July 2, 2025 • 32 mins
Today on The Breakfast Club, Nina Parker & KevOnStage Talk 'Friday Night Vibes', TMZ Toxicity. Listen For More!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Wake that ass up in the morning.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
The breakfast Club Morning, everybody.
Speaker 3 (00:05):
Is d J n V just hilarious, Charlamage, the God
we all the breakfast Club. La La Rosa is here
with us, and we got some special guests in the
building this morning.
Speaker 4 (00:13):
The host of the new show Friday Night Vibes on
TV as on a new host Friday Night Vibes on TVs.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Dina Palker Kevin on stage.
Speaker 4 (00:24):
I walked that up because you know, keV didn't talk
about that last time he was here. And I saw
Nina and Cans and Nina was like. Nina was like,
I don't know why he was up there and did
not mention that we're in a new home.
Speaker 5 (00:35):
Friday Night may be having tunnel vision, so you got
all these other projects he was. I watched the interview
and I was so excited, like, I can't wait till
he mentions Friday Night VIOX because we were in the
middle of filming Friday Night.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
About it Man, Friday Night Friday Night Vines.
Speaker 5 (00:51):
And I had just did Taron Hall. I was like, Keith,
I mentioned you and shouted you out and showed your
picture on the.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
I'm being ghastling, I said. At first so it means
it's true.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Maybe that's just not who you are. Because you know,
one of your best friends was up here right just like.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Just right here, and when we told him that you
were coming, he was like, he didn't even tell me
he was here.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
In New York. He was like, we were playing pool
and friendship.
Speaker 5 (01:18):
We saw Tony just in the ground.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
And I was like, what are you doing?
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Tony didn't tell me he was doing the breakfast club.
Speaker 5 (01:23):
But men don't share details like that. Like if it
would have been me and my homegirl, we would have
been like at the hotel having breakfast before we came over.
I feel like, y'all just see each other when you see.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Tony had a show in New York.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
I didn't know that I got tickets to a show, surprising.
Speaker 6 (01:37):
I was gonna pull up.
Speaker 7 (01:41):
Ticket, always buy my tickets. I don't even play that.
I'm not trying to hear it. Don't hear me because
people you ain't even cool with, like what's up on
the ticket? Kevio states dot com.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
It's what I'm talking of them. My parents buy tickets
to my show. I want to support, but.
Speaker 5 (01:55):
Then they want you to give up the ticket.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Yeah, that ain't support.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Parents buy tickets to your shop.
Speaker 7 (02:00):
Parents refuse to get free tickets. They're like, I believe
in you and what you're doing. I'll go get tickets.
Speaker 6 (02:08):
They want to make sure they got loan you no
money ever again.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
No, well yes exactly like you keep doing good. So
you know what I'm saying. I need you to make it.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
You know they're not just testing you just to see
if you're gonna say no, no, no, you'll have done enough.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
I got you.
Speaker 7 (02:20):
No, they buy them, they support for the next show.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
My friends, I don't mind.
Speaker 7 (02:31):
It's people I don't know. We ain't got a relationship.
You trying to get the free tickets. Manna, okay, it's
like a hookup. When I work in Popeye's, I get
my friends a hookup. Not everybody, some of the biscuits.
If you see the price, that's true. How did this
come together?
Speaker 5 (02:44):
You know what's crazy? We actually chem tested together. Kevin
and I knew each other only on social media, like
I was a fan of his work, but we had
never met, so we would you know, exchange on social
media and then you know the show used to be
hosted by Tiffany Hattish and Dione Cole. They were revamping
it and so they did like a big casting call.
So when we got called, and sometimes when you get
(03:04):
to a certain level, you're like, oh, I still got
a kym test. I was like, So we did the
kym test and it was it was actually like a
family reunion. It was about twenty about what, fifteen women,
fifteen men, Yeah, and we were kim testing with our friends.
So it was like a big day. We got in trouble.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
It took all day long.
Speaker 7 (03:23):
Yeah, it was like you you spend five minutes with
this person and okay, y'all done and this person and
when Nina and I went, it was like this sounds cliche,
but I was like, I forgot we were even auditioning.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
We were just chopping it up and they stopped us.
We were like, okay, cool.
Speaker 5 (03:36):
I was like this, we got this. Like there's sometimes
I feel like you get that little voice you know
when you're when you're in this industry, you just know
when something is magic. And we were sitting next to
each other and it was so easy with him. And
I've had a lot of co hosts over the years,
and keV is by far like the easiest person I've
ever worked with.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Oh, that's an ultimate compliment.
Speaker 5 (03:56):
By the way, it's not it's not to him, it's
to his wife, Mulissa, right, because his wife is he
knows how to there is a there's a dance, as
you guys know. And then when you have like a
co host who knows how to communicate in a healthy
way with a woman, it's just like even like he'll
be like you need to sit. I'm like what because
I'm used to people being like, get off the way,
(04:19):
and it's just he's very kind. So it just makes
it so easy to work with.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Nina Ahead, I tell you that all the time.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
When somebody says you're easy to work with, that's beautiful.
When somebody says you're a pleasure to work with, you
always work, yeah, because.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
It's the work is hard.
Speaker 7 (04:34):
So talent is evenly distributed, you know in La New York,
but good people to work with is not so much.
And then it's already stressful. You got early call times
and all that stuff. If you're also a jerk on
top of that, it's like, bro, I don't even want
to do it.
Speaker 5 (04:46):
It's life be lifing, as you know. So it's like
it's hard to get on it and have to like
turn all of that off, you know, in filming. So
when you have somebody that's like keV is really like
my real life brother, you know, I really love him.
I love his wife, like we have dinners. Like it's
so it's just it doesn't it truly doesn't feel like work.
So we just be cutting up and you know, this
show really allowed me to be funny and like really
(05:07):
tap into cause I feel like I've done so much
formal journalism. This was like a different This was more vulnerable,
and keV is more of my coach sometimes where he's
like just say it, Like no, you know, cause I'm
so trained that sometimes it's a little bit more stiff,
so he's like, just say it. They ain't gonna care.
Speaker 7 (05:21):
Yeah, And Needa helped me too because I had never
done official TV, never worked off a prompter before. So
the first day I was like, dang, man, like there's
a lot of pressure and you can't really mess up.
It's time for you to do your job right. And
he was like, oh, it's all good. There's all You're
doing this. Run through it once and Nina, man, let
me tell you what she big sis for real because
I don't want to do stuff. She'd be like, ah,
we ain't doing that, y'all. We are doing this. Like
(05:44):
you can tell she's been in the game for a
long time, never rude or anything like that, but she
she knows how to assert herself and people respect her
for that. And I'm more of like, I never done this,
so whatever y'all say is cool.
Speaker 5 (05:55):
But also when you've done it a long time, you
know when people are padding time, like you're like, we
don't need we we got this. We can just roll
through this, like y'all ain't got a babys Like we're
gonna come in, we're gonna knock this out, and we're
gonna go home. Everybody gonna get home on time. Y'all
got pill over time stop.
Speaker 4 (06:08):
Is it hard for you, keV being on a production
that you don't control.
Speaker 7 (06:12):
No, low key, Actually it's free, because, oh my god,
there's a certain amount of stress when you control it,
Like the talent is just one aspect. Then you gotta
worry about the budget and the controlling, the editing, the delivery.
Friday night vibes, brother. When it's over all right, y'all,
and it's it is, It is a welcome reprieve from
(06:33):
having a due. I don't want to have to worry
about post edit deliveries, time code you know s and
p leave it at the door coffee.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Yes, what time is lunch? Okay?
Speaker 7 (06:43):
Perfect, see y'all tomorrow. I just come on time, do
my job. Chopping up with Nina, I knew he was cool.
Need to let me she was getting braided down, like
y'all friends, man, you let me see the The breakdown
is intimate anybody. No, That's why I think that camaraderie
(07:05):
and chemistry from the audition through the show, it just
carries on throughout. And then that's why the show feels
so natural. Our guests come on, they feel really natural
with us, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 5 (07:13):
So, and it doubled the ratings. So we did the
first season, we only had like twelve episodes, so it
was just the first Friday of every month, which right now,
you know, TV is very difficult. They actually doubled our
episode order because they were saying that our interviews with
each other and with our guests were spiking over the movies. Yeah,
so I mean listening to get a double order during
this time, we feel very blessed.
