Sleepless in the South

Well, how you doing, folks? Welcome back to this Mid-Pride podcast. My name is Kel Mitchell. And I am Skylar Diggins, and this is The Read. Thank you for joining us. It is, in fact, The Read, and thank you for joining us. It's June. It's the middle of 2026. Don't know how so quickly, but here we are, yet aging on this rotted rock, where there is still a land of opportunity, of peace and humanity, make your own happiness in this shithole. Because life is about being positive and about being optimistic, even though we're floating around on a burning rock of hell. So, keep those smiles on. Happy Pride. Let's start. Okay. Why not? I mean, I'm having a great day. I mean, I'm not even in a shit mood or depressed. Isn't the world awful? Like, isn't it? Yeah, and we, you know, and here we are anyway. Here we are. Making it happen. Anyway. I'm so glad that, actually, I'll save that for The Read. It's mostly Patty. Okay. Love that. Let's start with positivity. In a segment that we call Black Excellence. Of course, this week I'm giving Black Excellence to none other than Queen Jean. Queen Jean is the first openly transgendered, transgendered person to win a Tony. Period. She just won a Tony for Best Costume Design of a Musical. And that's for Cats the Jellicle Ball. Which actually ate up at the Tonys. I watched it and I had a really good time. Yeah, the Tonys were fun. They were fun. And I think Cats the Jellicle Ball also got Best Direction of a musical. That acceptance speech made me cry. Because one of the directors said something like to the 12-year-old who's watching this alone with the volume turned down, come find your home at the Jellicle Ball. I didn't even expect to get emotional about that. And I was like, are there tears coming out of my eyes? I thought that was so sweet. It really was. That was a very touching moment. So congratulations to the to everybody over there at Cats the Jellicle Ball for getting your deserved wins. Yes, and before we move on, I have to say thank you so much to them for inviting me to the Jellicle Ball. I got to go. I have seen it now for myself. Shout out to everybody who was like, don't worry about, you know, the plot or character development because it don't really do all that. You know, it's it's Cats. We know you don't know Cats but you don't need to know Cats. Like vibes when they right before the show started, there was somebody who works for the theater was selling fans just right there in the audience. And I said, oh, yeah, mine is right here. Yeah. I said, oh, I did not realize that. I mean, and I should have known because it's a ball like I would have my own fan had I thought about it. But yes, I will spend $30 on y'all's fan. And we had a good time. We had a great time, actually. So it very well deserved. I'm glad they racked up and, you know, won so much. But definitely yeah, it's just so good to see Black queer people, you know, on stage doing their damn thing and being recognized for it. So thank you so much. Yes. I mean, it is a ball. It is a ball. Yeah, it's a ball. It's Cats, but a ball. Yeah. All the people who are like, I'm going during Pride. I'm going to in June. I'm like, oh, I get it. I do. I get it. Y'all going to be extra gay this month. And unlike that movie with Taylor Swift, you know why these cats have titties? Because it's a ball and it's not real cats. It was the nipples. But yes, thank you all so much for extending the invitation. I had a grand old time. Okay, let's get into our hot time. Pop section, pop culture, and things going on in the world. I'm going to start with I'm going to start with pastor and prophetess Miss Rachel of YouTube Baptist First Step on Mount Zion Church. Okay. Okay, work. Miss Rachel partnered with New Jersey Senator Andy Kim and visited New Jersey's Delaney Hall to sing with the children of detained parents. Delaney Hall's Immigration Detention Center has basically held several families separate. There's lots of kids there with their parents being detained. And it's ridiculous and heartbreaking. And we have been shouting into the rafters about this for a while. And I was a little bit surprised. I don't know how many weeks or months ago when I heard that, you know, MAGA conservatives, folks on the right apparently hate Miss Rachel because she has the nerve saying, hey, children should live and have health and life and families. Yep. They are really pissed off about that. What an evil wretch. Huh? The worst woman in the world, Miss Rachel. Okay. So Miss Rachel was out in New Jersey sitting down with these kids and giving them some money. Much needed love, music and her signature overalls and pink crew neck. So I wanted to say shout out to Miss Rachel. Beat on necks. Yeah, she I just love that she does not care how mad y'all get about it. She's going to keep saying that she advocates for children first and foremost and it does not matter what those kids look like. Yeah. So, yeah, I mean, she obviously is not, you know, shoving no little white babies off of a cliff or nothing, but she's she's not going to act like Palestinian children deserve to die or that ice is valid in snatching parents away from their kids. Like, this is insane what this country is doing. So shout out to Miss Rachel using her privilege to do a good thing. More rich white people should do the same. John Zahara is reportedly filed to remove Pitt from her last name. Oh, yes. The other one did, too. Third Jolie Pitt child to do so. They are over-grabbing J-Hater. I mean, and they're grown. So, Zahara and Shiloh and the boy too, right? Maddox, yeah. All three of them, I think, are grown at this point, so they said I didn't have to pick a side. I have chosen to pick a side. That man terrorized me, and I don't want his name on my, no more. We hate him. So, yeah. But we knew that. What's a fun time in Hollywood? Fuck that, man. Right. The shit y'all just now finding out about, you know, him screaming at her on that PJ or whatever, like, that's the tip of the iceberg, I'm sure, of what those kids have seen, first and foremost. But I remember when Angelina, when she went to Zahara's AKA probate, and Zahara was going by Zahara Jolie then, she was like, you know, don't call me that Pitt bullshit. So, just making it legal now. The only Pitt I recognize is that critically acclaimed medical drama on the home box office. That show is stressful. It is intense. But it's the one that all the healthcare workers are like, that is the most realistic of all of the hospital shows. That is the most. Not scrubs, not ER, not grace. This is it. The Pitt. This is what it's like. Hell. I could tell the first, when I watched the first episode, I was like, I don't work in like a medical emergency unit. I'm not a doctor, obviously, nurse, none of that. But I can tell that this is right on the money when it comes to being in those spaces, working in those spaces. Because even visiting a hospital or a doctor's office, understaffed, overworked, booked and too busy, no sleep, swollen feet, like constantly passing out bad news. Oh, yes. You are the bad news bear. yeah that show is so crazy because they never like none of them ever get a chance to breathe the fact that every episode is like an hour in the same day we're in the er but yeah if you've it's like when you go to the er you you realize that like what these people are putting up with like yes i'm irritated that you know i have a long wait in the er even though i know that means that i'm relatively stable or whatever else however other patients be trying the fuck out of my patients like the other people in the er getting on my nerves the other critical ill people i can't imagine being a doctor or nurse and having to give a fuck about these people i would be like if you don't like it please sign the paperwork and roll your ass right on out of here bitch like i don't care i'm not finna sit here and argue back and forth with you about it and you're not finna sit here and argue back and forth with you about it and you're not finna sit here and argue and argue back and forth with you about it and you're not finna sit here and argue back and talk to me crazy either like i just would have so many more people would die under my watch so first of all i went to the hospital here in la it was legitimately like oh yeah mr such and such in whatever room is is is out and he's walking the halls with no pants on so someone could go grab him and and get him back to where he is that would be fantastic it's literally that so no thanks um let's see here tiana taylor is going to receive the icon of the year award at this year's bt award festivations you know what well deserved yeah connie connie orlando of bt said tiana taylor is the embodiment of what it means to be an icon in this moment she doesn't ask