No One Told Trevor He Was Hosting the Grammys [VIDEO]

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Oh, yes. Oh, yes.
Yeah. I was like, fuck it, let's go.
Do you want to start with the Kanye or should we? Actually, I wanted to show you what I'm wearing underneath here. Can you imagine? That would have been really funny if I turned up in like a fur coat and nothing underneath.
Would have been a bit of a weird joke. Actually, I actually do want to start with the kanye so as the executive producer of the grammys yeah do you like are you happy or are you pissed or is there another emotion that comes with seeing kanye west like pop up on the grammys red carpets when he wasn't supposed to be there like is there like a thing that no because on one hand it's good for the show in a way because everyone's like oh shit what's gonna happen oh and on the other hand it's like you have a pre-planned thing like what's your first emotion when that happens genuinely honestly yeah i couldn't carry the way like i i i was like i think he's like he's not for me yeah and so like i was just like oh it's you know it's just what he does right

he but i genuinely didn't think about it the truth of it is during that red carpet you know

yeah like i am that is that is the most stressful period of like my year that that one hour that

like that 90 minutes one hour leading into the show that's the 90 minutes where you finish a

dress rehearsal which went terribly yeah and you finish that at like 2 40 and then the show goes

the That like that 90 minutes. Because that's the one hour leading into the show.
That's the 90 minutes where you finish a dress rehearsal, which went terribly. And you finish that at like 2.40.
And then the show goes live at five. It's like that Lorne Michaels thing.
He's always says, it doesn't matter when you're ready. The show goes live at five and it is what it is.
So like there was a thing about Kanye. I genuinely didn't even see it till after the show.
Honestly, I didn't. Wow.
Like I knew there was a thing and I knew he'd done like a stunt with his wife and i was like oh is the camera's gonna work is the comms gonna work is the show gonna work like that's all like genuinely that's what i was thinking about at that time i was very in the zone so i wasn't distracted but i knew he wasn't coming to the main show how did you know that because i'd heard um i'd heard he was just coming to the red carpet and then leaving and he didn't have a i mean i'm in charge of the floor plan. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Well, that's what got me, because I know where everyone's going to be sitting, and I didn't see Kanye. Then for a moment, I thought you didn't tell me Kanye was coming because you wanted to surprise me.
I don't know if anyone knew Kanye was coming, but there was no truth, genuinely no truth to him being kicked out. That's just not true.
He went and did the carpet, and as far understand it he then got in a car and left huh i don't know tell people he was coming i don't know genuinely i don't know you'd have to ask the academy i suppose in theory there's no way to stop him from coming so well if he came as jay-z's he was nominated for example right yeah that's true yeah if he comes if he comes as jay-z's guest ben con then say hey here. Yeah, that's right.
If you're a plus one. That's true.
That's a very good point because I never know the plus ones. So you know that like Madison Beer is sat over here.
She may just be bringing it. She may bring Kanye West.
She may bring Kanye West. Last year, Jay-Z came with a new Uzi, right? So it could have been.
Yeah, but you said that. But then people, you're right.
You don't know. And people show up with famous with famous people and then suddenly they're on camera like you didn't know they were coming and it's like oh they're there with you know whoever i think this was the most dramatic red carpet we've had at the grammys like in the years that we've done it together because we like this was the year where kanye steps onto the grammy then immediately people were there's every opinion right so some people how can the Grammys allow this? There are children there.
Now there's a naked woman on the red carpet. My children.
There's always the children. I'm always like, the children are there.
The children. The children.
So that's what the people were saying. And then, I don't know if you saw any of these actually because you're so wrapped up in the show.
Yeah. I see a lot of it afterwards.
Yeah. Then there was the you see that right i did see that yeah the two ap reporters or whatever they were were interviewing people yeah they're interviewing baby face mid conversation yeah they're just like ah you know what i only actually saw that well afterwards because chloe kardashian tweeted about it she posted the video going baby face is a legend how dare you and the first thing I thought is and a babyface is a mate of mine like I love babyface like he's like not only is he a legend and an icon and a music aficionado he's also one of the nicest men he actually is no he's genuine there was no even how he handled that yeah yeah yeah oh my god yeah he's full of love and praise I love being around him like I him.
Like I find him an inspiring dude just from his like manner. And, but I felt sorry for those reporters.
I actually did because it's like, it's like the culture that we're in right now where like they, they're red carpet reporters on AP. They're not Trevor Noah hosting the Grammys.
They don't have 10,000 hours of experience. They're on a thing.
They probably don't know the story and the history of Babyface's commitment to music. And then Chapel Rhone, who is one of the biggest stars, they know Chapel Rhone better than they'd ever know Babyface.
And they're like, oh, don't... And they know that they're going to get more bang for their buck there.
I'm not being disrespectful to Babyface. Of course, they handled it badly, but I hate the way society turns on them.
But I think it's also why he said, do you want that? Like, like he was so sweet that man has been in the game since when he knows every red carpet he knows every he knows what the game is about so he to your point he didn't even he had no ego in the way he did he was like oh you guys need that don't you and he's like I'm on my way he's like I stopped to talk to you because you need this and now he's like I get that you need that but I think But I think what it was is this. He doesn't need it.
No, he doesn't. So he wasn't offended in any way.
And he was like, whatever. He's like, I don't need this.
I agree. I just wish people didn't immediately like go out to find who those two girls are.
And then let's just make their life miserable. You just wish the internet doesn't exist.
Yeah, I guess so. Well, in all fairness, I do need a certain, I think there's like a certain amount of accountability that they need to be held to.
Why? It's a red carpet. No one even needed to see it.
No one would have known about it. Why does everyone need to be so offended all the time? No, but okay, okay.
On his behalf, I see why people are offended. But if he wasn't, he said straight afterwards, he said I didn't care less.
He'd be embarrassed by this whole thing. Yes.
I think it's a tough lesson for them to, like the way they're learning the lesson. If they if they had a good producer someone would just say like don't do it like that again yeah next time rope the person in oh my god it's chapel roan babyface do you know chapel roan oh chapel have you ever man oh legend old school legend new school oh man chapel you it's a big you have to you have to work with baby you two should do a thing and then you get those magic moments as well in the car where it's like now you've got Babyface and Chapel Roan whoever saw that coming and then she might go

I'm a huge fan of this song

and he's like what

I didn't know

she's like yeah

the way you remix that

the thing you do with

Mariah Carey on that song

oh it inspired me to sing

that could have been a moment

that's why they're paying

the big bucks

we saw a lesson in hosting there

I thought I was coming

to what now

I'm actually coming

to Masterclass

I'm coming to Masterclass

with Trevor Noah

this guy

I can't even

I was gonna to what now? I'm actually coming to Masterclass. I'm coming to Masterclass with Trevor Noah.
This guy. I can't even.
I was going to say, this is actually the issue, though, with a lot of the, I'll say, podcast culture or the people that end up broadcasting without putting in the 10,000 hours, right? Because back in the day, if you ended up with any kind of a platform, you would have done things like a small television station or whatever it is. That's actually true.
And you get to the point where you know how to deal with the red carpet moments, which is largely unscripted. Anything happens.
Now, what you end up with is people that obviously have a very, very strong following, but they haven't got the experience behind them to be able to know to do something like that. Sorry.
I'm sorry. I'm confused.
We're talking about two girls who are hosting for ap live on a red carpet at the grammys yeah that's not they're not hosting the oscars here no but i get but she was right though no no no this is their experience no but she's no but here's where she's right back in the day you couldn't even get to the ap hosting on the red carpet without having like no way you know what you see this actually is with stand-up comedy now today right there are comedy clubs around the country like the u.s particularly and some in the world where they've started hiring people who are funny on tiktok and then they come to the comedy club their fans come they pack it up and then 10 minutes in everyone realizes no one was prepared for this moment like the the tiktok comedian doesn't know how to make the people laugh or doesn't know how to shift with the room the room doesn't know what to do and then club owners started booking backup acts for the TikTok stars because they knew that red carpet thing would happen to them in the clubs so I hear what you're saying but I also get what you're saying it's fair it's not like they shot Babyface is what I'm saying no no no let's be honest we're also making it seem like what they did. We made it seem like, like there were some people online who were like, baby face, you, I can't believe all the work.
They made it seem like baby face, like dragged himself down the carpet. Yeah.
Still bleeding from the wound they'd inflicted upon him. It's difficult and it's difficult on live.
And it's like, ah, and I got it. They knew that they were going to get more hits if they managed to get chapel than, and chapel's not hanging around.
Chapel going to go, and I don't mean anything about Chappell, but she's not going to go, oh, I'll sit here for six minutes or she'll finish with baby face. She's on and you've either got to get her or you don't.
So I get it. But you're right.
The way they should have done it would be the collab. Yeah, I think there's just like a swag that to your point would come from experience.
I wonder what would have happened if Kanye came in. I'm not going to lie.
I kept on wondering what would have happened. Inside the venue? Yeah.
Nothing would have happened. Would he have done something? No, what I mean is like...
He most likely would have done something. So you think he would have come on stage? 100%.
And I'll tell you why. Whenever there's been a big moment and Kanye knows that he can seize it, he will.
Funny enough, MTV Awards, I don't even know what year it was,

when he stepped on stage

and Justice vs. Simeon won the video

for Video of the Year.

Yeah.

And he had, what's that?

Oh, yeah.

Anyway, that video.

He had that video nominated.

He steps on stage and he goes,

man, this video cost a million dollars, fam. I had Nia long in this.
So whenever there's a moment that he can seize for attention. He does it, yeah.
Yeah. Now, obviously, that was a long time ago.
Maybe he's a different man now. Well, I don't think so.
He seized the red carpet. Yes.
How would you have coped if he was in the room? How would you have felt honestly if he was in the room, knowing that he was there, knowing that there's an unpredictability around you at those tables? Because you're vulnerable. Okay.
Because you're not. Most hosts are on a stage.
Yes. They're away from people.
Yeah, they're not amongst the people. You are right in amongst them.
Okay, so one, he's very unpredictable. But I have met Kanye.
And post me and Kanye having a thing. And can I tell you, he was very sweet.
He was very nice. He had a cordial conversation.
And one of the about kanye that i think a lot of people don't know is even when he has his like you know when he when he spins and when he's going through something whatever it might be bipolar or not kanye west loves comedy like loves comedy and loves telling jokes and if you listen to his raps you know how much he loves telling jokes he's got some of the best punch lines in his raps but when he tweets them i think a lot of them don't come off well and comedy as we all know you miss you know what i mean comedy is about misses so so the first part i'll say is this i wouldn't be afraid but i would be worried for the show and what's going to happen because now is kanye gonna go up when taylor's up again now is is kanye gonna because now i'm the person who's in the room and then now i go you know you don't want kanye was getting tackled by a security guard but you also don't want to be the security guard so i i don't know what it would be i think i would i would have and then on a night when we're there and half the room i would say even three quarters of the room has like a strange morose

feeling to them that's not the night you want unpredictability no yeah do you know what i mean

because i don't know about you but like this this grammys emotionally was the hardest grammys i've

ever done yeah i mean for sure that's look karnier the karnier thing is look for me i would have i

i would have done everything we can i don't know would you cut to him or cut away from him i i'm

