say, like, everyone is someone's bad date.

You know what I'm saying?

Like, everyone has showed up to a date and just like realize pretty quickly, like, this isn't my person.

And then once you realize that you're not as excited as you thought you might be, you're probably not going to be like the most dynamic and engaging person.

You might not ask the best follow-up questions.

You might not look like you give a shit.

And you might just be going through the motions to get through the date.

Like, you know, where do you draw the line between like it being a place that, you know, informs its daters and users to keep them safe of people who have demonstrated maybe bad behavior versus just like a bashing app where, you know, you have a bunch of people like describing icks and mocking the people on dates because of they didn't feel

validated enough totally and i i agree with that you know like it's so well said nick that everyone has had a bad date with someone and that may not be the experience for someone else so i think in that sense if you are on the t-app you have to be able to and by the way data breach aside because that's obviously awful um but just talking about the app and what its you know intended purpose is i think that you have to go in with an open mind and you have to be able to evaluate, does this person, you know, just have an axe to grind?

Or does this sound not so bad?

But where I love it is obviously for dangerous people.

Great.

Like safety is the most important.

But I wasn't even thinking that.

I was thinking the amount of time that I wasted and so many friends wasted.

And I know that's part of dating, but in this current dating age where, you know, I wish we were back in the days where you could just meet people out.

But I think, you know, the apps, there's, again, like I met my husband on the apps.

So I'm so grateful for them.

But I also think that it's really tough.

And if I had the information that, you know, this person was a cheater, let's say, I'm not then going to go on the first date because to me,

That's an absolute red flag.

Like once a cheater, always a cheater.

Now, if it's something that's just, oh, this guy gave me the ick you know then maybe you have to evaluate that for yourself like is it worth it so but even the cheating one because it's like a gray area like i i tend to agree with you but like there are people who you know have done the work so to speak and and maybe there's nuances where it's just like you know

someone texts someone they shouldn't have you know i just like how do you police this where it's just like i because if it's if it's not policed it inevitably be just becomes a bad it just becomes Reddit, you know?

Yeah, no, 100%.

And someone's opinion is not fact.

So I do hear you.

Like, there's a lot of gray area that can be dangerous, like not fair to the guy if he's being dragged by someone who just didn't like him.

But I just know that when I was dating, I would always say to my girlfriends, like, there should be a tab on this app that is a forum so that you are aware of the red flags because it would have saved so much time.

I mean, there's also just like silly things that obviously don't rise to the level of cheating or of being in danger, but like immaturity or, you know, this guy is just going to ghost you and all the things like that would have been so helpful to know.

But again, it's all part of the dating process.

So I, here's what I'll say to all the single ladies out there who are looking to meet someone, like keep doing it.

Keep doing you.

Maybe don't, you know, take opinions on tea as fact.

But I just, I'm, look, I'm a journalist.

So for me, like, more information is better.

Information and knowledge is power.

But I also, as a journalist, can evaluate that.

So I would be able to say, like, you know, that person's opinion sounds a little far-fetched.

Maybe that was just their experience.

So for me, I would have loved it in my single days, but I do understand.

Obviously, I understand why this is polarizing.

But, you know, girl code and like the girl group chat, there's nothing like it.

So this to me was essentially just the girl group chat brought to life.

And girls warn other women about, you know, things that they should know about.

And I'm also assuming that a lot of these inputs were like time-stamped and dated and whatnot too.

So I'm like, that type of information is valuable.

I'm like, if you went on a date with this person last week and somebody else wrote, had a bad date with them two weeks prior, then I'm like, okay, let's see, compare and contrast what they're saying.

And it's like some consistencies would be like pass.

Well, it's also like, if you think about rape my professor, for example, I remember going on rape my professor and you could obviously see some people were just kind of dumb and didn't like to have to do work.

Yep.

And

you can kind of use context clues.

And I would also argue that like if you're someone going on the T app and you're taking everything at face value and not actually like thinking about, oh, like this is someone else's opinion, not talking about like, this man is dangerous because I would like trust that, but also like just kind of personality quirks or like whatever or like ghosting whatever if you're taking something you're reading on a T app at face value you maybe aren't ready to like meet your like person in general too you know

so at the same time maybe it's kind of like a good thing in that way I don't know when you just said rate my professor it actually made me think like It's essentially Yelp.

It's essentially TripAdvisor, right?

Like if I look at Yelp for a restaurant and most of like the restaurant has a 4.7 rating, but then there's 10 people who say this was the worst meal of my life.

Like the service was bad.

Like I'm still, me personally, I am still going

to restaurant because, right, like I'm realizing like, okay, this person just had a bad night or this person, you know, they are just a difficult customer.

So.

it's kind of the same thing, right?

Like if most of the comments about one guy, and I haven't actually looked at the TFs, I don't know the format.

If most of the comments are good and then one person

has

an opinion that's an outlier, then I personally would be able to say that person has an axe to grind.

They had a bad date.

So if you think about it in that way, it's not so different from really how we live the rest of our lives in this online culture, which is like, I never go to a restaurant without looking at yellow.

Yeah, I just don't know if that's good for our,

you know, for anyone.

Nick, I am, I told you, I am in favor of I wish we could go back to just like you meet someone in an elevator or you meet someone at a wedding.

Like, I'm a traditional, so I'm with you, you know, because I used to always be like so pro dating app because, like, you know, like you said, Elizabeth, you met your husband on there, you know, like I, you know, I met my wife on Instagram, you know, it's not a dating app, but certainly it's a social media platform, and so it's like that's how people are meeting each other.

So, like, you kind of have to go on there,

But yeah, it just seems like it's, it's a setup for people to fail, right?

It just seems like all the 6'2 guys are getting all the attention.

And it's just, you know, maybe that's it.

Like instead of, you know, if you're 6'2, it's like maybe a fuckboy.

Right.

Proceed with caution.

I don't know.

Like, justice for nights, short men, Nick.

Okay.

Right.

But no, I'm with you.

Like, so many things in life, I think the simpler times could have been better in so many ways than the the crazy social media, like, you know, persistently online world that we live in, but it's the world that we live in.

All right, well, moving on.

We're curious to know how you feel about this, but e-news has been canceled after 32 years on the air.

What do you think that that means for media today?

So this makes me, I mean, I...

I'm not surprised.

Like, it's the way that everything is going.

It's the world in which we live, but it makes me really sad because it's a reality that we're facing.

And I have so many friends at E-News.

I, you know, their team is incredible.

I, e-news is what made me want to become an entertainment journalist.

You know, I am a like millennial kid of the 90s, grew up on watching e-news every night, grew up on watching Joan Rivers and Juliana Rancic on the carpet.

Like that is what.

Barbara Walters and Diane Sawyer made me want to become a journalist, but e-news is what piqued my interest in entertainment.

So for me on a personal level,

it was just, we knew that this was happening, right?

Like the nightly entertainment news shows are just not what they used to be because everybody gets their news on here, you know, like we're all on our phones all day long.

So it's just the reality that people are not coming home at 7 p.m., you know, to watch these shows.

Now, that's not the case for all of them.

Like the nationally syndicated shows, some of them are doing exceptionally well, still still get millions of viewers per night.

Most of their viewers are older.

But, you know, I'm on those shows regularly as a guest to bring my CNN reporting, you know, shows like Extra and ET and Access and all of those.

So for me, it's just, it's really sad because that was such a fun,

great era.

Like everybody wanted to watch it at 7 p.m.

It was a different era of celebrity culture.

There's actually, there's a great piece right now out in the Hollywood Reporter, which I actually meant to reach out to the writer and I will do that.

But it was all about how this e-news signals the end of this kind of golden era in celebrity culture.

It's a really, really good read.

So I think that, look, as an entertainment journalist,

this is what,

this is what I wrestle with and what I do.

You know, at CNN, I'm never just on air.

You know, if there's a story, I go into the studio right down there and I'm on air And then I film something else on a phone with my digital mic, which goes on TikTok and Instagram.

And my, you know, same thing with my interviews.

Like my interviews, sit-down interviews will go on YouTube, TikTok, CNN.com, Instagram, and TV.