for a seat at the table she builds the table signs the rooms and sets the tone for everyone who walks in i mean mama just won a a golden globe for her uh her role in that movie one battle after another which i was delighted to see a clip of uh tyreek withers the light-skinned boy from him yep i was delighted to see him in like a press junket for another movie comparing that movie to finding nemo he's like finding nemo one battle after another the same movie and then he broke it down and i'm like oh my god they are absolutely the same movie wow okay i mean i never saw one battle but okay if you just like look over a quick summary of the plot of of one battle after another you will go oh wow this is finding nemo he lost his daughter and he's trying to get her back but she's on a big he loses his wife the mother of this child he's completely like incapable of really looking after the kid but is also like very paranoid don't want the kid to go out nowhere don't leave too far from the house because the world is whack and the child is like girl you are so trash but you don't even know what the fuck you're talking about i'm gonna go do me and then gets like lost and then the daddy is like oh shit i have to go and save my baby lord god i don't know where they at or how to go get them and then meets this like very like anyways i'm explaining out for the people at home because i don't know but it is the exact same thing and then he's like oh my god i don't know what i'm talking about anyway back to what was your name in the movie perdita i don't remember what her name was it was something wild um her snippet tiana taylor in this movie oh i was about to say ain't nobody named perdita in finding nemo i could tell you that much yeah i think there's someone named perdita in uh one uh 101 dalmatians isn't that what the dogs the mom dog perfidio perfidio beverly hills really there it is that's her name perfidio beverly hills really it's awful i think it's like a fake name because she's a i mean like the character is a freedom fighter so i think that she just yeah but i i don't know there was no explanation that i caught in the film and perdita is actually the name of the mama oh 101 donations that makes sense great parents perdita was so she was like i'm gonna have all 101 of these damn kids and i'm gonna take care of them and my baby daddy finna take care of them too i barely and when they get kidnapped we want them back let me say something if i had 101 kids somebody took them well yeah life goes on i wish them the best i feel like you could take 80 of mine before i start to even notice girl 101 girl yeah gonna take a good 80 90 of them kids actually because what am i even finna do with all them damn puppies yeah yeah you take roly first always hungry don't nobody have all of that auntie how um oh but good for tiana but she's had a crazy year so i love that for her it's still so young and so incredibly talented i'm very interested in seeing what like the next 10 years from now she's going to be like oh my god i'm going to be like oh my god i'm going to be like oh my god i'm going to be like oh my god i'm going to be like oh my god i'm going to be like oh my god living legend icon award okay also appropriate given the title on the person um the show was june 28th at eight so hopefully they told her that the show was at on june 26th at one so she because you know actually i haven't heard anything about lauren hill being like for things in a while but i also haven't heard any much about lauren hill being present right i was gonna say was she has she has she's supposed to been anywhere lately right oh man okay yeah we'll see if she shows up the bt awards look good well the promo for the bt awards is funny which makes me think the show is it's drewski going around the different celebrities telling them to come to the bt awards like i've seen one with jamie fox and one with cardi b so if the since the promo is funny it has me feeling like the show itself is going to be funny drewski is hilarious so yeah he's hosting yeah so we will see yeah we'll see at the very least i can i can see his uh award banter and bits being funny if he's given the time and space to actually come up with that right right right because we know that she'll get into the full martin lawrence dragery i was about to say if you come out in that eric if you come out in that erica kirk drag if he comes out in that erica kirk drag i might sign up for bt plus just off gp i actually need it i actually need it you gotta start the show in the erica kirk drag and then go take a shower and get all that shit off of you and come down out of the the ceiling like pink and start yes spins and shows with the pyrotechnics in the background i need it like i need air yeah speaking of cardi b she performed uh at the halftime show for game three of the nba finals the new york knicks and the san antonio spurs this is the game where the knicks heavily lost um okay all right you don't have to say it like that there's there's a time left and everyone blames donald trump including that's part of my read this week so mine too delicious love that because anyway but anyway um so she performed bodega baddie and bodak yellow the only reason i'm bringing this up because i didn't see much of the um the performance i saw clips of it and it was so good that i was like i don't know i don't even know what i'm talking about i don't even know what i'm talking about i don't even know what i'm talking about i don't even know what i'm talking about i don't even know what i'm talking about i don't even know what i'm talking about i don't even know what i'm talking about i don't even know what i'm talking about i don't even know what i'm talking about i don't even know what i'm talking about i don't even know what i'm talking about did you hear this old ass dad joke he told about this lady's td i did you know sometimes you just have to pretend your uncle is not sitting right there like you just said boy you ain't never been worried about losing your job huh like you just ain't never once thought damn i might get in trouble for this it's charles barkley shaquille o'neal draymond green oh god that's some other niggas ernie johnson i don't know what else was there but after her performance in the halftime show charles barkley go say i don't know if those b's those might be cardi d's all right charles so corny oh that is so corny charles it just you're like 70 what are you doing that was so cheesy anyhow right like i said them niggas absolutely lost and um okay not too much and uh uh donald trump was quote thunderously booed according to something i read at on on the cnn and then i watched clips of it and he was thunderously booed inside and outside yes is that a part of the reason well no not that part i felt sorry for avery wilson who sounded beautiful avery was amazing a gorgeous voice um so and some so i don't know that this is true but i saw on tiktok that they invited avery wilson because every time he sung the anthem for the next day one so yeah they were just kind of you know feeding into everybody's superstitions about the game and you know lucky charm right and so but you know trump cancels out good energy so i would say every time first and foremost i'm sorry to avery wilson that yeah you had to hear that but you know new yorkers was not booing you you know that i don't know what you sounded beautiful but also it on tv on the broadcast you could definitely hear the boos but it also sounded like a pretty decent number of cheers too but then when you yeah but when you look at people's clips who were in the garden it's way more yeah so like did did abc do that or like because it just it sounds different i'm just saying it does sound different it's way booier in other people's videos that's true so because the first clip that i looked up or saw of it was like an iphone thing from someone in a an actual seat right and it did sound like most of the year yeah but then when i saw footage that was like i'm assuming the nba camera microphone or whatever in the in the madison square and it was like close-up of him with his stupid rotting hand up to his head it did sound a little bit different he had this goofy smirk on his face like he knew he's just trolling because he's like either i'm gonna be the president soon or i'm gonna be dead so let me just make these people's lives as miserable as possible until then i saw some reporter i can't remember uh what network or whatever this was on but someone said that madison square garden knew that he was gonna get booed once he was on the jumbotron so they tried to show him during the national anthem because they thought people wouldn't do it then yeah you thought wrong and i was like why did they think that you thought wrong and i