July 18, 2025 • 29 mins
The John Kobylt Show Hour 3 (07/18) - Lou Penrose fills in for John. Dr. Wendy Walsh comes on the show to talk about the CEO who was caught with the head of HR for the company at a Coldplay concert. More on having a "work wife". Royal Oakes comes on the show to talk about what is going on with the Epstein List. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was cancelled by CBS.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Can't f I am six forty.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
You're listening to the John Cobelt podcast on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
It's the John Cobelt Show. Louke Penrose sitting in for
John today. John will be back with us on Monday.
The company involved in the Coldplay concert kiss cam controversy, Astronomer,
has issued a statement. The board of directors have initiated
a formal investigation into the matter and we will have
additional information shortly to share. But everybody is aware of it.
(00:30):
I've never seen something go so viral so quickly, involving
two people that nobody's ever heard of and a band
that I can't name one song. I mean, this wasn't
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelcey at a Rolling Stones concert.
This is the CEO and the HR person who nobody
knew before this morning at a Coldplay concert, and it
(00:52):
is everywhere. You cannot open your phone without seeing this video,
and then some play on this video, and now a
whole lot of humor regarding this video. Doctor Wendy Walsh,
you hear her on Sundays on KFI every Sunday at seven.
Thanks for spending some time with us, Doctor Wendy Walsh.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
So I want to hear your I WELLFI, thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
I really want to get your your initial reaction to
how quickly this became so viral? What does it say
about us? Why is it so? Yeah, it seems like
it is so relatable to so many people for some reason.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Well okay, well let me give you the science on
why it is relatable. While above, evolutionary psychologists think about
fifty percent of us are monogamous. Another huge chunk have
what is called perceived monogamy. And so in some ways
we see ourselves. Women often use affairs to shop for
a new partner. Men use affairs just to have an affair.
(01:54):
But we know that it's pretty hard to get through
the lifespan and never experience it. Now, to have it
show up on a kiss cam and go around the
globe within minutes is the astounding part of technology and us.
But yeah, we see ourselves in.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
It a little bit.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
The reaction that they had I thought was very telling.
I mean they are clearly ashamed of themselves. I mean
one literally tried to drop out of sight. The other
tried to cover her face and knew that they were busted.
And there was no place to go.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
You know, the biggest mistake they made was that it
was their reaction that gave it away. If they were
just two strangers on a kiss cam, they literally could
have just kissed each other like you were supposed to do,
and then the spotlight would go to somebody else and
nobody would have questioned it, nobody would have recognized them.
But the fact that they made a big deal about it,
which was an instinctual of course, shows that. And then
(02:49):
of course the lead singer Coldplay says, either that guy's
having an affair or he's really shy, like you read
the room right away, so you know they were busted.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
They are busted, and everyone's talking about it. As I said,
I've never seen a story go so move so quickly,
involving two people that we don't know and no one's
ever heard of. I mentioned this in the last segment,
and I want to get your thoughts on this because
I've seen this happen. I'm not making excuses, I'm not apologizing,
I'm not passing any judgment. I'm just saying I have
(03:22):
seen this happen in the corporate culture where people that
are in a very intense company, a company that's worth
one point was at one point six billion dollars a
startup tech company. And they work very closely together, and
they are both married. But you spend eight hours a
day with this person and you rely on this person
to help you solve your problems, and another person solves
(03:43):
your problems, and you work together, and it's long hours,
and it's forty hours a week at the very minimum.
The human condition is what it is, right. People will
event some eventually will develop a relationship, all.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
Right, And it's not just at the high levels of
a corporate andronment. It happens at Wendy's Hamburgers. You know,
if you're just spending a lot of time working with
a coworker, you're going to get close. And the more
stress there is, the more you bond over a common enemy,
which is often the employer, et cetera. What I think
the Internet is really fascinated about this situation is that
(04:18):
the woman's role as the head of HR was to
inform people that you're not supposed to have affairs with
the boss and support the bosses. They're not supposed to
have affairs with underlings. Technically he's her boss, and so
she's breaking hr rule number one. I mean, that's what's
funny about it. But yeah, it's really common workwives where
(04:40):
husbands they get an emotional bond, and that is a
slippery slope. Look, there was research done once where they asked,
why if you had a choice and your husband saw
a prostitute for one hour once a week for the
same amount of money, would you prefer that for a long,
leisurely lunch with his assistant. The why they prefer the
(05:04):
prostitute because the long, leisurely loved lunch could turn into love.
And where the man's heart goes, his wallet eventually goes.
So we know that men can separate sex and love
easier than women.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
I hear this term work wife. I don't think it's
a good idea. Words matter, that's one of my rules,
and that it conflates two very different things. That I
get it. It's just it's ingest and it's you know,
we all, you know, we have people that we rely
on at work and they're part of our lives too.
So I understand the evolution of the term. But I
(05:40):
think last night's Coldplay concert and the ensuing tragedy for
these two family, these four individuals, is the reason why.
