December 27, 2023 • 34 mins
In this Season One final episode, we revisit each of our celebrity guests’ unusual or shocking life experiences that caused them to have a “oh, no, he didn’t!” type of reaction. Listen in as RuPaul, Marlon Wayans, Spike Lee, Sheila E., D-Nice and others, share their hilarious or thought-provoking “Knitter, What?!” moments.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I'm Saita Garrett and uppity knitter and host of the
Uppity Knitter podcast Celebrity Hobbies Uncovered, the show where some
of your favorite celebs spilled the tea on their hobbies
and their private goings on when not on stage, on camera,
or in the studio. Today, we have a very special
episode where some of my guests from season one share
(00:22):
their recollections of something that happened to them or something
that someone said or did that came as a big
shock or surprise. We call this segment Knitter What, and
we're thoroughly entertained by their stories.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Let's turn to my dear friend and active roller.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Skater, mister RuPaul Charles to get us started.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
I have one thing to say, you better'll work.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
My guest today is the ubiquitous actor, singer, songwriter, musician,
recording artist, author, podcaster, brand ambassador, Broadway producer, radio and
TV show host, executive produce, husband and all around ride.
A brother from another mother and sister from another Mister,
(01:07):
ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the most commercially successful drag
queen in the history of the world, with twelve Primetime
Emmy Awards, a Tony Ward and a star. Hello, I'm
the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Please one of my dearest friends,
mister RuPaul, Charles, my darling. I must admit you're handsome
(01:30):
and beautiful at the same time. We call this segment
Nita What so, mister RuPaul, do you have a Nita
what moment?
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Well, let me think about that, because when you know,
you know, obviously, there are a lot of things that
happen that are very surprising.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
You know.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Uh, I won my twelfth Emmy, and I really give
please yes, because it's this is the seventh consecutive win
for a host of a reality competition show. So I
thought this time for sure they would say, okay, we've
had enough for you.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
But Kelly Clarkson to win one.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Well exactly, so you know, so I was surprised at that.
But that's not really a knit or what story. Let
me think about it.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
It's when you what you probably said, No he didn't,
Oh no she didn't.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
If that moment right, huh me?
Speaker 3 (02:37):
I mean just you know a lot of I've lived
a long time.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
I'm sure I have Okay, I'll.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Take a moment.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Let me think about my Oh.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Okay, please share okay, Well we were talking about her earlier.
Speaker 5 (02:55):
But you know, in nineteen ninety five, I was summon
for a command performance for the Queen of Soul.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
And George, George George was with me, and he will
he will tell you he saw the same thing. Well,
you know, before I left to go to the venue,
she sent her assistant over with a check to pay me,
and it was written out by miss Franklin to me.
(03:34):
And I looked at the check and the check was
made out to Ruth Paul.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
She probably really thought that that was your name, Ruth
Paul Fleuss, Sir, hearright.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Next step, we're fortunate to be joined by mister Marlon
Wayans and his passion for collecting sneakers? Middle, What imagine
being a stand up comic nowadays and being attacked on stage?
Listen to Marlon Wayans describe the new perils of stand
up comedy in.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
His knitter What Moment?
Speaker 6 (04:18):
Middle What?
Speaker 2 (04:19):
My guest today is the remarkable actor, writer, director, and
comedian who has a long list of TV, stand up
and film credits including Scary Movie one and two, Haunted
House one and two, White Chicks one and Maybe two,
If the Buddy's right, and recoreem for a Dream and
Oscar nominated respect along with Jennifer Hudson. Mister Marlon Wayans,
(04:43):
thanks so much for gracing us with your presence. I'm
sure you have fifty eleven other things you could have
been doing today, but you're here.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
When they said it with you, I said, I'm.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
In excellent love you for that. Do you have a story?
What say you?
Speaker 4 (04:57):
Oh? Man? The last at what moment I had? I
was backstage at a concert with Chappelle at the Hollywood
Bowl and then some dude this is after this this
Chris Rock will Smith slapped in and some dude came
on stage to try and tackle Dave and Davis.
Speaker 7 (05:17):
You know, I heard about that and I was part
of the show. I was like, wait a second, that
don't look right. So I went over there to look,
and of course the hood brother and me came out,
and I wanted to get my stomping, but I've seen
security was doing the damn good job and stopping him.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
He would looked like the same race. He was all swollen.
Speaker 7 (05:42):
I think he started out black brother look Asian. By
the end they had they hit him in his head.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Went wow.
Speaker 4 (05:49):
Man.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
When he came on stage said.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
What our next guest director, Spike Lee, collects art, baseball cards,
and comic books. Spike has a knitterwet story that's a
bit more well sobering.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
My guest today is.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Spike Lee, the legendary and two time Academy Award winning writer, director,
and educator. Spike has a long, long list of successful
film and TV and advertising credits, far too many to
report on this broadcast. Spike Lee's films have played such
an important role in how I see myself in the world.
(06:33):
His films have become a part of my generation's DNA,
and they've had a profound effect on my personal life.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Starting with one of.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
His early films, She's Got to Have It. He shot
that in black and white in twelve days. That movie
helped me understand how men think about women and how
men think about sex, and the character Nola Darling's role
reversal was so refreshing. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It showed
me that women can think like a man.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
Thank you, Steve Harvey.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Another one of his films that had an impact on
my young adult life was Spike's nineteen eighty eight School Days.
As a high school grad, I didn't even think it
was possible for me to go to an historic black
college or university. I mean, the whole idea of sororities
and fraternities with such a foreign concept to me. But
(07:24):
Spike made college life seem like so much fun and
at the same time, he exposed the reality of colorism
within the Black community.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Man and then and do the right thing.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
He goes even further by focusing on the racial unrest
in his own Brooklyn neighborhood. The song fight the Power
by Public Enemy became synonymous with the movie. Then Spike
Lee's film Malcolm X. That caused me to reflect on
my brief time as a kid in the Nation of Islam.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Yeh, that's right.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
I used to be an mg T Muslim Girls in Training.
That was serious, y'all. It was a great time in
my life. I enjoyed it so much, And y'all didn't know.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
That, did you.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
In fact, at thirteen, I changed my name from Deborah
Christine to Saida, which means happiness, starlike and lucky.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Very important part of my growing up.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Another one of Spike's films that impacted my thought process
was Jungle Fever because.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
I happen to be dating a white guy at the time.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
And the conversations we had after seeing that movie together
were eye opening. I'm telling you, I was lucky enough
to be on set in Spike Lee's film The Sweet
Blood of Jesus and I got to see him in
action doing what he does best, and I was able
to contribute a song to the soundtrack. Hey, Spike, thanks
(08:54):
for joining us and gracing us with your presence.
Speaker 8 (08:57):
I'm sure you have a million things to be here
on the podcast of you my System.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Thank you for joining us. You're one of my favorite
people on the planet, and anyone who knows me knows
that I when I truly like someone.
Speaker 6 (09:11):
Who got me beat? Though, don't lie who had you beat?
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Michael?
Speaker 2 (09:17):
I said, my favorite, one of my favorite people.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
On the planet.
Speaker 6 (09:21):
Am I still with us?
Speaker 1 (09:22):
He's not. He's not on the planet. He's in the ethos.