was like why did they think that well i mean i was i was a little surprised happily surprised because i said this is the these are the richest people in new york they probably love trump and that whole lower bowl was just a sea of white people and then any color was a celebrity like yeah it was just nothing but the wealthiest white people in the tri-state area so i was like two hundred thousand dollars this is what i'm saying like the ticket the nosebleeds were 10k so yeah you either already have a season ticket and so you a diehard fan you've been a you you a spike lee type of nigga because and you've just been watching the team for decades or you have an insane amount of money and you went to this game so i was like i don't know super rich people kind of love him so i said damn it's gotta be bad when even the ultra wealthy in new york city are like boo get that bitch out of here and take your shitty ass granddaughter with you like girl fucking up the vibes but anyway we'll get to that yeah i don't know what the fuck they were thinking about over there but yes also shout out to avery wilson you were sing sing and and that should be noted work avery that should be noted even the folks who didn't know it was you were like well whoever that is is up there blowing through all this like that should that should be considered and and the the heat of things but you know what um nicky's oh different name nicks nick nicklems nicole's yeah i saw a nigga said that he was rooting for the knickers and i was like yeah that's great not too much now i don't want to take this joke um but yeah i hope y'all win i love this for you okay no i'm so serious like they haven't been in the final since i was like nine yeah it's been a very long time since they have even made it this far and you know we'll i'll we'll get we'll i love how much fun the city is having the sit that's the thing like are we gonna talk about this now we're gonna talk about it later because i'm like okay we'll wait we'll wait okay okay okay so offset has had a a chris brown like episode recently remember that one time like a good one i'm sorry yeah because you should oh okay because i was like what happened remember that one time where diddy suns was like trying to jump ray j or something and chris brown was like no give peace a chance we were like christopher maurice like jonathan may just broke up that fight outside in and out well so offset was where was was he in paris he was in monaco oh who's dollar sorry just wondered where he get money from we'll pay for that sorry sorry sorry he was in monaco oh okay my chest all right he was in monaco and nearly came to blows with a chauffeur the video shows offset confronting the driver because this man allegedly was manhandling a group of women who were also i guess waiting to get a ride or something so according to offset and a couple of witnesses this driver was aggressive and like grabbing uh women by like their neck or the collar by their neck video i'm not sure if you can see it but i'm not sure if the video didn't show that part not from what i saw but what i did see is offset very aggressively approaching this man and threatened to beat his ass saying you touching women you putting your hands on women you a bitch and saying uh if he grabbed one more girl like that i'm gonna beat him the fuck up and um at one point it seemed like a man who was with him i don't know if this was his friend or what but a man who was was like in the group grabbed this driver and like tossed him to the ground they were not with the shit and i i kind of believe that this man did touch some woman inappropriately or aggressively because everyone around this person seemed like they were on the same page one guy uh i think the person who was recording the thing or maybe someone nearby when offset was like i'm beating the fuck up if you touch one girl the guy was like it ain't worth it bro just it's just and ultimately it isn't worth it offset yeah she's still healing non-stop drama you got a lot going on yeah you got a lot going on forgot about that other man take care of it but i do like that yeah right i'm pleasantly shocked same i would have never thought offset would take up for a Maybe the butt shot shot is like, um. Uh-uh. Nope. Nope. You never know. Maybe, like, rewires. It doesn't. It's like, oh, I got back shot, so now I really understand the plight of. Dear God, make me a bird. I am a bird. Yeah, so I watched this and I was like, oh, this reminds me of the time that other problematic nigga was, like, in the streets. Like, that man. That one time Chris Brown did a good thing, yes, and stopped a fight from getting worse. I do remember that, right. Um, okay. Well, good for him. And you know what? If this starts a long chain of Offset doing good things, then so fucking be it. You know, maybe he telling that therapist the truth now and shit is finna turn around. Like, maybe he really finna do the work. That would be so fun. That would be really fun. If he's like. Yeah. Plot twist. I got shot. I owe way too many people money. I'll take the meds. Yeah. I'm gonna take them. I will just go ahead and take the medication. I'm gonna stay at that casino. I'm gonna leave rappers alone. I'm gonna FaceTime my kids at least once a week. You know, little shit. Making big changes. That's good. I would love that. Yeah, that would be beautiful. Um, oh, this was only the Zahara name. Change was only a few days after Maddox. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I feel like, no, I feel like both of them kids just back to back was like, yeah, gonna get that nigga out of here. Well. Yeah. Um, Sir Idris Elba, because, you know, he's a sir now. I do know that. Got, like, knighted and shit. Which is cute for him. You know, now we call him Sir Idris or whatever. Um, you know, people have been talking about wanting him to play James Bond forever and ever and ever. we're past that. He's past that. Okay. because he said um in realistic terms some markets just don't go for that black bond he said bond is big all over the world and audiences won't go for a black male an african male playing bond that's not what they like in their culture period so he's continued or maintained that he's flattered by people and their desire to see him play the role but he's also like it's never gonna happen like white men who love white men are bond fans they're not interested but shout out to y'all he also said bond is so unrealistic so a hint of reality is good but let's not try and make it woke i think you've got to be pure to what it is escapism don't try to answer the world's taste just be bond didn't care like i don't care for the wording of that yeah yeah but i don't disagree right i think that's exactly where i am with it like weird way to you said that in a very incel magazine you know right wing podcast kind of way you know the incels love this quote right right i bet they are eating that shit up like they're eating that shit up like they're eating that shit up they're eating it one of the tyrones he gets it yes so um it is but i mean he is also pretty clearly saying racism is keeping me from playing this role everybody wants me to do it but this is a money business first and foremost and if they feel like they're not gonna make you know hundreds of millions of dollars and they're not gonna make this movie so it's like damn i feel like y'all are skipping right over the way he's calling you out like it's your own biases like but all right i mean you're not you're not wrong is the thing you didn't say one single thing that was incorrect about that so yeah also i've watched many james bond films i much like indiana jones and i've always loved the like the actiony they often kill nazis um so that's fun but they're also like campy in the way that they deal with love women oh yeah silly that whole aspect drink and smoking so it's especially with ian fleming's james bond stories it's so ingrained into the character that he's just like womanizing sexy i do what i want i go against the rules bitch don't tell me nothing and i'm gonna blow this up character that's what they like about it yeah the minute that you make james bond jane bond or asian or black right those white men who want to see a sexy white man are like no they do that's what they want they do they want it bad so i agree that it just seemed to be like look too racist never gonna happen but i think you might as well just let them do what they want to over there because they're gonna want to make money and to be honest with you if you don't do what they want we all have to deal with hearing millions of people bitch so just call jacob alordi or whoever and let's get this shit moving can you even imagine no well i could see jacob alordi over timothy chalamet but yeah i actually