September 14, 2021 • 34 mins
Nicki Minaj makes an anti-vaccination appeal, Dulcé Sloan investigates a sperm recession in the U.S., and Gabrielle Union discusses "You Got Anything Stronger?," her new book.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Comedy Central. So did you watch it? Yeah?
You saw the thing, right, Yeah? The iPhone I think
it was like I don't know, like iPad mini, iPhone thirteen.
I'm just like it's enough already, right, they did what
they did the ten, iPhone ten, and there's what the
iPhone eleven and then iPhone twelve, now thirteen, what's next?
(00:21):
Thirty two? You know what I mean? Well, fourteen? I
mean that makes sense. I guess numbers. Yeah, Like I mean,
what's what's what? What's the big thing it has? What
a bigger camera? Yeah, but that's always the thing. Who
we did six lens? Is this time? Like no one
needs a better camera. I'm not looking any better right now,
Like now the camera shows every little floor and mark
(00:44):
that I have in my face. We need to go
back to like old cameras that show nothing we do.
Do we even need cameras. I've taken like ten million photos.
I've never even looked at any of them. I'm just
snapping photos. Is like a weird reflex. It's like oh,
fancy cupcake or picture picture, you know, Like I just
I think, yeah, I'm over the phone. What no, no,
I ordered Yeah, pre ordered mine of course. Yeah, what
are you talking about? Not using your shitty as old iPhone?
(01:07):
Getting the thirteen baby? Yeah, all right, let's do this thing.
Let's do it. Coming to you from the heart of
Times Square, the most important place on Earth. It's the
Daily Show. Here's addition coming here. Fancy people dressed, fancy
toxic waste is the new birth control in Gabrielle Union.
This is the Daily Show with Trevor no Hey, what's
(01:33):
going on? Everybody? Welcome to the show. I'm Trevor Noah.
Let's kick things off. Yesterday was the met Gala That's
Potty City on LSD, and this year the looks were
as wild as ever. The met Gala began with a
bang from the Brooklyn United Marching Band, and from there
the steps became a who's who of fashion, movies and music.
(01:55):
The theme is celebrating American fashion, and these guests understood
the assignment. Spilly Eilish and Naomi Osaka stunned in their
larger than life outfits, and Little nas X shut down
the steps with his costume changes. We asked, what did
they mean to be? Too? Working class women showing up
to the mat. So we decided that we're gonna do it.
(02:17):
Even Mayor de Blasio made his first appearance. Red, white,
and blue were the colors of the night, as was
anything sparkly, with the exception of Kim Kardashian, who came
in all black everything. Okay, I don't care what anybody says. Man,
you know you've killed the game when you can step
out covered head to toe and everyone still recognizes you. Ship.
I don't even recognize some of my friends when they
(02:38):
were wearing a mosque. But Kim Kardashian climbs up the
stairs looking like a video game character. You haven't unlocked it,
and we're all like, I know that shape anywhere It's Kim, Yeah,
it's Kim. And there was so many amazing outfits last night.
You know. Eric Kabardou came looking like an astronaut at
a funeral. Dan Levy came as an angry throw pillow.
Oh and this one was one of my favorites. Kevin.
(03:00):
He brought a life sized doll of Frank Ocean. I
mean that was genius. I didn't even think that. Wait,
that's not that's not the oh ship, my bad. And
this is what I love about the Metcala right, is
that it brings America together, black, white, Republican democrat no
matter your sexual orientation. People switch on their TVs and
they all say what the fund are they wearing? And
(03:23):
don't get me wrong, I love the Metgala. I'm not
even trying to act like I hate I love the
Metcala because it's not about looking good. It's about looking different.
You know. It's the only party you can show up
to in a cardboard box with the word butthole written
on it and people will be like, oh my god, yes,
I need more of that in my life. Oh my god.
But if you show up in a beautiful tailor tuxedo,
(03:43):
everyone's like, get that corny ship out of here, bring
back that guy on the bothole box. And remember this
entire event, This entire event is a fundraiser. I saw
a lot of people talking trash, like, oh what is
this bullshit? Why are these people doing? It's a fundraiser
that makes it possible to keep admission into the Metropolitan
Museum of Art free for residents, and I for one
(04:06):
thing that's really important, you know, because you can't be
charging people money to look at art. I mean, have
you seen art? Arts is weird. It's all like naked
angel babies and pieces of twisted metal and people looking
at that stuff going oh, yes, I see, Oh I see,
I'm not paying for that ship. But let's move on
(04:27):
to today's big political news out of California, America's left
sideburn votes in the States are being asked whether they
want to remove Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom from office after
he made some poor decisions early on in the COVID pandemic. Yeah,
because you see, apparently he shouldn't have gone on that
private door knob looking tour of Napa Valley. It wasn't
(04:48):
a good look. But although Californians went to the polls today,
we probably won't have official results for some time, and
it turns out that the loser might not even accept
the results when we do. It is up to California
voters whether Gavin Knewsom remains their governor. Pole show Newsome
with a comfortable lead, but if the polls are wrong,
Republican Larry Elder is poised to take over. Elder turns
(05:10):
some heads yesterday by pushing baseless claims centering around the
recall election. As Elder was campaigning across l A in
Orange Counties. He urged his supporters to use an online
form to report any suspected fraud. At the same time,
the website hosting that form claimed it had already detected
fraud and the results of the election quote resulting in
(05:30):
Gavin Newsom being reinstated as governor. The only problem is
the election isn't over yet. Don't fairly changed the game.
He started calling elections rigged. That felt like this outrageous statement,
but already it's you know, it's feeling like just the
standard thing you can say these days. You know, that
language has just become part of political life. It's like
(05:52):
how it used to be a huge deal to hear
people say ship or asshole, But now any asshole, ship
hit can say them all night long. And this election
feels like another tipping point because Larry Elder is calling
it rigged before it even finishes. I mean, I don't
know about you, but I think that's a risky strategy. Man.
What like, what if he wins, you know, it's gonna
(06:14):
put him in a little bit of a cul de sac,
your new governor. I would like to say that this
is some bullshit. I shouldn't be up here. Lock me up.
No matter what happens now, Royal screwed man, every single
election in America is just going to be accused of
being rigged right from the start. That's all that's gonna happen.
And it won't end there. I mean, you best believe
(06:36):
pretty soon this is gonna happen with any competition anyone
in a race against you, say, bolt is going to
be like before we start, can I just state for
the record that I would have won this if the
clock wasn't so corrupt? Okay, all right, let's go, let's go.
Let's do this alright. And finally, news from the world
of science. There are a couple of things that we
all learned in school about prehistoric animals, right the t
rex skipped arm day and extinct means forever. But now
(07:00):
one extinct animal might be getting a reboot, a Jurassic
Park like mission to resurrect the legendary Wooly mammoth. A
team of researchers has just been granted fifteen million dollars
to try and make that happen. They plan to use
DNA extracted from wooly mammoth remains to create a living
elephant Mammoth hybrid. The beast with massive tusk vanished from
(07:22):
the planet four thousand years ago. The project, of course,
has some ethical questions. Harvard scientists say the goal is
to have the first wooly mammoth calves alive in four
to six years. Oh hell yeah, I'm gonna get a mammoth.
I'm gonna get a mammoth. It's gonna ruin my apartment.
I regret the decision. Are there mammoth rescue shelters? What
(07:46):
have I done? Look? I know some people are upset
about this because it isn't natural and if the planet
is warming, why would you bring back the one animal
that wears a giant sweat up. I think it's a
cool thing, you know, Although I will say, I will
say if these scientists want to play god, I mean,
there are easier ways to do it, you know, like
(08:06):
this her look at me our God or not didn't
cost fifteen million dollars. All right, but let's move on
to our top story. As I mentioned earlier, the met
gala was last night, but not everyone decided to attend.