He's in the ethos, He's in our beat found of
the planet. We'll work with that, Okay. Do you have
a knittle what experience?
Speaker 2 (09:36):
And if you do, wait, can you deliver it in
your Mars Blackman voice.
Speaker 8 (09:42):
There's an article written about me and was a negative
review of one of my films, and it said that
I had not graduated college. Great, and I wrote a
letter to New York Times.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
They had to correct that.
Speaker 8 (10:00):
Yes, indeed, I mean not only that I graduate Morehouse,
but my father went to Morals, my grandfather went to Morals,
and my mother and grandmother went to Stollman.
Speaker 4 (10:11):
Wow.
Speaker 8 (10:12):
So I come along line and educated black folks. No,
and that's typical where we're not give them the credit
that we deserve. But you know I'm not striving for that.
Speaker 9 (10:29):
You know, I'm just doing my thing.
Speaker 8 (10:31):
But just with the story I just told you, I mean,
I never spoke to the person, but I had to
let the New York Times know that that was some bs.
And don't they have fact checkers, hockey right that I
never graduated college.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Somebody didn't check nothing.
Speaker 8 (10:48):
So I just got I just rolled out of the
cotton pats, the cotton picking niggas, and just make films
from it.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
For our next knitter what moment, let's revisit my interview
with the Queen of Percussion, the beautiful and talented Miss
Sheila E, who loves playing poker and ping pong and
her don't stop till you get enough album credit or
lack thereof. No what My guest today is a legendary drummer, percussionist, singer, songwriter,
(11:25):
recording artist, music director Arthur, philanthropist Darling, and podcaster who's
work with or recorded on albums by music giants like
Michael Jackson, Marvin Gay, Lionel Ritchie, Diana Ross, Phil Collins,
Herbie Hancock, ringo star Beyonce, Cyndi Lauper, Gloria Estevon, and
(11:51):
a little giant known as Prince affectionately regarded as the
Queen of Percussion. Now with a Latin Grammy for a
Lifetime You Heard Me, a Lifetime Achievement Award, a star
on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and co host and
music director for the new hit game show Which I've
(12:13):
seen Lataia Loka, the remarkable Miss Sheila E thank you.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Sheila, my sister.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
Does anything come to mind for you?
Speaker 10 (12:27):
Sheila? Uhh?
Speaker 1 (12:33):
Why you think about that?
Speaker 11 (12:34):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (12:35):
No, wait, I got you know what.
Speaker 10 (12:37):
No, I'm thinking about it just because you're here. Otherwise
I wouldn't have thought of this. This is so crazy, Okay, okay,
So because you work with Michael, of course everyone knows
Michael Jackson. If you don't know, all right, So because
you work with Michael. It's something that was done. Oh
my god, I can't okay. So Michael calls me up.
(12:57):
This was after Off the Wall was done, his first record.
He calls me and he says, meet me. I'm in
the Bay Area. I was living in the Bay Area.
Then meet me in the Bay Area at Leopold's Records,
and I'm gonna go there and sign records. So I
want you to be with me while I'm there. And
I was like, okay, So I meet him there. So
(13:17):
I go. I get there early and the album is
there because you know, they've got stacks of him because
he's gonna sign sign the records. So I picked it
up and I couldn't wait because I played on the record.
I played on don't stop till you get enough, right wow?
And so the bottle thing dun d that's me playing
the bottles. I tuned the bottle.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 10 (13:38):
See, you didn't even know that.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
I love that, No, I didn't.
Speaker 10 (13:43):
Yeah, So I put water in the water bottles because
Quincy called me, Michael's making these sounds. I don't know
what it is. Can you just bring you know whatever?
So I got water bottles and played the water bottles
to make the sound on don't stop till you get enough.
So I'm like, oh my god, this is awesome. My
name is gonna be on Michael's first record. So I
get to Leopold's and I pull up the record and
(14:05):
I'm looking for my name and my name's not on
the record. Then what So the shocker was, Oh, they
forgot Quincy, forgot to put my name on the record
Q and I was not the only one that they
left off. So I didn't feel bad filling games, I
think whoa, I think so yeah. So so the crazy
(14:26):
thing about it was what they said was, oops, we forgot.
I'm like all things you couldn't have like done it
in the next print, like really, oh.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
It never it never happened.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Oh wow, I get royalties, but I don't.
Speaker 10 (14:42):
My name is not on it. And not only that,
I still need to get I told Quincy, I still
don't have the album up here. Wow, I don't have
that record.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Oh man, so maybe you can't help me. Maybe I
can let me, let me see if I can put
a put a good word in for you girls.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
All right, for real, that's okay.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
We're gonna take a quick break and be right back.
Welcome back to the Uppity Knitter Podcast. What Next Up
is everybody's favorite DJ, D Nice, who has turned his
hobby of photography into a serious part of his profile.
(15:25):
We nice to d Nice because he's still doing his
thing after all these years, despite some people's expectations. In
his NITTA what Moment, Here's d Nice.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
My guest today.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
Is best known for his work as a DJ, but
also as a very accomplished recording artist, music producer, photographer,
web designer, and entrepreneur. Who began as a DJ for
the groundbreaking hip hop group Boogie Down Productions and the
legendary KRS one. He's gone on to build an impressive
(16:01):
career in the music business, spinning at very high level
events including the White House, the Kennedy Center, Opera House,
the Carnegie.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Hall, the Hollywood Bowl.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
And a Las Vegas residency, and repeatedly winning awards along
the way. These include be ET's DJ of the Year
Award and naacp Immage Award and ASCAP Award, and the
list goes on. But more importantly, what this brother receives
from the black community and the music community as a
whole is the genuine love and respect reserved for only
(16:40):
the greats. Ladies and gents. Please welcome Derek Jones, professionally
and affectionately known as d.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
Yes. Hey Man, Welcome man.
Speaker 12 (16:55):
I feel so good to be here today. Thank you
for having me.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Thanks for gracing us with your magnificent presence. We like
to end this show with a little segment where I
asked my guests to share something that happened to them,
or something someone said or did that came to them
as a shock or a surprise. We call this segment
(17:18):
neda what what say you?
Speaker 1 (17:20):
D nice jeez?
Speaker 12 (17:22):
Without naming any names, I don't want to do that.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
You don't have to do that.
Speaker 12 (17:25):
But there was there was someone who like in my business,
who you know, I still have a lot of respect
for him because he was this Seeover record company that
I was a part of, you know, back in the day.
And I remember him calling me and saying like, who
would have ever thought you would be here still doing
(17:46):
your thing? And that to me was like that was
my my nittle what what like?
Speaker 1 (17:51):
You should have been dead long ago? That was me.
He was insinuating that you should have been over.
Speaker 12 (17:56):
No, that I should have been over exactly, and you're
still here, I'm still here, and it was just like
middle what, Yeah, I'm here because I believed in myself
and also because what I do resonates with people, and
they believe in they uplift me, and it's my job
to uplift other people, you know. So that was my
knitter What moment.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
Now let's turn to wicked drummer Cindy black Man Santana,
whose favorite hobby is of all things archery niter what.
Sometimes even a black magic woman can be surprised. Imagine
being proposed to on the stage in the middle of
a concert. Cindy shares that experience in her knitter What Moment.