Speaker 8 (07:35):
I was going to ask you, Nina, because for us
in the journalism where you talk about broking and hard journalism,
I know you come from TMZ. Your career and how
you've been able to diversify your resume. We all watch
it like how because it is hard when you're such
a journalist to do things where they allow you to
show your personality. What was your first lesson in like
I even want to try to diversify.
Speaker 5 (07:54):
Well, my first lesson was I got fired. And you know,
as you know, it's like.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
You got fired from TMG.
Speaker 5 (08:01):
Well I got fired my first week from TMZ.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
I didn't know it.
Speaker 5 (08:05):
So my first.
Speaker 6 (08:07):
I'm gonna let her talk her story.
Speaker 5 (08:11):
So the first time I got fired was my first
week in TMZ. I had just moved to LA and
I was not even a PA yet. I was a runner.
I didn't know anybody in LA. I literally got the
job by emailing contacts they used to have like a
contact TMZ, and I just emailed and was like, I
got a degree, can I like you know? And they
were like, you've been out the game for a little bit,
because I had stopped working in journalism and so they
(08:33):
were like we'll make you a runner. You can get
the lunches. But this was before GPS, so I had
like a Thomas Guide.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Oh wow, yeah, I'm aging.
Speaker 5 (08:40):
Myself, but I was. I got lost. La is very
difficult to navigate. You like, why is there too?
Speaker 7 (08:46):
Sam?
Speaker 5 (08:49):
So I got lost, So Paris Hilton got arrested and
I had to go get the tape from the paparazzi
of her coming out of CNN for her first interview
with Larry King.
Speaker 6 (08:57):
Oh my heart just dropped for you. Yeah, I got
lost with that tape.
Speaker 5 (08:59):
And I got lost, and if you know, CNN was
on sunset, and I took Highland to get back to
the valley, and Harvey was.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Like, why would you take Hiland and not Kawanga? What's
wrong with you?
Speaker 5 (09:12):
Your fire in front of everybody?
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Choice.
Speaker 6 (09:17):
Do you understand how that is?
Speaker 5 (09:18):
It's very different, and you know, like this is before
you could transfer digitally. You had to have the tape.
So I cost them like fifteen twenty minutes and they
wanted it up first. So he fired me in front
of the whole newsroom and I went to the bathroom.
I had only been in La like three months. I
went to the bathroom and I was crying, like ego
kicked in. It was like at this place, go somewhere else.
(09:39):
You don't need this place. And there was this really
quiet voice with that was like, just go apologize. And
I went to my managing editor and Harvey was in
his office. I went to the managing editor and I
had been staying late every day and I would just
ask her she needed anything, so if she needed her
trash taken out, whatever, I would just stay late for hours,
just helping her, not getting paid. And I said, hey,
you know, I'm really sorry if I and work with
(10:00):
you in the fure. She was like, what are you
talking about? And I said, Harvey just fired me. And
she goes girls sit down and she went in his
office and yelled at him, and I heard him say
will you take her? And she came back out and
offered me a year contract and was like, do you
want to be my writing pa?
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Wow?
Speaker 5 (10:14):
And then that was in June of two thousand and seven.
The show started in September of two thousand and seven,
and by then he had heard me just talking. I
would do my stories and talk out loud, and he
thought I was funny, and he was like I want
you to pitch for the show, and I was like, no,
I just want to write. He was like, I'm not
asking you. You're gonna get on the show. And that's
really how it started. That was the first time I
(10:36):
got fired, and I was just like, I'm gonna just
go for it. And I just was like, I'm not
going to allow like one person to have the keys
to like drive my car. Like I got to have
these options open, and I have to like eat my
ego a little bit. And I think our ego gets
us in a lot of trouble in this industry. There's
a lot of misunderstandings that happened that you take it
the wrong way. And I just learned to like drop
that and it's helped me.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Well, we got you fired, for real.
Speaker 5 (11:00):
I didn't. I was fired from CBS. Okay, they didn't
renew my contract. So the contract, well you're just kind
of fire, you know. You're like, it's like we don't
we're not having you back. I had like a two
year contract and I had it was the most money
I had ever made. Because now I'm an official course
spind and I'm doing the red carpets and I made
all this money and I blew it. I was buying bags.
I remember I went on my first check and bought
a Gucci and Louis Vuitton bag, both just both because
(11:23):
I have been I was making four to fifty a
week at TMZO before taxes, so I wasn't making any money.
So when I was getting the CBS money, I lost
my damn mind. And I had no I had bad credit.
I had no financial literacy at all. It had to
(11:43):
be And so when I lost the job, I was
broke because I had I was, you know, even though
I had money, I was spending every check. I was
you know, I was at the at the brunches, spending
money like a drug dealer. I was just like, come on,
let's let's get the bottles, you know. And just and
what I realized was, I thought to myself, I had
(12:03):
to downsize everything. I got a car accident, I lost
my car, so I had to get a used car
with the red light always on. And I had to
get into a smaller apartment that was like a little
bit more, you know, in a bad neighborhood. And I
told myself, I was like, when I get my next thing,
because I knew it was going to come. I educated
myself on how to get good credit. I fixed my credit,
(12:24):
I figured out what I needed to save. I was like,
I need multiple income. I was talking to Kevin Fraser
who was at CBS, and he was kind of telling me, like,
you acting crazy. You know. I talked call him my
toxic mentor because he would give me advice, but it
was always like really harsh. And I was like, the
next time, I get it, and I got love and
hip hop reunions and I just started saving everything. I
started living under my means. So I was like, let
(12:45):
me build this so that, like I can have two
years of income so that with the next time, I'm
not going to let this network decide like whether I
eat or not.
Speaker 6 (12:54):
Do you when you left? To go back a little bit,
when you left TMZ, were you seen your news producer?
Speaker 5 (12:59):
Were you when I left TMC, I did not have
a job. I quit because they did not want to
pay me.
Speaker 6 (13:04):
Okay, because there's always been a conversation. I don't know.
I was told this before I went there.
Speaker 8 (13:09):
Okay, so not even just internally, but just in the
journalism world, that you had been offered news director or
something like that. But they didn't want to, like they
didn't you thought you should have news director, but they
didn't want to give it to you.
Speaker 5 (13:18):
It was a news director. But what actually happened, I've
never told anybody this. I accidentally got my coworker's check
and we were sitting next to you. You know, TMZ would
have the desks where there wasn't a divider, and they
said his check next to me, and I was just
opening it blindly. And he was making six figures. I
was not. I was making well under that. And I
(13:41):
have been there and I was contributing. I was breaking stories.
I was a part of Michael Jackson's death being broken.
I was a part of major store is Bernie mc dyan.
I was the managing editor on weekends, so it was
just me and Harvey in that office and a PA.
I was in there working. I only had Wednesdays off.
I gave up my weekends for three years and I
was like, I put in work. I was it was
(14:01):
my life. I didn't have a boyfriend, I didn't have friends.
I wasn't going to the club, and I felt like
I was old this money. I think I was maybe
making like fifty k Jesus and I just wanted what
he was making.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
He was a white male, yes he.
Speaker 5 (14:16):
Was, and they were like no. And I was on
every show and I was just like, y'all not gonna
pay me. And we went into a little negotiation and
I think maybe they offered me like ten more percent.
I did not have another job. I did not have
an agent, and I was like, I quit. I didn't
have nothing, but I knew people liked me. And I
(14:37):
reached out to a woman who used to be at
Telepictures and she had just got an SBP job at CBS,
and I was like. She was like, hey, we have
the Insider once you come test for the Insider, and
so I went tested for that and I got the Insider.
But I didn't have anything when I left TMC, I
didn't know what I was going to do. And a
good thing about being young is because I was still
in my twenties at the time, you little crazy. So
you know, had I been this age, I might have
(14:58):
been like, let me just figure something out. But now
you know, I got bills and big bills. But back
then I was like, it ain't nothing for me to
pack up the studio apartment. I get on that couch,
that area was like you ain't trap men, And it
was the best decision I could have made. I mean,
I left really at the Pinnacle van had just started,
like it was really a good time to be there,
(15:19):
and everybody told me not to quit. Everybody like socially
TMC was really hot and like, cause this is the
Paris Hilton Britney Spears era, So people were like, you're
crazy to leave, but I was just like, this is
not serving me. And they not only that, Like this
was before paid disparity was really a thing, so it
was just accepted that the women take less. And I
was like, I work harder than all these people up
(15:39):
in here, and I'm a black woman. And I mean
when you guys started the Breakfast Club, that's how we met.