Some people just didn't feel comfortable going because of COVID,
Some couldn't attend because of their schedules, and I didn't
(08:29):
go because I haven't been welcome ever since I mixed
up Oscar de la Renta and Oscar de la Hoya. Yeah,
I thought he blocked the punch my bad. Oh, And
it turns out Nicki Minaj wasn't there either, for a
reason that has set the Internet ablaze. The Matt Gala
was held last night, but one star was noticeably absent.
(08:49):
Nicki Minaj, the rapper told fans on Twitter that she
isn't vaccinated, which was required in order to attend the event.
She added that she contracted COVID nineteen while prepping for
the empty v Video Music Awards, but it was her
comment it's about the vaccine that had many people lashing out.
My cousin and Trinidad won't get the vaccine because his
friend got it and became impotent, his testicles became swollen,
(09:12):
and his friend was weeks away from getting married. Not
a girl called off the wedding. So just pray on
it and make sure you're comfortable with your decision, not bullied.
That's right. People. If you've been on Twitter in the
last twenty four hours, or if you for some reason
have a Google alert for Trinidadian testicles. You probably saw
the story and oh, baby, is there a lot to
digest here. First of all, I'm gonna say this, I'm
(09:37):
not sure that this marriage was ever gonna work out,
because when you get married, you go into it knowing
you're gonna face some obstacles someday. I mean, it's right
there in the vows. But clearly this woman in Trinidad
was like, I was okay with rich all poor rough
sickness and health, but you never said anything about swollen testicles.
And also, can we just talk a moment about this
(09:57):
poor guy. Think about it. He's minding his own busines
in this with the swollen testicles in Trinidad. And then
because his best friend happens to be cousins with Nicki Minaj,
now the whole world knows that he's impotent, he got dumped,
and he's got giant testicles. He must be so mad
(10:17):
at his friend. But I told you I was gonna
tell my cousin Nicki in America. Boy, you didn't tell
me your cousin was Nicki Minaj. Nicki Minaj. You gotta
say Nicki Minaj. I mean that poor guy. Now he's
single and swollen, and everyone's asking him if he can
hook them up with Nicki Minaj's tickets. And here's the thing.
Here's the thing. Vaccines already a very contentious issue in
(10:39):
America right everyone is fighting about them. But when you're
a world famous artist with twenty two million followers on Twitter,
everyone is going to be weighing in. Right wing commentators
have been rushing to Nikki's defense, Yes, my Anaconda Queen.
And then on the other side, liberal pundits like MSNBC's
Joy Reid Well, they called Nikki out on TV, people
(11:00):
like Nicki Minaj. I have to say this. You have
a platform, sister, that is twenty two million followers. Okay,
I have two million follers. You have twenty two million
followers on Twitter. For you to use your platform to
encourage our community to not protect themselves and save their lives,
my god, sister, you could do better than that. You
(11:21):
got that platform. It's it's a blessing. It's a blessing
that you got that that people listen to you, and
they listen to you more they listen to me. For
you to use your platform to put people in the
position of dying from a disease. They don't have to
die from. Oh my god, as a fan, as a
hip hop fan, as somebody who was your fan, I'm
so sad if you did that. I think what Joy
(11:42):
Reid is trying to say is that she's also black
and she's very disappointed. Now after hearing this, Nicki Minaj
actually contacted Joy Reid and they had a really cordial
conversation and came to an understanding based on friendship and
mutual respect. Now I'm just seen with you, man. Nicki
roasted her asso it was rough. She tweetsed Joy Read
(12:06):
and called her a lying coon who's being used by
white people to take down a black woman. And she
even dug up an old tweet from last year where
Joy Reid was saying that she would never trust the
vaccine because it was developed under Donald Trump. And honestly,
I think Nicky has a point here. I mean, Joy
Read was skeptical of the vaccine just a year ago, Right,
(12:29):
just a year ago, She's like, I don't trust this
vaccine and I'll never trust the vaccine. In fact, a
lot of liberals were in the same position, and people
like that should probably have a little more patience for
people who haven't gotten over that hesitancy as fast as
they have. You know, you're like, yeah, I'm over it now,
I'm with the vaccine. But you also had to get there,
have a little patience. This happens with a lot of
(12:49):
things in society. I mean, look at crocs. Look at CrOx.
For years everyone agreed that CROs with the official footwear
or failure right, And then suddenly last year everyone decided
that they were cool justin Bieber's wearing them, Post Malone's
wearing them. And now people like, oh, where are your crocks,
travel Why aren't you wearing crocks Traveler? You don't like
fashion guys, give me a minute. Uh, let me check
(13:10):
with Dr Fauci and Nicki Minaj was on defense all day.
All day, Nicki was fighting, swinging at everyone, not only
joy read. At one point, Megan McCain, former co host
of The View and inventor of the phrase do you
know who my father is? Criticized Nikki and Nicky responded
with each ship you, which I know sounds harsh, but
(13:31):
please don't forget people. Nicki Minaj's is a rapper, all right,
she makes this tracks for a living. Each ship you
is basically a rappers way of saying, let's agree to disagree.
It's actually quite courteous in the rap community. And here's
the thing. Here's the thing. Like, I get why Nicki
Minaj feels attacked just for saying that she wants to
(13:51):
do her own research. I get it. But at the
same time, Nikki, let's be real in fact, not just Niki,
everyone can. Can we all stop saying I need to
do my own research. Nobody who's saying that is getting
in the lab and doing tests. At best, you're reading
other people's research, and more likely you're probably reading a
(14:11):
tweet about a headline, about a blog post about someone
else's research. No one's doing the research. I need to
do my own research. What we say when we're saying
I need to do more as reading more research, is
that you just want to see enough information to convince
you that your decision is correct. That's all we're saying.
All right, that's what we mean. I want to do
more research, And I especially don't want Nicki minajs doing
(14:32):
her own research because I don't want to wait ten
years for her next album while she finishes up medical school.
Now here's the problem. The problem is for a lot
of Nicki Minaj's followers, millions of followers that tweets about
swollen balls, that will be their research. It will be
their research. But at the same time, I'm not saying
that we should label Nicki Minaj as an anti vaxer,
(14:54):
all right, Like, give her a little bit of the
benefit of the doubt. Nicki Minaj is saying she's unsure
and she can be convinced. That's what she said. She said,
I just need to understand a little bit more. So
don't be like, oh, she's an anti vaxa screw herd
Anti vax is believe that all vaccines are evil. They
think all vaccines take your DNA and hide it behind
your liver so your body can't find it. But if
(15:16):
you take Nikki at her word, or anyone who wants
more information for that matter, instead of crucifying them just
to prove how righteous we are, let's show them the research.
Let's take them at their word, you know. So for
Nikki or anyone else out there, the good news is
that a lot of actual research has already been done
(15:36):
on these vaccines, and that research has shown that they're
overwhelmingly safe and effective, and their side effects don't come
close to the damage that COVID can do to you.