Maybe the idea of having a work wife and using
that words, that that term so flippantly. Probably she married too.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Was she married to I didn't know that.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
It's unclear she I mean she was. I don't know
if she's she's married, but I don't know if she's
in the process of being separated. That's a little unclear.
We're still learning about that. I've heard both. But you
use the company that.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
We love to live salaciously through other people's lives. It's
just fun. And then we also get that feeling of
relief when where the voyeur. All of a sudden, we're
sayings because nobody's watching us, right, it's so much easier
to judge everybody else's.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Life, Doctor Wendy Wall, so good to check in with you.
Thanks for coming on on short notice. I'm sure you
all have a lot to say about this, and we'll
learn a lot more by Sunday. Sunday nights at seven
here on KFI AM six forty Well listen for you then,
Louke Penrose, and for John Coblt on KFI AM six
forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. You're listening to
(06:47):
John Coblt on demand from KFI AM six forty. We
are updated now that the Coldplay kiss cam controversy is
making its way through the board of directors of the company,
and we'll continue to keep an eye on that. But
it is spectacular that this thing moves so quickly. I mean,
(07:09):
everybody has already created a meme out of it, or
repurposed it, or have had some fun with it, something
to say about it. Everybody's had their joke. As I mentioned,
Peloton is already doing a cold Play ride on Sunday.
Stub Hub had a joke. They're offering tickets to go
see cold Play for you and one of your coworkers.
(07:31):
A bit of advice if you are in a position
where you have authority over coworkers and some of them
are women, particularly if you are about the same age,
regardless if you're married or single, just keep it professional.
I'm telling you, I've seen this happen. I've seen it
(07:53):
happen in politics more than I've seen it happen in business.
But in politics it's work. Because I worked in Congress.
I was deputy chief of staff for three California members
of Congress, and Congress is way over there, so your
home is here, and your family is here, and your
(08:14):
heart is here, and everything is here. But you've got
to wake up on Monday morning or Tuesday morning and
drive to Lax and then take a plane over there,
and your passion is all there because you're running sixty
miles an hour all day every day until Thursday. Congress
(08:34):
basically works Tuesday to Thursday, and they try and get
everything done by Thursday and try and get out of
town trying as fast as they can. That's why all
the votes are scheduled early on Thursday, because everybody wants
to get to Dulles and get on a plane to
fly to fifty US states and California. Lawmakers have a
long flight. So then they come back here and they
(08:58):
immediately have to get back into their life lives with
their families. So relationships do grow back there, and that
of course causes marriages to fall apart. But it's a
different animal because it's a unique business and there are
there are only four hundred and thirty five members of Congress,
so it's it's a small pool in business. This goes
(09:19):
on all day every day. Right you go to work,
leave your life and your home and your heart and
go to the office, and then you and people call
it a work family, and I don't like that term.
I don't think you should be using the term work family.
I don't think you should have a work wife. I
think you keep it professional. I think all of those
words get into our psyche and begin to blur the
(09:43):
reality that your wife is at home. The only time
you should be using that word is in reference to her.
So I think you you already kind of cross a line.
I mean, unless you're gay, but otherwise, I think you
(10:03):
want to stay away from that language. I think you
start getting into whole things like this is my work family,
this is my work wife. I think you do that
at your own peril. Look what happened to this guy.
He got too close. He got too close to his
HR person. I guarantee you. I don't know if the
company has a history of HR problems. I feel like
(10:25):
HR is just a constant issue in large corporations or
corporations that have tremendous exposure. If a company is worth
a lot of money, it's got exposure. Let me tell you,
I know this. There are people in companies that are
looking to screw the company and cash out all the time.
(10:46):
Sexual assault allegations age discrimination. Oh I didn't get promoted
because I'm a woman and I'm over fifty five. Oh,
it's NonStop. I dealt with it in my professional career.
It's non stop. So you want to spend time building
the company. You want to spend time being creative. You
want to spend time turning a one point three billion
dollar company into a two point six billion dollar company
(11:09):
doing what you do. You can't. You don't have time.
Why because so and so is filed to complain. So
now you got to go talk with the HR person,
and you got to talk with the attorney. And is
it you're in house? Is it a general counsel or
are we contracting out an attorney with you know, Price Waterhouse? Like,
it's just it's it's troublesome to be the CEO. I've
been a CEO, and you spend all your energy putting
(11:32):
out these little fires instead of doing what you want
to do, which is be creative and guide other creative
people to go from good to great. So then the
people that handle these problems that you are not an
expert in but can guide you, they become your angels,
your problem solvers, and the HR person often is a
(11:53):
problem solver because they know exactly what you're supposed to
say and exactly what you're not supposed to say. It's
like impossible to terminate somebody in California. I was given
a script when I wanted to determinate somebody. Here, Lou,
this is what you have to say. I accept your resignation.
I interpret what you said as a resignation. I have
(12:15):
accepted it. The decision is mine. Here are three checks.
Please tell me if the information on these checks are accurate.