I don't know. Would you have cut to him or cut away from him? I'm not going to talk on him and the Grammys either way.
Luckily, I didn't even know about it because I was too busy. But I'm not going to go out of my way and go, oh, let's clear a table.
Let's get rid of one of the nominees in the jazz category to give yay a table. But it's up to the Academy.
Anyway, it's nothing to do with me. I think people would have been stressed in the room, but it was, but moving from that, it was a very different atmosphere because people didn't know how they were supposed to feel.
Yeah. And it was a really weird one because everybody's there and you won them over in a big way.
And so did the show. And I feel really good about that.
And the response that we've had from it, I don't know if you read reviews like so the no i don't so vanity fair variety hollywood reporter also without question best grammys of all time like they're really going wild of it and i do think that's because you got the balance really well no but it was i think the show really tricky for sure because people don't know whether is this supposed to be a sad event is it a happy event are we dancing or are we crying are we giving or are giving or are we taking? And it was a weird dance for you to have to do. But we knew that.
But I think for all of us, so okay, like to your point, everything is happening in relation to everything else. That's life, right? So now you're in Los Angeles where everyone, you forget six degrees of separation.
Everyone either lost a home or knows someone who lost a home. So it's as simple as that.
You just start with that, right? So you've got the room full of people. But now what I realized as the night was going was we're also in a moment where the majority of the people in that room are also feeling a certain kind of way.
So Lady Gaga, if it was any other year, would have just been like, fun times, thank you very much. And then Lady Gaga goes, yo, trans people are not invisible.
Then you're like, oh shit, yes, Trump said the thing and this is on Gaga's mind and then you think that's done. And then Chapel Roan comes up, she wins the award.
She doesn't just go like, what a good time, I love life. Wow, I'm a new artist, I'm the best.
No, she goes, let me tell you how shit it is being an artist who doesn't make money and what actually happens on the other side or the you know before the precursor to success you can't afford anything you don't know what your life's going to be and you don't have health care and if you don't have health care in america you're screwed you know what i mean so now in a way she's touching on like the luigi mangi of it all and people are like oh yeah health healthcare we're screwed in this country and then alicia with the yeah then doji gets on and then doji goes it's a celebratory thing but then don't she gives you a reminder she's like yo if you're a dark-skinned black woman you are seen as aggressive you are seen as wrong you are seen as loud and you so again people are cheering but they're like oh yeah shit what a shit and then alicia keys comes on and she goes hey we do need diversity we want everyone in the same room we want people together we want to create so you realize that everyone walked into a room with something on their minds other than awards and music which is rare for the awards and music like the last time i think this probably happened was maybe when kobe died right and then we weren't doing the grammys that time but it was like literally night before the grammys or the day of or something it's like no i was actually i was funnily enough involved in that you were involved in that one yeah so i had been given the job that i have now i was given the job as executive producer the grammys but what i said is i i wanted to go for a year and not be number one so i went and I was the I was a producer on that show essentially being like the number two on it shadowing Ken Ehrlich who was the producer because I wanted to know like how to do it because that's a beast of a show and I didn't and also you can't just get the job and your first time being the producer of it is being the like showrunner of it yeah that makes sense so I went for two years I did the Elish Keys one because they had penciled me and they knew that i was going to be it so okay i mean listen if somebody says oh you're going to go and like help out the producers at the grammys and you're taking this thing over you're going to go so it was the morning of it was just before the dress run started it's 10 o'clock in the morning we heard and i went into alicia's dressing room and i sat with her i said listen just so you know we just heard the news that kobe's died and she was totally shocked and i think she had the idea that we should go and find boys to men and see it because they were in the building for some reason maybe they were nominated or whatever and so we had that idea and then i had the idea to black out all the other shirts because you know in the rafters and so we did a shot of that but it was ken earlick was exec producer but i i was there that day but you're right it was one of the but it seems like with the grammys well before our time whitney dies yeah they call it the grammys curse i mean whitney dies and then it happens we've had we've had kobe in the house that he built at staples center obviously we did two during covid then we had the fires this time it's always a lot to handle yeah it's always a lot to. But then you're used to that in a way because you went on television every night with The Daily Show and you would have a script that would be funny and then you'd have to chuck it out because there'd be a shooting somewhere.
So didn't that give you the experience of doing that? Or did you think it's so different because it's a one-off event like that? Okay, so it's similar in some ways. And then in other ways, it's a lot harder and a lot different.
And I'll tell you, let's take a break. And then right after that, I'll explain what I mean.
We're going to continue this conversation right after this short break. This episode is brought to you by Ultra Running.
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Doing the daily show and you understand this feeling because you were doing the Late Late Show with Corden. I was.
One of the worst days, not just for the show, but for people, was whenever there was a mass tragedy, which would unfortunately happen all too often in America. So it would be mass shooting, mass shooting, mass shooting.
This happened. You know what? It was always something like that.
And those days were tough. However, the Grammys is exponentially tougher because everyone coming to the daily show was coming to engage in trevor noah's opinion of the world yeah or the show's processing of the world with the correspondence and everyone else so it's it was like in a weird way it's like we're all coming to the same church we all the same religion, and now we're just going to process what has happened to us as people, right? And this year, like I realized that more than most years, the Grammys is the perfect coming together of strangers, and it's something we don't have in society anymore, right? You have someone walking to the building who lives in Miami full time.
They're only here here because their record label or their company brought them or but they live in miami you've got someone who comes from london you've got somebody who comes in from finland and they're like an engineer and they're phenomenal but like nobody knows them except in the music industry you got people from new york you got you got people has a whole yeah nashville has a whole contingency right but then you even break it up about amongst like genres and ideas you know there's a joke you saw the joke i made at the top when i go like mustard and then i was like ask your black friends because i know the whole chunk of the room is like what was that like what what was that or what is happening here yeah and its difficulty is i think the thing that makes it beautiful it's like it comes with a precariousness but i also enjoy the fact that somebody who only listens to hip-hop is now gonna hear a country artist for the first time somebody who only listens to pop is gonna hear a rock artist for the first time somebody i think there's a greater cross-pollination of fans in music at the grammys than than in any other instance. Because when else are you forced, in a good way, to engage in somebody else's ideas? Now, for me as the host, it becomes extra hard because comedy is extremely subjective.
And comedy is like, people also have to come for comedy. Some people have come to the Grammys or they're even like watching on TV.
And then they're like, yeah, get done with this. I'm here for Beyonce.
Who is this guy yabba yabba yabba come on come on come on come on get and i know this i know this as well you know that's that's the job of the host you're like moving things along right but it becomes harder because it's not a funeral but there's been huge devastation it's not a comedy show but people do want to laugh yeah you know it's an award show but it's also a somber night in many ways it's all these things are happening so it's much harder because with the daily show at the end of the day i would go you're at the daily show i'm at the daily show welcome to the daily show and it's about the daily show let me let me tell you when i let me tell you when i knew how different the grammys was this isn't like a long ago story four or five weeks ago i was in a restaurant in new york i was having like lunch or something and the manager of the restaurant walked over and went hey trevor congratulations on hosting the grammys what an amazing wow this is going to be great for you in your career i was like thank you and he's like man are you nervous like doing this for the first time it's going to be crazy

and i paused and i was like and then the person i was having the lunch with

very sweet but he leaned and he's like what it's not his first time it's his second time

and that's what i realized that like and not even realized i've always known this

The great thing is that the it's his second time and that's what i realized that like and not even realized i've always known this the grammys is not about me nor am i you know me i'm not trying to make it about me i'm trying to keep the show moving and i'm trying to stitch things together but there are people who are coming for their person and if their person's not there they're not coming yeah so they're a fan of this artist if the artist's not there, they're not watching. And so I am just this random person who pops into people's lives and tries to stitch together an incoherent group of people that you, in my opinion, and I'll say this to you before we forget, masterfully put it together.
I've been to five Grammys now. Let me tell you something, Ben.
The way you stitch like just like the best new artists you know everyone going from benson boone you know going over to doji going over to teddy swims going over to ray yo like even that is that that's hard because it's all different people doing different things and yet you created created a cohesive vibe that that's, that's what keeps bringing me back to the grammars. Well, a couple of things.
Firstly, um, it's, it's really funny that you say that because when you say about the show and how difficult it is for you going, all people are here for different reasons. I think about that in the way I program the show all the time, because I'm perfectly aware that like auntie Marilyn in in nebraska yeah does not want to watch doji and in the same way that like somebody who loves doji is not interested in laney wilson it's like so that's partly why we've done as much as we can to like make the show something for everybody i would like the videos that we explain who everybody is but i would even try to tell stories i would even interject and say it's not that they don't want to they, they don't know that they want to.
But we try and make it like a show that everybody will enjoy from beginning to end. I think you undermine, not undermine, that's the wrong word.
I think you underserve the purpose that you have in that show. And like Corden, I got involved in the Grammys because of James Corden.
So obviously I am his partner and I was his showrunner for Late Late Show with Rob. Business partner, by the way, not married.
Yeah, we're not married. We're not married.
No, no, because people say words that mean other things all the time. And then some of you are like, wow, James Corden's married to this guy? I didn't know James Corden was even gay.
And then it's a whole thing. And then it's said when kendrick said my aunt transitioned a few days ago yes and then i could feel the room go wait kendrick's aunt just transitioned and then most of the black people were like we know what he meant he meant passed away yeah but then i saw a lot of white people be like he's got an uncle what yeah literally like so and he actually does you know yeah yo man it was very confusing so throw that in.
Yes, I do love him, but he's not my lover. So I only got involved in the Grammys because he got asked to host it.
So I went along to be his host producer. And that's when the recording academy got to know me.
And that's when CBS and the recording academy said, would you ever? Then he decided he wasn't going to do the Grammys anymore. Alicia Keys got appointed.
And they said to me, Ken is, you know, however old he is. I think he was, you know, 70 odd, 80 or whatever.
They said, would you ever consider it? He'd run it 40 years. And that's how this all happened.
But James always used to say something. I wonder if you feel.
James always used to say the morning after the Grammys, and I'll never forget it. He always used to say, the thing I don't understand why I do this is if it goes badly, it's career suicide.
You are a joke. You are over.
You are rubbish. You can never work again.
It's a disaster. If it goes well, you get 12 lovely emails.
You get 12 lovely emails. He's like, why do I? I don't need 12 lovely emails.
I don't do, but like he also did it for the buzz and the love of it and the excitement. And for you, I, I genuinely, the biggest panic I had this year was in regards to you.
And I don't know if you know this, I genuinely could not have done the show this year without you. I couldn't have it without you it was such a high wire act because loads of people said we shouldn't do the show like loads of people were like cancel the grammys do better yeah like um what's her name the amazing actress from hacks uh gene smart yeah she said cancel all award shows and give the money to fire relief whatever it's like there was this real like and everyone was like why are you doing this is about people picking up gold statues and all this.
So there was this huge attention on us and everyone was going, you're canceling it, right? You're canceling it. I really didn't want to cancel it for many reasons.
One, I thought we could do real good on the night. Two, I thought it's three and a half weeks away.
And actually like, well, we were deep in the fire, but it's three and a half weeks away. If the fires are still raging.
But you had been evacuated from your own home and you were still like i think we can do the show 100 wanted to do it more than ever okay what people don't realize and i'm going i'm going to come back to the bit but what people don't realize and why i was annoyed but i don't get annoyed much you know no you don't when people were like let's just cancel it i was like going we did the math on this. 6,500 people, all from los angeles in some ways take a wage from the grammys happening i'm not talking about sabrina carpenter in chapel ron i'm talking about the people who build the stages the caterers the producers the writers the choreographers that's how many bit the drivers it's it's insane so all these people saying to and a lot of them lost their houses and a lot of them I know.
And the worst thing I could do to them, the worst thing,

as the executive producer of the show,

the single worst thing I could possibly do to any of those people is go,

hey, guys, because you guys are struggling right now

and because you've lost your house

and because you're having a really tough time,

we've decided to take your wage away, okay,

just to make things a bit easier for you so that you don't need to work right now. Okay, that makes you feel good you know we're really with you hearts with you i love la what like it was just it just didn't understand and then people were like there was somebody from nashville who was going to come to the show big star and they said their agent called and they said they don't want to take hotel rooms in la so we're no longer going to be doing it because we don't we think it's inappropriate to take hotel rooms i was like hotel rooms right now in los angeles the week of the grammys and actually that week which was three weeks ago we're at 32 percent capacity you know it's funny i said this to so siswa you flew in from we were in south africa because i mean we did the other podcast together a few episodes yeah like now basically a few weeks ago yeah we did the episode together then he flew and i said to him i was shocked i was like la is empty empty the airport is empty and the flights coming in are empty the hotels are empty la is empty but people are they're like and then you said sorry to interrupt you you said to me you were like yo man

LA is down

like you remember

because you said

something about

like how everything

is you noticed

coming in

first the flights

were extremely cheap

or relatively cheap

compared to what

they would have been

like this time last year

for sure

and then as you say

everything was fully available

everything was available

because the hotels were empty

and so I've got

an artist team

from Nashville

when I live and love

in LA

I love LA

I'm 10 years here

no I changed

we can talk about that too

but I can't get distracted

let me go. Okay, good.
Go, go, go, go. So like, you know, I feel very, when something like that happens, you become, you either get, 2019, there was a fire in my garden.
It was Getty Center. We were evacuated.
I thought everything was gone. It was fine, my house.
But I was like, get me home to London. What the hell am I doing here in this place that can burn my house down?

I was like, done.

This time, I don't know why, entirely different.

Maybe it's because I've got two kids now and two little Americans.

Maybe it's just I've grown to love this country.

Maybe it's I've just been here.

It's my 11th year.

But I just had this pride in our city.

I was like, we're going to – it was really – it was just like resilience like love for it's why we started with i love la on the show it's why we did all the like local businesses it all came from that like heart of like what i feel yeah you had you had like a no i'm in it uncharacteristically um i say uncharacteristic because like i always find like english people resilient, but there isn't like the same level of schmaltz.

Yeah.

Yeah.

No, I know it is.

I've got, but now you have like a,

No, I do.

I love this place.

You're like my neighbors and we're getting together.

We got to make this,

and we got to get blankets to the people.

And we got to,

it's like, yeah, come on, USA.

That's what I'm waiting for.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

No, no.

I'm not chanting USA, guys.

A few more years.