It's been done, they've done the research. But still you
might be asking Trevor, what happened to that guy in Trinidad. Huh,
(15:58):
the guy with the testicles, what happened to him? Look,
I don't know, Okay, I don't know. I think there
are many reasons people might get swollen balls, Like I
don't know, maybe he sprayed miracle grow on them. You know,
maybe his scrotton developed and not allergy. Maybe his balls
didn't actually get bigger, but his penis just got super
super tiny. It's an optical illusion. But even if you
(16:21):
do want to blame the vaccine, Trinidad doesn't even use
the same vaccines as America. Think about that. Yeah, they
used the Chinese vaccine sinopharm, And I don't know. As
soon as I say China and vaccine, people are like,
oh boy, here we go. Because look, let's be honest,
China as wildly and consistent. I mean, they make some
of the most precise electronics in the world in China,
(16:42):
you know, like iPhones and Tesla's. China can make the
best of anything. But then at the same time, China
will also make a fake pair of timberlands that somehow
give you a rash on your teeth. So I don't
know if this dude's balls had anything to do with Sinopharm,
the Chinese vaccine. I don't know enough about Sino farm.
I have to do my own research. But the fact
(17:02):
is that right now, for Nicki Minaj or anyone else
in America, getting vaccinated is still the safest and most
effective way for you to keep COVID at bay, and hey,
at the very least, it's also a great way to
find out if your fiance only loves you for your
regular sized testicles. All right, when we come back, Dulce
(17:24):
Sloan finds out the latest excuse guys are going to
be using to not wear a condom, and Gabrielle Union
is still joining me on the show, so don't go away,
Welcome back to the Daily Show. You know, these days,
there's a lot of numbers going up that we don't
want to go up the temperature daily COVID cases, Jake
(17:44):
Paul pay per view events, But there is one number
going down that could be just as concerning. Dulce Sloan
has more in another episode of count on it. Recently,
you might have heard that birthrates are going down, and
some researchers think it's not just because men are trash,
(18:06):
their sperm is broken too. So I visited a sperm
bank in Philadelphia for a closer look at something I
try to avoid seeing at all costs. And this is
where the donors will go to produce their seem example
in there, right in there. Oh, that's disgusting, all right.
Michelle Addie, the clinics director, explained to me that there's
a sperm recession going on and approximately ten years ago,
(18:27):
from one ejaculate, we'd be able to produce approximately six vials,
and over a decade we saw a very sharp decline
and we get about an average of three now, so
that's a decline in sperm volume. Half of them never
even made it out the gate. Oh no, we're looking
at some real d students for a lot of them
just not moving, bumping into each other. A lot of
(18:50):
them don't have tails, and those are not the ones
that are going to achieve fertilization and lead to a baby.
So something is definitely wrong with the little guys. To
find out what this sperm a getting means, even for
those who don't mind saving money on birth control. A
fat down with epidemiologists, shot a swant. It's a bad
thing because it's what we call the canary in the
coal mine. Canary in a coal mine. That's my ex's
(19:12):
favorite sexual position. You gotta be real Bundy to get
into it. But once you do, it's a good night.
It's a good night. It's an indication that we are
in trouble. It's pointing out a problem which is not
just about sperm. It's lower testosterone, erectile dysfunction and testicular
cancer going up. And then it's also tied to non
(19:34):
human species like alligators and fish and frogs, all of
whom are experiencing changes in their genitals. Alligators penis is
a goodness? Smaller? Ye? Are human penis is again? Small? Yep?
Shut up? Why don't you start with that focused? I
am honed in. This is something that affects me directly, Shanna.
(19:54):
The sperm or dye dicks are shrinking, and my heart
is breaking. But what is causing this? We're being poisoned
by the byproducts in our plastics, the thalides and the
phenals and so on. Thalides make plastics soft, and they
trick our body into thinking that they are hormones like
our testosterone or estrogen. And when our body gets tricked
(20:19):
that way, it doesn't carry out its reproductive functions. So
if men's testosterone is affected, they have lots of effects
on on their function including how much they want sex,
how well they do in the bed, what their muscles are,
what their strength level is. Okay, because I don't like
weak mint. If you can't open a jar, change a tire,
(20:41):
build something from my keia. Even worse, Elsie is that
if you're pregnant and you're carrying a boy and you
get exposed to these things that lower testosterone, the penis
is smaller, the scrutinuous smaller. He has a person smaller, No,
just his generals. You could just be a real big
dude with no No, that's I've seen that guy. That's
(21:02):
with anyone doing penis thizs research because I have a
lot of data to contribute. There are no studies that
have tracked the size of mailed penises. So then how
do you measure the damage happening to men's reproductive equipment?
You can measure how long does it take to go
from the anus to the scrotum. That distance, Okay, you
(21:24):
think about it in your mind? Do you think about that?
I try to stay. I started to say that that part,
but I'll think about that. That's the taint, okay, okay.
And the reason that's important is that when the baby
is born, we can measure that. And it turns out
that that distance tells us how much testosterone was present
(21:46):
when this was developing. Get a bunch of men in
measure their taint, measure their sperm count, and what do
you think, smaller taint, smaller sperm count? Okay? Plus all right,
So when I finally meet the man who will be
my husband, I just could quick tape management go all right,
we would you like to meet me in the bathroom,
Not for the reason that you hope it is, but
(22:08):
where do you get these dilates that are messing with
our hormones and making our little micromnt Chemicals in the cosmetics,
chemicals in our makeup, Everything we put on our body,
we bring into our lives, in our ingest breathe put
on our skin, has these chemicals that have the ability
to change our body's hormones. Okay, So you're telling me
(22:29):
that there are companies that are selling products that are
poisoning their customers. I mean, why would they do that.
I'm just playing its capitalism. They hate all of us.
In fact, dozens of chemicals that are harmful to humans,
like tholates, peabrins, actress in m b p a s
are common in household goods, tin cans, microwave, popcorn bags,
(22:51):
classic containers, plugging air fresheners, water bottles, nonstick cookware, antibacterial soaps,
household cleaners, hair spray, and nail polish. You have nail polish, true,
and it's very nice, Wendy, thank you. If you were
living in Europe, there would be eleven hundred ingredients that
(23:13):
would be not allowed in your personal care products and
your makeup. Eleven hundred are kept out by regulations in
the EU. Okay, in this country, you know how many
are kept out. Eleven So we need two more zeros.
Unless the government can step in and say, look, we've
got to get these things out of everybody's lives, we're
(23:33):
gonna be in increasing trouble in the reproduction department. Never
mind climate change or COVID, there's a whole other life
on the planet threatening catastrophy unfolding right inside of our
own bedrooms, and in our couches and love seeths, and
in the back of cars, and in an office desk,
in a closet, a stairwell, a swimming pool, a beach
(23:54):
apart even a while, a half bathroom. But in this case,
I know just how to fight back. I'm saying me
you sandwich board Congress plastics making your fastest passing legislation
in history of Maeric, Thank you so much for that.
Do say all right when we come back. Gabrielle Union
(24:15):
is joining me on the show and you don't want
to miss it. Welcome back to the Daily Show. My
guest tonight is actor, producer, and best selling author Gabrielle Union.
She's here to talk about her new book, a collection
of revealing essays about her life. Gabrielle, Welcome to the show.
Thank you for having me. I feel like every time
I see you you are achieving you things. It just
(24:37):
feels like now is the time of Gabrielle Union. However,
I wonder if anyone has asked you this, why does
it seem like every single one of your productions or
your books has something to do with alcohol. Well, you've
been to our parties, Trevor. Um. It's a reoccurring theme
in my life and and as certainly Um, you know,
when I'm when I'm writing, I want people to feel like,
(24:57):
you know, we're chopping it up over a glass of
of wine and and just talking, um, just having a
normal conversation. I'm not using all of my say t
words in my books. I just want to use regular
language talking about some deeper issues, some more challenging issues
that you know, and to do it in a way
that more people can relate to it and understand. It
(25:17):
feels like that, like everything about you feels relatable. Like
you know, I've been following you on your trip to Europe.