That was my script. That's the you can't talk because
you only open yourself up to liability. And when I
found that to be true, then the HR person became
(12:35):
like my guardian angel. I was like, so happy to
have her. Now, I didn't develop romantic relationship with her,
but I can see how that happens, and I have
seen it. So keep clear boundaries. Don't use terms like
work wife. Don't refer to your coworkers as your family.
You're the boss, not the father, and they're not your kids.
(12:57):
And yeah, and stay away from worker bees. Don't say
let me take you back here to where the slaves work.
Don't these are all bad ideas. Use professional terms at
all times. All right, coming up, we're going to talk
with the ABC Legal analyst from ABC News or Royal Oaks.
Two big stories. One, the Epstein thing just won't go
(13:19):
away no matter how angry Trump gets at his own supporters,
who just insist on keeping Epstein alive and stepping on
the lead of all the success that President Trump has had,
they insist on keeping this Epstein story going. And Trump
finally gave and said, you know what, whatever, I'll direct
(13:39):
the Attorney General to release whatever it is you want
from the grand jury report. And now people are saying, no, no, no,
not the grand jury Testif I want the file, we
want it all. So we'll talk with the ABC News
correspondent in legal analyst, ORYL. Oaks. And then also the
Wall Street Journal has stepped in and all of a sudden,
(14:00):
now after since twenty and sixteen, the Wall Street Journal
has tried to bury President Trump, and now here we
are twenty twenty five, he's president again. And now the
Wall Street Journal says we got dirt on President Trump
with respect to Jeffrey Epstein. So President Trump said, fine,
go ahead and I'll sue you, and he has and
(14:22):
the suit has been filed we'll find out what that's
all about. That's all coming up next on KFI AM
six forty Live Everywhere on the iHeartRadio app Lou Penrose
Info John Cobelt. You're listening to John cobelts on demand
from KFI AM six forty Lou Penrose Info John Cobelt
on The John Cobelt Show. Well, the Epstein story just
(14:45):
will not die, despite the President's very clear directive to
move on, leave it alone, and he's clearly getting pushedback
from some in his inner circle that has his ear,
because this is the first time that I saw President
Trump give and say, fine, you people are obsessed with
(15:09):
this story. So I'm gonna change my mind and direct
my Attorney general to release grand jury testimony. And I
hope you're happy. ABC News Legal analyst Royal Oakes joins
us the President is visibly, well not visibly, but he's frustrated.
I guess when you read the tone of his truth
(15:29):
social posts and other and they're always translated directly onto X.
He's definitely frustrated that somebody will not stop with this,
and they have. They clearly have his ear, and he's
decided to keep the story alive. What's going on here.
Speaker 4 (15:45):
Yeah, you're making a great point. I mean, it's so
weird really that there would be a feud within MAGA nation.
I mean, these are hardcore fans and they're essentially saying
that the president. Look, we are so into transparency. We
want you to drain the swamp, and you're doing a
great job, but we want the Epstein files revealed. And
of course what Trump has done now as you're reporting,
(16:06):
he told his Attorney General, Pam bondiok go to federal
court ask the judge to release secret grand jury stuff
that now isn't really so hot anymore because Epstein's dead
and his girlfriend's at prison. The other new development that
I know you've been reporting on is today Donald Trump
has sued the Wall Street Journal saying an ascle they
(16:26):
ran a few days ago saying, oh, Trump wrote a
birthday card to Epstein and has appropriate stuff in it,
so he's taking it to court now. It's kind of
dangerous because that opens up subpoenas and depositions and the
story will keep going. So in a way, it's surprising,
but we all know this is how Donald Trump rolls
if he thinks he's been abused he's going to take
you to court, and that will deter other people from
(16:48):
doing bad stuff to him. But however, you see, the
decision is just going to keep the story in the news.
And of course we don't know how quickly the ag
will go to the district court judge, but it'll probably
happen soon, and then there may be action in a
week or two, or federal judges sometimes sit on things
for a year. We just don't know.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
I think President Trump has a better understanding of news
cycles controlling narratives than perhaps many of the very wicked,
smart people that surrounds him. And you know, he has
people around him that are truly, truly, you know, in
their minds concerned about justice, transparency, right, you know, all
those things. But I think Trump has a better understanding
(17:28):
of like, look, there's other things going on that are
really great for the average American that I want to amplify.
And now that will not be the lead story. The
lead story will be that I change my mind, that
you people, you know, maybe change my mind on my
Epstein position. And now we're talking Epstein all over again.
And frankly, it's been a successful week from the president's
(17:51):
priorities policy wise, and all those leads have been stepped
upon exactly what President Trump warn't against on Monday.
Speaker 4 (17:58):
Yeah, you're right. I mean you can just.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Lou Penrose in for John Colebelt. John will be with
us on Monday. So just a moment to talk about
Stephen Colbert, the decision by CBS not to fire the host,
but to dispense with the institution of the show itself.