I've started to get to know my neighbors. A few years make the grammys great again guys um so so so then when this artist said um we know we're not going to come we put you know we don't want to come because they weren't they weren't in the show anyway they had confirmed but i was hoping to get them and they were like no we're going to keep the hotel rooms free and it was the idea that people who have been evacuated either there is either they are not wealthy enough to stay in a hotel for more than two or three nights you think they're staying at the london on sunset boulevard for like three months right like these they can't they don't have they don't have any possessions anymore or they're wealthy enough to rent a new place or move the money of the economics a hotel will just never work right so the hotels are empty everybody knows that in this town bars aren't being used valets like the whole thing so that annoyed me so that's why i was like a friend of mine jeffrey i'm gonna i hope he won't mind jeffrey katzenberg calls me literally while i'm evacuated and while everybody is going we don't know if if the Grammy should happen.
And me and Harvey, Harvey Mason Jr., who runs the Recording Academy, who employs me to produce the show, we were both like, we really think we can do something good on this show. And Jeffrey called me.
And Jeffrey's like one of my favorite people in the world. And he called me and he said, like, why don't we think about doing something on television with musicians for the fires? This was before Fire Aid had been announced and Irving's thing.
He he said i really think that you'd be the right person to put it together get the artists we could find a network we do the whole thing and i said literally i was in our hotel room with all my bags around me i said jeffrey but to do that you'd need x million dollars to put on an event i've already got x million dollars on february the 2nd it's the grammys you're also going to need a network to like put it on and i was like i've already got that it's cbs you'd also need people to watch it and that's hard but it's called the grammys so people will watch it and you'd also need to get beyonce and taylor and billy and gaga and bruno and olivia rodriga in a room yeah and i've already got that it's called the grammys i was like why would we do something for that why not just make this that and and that's what like we needed to do and it was a crazy high wire act for you to do because at the one time you're going please welcome sabrina carpenter but the other time you're saying go to this qr code and help these people yeah and and i think it's it was an impossible job that you did unbelievably unbelievably well so much so that i want you to know something that i only found out about an hour ago during the telecast just during the telecast there was donations of over eight and a half million dollars altogether it's been nine just over nine it's 24 million for all the weekends events at the grammys but just during the telecast is nine million is eight and a half million what is fascinating about that I literally just found out a minute ago in my office, is the average donation of that was less than $50. So what happened was the biggest donation from people at home was a $30, then it was a $10, and then it was a $5.
That's the three donations. Everything else was beneath that level.
What that means is hundreds of thousands of people were watching the show and watching you go, there's a QR code. Yeah.
And they were donating five, 10, 20, enough that we raised 8 million just from those donations. That's it.
Because you'll think if you raise 8 million, that's a hundred grand. Yeah.
That's half a million. Of course.
You know, like, but that's not no corporate sponsors sponsors that's not including the artists that add up to that 24 it's just people at home and like that's because you successfully and i'm not just blowing smoke up your ass but like that's because you successfully and like seismically changed like people to do that people to go up to their screen and get their phone and then type in a code rather than just watching TV and enjoying the Grammys. That's because you did it really well.
And so it was a high wire act, but I knew that I needed you hugely because without you, it would have been impossible to get the excitement and the joy and allow somebody to stand there and win a Grammy to also have someone who loves and understands music, but fundamentally to get the tone right so that we could go from I Love LA or the firemen coming on stage or the commercials for the businesses or all the choir that sung with Stevie Wonder from Schools That Burnt Down, all those bits that we'd come up with. You had to get us through them and at the same time make a joke about, I don't know, alligator bites.
Right, right. And that was needed.
So my big, I've talked for too long, I'm sorry. No, what do you mean? This is the podcast.
We have to talk about the Grammys. You're the Grammys guy.
What do you mean? But I freaked out. Do you not know this? I don't know anything.
I'm waiting to hear it. All right.
So it was the week of the fires, which was January the 7th or 8th. And me and Harvey are, and with Raj and Jesse, who are also, I should credit them, they're also exec execs on the show we decide we're going to go ahead with the show so we make this announcement we're going ahead with the show and I'm like great we're going ahead and I start planning it and I'm start thinking of all these ideas and I'm like and then Trevor could do this and like um oh and then Trevor could start like this and then he could like unveil the photo of doors and I'm just thinking of all of it and like really and I'm phoning all the artists because they all want to know that it's going to be okay yeah they all want to know that they're not walking into like so i i went around each one not each one of them not all of them but like a lot of them like wanted a call to understand what we were doing and i reassured them instantly and they could feel oh there's love here and like it's going to be okay and it got to like the 12th of january or 13th of january i don't know

the exact dates but it was like you know and eric cook the co-ep uh who sort of runs the budget comes into my office and he says um he says when we still haven't got trevor's contract signed when are you announcing trevor and i went i went hold on we haven't announced trevor and he's like no i was like why haven't we announced trevor he's like i don't know we've never announced trevor i was like i had no idea we hadn't announced you as the host because we you and i are i would say very close friends yeah and i just we just assume we're doing it together man we a funny thing about me, though. I just assume he's in.
No, but here's a funny thing. I'm the opposite.
Cesar will even tell you this. I don't assume anything.
So even when they ask me, are you doing the Grammys? I say, and it's the truth. I go, they'll let me know if they want me.
But until then... No, but we did have a...
No, But what I'm saying is with the fires and I'm saying with all of that. So I'm still going like, hey man, I don't, and this guy's known me, we're on like 20 something years now.
Cesar knows me. I take nothing for granted.
I always assume that I will be fired or can be fired. Right.
Anything in life can change. And I don't even have like, I'm like baby face with most things.
Yeah, you're okay. I turn around and I go- You are, you're very relaxed.
You walk you walk ahead so for me I was just sitting in South Africa literally just being like man this is crazy is the Grammys happening but I don't even assume that I'm doing it even though we've spoken because I know you might call me and say hey listen this year is different we're going to do a different thing and so yeah I'm like okay but I have in my head designed an entire show yeah which I didn't know based with you at the helm right every element of I'm like, okay. But I have in my head designed an entire show.
Yeah, which I didn't know, by the way. An entire show based with you at the helm.
Right. Every element of it from like the Gen Z commercial joke.
I'd already got like a bit of that. Like the whole idea of like everything was with you in my head.
It didn't cross my mind for a second you weren't doing the show. And then Eric went, well, no, we haven't announced him.
So I was like, so I had this cold sweat come over my body. It was about like, you know, it must have been really early in the morning.
Because I remember, so then it was nine o'clock. That's right.
So I call you because I'm panicking a little bit. And it goes straight to Ant's phone.
Then I called Rachel Rush, who's your agent. And it rang.
Rachel Rush never doesn't pick up to me. No, it's insta-pick.

It's insta-pick.

She picks up instantly.

And we've just announced we're definitely going ahead with the Grammys.

Rings and rings and rings.

No text going, I'll call you back.

So then I call your manager Norm.

Nothing.

Literally nothing.

No one picks up.

Thought he was getting snubbed.

I am like heavy breathing. So then I'm like, all right, I haven't got rachel i haven't got trevor i haven't got norm derek will pick up derek will pick up so then derek i pick i ring him nothing five minutes later on zoom can i call back later in the day that's far too formal for me derek that is far too formal.
Then Rachel Rush texts me and goes, Rachel Rush texts me. This is now like 9.45.
Rachel Rush texts me going, sorry, sorry, I had a missed call. Been in meetings.
We'll make sure we speak later in the day. And I am like, so I try you again.
I try you again. I'm like, oh my God.
Try you. Again, again no answer these are four people who i know your listeners wouldn't necessarily know but four people who pick up my call yes like our friends of mine what's what's funny is what i'm experiencing just from because i don't know anyone else's story but for me when this was all happening i was in south africa and i specifically decided that i'm going to take some time away from digital devices

and I like made a whole thing

and I was like

then I wrote to one of my friends

I said to one of my friends

I was like hey

I think I'm going to send this out

as sort of an out of office to everyone

just to be like hey

I'm staying away from my phone

then he was like calm down

he's like you're not a doctor

you're not a lawyer

nobody needs you like that

dude

and then he said

if someone needs to get a hold of you

they'll find you through your people

so relax

so I was like alright

literally my phone for maybe

We'll see you through your people so relax so i was like all right literally my phone for maybe 10 days was just maybe look in the morning maybe look at night and that was it well i was having an utter freak i'm sorry so so so i'm also going all four of them are on a zoom right now it's nine in the morning they've read the announcement going ahead and they are discussing how trevor thinks it's not a good idea and i'm also annoyed at myself genuinely annoying myself and it was bad producing i did i made an i made a genuine mistake being serious i actually learned from this and you don't even know about it the art in my head i think of us as kind of a unit like i in a lovely way i'm with you be fine with all of this. Right, okay, I'm with you.
And this is great. And I was so annoyed at myself that we had made an announcement, not with your name in it, that the Grammys was happening and I hadn't picked up the phone to you and gone, do you think that's all right? Is that okay with you? Will you still do it? Because if you had said, I don't want to do it, I don't think I would have gone ahead.
And we might have gone ahead. I'm not saying you're bigger than the Grammys,ys but i would have said harvey i need to find a host that can manage what we're about to do before we go ahead i can't we can't announce we're doing it until i know who's going to be the voice of like our ideas and our vision and whatever and i was so angry at myself because it's a real ball drop for me and i and as you'll know i'm like quite and i had no emotion good so i'm sorry that you went through all of this.
So I called a meeting. I was skipping through the grass, enjoying a mountain.
Where the hell were Norm, Derek and Rachel? So I called a meeting with my staff, with Patrick and Raj. And we called in and it was about 10.30 that morning.
I said, I've just got something in my stomach I have to share with all of you. Trevor's out.
I think Trevor's out. I swear to God.
The room, it was the most morbid room. Everyone was like, oh, my God.
I was like, I said I effed up. I was like, I didn't.
I don't know what's happened. I might be able to talk him back in.
I was spiraling. I don't know what was going on with me.
I'm this together guy. That is very out of character.
But I was like, there was so much at stake for me with this show. i put my heart and soul into this grammys i partly because like i love the grammys now i've just decided it's like it's my baby now i've done it five years and i love it and i love the love it gets and and i love i'm a proper music fan so i love that and i just like telly and the challenge of it and i've and the la thing and now he's home and now you're fighting for it we can raise money and I was like this is so idiotic anyway no one takes me back still it's now like 11.30 and no one has called me so I know I'm screwed because no one's called me back and it's and it's like you've got to admit that does sound very weird that does sound weird it's bad it's bad and I'm like and maybe they're annoyed I didn't check and whatever and I knew that like Norman had friends who'd lost house and stuff so they were all probably like we shouldn't do the show and Rachel's a very sensitive It's bad.
And I'm like, and maybe they're annoyed I didn't check and whatever. And I knew that like Norman had friends who'd lost house and stuff.
So they were all probably like, we shouldn't do the show. And Rachel's a very sensitive person as well.
So she might've thought, I could see how all of them could say to you in some way. I could see how all of them could go, no, I'm not sure it is the right thing for you right now.
I could see the Zoom that I wasn't on at 9am. It didn't exist.
So then my phone goes, everyone's in the room. It's about about midday my phone goes and it says Trevor Noah I'm like oh fuck for the first time it was like it was like a girlfriend telling me if I was going to get a second date I became this pathetic kid so I'm like okay guys guys give me the room give me the room give me the room everyone give me the room you know so everyone files out the give me the room.
You know, everyone files out the room going, good luck, good luck, good luck. And I'm like, and I'm literally like, hello, hello.
Hi. Hi.
Hi. Hi.
No, just be strong. Hello.
Okay. Pick up the phone.
You, within a minute, I was like, hey, man, how are you? You're like, good. I'm just in South Africa.
How are you doing? I was like, I'm good. Everything okay with you? Yeah.
Just having a break with my mom. And literally I was like, what an idiot am I? I've spent the whole morning crying over this disaster.
I didn't know there was a disaster. I was pretending to be so cool.
I've never been as uncool in my life. And I was like, so I've got a few ideas for the, you know, the Grammys.
At some point we should talk about it yeah at some point we should just yeah whenever like you know i'm around i'm back in la next week let's talk then sure yeah no absolutely meanwhile we had the opposite because obviously the fires happened yeah now we're wondering what's going to happen how are you going to do it how are people going to do it everyone's trying to figure out the semblance of normalcy that they can attain during a disaster like this and then you and I spoke initially we thought they were going to get cancelled yeah we thought it was going to get cancelled and then it was you who said to me you had like no doubt in Ben being able to pull it off funny enough I didn't have a doubt and it's for two reasons right so I've obviously I've worked with you guys for like four years now i've seen how you guys do your thing and i know the chemistry you have right um the first time in vegas i was familiar with your work yeah but i obviously had never seen you deliver and after that year i even told him i said this is the right person for you like i've never seen an on-air chemistry like what you guys have and i'm not even saying this because yeah right like he'll know um so when you guys decided you put out the announcement even on instagram and funny enough i sent you a dm and my response was like a fire emoji which i then thought well i probably shouldn't have done that that's the wrong emoji i was sat in my house with two hoses but i appreciate it yeah but i was but I was 100% sure you'd be able to pull it off. I just knew that the tone of the show had to be different.
For sure. Which is what we initially discussed.
And then everything from that point on, perfect. Did you ever, so my instinct was obviously wrong.
As in like you weren't pulling out. No.
But did you ever consider actually maybe I shouldn't be hosting it this year? Or I don't want the challenge of it this year? Or you know what, maybe this isn't for me. Did it cross your mind at any point? Or you were just as easygoing as you made that to me on the phone? Okay, let's take a break.
I'll think about it. I'll think about it.
And then I'll give you the answer to that. So I want to take a moment to talk about ZipRecruiter.
No matter what job you're searching for or hiring for zip recruiter can help today we're talking about the grammys and if you just think about a show like that it's incredible the number of very specific jobs that go into putting it all together you know it's actually funny speaking of jobs you and i basically met through jobs yeah right and you and i met on a production set basically like i was doing you know the kids show you were doing what were you doing at the time mtv mtv stuff yeah yeah so you're doing mtv and so you go there day one and what do you expect well i didn't really have an expectation because how i got my job was via like an open audition yeah so literally everything was a learning experience and just you know okay what do you do then they'll tell you then you move on okay what do you do what's your role how does it all fit together to then create the big production that's probably the most mind-blowing part of a production is how many people need to come together to make it happen like i speak to people all the time who will say to me hey trevor i want to work in entertainment then i go doing what and they're like what do you mean doing what i'm like doing what there's literally everything in entertainment you know i remember when i discovered there's somebody whose job it is to make sure that the cables that are on the cameras don't get tangled up because yo and like that's Yo, and like, that's one of the most important people on the job. Like, running along the sidelines at the NFL or, you know, at a live show like the Grammys or you name it.
Like, that person's job is just to make sure that the cables don't get tangled so that you at home don't miss the shot. You know? I've always wondered, what's a first boy grip? I've always read that since I was a kid.
And I was like, I wonder first boy grip is like what is that it's the grip that is most important that's why first boy hey man this this is why you need like hiring because i mean how many jobs are there do you know i mean like think about everyone thinks of a cameraman yeah when a movie's being made or when a show's being that creates it on live tv do you know how many different people are making that camera work you know i mean you watch something you think two people were having a conversation you don't know behind them there were 200 people making it look like it was just two people having a conversation and all of those roles need people and they need to filled. You need to know where to go and find them.
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okay so 2024 is coming to a close. I've been on tour almost for two years.
This is like me finally wrapping things up. I put on a few extra shows in New York at the Beacon, the Comedy Cellar at a little theater downtown at the Soho Theater.
And then I decided I'm going to go to South Africa for Christmas. I'm going to go spend time with my mom.
And then I'll spend New Year's in South Africa, in Johannesburg, which I don't regularly do with my friends, Sisway, Anele, everyone. We normally travel.
And then I decided, you know what, I'm just going to spend time at home doing like nothing and just chill, just get back to home vibes. So I'm home, I'm home, I'm home, having a wonderful time.
While we're there, the news comes out about LA. And it's the same news that always comes out every year.
There are wildfires in LA. Now, it's not diminished by the fact that it always happens, but you always think to yourself, oh yeah, they got it, man.
They always got it. It can get a little out of hand, but they've got it.
They've got it, they've got it grow and the fires grow they keep growing they keep growing now you hear about evacuation orders and now we're reading this second hand we're not in la you know so all you get is the news clip slash a few videos online then the fires jump then the fires expand now we're like wow it looks like the whole city is burning now personal friends start texting me or like my manager um and my agent matt lake literally his house gone like gone gone ashes no but you so now you start getting direct people going hey man house gone hey house gone hey house gone and now you're like wait wait wait everyone how far is this thing getting now you're like oh everyone is going to be involved in this it be involved in this. It's not like a few people who live near to the boundary,