Everything looked amazing. M met Gala, you look stunning. Thank you?
Did you have fun? I did? I did. There was
a point where I was walking up the stairs. You
forget how many stairs. There's a lot of stairs. There's
a lot of stairs. In that dress and in those heels,
(25:38):
I was walking like Gallum, like here's fashion and then
fashion and where is the precious? It was terrible like
trying to walk up those stairs in this you know,
ginormous gown. Um. And then like the after party. I'm like, okay,
you know I did the you know, the more you
know Conservative met ball, the after party is full, almost
(26:00):
like it's all about the after parties and it's all
about who can get to Rihanna's after party. That's all
everybody's trying to do. Did you go the Yes, Well,
we wanted to stop at Swiss and Alicia's party. It
was lovely. They had food, there was adequate seating with
back support. It was nice. It was for the grown up.
And then we're like, it's time to go to Rihanna's
and we link up with Queen Latifa and it's me
(26:20):
and Regina King and and and our friends and we're,
you know, in a couple of caravans of SUVs and
then the weight in the in the caravan line to
get into Rihanna's was so long. We missed our window.
You can't you can't keep old people waiting that long.
So we missed our window. And we're like, hey, guys,
wanna I want to go get some pizza. Let's talk
(26:41):
about the book. It feels like you are you Gabrielle
Union is having a good time and it is punctuated
with some tough times in between, you've got anything stronger
does just that I'd love to know, like why you
feel the need to share some of the stories that
you share. I love them, but it's also really vulnerable
to share some of the things that you do in
(27:01):
the books, because through radical transparency, you breed community. Um.
You know, what I found during this pandemic is that
we're all suffering in our own way, but we're suffering
in silos because we think we're alone. No one else
in the world could possibly be feeling what I'm feeling.
No one else in the world could understand the pain
(27:23):
that I am in. Except that's not true. And because
it's because we don't talk about it, and what people say, hey,
how are you? You go fine? And when you lie
and say fine, when the world is burning around you,
you close the door on building community, and you breed isolation,
you know, And that's when the downward sparked, the spiral starts.
(27:43):
So with this book and those tougher chapters, which some
of the most brutal chapters of my life, actually I
felt the I felt a responsibility to share. One of
the essays that connected with people the most is m
is the essay that you shared about surrogacy. When I
saw your journey online, it was, oh, Gabs having a baby,
Oh Gabs using a surrogate. This is fantastic, just like
(28:04):
it's an easy way to do the thing and it's fun.
She's just chosen something, you know. And then some people like, oh,
I remember. Some people commented as well, They were like,
why don't you have the baby yourself? This is the
problem with Hollywood people. They've got too much money for
their own good putting babies and other people's bodies, et cetera.
And then I read the story and it is the
most painful experience. You talk of the journey going through
I v I. You talked through the journey of your
(28:26):
body struggling with each stage of trying to have a child,
the pain of a miscarriage, over and over again. And
I think the line that's stuck with me is the
one where decess to you, Hey, you've done enough. I'd
love to know what you not learn, but what you
what you got from sharing it, and what you hope
women out there would also understand from the journey. That's
(28:47):
often just like you know, it's glossified in many ways.
I felt liberated, like when you when you have complicated feelings, complicated, messy,
um not sound bite worthy feelings about something as big
as entering into motherhood and the journey to motherhood, and
it's not Oh, it was great and I'm just glad
(29:09):
someone was there to help me bring my angel to,
you know, into the world. I felt like a loser.
I felt like a failure. I felt like my body
had failed me. I had failed me, and I had
failed Dwayne and he deserved something other than me. Um.
And there were just so many complicated feelings. And it's
also like when you don't physically, you know, birth your
(29:30):
child and you have those nine months, you know, to
bond with with your baby. It's like me and Duane
are in the same boat with CoV. We both had
to work to create a bond because she's she was
created outside of both of us. And I was so
worried that maybe she's not gonna love me as much
because I didn't birth her. Maybe she's not going to
(29:52):
respect me as much because I didn't birth her. Maybe
he's not ever going to be able to love me
fully completely because I wasn't able to do this. And
I'll never know you know what I mean, and it
just it's brutal and it's heartbreaking and it sucks um
but no one ever tells that story. You know, when
(30:14):
I'm reading in People magazine about someone who's had a
baby via you know, gestational carrier like like we did.
It was basically like I couldn't found a great like
an angel on Earth, and now our angel is on
Earth and there's nothing in between. There's nothing in between.
And I felt like, Okay, now again I'm defective because
that my story doesn't match that I feel. So I
(30:37):
just feel messy and ikey and and just I feel
like I'm covered in like loser juice that I can't
get out from under. So in just writing it, I
started to release it. I started to being able to
release it. Once you name it, claim it and let
it go. You know. Sometimes I'll write things down that
you know, or I might you know, text you and
be like I really want to say this and and
(31:00):
suck someone in the face, but I'm going to text you, Trevor,
and you're like, yeah, okay, don't send that to anyone.
Sometimes that's enough. Sometimes I write it down and I
burn it now just to release it out. But with this.
I know I'm not alone. This is what I would
why I would love people to read your book. All
your books have this, they have you. And in the
same book where you're talking about, you know, racism, when
(31:22):
you're talking about some of the struggles that you face
in the entertainment industry, when you're talking about your achievements
and your choys, and then all of a sudden in
the in the book, we're talking about a strip club
and laxatives and constipation. Yeah. Um, And you know, people like,
what what do you want that takeaway to be from
that chapter? Uh? The takeaway is, perhaps don't take laxatives
(31:46):
and then drink Hennessey and go to a place that
has exactly one private bathroom, um, that is surrounded by
women in various states of undress, because it could be explosive. Um.
Talk about a pay full chapter for my ass. It
was embarrassing and there was nothing I could do. But
(32:07):
I love I loved how they loved you. That's that's
what I appreciate. I loved how you talk about how
these women came together, was all these strippers and they
were like, you know what, gap, we got you, we
got you, and let's go we got you. You with
the cold rag right because I was sweating. I came
out of there. Do you know, like when you think
of strip clubs now, do you now go negative experience
or do you feel like, no, this is a warm place. Now.
(32:27):
I've been going to strip clubs since I've been allowed in,
you know, my whole career. This isn't like a like
a one time I went to the strip club and
I happened to you know, get the diarrhea or whatever.
Um No, I've been going to strip clubs all over
the world and I love I love the celebration of bodies.
I love sensuality, I love sexuality. I am here for
it and I'm a good tipper. Um, I enjoy it.
(32:49):
I enjoy it the whole thing. But like in Atlanta
and Miami, the strip club is just where you go
after the club. It's just been next It's Arihanna. It's
Arihanna Party of Atlanta, exactly. That is. Um. I can
talk to you forever. But that's why I have the book.
Thank you so much for joining me, thank you for
coming on. You look amazing now, you look amazing at
the Medgala, and I hope everybody goes out and gets
(33:09):
the book. Gabrielle's book You Got Anything Stronger is available
right now. We're gonna take a quick break while we'll
be right back after this. Well that's our show for
tonight's But before we go, please consider a donation to
s BPS disaster response to Hurricane Ida, which recently made
landfall as one of the most powerful storms in Louisiana history.
(33:31):
SPPS disaster response teams are on the ground and they're
helping the hardest hit communities in Southeast Louisiana. If you
want to help them provide that support, then please follow
the link below Until tomorrow, Stay safe out there, get
your vaccine, and remember, if you didn't like this episode
of the show, that's because it was rigged. What's the
(33:54):
Daily Show? Weeknight Central, Arm Comedy Central and stream full
episodes anytime. I'll para own plus this has been a
Comedy Central podcast.