So a couple of things. I think Colbert has talent,
(18:24):
I don't like or I don't appreciate the material of
the monologue these days, and that it's across the board,
whether it's Kimmel on ABC or Folin on NBC. The
monologues have gotten ridiculously biased, and they're not funny, like
they're funny for an MSNBC audience, and they're not even creative.
They're effectively a headline from MSNBC or a news story
(18:49):
characterized by an MSNBC type editor, and then a gag.
So it's the headline, Donald Trump sucks yesterday, Donald Trump
cut funding to feed children, and then some gag, some joke,
and everybody laughs, and it's beat. It's not interesting. Now
(19:12):
it has an audience, there's no question about it, and
Colbert was leading that audience. Colbert's audience two point four million,
Kimmel at ABC in second place one point seven, and
Fallon at one point two, all of these handsome numbers
for late night, but Colbert like far ahead, like just
(19:33):
I mean, if you combine Kimmel and Fallon, Stephen, Colbert
almost is at that point. So a couple of rules
in the world of entertainment and the world of broadcasting,
popular always survives. So the fact that he's being pulled
and the show is being pulled even though it was
the most popular with the Big Three, raises a bunch
(19:56):
of questions. Now I'm being told that the show costs
one hundred million dollars a year to produce. That seems high.
I can't figure that out in my mind. I'm not
sure what they're doing over there. I mean, it's just
a set. I mean, there isn't a whole lot going on.
It's a set. I get it. You got to pay
(20:17):
the writers and there's a whole crew, But it's a
static set. I mean, it's how many camera angles are
there for crying out loud? And it cost one hundred
million dollars a year to produce with one hundred employees
and forty million dollars a year, CBS says it's losing.
So look, they're a couple of things. I think late
(20:38):
night entertainment is fun. I grew up watching Johnny Carson.
Yes I'm that old, but I was a kid, so
my parents would let me stay up to watch Johnny
Carson if it was really important, like if Muhammad Ali
was on or something like that. And in college I
was watching Letterman, so which means I've been watching Letterman
on CBS since nineteen eighty six. And I did not
(21:00):
know the political persuasion of David Letterman most of my life.
Like it wasn't until late way toward the end of
Letterman's run when he got into some kind of an
argument with Bill O'Reilly. So Bill O'Reilly was a big
deal on The O'Reilly Factor on Fox, so he was
guesting on Letterman and they got into some kind of
(21:22):
an argument about politics. That revealed to me Letterman's political persuasion,
and it didn't bother me. But I'm telling you, for
most of my enjoyment of David Letterman, all my enjoyment
men of Carson, and all of Leno. Really, I had
no idea where these people landed politically. I don't know
if they were big liberals, you know, center right Republicans, libertarians,
(21:46):
or right wing wackos. I had no idea because they
were just fun and funny and reliably fun and funny,
and they could bring out the best in the world
of entertainment, the world of music, the world of the arts,
pop culture. Sure, from time to time the monologues were satirical,
but it was only like when we were in the
(22:07):
depths of ten percent unemployment during the Reagan years and
Carson might mention it, or there was some political scandal
during the Clinton years, right, and it might be mentioned,
how can you avoid it? But it wasn't a constant
trip hammer, and always with Trump arrangement syndrome. So I
(22:28):
think that is more of what's going on here. I
think these networks which are planning to be alive forever.
Remember President Trump will be president for four years. I
mean I have it here. We're one hundred and seventy
nine days into this Trump presidency, only one hundred and
seventy nine days into this Trump presidency. So if you
(22:49):
have Trump arrangement syndrome, you have twelve hundred and eighty
eight more days to go, so you better find a
hobby and occupy your mind because he's going to be
in the White House for twelve hundred and eighty eight
more days and you're just gonna have to deal with it.
And I think, you know, the folks at these networks
are like, yeah, we want to be alive well after
(23:11):
Trump is no longer a factor, and the way to
survive is to get off this Trump hatent thing. Laura
ingram Over at Fox News wrote a book and the
title of the book was Shut Up and Sing, and
it was directed at elite pop stars that insisted on
(23:32):
sticking their foot into the political wars of the day
or the culture wars of the day. And I think
that's the right attitude and entertainment. Shut up and sing,
be funny, don't be snotty. Right, Leave it for the
folks on MSNBC to be snotty. There already is a
lane to be snotty in politics. It shouldn't be on
(23:55):
all three networks. In Late Night, Dolly Parton never and
she did have strong political opinions and strong cultural opinions,
but never shared them because they had nothing to do
with songs or country music or her craft. So and frankly,
it was a great time of the day to exhale
(24:18):
and just enjoy American culture, whether it's music, culture, arts film. Right,
it's eleven thirty at night, the day's over. I'm probably
not gonna last through the show, but i can make
it through the monologue and then I'll go wash up,
brush my teeth, and go to bed. It'd be nice
to just enjoy wonderfully talented individuals, deliver a monologue and
(24:40):
not have politics shoved down our throat from one point
of view five nights a week. So there's my advice
to all you network execs. Lou Penrose in for John
Cobelt on KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the iheartradioip.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Hey, you've been listening to the John Cobelt Show podcast,
you can always hear the show live onfi I Am
six forty from one to four pm every Monday through Friday,
and of course anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Can't f I am six forty.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
You're listening to the John Cobelt podcast on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
It's the John Cobelt Show. Louke Penrose sitting in for
John today. John will be back with us on Monday.