could imagine him in that one hundred percent i could see it yes i could so damn all right i mean some people are saying henry cavill is being rumored for it and i'm like they're never giving it to henry cavill because wasn't he in no he wasn't in james bond he was in like a impossible movie oh he looks like a he looks like a uh a bond too he was in man of steel he's a superman for a while okay damn so you've kind of already well yeah they could do james bond yeah bond is not a superhero right is he who's a hot guy with gadgets is he openly gay or something why would they do him oh no because i just think that it it seems like one of those roles it's too much of a layer like too easy like even it's idris it would have been an amazing bond let's be completely honest right but it also feels like black but also uh too easy let's gag to say it so got you and like i said i'm pretty sure he was in another super spy movie not that long ago so they might skip over him for that okay also not british don't know what his british accent sounds like because you know bond is also supposed to be brit mi6 well you know what i'm seeing here on wikipedia is that he is british but he's from jersey huh henry cavill i think he's like 21 savage yeah well no i think 21 savage was at least born over there wasn't he i didn't oh wait he does have an accent huh doesn't he i haven't heard him speak as himself in a while i actually i look this man up you know i did not know who that was oh he's so very handsome he's like he's like if you watch like a cartoon or something in the 90s and it was like the hot white man it's like he looks like that yeah oh this one he kind of looked like gaston without the huge titties yes yeah okay yes i see it i see it such a good comparison he absolutely looks like gaston yeah um but yeah he i didn't i don't think i knew that he was british or maybe i fucking forgot when did he move here because i remember he was born in jersey that's what i'm saying i think his parents are british but he was born here so he jersey born mother right okay okay yeah huh his father was born in england anyway he could probably do it then right right if daddy has an accent you could probably just pull that off huh yeah oh yeah he was scottish english and irish so that's kind of all of them countries over there so yeah i would like to see it yeah i wouldn't be mad at that anything over jacob lordy i'm sorry i don't buy it you don't like nick jacobs no oh i think he's cute you know what i just remember jacob lordy is gang now because someone asked him what his favorite video game was and he said kingdom hearts so we're cousins uh all right that was when i was like we cool now that's all you know when hollywood like pumps out a white person is like oh my god impossibly fine don't we all want to have sex with this person oh god let's give them all the roles and we'd be looking at them like no that person looks perfectly fine i feel like i walk past amelia them on amsterdam anthony or whatever but well that's how i feel about jacob lordy yeah i'm not trying to be too racist but a whole lot of these white men look alike in fact you could possibly put jacob lordy and then henry cavill down the street walking just right one right behind the other and i might get confused sorry now that's a sorry i don't look at men's faces that way that close you don't know them okay yeah maybe if just their floating heads were passive harry cavill is a cyber truck of a man that man is an f-350 yeah he has nice arms he has nice everything that man is huge okay i'm just saying like you're like no because i mean this shit there is no way jacob cannot compare it's just not gonna happen you got it um that's gonna be it for my hot tops this week amen yeah so we're gonna take a break and then we're gonna come read your business okay slurs we're back it's time for your letters indeed send your questions to ask the read at gmail.com we may read them aloud on the show if you'll remember um last week we had a letter from ariel whose boyfriend left her in italy right when she was starting to get her shit together is she in jail no she said i should probably start by saying that i wrote that letter the day after my boyfriend left me so i was not exactly operating from a place of emotional stability what i found out later though made the whole thing even crazier apparently he had already told all of my friends and family that he was planning to propose so everyone was expecting us to come home to the house and i was like oh my god i'm gonna be like oh my god i'm gonna go to a little welcome party people knew and they were excited but it turns out the day he broke up with me was less than 24 hours before he told all of them that he was going to ask me to marry him things got extra chaotic extra chaotic is crazy but um we had split the planning for our italy trip in half i planned the first part he planned the second when he left at 2 a.m we were supposed to catch a flight at 7 a.m together to another part of italy where his portion of the trip was beginning so that meant that all the flights hotels reservations and everything else were in his name so when he left i was truly asked out at first i was devastated but then i got mad because i started thinking about that ring if he knew he was ending the relationship he did not have to tell me about that proposal i could have gone my whole life without knowing that information but in a moment of distress he chose to tell me the one thing he knew would hurt me the most and that's when something shifted for me and i thought absolutely not i will be damned if i spend the rest of this trip chasing a man across italy and then back to the u.s so i extended the trip and spent the original time of and spent the original amount of time in italy completely by myself which was extremely expensive but thankfully i make enough money that i could absorb the damage without it ruining my life i then spent that's right i then spent another week in italy eating pasta crying swimming crying some more drinking wine getting lost crying again and watching sunsets over the adriatic sea it was simultaneously one of the best and worst experiences of my life but i'm very proud of myself because if this had happened a year ago i think i would have fallen apart when i got home all of my ex's were still in our house so i'm still not sure what emergency relocation operation was taking place at first we finally sat down and talked and he told me that even four weeks into treatment i still exhibit behaviors that make him feel bad one example he gave was that he asked me not to text him after he left italy but i did it anyway because of things like that he said he's not convinced that my diagnosis has much to do with our problems and in his view when push comes to shove i choose myself over him he also said he also said that he didn't leave me in italy i simply chose not to fly back with him now oh i don't agree with that assessment and i don't think that's how any of this works but hearing someone you love reduce years of struggle treatment and effort into that conclusion is very painful at this point we are fully separated and that is the end of the story thanks ariel some people are just so diabolical so heartless so evil it doesn't even like i think that the i would try to make peace with this by telling myself this bitch is crazier than me damn this bitch is crazier than me because what are you talking about i may have my shoes but you're a shot girl you are shot the fuck out so you told everybody that we know that you're gonna propose to me and then less than 24 hours later you're like psych but also i did have a ring for you here and i was going to propose to you in this incredibly uh romantic place but that therapy ain't therapizing fast enough and it makes me feel bad that you ask questions which i don't know what a bitch again you could have simply left all of that out the the ring and the proposal and all that it's like you wanted her to feel bad you wanted it to be so much worse and then to be like well for as an example i asked you not to text me after i left italy but you did anyway bitch because you left me in a foreign fucking country are you kidding yeah you're right let's break up we have to break up you're out of your fucking mind baby and let's sign it with a bullet because ariel sounds like treatment medication therapy and all that is working very well for you so keep it going this man ain't it um what a bitch god damn to tell your whole family too like okay all right i didn't leave you you chose not to to fly back with me do you want to die like who wait we had an argument you sat on your phone and booked another flight for just a couple hours later and you thought i was gonna scramble to get all my