You're listening to Comedy Central. So did you watch it? Yeah?
You saw the thing, right, Yeah? The iPhone I think
it was like I don't know, like iPad mini, iPhone thirteen.
I'm just like it's enough already, right, they did what
they did the ten, iPhone ten, and there's what the
iPhone eleven and then iPhone twelve, now thirteen, what's next?
(00:21):
Thirty two? You know what I mean? Well, fourteen? I
mean that makes sense. I guess numbers. Yeah, Like I mean,
what's what's what? What's the big thing it has? What
a bigger camera? Yeah, but that's always the thing. Who
we did six lens? Is this time? Like no one
needs a better camera. I'm not looking any better right now,
Like now the camera shows every little floor and mark
(00:44):
that I have in my face. We need to go
back to like old cameras that show nothing we do.
Do we even need cameras. I've taken like ten million photos.
I've never even looked at any of them. I'm just
snapping photos. Is like a weird reflex. It's like oh,
fancy cupcake or picture picture, you know, Like I just
I think, yeah, I'm over the phone. What no, no,
I ordered Yeah, pre ordered mine of course. Yeah, what
are you talking about? Not using your shitty as old iPhone?
(01:07):
Getting the thirteen baby? Yeah, all right, let's do this thing.
Let's do it. Coming to you from the heart of
Times Square, the most important place on Earth. It's the
Daily Show. Here's addition coming here. Fancy people dressed, fancy
toxic waste is the new birth control in Gabrielle Union.
This is the Daily Show with Trevor no Hey, what's
(01:33):
going on? Everybody? Welcome to the show. I'm Trevor Noah.
Let's kick things off. Yesterday was the met Gala That's
Potty City on LSD, and this year the looks were
as wild as ever. The met Gala began with a
bang from the Brooklyn United Marching Band, and from there
the steps became a who's who of fashion, movies and music.
(01:55):
The theme is celebrating American fashion, and these guests understood
the assignment. Spilly Eilish and Naomi Osaka stunned in their
larger than life outfits, and Little nas X shut down
the steps with his costume changes. We asked, what did
they mean to be? Too? Working class women showing up
to the mat. So we decided that we're gonna do it.
(02:17):
Even Mayor de Blasio made his first appearance. Red, white,
and blue were the colors of the night, as was
anything sparkly, with the exception of Kim Kardashian, who came
in all black everything. Okay, I don't care what anybody says. Man,
you know you've killed the game when you can step
out covered head to toe and everyone still recognizes you. Ship.
I don't even recognize some of my friends when they
(02:38):
were wearing a mosque. But Kim Kardashian climbs up the
stairs looking like a video game character. You haven't unlocked it,
and we're all like, I know that shape anywhere It's Kim, Yeah,
it's Kim. And there was so many amazing outfits last night.
You know. Eric Kabardou came looking like an astronaut at
a funeral. Dan Levy came as an angry throw pillow.
Oh and this one was one of my favorites. Kevin.
(03:00):
He brought a life sized doll of Frank Ocean. I
mean that was genius. I didn't even think that. Wait,
that's not that's not the oh ship, my bad. And
this is what I love about the Metcala right, is
that it brings America together, black, white, Republican democrat no
matter your sexual orientation. People switch on their TVs and
they all say what the fund are they wearing? And
(03:23):
don't get me wrong, I love the Metgala. I'm not
even trying to act like I hate I love the
Metcala because it's not about looking good. It's about looking different.
You know. It's the only party you can show up
to in a cardboard box with the word butthole written
on it and people will be like, oh my god, yes,
I need more of that in my life. Oh my god.
But if you show up in a beautiful tailor tuxedo,
(03:43):
everyone's like, get that corny ship out of here, bring
back that guy on the bothole box. And remember this
entire event, This entire event is a fundraiser. I saw
a lot of people talking trash, like, oh what is
this bullshit? Why are these people doing? It's a fundraiser
that makes it possible to keep admission into the Metropolitan
Museum of Art free for residents, and I for one
(04:06):
thing that's really important, you know, because you can't be
charging people money to look at art. I mean, have
you seen art? Arts is weird. It's all like naked
angel babies and pieces of twisted metal and people looking
at that stuff going oh, yes, I see, Oh I see,
I'm not paying for that ship. But let's move on
(04:27):
to today's big political news out of California, America's left
sideburn votes in the States are being asked whether they
want to remove Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom from office after
he made some poor decisions early on in the COVID pandemic. Yeah,
because you see, apparently he shouldn't have gone on that
private door knob looking tour of Napa Valley. It wasn't
(04:48):
a good look. But although Californians went to the polls today,
we probably won't have official results for some time, and
it turns out that the loser might not even accept
the results when we do. It is up to California
voters whether Gavin Knewsom remains their governor. Pole show Newsome
with a comfortable lead, but if the polls are wrong,
Republican Larry Elder is poised to take over. Elder turns
(05:10):
some heads yesterday by pushing baseless claims centering around the
recall election. As Elder was campaigning across l A in
Orange Counties. He urged his supporters to use an online
form to report any suspected fraud. At the same time,
the website hosting that form claimed it had already detected
fraud and the results of the election quote resulting in
(05:30):
Gavin Newsom being reinstated as governor. The only problem is
the election isn't over yet. Don't fairly changed the game.
He started calling elections rigged. That felt like this outrageous statement,
but already it's you know, it's feeling like just the
standard thing you can say these days. You know, that
language has just become part of political life. It's like
(05:52):
how it used to be a huge deal to hear
people say ship or asshole, But now any asshole, ship
hit can say them all night long. And this election
feels like another tipping point because Larry Elder is calling
it rigged before it even finishes. I mean, I don't
know about you, but I think that's a risky strategy. Man.
What like, what if he wins, you know, it's gonna
(06:14):
put him in a little bit of a cul de sac,
your new governor. I would like to say that this
is some bullshit. I shouldn't be up here. Lock me up.
No matter what happens now, Royal screwed man, every single
election in America is just going to be accused of
being rigged right from the start. That's all that's gonna happen.
And it won't end there. I mean, you best believe
(06:36):
pretty soon this is gonna happen with any competition anyone
in a race against you, say, bolt is going to
be like before we start, can I just state for
the record that I would have won this if the
clock wasn't so corrupt? Okay, all right, let's go, let's go.
Let's do this alright. And finally, news from the world
of science. There are a couple of things that we
all learned in school about prehistoric animals, right the t
rex skipped arm day and extinct means forever. But now
(07:00):
one extinct animal might be getting a reboot, a Jurassic
Park like mission to resurrect the legendary Wooly mammoth. A
team of researchers has just been granted fifteen million dollars
to try and make that happen. They plan to use
DNA extracted from wooly mammoth remains to create a living
elephant Mammoth hybrid. The beast with massive tusk vanished from
(07:22):
the planet four thousand years ago. The project, of course,
has some ethical questions. Harvard scientists say the goal is
to have the first wooly mammoth calves alive in four
to six years. Oh hell yeah, I'm gonna get a mammoth.
I'm gonna get a mammoth. It's gonna ruin my apartment.
I regret the decision. Are there mammoth rescue shelters? What
(07:46):
have I done? Look? I know some people are upset
about this because it isn't natural and if the planet
is warming, why would you bring back the one animal
that wears a giant sweat up. I think it's a
cool thing, you know, Although I will say, I will
say if these scientists want to play god, I mean,
there are easier ways to do it, you know, like
(08:06):
this her look at me our God or not didn't
cost fifteen million dollars. All right, but let's move on
to our top story. As I mentioned earlier, the met
gala was last night, but not everyone decided to attend.