The company involved in the Coldplay concert kiss cam controversy, Astronomer,
has issued a statement. The board of directors have initiated
a formal investigation into the matter and we will have
additional information shortly to share. But everybody is aware of it.
(00:30):
I've never seen something go so viral so quickly, involving
two people that nobody's ever heard of and a band
that I can't name one song. I mean, this wasn't
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelcey at a Rolling Stones concert.
This is the CEO and the HR person who nobody
knew before this morning at a Coldplay concert, and it
(00:52):
is everywhere. You cannot open your phone without seeing this video,
and then some play on this video, and now a
whole lot of humor regarding this video. Doctor Wendy Walsh,
you hear her on Sundays on KFI every Sunday at seven.
Thanks for spending some time with us, Doctor Wendy Walsh.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
So I want to hear your I WELLFI, thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
I really want to get your your initial reaction to
how quickly this became so viral? What does it say
about us? Why is it so? Yeah, it seems like
it is so relatable to so many people for some reason.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Well okay, well let me give you the science on
why it is relatable. While above, evolutionary psychologists think about
fifty percent of us are monogamous. Another huge chunk have
what is called perceived monogamy. And so in some ways
we see ourselves. Women often use affairs to shop for
a new partner. Men use affairs just to have an affair.
(01:54):
But we know that it's pretty hard to get through
the lifespan and never experience it. Now, to have it
show up on a kiss cam and go around the
globe within minutes is the astounding part of technology and us.
But yeah, we see ourselves in.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
It a little bit.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
The reaction that they had I thought was very telling.
I mean they are clearly ashamed of themselves. I mean
one literally tried to drop out of sight. The other
tried to cover her face and knew that they were busted.
And there was no place to go.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
You know, the biggest mistake they made was that it
was their reaction that gave it away. If they were
just two strangers on a kiss cam, they literally could
have just kissed each other like you were supposed to do,
and then the spotlight would go to somebody else and
nobody would have questioned it, nobody would have recognized them.
But the fact that they made a big deal about it,
which was an instinctual of course, shows that. And then
(02:49):
of course the lead singer Coldplay says, either that guy's
having an affair or he's really shy, like you read
the room right away, so you know they were busted.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
They are busted, and everyone's talking about it. As I said,
I've never seen a story go so move so quickly,
involving two people that we don't know and no one's
ever heard of. I mentioned this in the last segment,
and I want to get your thoughts on this because
I've seen this happen. I'm not making excuses, I'm not apologizing,
I'm not passing any judgment. I'm just saying I have
(03:22):
seen this happen in the corporate culture where people that
are in a very intense company, a company that's worth
one point was at one point six billion dollars a
startup tech company. And they work very closely together, and
they are both married. But you spend eight hours a
day with this person and you rely on this person
to help you solve your problems, and another person solves
(03:43):
your problems, and you work together, and it's long hours,
and it's forty hours a week at the very minimum.
The human condition is what it is, right. People will
event some eventually will develop a relationship, all.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
Right, And it's not just at the high levels of
a corporate andronment. It happens at Wendy's Hamburgers. You know,
if you're just spending a lot of time working with
a coworker, you're going to get close. And the more
stress there is, the more you bond over a common enemy,
which is often the employer, et cetera. What I think
the Internet is really fascinated about this situation is that
(04:18):
the woman's role as the head of HR was to
inform people that you're not supposed to have affairs with
the boss and support the bosses. They're not supposed to
have affairs with underlings. Technically he's her boss, and so
she's breaking hr rule number one. I mean, that's what's
funny about it. But yeah, it's really common workwives where
(04:40):
husbands they get an emotional bond, and that is a
slippery slope. Look, there was research done once where they asked,
why if you had a choice and your husband saw
a prostitute for one hour once a week for the
same amount of money, would you prefer that for a long,
leisurely lunch with his assistant. The why they prefer the
(05:04):
prostitute because the long, leisurely loved lunch could turn into love.
And where the man's heart goes, his wallet eventually goes.
So we know that men can separate sex and love
easier than women.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
I hear this term work wife. I don't think it's
a good idea. Words matter, that's one of my rules,
and that it conflates two very different things. That I
get it. It's just it's ingest and it's you know,
we all, you know, we have people that we rely
on at work and they're part of our lives too.
So I understand the evolution of the term. But I
(05:40):
think last night's Coldplay concert and the ensuing tragedy for
these two family, these four individuals, is the reason why.
Maybe the idea of having a work wife and using
that words, that that term so flippantly. Probably she married too.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Was she married to I didn't know that.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
It's unclear she I mean she was. I don't know
if she's she's married, but I don't know if she's
in the process of being separated. That's a little unclear.