(18:41):
My guest today is one of my sisters from Another Mista,
an incredible musician, singer and songwriter who has played drums
and percussion for an impressive list of top jazz and
pop artists. These include John McLaughlin, Farrell Sanders, Josh Stone,
and Cassandra Wilson, just to name a few. But she
(19:01):
really rose to prominence while touring and recording with the
awesome Lenny Kravitz Band for over fifteen years and now
continues to shine while touring with her husband the legendary
guitarist Carlos Santana. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the beautiful
and talented missus Cindy Blackman Santana.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Hey, Cindy Blackman, Hey, it's been a minute, girl. I
miss you. I miss your face.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
I'm happy that you're doing well and flourishing and happy
in love and life and music.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
I want your life.
Speaker 13 (19:37):
You got it. All those things are happening. I'm very
happy for you.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Is there a moment that you can share with our
audience where you had your own Nita?
Speaker 1 (19:50):
What moment?
Speaker 13 (19:55):
A couple of them. One of them actually was the
way that Carlos proposed to me because he did it
on stage. No what, Yes, we were in Chicago and
my dad, God bless him, was alive at that point
and living in Chicago, and so we went to his
(20:16):
house and you know, he met Carlos and I was
just kind of hanging out, sitting in with the band.
I wasn't in the band at that point, and so
when I did sit in, you know, Carlos would introduce me,
and you know, once in a while he would call
me up to the front of the stage. But that
was kind of rare. He would just introduce me usually
and then I hop off and then they continue on
(20:37):
with the set. And this time I played and took
solo and everything, and then he called me up to
the front of the stage and he kept talking and
I'm like, why is he talking? And I don't know
what he's talking about, and he's kind of nervous, you know,
and he just talking, talking, talking, talking talking, and then
finally he popped the question. He asked me if I
(20:57):
had married, and I was like, what, Oh my, So
that was a big one.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
One of my favorite people is actor Michael T. Williamson,
whose hobby is restoring vintage cars and trucks.
Speaker 13 (21:11):
What.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Michael T.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
Will not sacrifice his principles as an actor, even if
it puts a choke hold on his career.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
Don't try this, man, Bubba Gump, don't play that.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Here's Michael T with his most memorable Nita What moment?
Speaker 10 (21:24):
Nitta What?
Speaker 2 (21:25):
My guest today is a remarkable actor, writer, and director
who comes to us with an impressive list of successful film,
TV and live on stage credits, including Ali con Air
and the Oscar nominated film Fences.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Just to name a few.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
But he's probably most remembered as the affable and truly
lovable character Bubba in Forrest Gump. Ladies and gentlemen, please
welcome mister Michael T.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Williamson.
Speaker 6 (21:51):
Say hello, everybody, thanks for being here. I just I
just guested. I did an eight episode guest star arc
on a series, and halfway through the woman who I
went over to do the deal with was replaced. Ooh.
So I was like, all right, lord, you got this.
So they started the new writer started writing things that
(22:13):
I considered extremely racist, okay, and I was like, that's
not what I signed up for. And the lady that
got replaced she knew, but she was gone.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
Maybe that's why she left.
Speaker 6 (22:25):
And so I was fixing this stuff every day, and
then they had they wanted me to snatch a little
white girl. I said, no, My character is supposed to
be like a high profile drug lord, gangster guy who's
smart enough to get rid of the Italian mob and
the Albanian mob. So why is he doing all this
like low level, chokey out kind of why is this
(22:46):
cognition suddenly so low? What's going on? He's mean, he's horrible.
So I said, I'm not snatching a little white girl,
y'all to forget that.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
You don't fix this.
Speaker 6 (22:56):
I'm like, look, as hard as I've been working to
be Michael T. Williamson, now I'm supposed to sell it.
Everything I'm about. I told y'all what I would and
would not do for I got it. I said, no
victimizing women, children, elderly people. I'm not disparaging groups, and
I'm not doing your politics or your religion. So I
told them I wouldn't choke this woman because they came
up with a scene for me to grab her by
her throat and choke her and slamm her against the
(23:17):
wall so she could say, I would be afraid if
you actually had the balls to do anything. So now
it's about the black brother's balls. It's about all this stuff.
What and this is a mixed race person who presents
as a white person and that's fine. Ain't nothing wrong
with that, And there's something wrong with you. That's we
(23:39):
are who we are. This person filed a false HR
claim against me because she got so mad because I
wouldn't choke her. They said, well, she said, there's no
drama in the scene. I said, well, what you're gonna do? Tee?
I said, well, listen, you can choke your damnself. You
got two hands, throw yourself around the room, Gyre, It'll
(24:00):
be you always accused me of taking the drama out
of the scene that don't have so much drama in
it that the audience will not be able to walk away.
Everybody will be talking about it. But I ended up
checking her, so she so HR ended up investigating me.
I said, what, I'm a guest star. I said, all right,
it's cool. Whatever. So I called all my prayer partners
(24:20):
all across the country. I said, look at this. They
were like, Nida, what, Nida?
Speaker 10 (24:24):
What?
Speaker 6 (24:25):
Fast forward? I'm investigated. So then the HR. I talked
to HR. They interview me, and I'm transparent. I tell
the truth about everything, man, because I ain't scared of nobody.
So HR asked me two questions. Did I say I
was I represented straight black man? I said, yeah, of course,
but whatever you represent supposed to do it at the
highest level. That's right, whatever that is. And then they
(24:45):
asked me if I said she presented this white I
was like yeah, and I explained. I was like, but
it was listen. If I were an apology or something
that I will jump all over that even if I
don't whatever. Yeah, I'm gonna get you some I'm gonna
give you some love, and y'all can until me if
it qualified. But they finally investigated and they said it
was unsubstantiate that her quest it was. But Claire, we'll
(25:08):
all right, I because listen, I ain't mad at her.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
Okay, I'll know. I let it go.
Speaker 6 (25:12):
But the story I have to share so that people
who may be going through something similar can be encouraged
to keep going. Because people are not my source anyway,
know yours people are vessels and when they hook me up,
they get so blessed.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
We'll be right back after this short break. Welcome back
to the Uppity Knitter podcast. Nida What Don't Judge a
Wet Suit by its color, actor, singer, songwriter, and certified
scuba diver, Miss down Lewis. Her talents will not be
minimized in her niter What moment.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
Nida What, My.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
Guest today is one of my favorite people in the
whole wide world and amazing actor, singer, songwriter, and voiceover talent.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
A true renaissance woman.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
Her film and TV and live on stage credits include
Grey's Anatomy, The Simpsons, and Spider Man, just to name
a few, but she's probably best remembered for her roles
as Jalisa on the TV show A Different World and
as Robin on Hanging with Mister Cooper, two shows that
back in the day kept me in front of my
(26:21):
TV screen. Ladies and gents, please welcome the beautiful and
talented miss don Lewis.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
Hi, Donny, Hi, sit doing so good?
Speaker 6 (26:31):
So good?
Speaker 1 (26:32):
What say you? Don Lewis?
Speaker 11 (26:35):
I don't think we have enough time in his podcast
for those. Uh yeah, there's.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
A few of those. There's a few of those.