So TV is just one piece of that puzzle.

And that's why I say that I'm not surprised.

You know, the writing was kind of on the wall.

That is not me saying that in any negative way at all.

It's just the way of the industry.

We're seeing a lot of consolidation, but e-news will live on just in a digital format.

I mean, if you look at

all of their social media platforms, their engagement is insane.

Like they have tens of millions of followers.

So e-news is just going to continue to adapt and evolve into this social media digital world.

But yeah, like it's sad.

You know, this is the way of our industry.

And,

you know, as someone who grew up on those shows,

you, you know, I, it gets you kind of nostalgic for those days.

Yeah.

Wasn't it Juliana Rancic?

Is that when she used to be a host of

when she

married the guy from The Apprentice?

Yes.

She, when I was, I was like 19 years old, I was in college and I was a student journalist and I had the opportunity to, I don't even remember how this came about, but I saw that she was doing this event and I reached out to her to interview her.

And I remember my mom and I drove down to San Diego and I interviewed her because she was currently the host of e-news.

And, you know, I told her I was 19 and I was a student journalist and this is what I wanted to do.

Like that was the first like celebrity interview that I did at the time.

So, you know, to all of our like Gen Z listeners right now.

I've seen a lot of comments that people are like, well, of course this was canceled.

No one watches this.

And yes, like that's true, but like, you don't even understand like what a part of pop culture e-news was.

I mean, truly, like you came home from school, you had dinner and you turned it on.

Like you lived and breathed this.

This was the days where there was no Netflix.

And like, I'm in my early 30s.

I'm not that old.

This was not like ancient history.

I knew like all of the 25-year-olds listening are like, how old is she?

But it was just like things have changed so rapidly with Netflix and with TikTok and with everything.

And I think it's great.

But there was something to be said about everybody turning on their TVs and watching the same thing at the same time.

And that just doesn't exist anymore

unless you're in, you know, a big breaking news event, right?

Which then I'm not just saying this as a company person, but like there's breaking news, I turn on CNN.

Like that's what I want to be watching.

Other than that, it is multi-platform, you know, like you have to consume your news however you choose to consume it.

And it's not at 7 p.m.

watching cable TV anymore.

It just isn't.

What do you make of Katy Perry being seen with former prime minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau?

Let me tell you, my phone was blowing up

CNN.

And all of a sudden, all of your colleagues in DC are like, what do you know about this?

I mean,

I think it's fun.

I think anytime that a celebrity is dating someone not in the celebrity world, it's really fun.

And also, like, we don't know if it's a date.

It looks like a date, but we don't know.

They've looks like a date.

It looks like a date.

Looks like a date.

Looks like a date.

Our official line here

is at CNN, we do not report on paparazzi photos, which is the truth.

But as a, because, you know, if there's an unfounded paparazzi photo taken that they have not given their consent to, like, we are not a tabloid.

That said, as a friend of yours, Nick, and as a consumer of pop culture, I am kind of loving this.

Like, I want to know what's coming next.

They're both super hot.

So,

right?

Not as a journalist, as a, as a fan of pop culture.

What would you say to people who maybe were like, this is, this seems like a PR couple?

What does he need to, I mean, I don't know, like he's a former prime minister of a country.

Does he need Katie Perry?

I know, but it's transit.

It's almost transitioning in the way that, like, I feel like a lot of former politicians, once they exit politics, then go to media.

And so what better better way?

And then, obviously, Katy Perry with the whole space thing, I feel like they both are in an interesting space of like, I don't know, a PR relation.

It would make sense to bring Justin Trudeau, like, almost into like a different pop culture space and give Katy Perry a win.

Well, Katy Perry clearly has a type, you know, good looking, handsome brunette man.

I, that's so, I didn't even think about that.

And I,

for me,

I wouldn't think that this is a PR stunt.

Like, I don't think either of them,

I don't see how this benefits either of them if it's just for a PR stunt.

Um, I'm curious how they met, right?

Like, it's not like once you are in this world of being rich and famous, like at a certain echelon, like you just meet, right?

Like, it could have been

through, I don't want to throw names out there because I have no idea, but they're obviously in this world.

So, I don't think it's surprising that they would meet.

You know, I think people forget that Katie Perry, obviously, she's a very famous celebrity, she is an international superstar in ways that people in America do not understand.

Like overseas, her music, her tours, I mean, it's gangbusters.

Like she may be a bigger celebrity overseas than here.

And you can't say that for every celebrity.

So I'm sure that they, you know, travel in some of the same circles and have mutual friends.

And I like, I could see them just being introduced to someone.

So I didn't think it was a PR stunt.

Yeah, that didn't even cross my mind, but I have no idea.

You know what?

I just thought of that's kind of crazy.

Because didn't Orlando Bloom go, wasn't he invited and then go to Jeff Bezos' wedding?

Yes, he did.

And then no one, none of us talked about the fact that like not too recently, Katy Perry was flamed almost universally across the internet for being a part of the rocket ship to nowhere.

For going up to space for 11 seconds.

Yeah.

That was paid for by Jeff Bezos.

How did Orlando get the the invite and not Katie?

Well, so I don't know, but that was a big discussion because I don't know if it's that she didn't get the invite.

Or maybe she just didn't go.

Yeah, it could have been if she didn't go.

Like we just split up, but I like I'm

she's she's good friends with them.

So I don't think that there's anything to read into there other than

someone didn't go.

It could have been a scheduling thing.

That's actually when I said a few minutes ago, I don't want to say names because I really have no idea and I don't want to speculate.

The first thing when I saw those pictures that popped up in my mind was, were they somehow introduced from the Bezos world?

Because they're all friends.

So man, Katie's really hanging out with some powerful people.

She is.

Crazy.

Absolutely is.

So we'll see.

But I just think it's fun.

Anytime there's a story that you have like the pop culture world and then the political world invested in, I just think is really fun.

And I'm telling you, it was like 8 a.m.

and my phone was blowing up from producers in DC being like, what do you know about this?

So people are into it.

I think we all want to know the origin story.

One more question before they jump into the valley.

We haven't talked about it too much recently just because it just seemed like it was kind of a toxic case that kind of like, you know, it isn't happening until I think March of 2026.

But

do you have any updates on, you know, like a state of the union of the Blake Lively versus Justin Belldoni case?

Recently, it seemed like she issued subpoenas to some creators,

which, you know, Justin Beltone's team seemed to jump all over in terms of like the court of public opinion.

And they certainly had their things to say about what they accused Blake of trying to do.

But obviously, again, I've always had the stance that this is, this is more about the retaliation of a woman coming forward in the workplace and less about the actual like sexual harassment, but the retaliation of her coming forward and then the use of online bots and trolls and yada yada and things like that.

But it seems like they're kind of in the middle of that.

And

yeah, it seems like Blake's team is kind of like getting their ducks in a row.

And they very much seem intent on taking this to court,

as opposed to a lot of people, I think, you know, over the over the past year have speculated, you know, they're going to settle and eventually there's going to be too much like fatigue and bad press.

But they seem very committed to see this thing through.

But do you have any updates or insights on what's the latest with this case?

I think that the biggest takeaway, you're super keen to spot this out, Nick.

The biggest takeaway right now is for all purposes, like this thing is moving full steam ahead and is going to court as of now.

When this all started in December,

I said this on air.

I said this to anyone I spoke to.

I said, this is never going to court, ever.

Now, I don't think that they intended for this to go to court.

I think that when Blake Lively filed her CRD,

I don't believe that she anticipated that this was something that would blow up in the way that it did and would actually go to trial.

But now that we are here,

you know, for this to not go to court, they have to settle.

And for this to settle, that means that somebody essentially has to admit wrongdoing.

And I don't see that happening with the egos involved.

I also

don't think that the Blake Lively side

wants to sit in court for this.

You know, you're talking about Ryan Reynolds, you know, one of the biggest stars in the world.

Like, does he want to testify in a very public thing?

No, they probably want this to be over.

But as of now,

this is moving full steam ahead.

You know, whether that is March of 2026, you know, court dates get moved all the time for different reasons.