We're still learning about that. I've heard both. But you
use the company that.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
We love to live salaciously through other people's lives. It's
just fun. And then we also get that feeling of
relief when where the voyeur. All of a sudden, we're
sayings because nobody's watching us, right, it's so much easier
to judge everybody else's.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Life, Doctor Wendy Wall, so good to check in with you.
Thanks for coming on on short notice. I'm sure you
all have a lot to say about this, and we'll
learn a lot more by Sunday. Sunday nights at seven
here on KFI AM six forty Well listen for you then,
Louke Penrose, and for John Coblt on KFI AM six
forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. You're listening to
(06:47):
John Coblt on demand from KFI AM six forty. We
are updated now that the Coldplay kiss cam controversy is
making its way through the board of directors of the company,
and we'll continue to keep an eye on that. But
it is spectacular that this thing moves so quickly. I mean,
(07:09):
everybody has already created a meme out of it, or
repurposed it, or have had some fun with it, something
to say about it. Everybody's had their joke. As I mentioned,
Peloton is already doing a cold Play ride on Sunday.
Stub Hub had a joke. They're offering tickets to go
see cold Play for you and one of your coworkers.
(07:31):
A bit of advice if you are in a position
where you have authority over coworkers and some of them
are women, particularly if you are about the same age,
regardless if you're married or single, just keep it professional.
I'm telling you, I've seen this happen. I've seen it
(07:53):
happen in politics more than I've seen it happen in business.
But in politics it's work. Because I worked in Congress.
I was deputy chief of staff for three California members
of Congress, and Congress is way over there, so your
home is here, and your family is here, and your
(08:14):
heart is here, and everything is here. But you've got
to wake up on Monday morning or Tuesday morning and
drive to Lax and then take a plane over there,
and your passion is all there because you're running sixty
miles an hour all day every day until Thursday. Congress
(08:34):
basically works Tuesday to Thursday, and they try and get
everything done by Thursday and try and get out of
town trying as fast as they can. That's why all
the votes are scheduled early on Thursday, because everybody wants
to get to Dulles and get on a plane to
fly to fifty US states and California. Lawmakers have a
long flight. So then they come back here and they
(08:58):
immediately have to get back into their life lives with
their families. So relationships do grow back there, and that
of course causes marriages to fall apart. But it's a
different animal because it's a unique business and there are
there are only four hundred and thirty five members of Congress,
so it's it's a small pool in business. This goes
(09:19):
on all day every day. Right you go to work,
leave your life and your home and your heart and
go to the office, and then you and people call
it a work family, and I don't like that term.
I don't think you should be using the term work family.
I don't think you should have a work wife. I
think you keep it professional. I think all of those
words get into our psyche and begin to blur the
(09:43):
reality that your wife is at home. The only time
you should be using that word is in reference to her.
So I think you you already kind of cross a line.
I mean, unless you're gay, but otherwise, I think you
(10:03):
want to stay away from that language. I think you
start getting into whole things like this is my work family,
this is my work wife. I think you do that
at your own peril. Look what happened to this guy.
He got too close. He got too close to his
HR person. I guarantee you. I don't know if the
company has a history of HR problems. I feel like
(10:25):
HR is just a constant issue in large corporations or
corporations that have tremendous exposure. If a company is worth
a lot of money, it's got exposure. Let me tell you,
I know this. There are people in companies that are
looking to screw the company and cash out all the time.
(10:46):
Sexual assault allegations age discrimination. Oh I didn't get promoted
because I'm a woman and I'm over fifty five. Oh,
it's NonStop. I dealt with it in my professional career.
It's non stop. So you want to spend time building
the company. You want to spend time being creative. You
want to spend time turning a one point three billion
dollar company into a two point six billion dollar company
(11:09):
doing what you do. You can't. You don't have time.
Why because so and so is filed to complain. So
now you got to go talk with the HR person,
and you got to talk with the attorney. And is
it you're in house? Is it a general counsel or
are we contracting out an attorney with you know, Price Waterhouse? Like,
it's just it's it's troublesome to be the CEO. I've
been a CEO, and you spend all your energy putting
(11:32):
out these little fires instead of doing what you want
to do, which is be creative and guide other creative
people to go from good to great. So then the
people that handle these problems that you are not an
expert in but can guide you, they become your angels,
your problem solvers, and the HR person often is a
(11:53):
problem solver because they know exactly what you're supposed to
say and exactly what you're not supposed to say. It's
like impossible to terminate somebody in California. I was given
a script when I wanted to determinate somebody. Here, Lou,
this is what you have to say. I accept your resignation.
I interpret what you said as a resignation. I have
(12:15):
accepted it. The decision is mine. Here are three checks.
Please tell me if the information on these checks are accurate.
That was my script. That's the you can't talk because
you only open yourself up to liability. And when I
found that to be true, then the HR person became
(12:35):
like my guardian angel. I was like, so happy to
have her. Now, I didn't develop romantic relationship with her,
but I can see how that happens, and I have
seen it. So keep clear boundaries. Don't use terms like
work wife. Don't refer to your coworkers as your family.