Speaker 11 (26:49):
One of the things in life, all right, you asked me,
has there ever been an opportunity to play a scuba
person in a film or whatever? Yeah, whichever. It's very
interesting when people professionally have preconceived notions about who we
are and what our skill set must be based on
(27:11):
what they think we are exactly. So I've actually had
people say, see, like, the worst thing you can do
is tell me my limitations without even knowing me. So
you kind of get that look from me. I've gotten
a lot better at the verbal part not coming out.
It just kind of stops at the look and you
(27:32):
see it behind anyone who knows me can see it
behind my eyes before I formulate what actually comes out
of my mouth. But it's been it's been a few
of those opper tunities where people want you for what
you bring to the table, whether it's your celebrity or
your talent. Yet the way that they treat you is
(27:55):
to minimize you, as though you are inconsequential.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
That's so they don't have to pay you. It said,
they don't have to pay you.
Speaker 11 (28:01):
I think it helps them feel better about themselves or
their importance in the scheme of things. But yeah, but
that's like the worst thing that you could do to me.
It's like what you're just saying?
Speaker 1 (28:14):
No, what what didn't you just say to me?
Speaker 11 (28:17):
It's like, okay, all right, yeah, so that even happened
recently and my response was okay, you can send me
home now.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
But oh wow, yeah, but.
Speaker 11 (28:28):
We still have more stuff to do in the contract,
I said, oh, the contract you want me to honor
that you're not gonna honor yet, that's not gonna happen.
I'm not that girl. That's a good nddle what that's
a good nitt of what moment you think? Because I
should just be happy to be in your production whatever
it is.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
They say, no, it doesn't work like that. It doesn't
work like teach Donnie.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
And for our final knitter, what moment, let's hear from
highly acclaimed trumpet player, composer and occasional boxer, mister Terrence Blanchard.
Speaker 1 (28:59):
Now, Terrence is had to deal.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
With all kinds of cotton picking bs as a black
traveling musician in America. It ain't always all that jazz.
Speaker 11 (29:07):
Now.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
What my guest today is a legendary seven time Grammy
Award winning and twice Oscar nominated musician, composer, and educator,
the remarkable Terrence Blanchard.
Speaker 1 (29:20):
Let me tell you something about Terrence.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
This man has been a consistent artistic force for making
powerful musical statements in film and television. He stands tall
as one of jazz's most important trumpeters and composers. He's
globally recognized as a dazzling soloist and a prolific creator
of musical composition for film, television, the opera stage, Broadway,
(29:43):
the La film, and from his work composing scores for
over twenty Spike Lee projects spanning over three decades, ranging
from the documentary When the Levees broke to Lee's film
The Five Bloods. Blanchard has interwoven beautiful month melodies that
created strong backdrops to these human stories, like Regina King's
(30:06):
One Night in Miami, Casey Lemon's Harriet and Eve's By You,
George Lucas's Red Tails where we met on the set
in Prague, also the drama series Perry Mason, the National
Geographic limited series Genius Aretha, and, among others, Gina Prince
by the Wood, and Viola Davis's critically acclaimed feature.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
Film The Woman King.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
Terrence Blanchard, thanks so much for accepting my invitation to
help me kick off my brand new career in podcasting.
I'm truly honored to have you as my guest today.
Speaker 9 (30:41):
Thank you for asking me to be I'm honored that
you asked. Don't you call me. I'm just so honed
to be here.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
Thank you.
Speaker 9 (30:48):
We were out of the restaurant New Orleans one night,
man and this guy came over and he was drunk,
you know, he was, you know, and it's always it's
always funny. Oh, I'm gonna tell you another.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
Okay, you can tell me that one later too, ye.
Speaker 9 (31:01):
Yeah, yeah. So I'm playing with my band, you know,
out and we were in Wisconsin. I'll just say that.
I won't tell you what city, but we were in
Wisconsin and I've been at the time. My show was
really about gun violence, and I would speak on it
during the show, you know what I mean. So after
(31:22):
the show, man, we're outside, we're all getting in the
bus to go back to the hotel. And the guitarist
in my band is white, and it was this white
guy standing in front of the entrance to the bus,
you know, blocking my way to get in. And I was,
excuse me, let me get around you. Excuse me. I
gotta go, I gotta go. And he kept pointing to
(31:44):
the guitarist. He say, hey, man, can I talk to you?
And he said, yeah, sure, sure. Can you get out
of the van?
Speaker 1 (31:50):
We were in the van.
Speaker 9 (31:51):
He said, can you get out of the van to come?
He says, no, no, no, just talk to me now.
And then he started talking about, you know, you could
take your liberal bullshit and shove it up your ass,
you know what I mean. Oh my okay, And I said,
I said, hey, bro, you need to move on.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
You need to move on.
Speaker 9 (32:07):
And I don't know if you ever saw that there
was this video of this xbox up by in front
of a bodega, and uh, some guy was messing with him,
and another guy kept saying, don't hit him, Champ. Don't
hit him Champ, you know what I mean. So we
had saw the video earlier, kept telling the guy said, yo, man,
you need to you need to move on. So the
bass player and it was getting pretty tense, right, So
(32:30):
the bass player was like, don't hit him Champ. Don't
hit him Champ. So anyway, anyway broke up.
Speaker 6 (32:37):
It broke up.
Speaker 9 (32:37):
The attention to made us laugh. The other story that
I was going to tell you was I was at
a restaurant with some friends, friends of mine, and we
were just sitting there having a good time, and this
white dude came. He walked up to us and he goes,
what does it feel like to pick cotton?
Speaker 1 (32:54):
Oh no he didn't.
Speaker 9 (32:57):
Yes he did, Yes he did, Yes he did. And
I was right, And I was the first guy that
they grabbed. You Like, no, bro, I'm like no.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
No, no, no, I like, bro, Wow, he's.
Speaker 9 (33:11):
Drunk, he's drunk. Just let him go on about his business,
you know what I mean. But I think it's I
just think that is just amazing. You know how we
experience these things in this in this world. You know
that's that's still.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
Mostly in this country, though mostly in this country.
Speaker 9 (33:26):
Mostly in this country. You're right, You're right, because we
don't we don't tend to celebrate our differences.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
That's true.
Speaker 9 (33:33):
Yeah, like other countries do.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
So my friends, that's going to do it for us.
On the very first season of The Uppity Knitter Podcast,
Celebrity Hobbies Uncovered, I want to thank all my guests
and my listeners and hope that we brought a little
bit of joy, light, laughter, information, inspiration and encouragement to
your life.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
That's right. Try a new hobby, expand.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
Your world outside the box, outside your comfort zone, something
that you can be passionate about. I chose knitting and
crocheng and that's given me hours and hours of calm,
peace and serenity, a productive activity, and an entire wardrobe
of original handmade clothing. You can find the full interviews
in all episodes of The Uppity Knitter Podcast on the
(34:19):
iHeart podcast Network, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts,
and on behalf of all uppity knitters around the world.
This is Saia Garrett signing off until next season, and
remember you're the.
Speaker 1 (34:32):
Perfect fan for me. I love you, I dude. The
Uppity Knitter Podcast is brought to you by Black Chick Productions.