shit together to do that too you want you thought okay all right all right yeah let's just break up we're just not together no more i'm actually getting mad let's okay like because what the fuck is wrong with these niggas i don't think we have enough time anyone harming you yeah um good luck ariel you can do better than this man for sure easily all right our first letter this week comes from somebody who said call me down bad down south oh god and she says i am a 28 year old black woman and i want to visit my grandmother down south this summer i have a complicated relationship with that side of the family especially from the things my dad told me that they've said about him my mom me and my brother but i recently realized that i only have a one-sided view of my grandmother and i didn't think that was fair we've gotten a little closer over the years and after she had a recent health scare i decided i should spend some time with her down south one issue is where i will be staying i know my grandma will want me to stay at her house but i don't want to a few summers ago during a family reunion i got to see her for the first time and i made sure to keep my purse on my shoulder it's a small house and very cluttered and not as clean as i would like it to be sure i don't want to seem rude or snooty or northern but i also don't want to sleep i threw that northern in there i plan on being down there for five to seven days my grandmother isn't as financially stable as my dad and it's evident by her place i wouldn't mind being there with her during the day but laying my head down is another story how do i tell her i'd rather stay at a hotel instead of her house in the least hurtful way possible my dad's side already thinks we're uppity and bougie while also thinking we're weird because we live below our means they don't know me very well and probably aren't used to how honest and blunt i can be about certain things sometimes the things i say come off harsher than i mean them should i just suck it up and grin and bear it for the short time or should i stand up for myself and advocate for what makes me feel comfortable what would you do in this situation thanks so much down bad down south let's down bad that's up as well okay maybe y'all are snooty and uppity um i don't i don't know y'all straight like that um it's incredibly possible that you are snooty and uppity i don't um because the way the world works is that you are snooty and uppity and you are snooty and uppity um because the way that you described it is cluttered like you didn't say like it's roaches black molds you know stuff growing in the sink so i don't have like a very clear picture of this place i think i do and i think it's hoarders adjacent it could be i'm thinking my my grandma has some friends who lived alone and they had newspapers and magazines stacked up for them and like the 50s 60s 70s all over their house that's what i'm thinking i feel like i can easily picture this home yes i have a few and it smells a little weird in there you're like is that moth balls is that what is that i've never smelled this before i can't place it it's kind of like old beans and moth balls yes what does it smell and like fabric yeah it's just dusty in there smell like the 60s still in there so like you could be snooty uppity whatever ultimately what you want to be is comfortable right um and so i think the thing that stood out to me the most is the way you describe your delivery and the way that you uh can say things sometimes that is what i would focus on it wouldn't be about whether or not i'm gonna stay at my grandma my house or i'm gonna stay at my house i'm not i don't want to and it it could just be because it could be anything it could because you don't like the color of the wallpaper or something in there if you don't want to stay there you don't you don't want to stay there and i think it's better that you are in a place where you're comfortable and you can just be in good spirits when you're hanging around with everybody than you being like halfway in it or possibly miserable because you just don't like where you're laying your head right um so i think that's the thing that stood out to me the most is the so i think i would just say like oh grandma no it's okay i'm gonna get a hotel room if you want to be fake you could be like i don't want to put you out or like i would rather whatever i will not choose that the southern game of oh no oh yeah they will argue you down they will talk you out of that yeah i would likely say i just like it when i have like i be snoring i just whatever yeah i wouldn't make it about me right and the way that i like to sleep and rest and so on and so forth now to me anybody who have a problem with that that's on them yeah because what are you saying like i don't want to sleep your house because it's staying i mean i didn't want to say that right don't say that part down bad that's what we're getting at right no i i completely agree i think it's perfectly fine to say you know what meemaw thank you so much and i'm gonna be at this house every day however every day however i do need right i i'm that type of person just need some time to their self at the end of the night to you know do my little routines and and kind of reset recharge after a day of being around people like you you can you can put it like that even you know i really don't see nothing wrong with that it's just you gonna you might have to really argue because yeah you might they are she probably not gonna want to hear that but just understand this is a southern way of being and all you have to do is keep saying oh no ma'am i couldn't possibly i already got the room it's non-refundable i gotta stay there thank you so much though i can't can't wait you know if you rent a car that's great because then you can get yourself around without anybody else having to take you there you know she might have to go run your grandma to go get some beans or something and that's fine but i think it's fine to say it just like that just i yeah make it about you not about her and her nasty house one thousand percent make it about you preferring to be alone and you know that and if they still don't like it then maybe they just think you uppity and bougie and northern and maybe you just are those things and i wanted to see my grandma so that's how it is right here we are it's both of those um yeah if it gets real dicey make you be like but grandma i thought i'm gonna take you down to the denny's oh yeah and you're gonna have a nice big breakfast and you know i don't know i was just probably if if it got sticky or whatever i'd be like i'll make it up to you i can take you and see where it goes but you'll be all right especially baby for five to seven days girl i'm not even lying about i need my own space and i need to just be in a room somewhere where i can zone out and dissociate like i i'm not even lying about that i really do need that grandma i don't want to sleep on a bed made of jet magazines i just don't want to do it so when i tell you i can picture this house miss i know miss hattie house i know what this looks like lord i know it does too bless okay good luck uh hope you have a good day have a good time with your grandmama our next letter comes for from lorraine who says i've been a listener since beyonce put lemonade out and i know you guys won't pull any punches with what i'm asking damn right i won't i'm a 43 year old white woman and i recently discovered that i'm pregnant by my boyfriend a 31 year old black man named michael ariana what are you doing here our relationship from the beginning has been one of companionship and not a relationship i've been a listener since beyonce put lemonade out and i know you guys won't pull any punches with what i'm asking damn right well i'm a 43 year old white woman and i recently discovered that i'm pregnant by my boyfriend a 31 year old black man named michael not really on a marriage trajectory specifically with the caveat that we would have an expiration date because i was going to try and become a mother on my own using a sperm bank in pursuit of that i had a scheduled mri and found out that there was a fibroid growing on my uterus jesus and how much it was going to interfere with any future pregnancy imagine my pure shock when they made me take a pregnancy test and it came back positive well life has a way not that shocked i mean anyway luckily i had the opportunity to tell my boyfriend the very next day because we were scheduled to go on a mini road trip for memorial day weekend but we ended up coming home early because we both needed time to process the news him more so than i he has since come around and says he's excited and we are transitioning our relationship to one of friends and co-parents the issue