You're the boss, not the father, and they're not your kids.
(12:57):
And yeah, and stay away from worker bees. Don't say
let me take you back here to where the slaves work.
Don't these are all bad ideas. Use professional terms at
all times. All right, coming up, we're going to talk
with the ABC Legal analyst from ABC News or Royal Oaks.
Two big stories. One, the Epstein thing just won't go
(13:19):
away no matter how angry Trump gets at his own supporters,
who just insist on keeping Epstein alive and stepping on
the lead of all the success that President Trump has had,
they insist on keeping this Epstein story going. And Trump
finally gave and said, you know what, whatever, I'll direct
(13:39):
the Attorney General to release whatever it is you want
from the grand jury report. And now people are saying, no, no, no,
not the grand jury Testif I want the file, we
want it all. So we'll talk with the ABC News
correspondent in legal analyst, ORYL. Oaks. And then also the
Wall Street Journal has stepped in and all of a sudden,
(14:00):
now after since twenty and sixteen, the Wall Street Journal
has tried to bury President Trump, and now here we
are twenty twenty five, he's president again. And now the
Wall Street Journal says we got dirt on President Trump
with respect to Jeffrey Epstein. So President Trump said, fine,
go ahead and I'll sue you, and he has and
(14:22):
the suit has been filed we'll find out what that's
all about. That's all coming up next on KFI AM
six forty Live Everywhere on the iHeartRadio app Lou Penrose
Info John Cobelt. You're listening to John cobelts on demand
from KFI AM six forty Lou Penrose Info John Cobelt
on The John Cobelt Show. Well, the Epstein story just
(14:45):
will not die, despite the President's very clear directive to
move on, leave it alone, and he's clearly getting pushedback
from some in his inner circle that has his ear,
because this is the first time that I saw President
Trump give and say, fine, you people are obsessed with
(15:09):
this story. So I'm gonna change my mind and direct
my Attorney general to release grand jury testimony. And I
hope you're happy. ABC News Legal analyst Royal Oakes joins
us the President is visibly, well not visibly, but he's frustrated.
I guess when you read the tone of his truth
(15:29):
social posts and other and they're always translated directly onto X.
He's definitely frustrated that somebody will not stop with this,
and they have. They clearly have his ear, and he's
decided to keep the story alive. What's going on here.
Speaker 4 (15:45):
Yeah, you're making a great point. I mean, it's so
weird really that there would be a feud within MAGA nation.
I mean, these are hardcore fans and they're essentially saying
that the president. Look, we are so into transparency. We
want you to drain the swamp, and you're doing a
great job, but we want the Epstein files revealed. And
of course what Trump has done now as you're reporting,
(16:06):
he told his Attorney General, Pam bondiok go to federal
court ask the judge to release secret grand jury stuff
that now isn't really so hot anymore because Epstein's dead
and his girlfriend's at prison. The other new development that
I know you've been reporting on is today Donald Trump
has sued the Wall Street Journal saying an ascle they
(16:26):
ran a few days ago saying, oh, Trump wrote a
birthday card to Epstein and has appropriate stuff in it,
so he's taking it to court now. It's kind of
dangerous because that opens up subpoenas and depositions and the
story will keep going. So in a way, it's surprising,
but we all know this is how Donald Trump rolls
if he thinks he's been abused he's going to take
you to court, and that will deter other people from
(16:48):
doing bad stuff to him. But however, you see, the
decision is just going to keep the story in the news.
And of course we don't know how quickly the ag
will go to the district court judge, but it'll probably
happen soon, and then there may be action in a
week or two, or federal judges sometimes sit on things
for a year. We just don't know.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
I think President Trump has a better understanding of news
cycles controlling narratives than perhaps many of the very wicked,
smart people that surrounds him. And you know, he has
people around him that are truly, truly, you know, in
their minds concerned about justice, transparency, right, you know, all
those things. But I think Trump has a better understanding
(17:28):
of like, look, there's other things going on that are
really great for the average American that I want to amplify.
And now that will not be the lead story. The
lead story will be that I change my mind, that
you people, you know, maybe change my mind on my
Epstein position. And now we're talking Epstein all over again.
And frankly, it's been a successful week from the president's
(17:51):
priorities policy wise, and all those leads have been stepped
upon exactly what President Trump warn't against on Monday.
Speaker 4 (17:58):
Yeah, you're right. I mean you can just.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Lou Penrose in for John Colebelt. John will be with
us on Monday. So just a moment to talk about
Stephen Colbert, the decision by CBS not to fire the host,
but to dispense with the institution of the show itself.
So a couple of things. I think Colbert has talent,
(18:24):
I don't like or I don't appreciate the material of
the monologue these days, and that it's across the board,
whether it's Kimmel on ABC or Folin on NBC. The
monologues have gotten ridiculously biased, and they're not funny, like
they're funny for an MSNBC audience, and they're not even creative.