Our show is hosted by Say To Garrett, Our producer
is Eric Nurie, and we're recorded and edited by Felicia
Morris at Marris Media Studios in Los Angeles. Special thanks
(34:54):
go out to our friends at iHeartMedia and Seneca Women
Hello.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I'm Saita Garrett and uppity knitter and host of the
Uppity Knitter podcast Celebrity Hobbies Uncovered, the show where some
of your favorite celebs spilled the tea on their hobbies
and their private goings on when not on stage, on camera,
or in the studio. Today, we have a very special
episode where some of my guests from season one share
(00:22):
their recollections of something that happened to them or something
that someone said or did that came as a big
shock or surprise. We call this segment Knitter What, and
we're thoroughly entertained by their stories.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Let's turn to my dear friend and active roller.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Skater, mister RuPaul Charles to get us started.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
I have one thing to say, you better'll work.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
My guest today is the ubiquitous actor, singer, songwriter, musician,
recording artist, author, podcaster, brand ambassador, Broadway producer, radio and
TV show host, executive produce, husband and all around ride.
A brother from another mother and sister from another Mister,
(01:07):
ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the most commercially successful drag
queen in the history of the world, with twelve Primetime
Emmy Awards, a Tony Ward and a star. Hello, I'm
the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Please one of my dearest friends,
mister RuPaul, Charles, my darling. I must admit you're handsome
(01:30):
and beautiful at the same time. We call this segment
Nita What so, mister RuPaul, do you have a Nita
what moment?
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Well, let me think about that, because when you know,
you know, obviously, there are a lot of things that
happen that are very surprising.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
You know.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Uh, I won my twelfth Emmy, and I really give
please yes, because it's this is the seventh consecutive win
for a host of a reality competition show. So I
thought this time for sure they would say, okay, we've
had enough for you.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
But Kelly Clarkson to win one.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Well exactly, so you know, so I was surprised at that.
But that's not really a knit or what story. Let
me think about it.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
It's when you what you probably said, No he didn't,
Oh no she didn't.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
If that moment right, huh me?
Speaker 3 (02:37):
I mean just you know a lot of I've lived
a long time.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
I'm sure I have Okay, I'll.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Take a moment.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Let me think about my Oh.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Okay, please share okay, Well we were talking about her earlier.
Speaker 5 (02:55):
But you know, in nineteen ninety five, I was summon
for a command performance for the Queen of Soul.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
And George, George George was with me, and he will
he will tell you he saw the same thing. Well,
you know, before I left to go to the venue,
she sent her assistant over with a check to pay me,
and it was written out by miss Franklin to me.
(03:34):
And I looked at the check and the check was
made out to Ruth Paul.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
She probably really thought that that was your name, Ruth
Paul Fleuss, Sir, hearright.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Next step, we're fortunate to be joined by mister Marlon
Wayans and his passion for collecting sneakers? Middle, What imagine
being a stand up comic nowadays and being attacked on stage?
Listen to Marlon Wayans describe the new perils of stand
up comedy in.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
His knitter What Moment?
Speaker 6 (04:18):
Middle What?
Speaker 2 (04:19):
My guest today is the remarkable actor, writer, director, and
comedian who has a long list of TV, stand up
and film credits including Scary Movie one and two, Haunted
House one and two, White Chicks one and Maybe two,
If the Buddy's right, and recoreem for a Dream and
Oscar nominated respect along with Jennifer Hudson. Mister Marlon Wayans,
(04:43):
thanks so much for gracing us with your presence. I'm
sure you have fifty eleven other things you could have
been doing today, but you're here.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
When they said it with you, I said, I'm.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
In excellent love you for that. Do you have a story?
What say you?
Speaker 4 (04:57):
Oh? Man? The last at what moment I had? I
was backstage at a concert with Chappelle at the Hollywood
Bowl and then some dude this is after this this
Chris Rock will Smith slapped in and some dude came
on stage to try and tackle Dave and Davis.
Speaker 7 (05:17):
You know, I heard about that and I was part
of the show. I was like, wait a second, that
don't look right. So I went over there to look,
and of course the hood brother and me came out,
and I wanted to get my stomping, but I've seen
security was doing the damn good job and stopping him.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
He would looked like the same race. He was all swollen.
Speaker 7 (05:42):
I think he started out black brother look Asian. By
the end they had they hit him in his head.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Went wow.
Speaker 4 (05:49):
Man.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
When he came on stage said.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
What our next guest director, Spike Lee, collects art, baseball cards,
and comic books. Spike has a knitterwet story that's a
bit more well sobering.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
My guest today is.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Spike Lee, the legendary and two time Academy Award winning writer, director,
and educator. Spike has a long, long list of successful
film and TV and advertising credits, far too many to
report on this broadcast. Spike Lee's films have played such
an important role in how I see myself in the world.
(06:33):
His films have become a part of my generation's DNA,
and they've had a profound effect on my personal life.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Starting with one of.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
His early films, She's Got to Have It. He shot
that in black and white in twelve days. That movie
helped me understand how men think about women and how
men think about sex, and the character Nola Darling's role
reversal was so refreshing. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It showed
me that women can think like a man.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
Thank you, Steve Harvey.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Another one of his films that had an impact on
my young adult life was Spike's nineteen eighty eight School Days.
As a high school grad, I didn't even think it
was possible for me to go to an historic black
college or university. I mean, the whole idea of sororities
and fraternities with such a foreign concept to me. But
(07:24):
Spike made college life seem like so much fun and
at the same time, he exposed the reality of colorism
within the Black community.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Man and then and do the right thing.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
He goes even further by focusing on the racial unrest
in his own Brooklyn neighborhood. The song fight the Power
by Public Enemy became synonymous with the movie. Then Spike
Lee's film Malcolm X. That caused me to reflect on
my brief time as a kid in the Nation of Islam.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Yeh, that's right.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
I used to be an mg T Muslim Girls in Training.
That was serious, y'all. It was a great time in
my life. I enjoyed it so much, And y'all didn't know.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
That, did you.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
In fact, at thirteen, I changed my name from Deborah
Christine to Saida, which means happiness, starlike and lucky.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Very important part of my growing up.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Another one of Spike's films that impacted my thought process
was Jungle Fever because.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
I happen to be dating a white guy at the time.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
And the conversations we had after seeing that movie together
were eye opening. I'm telling you, I was lucky enough
to be on set in Spike Lee's film The Sweet
Blood of Jesus and I got to see him in
action doing what he does best, and I was able
to contribute a song to the soundtrack. Hey, Spike, thanks
(08:54):
for joining us and gracing us with your presence.
Speaker 8 (08:57):
I'm sure you have a million things to be here
on the podcast of you my System.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Thank you for joining us. You're one of my favorite
people on the planet, and anyone who knows me knows
that I when I truly like someone.
Speaker 6 (09:11):
Who got me beat? Though, don't lie who had you beat?
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Michael?
Speaker 2 (09:17):
I said, my favorite, one of my favorite people.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
On the planet.
Speaker 6 (09:21):
Am I still with us?
Speaker 1 (09:22):
He's not. He's not on the planet. He's in the ethos.
He's in the ethos, He's in our beat found of
the planet. We'll work with that, Okay. Do you have
a knittle what experience?
Speaker 2 (09:36):
And if you do, wait, can you deliver it in
your Mars Blackman voice.