which is normally how it is.

It's everyone.

So I'm experiencing this, but it's not about me.

So I'm just like, I hope everyone's okay.

And whenever there's a tragedy,

I hate being the person who's texting people because I feel like I don't need you to reply to my text

while shit's going wrong in your life.

So I'll text you afterwards

because my text doesn't necessarily help you. You know what I mean i'm i'm quiet i'm spending time off my devices we go we see things are being canceled moved etc i go see what do you think is going to happen he's like i don't know but if you know if anything happened they'll let you know i'm like all right we'll see are the grammys still happening we don't know we don't know we don't know grammys gets announced the grammys are happening but they say nothing about me so i'm like oh okay i guess there's going to be a shift it's fine then i go cizre you saw the grammys is happening cizre goes instantly he's like yeah he's like ben can pull it off i know he can he always he'll figure it out he always pulls it off so i'm like i'm like yeah i'm like ben will do i don't know how he's going to do it but he'll do something something.
Cool. And I'm fine.
I'm just living my own life.

We speak on the phone. The only doubts I had were doubts around.
So I'll start with this. Number one, to what James said, and what anyone who's hosted an award show will know.
I remember talking to Kevin Hart about it. I've talked to Chris Rock about it, you name it.
Hosting a show is one of the more thankless things you can do.

Yeah.

Right?

And not thankless like, oh, I need the thanks,

but it's just because it's such a high wire act,

even if there's nothing bad happening in the world.

You step onto a stage where people haven't come for you

and you then do the thing that you do which is

already precarious comedy is not a safe art form full stop like just even people who are coming to a comedy club there's a possibility that comedy doesn't go the way they want it to for a comedian it's not a safe art form no comedian's like ah what a lovely easy job i have right so you start with that then an award show where people are coming for music is not even like the emmys and the oscars where people are you know used to sitting down having people talk all night no the music speaks at the grammys you know there's very little speaking at the grammys so i i i have my latent doubts about doing the grammys i roll to the grammys because of you you know what i mean this literally from the beginning i was like look i don't like award shows i would never do an award show but i roll with you and i trust you to keep me safe and to try and put the best show on and i love making people feel good now the fires are happening i go okay so i've already got the doubts i had but now what are you are you throwing a while everyone's having a funeral? What are you doing? How bad is the devastation? Are you assuming devastation on their behalf? Because that's another thing I've realized we do quite a lot in society these days is we assume things on other people's behalves that they themselves aren't experiencing. Babyface is a good example.
Babyface wasn't pissed off. People were pissed off.
How dare you? But the man that you are daring on behalf of is like, no, I get it, man. It's part of the game.
Relax. People get offended on, you know, places behalf.
People get offended. People, we do that.
And sometimes we do it, I think most of the time we try and do it out of good. But the intention doesn't match up with the outcome, right? So I didn't want to make the assumption and be like, no, I cannot do the Grammys at this tough time.
I cannot. And it's like, whoa, whoa, whoa.
What about the people who've worked for you on their music? What about the people who've prepared for you to work on the Grammys? What about the people? And I spend most of my time with these guys. I'm chatting to the stagehand backstage.

I'm being ushered around by the crew.

I'm building bonds with the cameraman because you know what it's like, Cesar,

when you've hosted.

That's the thing.

These are the people that you're doing most of it with.

So I'm not in the position to assume anything.

I just go, I will work with what is given to me.

But what I thought from the get-go, even when I came to LA was, man, this is going to be hard. And this is going to be hard because half the people who are here have a feeling of sadness that they're carrying.
It's mixed in with resilience, but it's still sadness. The other half have some sort of reverence for what everyone is experiencing but they've come into town but they also don't want to be the people with confetti and streamers so every normal pre-grammy party was cancelled every after party was cancelled there was no spotify party there was no caa party there was no Warner Music party.
There's nothing. There's nothing.
So the preamble feels different. People feel different.
You know, the first time you're going to put something nice on is just to go to the show. That's not usual.
And then on top of that, you realize that the audience isn't having the same feelings depending on where they are. Someone's watching in South Africa.
They're not having the same feeling. Somebody's watching in London.
They're not having the same feeling. They're happy for Ray, you know? And then someone's watching from Australia and then someone's watching from, but these people are like, oh yeah, we know that there is a fire.
But also when we had a fire, you didn't do the thing. So we're having a different feeling.
And I was watching this online. I was seeing so i didn't i didn't assume anything but i knew for me personally i was like this is probably going to be my least favorite grammys because whatever happens i will be doing something wrong but it was at your least favorite in the end yeah easily right just because you were worried about that high line of how you were but i mean because you couldn't be loose so not even loose so it's like and when i say least favorite i'm using you know like favorite the way you know it's your experience you don't mean least favorite as in the show you mean your experience but for me as trevor yeah this was the most stressful most high wire most because i i don't want anyone who's experiencing this disaster to feel like i'm minimizing it because i'm not i literally have some of my people in the audience sure where we we've experienced a collective loss so even on a personal level it's not like strangers i'm like i don't want you to think you know but then you know there's someone who's watching going like oh really what i just tuned in for a funeral because it is a celebration and i always think that's the paradox of life one of the hardest paradoxes of life to accept is that in the same hospital where somebody's dying a baby's just been born literally just like a few hallways away someone is cheering and then in another hallway people are crying because they've had the exact opposite experience but what do you do do you say the hospital is all sad or do you say no balloons or do you say no crying like what what do you do and that that's that's what it felt like coming in and so even doing the show you saw it's like we were like what jokes would work or wouldn't work or what do we say or not say or this is when i knew the room was different this is the first grammys i've done where everyone was sat before the show started that's when i knew this was going to be a weird different vibe i didn't know which way the vibe would go but i've never done a grammys other than covid but that was different i've never done a grammys where everyone is sat you mean because usually it's the mayhem that they're arriving is they're very jubilant yeah taylor swift walking nice to see you uh and you know that table and that table and and someone's over there but do you think that's because we started it with with you talking about devastation no no but they were seated yeah regardless of what i know what you mean yeah but they were in their seats they weren't people are normally walking in you know the rappers are there oh buster rhymes is in the corner hey what's going on baby there's usually a party in everybody's dressing room was none of that.
There was none of that. But there was by the end of the show.
Yes. Yes, but it wasn't a party.
It was the feeling that you have after a funeral or a wake. It was a feeling where most of the feelings that people had had had been addressed.
So, you know, when you're applying a balm to a burn wound, there is a feeling of relief that comes with it that allows you to not feel burnt for a moment. Like Kendrick and his acceptance speech, that was a love letter to LA.
Kendrick may have made the same acceptance speech were the fires not there, but I don't think he would have. Now he's like, he's talking about his love for each and every part of those, every city.
It wasn't just Compton now. It was him going, yo, man, Pasadena and, you know, Santa Monica.
And he's like, all of this is part of me. Every single artist who got up and said something about something became part of the bomb that soothed the night and the show.
So think the feeling we experienced at the end with beyonce standing up there i've never seen beyonce that emotional never did you think that was because of what happened in los angeles or do you think it's i think it's because of everything winning an album no no no no i think it's like people saw billy eilish crying when beyonce was up on stage lots of people have said to me, why do you think she was crying? And it's really interesting. It's like, I think it could have just been the emotion of the night.
But I mean, it could have been anything from being happy to see Beyonce. Some people were saying, oh, she's sad that she's lost.
And that's why she's crying. I was like, oh my God, you don't know this girl.
Yeah, you don't know Billie Eilish. She's like the nicest person.
Yeah, you don't know Billie then. There is no...
Like she is just the most exceptional human being. But I actually think...
I think what set her off, if I had to guess... Yeah.
And again, I don't know. I really don't know billy then there is no like she is just the most exceptional human being but i i actually think i think what set her off if i had to guess yeah and again i don't know i really don't know i don't know her that well but i think it was the fireman i actually think the moment of those firemen coming out because the fires were so close to her and whatever i think the firemen made that moment emotional and and like i wanted to do the fireman for album i knew straight away i was like we have to get firemen to give out because that's because that is the biggest that's the celine dion moment that we had last year it's you know it's special it's who you'd get if it wasn't the fires you'd be asking paul mccartney and so the idea that you get 20 firefighters and you play some emotive music and you come out i actually think that was a real um period or a full stop at the end of the show because it was like we've done all these bits let's support these local businesses let's have this like gaga bruno performance and then at the end you just see like this powerful 20 firemen giving out this historic moment that was to beyonce that made it even more historic it's the thing that people have been begging for for however many years and it's a group of firefighters and I loved your line about this is the easiest job they'll ever have to do.
Just give out an award. It's a wonderful line.
I loved it. And yeah, I just thought that might have led to the emotion.
It was like the person who they grew up loving in Beyonce, someone like Billy. And you've got the firefighters there.
And the night's gone. Like it's been a lovely night.
Music's brought people together. And I thought maybe that was why there was so much emotion in the room but i don't know i think it was a combination of everything actually because you were seat you were seated in the room so you have an interesting table yeah so you're seated there you're not yeah even before the show started so if you go back and you listen to everything that leads up to grammy weekend right the pre-parties and so on that adds the energy the vibrancy of the city as the energy and not that the city wasn't vibrant but things were very different from i'd say wednesday onwards and that was evident in the first writing meeting we already agreed that the tone of the show had to be different yeah not to say that the show's going to be sad but we're observing a moment sure and then by the time you get to the actual show everything that you're saying it ends up being bigger than some of its parts um so yes beyonce is emotional because it is a very big moment but also you correct the people that do hand over the award tour yeah do make it even that much more amplified so i think it was just it was all of that coming together and it ended up being beautiful in a way because if you look at the reviews now, when people speak about the show holistically, they're saying best Grammys in however many years.
Because that's really what TV is about. That rollercoaster of emotion is actually quite good sometimes.
If you can cry this one moment, but also end up crying because you're joyful and you're happy that Beyonce finally clinched the award. Yeah.
That's what makes it beautiful. So it ultimately worked out.
Yeah, the emotion went, it was really amazing. Because like the firefighters were backstage, man, they were a great group.
Like just like, just, you know, because what I appreciated what you did there with them was we do a good job of calling on people to help us when we need the help. We forget that they're people as well.
Do you know what I mean? So we call them firefighters, but they're people. And it was cool to meet the people who are firefighters backstage and just see them like laughing and talking shit.
So I was talking to one of the pilots who flies the helicopters and he like runs the command of all of them. And he has to manage the airspace, you know, like the planes are doing what the helicopters are doing so that they don't crash because you have to wait for the one to go by before the other one can come so that they can drop the water and do the thing you know it's it's complicated but you need the water to be coming as quickly as possible you've got them picking up at the reservoir so he's telling me this we're talking about it we have but then and they epitomize the paradox of of humanity because on the one hand he's he's going yeah man this thing was crazy and he's like man but this was so great thank you for having us and i can't believe this and he's like and beyonce took a selfie with she took a selfie with every firefighter backstage by the way did she let me tell you something like she even thanked them before she accepted the award you noticed that right yeah she by the way not just thank them beyonce took the award from both like There were two people.
She took the award from one, hugged both, looked at both in the eye. And I know some people are like, man, what's the big deal with that? For me, those are like some of the moments where I appreciate the humanity of someone more.
Because when you've won album of the year, it is a lot easy. It's easy.
Anyone who's won an award will know. You black out.
Yeah. Like I don't judge anybody.
I remember when I won the Emmy. Every thought I had before that, you've experienced this.
The first time especially. And it was Beyonce's first time.
You black out. You think you know everything before you come in there.
And they say your name. Your mouth goes a little dry.
You go, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. And she had the humanity.
I wouldn't even say the presence of mind to go i see you i see you like it felt very african to me and then she like then she started with them and then for me what was great was seeing a carry on backstage she like took selfies with the and this is like you know as an artist you don't be taking a selfie when you've been crying a little bit and your makeup isn't great the lighting is not no beyonce took all the selfies that's great the light was terrible backstage these people were and she was talking to everybody and laughing and we're there and we're there it's like crying laughing it felt like the full encapsulation of what the night was about which is what la feels like it's going through as a place and which is what place that goes through a disaster feels like, right? You have the shock of the events happening. You have the moment where everyone wonders like how bad it's going to get or how far it will go.
And then from that, in the most cliched way, you start noticing little sprouts of hope. And then you start seeing resilience and you see the first smile and the first hug and the first you know and and i think that for me even on an on a personal level was a beautiful encapsulation of all of it and i think i can't speak for her but i think that's what beyonce was feeling as well remember man she didn't get she didn't get nominated at the country music awards no imagine what it's what it feels like for beyonce yeah you dabble in this thing called country now people think you're dabbling people don't know how much she loves and grew up on country you know what i mean she's a proper texas girl proper you do this thing and then country music awards go nah you didn't even do it to us never mind like winning you didn't even do it and you're like damn you know and then here you are in another award show