So I think it's very possible that this is still settled, but I'm like in a 50-50 now, where before, just based on my past reporting on celebrity cases, I was in a 100%, there is no way this is going to court.

Is that true?

I mean, I was under a different impression that, like, sometimes when you settle, like, the settlement includes like some kind of non-disclosure and no one really knows the details of the settlement or what was admitted or what wasn't admitted or who owed what.

But yeah, why is that?

Why are you under the impression that someone has to, I mean, publicly admit fault?

Because this has been an incredibly public spectacle.

And I think it's very clear that they hate each other's guts.

And I don't think that they're playing nice behind the scenes.

Yeah, I can't imagine Blake's team would settle without demanding some kind of public apology from Justin's camp.

Ding, ding, ding.

That's exactly right.

So, you know, they don't need money.

Like, this is not.

And by the way.

I'm sure they will ask for attorney's fees, but they don't need the money.

This is about, you know,

exonerating yourself in the court of public opinion at this point.

And I could very much see that either side, part of the settlement would be you have to issue a public apology.

So look, maybe they do get to the point where they just say, let's make this go away.

No one wants to go to court.

Let's settle this behind the scenes.

And we don't know anything.

That's very possible.

But I just, you know.

this thing keeps on going and going and going because both sides are relentlessly fighting this, which is of course their right to do.

I don't think that anyone thought that it would get to this point.

And you never know what is going to just become like a pop culture thing, right?

Like this became a thing.

Nick, like we've been talking about this from the beginning.

The day that this CRD

was reported on in the New York Times, it was a thing.

People are obsessed with it.

And I don't think that either side would have anticipated that.

So yeah, so the latest update in terms of what's playing out in the courts is what you said, Nick, is that Blake Lively had issued subpoenas on three different, we'll call them content creators.

Now those subpoenas have been withdrawn.

That's their latest filing.

The reason why they were subpoenaed was part of their discovery process, which is their right to do.

If you are prepping for a trial, if you are prepping for a deposition,

you can issue a subpoena on anyone.

It is a information finding mission.

It's a fact-finding mission.

That's what attorneys do.

They issue subpoenas on people, on phone companies, whatever it is, to get all information, all records.

I think the reason why there was so much backlash with issuing subpoenas on content creators

is

because this thing is playing out in the public.

And if you are a content creator, that your job is literally to get on your own platform and speak your mind.

And all of a sudden, in your inbox, you receive a subpoena from a huge star, you're going to talk about it.

So, you know, all of these content creators have spoken out very harshly against this, you know, saying that it's a breach of privacy and, you know, it's against their rights as, you know, I think they've called themselves journalists.

They're, you know, content creators, but whatever it is.

But, you know, it's,

it's just messy.

Yeah.

Aren't there, there's other content creators that are still being subpoenaed, correct, though?

That it, that is what the lawyers have said, that just because these three weren't doesn't mean that others won't be.

So that's why I say this is moving full steam ahead because they still are very much in the in the because like wasn't like there's other like you know big bigger bigger public profile names that have also been subpoenaed not just like these micro influencers right yeah no this is this is the discovery process and you know whether you like it or not whether you think it's fair or not this is quite literally the lawyers jobs is to find all the information that they can and if blake lively's lawyers believe that justin baldoni's team had leaked unsavory pieces of information or lies or whatever it is about her to content creators, which Justin Baldoni's team denies, denies, denies.

But if that's what Blake Lively's team is alleging, which they have, that's what this whole thing is about.

Like you said, Nick, it's the sexual harassment claims, but it's really the retaliation claims.

If that's what they believe, then they are going to do their job, which is to say, if I believe information was leaked to this person, I am going to subpoena that person.

So it's pretty, like, if you're just talking about the legal process, it's pretty standard.

The reason why we care is because it's a mess and it's juicy and like it's a train wreck.

Like this thing is like not good for anyone.

Like it is a mess.

It's good for the lawyers who are being paid, you know, $2,000 an hour.

That's who it's good for.

Well, I mean, I maybe, maybe I'm

naive or altruistic or whatever it's called, but like,

I absolutely believe that maybe regardless of what's playing out in this case, that I do think there is social media manipulation.

It's obvious that that exists, right?

It's obvious that you can boost posts and you can influence discourse.

You have all these anonymous accounts.

I feel like this happens in the political landscape all the way through like just like trolls from fan accounts and things like that.

And I think it, there's some damaging ramifications for the ways people are able to manipulate discourse and things like that.

And I'm hoping that this case sheds a light on that because I firmly believe it exists.

Whether it actually existed in this case, I believe it did.

We'll see if that actually comes to light.

But I'm convinced, like, I don't think, you know, these, so, you know, these, the Jed Wallace's in this case and these companies that are like crisis management PR teams that, you know, know, are known for like dictating or influencing

messaging about celebrities and, and, or their adversaries, I just, that does exist.

I think to what

to what context, how it's used, is it weaponized?

I think that's what this case is really about.

And I'm really curious if they're able to actually get actually, you know, any hard evidence to show what they are claiming against Justin.

Because I wonder if it'll actually have an impact to how we see social media and internet manipulation and things like that.

And if it does actually have ramifications or even a positive impact outside of it just being a pop culture spectacle.

It's so funny that you say that because I, right when this case began,

I was not really surprised by anything.

And so many of my colleagues at CNN, of course, we cover everything.

We run the gamut.

So we have an entertainment team, but many people are not part of that team.

They were horrified by the allegations.

And I remember telling them, I just said, I guess I'm jaded because my entire career is dealing with publicists and crisis managers.

So I know that this all happens behind the scenes.

So of course.

this stuff happens.

But I think, you know, the reason why this story has really struck a chord, that's one piece of it, right?

Like, is there truth to a smear campaign?

Whether or not there is, you're absolutely right, Nick, this is what happens in today's modern-day society, and it's really dangerous.

But I also think that's just one piece.

You know, there's also, we're in a very different moment right now, culturally, socially, politically.

You know, the Me Too pendulum has swung from where it was in 2020.

So there's just, there's so many factors here, which is why this is struck a chord.

But also at the core of it is just people love to watch a celebrity train wreck.

And

that's what this is.

Like, trust me, neither side wishes that this was happening right now.

They can say whatever they want to say.

And there have definitely been some big wins in the court of public opinion for some in this involved in this and some big losses.

But trust me, neither side wants to be dealing with this.

Like it is a hot mess.

Speaking of hot mess, we're going to get into the valley.

But before we do, Mary's got your rapid recap of the valley, and then we'll talk with Elizabeth a little bit about it.

All right, the Valley Reunion Part 1 has aired.

It is time for divorce court.

Kristen has apologized to Janet for threatening to knock her teeth out and calling her a whore, which is growth for Kristen, and I'm really proud of her.

And then we have Jax wanting to get a vasectomy.

Brittany saying she would not touch that dirty dick with a 10-foot pole, which is very you're a mean one, Mr.

Grinch coded of her.

Jesse and Michelle are in a custody battle with Jesse representing himself because apparently he's watched suits.

So congrats to Michelle, honestly.

And Jesse is broke.

So Michelle just stays winning.

Jax is in therapy off camera this time, but he's still like that.

So cool.

Danny and Nia moved to Santa Clarita and hopefully have not changed their diet.

If you know, you know, shout out to Santa Clarita Diet.

I missed that show.

Also, just a general note, if your man has a boys chat, you should probably dump him like right now.

And then the Britney and Jax stuff, like, I don't have anything funny to say about that.

It's just really dark.

And I hope the best for Britney.

But Jax is passing his drug tests, but he might still be on steroids.

Who's giving him these drug tests?

This is my question.

Exactly.

The same person he's going to.

Well, Brittany is also giving him the drug tests.

Oh, okay.

Yeah.

But overall, do people actually watch suits?

That's my big question.

Find out next week on the Valley Reunion part two.

We talk about this every week, saying about this show, but like Bachelor in Paradise or like some other shows, there's some, you know, they, they give you hope.

They give you something to root for.

They give you some excitement.

This is just, talk about a train wreck, just like devastating people.

making devastating choices and real real life implications.

I don't know.