Speaker 8 (09:42):
There's an article written about me and was a negative
review of one of my films, and it said that
I had not graduated college. Great, and I wrote a
letter to New York Times.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
They had to correct that.
Speaker 8 (10:00):
Yes, indeed, I mean not only that I graduate Morehouse,
but my father went to Morals, my grandfather went to Morals,
and my mother and grandmother went to Stollman.
Speaker 4 (10:11):
Wow.
Speaker 8 (10:12):
So I come along line and educated black folks. No,
and that's typical where we're not give them the credit
that we deserve. But you know I'm not striving for that.
Speaker 9 (10:29):
You know, I'm just doing my thing.
Speaker 8 (10:31):
But just with the story I just told you, I mean,
I never spoke to the person, but I had to
let the New York Times know that that was some bs.
And don't they have fact checkers, hockey right that I
never graduated college.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Somebody didn't check nothing.
Speaker 8 (10:48):
So I just got I just rolled out of the
cotton pats, the cotton picking niggas, and just make films
from it.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
For our next knitter what moment, let's revisit my interview
with the Queen of Percussion, the beautiful and talented Miss
Sheila E, who loves playing poker and ping pong and
her don't stop till you get enough album credit or
lack thereof. No what My guest today is a legendary drummer, percussionist, singer, songwriter,
(11:25):
recording artist, music director Arthur, philanthropist Darling, and podcaster who's
work with or recorded on albums by music giants like
Michael Jackson, Marvin Gay, Lionel Ritchie, Diana Ross, Phil Collins,
Herbie Hancock, ringo star Beyonce, Cyndi Lauper, Gloria Estevon, and
(11:51):
a little giant known as Prince affectionately regarded as the
Queen of Percussion. Now with a Latin Grammy for a
Lifetime You Heard Me, a Lifetime Achievement Award, a star
on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and co host and
music director for the new hit game show Which I've
(12:13):
seen Lataia Loka, the remarkable Miss Sheila E thank you.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Sheila, my sister.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
Does anything come to mind for you?
Speaker 10 (12:27):
Sheila? Uhh?
Speaker 1 (12:33):
Why you think about that?
Speaker 11 (12:34):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (12:35):
No, wait, I got you know what.
Speaker 10 (12:37):
No, I'm thinking about it just because you're here. Otherwise
I wouldn't have thought of this. This is so crazy, Okay, okay,
So because you work with Michael, of course everyone knows
Michael Jackson. If you don't know, all right, So because
you work with Michael. It's something that was done. Oh
my god, I can't okay. So Michael calls me up.
(12:57):
This was after Off the Wall was done, his first record.
He calls me and he says, meet me. I'm in
the Bay Area. I was living in the Bay Area.
Then meet me in the Bay Area at Leopold's Records,
and I'm gonna go there and sign records. So I
want you to be with me while I'm there. And
I was like, okay, So I meet him there. So
(13:17):
I go. I get there early and the album is
there because you know, they've got stacks of him because
he's gonna sign sign the records. So I picked it
up and I couldn't wait because I played on the record.
I played on don't stop till you get enough, right wow?
And so the bottle thing dun d that's me playing
the bottles. I tuned the bottle.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 10 (13:38):
See, you didn't even know that.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
I love that, No, I didn't.
Speaker 10 (13:43):
Yeah, So I put water in the water bottles because
Quincy called me, Michael's making these sounds. I don't know
what it is. Can you just bring you know whatever?
So I got water bottles and played the water bottles
to make the sound on don't stop till you get enough.
So I'm like, oh my god, this is awesome. My
name is gonna be on Michael's first record. So I
get to Leopold's and I pull up the record and
(14:05):
I'm looking for my name and my name's not on
the record. Then what So the shocker was, Oh, they
forgot Quincy, forgot to put my name on the record
Q and I was not the only one that they
left off. So I didn't feel bad filling games, I
think whoa, I think so yeah. So so the crazy
(14:26):
thing about it was what they said was, oops, we forgot.
I'm like all things you couldn't have like done it
in the next print, like really, oh.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
It never it never happened.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Oh wow, I get royalties, but I don't.
Speaker 10 (14:42):
My name is not on it. And not only that,
I still need to get I told Quincy, I still
don't have the album up here. Wow, I don't have
that record.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Oh man, so maybe you can't help me. Maybe I
can let me, let me see if I can put
a put a good word in for you girls.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
All right, for real, that's okay.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
We're gonna take a quick break and be right back.
Welcome back to the Uppity Knitter Podcast. What Next Up
is everybody's favorite DJ, D Nice, who has turned his
hobby of photography into a serious part of his profile.
(15:25):
We nice to d Nice because he's still doing his
thing after all these years, despite some people's expectations. In
his NITTA what Moment, Here's d Nice.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
My guest today.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
Is best known for his work as a DJ, but
also as a very accomplished recording artist, music producer, photographer,
web designer, and entrepreneur. Who began as a DJ for
the groundbreaking hip hop group Boogie Down Productions and the
legendary KRS one. He's gone on to build an impressive
(16:01):
career in the music business, spinning at very high level
events including the White House, the Kennedy Center, Opera House,
the Carnegie.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Hall, the Hollywood Bowl.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
And a Las Vegas residency, and repeatedly winning awards along
the way. These include be ET's DJ of the Year
Award and naacp Immage Award and ASCAP Award, and the
list goes on. But more importantly, what this brother receives
from the black community and the music community as a
whole is the genuine love and respect reserved for only
(16:40):
the greats. Ladies and gents. Please welcome Derek Jones, professionally
and affectionately known as d.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
Yes. Hey Man, Welcome man.
Speaker 12 (16:55):
I feel so good to be here today. Thank you
for having me.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Thanks for gracing us with your magnificent presence. We like
to end this show with a little segment where I
asked my guests to share something that happened to them,
or something someone said or did that came to them
as a shock or a surprise. We call this segment
(17:18):
neda what what say you?
Speaker 1 (17:20):
D nice jeez?
Speaker 12 (17:22):
Without naming any names, I don't want to do that.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
You don't have to do that.
Speaker 12 (17:25):
But there was there was someone who like in my business,
who you know, I still have a lot of respect
for him because he was this Seeover record company that
I was a part of, you know, back in the day.
And I remember him calling me and saying like, who
would have ever thought you would be here still doing
(17:46):
your thing? And that to me was like that was
my my nittle what what like?
Speaker 1 (17:51):
You should have been dead long ago? That was me.
He was insinuating that you should have been over.
Speaker 12 (17:56):
No, that I should have been over exactly, and you're
still here, I'm still here, and it was just like
middle what, Yeah, I'm here because I believed in myself
and also because what I do resonates with people, and
they believe in they uplift me, and it's my job
to uplift other people, you know. So that was my
knitter What moment.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
Now let's turn to wicked drummer Cindy black Man Santana,
whose favorite hobby is of all things archery niter what.
Sometimes even a black magic woman can be surprised. Imagine
being proposed to on the stage in the middle of
a concert. Cindy shares that experience in her knitter What Moment.