and do it to us never mind like winning you didn't even do it and you're like damn you know and then here you are in another award show and you go all right well i don't know i don't know what'll happen as an artist you might have made a terrible mistake and so i think it's a culmination of everything it's the room it's the night it's the people it's the journey it's her personal journey it's it's all of it and i think everyone else in the room felt that for her and for everything because we want to live in a world where there's a happy ending we all want that that's not life unfortunately but we all want that and in a way that felt like the happy ending it's the craziest sentence a human being can ever say but it was like it was amazing that the underdog won you know and it's wild to say like beyonce was the underdog but that's what it felt like in the room right whether it was taylor swift or billy eilish or or shabuzzi or you know buster rhymes or you know janelle monae or you name it people were like damn she did it and i know people like yeah but it's beyonce it's like no no no but still in the same way superman at the end of the movie we go oh he got out from under that building that zod smashed him with that's what it felt like is like we've been on this journey and that was yeah it was uh it was just like a magical real moment to be part of did the atmosphere in the room because obviously you're hosting it i'm in a truck in the in the parking lot basically with all the cameras oh yeah you're disconnected in a weird way i'm sort of in the most connected and also the most disconnected and i'm across at every element in some ways but then you're not you're trying to just forget but the feeling in the room what was the feeling in the room when kendrick won what was the feeling in the room when beyonce won and did the did the did the room change during the night he i i think at the beginning everyone was like how are we supposed to be but i do feel like at the end there was just a love in there and it was real warmth 100 it did so in the beginning as you correctly point out people are kind of looking for permission to act a certain way but they don't know how to act until you give them that direction. Right.
And so in the opening of the show, I think quickly people were there to celebrate artists and music. Obviously, it's music's biggest night, but you made them observe a moment initially.
And they're like, okay, cool. We're with that.
And then slowly the show started to open up with the performances, obviously, the production, et cetera, and so on. And people started to feel good about it.
Now, when you mentioned Kendrick, I can tell you right now, everybody, when the Kendrick announcement, well, cause it happened twice in the live show, not the three awards he won before. Both those instances, when Kendrick won, I think everybody in the building was happy for him.
Everybody was happy. Yeah, yeah, they were.
To the point where they literally sang along to Not Like Us until he stepped on stage. I'm a huge Drake fan.
I was incensed. And you were.
No, and he is. Cesar was like, what is this? When the crowd chanted in unison Hey Miner I mean wow Yo You were personally hurt But also you're seeing Like the biggest icons In the world doing it Yeah You're not just seeing The crowd doing it You're seeing I had all the cameras And you see Taylor And Beyonce And they're all singing along Let me tell you something That moment was so big that the only texts I've gotten other than congratulations on a Grammy, the next number of texts that I've gotten from people, without fail, the largest number is, basically, I'll try and sum them all up in one sentence.
One of my friends wrote in the best way. He said, huh, this was a tough night for you light skins huh that's what this that's what people all say to me are you okay that's what do you mean am i okay they're like yo yo that hit drake so hard i feel like it sort of spilled into you are you okay i'm like because it was such a and it was organic that was because the room before that sort of was observing the night that song elicicited something in them where they forgot that they were observing anything.
And they were just like, ah, sad, sad, sad. A minor! Do you think that was a turning point? No, no, no, no.
It already started to warm up. It had started to warm up long before that.
Where would you say the turning point is? I'm interested. I think the person who had the most difficult task all night apart from you because obviously you had to bring it all together i think we gave sabrina carpenter a really hard time yo can i tell you yes i can unpack it so the thing i obsess about more than anything else the thing i spend more time on than anything else is the running order what i mean by that is like the order everything from like where you go what award how it firstly it's a logistical nightmare because you've got to build one set while you're taking another one down and you've got to time the other one so that this goes up while that goes down it's like a crazy building process but act one was trevor set in the tone a band doors that had lost everything and so therefore a band doors who'd lost everything and so therefore had uh almost like an excuse it was like a beautiful moment where we were like seeing them and seeing um them experiencing opening the grammys which was really beautiful then you go in and we come to trevor and you're doing your opening then billy eilish is on literally on a background yeah got burnt down but it's where she she comes from.
And it's a really beautiful song. Then we've got the commercials, which is helping local businesses.
And then you get to top of act two. And Sabrina Carpenter has to sing about espresso.
And she's doing it while she's doing a comedy act. It was a full on comedy act.
And that was the moment where it was like, okay, if we've done the work in part one, if all of those things, Trevor's intro, Doors, Mono, but fundraising, let's go big on the fundraising, Billie Eilish, commercials. If those five things have worked, then Sabrina's going to be okay and this will be great.
If not, then everyone's going to be like, why is she falling through the stairs? Do you not know what's going on in the world? Hashtag do better. All of that stuff.
And luckily, I think because part one went really well, because you did really well because billy eilish was incredible because doors was very moving and fundamentally sabrina was unbelievably brilliant and funny and charming and like old school hollywood glam and yeah phenomenal like talent that suddenly everybody was up dancing at the beginning of the song they were not by the end of the song they were by the time they got to chapel everybody was up and then for from benson all the way from benson to dochi to teddy to shibuzi to ray it was carnage everywhere we looked people were on their feet and i was like and that was the biggest moment for me when we finished best new artist i was like celebrating with hamish because i was like actually whatever happens from like the next hour and a half two hours like that was a really beautiful way of taking an audience that you were nervous about and by the end of Ray they're on their feet like going this is one of the best things we've seen and so yeah that was that was that was the moment but Sabrina had to turn it so now on that because you've now reminded me of something that I observed and I didn't speak to you about it even after the show right you mentioned about the different set changes obviously you are stage left and stage right during sabrina's performance uh she had the part where she's by the porch yeah um and at the end i think they're supposed to clear the porch so that you can drop the stage on the left so cardi would come out the performance and i think there was a delay with clearing that the stage couldn't drop fully he delivered the link and i think he had to buy like look like 20 seconds correct my question is and i've seen these things happen specifically with you very very special moments that the viewer doesn't get to understand because they don't know what was meant to happen to begin with and things will go wrong in a major way yeah i've never seen you i've never heard you shout i've never seen you lose your composure is that a matter of just experience or is that how you are as a person well that was trevor's fault that moment with cardi he doesn't know it but that was trevor's fault i know his the way he speaks i know his pace that he speaks so I do a link, I time it out and I read it as Trevor's voice in my brain. And I time how long it's going to take to do the porch.
And for that to come down, I want you to go back and I want you to watch that for some reason. And I have no idea why somebody pressed times four on Trevor Noah and you whiz through this link.
It didn't matter in any way. You whizzed through a link that you would never, ever whizz through before.
I don't even remember what the link was, but you literally, okay, the fundraising on the thing, but here's somebody with a Cardi B. And I was like, oh my God, what happened? And I, I had forgotten to go, Hey, I'm going to need you to read this as your normal human being voice.
You whizzed through it. And suddenly I was like, oh no, the porch isn't clear.
So we just cut wide to seven. Do you know what? There's such big things in the show.
I don't lose my call at that. I'm also a bit like, what? The audience is going to be so surprised that the porch has to be taken away.
And I'm also a bit like, that is the least of our worries. The worry for me was Best New Artist and how we logistically did that because that was impossible for hamish and hayley our directing team to do but but that moment was

just like well one of those things didn't really bother me i'll i'll tell you why i went four times do you remember doing it yeah i'll tell you why but i'll tell you after the break don't go anywhere because we got more what now after this What was the link?

So the link you're talking about was coming out of sabrina going into the monologue going into the table talk moving around so as ciswe says no it wasn't it well you were right about the first part you came out of sabrina came out of sabrina and you you went you did a whole thing about jokes leave them to me yeah but you did them under the applause so that was done you weren't going into a monologue oh yeah this was coming out of sabrina coming out of performing into cardi b and then going into the just into going to best rap album it was a small link but you so i can okay through it. Okay, I can tell you what the feeling was.
So one of the biggest unknowns coming into this show was where would the audience be, right? How many people are in that room? What do you think, 14,000? Yeah, maybe 14, yeah. I mean, if you think, yeah, probably 14,000.
Now, the weird thing about doing live TV,

and especially an award show or anything like that is,

you're balancing two balls that are very differently sized.

You have the TV audience, which is massive.

And then you have the live audience, which is tiny in comparison.

However, the live audience has a direct and immediate impact on you. The TV audience does not.
But now if you ignore the live audience has a direct and immediate impact on you The tv audience does not But now if you ignore the live audience that is at your peril as a performer because they will never be with you And if you don't have the room you don't have the right energy that gets you to where you need to be in whatever you're saying They're not listening. They're not paying attention.
They're not coming with you. They're not laughing you name it If you only pay attention to the room the person at home is going well clearly this is not for me yeah this is taking too long this is and you've watched an award show where it feels self-indulgent you're sitting at home and then the people they're like ah nice shoes ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha and you're like all right clearly this is not about me i'm just watching this is the delicate dance.
You are making a show for television. But there aren't 200 people in that room with you.
There are 14,000 people in the room with you. So they are as important in a weird way as the people at home.
And yet they serve very different purposes. So your pace for the people in the room is different to your pace for the people at home.
Your pace for a joke is different, your pace for everything. So in these moments, what I'm experiencing is I've just felt where the room is when we've come out of the top of the show and I've gone, damn, we have a lot of work to do tonight because people aren't as celebratory as they normally are.
So now when people are saying, how are you and how have you been? At every table, whether it's Cynthia Erivo talking to Taylor Swift, whether it's John Legend going over and talking to Esperanza Spelding or whoever it is, everyone there is going, how are you? Normally, it's like, hey, what's up? How are you feeling? Yeah, baby. Oh, look at you.
No, now people are like, how are you? Doesn't matter why. How are you? And now I'm going, oh, man, this is not where I would do the jokes that I thought I would do.
And I've got to move that around. I'm doing all of this in my head here.
I'm trying to think of how we're shifting things i'm trying to think of and i mean you know me well both of you do after every show i go there's a million things i could have done better you know but because i know comedy is so precarious i'm always like oh it's the death of you you know to what you said at the beginning of the conversation like look at what happened with joe coy i remember like everyone like laughing oh joe coy is terrible then people said to me they were like aha trevor joe coy that was terrible right i was like i take no joy in that there's literally no part of me that was like haha yeah joe coy no i was going as a fellow comedian yo my man i'm not happy and i know what that's like as a feeling you know any performer who's had especially a stand-up comedian i'll never like, oh, you idiot. No.
And it also compounds because the more you lose the room,

the worse your performance becomes.

And then even less compelling to even the viewer now.

My friend, you know it very well.

So in this moment, I'm going,

we have to edit what the show is or isn't going to be

because I've responded to what's happened

in like the monologue. And I've felt, because you know me, I'm doing it dynamically.
I'm trying to feel where the people are because contrary to popular belief, you know, and I wish like people would understand this, especially online. There is almost no comedian that is getting on stage to try and make you feel shit.
The very act of being a comedian is people who want to go on stage to make other people feel better they like a laugh they like making people laugh right but now as as like the aperture has expanded and as like things are moved out of context people are subjected to comedy that they maybe didn't ask for or they're watching something that isn't for them. And I understand that.
That's the nature of entertainment and TV and social media in particular, clipping of things, et cetera. So I know as a performer, oh, man, if I don't get that right or if that moves or if I didn't get that, it's going to create the wrong ripple effect for the show, not even for me.
And I don't want the show to have that kind of feeling.

I don't want people coming up now.

If I'm having a terrible time,

Cardi B doesn't come on and like laugh and giggle

when she's presenting the award.

If I'm having a terrible time,

Gloria Estefan doesn't come on like,

thanks Trevor,

and a little fun little bounce in her vibe.

If I'm having a terrible time,

J-Lo and Heidi Klum don't pull off

Benson Boone's outfit the same way.

Now they go like, ugh.