We started emailing, like dude, was like I got this
new show. I was like, we're gonna put you on
the show. And I made a lot of contacts because
I would reach out to black media and be like,
get on our bloc row, let me send you the
breaking news. Like I really cultivated. I still have all
those relationships because I really was like I can't prevent
(16:00):
them from putting this story out about black people. But
I can at least give our side and if you
call me, I'm gonna give your side out there because
they didn't care. They would just put it up. And
so that was really for me, like my time. So
I was like, you're not gonna pay me.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Yeah, when you think about it, there wasn't. There hasn't
been too many faces of TMZ, right of course, Harvey.
But then when I think about it, maybe I don't know,
maybe because I'm.
Speaker 4 (16:20):
Black, Yeah, and that's historically toxic though was it toxic
working there?
Speaker 6 (16:28):
Indeed?
Speaker 5 (16:29):
What I mean, listen, this is I've heard it's not
like that anymore. I don't know. Uh, And this is
this is one of the reasons you and I haven't
talked because I checked out of all things TMZ, I
never watched the show again. When I stopped like, I didn't,
I stopped community. I didn't even I'm not communing with
people I knew, but anything like, I just kind of
shut that part of my brain off because I had
(16:49):
a lot of PTSD and it was you have to
think about it. This was like the birth of new
age media. There were no rules, so we would work
like fourteen hours a day. You would get in trouble
for taking a lunch. You couldn't leave, like your desk.
You had to answer your phone at four in the morning.
It was you would work weekends and you couldn't say no.
(17:11):
We would rock. People would walk around with their laptop.
We would go to a concert. You have to have
your laptop in your back because if you got a
call it for you didn't answer, you would get fired
for it was over for you. So and I made
the decision to participate in that because I didn't have anybody.
I didn't have anything else. I didn't have a team.
We were kind of deterred from getting a team, like
you know, so the things I know now.
Speaker 6 (17:32):
This is this is I got.
Speaker 5 (17:35):
There was no HR.
Speaker 8 (17:36):
No HR was very new, and there was the union.
Speaker 6 (17:41):
Things that come in when you have in your protection.
Speaker 5 (17:43):
They got rid that didn't exist back then. Like they
had Telepictures that was the parent company that technically you
could go, but you didn't know anybody there because they
weren't You only knew who was in the building. So
it was it was really the wild West. And I
probably I mean when Michael Jackson died, I didn't leave
the office for three days, like we slept there.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
And that was your salary of fifty thousand dollars or less.
Speaker 5 (18:05):
What I mean, I think I was still making like
the PA salary thing, which was I think I had
got boosted to like six fifty a week.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
Crazy thing is when Lauren started working here. You ever
see that dog that they I'm not comparing you to
a dog, but that dog that when you get out
the shelter right and you put your hand up to
pettit and the skin.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
That's how Lauren was working.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
Lauren was like, wait a minute, you guys just said
good job like it was. I'm like, what I thought
she was joking? Then I realized, no, she was traumatized.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
How were you there?
Speaker 6 (18:35):
How was that TMC? For eight years?
Speaker 8 (18:38):
And when you come in you hear well from the
black people there, you hear so much about you. Van
was always really big about, you know, talking to me
about you. He was there when I was, when I
was there, so was Raquel. And then they left, and
when they left it was me and I was.
Speaker 5 (18:49):
Like, what, at least you had the camaraderie.
Speaker 8 (18:52):
But then they left right, and then George Floyd and
Aubrey happened and it was like oh.
Speaker 5 (18:57):
And you're fighting by yourself because there's a lot of
micro aggressions. There's macro too, And one of the things
that was hard for me was like, at the time,
and this was before Van even got there, I was
the only black person on camera, and so you are yes, yes,
the story is, she tell me, and you feel an obligation,
but sometimes you're tired. Right, But the thing is with
(19:20):
black talent, especially, you don't have the luxury of being
silent when it's a black issue, because they're gonna look
at you in this room full of white people and
wonder why you just say anything. They're not going to
think about Like I've been doing this every single day.
I got a migraine. I'm tired, Like I'm tired of arguing.
I know their race baiting me. There, they bait you
on purpose. But at the same time, I'm like, I
got to think about the people who are watching that
(19:41):
look like me, that are like, you know, why didn't
you speak up? But you know, you know, as you age,
fighting every day gets exhausting. And also when you're getting
baited because it's like I don't mind having a healthy discussion,
but you're purposely trying to bait me to have this
conversation so you can have content, and I'm not really
with that, And so you get tired of being used.
You get tired of like women being talked about. You know,
(20:02):
you feel like I'm in this space. When I was there,
it was very toxic, like we would get they had
a relationship with Vivid because you know Kim Kardashian sex tape,
and they Vivid would send like sex tapes in and
sometimes people would just watch him in the office, you know,
and it was like you were like, what am I
What's going on? But then also you're like, well, what
are my other options? And that's when you start to
(20:22):
build these relationships. So you're like, I got to make
an exit plan.
Speaker 8 (20:26):
I had a I just wanna say this real quick,
and then we can move away from TIMC because you
have moved away.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
But I met.
Speaker 7 (20:34):
About this.
Speaker 8 (20:35):
I met you a long time ago in LA and
our interaction you weren't rude, but it just wasn't the best.
And one I was about to leave, Ban was like,
you should call me, and I was like, I don't
think she cares for me that much, and he was
and I was like, well, and I told him, But
now here in your I don't know if you even
knew who I was, but if so, I'm thinking like
maybe that I had nothing to do with that. But
I never thought about this because when you're in that environment,
(20:57):
you think it's regular, you think it's okay. I never
thought about, like what your post life felt like mentally
having to go through and deal with all of that.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
I think that I got to you telling the world
that Nina was no.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
I said.
Speaker 8 (21:10):
You know, the reason why I want to say that
is because now I'm sitting here and I felt your
emotion just now when you're talking about your experience, and
I identify with it so much, and it made me
think about if I were to run into someone right
in that same predicament unknowingly, I might not like, you know, do.
Speaker 5 (21:29):
You know what I'm trying to Well, you're reacting to
the place, not the person, yes, And so you you know,
it's like if someone brings up a relationship that hurts you,
you're kind of like, especially if you're not in the
space to like say, you're not thinking about it, and
it jars you for a second where you're just like
And also, I'm very media trained, right, so sometimes I
don't want to speak bad on a place, and I
(21:51):
don't know if my experience will be your experience. So
there's a lot I can't say to you without saying
it right where I can. It's like, how do I
tell this person there in the in the trenches and
like get out quickly, yes, because that may not be
your journey. So how do I say that to you?
Because it's so nuanced. So it's just such a layered thing.
So sometimes if like people come up and be like
(22:12):
I'm at TMZ, I'm kind of like and I'm like, yeah, don't.
I don't know what to tell you, because this is
it's only something you understand if you've been there. It's
like being in a sorority. But at the same time,
and I think I've just healed from being there probably
within the last like four years, four or five years.
You I have this thing now where I'm my friends
say I'm the fastest responder because you had to be
(22:33):
this thing, right I always Even now I'm not really
in news anymore, like I'm a host for shows, and
even now I feel like I got to look at
these headlines, I'm like, what am I doing? I am
posting about no news. I'm the first to post a
tweet about it, like what am I? So you have
these things. So I don't remember the the the interaction,
but I'll say that it was so traumatizing that sometimes
(22:57):
it was hard to react positively about about it. And also,
you know, as you grow, you learn how to temper
that a little bit better. But I think probably when
we met, I hadn't really quite learned how it.
Speaker 8 (23:09):
Wasn't nothing crazy, but I just I felt shock. I
just didn't I didn't sh Yeah, I didn't understand what
I felt until this moment I was.
Speaker 5 (23:18):
Dealing with.
Speaker 8 (23:18):
But I didn't know because when when we hear about
your journey, then we just hear, well, I've.
Speaker 5 (23:22):
Never talked about this is the first time. I think
you always said things positively because ultimately it was a
positive experience because I have never learned. You learn kind
of when you're in that because it's like the army.
Speaker 6 (23:34):
But I tell people it was the best boot camp
I've ever been.