Some people just didn't feel comfortable going because of COVID,
Some couldn't attend because of their schedules, and I didn't
(08:29):
go because I haven't been welcome ever since I mixed
up Oscar de la Renta and Oscar de la Hoya. Yeah,
I thought he blocked the punch my bad. Oh, And
it turns out Nicki Minaj wasn't there either, for a
reason that has set the Internet ablaze. The Matt Gala
was held last night, but one star was noticeably absent.
(08:49):
Nicki Minaj, the rapper told fans on Twitter that she
isn't vaccinated, which was required in order to attend the event.
She added that she contracted COVID nineteen while prepping for
the empty v Video Music Awards, but it was her
comment it's about the vaccine that had many people lashing out.
My cousin and Trinidad won't get the vaccine because his
friend got it and became impotent, his testicles became swollen,
(09:12):
and his friend was weeks away from getting married. Not
a girl called off the wedding. So just pray on
it and make sure you're comfortable with your decision, not bullied.
That's right. People. If you've been on Twitter in the
last twenty four hours, or if you for some reason
have a Google alert for Trinidadian testicles. You probably saw
the story and oh, baby, is there a lot to
digest here. First of all, I'm gonna say this, I'm
(09:37):
not sure that this marriage was ever gonna work out,
because when you get married, you go into it knowing
you're gonna face some obstacles someday. I mean, it's right
there in the vows. But clearly this woman in Trinidad
was like, I was okay with rich all poor rough
sickness and health, but you never said anything about swollen testicles.
And also, can we just talk a moment about this
(09:57):
poor guy. Think about it. He's minding his own busines
in this with the swollen testicles in Trinidad. And then
because his best friend happens to be cousins with Nicki Minaj,
now the whole world knows that he's impotent, he got dumped,
and he's got giant testicles. He must be so mad
(10:17):
at his friend. But I told you I was gonna
tell my cousin Nicki in America. Boy, you didn't tell
me your cousin was Nicki Minaj. Nicki Minaj. You gotta
say Nicki Minaj. I mean that poor guy. Now he's
single and swollen, and everyone's asking him if he can
hook them up with Nicki Minaj's tickets. And here's the thing.
Here's the thing. Vaccines already a very contentious issue in
(10:39):
America right everyone is fighting about them. But when you're
a world famous artist with twenty two million followers on Twitter,
everyone is going to be weighing in. Right wing commentators
have been rushing to Nikki's defense, Yes, my Anaconda Queen.
And then on the other side, liberal pundits like MSNBC's
Joy Reid Well, they called Nikki out on TV, people
(11:00):
like Nicki Minaj. I have to say this. You have
a platform, sister, that is twenty two million followers. Okay,
I have two million follers. You have twenty two million
followers on Twitter. For you to use your platform to
encourage our community to not protect themselves and save their lives,
my god, sister, you could do better than that. You
(11:21):
got that platform. It's it's a blessing. It's a blessing
that you got that that people listen to you, and
they listen to you more they listen to me. For
you to use your platform to put people in the
position of dying from a disease. They don't have to
die from. Oh my god, as a fan, as a
hip hop fan, as somebody who was your fan, I'm
so sad if you did that. I think what Joy
(11:42):
Reid is trying to say is that she's also black
and she's very disappointed. Now after hearing this, Nicki Minaj
actually contacted Joy Reid and they had a really cordial
conversation and came to an understanding based on friendship and
mutual respect. Now I'm just seen with you, man. Nicki
roasted her asso it was rough. She tweetsed Joy Read
(12:06):
and called her a lying coon who's being used by
white people to take down a black woman. And she
even dug up an old tweet from last year where
Joy Reid was saying that she would never trust the
vaccine because it was developed under Donald Trump. And honestly,
I think Nicky has a point here. I mean, Joy
Read was skeptical of the vaccine just a year ago, Right,
(12:29):
just a year ago, She's like, I don't trust this
vaccine and I'll never trust the vaccine. In fact, a
lot of liberals were in the same position, and people
like that should probably have a little more patience for
people who haven't gotten over that hesitancy as fast as
they have. You know, you're like, yeah, I'm over it now,
I'm with the vaccine. But you also had to get there,
have a little patience. This happens with a lot of
(12:49):
things in society. I mean, look at crocs. Look at CrOx.
For years everyone agreed that CROs with the official footwear
or failure right, And then suddenly last year everyone decided
that they were cool justin Bieber's wearing them, Post Malone's
wearing them. And now people like, oh, where are your crocks,
travel Why aren't you wearing crocks Traveler? You don't like
fashion guys, give me a minute. Uh, let me check
(13:10):
with Dr Fauci and Nicki Minaj was on defense all day.
All day, Nicki was fighting, swinging at everyone, not only
joy read. At one point, Megan McCain, former co host
of The View and inventor of the phrase do you
know who my father is? Criticized Nikki and Nicky responded
with each ship you, which I know sounds harsh, but
(13:31):
please don't forget people. Nicki Minaj's is a rapper, all right,
she makes this tracks for a living. Each ship you
is basically a rappers way of saying, let's agree to disagree.
It's actually quite courteous in the rap community. And here's
the thing. Here's the thing. Like, I get why Nicki
Minaj feels attacked just for saying that she wants to
(13:51):
do her own research. I get it. But at the
same time, Nikki, let's be real in fact, not just Niki,
everyone can. Can we all stop saying I need to
do my own research. Nobody who's saying that is getting
in the lab and doing tests. At best, you're reading
other people's research, and more likely you're probably reading a
(14:11):
tweet about a headline, about a blog post about someone
else's research. No one's doing the research. I need to
do my own research. What we say when we're saying
I need to do more as reading more research, is
that you just want to see enough information to convince
you that your decision is correct. That's all we're saying.
All right, that's what we mean. I want to do
more research, And I especially don't want Nicki minajs doing
(14:32):
her own research because I don't want to wait ten
years for her next album while she finishes up medical school.
Now here's the problem. The problem is for a lot
of Nicki Minaj's followers, millions of followers that tweets about
swollen balls, that will be their research. It will be
their research. But at the same time, I'm not saying
that we should label Nicki Minaj as an anti vaxer,
(14:54):
all right, Like, give her a little bit of the
benefit of the doubt. Nicki Minaj is saying she's unsure
and she can be convinced. That's what she said. She said,
I just need to understand a little bit more. So
don't be like, oh, she's an anti vaxa screw herd
Anti vax is believe that all vaccines are evil. They
think all vaccines take your DNA and hide it behind
your liver so your body can't find it. But if
(15:16):
you take Nikki at her word, or anyone who wants
more information for that matter, instead of crucifying them just
to prove how righteous we are, let's show them the research.
Let's take them at their word, you know. So for
Nikki or anyone else out there, the good news is
that a lot of actual research has already been done
(15:36):
on these vaccines, and that research has shown that they're
overwhelmingly safe and effective, and their side effects don't come
close to the damage that COVID can do to you.
It's been done, they've done the research. But still you
might be asking Trevor, what happened to that guy in Trinidad. Huh,
(15:58):
the guy with the testicles, what happened to him? Look,
I don't know, Okay, I don't know. I think there
are many reasons people might get swollen balls, Like I
don't know, maybe he sprayed miracle grow on them. You know,
maybe his scrotton developed and not allergy. Maybe his balls
didn't actually get bigger, but his penis just got super
super tiny. It's an optical illusion. But even if you
(16:21):
do want to blame the vaccine, Trinidad doesn't even use
the same vaccines as America. Think about that. Yeah, they
used the Chinese vaccine sinopharm, And I don't know. As
soon as I say China and vaccine, people are like,
oh boy, here we go. Because look, let's be honest,
China as wildly and consistent. I mean, they make some
of the most precise electronics in the world in China,
(16:42):
you know, like iPhones and Tesla's. China can make the
best of anything. But then at the same time, China
will also make a fake pair of timberlands that somehow
give you a rash on your teeth. So I don't
know if this dude's balls had anything to do with Sinopharm,
the Chinese vaccine. I don't know enough about Sino farm.