Can we do this? Can we pull off this guy's, I don't know if I want to be part of Jim Gaffigan is not jumping in Which for me was my favorite joke of the night Easily And shout out to Jim Let me tell you something man There are few things I love more than comedians Who love jokes more than anything else Cause like the reason I say shout out to Jim Gaffigan, he's one of my favorite human beings,

he's one of my favorite comedians by far.

I didn't tell Jim Gaffigan

that this was going to happen.

I didn't prompt him,

I didn't preempt it,

I didn't do anything.

And I'm sorry, Jim,

I really apologize.

But I only thought about it the day of

because the writers,

right, so the night before the Grammys.

Yeah, it only happened that day, didn't it?

Yeah, night before the Grammysuka gets traded to um the lakers anthony davis goes to the mavericks yeah massive news cesare messages me first thing in the morning he's like yo big things happened i'm like yep i know dan amyra one of the writers on the on the team he messages me he's like we got to make a joke about this there's got to be a trade joke or something so i'm like i we've got it like We gotta do something We'll figure it out I get to the venue I'm like okay I got it I got it I'm looking at the seating chart And I go Jim Gaffigan gets up Coming back from an ad break Now I'm like I'm screwing Ben I hope I'm not So I'm trying to find The least impactful place Where this could happen So I go I loved it So I go Let's get Jim Gaffigan to stand up And say Welcome welcome back. During the break, Trevor Noah was traded to Dallas.
And so I'm now your host. I know I'm as shocked as you are.
People love it in the room. We pitch it to you.
You love everyone's like, this is going to be great. And then like you, I made the giant producer's mistake.
I didn't ask Jim Gaffigan. Yeah, that was happening during the show because I said, is Gaffigan in? Is everyone spoke toigan and kate dowd who was with you she went not that i'm aware of i was like well somebody might need to

go and tell jim gaffigan nobody had spoken to jim gaffigan and then i this this is a mess this is

like literally like you i made a massive assumption i go jim gaffigan if you know anything about his

comedy his writing the way he creates shows and who he is this man has an insatiable appetite

I'll see you next time. I made a massive assumption.
I go, Jim Gaffigan, if you know anything about his comedy, his writing, the way he creates shows and who he is, this man has an insatiable appetite for jokes. Jim Gaffigan loves funny.
So I made the mistake as a fan of his, not even as like a peer, as a fan of his, I went, there's no way Jim Gaffigan wouldn't love this. And I thought, I'm just going to go up to him right before he has to do it and tell him.
I also know that Jim Gaffigan can host shows. I also know that he's fantastic and he's calm under pressure.
He's like, Jim Gaffigan is a stone cold killer in that way. You know what I mean? So in my head, I made all these assumptions.
And then at the last minute, someone said, has anyone spoken to Jim Gaffigan? And I went with you. I was like, with everyone.
I was like, no. And then I said, I'll go.
And I went and I found Jim on the floor. This was like like a two acts sort of in so I think it was after Sabrina Carpenter and all of that and I went Jim there's a joke here's the joke and I pitched it to him thank god he immediately found it funny and I was like please this is how you know I trust you but this is how it needs to be performed and then the red hot chili peppers are coming and I need you to not diminish their moment oh yeah because that's the only thing I said I said to you.
Yeah, because I was like, we've promised them. This is, these guys, this is Californication.
These guys are coming out for LA. Their thing can't be goofy, please.
And Jim, the consummate professional. Yeah.
The best comedian out there doing his thing, like got up there. And then honestly, like that moment for me as well was such a, it was such a like wonderful team moment.
I mean, you heard the room. Easily my favorite joke of the night like by far a lot of people a lot of people were saying yeah easily my favorite joke yeah but that's why i don't think i think the room was better than you think it was in so many ways i think no no no by the time you got to act three it was it was like they loved it yeah so what i'm saying is this like i'm also measuring it by how much i can contribute and what I can do.
judging the room But I know that as Trevor There's certain things I should be Certain marks I should be hitting Certain connections that I should be making But you know this Making a live show Is like flying a plane And then discovering something's wrong with it While it's flying And you have to fix it yeah 100 oh the wing is loose but we can't land it's live a normal tv show you go cut cut cut cut all right everybody hey let's land the plane uh let's fix the wing live show doesn't do that live show goes we are flying and there's a massive error can somebody go down and check on the landing gear while we're flying uh someone go check the wing while we're flying. Hey, check the windscreen.
Check the apparatus. Check the equipment.
Check the – while we're flying. So I, even as Trevor, as a comedian, there's moments where the show is happening and I'm going, ah, I would have done that differently.
I could have done that differently. The person I was looking at wasn't there.
So then I have to change this. I'm going to move that.
I'm going to – but it's live. I don't want to mess up your timing.
timing it's not about me so if i miss with a joke or anything yeah the show keeps moving i can't be like wait hold on audience let me give you 10 minutes that i know is gonna no but what you are

good at and this is where i actually messed up i think in in in the bit with cardi which is what

started this discussion was that i just wasn't on my timings and i'm always in his ear the whole show

and i'll be like i need you i need you to to like go a bit longer here beyonce's not in her

Thank you. I need you to go a bit longer here.
Beyonce's not in her seat for country album. The weekend set isn't set.
All of those things. And you're unbelievable.
There was one bit where you stood next to Billie Eilish. And I said, mate, I really need a favor.
I'm so sorry. I know this is a quick link, but I need you to fill for like a minute.
And you stand there. And it's the most natural thing.
I watched the show last night. I sat in my house.
Harvey came over and we watched it. We got a curry and we watched it together because I can actually enjoy it.
And you're brilliant. You stand there and go, hey, you're like, hey, Billy, how you doing? And she's like, uh-oh.
And you do a whole thing. No, but you see something like, I'm not going to say anything.
Yeah, but no, I could say something. But it was because I needed the time.
And meanwhile, everyone's building the set or whatever. And you're just, you found it it no one would ever know that i'm in your ear going take a bit longer yes but this is also where people sort of i wish they could be in my brain for some of these moments this is like one of the moments i'm talking about we're coming back from an ad break all right right before we come back you say trevor we need extra time i go okay that's Fine.
We need extra time. I'm here.
You're like, yeah, speak to anyone or whatever. So I'm right there.
I look down and I go, who's around me? I'm like, oh, Billie Eilish is here and Finis is here. But now literally we're coming back and three, two, one, just before we go like action essentially to me, Billie looks at me with terror in her eyes and she goes, uh-oh.
But she doesn't go, Uh like a funny oh oh she goes like like she goes oh oh like please don't do this to me now i wasn't going to do anything to her but now i'm like oh man i don't even want it to seem like i was doing something to her because here's the thing that people also don't get right i know it's easy to put people up on pedestals and like they're artists and they've won awards and yo i know it's hard to imagine this but there are human beings under all of these veneers there are human beings under these twitter handles there are human beings under the dress rehearsal there's human beings under the like tops you name a top album there's a human being under it and then my job for me as trevor is i'm not coming in there to make your night less fun or less enjoyable because you are also on the edge of your seat wondering if you're going to win a Grammy. You're wondering if your work is going to be lauded.
You're wondering if you're going to be rewarded by your peers, by the thing that you've spent so much time doing. Nobody wants to lose.
Nobody wants to be a loser. No one wants people to like laugh at them.
I don care who you are nobody wants that feeling so for me as the host i'm looking down at this person who's now just gone like man and i've been with billy ellish like at all the grammys this is the first time she's ever done billy's never looked at me and gone oh she's her and finney's look at me like what's up hey hey this is the first time she went oh like and i was like ah but now we're live now now what are we doing that so then you still need to feel for and so now i said that's why i said the honest thing which was like billy i don't know why you're saying i'm not gonna and she'd like she's looking at me like i don't trust you this is coming and so that moment is honest and and and i think that's sometimes the thing that people miss in a lot of these moments. You know, like, when was it? Like, right after the Grammys, for instance, I think it was you.
No, maybe at least someone contacted me. They're like, hey, man, how do you feel? Some people are, like, feeling bad about, like, some of the jokes or whatever on the show.
And I was like, I get it. But I, like, the one thing that I wish people would get with comedy, comedians, I for everyone but i think i speak for most comedians we're trying to make people laugh we're trying to have a good time all right the hardest place to experience a collective safe comedy show is where everyone isn't the same and the grammys for instance is the best place for strangers and people who don't normally come together to come together but it's also one of the most precarious places for comedy because the number one thing that comedy needs is context do you know what i mean so like i saw someone who said you arrogant american how can you say this shit about my people then i was like i'm not american someone was like how could you make that joke about immigrants how dare you you know you american what then i was like oh i thought you knew that i was an immigrant do you get no but those are small things that you can take for granted as a performer you go oh yeah because you've tuned into the show for an artist that maybe you never tune in for you don't you don't know me and you don't you you have this assumption the show's in america this person's talking about la yeah that's an american i'm like no no i i'm i'm an i'm an immigrant i'm making a joke about the idea of immigrants by some people in and and those are the moments where you go like ah damn i'm always but does it bother you that people like does it get to you because the majority of stuff is positive but yet you're you're thinking about the No.
So I don't think of it. It's a weird one to say.
I don't think of it personally because I don't think it's personal. There's two things that I do whenever I look at any type of outrage or any type of criticism, actually three things.
Number one, I always acknowledge that the size and scope of it are a lot smaller than, than we think,, and you often say this, these were in general. How many people are saying a thing is oftentimes nowhere near to, you know, the amount of people saying it.
It's just a few people can be loud. That's the first thing I think of.
The second one is it affects me on a professional level because then I go, I always take it on me. I go, I didn't do that properly.
You know, one of my favorite things I heard was, I don't think he's credited with it, but I loved, Anthony Jeselnik was on a podcast and was talking about comedy and the idea. And he said something that I loved and is true.
He said, art is getting away with it. You know? And so I don't care who you are as a comedian a comedian you know whether you are dave chappelle or chris rock or trevor noah anthony jesselnik or jim gaffigan or kitty flanagan or you name it getting away with it is what makes it it means that the people have fully understood the context that you were delivering a joke with and you managed to bring them into your world to say it that's why a comedian can make a joke about you know the most heinous things you know we talk about this all the time in england with like jimmy car jimmy's saying the most horrible things you know you know killing his family jokes or uh jokes about like mass murder whatever it is but because the audience knows he's jimmy and they know that this is a joke there's a full context as soon as the context gets removed people react or respond differently you know what i mean and so on a professional level i just always it's a good reminder to me always to go like all right you can you can work a little bit better how do you craft that perfect joke like um uh chappelle when he was on snl for me that was one of his best performances i've ever seen and i told him I was like yo the way you think of the line when he says people were laughing at people celebrities losing their houses people like yeah burn your house burn your house and then he goes and that's why I hate poor people yeah if you miss with that joke the headline is Dave Chappelle says he hates poor people but that man delivered it with such precision and in the moment, in the tone, in the everything, that everyone knew it was a joke and they knew that it was a misdirect and what he was, it worked.
You don't even have to get technical. It worked, right? And so as a comedian, when I miss, I don't go screw the audience.
I go, ah, a little bit, you know, you could try something different. Move that around.
Where's the audience? How do you meet them? What are they thinking? What are they not thinking? Because my intention is never to go out there and that's not what I'm doing. So it doesn't affect me.
The third thing I do is try and contextualize it all. And I think that's one of the great things that I've enjoyed about working on the Grammys.
We live in a world where people are spending less and less time with people who are not like them. We live in silos.
People don't mix with people from other religions. People don't have conversations with someone who has a different political point of view.
People aren't sitting down at tables with somebody who listens to different music. It's not happening as much as it used to, right? You know, we talked in one of the previous episodes with MKBHD, Marquez Brownlee.
We talked about like this idea of the audience of one, how the For You page on social media is a fantastic invention, but it's also taken something away from society that we never knew we needed, which was to have a collective page. Did you see the thing? You saw the thing.
I saw the thing. There's fewer and fewer instances of that.
It's the Super Bowl. It's the World Cup.
It's the Grammys. You know what I mean? Your for you page, my for you page, can be completely different.
So what we think reality is, is completely different. None of us is wrong, but it's different.
And so what I do i do is i contextualize it and the reason i say the grammys has helped me do that is because i have been at five grammys now and i've watched how people have been offended by the way not by me i've been lucky like people have been great like for most of it but like i've seen people get offended at sam smith's performance that one year people like get offended how could he how what what how i've seen people get offended by you know like oh shakira really there are children watching and you're gonna dance and it's like it's like no no the context because they didn't if you know shakira you know this is shakira this is great i've seen people get offended by a rap act that's come on and someone hears like one or two of the lyrics and they're like, how can they say? You're going to put that person on a public television show and let them say that? How could they say that sentence? I've seen people get offended by how some of the artists are dressed during a show. This is family viewing.
I've seen some people get offended just because an artist performs after another artist i've seen the downside of humans coming together who are not homogenous is there's likely to be more offense the upside is that's when you get the most beautiful tapestry and i think that's what we experienced on the night i saw people stand and cheer for doji because they had discovered her with that performance doji knew doji but people were standing up like man i just discovered doji people were standing and cheering for artists because they're like i never i never chapel rome they're like is this what a chapel rome is yeah charlie xcx i saw old people start like going like i don't know what this is yo the weekend that whole laser show the whole and i and i think that thing for me i might be in the minority but i think the risk of people being offended for me is worth bearing if it means we're all at least in the same space to be offended. Because I think society needs more of that.
And so honestly, on a personal level, I always just put my head down and I go, do better, Trevor. And I don't mean do better, like change the subject.
I go like, no, how can you then in future create something where the context isn't lost? If I make a joke and the point of the joke is what it is and then you get angry i really don't care but if you go oh you you said this and it meant that i'm like no no no that's not what i meant then i go okay then i needed to do better yeah i go as a comedian explain that hey man i go as a comedian i'm like okay yeah and i and i look at a joke and i go tell it 10 other different ways how could you tell it in 10 different ways so that the person who's listening to it would feel different about it? It's a different world that we live in now. This is going off from the Grammys really, but like for you, when you do this podcast, right? And you're out there and you're doing daily show when you used to do it, you're doing comedy, you're doing things.
You're now talking to an audience that often will be offended for no reason, but sometimes might be offended for a reason. Do you have to change in the last few years? Do you think you've had to change the way you are because of the way people react to stuff now? Do you over-censor yourself? Are you more cautious in the way you speak? Are you worried about that? Or do you still have just the freedom to say whatever you think is right and funny? I actually think've gone the opposite way wow and i'll tell you why when i was hosting the daily show i wasn't just hosting the daily show i was executive producing the daily show i was in effect the employer of 170 odd people i think at the peak 190 people me and my other executive producers this is our job is to not just make a good show but keep these people employed like that's the pressure that comes with hosting a show is that if you get kicked off the air it's not just me it's my camera guys it's my team it's my this it's my and so in my head i'm going us fails not me fails us fails all right so if i say something that hurts this collective, can I stand by that? Oh, Trevor, you made this joke and now The Daily Show doesn't exist anymore.
And I'm like, yeah, I don't care. Yeah, but I do care.
Because I know Benny's kid. I do care.
Do you know what I mean? I hang out with Zach. I do care.
So that's the bigger thing for me now i'm a lot more nimble and secondly i also believe you know in erin who who um who does my hair for not just for the but for the grammys and a bunch of things here in la she said it beautifully the other day she said i feel like we're moving into the age of authenticity and i believe that and go, you know, we talked to Marquez about it on the show.