They're effectively a headline from MSNBC or a news story
(18:49):
characterized by an MSNBC type editor, and then a gag.
So it's the headline, Donald Trump sucks yesterday, Donald Trump
cut funding to feed children, and then some gag, some joke,
and everybody laughs, and it's beat. It's not interesting. Now
(19:12):
it has an audience, there's no question about it, and
Colbert was leading that audience. Colbert's audience two point four million,
Kimmel at ABC in second place one point seven, and
Fallon at one point two, all of these handsome numbers
for late night, but Colbert like far ahead, like just
(19:33):
I mean, if you combine Kimmel and Fallon, Stephen, Colbert
almost is at that point. So a couple of rules
in the world of entertainment and the world of broadcasting,
popular always survives. So the fact that he's being pulled
and the show is being pulled even though it was
the most popular with the Big Three, raises a bunch
(19:56):
of questions. Now I'm being told that the show costs
one hundred million dollars a year to produce. That seems high.
I can't figure that out in my mind. I'm not
sure what they're doing over there. I mean, it's just
a set. I mean, there isn't a whole lot going on.
It's a set. I get it. You got to pay
(20:17):
the writers and there's a whole crew, But it's a
static set. I mean, it's how many camera angles are
there for crying out loud? And it cost one hundred
million dollars a year to produce with one hundred employees
and forty million dollars a year, CBS says it's losing.
So look, they're a couple of things. I think late
(20:38):
night entertainment is fun. I grew up watching Johnny Carson.
Yes I'm that old, but I was a kid, so
my parents would let me stay up to watch Johnny
Carson if it was really important, like if Muhammad Ali
was on or something like that. And in college I
was watching Letterman, so which means I've been watching Letterman
on CBS since nineteen eighty six. And I did not
(21:00):
know the political persuasion of David Letterman most of my life.
Like it wasn't until late way toward the end of
Letterman's run when he got into some kind of an
argument with Bill O'Reilly. So Bill O'Reilly was a big
deal on The O'Reilly Factor on Fox, so he was
guesting on Letterman and they got into some kind of
(21:22):
an argument about politics. That revealed to me Letterman's political persuasion,
and it didn't bother me. But I'm telling you, for
most of my enjoyment of David Letterman, all my enjoyment
men of Carson, and all of Leno. Really, I had
no idea where these people landed politically. I don't know
if they were big liberals, you know, center right Republicans, libertarians,
(21:46):
or right wing wackos. I had no idea because they
were just fun and funny and reliably fun and funny,
and they could bring out the best in the world
of entertainment, the world of music, the world of the arts,
pop culture. Sure, from time to time the monologues were satirical,
but it was only like when we were in the
(22:07):
depths of ten percent unemployment during the Reagan years and
Carson might mention it, or there was some political scandal
during the Clinton years, right, and it might be mentioned,
how can you avoid it? But it wasn't a constant
trip hammer, and always with Trump arrangement syndrome. So I
(22:28):
think that is more of what's going on here. I
think these networks which are planning to be alive forever.
Remember President Trump will be president for four years. I
mean I have it here. We're one hundred and seventy
nine days into this Trump presidency, only one hundred and
seventy nine days into this Trump presidency. So if you
(22:49):
have Trump arrangement syndrome, you have twelve hundred and eighty
eight more days to go, so you better find a
hobby and occupy your mind because he's going to be
in the White House for twelve hundred and eighty eight
more days and you're just gonna have to deal with it.
And I think, you know, the folks at these networks
are like, yeah, we want to be alive well after
(23:11):
Trump is no longer a factor, and the way to
survive is to get off this Trump hatent thing. Laura
ingram Over at Fox News wrote a book and the
title of the book was Shut Up and Sing, and
it was directed at elite pop stars that insisted on
(23:32):
sticking their foot into the political wars of the day
or the culture wars of the day. And I think
that's the right attitude and entertainment. Shut up and sing,
be funny, don't be snotty. Right, Leave it for the
folks on MSNBC to be snotty. There already is a
lane to be snotty in politics. It shouldn't be on
(23:55):
all three networks. In Late Night, Dolly Parton never and
she did have strong political opinions and strong cultural opinions,
but never shared them because they had nothing to do
with songs or country music or her craft. So and frankly,
it was a great time of the day to exhale
(24:18):
and just enjoy American culture, whether it's music, culture, arts film. Right,
it's eleven thirty at night, the day's over. I'm probably
not gonna last through the show, but i can make
it through the monologue and then I'll go wash up,
brush my teeth, and go to bed. It'd be nice
to just enjoy wonderfully talented individuals, deliver a monologue and
(24:40):
not have politics shoved down our throat from one point
of view five nights a week. So there's my advice
to all you network execs. Lou Penrose in for John
Cobelt on KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the iheartradioip.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Hey, you've been listening to the John Cobelt Show podcast,
you can always hear the show live onfi I Am
six forty from one to four pm every Monday through Friday,
and of course anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
The John Kobylt Show News
Host
John Kobylt
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