Speaker 5 (23:36):
To, the best book camp you'll never And one thing
I will say about Harvey is he to this day
probably the hardest work ethic of anyone I have ever
known in the industry. But you you get a lot
of trauma from it, and it's very difficult to express
if you haven't been there. And then also it's like,
I don't want to make that my story. So you know,
when I'm meeting somebody and we in a social setting,
it's like it's it's still now. Some people say, oh,
(23:57):
I know you from TMZ, and I cringe a little bit,
not because I'm a aimed of it, but I've done
so much, but it's still something that's always associated with
you and will always be, as you will know it
will always be, and there's going to be a time
where you just don't want to hear about it because
you've accomplished so much more. And so it's a little
triggering when someone comes up to you and wants to
talk about it and you're just like bringing up an
X that you don't do it anymore.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
Because what you really wanted to say to her fabbly
was good luck.
Speaker 5 (24:21):
Yeah, what am I supposed to say if you're in it? Yeah?
Speaker 6 (24:28):
I mean I needed the money, but I forget what
was going on at the time.
Speaker 8 (24:31):
But I think this was one of the times where
I've been wanted to quit and I just didn't. People
think you're crazy, we can say that, And I was like, oh, Nina,
I could talk to her.
Speaker 5 (24:38):
And then I wish we would have been introduced through
VAN because there I would have loved to have talked
to you one on one, like privately and just really
give you a good download, because I know that you
did reach out and DM and I never even saw
them because we weren't. I wasn't following you and I
didn't even see him until I followed you, and I
was like, dang, there's DMS in here, and I didn't
even see this cry out for help. You were you weren't.
Speaker 4 (25:00):
And then y'all went through two different boot camps becau.
Laura ain't come here with nothing, I.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
Said, lie let me.
Speaker 6 (25:07):
We literally have to move on from with this but
this morning and you'll understand it.
Speaker 8 (25:10):
So I live doing the show, but I tease her segment.
Speaker 4 (25:17):
So she's supposed to come in sure and tease what
she got coming the ladies with Lauren.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
But she couldn't do it.
Speaker 4 (25:22):
This morning has a person news she.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
She just sneaks in the.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
Door and whispers in my ears with somebody else.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
I'm thinking something crazy walk.
Speaker 8 (25:31):
In together, I said, Okay, I was like, so one
of the founder members of the Whispers died and I know,
like all these outs are saying it I.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Kind of twelve hours ago.
Speaker 5 (25:42):
It was seven and.
Speaker 8 (25:43):
Overnight, and I was like, but I want to get
the statement myself before I say all right, he so,
can you just like tell them that I'm going to
come with the latest I came back here. They was like,
you did that all of that for that and I
was like, you never said but the statements right now?
I'm like no, But if you don't receive it yourself,
sometimes you just don't know a.
Speaker 4 (25:57):
Statement that went all the urban seas across the Marriat, we.
Speaker 8 (26:07):
Don't because there when someone's accidentally killed, you don't understand.
Speaker 5 (26:13):
Yeah, she was.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
Trying to call the phone and make sure he's really dad.
Speaker 5 (26:15):
I'm like, yeah, and you know what, this is gonna
be my last thing about the the PTSD. What I
found is a lot of people who leave only find
their worth in posting news because they that's how you
were rewarded. Then you were only you were You could
have been fired for not producing enough, So you find
(26:37):
like you're worth in producing stuff. That's why, like when
I left, I would be posting breaking news and I
didn't even have an outlet to attribute it to. And
what is what it allowed me to do when I
took a step back, was starting to put more worth
in like me, what I'm saying and the other things,
because I was like, I don't even know if I
really like news anymore, Like I don't know if this
is something I even enjoy anymore, like I enjoy talking
(26:58):
to people, I enjoy x Y, Like what else can
I dive into? And for you, what I would like
to say is and I think you're very good at it,
but you know, and I know you have other things
that you like to, you know, get into, and I
just don't want you to get caught up in this
thing of like I have to produce to be value
because it's like what who you are that brings the value,
not being first because we're we kind of are taught
(27:20):
to like we got to be first. I'm just saying
that the value is not in being first anymore, because
this is what I have learned. It's what you're going
to talk about that is valuable because you're not technically
in the news place that has to be first.
Speaker 8 (27:42):
It just sometimes you did you hear that a sense
of urgency is what makes you special because you care,
and that's important.
Speaker 5 (27:55):
But I think people care just they want to know
that these days, everybody can get.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
It anywhere correct.
Speaker 5 (27:59):
They want your take on it.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
So and you were correct and everybody else is wrong.
Speaker 5 (28:04):
Yeah, I know. I was amazing.
Speaker 6 (28:08):
Was correct. I said that there were no charges dropped.
Speaker 5 (28:11):
Again, she was.
Speaker 8 (28:13):
You told me I was not correct because you said
it was no charges driving.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
I'm not gonna get back. I'm not even going back.
Speaker 5 (28:20):
This was a side question, but it was a healing
side quest. So I'm glad we were able to talk
about it.
Speaker 7 (28:26):
I was like, noshn't been for two years and said.
Speaker 5 (28:35):
We talked about the like we talk about.
Speaker 6 (28:48):
In this new life that you have.
Speaker 8 (28:51):
I was to let you see there, let you see
the break down, thought about.
Speaker 7 (28:55):
That that was underneath, that was even undereath the brand.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
She showed you all my life.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
I had to fight, but you ain't know.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
She was really funny.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
I said, you've been through some stuff's man, listen, I'm
going over there. I'm talking to me the Parker CA.
Speaker 5 (29:14):
Now you.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
Yn't take ya if you don't, if you need to
go there for laurens the way.
Speaker 5 (29:21):
No, no, don't enter me in it.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
Lauren sent me he whisper.
Speaker 7 (29:29):
Y'all.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
We got whisper in the world, and y'all this one less.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
Please, Oh my goodness god.
Speaker 4 (29:42):
Friday Night Vibes on TV asked many, we appreciate you
guys coming up and don't be strange.
Speaker 7 (29:47):
You could come home. I feel like you need a girl.
I was watching too. I was like, oh my god,
this is really happening. They're gonna put this on teams,
but I don't.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
Please come up. If you are in town, please come
on away. Seven years to get kept. So yeah, well,
y'all just had him. So this was fine.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
I was fullying. I was in the commage, tweeting, was
in the common, was still in store.
Speaker 5 (30:16):
Yes, yes, I have a I have a clothing line
for plus women sizes twelve to thirty is. Yes, it's
and stores. It's a Macy's. It's doing very well. And
so this is one of the designs. So yeah, it's
do you know the multiple streams is always.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
Needed to parking, not the little to keep a check.
Speaker 3 (30:31):
Nina Parker kept on stage Friday Night Vibes on TBS.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
I felt like I was a good family moment Friday. Hey,
we gotta leave on the prayer. Yeah, Jesus, Wait wait,
wait minute, what's wrong with the prayer?
Speaker 1 (30:46):
I'm like, what reverence, what the path?
Speaker 7 (30:50):
Let me take my past my pastor was?
Speaker 4 (30:56):
I do want to say one thing just to bring
things around for for the preyer. Yes, when keV was
here last time, he didn't shout out his show with
Nina Parker. Right Tony Baker was up here. Tony Baker
was talking about the Tall and him and cav going on,
have ain't say nothing about the Tall.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
The day with us.
Speaker 7 (31:15):
I got a protocol. I'm gonna give you the press
release right now. I'm gonna tell you talking about supposed
to come out till July. Okay, well, he shout, It's fine.
Speaker 5 (31:27):
The show is premiering tonight on Friday night, every Friday
all summer long. Celebrity guests, all the games, all the things.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
Comes from me and Nina Man. At the end of
the day, we family.
Speaker 5 (31:37):
Were your cousins with the show.
Speaker 7 (31:38):
You will not gonna do prayer, Father God, the name
of Jesus, we come against tm Z right now, Father
God for everything they've done to black people.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
From Nina to Van to Lauren, God crush him in
your mic. God, break them down.
Speaker 7 (31:52):
You don't mean the breaking news Father, God, breaking from
the inside God, and then giving Lauren and needing the
breaking news.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
The broken news. Hey man, you hear me.
Speaker 7 (32:02):
God, do it in your name Jesus, nay and bless
riding that bodies to guy.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
Let it come on every day.
Speaker 5 (32:11):
And it is. It is a positive environment. That's you
and we get breaks.
Speaker 7 (32:19):
I have never been in the middle of a prayer
like Wow, I got my head about God have been ignoring.