We talked about everything.

You know, man, I no longer live in a space where I think things should be about like

the publicity or the PR of it.

If someone says to me, I didn't like that joke, I go, tell me why.

And they tell me and I go, oh, yeah, that's not what I meant.

But thanks for the notes. And I'm going to try and tweak something or move it.
I won't not say things. What I am more cognizant of though, is that we have lost so much context.
So even when I'm in South Africa doing a podcast with Sizwe and Anele, or even if I'm telling a joke in Abu Dhabi, or if I'm doing like a TV show in Sydney, Australia, I know that that joke doesn't end in Australia anymore. I know that that podcast doesn't end in South Africa anymore.
I know that the Grammys doesn't end in LA anymore. And so now what I'm trying to do, which is very hard.
I'm not even saying it like in a woe is me way. I actually like hard things.
I like challenges. I go, go wow how do you tell a joke that maintains its context across borders it's almost impossible but i love the opportunity and the challenge and so now i actually say more but i spend more time trying to get to the context does that make sense yeah so now ben to you right i guess in the same vein when you used to do the late late show which obviously you do you're also ep of that was in some ways an extension of the work you do at the grammys so for example the week leading up to a grammy sometimes you'd have a guest on that would throw four to the grammys and if anything were to happen because it's only one night at themys, if anything were to happen on the Sunday evening, you'd have had an opportunity maybe on the Monday evening to interview whomever the person was, clarify whatever it needs to clarify, et cetera, and so on.
Without the Late Late Show now, do you find that you don't get to do a do-over? Is that something that actually filters into your mind at all? Because I used to obviously see the synergy between the two shows just having you know been around in proximity to you guys i'd see how the one would work with the other yeah i think i miss with the late lager it's not specifically missing replying to something that's happened because i don't i don't think i don't think the stuff i would ever go in is ever goes into that contra controversial the grammys i can think of two moments probably in the five grammys i've done including last night's or whenever it was two nights ago that was i got a bit of stick for wap with cardi and oh yeah i remember that my answer on that one was cardi b and megan the stallion wanted to do that performance they were excited about it and who am i to say no actually who am i to censor that and say no you shouldn't do that you need to be more like this that's just not ever the job of someone like me and then the sam smith one also you're right it did people people got i got texts from a couple of people um who were like it was inappropriate more from the religious perspective because he was dressed like a devil yeah yeah it was people were there was a couple of people who said you know i don't think i'll be able to watch the grammys anymore because of that and i loved that performance and i thought it was amazing but like i i have to say i've probably changed a little bit i've got two little girls now i had them then but maybe they were of an age where they're repeating stuff and they were you know sitting in the front row at the dress rehearsal watching charlie xcx and i was a bit like oh god my five-year-old's like grinding like throwing panties in the air and i'm like oh no what have i done but i'm probably a bit more conscious of it i was a bit more like gung-ho maybe five years ago and now i am a bit more conscious that you know you are making a show that you want america to feel comfortable watching not just your america and so i'm very aware of that and i think that that that comes into me as for what like the late late show i don't miss being able to respond because it's james's show not mine yes i was the showrunner with rob but it was james what i miss is something will happen in the world and you have no outlet to make a joke about it or make a sketch about it or there'll be something that happens in pop culture and you'll be like oh this is a great idea for like a spoof music video i miss that hugely um but not in response to work that i'm doing really that's that's not what i miss but but i definitely miss that power of creating an hour of television every day because it was just the most remarkable thing i think about the grammys and it's like months of work for like that four hours whereas at at least the late, later you turn up every morning, you have a blank page and you can do whatever you want. And that next day you can't celebrate the good ones or mourn the bad ones.
Cause you've got another one tomorrow, you know, whereas if something goes wrong at the Grammys and luckily it didn't. And in fact, I was happier than I've ever been after this Grammys.
Weirdly. I felt the most like weight off my shoulders at the end.
I don't know if you felt that from me afterwards. No, I did.
Because we had no technical issues. We had no technical issues, and it had gone well, and I really felt like everything that we wanted.
You had done that high wire act brilliantly, and the performances had worked. So it wasn't my favorite Grammys that we've done, even though everyone's saying, oh, best Grammys ever.
I was actually about to ask you that. It wasn't my favorite Grammys ever, but it was the biggest relief I've had because I was just like, oh, man, thank God it's over.
The weekend didn't get leaked. Like, that was a secret I've been carrying for a long time.
And Best New Artist is something I've wanted to do for so long. And, yeah, I just thought it all worked really well.
And I thought the other thing is, you know, that thing that you carry around

and the voting has nothing to do with me.

I don't even have a vote.

Of course I don't.

But everyone going,

you know, Beyonce's got to win Album of the Year.

It was just a relief that it happened.

But also talking about like a fence,

I personally have gotten texts

that have been delivered to me through like,

I don't even know how like people know a person.

Literally people being like,

how dare you say Beyonce made a country album? let me tell you something that don't you dare but but like people like people fighting with me by the way like i made a category like i vote yeah like i chose yeah i'm even going like okay first of all i don't know how you got this to me but i also cannot do anything for you me myself as trevor i cannot do anything for you right same but but but that's what i mean by like offense in that way and and here's the thing here's the thing that's that's that's tough in life what's tough in life is we should always remember that the car crash gets the most attention yeah right and it's the way humans are way humans are designed. You know, sometimes we try and make it insidious.
Oh, the news companies, they'll always cut to the thing. Yeah, but also as humans, we look at the car crash.
How was your drive? Man, there was a massive accident. How was your drive? I don't even know.
You don't report the fact that the highway moved freely. You report the fact that there was a giant pileup, Okay.
So I also understand this. And I try to remind myself of it and think of it for people.
But like what I appreciate, I will say of the Grammys. So when I have the phrase, like, it's not my favorite Grammys, I'm only talking on like a technical level and on a like ease of, you know, it's like if I was a pilot, I was going, it's not my favorite flight because of the storm and the turbulence and all of that yeah however and i mean this honestly getting to the end of that show seeing the types of hugs that people were giving each other seeing the way that people were responding to what had happened seeing doji like celebrating her performance backstage like you know like the greatest moment ever when she's like we did that shit you know what i mean seeing like everyone every single person experience something so special you know whether it's like bruno like bruno mars people don't know how much that guy loves music and and doing it well so to you know to see to see that in every way and then on top of that ended with like firefighters coming up to us even people like thank you i was like you can't thank me firefighters coming up and thank you so much and and i'll be honest that's what keeps me going yeah and i always say um there's this phrase i i i it came into my head a few years ago and it was let everything you experience in life be a question be an answer to a question you already have that's what i said to myself let everything that happens to you in life be an answer to a question you already have.

That's what I said to myself.

Let everything that happens to you in life be an answer to a question you already have.

And I was like, you don't know what the question may be.

But when something happens to you, let it be an answer.

So your car is taking long.

You've given the car to a valet or something.

It's not coming.

And you're standing there.

Maybe the answer to your question, am I a patient person, is being answered right now.

Do you know what I'm saying?

It's a good one. long you've given the car to a valet or something it's not coming and you're standing there and you maybe the answer to your question am i a patient person is being answered right now do you know what i'm saying it's an answer to that question someone says to you hey uh your shirt looks nice and you go oh thank you and you feel something that's an answer to the question do i care how people think i'm dressed take it the way you want to but it's an answer to a question you didn't know you had and for me personally when like firefighter comes up to me and goes you know like one of the like the i think it was one of the chiefs she was standing on stage yeah sheila doing the actual award sheila came to me and she went you and i was like oh god and she went she's like i've got a bone to pick with you kid and i was like what she's like you gave me so many amazing years at the daily show and then you go off and live life she's funny though and she really is she's like you just leave me like this she's like i'm glad you're doing everything else you're doing but oh give me a hug and it's like that moment and then like what was the question that she answered in that moment though the question that she answered for me was am i doing it for anybody right does it mean anything to anybody else you know is it like because i i'll be i'll be frank with you and caesar you know that like you know this intrinsically about me i don't care for most things and i don't do it for me genuinely i have a great time like doing most things just like whatever when it's outward facing i don't care for most stuff but in those moments i remind myself that it's not always about me and i see her joy and i'm like oh yeah man try and remember those people you know like the other firefighter comes up to me and he's he's just talking about like the stuff i've said and the way i've made him laugh and i go like oh yeah don't forget those people and and for me the grammys in that way i know it's not the reason reason but to your point when you go damn the grammys itself was sitting near like 10 million dollars that has been raised just on one night from, you know, literally from the top, from Doors coming all the way through Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter, and then you name it all the way down to that final performance with Charlie XCX.
And you go like, every single person had to come together to do this. And in the same way, every single person who donated had to come together i'm i didn't know this but now i'm even more proud knowing that each contribution wasn't ten thousand dollars yeah i agree everyone was just like yo man and that's why i kept saying it the whole night just give what you can it's not about like this is not about like just give what you can and i think that was the lesson for me of doing the whole grammys for this year was everyone just give what you can in every situation.
$5 doesn't help anybody who's lost their house. It doesn't.
But if everybody can give $5, you'll be shocked at what can happen. Do you know what I mean? Trevor Noah can't.
That's literally what happened. Yeah.
Trevor Noah can't make the Grammys. I can't.
I can't make it good and I can't make it bad. But I can contribute to it.
You know? Everyone can. And even like the recording members voting, you know, no one can make Beyonce happy.
You can't. But 13,000 people came together from the music industry and made her happier, I argue, than I've ever seen her because I don't know her personally in that way.
But like, I don't know. And was that was the overarching feeling for me and isn't that kind of i suppose the nub and the joy of doing a show like the grammys that it's actually so consequential in so many people's lives if you do one of your evening shows one of your evening shows yeah you can make a person feel good but you do the show on behalf of the academy it literally means so much to all of those artists that are in attendance at night.
And I also want to stress this to people. You don't understand how many artists are in that room.
I know we see the big artists and you know them, but man, you walk down and you'll see like a composer who is having the night of their lives, sitting with their spouse spouse all they've done is compose or even like conduct classical music and they're just like this is the pinnacle of what i've worked for sorry i cut you off carry on and so while you're not in charge of like who wins and who loses you certainly are in charge for example of who gets to perform and in what way that's right right and you've also got a very personal relationship with the artists i've seen it i've experienced it does it ever get to not all of them that's exactly it does it ever get to a point so it adds to attention or i suppose then we'll make your relationship even better because of it does get a decision you've taken yeah a hundred percent there'll be artists who i've got relationships with and and they'll be like, I've got a new single. I've got it.
I'm going to save it for the Grammys. And I'm like, ooh, I don't know if I've got a spot.
And I'm like, this is awkward. Yeah, there's like really lovely things.
I'd say like the three performances that I was really excited about for a long time. Not a long time, actually.
Some of them were a long time. When it was actually called i called brandy carlisle who's a really good mate of mine and i said to her i really i've been listening to i love la in my car going between the hotel downtown where we were evacuated to and my house where i was sitting during the day because i never thought the fires were going to come and take my house away but i did think like an ember could fly over and like and then a small little fire becomes a big one.
So I just decided the kids would be downtown in the hotel, which is where we'd sleep. And then I, in the day, would come and sit in my garden.
I had a hose at the front, a hose at the back, and a hose on the side. What's the plan when the ember goes over? Yeah, I had three hoses, right? So I would sit there all day on my laptop doing work by the window in the garden.
And I'd just like look in case it was embers because I can put out an ember. You know what you're like? You're like that guy in a zombie apocalypse with like a tiny little rifle.
And you're just like, I'm going to protect my family. I'm going to protect my house.
Yeah. But no, but it's true because the truth of it is my house is only going to burn down because we were at the edge of Brentwood.
So the fire was a long, it was a mile and a half but it was it was close but it wasn't close enough if it was coming for us like it did with palisades or or or ulti you know i would have been able to get in my car and go but it was more likely that something got a lot of trees over the house yeah so i was just like i think it would be better for me just to be there put out a little fire yeah then it become a big fire and then then it's too late. So that's what we decided to do.
It's not, I promise you, it's not as risky as it sounds. But I was listening to I Love LA, and again, going back to our earlier point that I've suddenly become obsessed with this city.
I don't know what's happened to me. So I'd be listening to it, and I'd be like, what a great way.
That is making me feel good. I love that song.
Maybe if Randy Newman would allow us to change some of the lyrics which he did but then i was like who performs it and at one point i was like stevie nicks would be great and then i was like miley cyrus would be quite fun would that be cool and then i thought well red hot chili peppers would be great but they'd never do i love la because they'd want to do their own song which might which is amazing but then it would be a bit more somber yeah it's a very somber so i called brandy carlisle and i went i really like this song she thinks it's a good idea who do you think i should do you think pink do you think like who do you think and she said have you heard of the band doors and i was like it's funny i actually just watched them on kimmel two nights ago because i know that they're i didn't know them well but i knew of them and their house like one of their houses but now parents house all of that and she was like I know them and they're like incredible musicians and so I was like maybe we do that and we put a super group around them so that was an amazing moment doing a zoom with that band and they were like why is the Grammys calling us like they're not that they're not amazing but like they're not nominated band and I was like I'd like to speak to you and I got on a zoom with taylor and griffin and their manager brian and i said look we'd i want you to open the grammys come following the footsteps of prince and bruce springsteen michael jackson and they were kind of like oh my god this is insane and it's a weird moment for them because they know they've just experienced the biggest sadness in their life they've lost everything but then out of that comes but out of that they're opening the grammys so it's like a really amazing thing they were dreamt of as kids and then it's a real weird feeling for them because you're like well i'm only getting that yeah i'm not gonna yeah then let's be on doors aren't gonna open the grammys at this stage they might in a few years but right now they're not opening the grammys unless that happens so that's actually a bit of a head screwing thing for them but that was beautiful because i knew it could be amazing and i knew they were great musicians and every musician we called john legend britney howard except show a crow um i we emailed bob dylan's manager and i haven't heard back yet but i'm hoping maybe we'll get a reply maybe he's in south africa you haven't known he could be in south africa taking time away so those schools were fun and then ray and doji was really fun because i've been a fan of those for a long time both of those i've known off for a while and then when colbert put oh man your camera shot of the dochi thing like made it look like she just like hated me did you see that no that was like but this is what i mean about like the aperture in life right go on so the joke we always have at the Grammys is this. Who you cut to defines the moment.
Like for instance, if I make a joke about Taylor Swift and you cut to Taylor Swift and Taylor Swift is like, uh-uh, it's over. Over.
It's over. That happened to Joe Coy.
Yeah. That's what happens.
Now she might have been going uhuh, for anything. But if you cut to her at the wrong time.