(18:41):
My guest today is one of my sisters from Another Mista,
an incredible musician, singer and songwriter who has played drums
and percussion for an impressive list of top jazz and
pop artists. These include John McLaughlin, Farrell Sanders, Josh Stone,
and Cassandra Wilson, just to name a few. But she
(19:01):
really rose to prominence while touring and recording with the
awesome Lenny Kravitz Band for over fifteen years and now
continues to shine while touring with her husband the legendary
guitarist Carlos Santana. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the beautiful
and talented missus Cindy Blackman Santana.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Hey, Cindy Blackman, Hey, it's been a minute, girl. I
miss you. I miss your face.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
I'm happy that you're doing well and flourishing and happy
in love and life and music.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
I want your life.
Speaker 13 (19:37):
You got it. All those things are happening. I'm very
happy for you.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Is there a moment that you can share with our
audience where you had your own Nita?
Speaker 1 (19:50):
What moment?
Speaker 13 (19:55):
A couple of them. One of them actually was the
way that Carlos proposed to me because he did it
on stage. No what, Yes, we were in Chicago and
my dad, God bless him, was alive at that point
and living in Chicago, and so we went to his
(20:16):
house and you know, he met Carlos and I was
just kind of hanging out, sitting in with the band.
I wasn't in the band at that point, and so
when I did sit in, you know, Carlos would introduce me,
and you know, once in a while he would call
me up to the front of the stage. But that
was kind of rare. He would just introduce me usually
and then I hop off and then they continue on
(20:37):
with the set. And this time I played and took
solo and everything, and then he called me up to
the front of the stage and he kept talking and
I'm like, why is he talking? And I don't know
what he's talking about, and he's kind of nervous, you know,
and he just talking, talking, talking, talking talking, and then
finally he popped the question. He asked me if I
(20:57):
had married, and I was like, what, Oh my, So
that was a big one.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
One of my favorite people is actor Michael T. Williamson,
whose hobby is restoring vintage cars and trucks.
Speaker 13 (21:11):
What.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Michael T.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
Will not sacrifice his principles as an actor, even if
it puts a choke hold on his career.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
Don't try this, man, Bubba Gump, don't play that.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Here's Michael T with his most memorable Nita What moment?
Speaker 10 (21:24):
Nitta What?
Speaker 2 (21:25):
My guest today is a remarkable actor, writer, and director
who comes to us with an impressive list of successful film,
TV and live on stage credits, including Ali con Air
and the Oscar nominated film Fences.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Just to name a few.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
But he's probably most remembered as the affable and truly
lovable character Bubba in Forrest Gump. Ladies and gentlemen, please
welcome mister Michael T.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Williamson.
Speaker 6 (21:51):
Say hello, everybody, thanks for being here. I just I
just guested. I did an eight episode guest star arc
on a series, and halfway through the woman who I
went over to do the deal with was replaced. Ooh.
So I was like, all right, lord, you got this.
So they started the new writer started writing things that
(22:13):
I considered extremely racist, okay, and I was like, that's
not what I signed up for. And the lady that
got replaced she knew, but she was gone.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
Maybe that's why she left.
Speaker 6 (22:25):
And so I was fixing this stuff every day, and
then they had they wanted me to snatch a little
white girl. I said, no, My character is supposed to
be like a high profile drug lord, gangster guy who's
smart enough to get rid of the Italian mob and
the Albanian mob. So why is he doing all this
like low level, chokey out kind of why is this
(22:46):
cognition suddenly so low? What's going on? He's mean, he's horrible.
So I said, I'm not snatching a little white girl,
y'all to forget that.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
You don't fix this.
Speaker 6 (22:56):
I'm like, look, as hard as I've been working to
be Michael T. Williamson, now I'm supposed to sell it.
Everything I'm about. I told y'all what I would and
would not do for I got it. I said, no
victimizing women, children, elderly people. I'm not disparaging groups, and
I'm not doing your politics or your religion. So I
told them I wouldn't choke this woman because they came
up with a scene for me to grab her by
her throat and choke her and slamm her against the
(23:17):
wall so she could say, I would be afraid if
you actually had the balls to do anything. So now
it's about the black brother's balls. It's about all this stuff.
What and this is a mixed race person who presents
as a white person and that's fine. Ain't nothing wrong
with that, And there's something wrong with you. That's we
(23:39):
are who we are. This person filed a false HR
claim against me because she got so mad because I
wouldn't choke her. They said, well, she said, there's no
drama in the scene. I said, well, what you're gonna do? Tee?
I said, well, listen, you can choke your damnself. You
got two hands, throw yourself around the room, Gyre, It'll
(24:00):
be you always accused me of taking the drama out
of the scene that don't have so much drama in
it that the audience will not be able to walk away.
Everybody will be talking about it. But I ended up
checking her, so she so HR ended up investigating me.
I said, what, I'm a guest star. I said, all right,
it's cool. Whatever. So I called all my prayer partners
(24:20):
all across the country. I said, look at this. They
were like, Nida, what, Nida?
Speaker 10 (24:24):
What?
Speaker 6 (24:25):
Fast forward? I'm investigated. So then the HR. I talked
to HR. They interview me, and I'm transparent. I tell
the truth about everything, man, because I ain't scared of nobody.
So HR asked me two questions. Did I say I
was I represented straight black man? I said, yeah, of course,
but whatever you represent supposed to do it at the
highest level. That's right, whatever that is. And then they
(24:45):
asked me if I said she presented this white I
was like yeah, and I explained. I was like, but
it was listen. If I were an apology or something
that I will jump all over that even if I
don't whatever. Yeah, I'm gonna get you some I'm gonna
give you some love, and y'all can until me if
it qualified. But they finally investigated and they said it
was unsubstantiate that her quest it was. But Claire, we'll
(25:08):
all right, I because listen, I ain't mad at her.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
Okay, I'll know. I let it go.
Speaker 6 (25:12):
But the story I have to share so that people
who may be going through something similar can be encouraged
to keep going. Because people are not my source anyway,
know yours people are vessels and when they hook me up,
they get so blessed.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
We'll be right back after this short break. Welcome back
to the Uppity Knitter podcast. Nida What Don't Judge a
Wet Suit by its color, actor, singer, songwriter, and certified
scuba diver, Miss down Lewis. Her talents will not be
minimized in her niter What moment.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
Nida What, My.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
Guest today is one of my favorite people in the
whole wide world and amazing actor, singer, songwriter, and voiceover talent.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
A true renaissance woman.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
Her film and TV and live on stage credits include
Grey's Anatomy, The Simpsons, and Spider Man, just to name
a few, but she's probably best remembered for her roles
as Jalisa on the TV show A Different World and
as Robin on Hanging with Mister Cooper, two shows that
back in the day kept me in front of my
(26:21):
TV screen. Ladies and gents, please welcome the beautiful and
talented miss don Lewis.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
Hi, Donny, Hi, sit doing so good?
Speaker 6 (26:31):
So good?
Speaker 1 (26:32):
What say you? Don Lewis?
Speaker 11 (26:35):
I don't think we have enough time in his podcast
for those. Uh yeah, there's.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
A few of those. There's a few of those.