That's the breakfast wake that ass up in the morning.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
The breakfast club.
Wake that ass up in the morning.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
The breakfast Club Morning, everybody.
Speaker 3 (00:05):
Is d J n V just hilarious, Charlamage, the God
we all the breakfast Club. La La Rosa is here
with us, and we got some special guests in the
building this morning.
Speaker 4 (00:13):
The host of the new show Friday Night Vibes on
TV as on a new host Friday Night Vibes on TVs.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Dina Palker Kevin on stage.
Speaker 4 (00:24):
I walked that up because you know, keV didn't talk
about that last time he was here. And I saw
Nina and Cans and Nina was like. Nina was like,
I don't know why he was up there and did
not mention that we're in a new home.
Speaker 5 (00:35):
Friday Night may be having tunnel vision, so you got
all these other projects he was. I watched the interview
and I was so excited, like, I can't wait till
he mentions Friday Night VIOX because we were in the
middle of filming Friday Night.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
About it Man, Friday Night Friday Night Vines.
Speaker 5 (00:51):
And I had just did Taron Hall. I was like, Keith,
I mentioned you and shouted you out and showed your
picture on the.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
I'm being ghastling, I said. At first so it means
it's true.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Maybe that's just not who you are. Because you know,
one of your best friends was up here right just like.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Just right here, and when we told him that you
were coming, he was like, he didn't even tell me
he was here.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
In New York. He was like, we were playing pool
and friendship.
Speaker 5 (01:18):
We saw Tony just in the ground.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
And I was like, what are you doing?
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Tony didn't tell me he was doing the breakfast club.
Speaker 5 (01:23):
But men don't share details like that. Like if it
would have been me and my homegirl, we would have
been like at the hotel having breakfast before we came over.
I feel like, y'all just see each other when you see.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Tony had a show in New York.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
I didn't know that I got tickets to a show, surprising.
Speaker 6 (01:37):
I was gonna pull up.
Speaker 7 (01:41):
Ticket, always buy my tickets. I don't even play that.
I'm not trying to hear it. Don't hear me because
people you ain't even cool with, like what's up on
the ticket? Kevio states dot com.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
It's what I'm talking of them. My parents buy tickets
to my show. I want to support, but.
Speaker 5 (01:55):
Then they want you to give up the ticket.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Yeah, that ain't support.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Parents buy tickets to your shop.
Speaker 7 (02:00):
Parents refuse to get free tickets. They're like, I believe
in you and what you're doing. I'll go get tickets.
Speaker 6 (02:08):
They want to make sure they got loan you no
money ever again.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
No, well yes exactly like you keep doing good. So
you know what I'm saying. I need you to make it.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
You know they're not just testing you just to see
if you're gonna say no, no, no, you'll have done enough.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
I got you.
Speaker 7 (02:20):
No, they buy them, they support for the next show.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
My friends, I don't mind.
Speaker 7 (02:31):
It's people I don't know. We ain't got a relationship.
You trying to get the free tickets. Manna, okay, it's
like a hookup. When I work in Popeye's, I get
my friends a hookup. Not everybody, some of the biscuits.
If you see the price, that's true. How did this
come together?
Speaker 5 (02:44):
You know what's crazy? We actually chem tested together. Kevin
and I knew each other only on social media, like
I was a fan of his work, but we had
never met, so we would you know, exchange on social
media and then you know the show used to be
hosted by Tiffany Hattish and Dione Cole. They were revamping
it and so they did like a big casting call.
So when we got called, and sometimes when you get
(03:04):
to a certain level, you're like, oh, I still got
a kym test. I was like, So we did the
kym test and it was it was actually like a
family reunion. It was about twenty about what, fifteen women,
fifteen men, Yeah, and we were kim testing with our friends.
So it was like a big day. We got in trouble.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
It took all day long.
Speaker 7 (03:23):
Yeah, it was like you you spend five minutes with
this person and okay, y'all done and this person and
when Nina and I went, it was like this sounds cliche,
but I was like, I forgot we were even auditioning.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
We were just chopping it up and they stopped us.
We were like, okay, cool.
Speaker 5 (03:36):
I was like this, we got this. Like there's sometimes
I feel like you get that little voice you know
when you're when you're in this industry, you just know
when something is magic. And we were sitting next to
each other and it was so easy with him. And
I've had a lot of co hosts over the years,
and keV is by far like the easiest person I've
ever worked with.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Oh, that's an ultimate compliment.
Speaker 5 (03:56):
By the way, it's not it's not to him, it's
to his wife, Mulissa, right, because his wife is he
knows how to there is a there's a dance, as
you guys know. And then when you have like a
co host who knows how to communicate in a healthy
way with a woman, it's just like even like he'll
be like you need to sit. I'm like what because
I'm used to people being like, get off the way,
(04:19):
and it's just he's very kind. So it just makes
it so easy to work with.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Nina Ahead, I tell you that all the time.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
When somebody says you're easy to work with, that's beautiful.
When somebody says you're a pleasure to work with, you
always work, yeah, because.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
It's the work is hard.
Speaker 7 (04:34):
So talent is evenly distributed, you know in La New York,
but good people to work with is not so much.
And then it's already stressful. You got early call times
and all that stuff. If you're also a jerk on
top of that, it's like, bro, I don't even want
to do it.
Speaker 5 (04:46):
It's life be lifing, as you know. So it's like
it's hard to get on it and have to like
turn all of that off, you know, in filming. So
when you have somebody that's like keV is really like
my real life brother, you know, I really love him.
I love his wife, like we have dinners. Like it's
so it's just it doesn't it truly doesn't feel like work.
So we just be cutting up and you know, this
show really allowed me to be funny and like really
(05:07):
tap into cause I feel like I've done so much
formal journalism. This was like a different This was more vulnerable,
and keV is more of my coach sometimes where he's
like just say it, Like no, you know, cause I'm
so trained that sometimes it's a little bit more stiff,
so he's like, just say it. They ain't gonna care.
Speaker 7 (05:21):
Yeah, And Needa helped me too because I had never
done official TV, never worked off a prompter before. So
the first day I was like, dang, man, like there's
a lot of pressure and you can't really mess up.
It's time for you to do your job right. And
he was like, oh, it's all good. There's all You're
doing this. Run through it once and Nina, man, let
me tell you what she big sis for real because
I don't want to do stuff. She'd be like, ah,
we ain't doing that, y'all. We are doing this. Like
(05:44):
you can tell she's been in the game for a
long time, never rude or anything like that, but she
she knows how to assert herself and people respect her
for that. And I'm more of like, I never done this,
so whatever y'all say is cool.
Speaker 5 (05:55):
But also when you've done it a long time, you
know when people are padding time, like you're like, we
don't need we we got this. We can just roll
through this, like y'all ain't got a babys Like we're
gonna come in, we're gonna knock this out, and we're
gonna go home. Everybody gonna get home on time. Y'all
got pill over time stop.
Speaker 4 (06:08):
Is it hard for you, keV being on a production
that you don't control.
Speaker 7 (06:12):
No, low key, Actually it's free, because, oh my god,
there's a certain amount of stress when you control it,
Like the talent is just one aspect. Then you gotta
worry about the budget and the controlling, the editing, the delivery.
Friday night vibes, brother. When it's over all right, y'all,
and it's it is, It is a welcome reprieve from
(06:33):
having a due. I don't want to have to worry
about post edit deliveries, time code you know s and
p leave it at the door coffee.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Yes, what time is lunch? Okay?
Speaker 7 (06:43):
Perfect, see y'all tomorrow. I just come on time, do
my job. Chopping up with Nina, I knew he was cool.
Need to let me she was getting braided down, like
y'all friends, man, you let me see the The breakdown
is intimate anybody. No, That's why I think that camaraderie
(07:05):
and chemistry from the audition through the show, it just
carries on throughout. And then that's why the show feels
so natural. Our guests come on, they feel really natural
with us, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 5 (07:13):
So, and it doubled the ratings. So we did the
first season, we only had like twelve episodes, so it
was just the first Friday of every month, which right now,
you know, TV is very difficult. They actually doubled our
episode order because they were saying that our interviews with
each other and with our guests were spiking over the movies. Yeah,
so I mean listening to get a double order during
this time, we feel very blessed.