is that his dad disapproves because of the age gap because i'm white and because we aren't married and are not planning to get married he hasn't even right he hasn't even told his mother yet who is absolutely going to lose her shit for all of those reasons and because michael describes her as extremely religious almost to an abusive level both of my parents died in 2024 after lengthy illnesses which was one of the reasons i put off having children for so long i truly feel like this is a gift they've given me from beyond and i already love my little baby i feel like michael's dad could come down and i want my little bug to have at least one grandparent but aside from just staying steady and showing him with words and actions that i'm not here to take advantage of his son is there anything i can do or say that might alleviate any of his concerns i don't need his approval nor do i need his support but for michael's sake and for my child i want them to be part of our family thanks lorraine no she named herself lorraine specifically because golden girls yes she did because that was the first thing i thought of before you even started reading it the title the email subject line was like i found myself in an episode of golden girls yeah legitimately there so yes lorraine and michael right opposite race what do you think here because i feel like i have a couple things going on in my head well um so so i think ultimately their concerns are valid you're 43 he's 31 you're his baby mama at this point and i would definitely be concerned about a white person's ability to raise a black child um however that's something michael should have thought about before he went nothing in a white woman that's not really yeah you know as a grandparent that's like that's outside of your control um but i wouldn't i don't think i would be deliberately trying to make them feel better i kind of feel like you know as long as you're a chill normal decent person like you're not going around being crazy or you know being like we can just raise the baby as white or saying nothing ridiculous like that then right then i just feel like with time you're gonna have to get over it like you just you're either gonna get over it or you're gonna be a part of my or you're not gonna be a part of my child's life like you you choose but i wouldn't be trying to like you know do flips or nothing so that his parents would think better of me like yes that we have an age gap but your son's 31 that's grown and so yeah i mean i would love for my baby to be connected to his black side for multiple reasons but also especially because you don't have your own parents so like yeah you would love that for them but i'm not i wouldn't be advising you to go out of your way to make them feel better about this yeah i completely agree um you want to have this baby you're already in love with this baby that is completely you're yeah i don't i would never argue against that um but i completely agree with chrysal that i would allow michael to navigate this with his family that i completely understand right and i would not be making any particular effort to explain to remedy to comfort these people in fact i would say that that might make it worse so yeah i would just play my position if anybody needs me call my name let me know if you want to ask questions like i mean girl you're more than 10 years older than this this black man is fully grown like you said yeah but as a parent yeah this white woman who is 12 years older than you or whatever and is now knocked up and but y'all not getting married y'all not even together y'all kind of yeah you know was fucking for a little while oopsie doopsie yeah i would completely get where they're coming from i do think though it is best for you to just be pregnant be healthy and let time do what it does because it is very likely it's not promised but it's very likely you'll have this baby they'll meet this baby and be like oh my grandchild love him yeah they'll probably still won't like you but at least your child will have grandparents like you said you wanted the baby to have at least one i mean let's be honest i mean you are still a white woman who is not if they're that religious the fact that y'all not married and not you're not gonna hurry up and get married before the baby's born oh lord that might be you can have this baby out of wedlock and wed wasn't even on lock even in the conversation wed wasn't even part of the conversation michael oh they're gonna be irate but they gotta be irate with michael right because that's they child and and it's really his job to run interference as far as like all of that is concerned Greed. And I would make them feel welcome until they do say or do something disrespectful about your baby specifically. But even to you, because you're pregnant. And, you know, it's just certain shit you're not going to say or do to me simply because you don't approve of me. We're grown. So I'm not going, I wouldn't be going out of my way to make them feel better. I also would, I also wouldn't exclude them until they gave me a reason to exclude them. Yeah, agreed. But you might, you know, you might want to, like, make sure your friends and your people have you a baby shower because the baby shower from that side of the family is going to be at the church. Can you even go to the church without being married, child? Maybe not. Girl. Yeah. Yeah. It would be on the lawn of the church. You know, if, if they want to meet you, I would be willing to do that. You know, I mean, it sounds insane that they wouldn't want to meet you, but even as a white man. I would reach out to the extended hands. Yeah, yeah. Somebody is going to be excited about Michael having a baby. Yeah. His cousins or something. And it might take the other family some time to come around. But, I mean, I got over it. My sister-in-law got pregnant. And I mean, immediately, the nanosecond she told me she was pregnant, I was like, me and you have never had no issues, sister. Hello. Love you down. I got over it that fast. Who knows? Yeah. Let Michael's people do the same. But good luck to you, girl. I mean, you wanted a baby anyway. You just thought she was going to have one anonymously. Yeah. And God said, well, God and biology kind of worked hand in hand here. But. Yeah, they did. Good luck, baby. Our last letter comes from someone who said, call me sad birthday girl. OK. In January, my husband and best friend started to plan a surprise birthday trip for me. In February, I found out about the trip, so it was no longer a surprise. But they continued with the planning so that I didn't have to do any of it. They invited my closest friends and some of my cousins and reserved a 10,000 square foot Airbnb with eight bedrooms and nine beds. Damn. My husband allowed guests to make payments to him until the full amount was due in May. Five days before the trip, three of my friends who had confirmed that they would stay in the house told my husband that they were going to get their own Airbnb since ours was crowded and they want a five hundred and fifty dollars each back. I've been on multiple trips with these friends and we've always shared a room and most of the time we even shared a bed. So when I found out about them canceling, I was so upset and hurt. I cried because I didn't know what to do. Sometimes it felt like it was a big F you to me on my B day. Like, girl, here's a seventeen hundred dollar tab. Happy birthday. Word. We all went out that night and not one of those friends offered me a drink, a shot. They didn't dance with me or anything. The vibes were off all weekend. I felt like we were walking on eggshells around each other, which didn't make sense because I know why I'm mad. But what's your issue? When we got home, one of the three asked me out to lunch and my response was, no, thanks. I'm not feeling y'all right now. That was messed up to have. We went back and forth. She zelled me seventeen hundred dollars and said, we don't have to talk again. I sent her back eleven fifty and told her she shouldn't have to pay for all three of them. A second friend started another bigger group chat with all of us and said, I wish you well, but we don't have to be friends anymore. My husband showed me their text to him where at first they asked for a refund and then they said keep two hundred dollars. And then they said, just give the one friend her five fifty back because she has important obligations she got to take care of. I was. I was never good at math, so I'm processing this as it was a lot of money. My husband replied to all of them with screenshots of the Zell confirmations refunding their money. He said he wanted to keep the peace between me and my friends. Right. But my best friend showed me another group chat where the other friends