Have you been enjoying the Valley this past season?

I'm I'm with you.

Like, it may, yes, enjoying for sure, but it does make me really sad.

And watching the reunion, I just constantly felt sad.

Like, am I entertained?

And am I going to keep watching?

And am I, you know, kind of obsessively, you know, into the train wreck?

Yes.

But I just keep thinking, like, there are young children involved in this.

And you're, you know, the whole purpose of this show was to be like, here's the aftermath of Vanderpump Rules.

Here's what happens when you grow up and you get married and you move into a home in the suburbs.

And it was supposed to be that.

I know that the producers were actually worried, like, is it going to be too boring?

Obviously not.

But it makes me sad, you know, like, this is a reality that happens in our society, but these are all young couples with young kids.

And,

you know, they're just, they're dragging each other like in a public forum.

And that's why we're watching.

That's what reality tv is but

it just makes me really really sad and i also i want to give a shout out to one of our mutual friends i know she's been on this show but kate arthur at variety my former colleague good friend um she has done like there is no entertainment journalist covering the valley as well as she is she did the same with scandoval she is the journalist of the bravoverse who basically sees like this is not just a pop culture thing like this is a serious matter that we're going to talk about So she did really great interviews with the entire cast and the executives, basically talking about this.

Like, is it just sad?

And how do we lighten up season three?

Obviously, Jax isn't returning for season three, which I think is definitely for good.

Like he should not be on TV right now.

What like something he said, I'm curious what you think, Nick, but during the reunion, he was at, I forget exactly what the question was, but it was during when him and Brittany were going back and forth.

And he was saying that, like, the reason why he was so upset was because

the things that she said took, took his job away.

And then he said their kid, then he said cruise, but he said his job first.

And he said it numerous times.

Like he's ranking the job here and the kid here.

And to me, I'm just like,

that is just so sad to me.

You know, like your kid should always come first.

And the fact that he said, you know, like, I need to go to rehab because my job, like, I realized my job was on the line.

And then, in all fairness, he did say, and my kid, and those are the two most important things.

But I just think it is a really sad reality for these reality stars that their lives, you know, for us, it's entertainment, but this is their real lives.

And it becomes so consuming that, yes, it's their livelihood and it's their paycheck and it's how they're putting food on the table, but they become so obsessed with like being the stars of these shows that that takes over.

So that made me sad just watching as a fan of the show.

Yeah.

My, my big,

I thought the funniest part was when they were talking about the divorce between Jesse and Michelle.

And then he was like, Jesse was like, I'm waiting on my lawyers.

And they were asking if he's representing himself.

And then he's like, he has a team of consultants.

And the first, immediately the first person I thought about who must be a part of his team of consultants is his bald friend slash fake therapist slash life coach and like that he must be part of that team 100 to have him scream into the pillow what are you doing representing yourself not going to end well i can tell you that no i mean michelle must be loving that she outed it in the beginning and then he was like and then the fact that he brought it back up being like i'm just you know waiting for my lawyers and it's just like you're you're representing yourself why would that ever be the choice in divorce court hey we're ignoring the lawyers could be all the voices in his head elizabeth if your husband walked out of the bedroom wearing the pants, the floral pants that Jesse was wearing,

would you go out in public with him?

Great question.

No.

He thinks that looks good.

You know, like, that's what's crazy about Jesse is he tries so hard.

He's the hardest trying man on that show who.

accomplishes nothing.

Can I tell you something really funny, actually?

So I

was in the market house hunting, and there was a house that like online on Zillow.

I was like, oh, I kind of want to check this one out.

And I saw that he was the

listing agent.

Oh, really?

I was like, I just can't do it.

But that's a weird thing, though, with LA Real Estate.

You show up to an open house and you're like, wait, weren't you on The Bachelor?

Like, aren't you on bra?

Like, that actually happened to me numerous times.

That's funny.

Yeah.

No, I thought that Michelle really

dominated him in the conversation on the reunion.

Like, obviously, those daggers being thrown and, you know, they're not being kind to each other, but talk about the receipts, right?

Like, she did not have physical evidence of anything, but she, everything he said, she was just like, no, that's not true.

And X, Y, and Z.

And here's what we're talking about.

And

I really, I keep going back to the kids.

But again, I know this is a show and it's entertainment, but it is dark and it's real life.

And I really don't like how he said that she's weaponizing their daughter.

Like, I just thought that was so cruel.

And you saw even Andy.

Andy Cohen was like, yeah, no, like, don't go there, bro.

You know, this is not going to end well for you.

And it didn't because that is something that you don't do.

I don't care if you're on reality TV or not, to say that you're weaponizing our young daughter, it's just, it's really cruel.

So.

No, he's a, he's a, he's an icky guy.

I want to spend the last few minutes you have with us, Elizabeth, debating.

Well, rumors have been circulating that Tom Sandoval and his girlfriend Victoria have been speaking with producers of the Valley in our screen testing or whatever about the possibility of joining the cast.

I don't think this is the worst idea ever.

Now, granted.

The best idea.

Okay.

Well, you know, we as a, you know, as a household, we've, we have expressed our frustrations in general with Bravo

for their lack of quality men.

You know, they seem to really

love low character men, men who just don't really, they're not aspirational.

You don't look up to them.

They're not someone,

they just don't seem like the best guys.

But if you have to, you know, cast someone, the last time we spoke to Tom Sandoval, he was in, he seemed to be in real.

Emphasis on real, because with Bravo, you know, we had that montage of Jackson's therapy, and it was just like the,

you know, none of that seemed actually like real therapy.

But last time we spoke with Tom, he was in couples and individual therapy, going multiple times a week.

It seemed legit.

I don't know.

No kids involved.

We don't have to worry about that.

It seems messy, you know, like he seems like maybe Tom has even turned a corner.

But if you, a question for everyone, who would you rather have, Tom Sandoval or Jesse Lawley?

Oh, Tom

yeah okay so not even a debate anyway look here's here's also the thing i mean i was an og in real-time van der pump rules fan like i love the valley but it's no early van der pump rules like let's just like call it for what it is right like there are reality tv stars that have secured their place in reality TV perpetuity for a reason.

Jack's being one of them.

Like you can think he's a terrible person and hate him, which seems to be where everything's going now.

And I really hope that he is doing well and betters himself.

And I was happy to hear, you know, how long he's been sober and all the things.

But there's a reason why some of these people have been on TV for 15 years and Tom Sandoval is one of them.

Like, Jesse Lawley is not that.

Like, if he was not on the show, no one's going to be like, where is he?

So, and that's not even me being

mean to him.

It's just me kind of talking about there's different, like, there's A-list celebrities and there's C-list celebrities.

And Tom Sandoval is an A-list bravo lebrity.

That doesn't mean you like him, but I also think that the scandoval

really,

I mean, when I say boosted him, I don't mean in a good way, but it boosted people wanting to see him.

I mean, like on Traders, he was really good on Traders and people really liked him on there.

And I think if the purpose of reality TV is to be entertained and to watch the continuous train wreck, then Tom Sandoval is a great idea, especially because Jax isn't going to be there.

And remember, the reason why The Valley started was with Jax.

Like the show would not have been greenlit probably without Jax.

Now, it is fully persisted and they don't need him at this point

with the other characters.

But like bringing in a big Bravo name, whether people love or hate them, is never a bad idea.

Would you rather have Tom Sandoval, Sheena, or Lala?

If you had one, and if you could have two, who would you have?

I mean, right now in this moment, Tom and Sheena, just given what's going on with both of them.

Like, I would want to see that all kind of play out.

But my answer would be all of them.

But if you're making me you, so you want them all.

You want to bring them all back.

Fuck it.

Like, I mean, maybe not as permanent cast members, but I think bringing them in and out is

good.

And I think, um,

I think people are really invested

in their stories.

And maybe you're invested because, you know, you hate them, but they're still invested in a way that I think we are not of someone who would come in and be new, right?

Like anytime you bring in a new person that you don't know, you run the risk of, does this person land or do they not?

Are they boring?

And we know that like Sheena and Tom are not going to be boring.

We were talking about this the other day.