Speaker 8 (07:35):
I was going to ask you, Nina, because for us
in the journalism where you talk about broking and hard journalism,
I know you come from TMZ. Your career and how
you've been able to diversify your resume. We all watch
it like how because it is hard when you're such
a journalist to do things where they allow you to
show your personality. What was your first lesson in like
I even want to try to diversify.
Speaker 5 (07:54):
Well, my first lesson was I got fired. And you know,
as you know, it's like.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
You got fired from TMG.
Speaker 5 (08:01):
Well I got fired my first week from TMZ.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
I didn't know it.
Speaker 5 (08:05):
So my first.
Speaker 6 (08:07):
I'm gonna let her talk her story.
Speaker 5 (08:11):
So the first time I got fired was my first
week in TMZ. I had just moved to LA and
I was not even a PA yet. I was a runner.
I didn't know anybody in LA. I literally got the
job by emailing contacts they used to have like a
contact TMZ, and I just emailed and was like, I
got a degree, can I like you know? And they
were like, you've been out the game for a little bit,
because I had stopped working in journalism and so they
(08:33):
were like we'll make you a runner. You can get
the lunches. But this was before GPS, so I had
like a Thomas Guide.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Oh wow, yeah, I'm aging.
Speaker 5 (08:40):
Myself, but I was. I got lost. La is very
difficult to navigate. You like, why is there too?
Speaker 7 (08:46):
Sam?
Speaker 5 (08:49):
So I got lost, So Paris Hilton got arrested and
I had to go get the tape from the paparazzi
of her coming out of CNN for her first interview
with Larry King.
Speaker 6 (08:57):
Oh my heart just dropped for you. Yeah, I got
lost with that tape.
Speaker 5 (08:59):
And I got lost, and if you know, CNN was
on sunset, and I took Highland to get back to
the valley, and Harvey was.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Like, why would you take Hiland and not Kawanga? What's
wrong with you?
Speaker 5 (09:12):
Your fire in front of everybody?
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Choice.
Speaker 6 (09:17):
Do you understand how that is?
Speaker 5 (09:18):
It's very different, and you know, like this is before
you could transfer digitally. You had to have the tape.
So I cost them like fifteen twenty minutes and they
wanted it up first. So he fired me in front
of the whole newsroom and I went to the bathroom.
I had only been in La like three months. I
went to the bathroom and I was crying, like ego
kicked in. It was like at this place, go somewhere else.
(09:39):
You don't need this place. And there was this really
quiet voice with that was like, just go apologize. And
I went to my managing editor and Harvey was in
his office. I went to the managing editor and I
had been staying late every day and I would just
ask her she needed anything, so if she needed her
trash taken out, whatever, I would just stay late for hours,
just helping her, not getting paid. And I said, hey,
you know, I'm really sorry if I and work with
(10:00):
you in the fure. She was like, what are you
talking about? And I said, Harvey just fired me. And
she goes girls sit down and she went in his
office and yelled at him, and I heard him say
will you take her? And she came back out and
offered me a year contract and was like, do you
want to be my writing pa?
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Wow?
Speaker 5 (10:14):
And then that was in June of two thousand and seven.
The show started in September of two thousand and seven,
and by then he had heard me just talking. I
would do my stories and talk out loud, and he
thought I was funny, and he was like I want
you to pitch for the show, and I was like, no,
I just want to write. He was like, I'm not
asking you. You're gonna get on the show. And that's
really how it started. That was the first time I
(10:36):
got fired, and I was just like, I'm gonna just
go for it. And I just was like, I'm not
going to allow like one person to have the keys
to like drive my car. Like I got to have
these options open, and I have to like eat my
ego a little bit. And I think our ego gets
us in a lot of trouble in this industry. There's
a lot of misunderstandings that happened that you take it
the wrong way. And I just learned to like drop
that and it's helped me.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Well, we got you fired, for real.
Speaker 5 (11:00):
I didn't. I was fired from CBS. Okay, they didn't
renew my contract. So the contract, well you're just kind
of fire, you know. You're like, it's like we don't
we're not having you back. I had like a two
year contract and I had it was the most money
I had ever made. Because now I'm an official course
spind and I'm doing the red carpets and I made
all this money and I blew it. I was buying bags.
I remember I went on my first check and bought
a Gucci and Louis Vuitton bag, both just both because
(11:23):
I have been I was making four to fifty a
week at TMZO before taxes, so I wasn't making any money.
So when I was getting the CBS money, I lost
my damn mind. And I had no I had bad credit.
I had no financial literacy at all. It had to
(11:43):
be And so when I lost the job, I was
broke because I had I was, you know, even though
I had money, I was spending every check. I was
you know, I was at the at the brunches, spending
money like a drug dealer. I was just like, come on,
let's let's get the bottles, you know. And just and
what I realized was, I thought to myself, I had
(12:03):
to downsize everything. I got a car accident, I lost
my car, so I had to get a used car
with the red light always on. And I had to
get into a smaller apartment that was like a little
bit more, you know, in a bad neighborhood. And I
told myself, I was like, when I get my next thing,
because I knew it was going to come. I educated
myself on how to get good credit. I fixed my credit,
(12:24):
I figured out what I needed to save. I was like,
I need multiple income. I was talking to Kevin Fraser
who was at CBS, and he was kind of telling me, like,
you acting crazy. You know. I talked call him my
toxic mentor because he would give me advice, but it
was always like really harsh. And I was like, the
next time, I get it, and I got love and
hip hop reunions and I just started saving everything. I
started living under my means. So I was like, let
(12:45):
me build this so that, like I can have two
years of income so that with the next time, I'm
not going to let this network decide like whether I
eat or not.
Speaker 6 (12:54):
Do you when you left? To go back a little bit,
when you left TMZ, were you seen your news producer?
Speaker 5 (12:59):
Were you when I left TMC, I did not have
a job. I quit because they did not want to
pay me.
Speaker 6 (13:04):
Okay, because there's always been a conversation. I don't know.
I was told this before I went there.
Speaker 8 (13:09):
Okay, so not even just internally, but just in the
journalism world, that you had been offered news director or
something like that. But they didn't want to, like they
didn't you thought you should have news director, but they
didn't want to give it to you.
Speaker 5 (13:18):
It was a news director. But what actually happened, I've
never told anybody this. I accidentally got my coworker's check
and we were sitting next to you. You know, TMZ would
have the desks where there wasn't a divider, and they
said his check next to me, and I was just
opening it blindly. And he was making six figures. I
was not. I was making well under that. And I
(13:41):
have been there and I was contributing. I was breaking stories.
I was a part of Michael Jackson's death being broken.
I was a part of major store is Bernie mc dyan.
I was the managing editor on weekends, so it was
just me and Harvey in that office and a PA.
I was in there working. I only had Wednesdays off.
I gave up my weekends for three years and I
was like, I put in work. I was it was
(14:01):
my life. I didn't have a boyfriend, I didn't have friends.
I wasn't going to the club, and I felt like
I was old this money. I think I was maybe
making like fifty k Jesus and I just wanted what
he was making.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
He was a white male, yes he.
Speaker 5 (14:16):
Was, and they were like no. And I was on
every show and I was just like, y'all not gonna
pay me. And we went into a little negotiation and
I think maybe they offered me like ten more percent.
I did not have another job. I did not have
an agent, and I was like, I quit. I didn't
have nothing, but I knew people liked me. And I
(14:37):
reached out to a woman who used to be at
Telepictures and she had just got an SBP job at CBS,
and I was like. She was like, hey, we have
the Insider once you come test for the Insider, and
so I went tested for that and I got the Insider.
But I didn't have anything when I left TMC, I
didn't know what I was going to do. And a
good thing about being young is because I was still
in my twenties at the time, you little crazy. So
you know, had I been this age, I might have
(14:58):
been like, let me just figure something out. But now
you know, I got bills and big bills. But back
then I was like, it ain't nothing for me to
pack up the studio apartment. I get on that couch,
that area was like you ain't trap men, And it
was the best decision I could have made. I mean,
I left really at the Pinnacle van had just started,
like it was really a good time to be there,
(15:19):
and everybody told me not to quit. Everybody like socially
TMC was really hot and like, cause this is the
Paris Hilton Britney Spears era, So people were like, you're
crazy to leave, but I was just like, this is
not serving me. And they not only that, Like this
was before paid disparity was really a thing, so it
was just accepted that the women take less. And I
was like, I work harder than all these people up
(15:39):
in here, and I'm a black woman. And I mean
when you guys started the Breakfast Club, that's how we met.