were saying shit like he just gonna have to eat that seventeen hundred dollars over and over like they didn't care. And it was no big deal in that chat. My bestie stuck up for us and was like, why? Y'all bailing on her is just three days. Y'all being selfish, et cetera. So now they mad at that, too. And two out of our three friends have told me and my bestie they no longer want to be friends with us. And one of them even unfollowed us on social media. How could we have handled this differently? I love my friends, but I don't think I did anything wrong. So how do we salvage this friendship? I've known these girls since college, so it's been almost 20 years and I'd hate to lose friends behind this. Thanks. Sad birthday girl. Did I miss something? What the fuck is their problem? So they said the Airbnb was too crowded, so they were going to get their own. And she was like, well, why are you behaving like this? Well, now that I think that's everybody. I think that's what's shocking. Everybody goes like five days before the trip when everybody has paid their money and now you come around talking about you want refunds. Unfortunately, if you if you are going to get your money back, you need to get your money back. You need to get your money back. It needs to be abortion levels of urgent. Otherwise, that's too damn bad. That's too damn bad. I'm like Trisha Dora and I owe my baby daddy $2,000 for child support. What? Trisha Dora got to pay her baby father $2,000 for child support. $2,000 a month for child support. What? I just read that like an hour ago. Wild. Oh, it's a scary world. It's a scary world indeed, bitch. Gagged. Paying a man child support. Oh, my God. Like, I would rather be found dead. I just shivered. Right? Like, girl. Throw me in the creek. Yuck. I could not. Right. How do you salvage this friendship? I mean, I would really, I would just want to understand what made them think five days before a trip, you could even get a refund. Like, I think I'm really stuck on that. Yeah, it's so confusing. They really get out of their minds when it comes to trips. Delta, you don't get no full fucking refund. Like, you're not getting cash back when you cancel like this. So what made you think you could come to my man and be like, yeah, come up off of that $1,650 because we're going to get our own Airbnb. Girl, fuck you. That's why the abortion should make even more sense. Because, ho, if you needed this money, why did you spend it in the first place? What just happened that you now all of a sudden need this coin back? Five days before the trip, y'all like, okay, well, we don't want to share a room now. Okay, but y'all knew you was going to share a room in the first place. So, why are you bitches being weird and then acting weird to me in the club? Like, it's not, um, I think maybe if I were you, I would have, I would have at the Airbnb or at some point, I would have been like, let's sit down and talk. Because the vibe is weird and I'm not understanding why. Like, this, it sounds like y'all didn't really, and when y'all got back home after the trip and one of them invited you out to lunch, you was like, yeah, I'm not feeling you right now. I would have gone to lunch so we could have the conversation. I would have been more open to talking about it, the communication side of it. I think maybe that's why. I think maybe that is something you could have done differently, but they were moving weird from the beginning. Very weird. So? Very weird. It just felt like they had an issue with something that was unspoken. Something they didn't say, something they didn't want to say. It just feels like they, but then, if you're not going to say it, shut your ass up at least. Yeah. Like, I didn't do anything to you. Right. A nigga didn't do anything to you. Right. What are you mad at? Yeah. I agree. They are being, and I would not expect this from people in their mid-30s to early 40s. Like, I honest, this sound like 22-year-olds trying to have a group trip, girls trip, and people turning around and throwing fits and acting like this. Like, at this big age, y'all know you're not getting that $550 back. You know that. It just, they were being weird. The fact that your husband gave them their money back and they were still acting strange, what is it? Did we invite somebody to stay in the house you don't like? Like, what is it? Make it make sense. Why are you acting like, okay, well. Yeah, birthday girl. Like, a week-long trip at, or stay at, like, Sandals or something like that. Right. And then you called him the week prior and like, actually, never mind. I'm going to need all of those thousands of dollars back. No. Sandals is going to be like. The answer is no. Bitches in hell need it. I don't know what to tell you. They want a Gatorade that's not boiling so bad. And guess what they're not getting. You're not getting it. Yeah. They are shot the fuck out. I'd have told them beat it. And then they got mad at your bestie for being like, okay, why y'all acting like this? Right. It's three days in the Airbnb, y'all being selfish. And so now they're like, yeah, we're not friends with you either. Okay. All right. You might be better off without him, but I would want to have a conversation because what you mean? We've been friends for 20 years and this is how you bitches are acting. Yeah. We've had group trips before. Now, in my massive age, we all get our own bedrooms because everybody's old. But if I've done this before it, your friends behavior is just really not making sense for me. Even if I did decide to get my own hotel room or something, I would still never expect to get that $500. I wouldn't either. You just charge that to the fucking game. So 1,000% and some of the girlies like sharing rooms. Some of them sleeping in beds together. Yeah. Cozy and comfy girl time. Yeah. It is fun. It's like a, it's like a sleepover. It is like a sleepover. Right. So I'm not even, uh, I, I'm, I would love for one of your friends to write in and be like, what she didn't tell you is because right now their behavior is not making no sense to me. It's just not. I don't get it. Yeah. It's really confusing. So, um, good luck moving on though. Cause it don't even sound like at this point they willing to have the conversation. Maybe if they were, y'all could sit down face to face and talk about it. But if not, I mean, what you supposed to do with hoes that are being unreasonable and don't want to talk. You just got to wash your hands and move on. I think. Yeah. All right, babe. Um, but good luck to you. That is going to wrap up the listener letter. This week. If you have a question for us, please send us an email. Ask the read at gmail.com. We're going to take another quick break and then we'll be right back. Okay, folks, we have returned and it is now time for the read. Um, I'll make one mine really quick cause I don't have one and it's actually really silly and petty. Okay. Well, two, one. Two. Um, Spencer Pratt tough bitch, tough titties, doll baby. You already knew what time it was. And I feel particularly powerful and pleased with myself because I 1000% voted for the woman who overtook your spot. You were feeling very cunty and cute. Weren't you beat it, beat it and your, your wife that wants to be Gigi good. So bad. She looked a mess the other day. yeah she did with that fuck ass bob they said she had on a blonde darth vader helmet both y'all bitches she did look horrible she really did so ha ha ho and to all of your mega constituents who are like eating dick even um what's this republican man who's in the race for governor california i can't remember he's british oh so like why are you even you don't go here shut up so that's really what i wanted to say that was the first one ha ha bitches that you get i'm so oh this is what voting is about this is what voting is about feeling good watching those numbers move as they're still accounting in balance and knowing that your vote counted towards not only positivity the change you want to see but absolutely decimating the heart mind and soul of a bitchy k stan yeah and didn't he you say he was gonna leave la if he lost yes he did and i can't wait for the day i'll pack his bags for him no shit they're not the people will not forget that you said that brother they are going to be waiting for you to get the fuck up out of the city out yeah love that i will never forget lauren conrad calling you a sucky person he's spencer's a sucky person i will never like spencer he's just a sucky person same lauren um and then the extra pity one is for fans of grand theft auto 6 mostly um for this meme they've created uh this and this happened before we got gent grand theft auto 6 it is such a common meme now people say it on tiktok in relation to things that have nothing to do with video games