You know, like, I think that's why we like Summerhouse so much and its cast, because despite whatever flaws they may have, like you look at like West, he's like a journalist who works for like Complex and like he's hustling out there and he seems to also be building a career that he's proud of and that is cool.

And you have Kyle, who like, you know, despite some of his behavior as a husband, like really clearly is working hard on his company.

You have Craig at Southern Charm building his pillow company, and you have these other characters who give you good drama, but they're like, they're doing something with this opportunity that is to be a Bravo celebrity.

And they're actually like, you know, not just like selling their souls.

for clicks in clout or selling out their spouses or just being messy, messy, messy.

And it really feels like the Vanderpump/slash Valley group of friends, they just really kind of have nothing going for them.

They only know how to like sell out each other, throw each other under the bus.

You know, it's like for me to climb, you have to fall.

It's kind of icky.

And I wish they would find people for this show where you could get a little drama and then also root, have a reason to root for them.

Again, I feel like Kristen and Luke are the only people, maybe Danny and Nia, because other than like Danny and Nia having to like being under fire from the rest of the cast and just kind of defend themselves.

So you didn't really get to see their at-home dynamic or how they make ends work with four kids under four years.

But you obviously have Kristen.

That was obviously a beautiful story with her and Luke getting engaged and like having her first baby.

But the rest of the cast, it's just like there's you, you don't really learn about these people's lives.

You only learn about like how they hate each other or how they sell each other out.

And I feel like that's just the part of the show that like I wish they would change, which is why I like, you know, Southern Charm or Summer House, because like you look at Paige DeSorbo, who obviously has left Bravo and has moved on, but she's been able to do that because she was an iconic Bravo celebrity.

We enjoyed her on our screens.

She was a part of drama at times.

She had great, great one-liners, but she's also built this amazing business and amazing career, which I think for a lot of women is very aspirational and very, or just people in general.

And you just, you don't see that from anyone in the Valley Vanderpump universe.

Yeah.

No, I, I can't disagree with you like 100%.

But I also think you watch different shows for different reasons.

Like talking about Paige being able to build this great career away from Bravo, that's why Jax hasn't been able to, right?

Like Jax's career is being on Bravo.

By the way, on that note, like Jax needed to go like that, like that crossed the line, right?

Like there's reality TV drama and then there is substance abuse, domestic issues, kids involved.

Like bravo, this was the right, however it went down, that was the right decision.

Like he, like that was at the point where it was dangerous and behavior that should not be enabled on TV and quite frankly, not good for anyone, including Jax.

And that's why I said, I hope he's, you know, getting the help that he needs.

And it sounds like he is, but he clearly was still struggling on the reunion.

But like, say what you want about these people.

There may be no redeeming qualities.

But like, here's a question question for you, which is a yes or no answer.

Like, if Tom Sandoval joined the Valley season three, are people going to watch?

Yeah,

yeah, I know I am.

Yeah, so that's also before I go, because I have to be live on air in a minute, but since we are talking about

Justin Trudeau and Katy Perry, I have like a non-update, but an update.

You know, I told you that our reporting standard here is we're not a tabloid, we do not report on paparazzi photos, but we are not reporting on it because there has been some outreach and neither spokesperson for trudeau or katy perry has commented from our outreach but there was somebody who worked at the restaurant who is this person someone at the restaurant said and this is an on the record quote that we kind of got the vibe that they were a little more chill and went on to say there was no indication of romance quote no visual signs of pda or anything so that's what it looked like a date but that's what i said it It may not be a date.

Like this could be a business meeting.

So we'll

just a friendly outing among Katy Perry will be the new Prime Minister of Canada.

You were discussing foreign policy.

Yes, okay.

I'm sure you were discussing foreign policy.

What else would Katy Perry talk about?

Not that.

Elizabeth, appreciate taking the time.

Always great to catch up with you.

Before we let you go, Bachelor in Paradise, you like the new format?

You into it?

Or do you miss like the old intro?

What's your 20-second Bachelor in Paradise thoughts?

Okay, so I love it.

I loved the old version and I also like the new version.

And I actually love the intro.

I love like the remix, the new song.

I think it's really smart what they are doing because obviously you watch it and it just, it looks different.

It doesn't look like The Bachelor anymore.

It looks like Love Island or one of the Netflix shows.

And that is very intentional.

In fact, to the point that there's a new showrunner this season who came from the production company that is behind Love is Blind and Perfect Match.

Another shout out because I love shouting out my journalist friends, Emily Longeretta of Variety, who you know, Nick.

Friend of show, yeah.

Friend of show.

Go to variety.com and read her piece because she did an interview with the new showrunner where they talk about these format changes.

But I think it's really smart because let's just call it out for what it is.

The Bachelor franchise is and was, you know, falling.

Like it was all about Love is Blind and the Netflix shows.

And those were really becoming dominant in pop culture after nothing could touch The Bachelor for 20 years.

So, like everything, they have to evolve.

And I think Bachelor in Paradise is the franchise's most fun show, and it's where they can make changes.

And I think it's working.

Like, this season is very much back in the pop culture zeitgeist.

And, you know, I think that the executives there probably noticed by ratings and by pop culture conversation that we have to make some changes.

And they did.

And look, at the end of the day, like none of these other shows, Love is Blind, I Am Perfect Match, Love Island, none of them would exist without The Bachelor.

So it is like, you know, the leader in reality TV dating shows.

And now they're just adapting to new generation.

So I think it's fun.

And, you know, the last point I'll make is they can never do what a Love Island or a Too Hot to Handle can do because they're held to broadcast standards.

You know, like that is the reality.

Like they can't be as raunchy.

They can't cuss.

They can't do anything that Love Island does.

But I think by bringing in the goldens, it kind of just makes it like, it's silly, but it's fun.

And, you know, they can't be raunchy, but they can be silly.

And I think that they're doing it.

And like people are talking about this season.

They like it.

And I like it.

All right.

Always good talking with Elizabeth.

We also have Maggie Q coming up momentarily.

But before we do, we have a real Housewives of Atlanta rapid recap from Mary to get into.

So take it away, Mary.

All right.

It is the reunion, part three, the final episode.

And you guys, it really looks like Kenya's not coming back this season.

So apparently, Porsche and Shamia's moms even have beef.

So unless they take a page out of Riley and Ariana from Next Gen's book, it is not looking good for these girls.

R.I.P., I really enjoyed their friendship up front.

But then we've got Drew, who still has one of the scariest things in the world living in her basement, a man.

And Drew still denies that she's dating black, but she does have his hookah to give to everyone.

And apparently this means that they must be together.

And I am confused because I don't know the significance of hookah as a gift.

So we'll see on that.

But anyway, the men finally enter the chat and here is what they had to say.

Dennis said...

He never was trying to sleep with Drew.

He just wanted to make some money.

And that's real.

I get it.

Ralph is, as always, an agent of chaos but is very charming about it so it's kind of hard to like stay mad at him officially even though he's living in that basement and charles oakley give that girl a peach apparently he won on a date with wendy williams he just dropped that bomb we need more of him and we need it now in the end the girls fight with love and i can't wait to see what happens next season overall will kenya return would we be surprised if we never heard from brett e d again will charles oakley become an official housewife?

Guess what?

I don't think she can't wait until next week.

I don't think so ever.

I just need to clarify that Charles did not go on a date with Wendy Williams.

Wendy had offered to have him over for a glass of wine.

Circumstances came up, you said no, but the whole contention was, well, would you go on a date with Wendy Williams?

And she said, I would have a glass of wine with her.

I love that man.

Which is a date.

Exactly.

He's like, you can call it what you want, was his response to it.

To his wife, I think we might see Kenya come back next season.

Well, the thing is, Kenya is also taking shots at our girl, Cynthia Bailey.

Now, what is she doing?

Why is she doing that?

Cynthia is just the voice of reason, you know, and has normal takes about things.

And she was like, Well, it was kind of bad what Kenya did.

And

Britt also, like, she was kind of just like in the middle of it, being like, This is a messy situation.

And she was, and Kenya kind of sent her some smoke about not like standing up for her.