I have to do my own research. But the fact
(17:02):
is that right now, for Nicki Minaj or anyone else
in America, getting vaccinated is still the safest and most
effective way for you to keep COVID at bay, and hey,
at the very least, it's also a great way to
find out if your fiance only loves you for your
regular sized testicles. All right, when we come back, Dulce
(17:24):
Sloan finds out the latest excuse guys are going to
be using to not wear a condom, and Gabrielle Union
is still joining me on the show, so don't go away,
Welcome back to the Daily Show. You know, these days,
there's a lot of numbers going up that we don't
want to go up the temperature daily COVID cases, Jake
(17:44):
Paul pay per view events, But there is one number
going down that could be just as concerning. Dulce Sloan
has more in another episode of count on it. Recently,
you might have heard that birthrates are going down, and
some researchers think it's not just because men are trash,
(18:06):
their sperm is broken too. So I visited a sperm
bank in Philadelphia for a closer look at something I
try to avoid seeing at all costs. And this is
where the donors will go to produce their seem example
in there, right in there. Oh, that's disgusting, all right.
Michelle Addie, the clinics director, explained to me that there's
a sperm recession going on and approximately ten years ago,
(18:27):
from one ejaculate, we'd be able to produce approximately six vials,
and over a decade we saw a very sharp decline
and we get about an average of three now, so
that's a decline in sperm volume. Half of them never
even made it out the gate. Oh no, we're looking
at some real d students for a lot of them
just not moving, bumping into each other. A lot of
(18:50):
them don't have tails, and those are not the ones
that are going to achieve fertilization and lead to a baby.
So something is definitely wrong with the little guys. To
find out what this sperm a getting means, even for
those who don't mind saving money on birth control. A
fat down with epidemiologists, shot a swant. It's a bad
thing because it's what we call the canary in the
coal mine. Canary in a coal mine. That's my ex's
(19:12):
favorite sexual position. You gotta be real Bundy to get
into it. But once you do, it's a good night.
It's a good night. It's an indication that we are
in trouble. It's pointing out a problem which is not
just about sperm. It's lower testosterone, erectile dysfunction and testicular
cancer going up. And then it's also tied to non
(19:34):
human species like alligators and fish and frogs, all of
whom are experiencing changes in their genitals. Alligators penis is
a goodness? Smaller? Ye? Are human penis is again? Small? Yep?
Shut up? Why don't you start with that focused? I
am honed in. This is something that affects me directly, Shanna.
(19:54):
The sperm or dye dicks are shrinking, and my heart
is breaking. But what is causing this? We're being poisoned
by the byproducts in our plastics, the thalides and the
phenals and so on. Thalides make plastics soft, and they
trick our body into thinking that they are hormones like
our testosterone or estrogen. And when our body gets tricked
(20:19):
that way, it doesn't carry out its reproductive functions. So
if men's testosterone is affected, they have lots of effects
on on their function including how much they want sex,
how well they do in the bed, what their muscles are,
what their strength level is. Okay, because I don't like
weak mint. If you can't open a jar, change a tire,
(20:41):
build something from my keia. Even worse, Elsie is that
if you're pregnant and you're carrying a boy and you
get exposed to these things that lower testosterone, the penis
is smaller, the scrutinuous smaller. He has a person smaller, No,
just his generals. You could just be a real big
dude with no No, that's I've seen that guy. That's
(21:02):
with anyone doing penis thizs research because I have a
lot of data to contribute. There are no studies that
have tracked the size of mailed penises. So then how
do you measure the damage happening to men's reproductive equipment?
You can measure how long does it take to go
from the anus to the scrotum. That distance, Okay, you
(21:24):
think about it in your mind? Do you think about that?
I try to stay. I started to say that that part,
but I'll think about that. That's the taint, okay, okay.
And the reason that's important is that when the baby
is born, we can measure that. And it turns out
that that distance tells us how much testosterone was present
(21:46):
when this was developing. Get a bunch of men in
measure their taint, measure their sperm count, and what do
you think, smaller taint, smaller sperm count? Okay? Plus all right,
So when I finally meet the man who will be
my husband, I just could quick tape management go all right,
we would you like to meet me in the bathroom,
Not for the reason that you hope it is, but
(22:08):
where do you get these dilates that are messing with
our hormones and making our little micromnt Chemicals in the cosmetics,
chemicals in our makeup, Everything we put on our body,
we bring into our lives, in our ingest breathe put
on our skin, has these chemicals that have the ability
to change our body's hormones. Okay, So you're telling me
(22:29):
that there are companies that are selling products that are
poisoning their customers. I mean, why would they do that.
I'm just playing its capitalism. They hate all of us.
In fact, dozens of chemicals that are harmful to humans,
like tholates, peabrins, actress in m b p a s
are common in household goods, tin cans, microwave, popcorn bags,
(22:51):
classic containers, plugging air fresheners, water bottles, nonstick cookware, antibacterial soaps,
household cleaners, hair spray, and nail polish. You have nail polish, true,
and it's very nice, Wendy, thank you. If you were
living in Europe, there would be eleven hundred ingredients that
(23:13):
would be not allowed in your personal care products and
your makeup. Eleven hundred are kept out by regulations in
the EU. Okay, in this country, you know how many
are kept out. Eleven So we need two more zeros.
Unless the government can step in and say, look, we've
got to get these things out of everybody's lives, we're
(23:33):
gonna be in increasing trouble in the reproduction department. Never
mind climate change or COVID, there's a whole other life
on the planet threatening catastrophy unfolding right inside of our
own bedrooms, and in our couches and love seeths, and
in the back of cars, and in an office desk,
in a closet, a stairwell, a swimming pool, a beach
(23:54):
apart even a while, a half bathroom. But in this case,
I know just how to fight back. I'm saying me
you sandwich board Congress plastics making your fastest passing legislation
in history of Maeric, Thank you so much for that.
Do say all right when we come back. Gabrielle Union
(24:15):
is joining me on the show and you don't want
to miss it. Welcome back to the Daily Show. My
guest tonight is actor, producer, and best selling author Gabrielle Union.
She's here to talk about her new book, a collection
of revealing essays about her life. Gabrielle, Welcome to the show.
Thank you for having me. I feel like every time
I see you you are achieving you things. It just
(24:37):
feels like now is the time of Gabrielle Union. However,
I wonder if anyone has asked you this, why does
it seem like every single one of your productions or
your books has something to do with alcohol. Well, you've
been to our parties, Trevor. Um. It's a reoccurring theme
in my life and and as certainly Um, you know,
when I'm when I'm writing, I want people to feel like,
(24:57):
you know, we're chopping it up over a glass of
of wine and and just talking, um, just having a
normal conversation. I'm not using all of my say t
words in my books. I just want to use regular
language talking about some deeper issues, some more challenging issues
that you know, and to do it in a way
that more people can relate to it and understand. It
(25:17):
feels like that, like everything about you feels relatable. Like
you know, I've been following you on your trip to Europe.
Everything looked amazing. M met Gala, you look stunning. Thank you?