Speaker 11 (26:49):
One of the things in life, all right, you asked me,
has there ever been an opportunity to play a scuba
person in a film or whatever? Yeah, whichever. It's very
interesting when people professionally have preconceived notions about who we
are and what our skill set must be based on
(27:11):
what they think we are exactly. So I've actually had
people say, see, like, the worst thing you can do
is tell me my limitations without even knowing me. So
you kind of get that look from me. I've gotten
a lot better at the verbal part not coming out.
It just kind of stops at the look and you
(27:32):
see it behind anyone who knows me can see it
behind my eyes before I formulate what actually comes out
of my mouth. But it's been it's been a few
of those opper tunities where people want you for what
you bring to the table, whether it's your celebrity or
your talent. Yet the way that they treat you is
(27:55):
to minimize you, as though you are inconsequential.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
That's so they don't have to pay you. It said,
they don't have to pay you.
Speaker 11 (28:01):
I think it helps them feel better about themselves or
their importance in the scheme of things. But yeah, but
that's like the worst thing that you could do to me.
It's like what you're just saying?
Speaker 1 (28:14):
No, what what didn't you just say to me?
Speaker 11 (28:17):
It's like, okay, all right, yeah, so that even happened
recently and my response was okay, you can send me
home now.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
But oh wow, yeah, but.
Speaker 11 (28:28):
We still have more stuff to do in the contract,
I said, oh, the contract you want me to honor
that you're not gonna honor yet, that's not gonna happen.
I'm not that girl. That's a good nddle what that's
a good nitt of what moment you think? Because I
should just be happy to be in your production whatever
it is.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
They say, no, it doesn't work like that. It doesn't
work like teach Donnie.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
And for our final knitter, what moment, let's hear from
highly acclaimed trumpet player, composer and occasional boxer, mister Terrence Blanchard.
Speaker 1 (28:59):
Now, Terrence is had to deal.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
With all kinds of cotton picking bs as a black
traveling musician in America. It ain't always all that jazz.
Speaker 11 (29:07):
Now.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
What my guest today is a legendary seven time Grammy
Award winning and twice Oscar nominated musician, composer, and educator,
the remarkable Terrence Blanchard.
Speaker 1 (29:20):
Let me tell you something about Terrence.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
This man has been a consistent artistic force for making
powerful musical statements in film and television. He stands tall
as one of jazz's most important trumpeters and composers. He's
globally recognized as a dazzling soloist and a prolific creator
of musical composition for film, television, the opera stage, Broadway,
(29:43):
the La film, and from his work composing scores for
over twenty Spike Lee projects spanning over three decades, ranging
from the documentary When the Levees broke to Lee's film
The Five Bloods. Blanchard has interwoven beautiful month melodies that
created strong backdrops to these human stories, like Regina King's
(30:06):
One Night in Miami, Casey Lemon's Harriet and Eve's By You,
George Lucas's Red Tails where we met on the set
in Prague, also the drama series Perry Mason, the National
Geographic limited series Genius Aretha, and, among others, Gina Prince
by the Wood, and Viola Davis's critically acclaimed feature.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
Film The Woman King.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
Terrence Blanchard, thanks so much for accepting my invitation to
help me kick off my brand new career in podcasting.
I'm truly honored to have you as my guest today.
Speaker 9 (30:41):
Thank you for asking me to be I'm honored that
you asked. Don't you call me. I'm just so honed
to be here.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
Thank you.
Speaker 9 (30:48):
We were out of the restaurant New Orleans one night,
man and this guy came over and he was drunk,
you know, he was, you know, and it's always it's
always funny. Oh, I'm gonna tell you another.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
Okay, you can tell me that one later too, ye.
Speaker 9 (31:01):
Yeah, yeah. So I'm playing with my band, you know,
out and we were in Wisconsin. I'll just say that.
I won't tell you what city, but we were in
Wisconsin and I've been at the time. My show was
really about gun violence, and I would speak on it
during the show, you know what I mean. So after
(31:22):
the show, man, we're outside, we're all getting in the
bus to go back to the hotel. And the guitarist
in my band is white, and it was this white
guy standing in front of the entrance to the bus,
you know, blocking my way to get in. And I was,
excuse me, let me get around you. Excuse me. I
gotta go, I gotta go. And he kept pointing to
(31:44):
the guitarist. He say, hey, man, can I talk to you?
And he said, yeah, sure, sure. Can you get out
of the van?
Speaker 1 (31:50):
We were in the van.
Speaker 9 (31:51):
He said, can you get out of the van to come?
He says, no, no, no, just talk to me now.
And then he started talking about, you know, you could
take your liberal bullshit and shove it up your ass,
you know what I mean. Oh my okay, And I said,
I said, hey, bro, you need to move on.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
You need to move on.
Speaker 9 (32:07):
And I don't know if you ever saw that there
was this video of this xbox up by in front
of a bodega, and uh, some guy was messing with him,
and another guy kept saying, don't hit him, Champ. Don't
hit him Champ, you know what I mean. So we
had saw the video earlier, kept telling the guy said, yo, man,
you need to you need to move on. So the
bass player and it was getting pretty tense, right, So
(32:30):
the bass player was like, don't hit him Champ. Don't
hit him Champ. So anyway, anyway broke up.
Speaker 6 (32:37):
It broke up.
Speaker 9 (32:37):
The attention to made us laugh. The other story that
I was going to tell you was I was at
a restaurant with some friends, friends of mine, and we
were just sitting there having a good time, and this
white dude came. He walked up to us and he goes,
what does it feel like to pick cotton?
Speaker 1 (32:54):
Oh no he didn't.
Speaker 9 (32:57):
Yes he did, Yes he did, Yes he did. And
I was right, And I was the first guy that
they grabbed. You Like, no, bro, I'm like no.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
No, no, no, I like, bro, Wow, he's.
Speaker 9 (33:11):
Drunk, he's drunk. Just let him go on about his business,
you know what I mean. But I think it's I
just think that is just amazing. You know how we
experience these things in this in this world. You know
that's that's still.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
Mostly in this country, though mostly in this country.
Speaker 9 (33:26):
Mostly in this country. You're right, You're right, because we
don't we don't tend to celebrate our differences.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
That's true.
Speaker 9 (33:33):
Yeah, like other countries do.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
So my friends, that's going to do it for us.
On the very first season of The Uppity Knitter Podcast,
Celebrity Hobbies Uncovered, I want to thank all my guests
and my listeners and hope that we brought a little
bit of joy, light, laughter, information, inspiration and encouragement to
your life.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
That's right. Try a new hobby, expand.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
Your world outside the box, outside your comfort zone, something
that you can be passionate about. I chose knitting and
crocheng and that's given me hours and hours of calm,
peace and serenity, a productive activity, and an entire wardrobe
of original handmade clothing. You can find the full interviews
in all episodes of The Uppity Knitter Podcast on the
(34:19):
iHeart podcast Network, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts,
and on behalf of all uppity knitters around the world.
This is Saia Garrett signing off until next season, and
remember you're the.
Speaker 1 (34:32):
Perfect fan for me. I love you, I dude. The
Uppity Knitter Podcast is brought to you by Black Chick Productions.
Our show is hosted by Say To Garrett, Our producer
is Eric Nurie, and we're recorded and edited by Felicia
Morris at Marris Media Studios in Los Angeles. Special thanks
(34:54):
go out to our friends at iHeartMedia and Seneca Women
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