So that's why Kenya is mad at Cynthia.

What and what did Kenya expect Cynthia to say?

Probably that Kenya was innocent.

Well, like Kenya's not right.

Like regardless of what you think of Brit, like Kenya was wrong what she did.

And like maybe she can come back, but like it's like, it's as if Kenya's out there like acting if it's as if she is being wrongly and falsely accused of something.

And she's like waiting for the DNA.

I don't know.

She I guess Kenya said that she's not coming back, but we'll see.

Yeah, Kenya confirmed she's not coming back for next season, but there are two new cast members that they're starting to film

soon.

So, yeah, she's not returning.

She's still on pause.

When's Real Housewife of Rhode Island set to premiere?

They're still filming.

I don't know what's going on.

Yeah, it says late 2025.

Yeah.

The end of the year.

Okay.

That's still not far away.

I can't wait to hear what

the deep nuances of Rhode Island accents are.

That's my favorite part of any housewife franchise.

That's why you watch for the accents?

No, but it's just like an added bonus.

You know what I mean?

You can say it's your favorite part.

It's, you know, I can be hyperbolic, Nick.

What's so wrong with that?

It's one of my favorite parts.

Excuse me.

I really enjoy it.

It was actually really nice watching Drew and Portia hash out their issues with each other through all three parts for it to finally end with a nice bow.

And then Cynthia gave what encouraging words being like, please don't let the, or is it Kelly that was like, please don't let this ruin your friendship between Shamia and Portia.

Oh yeah, because Kelly lost her friendship with Britt.

I don't know.

I think it is nice of like, they do all fight.

It's Atlanta at its core feels, is so much of a sisterhood in a way that like other franchises don't.

necessarily hit for me of like you can tell they all like really love and care about each other right and no matter how mad they are at each other and fighting.

Yeah.

And it was like, the real drama ends up happening between two people that really do not know each other, like Britt and Kenya.

The alliances, whatever.

But it's like the people that know and like have history with each other, like they're going to rat, you know, they'll ride for you, Charlie.

I'm excited to see them all kind of come together.

And hopefully next season, it won't be like Drew versus the group.

It'll just be like.

All the girls hang out.

Yeah, I know, because I'd love Drew.

Yeah.

Like, she's so silly.

Her one-liners.

I need to watch them like be like a combined force versus firing at each other.

Yeah.

All right.

Well, up next, we have Maggie Q joining the show.

She's promoting her new show, Ballard, streaming now on Prime Video.

You have certainly seen Maggie Q all over your screen, whether it's the big screen or the small screen.

She's been in some amazing films like Mission Impossible 3, Live Free or Die Hard, the Divergence Series, Nikita, designated survivor.

She is one of the badass women that are in Hollywood kicking butt, taking names.

And she is with us next.

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Okay, well, if you've been following my wife Natalie at all, you also know that she has been obsessed with Beyond Yoga.

It's one of those brands that once you try it, you can't get enough of it.

She always talks about how she looks forward to putting those clothes on.

Beyond Yoga is a female-founded, female-led activewear brand that's all about body positivity, comfort, and movement.

Have to back up my girl Natalie with this one.

Their stuff is insanely soft.

And I'm talking about the famous space dye fabric.

And it works whether I'm doing a workout, running errands, or just hanging at home.

You just do not want to take these sets off.

And right now, they're launching their new platform called Seek Beyond, which is all about growing with confidence, authenticity, and joy, not perfection.

It really spoke to me because life isn't all about looking perfect all the time.

It's about feeling good in your body, and Beyond Yoga gets that.

This launch is extra cool because Seek Beyond launches with the original anthem written and performed by writer, producer, actress, and entrepreneur Issa Ray.

It celebrates all kinds of movement and all kinds of people.

Visit beyondyoga.com and access a 20% off welcome offer using code thevio files for a limited time.

Okay, well, if you've been following me at all, you already know my obsession with, you know, wearing sweatpants, wearing comfy clothes, wearing leggings.

Like we're dressing for comfort.

And Beyond Yoga is one of those brands that once you try it, you get it.

I actually look forward to putting these clothes on.

Beyond Yoga is a female-founded, female-led activewear brand that's all about body positivity, comfort, and movement.

Their stuff is insanely soft.

I'm talking about their famous face-dye fabric, and it works whether I'm doing a workout, running errands, or just hanging at home.

You won't want to take it off.

Right now, they're launching their new platform called Seek Beyond, which is all about growing with confidence, authenticity, and joy, not perfection.

It really spoke to me because life isn't about looking perfect all the time, it's about feeling good in your body, and Beyond Yoga gets that.

This launch is extra cool because Seek Beyond launches with an original anthem written and performed by writer, producer, actress, and entrepreneur Issa Ray.

It celebrates all kinds of movement and all kinds of people.

Visit beyondyoga.com and access a 20% off welcome offer using code thevile files for a limited time.

Maggie, welcome to the show.

Great to be with you.

Hi, is that the chair I'm supposed to be in?

Well, actually, no, this is my wife's chair who is, she's down with the flu right now, unfortunately.

Although, yeah, she says hi.

She was pretty bummed that she couldn't be with us today.

Oh, that sucks.

Yeah.

Flu in the summer is the worst.

Yeah, I had it a few days ago.

It's a nightmare.

Oh, you gave it to her.

I think so, unfortunately.

We were joking earlier in the week that I, you know, she wants me to wear more sweatpants.

And I I said, like, wearing sweatpants makes me feel like I have the flu.

And then two days later, I got the flu.

So

did you put the sweatpants on?

I did.

Yeah, I did.

Oh, okay.

So that's why you got it.

Yeah, I think sadly I manifested it.

I don't know.

So it was, it was brutal, but she's down for the count right now, unfortunately.

Well, send my regards to her.

That would have been cool.

I didn't know you guys did it together.

Yeah, well, yeah, we started doing it together after I started the show and then we got together.

And then it turned out I was like, oh, oh, you're really funny and talented.

And

this with me.

So, very cool.

Do you think you could ever work with your partner?

Yes.

And I do kind of actually, he's,

you know, he's not an entertainer or in Hollywood and never has been.

But funnily enough, he has better instincts than anyone I know.

So if I have a project or

anything, he reads it, you know, at the same time or after me.

If I said, hey, it's somewhat interesting and he analyzes it and figures out whether it would be good for me or not good for me.

Then we have a discussion.

And then he has also another company that I help out with, that I do ads for.

And, you know, we product develop,

we do product development for that company as well.

So it's fun.

He's, I respect my husband.

He's really smart.

Yeah.

and awesome.

So it's a joy to work together.

That's great.

Yeah.

I mean, I never anticipated working with my wife, but it's been like a really fun thing that we both really love.

And, you know, it's like, you know, obviously, I think we still get our own quality time, whatever it is we need, but it, it helps us stay connected.

Like you said, like, I think there's like, in addition to the love that we have, like the respect.

And, you know, like you, it's, I'm always, I trust her instincts, her taste.

I want to run things by her.

And it just, yeah, I don't know.

I feel like it's really helped our relationship more than anything.

I think you're going to stay together because

that's so foundational, right?

To have that connection and not lose that.

And it's funny.

And people always ask why Hollywood relationships don't work.

It's because it's not an environment that's conducive for connection, right?

Because you get together during this intense period.

People often meet on projects.

And then that intense amount of time ends.

And you go into your life, but then your life goes into all these different directions.

And you essentially start to lose that connection and it has a compounding effect.

That's so well said.

More about you.

Congratulations on your new show, Ballard.

It's streaming now on Prime Video.

This obviously is a spin-off from the very popular show Bosch,

which is very cool.

I mean, I guess that starting with like, what did that mean to you to be presented with this opportunity to say, hey,

we want to create a whole new show based off of this already successful show, but we want it to be centered around you you know my wife and i we love a cold case show uh we love a crime doc a procedural we love it it's like it's so it's such an easy fun good watch but like what totally what did that mean to you for for to have this opportunity presented to you um it was it was interesting because i wasn't looking to do a series again i had been a lead on a series before or several series and um it's an enormous amount of work and you have to really love what you're doing to be able to have the level of output and make it successful and stick with it and believe in it and all those things so there there have to have to be many factors that attract you to a project like that so that you can sustain it simply you know as a business decision and then obviously personally like I said you have to love it because

It is everything.