We started emailing, like dude, was like I got this
new show. I was like, we're gonna put you on
the show. And I made a lot of contacts because
I would reach out to black media and be like,
get on our bloc row, let me send you the
breaking news. Like I really cultivated. I still have all
those relationships because I really was like I can't prevent
(16:00):
them from putting this story out about black people. But
I can at least give our side and if you
call me, I'm gonna give your side out there because
they didn't care. They would just put it up. And
so that was really for me, like my time. So
I was like, you're not gonna pay me.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Yeah, when you think about it, there wasn't. There hasn't
been too many faces of TMZ, right of course, Harvey.
But then when I think about it, maybe I don't know,
maybe because I'm.
Speaker 4 (16:20):
Black, Yeah, and that's historically toxic though was it toxic
working there?
Speaker 6 (16:28):
Indeed?
Speaker 5 (16:29):
What I mean, listen, this is I've heard it's not
like that anymore. I don't know. Uh, And this is
this is one of the reasons you and I haven't
talked because I checked out of all things TMZ, I
never watched the show again. When I stopped like, I didn't,
I stopped community. I didn't even I'm not communing with
people I knew, but anything like, I just kind of
shut that part of my brain off because I had
(16:49):
a lot of PTSD and it was you have to
think about it. This was like the birth of new
age media. There were no rules, so we would work
like fourteen hours a day. You would get in trouble
for taking a lunch. You couldn't leave, like your desk.
You had to answer your phone at four in the morning.
It was you would work weekends and you couldn't say no.
(17:11):
We would rock. People would walk around with their laptop.
We would go to a concert. You have to have
your laptop in your back because if you got a
call it for you didn't answer, you would get fired
for it was over for you. So and I made
the decision to participate in that because I didn't have anybody.
I didn't have anything else. I didn't have a team.
We were kind of deterred from getting a team, like
you know, so the things I know now.
Speaker 6 (17:32):
This is this is I got.
Speaker 5 (17:35):
There was no HR.
Speaker 8 (17:36):
No HR was very new, and there was the union.
Speaker 6 (17:41):
Things that come in when you have in your protection.
Speaker 5 (17:43):
They got rid that didn't exist back then. Like they
had Telepictures that was the parent company that technically you
could go, but you didn't know anybody there because they
weren't You only knew who was in the building. So
it was it was really the wild West. And I
probably I mean when Michael Jackson died, I didn't leave
the office for three days, like we slept there.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
And that was your salary of fifty thousand dollars or less.
Speaker 5 (18:05):
What I mean, I think I was still making like
the PA salary thing, which was I think I had
got boosted to like six fifty a week.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
Crazy thing is when Lauren started working here. You ever
see that dog that they I'm not comparing you to
a dog, but that dog that when you get out
the shelter right and you put your hand up to
pettit and the skin.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
That's how Lauren was working.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
Lauren was like, wait a minute, you guys just said
good job like it was. I'm like, what I thought
she was joking? Then I realized, no, she was traumatized.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
How were you there?
Speaker 6 (18:35):
How was that TMC? For eight years?
Speaker 8 (18:38):
And when you come in you hear well from the
black people there, you hear so much about you. Van
was always really big about, you know, talking to me
about you. He was there when I was, when I
was there, so was Raquel. And then they left, and
when they left it was me and I was.
Speaker 5 (18:49):
Like, what, at least you had the camaraderie.
Speaker 8 (18:52):
But then they left right, and then George Floyd and
Aubrey happened and it was like oh.
Speaker 5 (18:57):
And you're fighting by yourself because there's a lot of
micro aggressions. There's macro too, And one of the things
that was hard for me was like, at the time,
and this was before Van even got there, I was
the only black person on camera, and so you are yes, yes,
the story is, she tell me, and you feel an obligation,
but sometimes you're tired. Right, But the thing is with
(19:20):
black talent, especially, you don't have the luxury of being
silent when it's a black issue, because they're gonna look
at you in this room full of white people and
wonder why you just say anything. They're not going to
think about Like I've been doing this every single day.
I got a migraine. I'm tired, Like I'm tired of arguing.
I know their race baiting me. There, they bait you
on purpose. But at the same time, I'm like, I
got to think about the people who are watching that
(19:41):
look like me, that are like, you know, why didn't
you speak up? But you know, you know, as you age,
fighting every day gets exhausting. And also when you're getting
baited because it's like I don't mind having a healthy discussion,
but you're purposely trying to bait me to have this
conversation so you can have content, and I'm not really
with that, And so you get tired of being used.
You get tired of like women being talked about. You know,
(20:02):
you feel like I'm in this space. When I was there,
it was very toxic, like we would get they had
a relationship with Vivid because you know Kim Kardashian sex tape,
and they Vivid would send like sex tapes in and
sometimes people would just watch him in the office, you know,
and it was like you were like, what am I
What's going on? But then also you're like, well, what
are my other options? And that's when you start to
(20:22):
build these relationships. So you're like, I got to make
an exit plan.
Speaker 8 (20:26):
I had a I just wanna say this real quick,
and then we can move away from TIMC because you
have moved away.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
But I met.
Speaker 7 (20:34):
About this.
Speaker 8 (20:35):
I met you a long time ago in LA and
our interaction you weren't rude, but it just wasn't the best.
And one I was about to leave, Ban was like,
you should call me, and I was like, I don't
think she cares for me that much, and he was
and I was like, well, and I told him, But
now here in your I don't know if you even
knew who I was, but if so, I'm thinking like
maybe that I had nothing to do with that. But
I never thought about this because when you're in that environment,
(20:57):
you think it's regular, you think it's okay. I never
thought about, like what your post life felt like mentally
having to go through and deal with all of that.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
I think that I got to you telling the world
that Nina was no.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
I said.
Speaker 8 (21:10):
You know, the reason why I want to say that
is because now I'm sitting here and I felt your
emotion just now when you're talking about your experience, and
I identify with it so much, and it made me
think about if I were to run into someone right
in that same predicament unknowingly, I might not like, you know, do.
Speaker 5 (21:29):
You know what I'm trying to Well, you're reacting to
the place, not the person, yes, And so you you know,
it's like if someone brings up a relationship that hurts you,
you're kind of like, especially if you're not in the
space to like say, you're not thinking about it, and
it jars you for a second where you're just like
And also, I'm very media trained, right, so sometimes I
don't want to speak bad on a place, and I
(21:51):
don't know if my experience will be your experience. So
there's a lot I can't say to you without saying
it right where I can. It's like, how do I
tell this person there in the in the trenches and
like get out quickly, yes, because that may not be
your journey. So how do I say that to you?
Because it's so nuanced. So it's just such a layered thing.
So sometimes if like people come up and be like
(22:12):
I'm at TMZ, I'm kind of like and I'm like, yeah, don't.
I don't know what to tell you, because this is
it's only something you understand if you've been there. It's
like being in a sorority. But at the same time,
and I think I've just healed from being there probably
within the last like four years, four or five years.
You I have this thing now where I'm my friends
say I'm the fastest responder because you had to be
(22:33):
this thing, right I always Even now I'm not really
in news anymore, like I'm a host for shows, and
even now I feel like I got to look at
these headlines, I'm like, what am I doing? I am
posting about no news. I'm the first to post a
tweet about it, like what am I? So you have
these things. So I don't remember the the the interaction,
but I'll say that it was so traumatizing that sometimes
(22:57):
it was hard to react positively about about it. And also,
you know, as you grow, you learn how to temper
that a little bit better. But I think probably when
we met, I hadn't really quite learned how it.
Speaker 8 (23:09):
Wasn't nothing crazy, but I just I felt shock. I
just didn't I didn't sh Yeah, I didn't understand what
I felt until this moment I was.
Speaker 5 (23:18):
Dealing with.
Speaker 8 (23:18):
But I didn't know because when when we hear about
your journey, then we just hear, well, I've.
Speaker 5 (23:22):
Never talked about this is the first time. I think
you always said things positively because ultimately it was a
positive experience because I have never learned. You learn kind
of when you're in that because it's like the army.
Speaker 6 (23:34):
But I tell people it was the best boot camp
I've ever been.