It happened to you, I think, four years ago.

You have to be sensitive about this, actually.

Obviously, you and the director.

You can make something that isn't something become something.

So, for instance, if you cut to an artist.

Do you remember the year Beyonce won Best Dance?

And the camera cut to Diplo.

And he leaned over to somebody. And he's now said what he said.
He said like

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I work I work I work I worked on that. Or I wrote on that.
Or something like that. Because he did.
I think he worked on the album. But he went, like, I worked on that.
And then people at home were like, oh, he said, that's screwed up. Or she shouldn't have won.
She didn't deserve it. And all of a sudden, Diplo's now in a huge beef with an army of Beyonce fans.
I do worry about that. And I always wonder about that on your side.
You know what it is? It's about the timing of it. Because what happens is, so I will have a bank of, Hamish is in the director's seat to my right, and I have a bank of all of the cameras.
There's like 20 of them. And so I'll specifically ask for the four that are in the audience yeah in my in my best eyeline so i'll be looking there and so while hamish is calling you know cut to camera two go around the back of the answer get the fuck you know we'll be i will always be looking at where the stories are because i'll know the stories more than hamish will he'll know like the shots he tells an unbelievable story but i'll know that like you know billy is charlie xcx's closest friend and that could be really so i'm aware of that because it's i put the show together yeah um but like there is an example actually in this specific one like i cut to somebody and they were smiling and they were really clapping really really a lot um and i said i said to i always call i went two's nice that's what i'll go lovely or whatever, which is my way of going really politely.
I'd like you to cut to cover two or three. And Hamish knows that.
Rather than going, cut to three. I just go, two's lovely.
And he'll be like, two. And he'll catch it.
But sometimes he'll have, you know, he'll be doing other things because he's got other plans or he wants to go wide or whatever. Or I'll be sort of shouting, see the room, see the room.
So we're going wider yeah but if he cuts a little bit late then somebody laughing right or like enjoying it somebody laughing and if he hears it a bit late and then they've just finished laughing and then they've gone and then you cut there then it looks brutal and it happened this year where somebody was really applauding somebody for winning I genuinely can't remember which one it is I'd have to watch it back and they were And I went, cut to camera too. And he didn't for a second, but then he went like four seconds later.
And by that stage, they were like this. Really like the big glove.
And everyone was like, wow, they were so annoyed that they won. And I was like, oh, they weren't.
They weren't. They weren't.
So it's all actually, it's not even about the cutaway. It's about the split second of the cutaway.
Because somebody during a laugh, the peak of somebody's's laugh their face is very different to the come down from no no completely yeah so you gotta catch it but then sometimes sometimes like when we caught Taylor did like a dance I can't remember when it was but something happened and she did like she sort of did this dance and it was only for that second that she did it with the camera on it was incredible incredible. And I was like, oh my God, that's amazing.
Same with the meme that's going to go forever of Beyonce being shocked. And what happens is, and there's one thing I'm going to change next year, I've decided.
There's one thing I'm going to change next year, if I'm allowed to, I'm saying it. I want to swap the artist's name and the album.
Because what happens is people go, Cowboy Carter, Beyoncece yeah and actually the the td the technical director who doesn't necessarily know which would the name of everybody's album short and sweet sabrina carbonate and then you might yeah so i think they should we should just change it where they go sabrina and then you immediately just know and you're not waiting because if if you miss, like luckily we didn't miss it on Beyonce.

If we had missed the like shake.

Oh yeah, you wouldn't have that feeling.

A fraction of a second later.

Yeah.

Then the whole thing wouldn't have been like she was so surprised.

It would have just been like it was emotional.

So like the timing of that when you cut defines those awards.

It's also, I know it's, I don't want to overstate it because it's just the Grammys.

But it is still the Grammys.

It's also a lot of power to wield. You can make beefs that don't exist.
That's right. You can make artists quote unquote hate each other.
Like according to the public, oh, you saw how she responded when he won the award. You can literally, it also reminds me to be cautious of how I even see the world, funny enough.
Like I go, don't forget that the world that you're seeing is filtered. Somebody's showing you something and how they show it to you defines how you think it actually happened or didn't happen and not in a conspiratorial way just remember the way you're seeing something has been chosen by somebody else and so in that room funny enough i've seen people's faces shift like from moment to moment yeah but where the camera is well you know what's funny i made one change one big change when i took over this show five years ago yeah and it was a change for the worst of the show no question i scrapped the quadrant where you see everybody's face when they win or lose because that was always on the show it was always on the show every year for the 62 years of the you're talking about the part of the show where they go the nominations are yeah and then they go and then as they're opening the envelope you see all five or eight faces all nominees are up there and it's my favorite bit of award shows i am rewinding you love it i'm rewinding it i'm rewinding it to see their expressions i'm rewinding it to see how good they're acting i love it everybody loves it and for the for the for the lesser of the audience experience i took that away i i've made the show worse by doing but why but why do you do it then because i think the grammys when we took it over had some work to do in the artist community i felt like the grammys had over the years burnt a few bridges with quite lot of artists.
I felt like I spoke to some well-known artists who are friends, and they said that they felt like they were always on display, like they were in a zoo. Oh, interesting.
They were in those lines. Interesting.
You know, you were rows in a theater, and all the cameras are there, and you're just sitting there squashed, and you're stuck. You can't get out because you're on a row.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. No one's on the aisles.
There's only a few people on the aisles. So they were trapped and they were on camera.
And they all said that, although they loved winning a Grammy, I think they felt like the evening was a lot of pressure for them. And it was a difficult thing for them to enjoy because they all felt on display.
And there was also lots of other problems with the Recording Academy and Grammys that aren't for me to discuss now. And it's none of my business anyway.
But I essentially went around and spoke to a lot of artists and i really wanted to make artists one of the biggest things i wanted to do five years ago was make artists want to come back to the grammys again and enjoy it and love it and have a great night and one of the things i get most happy about on that this night on sunday that room as you just said is stacked yeah and it's not just nominees like people are showing up they want to come they want to be there they want to present they want to be part of it they've got boxes that and it's become and that's i think that's for three reasons one it's because we go out of our way to be as loving as and as kind as we can to everybody and we do it in a nice way number two is people love the tables because it's a vibe yeah they've got food they've got drink they've got things it's an atmosphere it's a club i want to interject on that because i get to experience that in a way that you guys never do you always in the control room you always backstage somewhere yeah that vibe by the tables i cannot begin to explain to you how much of a vibe that thing is people love it people love People love it. People move from table to table.
During air breaks, people come over. Yo, so-and-so.
Hugs, drinks. They have whatever the snacks are on the table.
That is honestly probably the best part of the evening. So before I took over, there wasn't drinks.
There wasn't food. There wasn't tables.
It was all just rows. You can't get up to speak.
You know, you've been at the Emmys or whatever. You can't get up and talk and go around you can't get in people are shuffling they're up they're down it's not and then i also felt as much as i love the camera in someone's face when they lose and as much as i think that's good tv i felt for the long-term gain of the grammys i get and the warmth that people feel i want everyone to.
Yeah. And I know that losing on camera for them

is going to be difficult.

And you know what?

They don't need to have a camera in their face for it.

They do have a camera in their face

because we're covering everybody's nominees.

Right, in case they win.

But I actually go out of my way.

There's no memes of them.

Yeah, and I really try.

If I do see somebody

who does really look a bit upset that they've lost,

I don't cut to it.

Oh, wow. I don't cut to it.
Because I know that's good for, and I know it's good for the internet, but it's not good for them. And it's not good for the person who's won.
Yeah, it makes the story about that. And I really want it to be a nice, loving room, and I want people to love coming.
And that's our bread and butter now. It's about them coming back every year and enjoying it.
Yeah. Because that's why they've announced today, CBS, that it was the most, in the in the history of television the most social impressions of any tv show of all time was this last Sunday wow of all time and like that's because everyone's in the room and I want everyone to feel protected by that so if I did see if I did think Billie Eilish was crying because she'd lost an album we wouldn't have cut to her right but because she was crying like Gaga was with the emotion of the moment or firefighters, whatever it was, I was like, that's a beautiful shot.
So, yeah, that's just something that we changed that I miss because as a viewer, I miss it. But as the person who has to oversee the show, it's helped me a great deal.
And I just feel like, don't worry about it. You're going to be fine.
You're not going to be embarrassed. I like that.
And it's, you know. Congratulations, my friend.
It was a, it was. Congratulations to you.
You danced that high wire. No, no, no, for real.
It's nominally. It's not an easy task.
You spend pretty much a year on it. Like you only get a few days to enjoy the Grammys and then you go into the Grammys immediately again.
Well, yeah, maybe. I mean, I juggle a few different things.
Yeah, but you spend a lot of time on it. So I'm always happy for you and the entire crew and team like the the last thing i hear before i walk out on stage is oftentimes what the stagehands are saying and even that is part of like literally we're like part of a football team or something you know like the the lead stagehand comes out and then he made this beautiful speech he didn't even know that i was like listening to it but i i felt motivated he's like all right everybody you know why we're here you know what we're doing we got one night people let's make this work let's put our best foot out there and uh come on guys let's get through it let's get to the other side you ready let's do it yeah and then i cheered and i clapped and they turned like oh the host was here we did but i was like no thank you i was like i needed that i also needed that so it is i would say congrats to everyone this is a corny thing to say and it's boring for a podcast but i i say it because it's 100% true.
This podcast is boring. No, I loved it.
I found it like therapy. I found it like therapy.
It's been lovely. But like, I'll be the one who sits here and talks about the show and represents it, but like, we have put together this A-team.
Like, you're talking about those stagehands. Just think about how quickly they need to take down down a sabrina carpenter set and bring it's real that weekend pyramid you know raj kapoor jesse collins patrick menton tabitha janet all of them david wild they just do this phenomenal job that makes i think the hardest show in television possible yeah and and the fact that people are being nice about it look i'm more relieved than i am happy i'm never like i'm never that self-congratulatory i don't know I'm just more relieved that like you know the 12 nice emails came in that's it I like that the 12 nice emails Ben Winston thank you so much my friend oh it's lovely change you all what now with Trevor Noah is produced by Spotify Studios in partnership with Day Zero Productions.

The show is executive produced by Trevor Noah, Sanaz Yamin, and Jody Avigan.

Our senior producer is Jess Hackl. Claire Slaughter is our producer.

Music, mixing, and mastering by Hannes Brown.

Thank you so much for listening. Join me next Thursday for another episode of What Now?