It is you wake up with it, you go to bed with it, your weekends are recovering from it.

So you are, you are immersed.

And

I got, I guess

my agents had gotten word of this sort of a year out from when they actually spoke to me about it, because I told them that if anybody ever calls for me and it's not dead serious and ready to go, I don't want to hear about it.

It can come and go without me knowing and I'm fine with that.

And

so they called me a year later

as I was about to get on a plane.

And

luckily, this show, there was about seven scripts that were already written, which never happens.

And that was because they had a COVID delay and then they had the actors and the writers strike again.

And so this show was supposed to go so many times without me.

And obviously a different actor and all these things, all these different factors.

And it just didn't for whatever reason, as fate would have it.

And then they ended up in this place where Michael Connolly told me that it was this whole, the idea was, let's find someone like Maggie.

And they were on the hunt for somebody like Maggie.

And then I guess they went through that year.

And

then you're like, there's no one like Maggie, you know?

Which I was so, I was like, well, there are people.

You could have found someone.

And they did have people lined up.

And just, it just didn't work.

I don't know what that was.

And then I don't remember whose brilliant idea it was to say, why don't we just talk to Maggie?

And they did.

And the gift was having those scripts ready.

So I was able to read on this flight to New Zealand.

I read seven episodes.

And when I landed, I was like,

really like her.

I really like this show.

You know, like you said, you know, with you and your wife and you sit down, you watch something and it's not easy in the sense of ease, but it's...

it's something where the page just continues to turn.

You want to know what's happening.

And if I want to know what's happening, I am the person who's most disinterested.

I'm the person who's going to go into a script and find everything wrong with it.

And so I was interested, which is very rare.

And that was just huge.

And the good news was that I didn't know much about Bosch.

I knew that it did very well for Amazon.

I knew that they had great success with it.

But because it wasn't sort of in my zeitgeist and it wasn't something that I felt a little less pressure.

I went into the universe going.

Well, I'm not married to that.

This is something new.

This is something we hope to elevate because it's a decade later, right?

And move into the modern world of television with new storytelling, even though it's the same type of subject.

And

I just felt excited.

After I met Michael Connolly and I asked him a few questions, I knew that the people in the room that I was with, I wanted to spend, or I could spend a lot of time with.

And I think that's another huge decision you have to make when you take a series, right?

Like, do I like these people?

So I'm going to spend a lot of time with them.

And if I don't, and I don't believe in their integrity, then this is going to be a rough road.

And I've been down that road.

I've been down that road.

I've worked with people I don't respect.

And it is torture.

I hope it's not Justin Long.

I'm just kidding.

He's a friend of mine.

I cannot believe you just said that.

I was on the phone with him 15 minutes ago.

Marie, oh my God.

It's so funny because Justin's a friend.

You probably know him better than I do.

He's been on our show multiple times.

And I was like, oh my God, Maggie Q.

And I just remember like the first time I was introduced to you was Live Free Free or Die Hard, an amazing movie.

And you came on that scene.

You were such a badass in that movie.

You've played a badass in so many roles.

Well, actually, before I go to that,

how's Justin?

Is Justin good?

You know, it's funny.

So this is what happens with Justin and I.

He'll call me.

I won't answer.

I'll call him back.

He won't answer.

Then I'll get a voice memo and then I'll send it to you.

No, he loves a good voice memo.

Yeah, for sure.

Oh, he loves a good voice memo.

And weirdly, so do I now.

He was running into something.

And then I had to tell him that I was actually coming onto this and also had to go because every time I get on the phone with Justin, we're on the phone for like an hour and a half.

Yeah.

Sort of minimum.

And

we have a serious catch up coming.

So we both decided in corresponding

voice memos that we decided on tomorrow afternoon.

So that will be our big catch up.

Yeah.

But I love him so much.

He's my friends for so long.

I will.

such a good dude.

He's the best.

Because I was going to ask you about him and you're like, I have that.

I've worked with some people I haven't respected.

I'm like, please not Justin Long.

Please not trust him long.

No, I mean, never.

He's a great guy.

But back to like, you know, again, like, you play so many incredible characters.

You're always so often you're a badass.

You've, you trained with Jackie Chan, which is an iconic superstar.

I mean, I guess, is that was something was a goal of yours as you became an actor?

Like to like be someone who I imagine like a lot of young women aspire to be and look up to.

I have a young daughter myself and looking at your characters, like you, you play a lot of characters that I want my daughter to look up to, like someone to like, you know, I want her to feel like she can,

you know, own any room.

And like you've played so many like cool characters where that were in the best possible way were like intimidating, had such a great presence.

You've played this role so well in so many cool different roles.

But like, is that something you always thought you would get into?

And just it was, or did it just kind of happen naturally?

It totally happened naturally.

And it was strange because when I started my career, you know, even as like an American girl from Hawaii, I,

through a series of events, I ended up moving to Asia and ended up living there for seven years.

And that's how I became represented by Jackie's management company.

and got into early action movies on that side of the world, in the action movie capital of the world, Hong Kong.

And so that was interesting because I'm not Chinese.

I didn't know anyone there.

I don't speak the language.

I mean, it was just a totally random sort of either divine or random or fish out of water sort of thing that happened that I ended up living there.

And

they came to me about movie roles and I was so confused.

I mean, genuinely thought.

I'm just here to make money and go back home and finish school.

And that was the goal.

And they were like, well, no, people want to see you in movies and i thought why why do they want to see me in movies and then as i when i when i did actually eventually sign with them you know obviously jackie's going to be producing action movies what else would he be producing right and so

A lot of the movies that Jackie produced, these early movies that I was in, he's not in because Jackie's a very smart businessman and he was looking to create a new generation of action stars for a generation that he just doesn't appeal to or, you know,

it's harder for him to appeal to.

And so, you know, he picked picked a bunch of guys and i was like the one girl and

i i don't know what it was and i still remember working with a director at that time uh who was a friend of jackie's and i and i asked him like why

why do people want me for this like what's the deal and he goes

He said,

and also I'm not a martial artist.

That's the other thing that gets confusing for people.

People are like, oh, so did you grow up doing martial arts?

Not even a little bit.

I was a cross-country runner.

I did track and field and I was a swimmer.

what what of that in track and field track and field i did the 400 the 800 i did hurdles for a little bit long jump high jump i was a fournate guy myself in college oh where you were oh very cool so yeah i mean i you know i we're weird because we're not sprinters but we're like we're not totally distanced but you know we're we fall somewhere in between

and so

With that background, as you know, I mean, I couldn't even touch my toes.

I wasn't flexible.

I, you know, I wasn't.

And so I asked this director, I said, why don't they just grab someone from a dojo somewhere who and throw them in action movies?

Like, why would you take the time to train me and get me into a certain physical shape with a background that I don't have when there's tons of people with martial arts backgrounds that you could just throw into movies?

Like, I don't understand the difference.

And I really didn't.

And he said,

at the time he told me, I think I was like maybe 19 or 20.

He said,

Maggie, you can't teach strength.

Strength is something that's internal.

And if you don't have an internal strength, you can do really high kicks and do all this stuff.

And it's not going to matter to anyone.

They're not going to feel anything.

That was so revelatory to me for whatever reason.

And then I remember looking at Jackie at the time and thinking, yeah, he's one of the strongest people I know, one of the hardest working, mentally tough.

Just, he has all of that.

internal.

And if he didn't, even though he does comedy with his action, somehow you just wouldn't connect to him.

You have to know that there's a strength there.

And so, yeah, that director was the first person to tell me that.

And I guess over the years,

after now 25 years being in action movies, I guess I do have the mental fortitude and I do have the strength because I'll tell you, you won't get this far if you don't, because it is, it is a hard, hard road to take.

Yeah, and it's it's it's definitely a grind.

Well, before we let you go, we have a fun game we want to play with you to celebrate your amazing 25-year career.