Speaker 5 (23:36):
To, the best book camp you'll never And one thing
I will say about Harvey is he to this day
probably the hardest work ethic of anyone I have ever
known in the industry. But you you get a lot
of trauma from it, and it's very difficult to express
if you haven't been there. And then also it's like,
I don't want to make that my story. So you know,
when I'm meeting somebody and we in a social setting,
it's like it's it's still now. Some people say, oh,
(23:57):
I know you from TMZ, and I cringe a little bit,
not because I'm a aimed of it, but I've done
so much, but it's still something that's always associated with
you and will always be, as you will know it
will always be, and there's going to be a time
where you just don't want to hear about it because
you've accomplished so much more. And so it's a little
triggering when someone comes up to you and wants to
talk about it and you're just like bringing up an
X that you don't do it anymore.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
Because what you really wanted to say to her fabbly
was good luck.
Speaker 5 (24:21):
Yeah, what am I supposed to say if you're in it? Yeah?
Speaker 6 (24:28):
I mean I needed the money, but I forget what
was going on at the time.
Speaker 8 (24:31):
But I think this was one of the times where
I've been wanted to quit and I just didn't. People
think you're crazy, we can say that, And I was like, oh, Nina,
I could talk to her.
Speaker 5 (24:38):
And then I wish we would have been introduced through
VAN because there I would have loved to have talked
to you one on one, like privately and just really
give you a good download, because I know that you
did reach out and DM and I never even saw
them because we weren't. I wasn't following you and I
didn't even see him until I followed you, and I
was like, dang, there's DMS in here, and I didn't
even see this cry out for help. You were you weren't.
Speaker 4 (25:00):
And then y'all went through two different boot camps becau.
Laura ain't come here with nothing, I.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
Said, lie let me.
Speaker 6 (25:07):
We literally have to move on from with this but
this morning and you'll understand it.
Speaker 8 (25:10):
So I live doing the show, but I tease her segment.
Speaker 4 (25:17):
So she's supposed to come in sure and tease what
she got coming the ladies with Lauren.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
But she couldn't do it.
Speaker 4 (25:22):
This morning has a person news she.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
She just sneaks in the.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
Door and whispers in my ears with somebody else.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
I'm thinking something crazy walk.
Speaker 8 (25:31):
In together, I said, Okay, I was like, so one
of the founder members of the Whispers died and I know,
like all these outs are saying it I.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Kind of twelve hours ago.
Speaker 5 (25:42):
It was seven and.
Speaker 8 (25:43):
Overnight, and I was like, but I want to get
the statement myself before I say all right, he so,
can you just like tell them that I'm going to
come with the latest I came back here. They was like,
you did that all of that for that and I
was like, you never said but the statements right now?
I'm like no, But if you don't receive it yourself,
sometimes you just don't know a.
Speaker 4 (25:57):
Statement that went all the urban seas across the Marriat, we.
Speaker 8 (26:07):
Don't because there when someone's accidentally killed, you don't understand.
Speaker 5 (26:13):
Yeah, she was.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
Trying to call the phone and make sure he's really dad.
Speaker 5 (26:15):
I'm like, yeah, and you know what, this is gonna
be my last thing about the the PTSD. What I
found is a lot of people who leave only find
their worth in posting news because they that's how you
were rewarded. Then you were only you were You could
have been fired for not producing enough, So you find
(26:37):
like you're worth in producing stuff. That's why, like when
I left, I would be posting breaking news and I
didn't even have an outlet to attribute it to. And
what is what it allowed me to do when I
took a step back, was starting to put more worth
in like me, what I'm saying and the other things,
because I was like, I don't even know if I
really like news anymore, Like I don't know if this
is something I even enjoy anymore, like I enjoy talking
(26:58):
to people, I enjoy x Y, Like what else can
I dive into? And for you, what I would like
to say is and I think you're very good at it,
but you know, and I know you have other things
that you like to, you know, get into, and I
just don't want you to get caught up in this
thing of like I have to produce to be value
because it's like what who you are that brings the value,
not being first because we're we kind of are taught
(27:20):
to like we got to be first. I'm just saying
that the value is not in being first anymore, because
this is what I have learned. It's what you're going
to talk about that is valuable because you're not technically
in the news place that has to be first.
Speaker 8 (27:42):
It just sometimes you did you hear that a sense
of urgency is what makes you special because you care,
and that's important.
Speaker 5 (27:55):
But I think people care just they want to know
that these days, everybody can get.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
It anywhere correct.
Speaker 5 (27:59):
They want your take on it.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
So and you were correct and everybody else is wrong.
Speaker 5 (28:04):
Yeah, I know. I was amazing.
Speaker 6 (28:08):
Was correct. I said that there were no charges dropped.
Speaker 5 (28:11):
Again, she was.
Speaker 8 (28:13):
You told me I was not correct because you said
it was no charges driving.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
I'm not gonna get back. I'm not even going back.
Speaker 5 (28:20):
This was a side question, but it was a healing
side quest. So I'm glad we were able to talk
about it.
Speaker 7 (28:26):
I was like, noshn't been for two years and said.
Speaker 5 (28:35):
We talked about the like we talk about.
Speaker 6 (28:48):
In this new life that you have.
Speaker 8 (28:51):
I was to let you see there, let you see
the break down, thought about.
Speaker 7 (28:55):
That that was underneath, that was even undereath the brand.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
She showed you all my life.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
I had to fight, but you ain't know.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
She was really funny.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
I said, you've been through some stuff's man, listen, I'm
going over there. I'm talking to me the Parker CA.
Speaker 5 (29:14):
Now you.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
Yn't take ya if you don't, if you need to
go there for laurens the way.
Speaker 5 (29:21):
No, no, don't enter me in it.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
Lauren sent me he whisper.
Speaker 7 (29:29):
Y'all.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
We got whisper in the world, and y'all this one less.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
Please, Oh my goodness god.
Speaker 4 (29:42):
Friday Night Vibes on TV asked many, we appreciate you
guys coming up and don't be strange.
Speaker 7 (29:47):
You could come home. I feel like you need a girl.
I was watching too. I was like, oh my god,
this is really happening. They're gonna put this on teams,
but I don't.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
Please come up. If you are in town, please come
on away. Seven years to get kept. So yeah, well,
y'all just had him. So this was fine.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
I was fullying. I was in the commage, tweeting, was
in the common, was still in store.
Speaker 5 (30:16):
Yes, yes, I have a I have a clothing line
for plus women sizes twelve to thirty is. Yes, it's
and stores. It's a Macy's. It's doing very well. And
so this is one of the designs. So yeah, it's
do you know the multiple streams is always.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
Needed to parking, not the little to keep a check.
Speaker 3 (30:31):
Nina Parker kept on stage Friday Night Vibes on TBS.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
I felt like I was a good family moment Friday. Hey,
we gotta leave on the prayer. Yeah, Jesus, Wait wait,
wait minute, what's wrong with the prayer?
Speaker 1 (30:46):
I'm like, what reverence, what the path?
Speaker 7 (30:50):
Let me take my past my pastor was?
Speaker 4 (30:56):
I do want to say one thing just to bring
things around for for the preyer. Yes, when keV was
here last time, he didn't shout out his show with
Nina Parker. Right Tony Baker was up here. Tony Baker
was talking about the Tall and him and cav going on,
have ain't say nothing about the Tall.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
The day with us.
Speaker 7 (31:15):
I got a protocol. I'm gonna give you the press
release right now. I'm gonna tell you talking about supposed
to come out till July. Okay, well, he shout, It's fine.
Speaker 5 (31:27):
The show is premiering tonight on Friday night, every Friday
all summer long. Celebrity guests, all the games, all the things.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
Comes from me and Nina Man. At the end of
the day, we family.
Speaker 5 (31:37):
Were your cousins with the show.
Speaker 7 (31:38):
You will not gonna do prayer, Father God, the name
of Jesus, we come against tm Z right now, Father
God for everything they've done to black people.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
From Nina to Van to Lauren, God crush him in
your mic. God, break them down.
Speaker 7 (31:52):
You don't mean the breaking news Father, God, breaking from
the inside God, and then giving Lauren and needing the
breaking news.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
The broken news. Hey man, you hear me.
Speaker 7 (32:02):
God, do it in your name Jesus, nay and bless
riding that bodies to guy.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
Let it come on every day.
Speaker 5 (32:11):
And it is. It is a positive environment. That's you
and we get breaks.
Speaker 7 (32:19):
I have never been in the middle of a prayer
like Wow, I got my head about God have been ignoring.
That's the breakfast wake that ass up in the morning.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
The breakfast club.
The Breakfast Club News
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DJ Envy
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