Did you have fun? I did? I did. There was
a point where I was walking up the stairs. You
forget how many stairs. There's a lot of stairs. There's
a lot of stairs. In that dress and in those heels,
(25:38):
I was walking like Gallum, like here's fashion and then
fashion and where is the precious? It was terrible like
trying to walk up those stairs in this you know,
ginormous gown. Um. And then like the after party. I'm like, okay,
you know I did the you know, the more you
know Conservative met ball, the after party is full, almost
(26:00):
like it's all about the after parties and it's all
about who can get to Rihanna's after party. That's all
everybody's trying to do. Did you go the Yes, Well,
we wanted to stop at Swiss and Alicia's party. It
was lovely. They had food, there was adequate seating with
back support. It was nice. It was for the grown up.
And then we're like, it's time to go to Rihanna's
and we link up with Queen Latifa and it's me
(26:20):
and Regina King and and and our friends and we're,
you know, in a couple of caravans of SUVs and
then the weight in the in the caravan line to
get into Rihanna's was so long. We missed our window.
You can't you can't keep old people waiting that long.
So we missed our window. And we're like, hey, guys,
wanna I want to go get some pizza. Let's talk
(26:41):
about the book. It feels like you are you Gabrielle
Union is having a good time and it is punctuated
with some tough times in between, you've got anything stronger
does just that I'd love to know, like why you
feel the need to share some of the stories that
you share. I love them, but it's also really vulnerable
to share some of the things that you do in
(27:01):
the books, because through radical transparency, you breed community. Um.
You know, what I found during this pandemic is that
we're all suffering in our own way, but we're suffering
in silos because we think we're alone. No one else
in the world could possibly be feeling what I'm feeling.
No one else in the world could understand the pain
(27:23):
that I am in. Except that's not true. And because
it's because we don't talk about it, and what people say, hey,
how are you? You go fine? And when you lie
and say fine, when the world is burning around you,
you close the door on building community, and you breed isolation,
you know, And that's when the downward sparked, the spiral starts.
(27:43):
So with this book and those tougher chapters, which some
of the most brutal chapters of my life, actually I
felt the I felt a responsibility to share. One of
the essays that connected with people the most is m
is the essay that you shared about surrogacy. When I
saw your journey online, it was, oh, Gabs having a baby,
Oh Gabs using a surrogate. This is fantastic, just like
(28:04):
it's an easy way to do the thing and it's fun.
She's just chosen something, you know. And then some people like, oh,
I remember. Some people commented as well, They were like,
why don't you have the baby yourself? This is the
problem with Hollywood people. They've got too much money for
their own good putting babies and other people's bodies, et cetera.
And then I read the story and it is the
most painful experience. You talk of the journey going through
I v I. You talked through the journey of your
(28:26):
body struggling with each stage of trying to have a child,
the pain of a miscarriage, over and over again. And
I think the line that's stuck with me is the
one where decess to you, Hey, you've done enough. I'd
love to know what you not learn, but what you
what you got from sharing it, and what you hope
women out there would also understand from the journey. That's
(28:47):
often just like you know, it's glossified in many ways.
I felt liberated, like when you when you have complicated feelings, complicated, messy,
um not sound bite worthy feelings about something as big
as entering into motherhood and the journey to motherhood, and
it's not Oh, it was great and I'm just glad
(29:09):
someone was there to help me bring my angel to,
you know, into the world. I felt like a loser.
I felt like a failure. I felt like my body
had failed me. I had failed me, and I had
failed Dwayne and he deserved something other than me. Um.
And there were just so many complicated feelings. And it's
also like when you don't physically, you know, birth your
(29:30):
child and you have those nine months, you know, to
bond with with your baby. It's like me and Duane
are in the same boat with CoV. We both had
to work to create a bond because she's she was
created outside of both of us. And I was so
worried that maybe she's not gonna love me as much
because I didn't birth her. Maybe she's not going to
(29:52):
respect me as much because I didn't birth her. Maybe
he's not ever going to be able to love me
fully completely because I wasn't able to do this. And
I'll never know you know what I mean, and it
just it's brutal and it's heartbreaking and it sucks um
but no one ever tells that story. You know, when
(30:14):
I'm reading in People magazine about someone who's had a
baby via you know, gestational carrier like like we did.
It was basically like I couldn't found a great like
an angel on Earth, and now our angel is on
Earth and there's nothing in between. There's nothing in between.
And I felt like, Okay, now again I'm defective because
that my story doesn't match that I feel. So I
(30:37):
just feel messy and ikey and and just I feel
like I'm covered in like loser juice that I can't
get out from under. So in just writing it, I
started to release it. I started to being able to
release it. Once you name it, claim it and let
it go. You know. Sometimes I'll write things down that
you know, or I might you know, text you and
be like I really want to say this and and
(31:00):
suck someone in the face, but I'm going to text you, Trevor,
and you're like, yeah, okay, don't send that to anyone.
Sometimes that's enough. Sometimes I write it down and I
burn it now just to release it out. But with this.
I know I'm not alone. This is what I would
why I would love people to read your book. All
your books have this, they have you. And in the
same book where you're talking about, you know, racism, when
(31:22):
you're talking about some of the struggles that you face
in the entertainment industry, when you're talking about your achievements
and your choys, and then all of a sudden in
the in the book, we're talking about a strip club
and laxatives and constipation. Yeah. Um, And you know, people like,
what what do you want that takeaway to be from
that chapter? Uh? The takeaway is, perhaps don't take laxatives
(31:46):
and then drink Hennessey and go to a place that
has exactly one private bathroom, um, that is surrounded by
women in various states of undress, because it could be explosive. Um.
Talk about a pay full chapter for my ass. It
was embarrassing and there was nothing I could do. But
(32:07):
I love I loved how they loved you. That's that's
what I appreciate. I loved how you talk about how
these women came together, was all these strippers and they
were like, you know what, gap, we got you, we
got you, and let's go we got you. You with
the cold rag right because I was sweating. I came
out of there. Do you know, like when you think
of strip clubs now, do you now go negative experience
or do you feel like, no, this is a warm place. Now.
(32:27):
I've been going to strip clubs since I've been allowed in,
you know, my whole career. This isn't like a like
a one time I went to the strip club and
I happened to you know, get the diarrhea or whatever.
Um No, I've been going to strip clubs all over
the world and I love I love the celebration of bodies.
I love sensuality, I love sexuality. I am here for
it and I'm a good tipper. Um, I enjoy it.
(32:49):
I enjoy it the whole thing. But like in Atlanta
and Miami, the strip club is just where you go
after the club. It's just been next It's Arihanna. It's
Arihanna Party of Atlanta, exactly. That is. Um. I can
talk to you forever. But that's why I have the book.
Thank you so much for joining me, thank you for
coming on. You look amazing now, you look amazing at
the Medgala, and I hope everybody goes out and gets
(33:09):
the book. Gabrielle's book You Got Anything Stronger is available
right now. We're gonna take a quick break while we'll
be right back after this. Well that's our show for
tonight's But before we go, please consider a donation to
s BPS disaster response to Hurricane Ida, which recently made
landfall as one of the most powerful storms in Louisiana history.
(33:31):
SPPS disaster response teams are on the ground and they're
helping the hardest hit communities in Southeast Louisiana. If you
want to help them provide that support, then please follow
the link below Until tomorrow, Stay safe out there, get
your vaccine, and remember, if you didn't like this episode
of the show, that's because it was rigged. What's the
(33:54):
Daily Show? Weeknight Central, Arm Comedy Central and stream full
episodes anytime. I'll para own plus this has been a
Comedy Central podcast.
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