So, we came up with a little game where we're going to ask you questions about

movies or show plots, and you have to tell us if you were in it and the name of the character that you played.

Oh, God.

I forget everything, so this is going to be awesome.

All right.

Are you ready?

Okay.

Okay.

Number one.

I feel like I'd have to do like a dramatic reading.

In an effort to avoid paying off a massive gambling debt to a notorious mobster in England, a couple flees to Los Angeles to hatch a jewelry theft plot.

I'm in it.

And I play a Russian girl named Irina.

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.

Yeah, one for one.

She is correct.

I can't believe you brought that movie up.

That's hysterical.

2018.

The cons.

The con is on.

The con is on.

The con is on.

Irina

Solakova.

Yeah.

If you asked me your last name, I would have failed.

No, you didn't fail.

You nailed it.

All right, number question number two, or plot number two.

In a world divided by factions based on virtues and divergence are dangerous.

Kind of gave it away.

Yeah, that we gave that game away.

Yes, I'm in it, and I play Tori.

Okay, correct.

All right, number three, a loyal and dedicated Hong Kong expector teams up with a reckless and loudmouth LAPD cop.

Uh-huh.

I am in that for a brief brief cameo that Jackie made me do, and my character does not have a name.

I think I'm Girl in Car.

Okay.

I think my producer meant to trick you on this one because apparently that was supposed to be the one for Rush Hour One, and you were in Rush Hour two.

Oh, Rush Hour One.

Oh,

that's okay.

You were.

But in Rush Hour Two, he's still a Hong Kong cop.

Yeah, I know.

He's like, I don't know.

That's the difference.

It's the fact that you nailed Girl in Car for the name.

You know what, guys?

It was a shining moment for me.

Number four, teenage superheroes strive to prove themselves as members of the Justice League.

I am in that and

have been the voice of Wonder Woman for a decade.

Oh, wow.

I didn't know that.

You're the voice of Monday Woman.

Yeah.

That's incredible.

Yeah.

We don't advertise it.

It's weird.

It's

just something I've done for a really long time.

That probably pays the bills really well, too.

For those of you who don't know, it's the Justice League.

She plays the young princess Diane.

Yeah.

Diana.

That's right.

Diana.

IMF agent Ethan Hunt comes into conflict with a dangerous and sadistic arms dealer who threatens his life and his fiancé in response.

Yes, that's at my three.

And I play Zen.

Yes, you do.

That was a great movie, by the way.

Love that.

Thank you.

Doesn't really make bad movies.

What was it like working on the Mission Impossible franchises?

Very, very surreal.

I remember when I got the movie, Tom was on War of the Worlds promoting.

And so he wanted to be there at my audition, but he wasn't.

And then, so I met him after he came back from that tour during my camera test.

And he walks up behind camera and he's like, Maggie, Tom, nice to meet you.

And I remember thinking, I went like this

because I grew up watching this man.

And now that face is talking to me.

And it didn't feel like that was possible.

Yeah, that's got to have been surreal.

Did you guys have a conversation about like how you guys do your own stunts?

I mean, we had a lot of conversations.

The thing about Tom is that you can't say no to him.

So, there were stunts that JJ took me out of in the movie.

He made my double do it because he was like, Maggie, it's too dangerous.

You have to finish the movie.

It's too dangerous.

And I'm like, But you want to say that to Tom?

And he gets to do everything.

Oh, come on.

I was all.

And then my double does this one stunt for me where she jumps off a roof onto a balcony and she did end up getting her ankle caught in the in the railing and actually ended up breaking her ankle.

And JJ looks at me and goes,

do you understand?

I'm like, okay.

Do you still do your own stunts from time to time?

I do.

I do most of them, yeah.

That's incredible.

I have great doubles, but I mean, you know, there are certain things where like, you know, certain crashes and certain falls that are just unnecessary.

You know, when I have to lead a show, like Ballard.

you know, I'm on the show and, you know, I've got five more episodes.

I can't fall through two bookcases and hit the ground because I got to wake up and at four the next day.

All right, last one.

To win a bet, an eccentric British inventor embarks with his Chinese valet and an inspiring French artist on a trip full of adventure and dangers around the world in exactly 80 days.

Yes, I am in that.

I am in the around the world in 80 days.

Again, a cameo that Jackie was like, you got to do this.

And I was like, I know I want to do it.

But we had actually so much fun.

I don't think my character has any.

It doesn't.

It's female agent.

That's right.

It's a quick little thing in like, in like the 14th century.

I don't know, Maggie, you got a pretty, you got a pretty good memory.

I have to say, there are other things that you could have asked me that I would have forgotten.

So you guys, thank you.

You're very kind.

Maggie, it's been so much fun talking with you.

Congratulations on your amazing career and obviously this new exciting show, Ballard, that is out now on Prime video and everyone should watch it.

It's very good.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Where can people find you?

Anything you want to promote or plug?

I mean, not really.

But right now, the show is doing so well.

I have no clue how that happened besides just working my ass off.

But we're excited.

We're still at the top on Prime after many weeks.

And so anybody who hasn't found it,

if you're finding it now, please tune in.

We're so excited about the success and the reach of the show.

So thank you.

Well, it's a great show and it's got a great lead.

So it's not a surprise it's doing so well.

Thank you so much.

Well, Justin and I will discuss you tomorrow.

And if I'm back on, I'll let you know what we said.

All right.

Sounds good.

Thanks for your time, Maggie.

I appreciate it.

All right.

All right.

Sounds good.

Bye.

Bye.

All right.

That will do it for us today.

Thank you to our guests, Maggie Q and Elizabeth Wagmeister for joining us.

Also, thank you to our callers who called in with their hot takes.

Don't forget, you can share your hot take as well with the new Mint Mobile Hot Take Hotline.

If you want to call in and share your hot take, all you have to do is call 1-855-MINT T-L-K.

Also, the number will be listed in the show notes.

And just for a special,

you know, like just to send you on your way, we have a three-minute voice note.

Someone rifting about their love for Bachelor in Paradise.

It is a doozy.

I think you'll enjoy it.

And we'll leave you with that to send you on our way.

We are back next week for a jam-packed week, an amazing going deeper episode, a bunch of great guests.

It's going to be a great time.

We will see you then.

Bye-bye.

Hi.

My hot take is that I personally,

I've heard you guys' opinions, and I personally, I love the new paradise.

I know that it's like a new change and like a new edit, but like, I personally like it.

I find it funny.

I find it entertaining.

I'm a loyal, I'm a loyal viewer.

So, like, if you give me Bachelor in Paradise, I'm going to watch Bachelor in Paradise because I think Bachelor in Paradise is probably

the best out of all three shows, like my favorite.

I read the article that was done by Entertainment Weekly that says Scott Keddy or Scott Keffey or whatever, and he's a showrunner.

And I looked him up on IMDb and it says that he did the first three seasons of Summerhouse, which I think makes sense.

Sorry,

I'm a yapper like Spencer, which by the way, Spencer and Jess are my favorite couple on Bachelor of Paradise.

But anyways,

Scott did the first three seasons of Summerhouse and it ought to be tracked because like

the way that they're editing

the way that they're editing Bachelor in Paradise this year is like kind of like reminiscence of seasons one through three of Summerhouse.

like it's peak comedy it's hilarious the way that Jesse

like finished the phone call or finished explaining the game and then he like laid back down and was like saying that like if we keep doing these exercises I never have to see these people again it's like Jesse that's your job

you should want to see the you should want to um

You should want to see these people.

So I thought that was really funny.

Or

Cat's been hilarious again I've only seen like the first two episodes but yeah I just have to say that my heart pay is that I personally enjoy this new paradise I know it's not everyone's cup of tea because like people say

although the problem is is that it is three hours

and um

I feel like it never used to be this long.

It used to be two hours twice a week and now it was like five hours of TV and I just couldn't get.

I still haven't even seen episode three yet, but

yeah.

Sorry, that was 30 minutes.

Um, I'm a yapper,

and I like to talk, and especially about Bachelor in Paradise.

Don't get me started on Bachelor in Paradise because I will talk your ear off.

Right, goodbye.

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