i heard a lotto song where she referenced something niggas waiting on her like gta 6 or something something like it is a huge meme yeah and to that i want to say gamers who feel that way if you're not a kingdom hearts fan shut your ass okay we waited from like middle school to aarp we made it from like 11 years old to getting free breakfast at ihop for the third game to come out i waited so long i'm so traumatized and so scarred and i've been so neglected by square enix when it comes to uh kingdom hearts the third one that i've been waiting my entire life for the third one that was supposed to close a chapter that i was playing since i was a child since i walked to blockbuster video to rent the first game blockbuster video i walked there okay and it wasn't until mid read that i got to finish that story i don't want to hear shit about waiting for gta 6 bitch nothing talk to fans of Half-Life, a game I've never played. They've been waiting for the third game since like, Truman was in office. They've been GTA 6. You bitches still play Grand Theft Auto 5 online. Why is this a big meme? You're not real gamers and you'll never be real gamers and you can eat my dick before you try and make fun of Kingdom Hearts fans because I too will be playing Grand Theft Auto 6 on the day that it is released. The same way I played every Grand Theft Auto before this. A lot of y'all bitches talking shit. Your first Grand Theft Auto was 4 or 5. Perhaps 3. I played the first one. It was pixel shaded and it was a top-down camera. I've played all the spin-offs. You can't say nothing to me about Grand Theft Auto and you can't say nothing to me about video games, period. But you little Fortnite playing doofuses and you incel nerds making this, oh, we got the Knicks in the finals before GTA 6. Shut up. Shut up. They just showed footage for Kingdom Hearts 4 on Tuesday. I'm so traumatized I didn't even take it seriously. I was like, why are they showing footage for this game in a random Nintendo Direct? The last time that they showed anything for this was four fucking years ago. And now it's 7.45 a.m. and a Nintendo Direct. They're like, oh, we have gameplay footage. I don't believe you. I don't believe you. When that game comes out and not when they announce a date, when they're like it is available to purchase now is when I will take Kingdom Hearts 4 seriously. You bitches with this Grand Theft Auto 6 shit, we got this before GTA 6, I don't feel bad for you. I don't feel sorry for you. Matter of fact, I wouldn't mind if they push it back to next year again just so you hoes can get a real taste of waiting for our art. Imagine waiting for that self-titled album to come out. Remember when we was like, before Beyonce came out? Starving. Malnourished. Oh, yeah. It had been eons. The hive was desperate. We're just a crumb for mother. Just a crumb mother, maybe. You get a Call of Duty every year. You play Fortnite as. He-Man, Master of the Universe and. Fucking Michael Scott is in Fortnite. Michael Scott? The Office. Scott's Tots? Scott's Tots and Dwight Shreve are playable in Fortnite. You have no shortage of white people to shoot, folks. Oh, Lord. So that is my petty part, too. Because, oh, I can't wait to play Grand Theft Auto 6. And it's based in Miami, and it really. I mean, based in. What did they call it? The Miami one? Vice City. And it really looks like Miami. Like, it is freakish how much it looks like my hometown. So I'm gonna be there day one, but I just wanted to be petty and say, you bitches are my. Oh, we got this until GTA 6. You've not waited for things! You haven't waited for things! You haven't had the soul sucked out of you when it comes into anticipation for a video game. You can't even get the soul sucked out of you when it comes for sex, because nobody likes you. I'm done now. Oh, well, over here in New York City, we had a devastating blow on Monday evening when the Knicks played Game 3 of the NBA Finals, and Donald J. Trump decided to drag his decaying, decrepit ass into the city for this. Which created just a massive, I mean, so fucking irritating for absolutely everybody. They closed off all the streets around the Garden. They had no bags. Nobody could bring a bag into the arena, which was also a problem, because Jordan Woods had been bringing her bag, and that was her little lucky, you know, like, every time I have my bag, we win type shit. Anyway. All of this because, apparently the man who's been shot at three times over the past month is still not afraid for his life and decided he was gonna go be a pain in the ass at the Knicks game. Now, as far as I'm concerned, this is James Dolan's fault, because Trump could not have gone to the game without James Dolan inviting him and making concessions for him to be there. Like, if he wanted to say Donald Trump is a fascist piece of shit, and I'm banning him from Madison Square Garden, he could do that. He did not do that, because James Dolan and Donald Trump are friends. Dolan is one of Trump's biggest well, I almost said advisors. He might be an advisor, but donators, for sure. And so, everybody is blaming the loss on the presence of Trump, and I don't think y'all are wrong. Like, I truly believe that that man was not only a bad omen, but he soaked up all of the good energy that had been in this city. This city had been it was like we were walking on air for weeks. It was just incredible with this 13-game winning streak, and everybody feeling good. People are smiling at each other in the fucking streets. It's like a different city, so it does now feel like some of that good energy has been deflated. Really, by the time this comes out, Game 4 will have already happened. This should be a huge fucking game, but yeah, fuck Donald Trump and James Dolan for putting white. So you had the man. You invited this man to the game. You got all these security measures in place. NBA players can't even bring bags into the arena like everybody's doing the most over this fuck-ass president. Only for him to fall asleep during this. Yes, only for him to fall asleep in the second quarter and leave at halftime. What the fuck was the point? I'm telling you, he's trolling people. He just want to get on people's nerves. Yeah, I really do believe it. So that was just very shitty, very selfish. I heard it took people hours to get inside. Yes, it took hours to get inside the garden. Yes. Hours. Hours. Because of all of the extra security measures over Donald Trump. Like, okay, really? I don't think we care that much whether he lives or dies, and I think we all need to be honest about that. We don't really care if he lives or dies. Y'all should have let somebody go in there, and if he got popped, he got popped, you know. This is America. Shit happens. But, yes, it's been very shitty because the city was on such a high. So for Trump and Dolan to come in and act like this for. Again, I'm blaming James Dolan because you rolled out the red carpet for this asshole. And if the Knicks don't win this series, I fully believe that the Knicks will never win a ring as long as James Dolan is in charge of the organization. Because after the game, he also had the Madison Square Garden Communications Department, or whoever, put out a memo talking about Mayor Mom Donnie and the police commissioner obviously don't care about New Yorkers because they're still doing all the closing off streets around the arena, and so they said it was about the president, but it clearly wasn't about the president. They don't really care about the fans and the venues and the bars and restaurants around it. Girls, shut the fuck up. It's you who don't actually give a shit about the fans. It's you. And so I believe that if the Knicks somehow lose this series, it will be because of the man who owns the team, and they won't prosper until he decides to get rid of it. But we'll see how that unfolds. And this goes a little bit into. This isn't really a read, but there's been a lot of what is a real New Yorker type of conversations happening online lately, and that's Jennifer Lopez's fault because she went on Subway Takes. So she went on Subway Takes. Have you seen that show where the nigga on the set would be like, what's your hot take? Right. So hers was that you can't be a real New Yorker if you weren't born in New York City, which is an argument people have been making forever and it's just like, girl. That's why we use adjectives. I just feel like certainly the New York City public school system taught y'all about adjectives. That is why we put adjectives in front of New Yorker. New Yorkers who were born and raised here are known as native New Yorkers. If y'all want to be the bestest, most importantest New Yorkers, that's fine. If y'all want to be at the front of the parade when the Knicks win, I'm not going to argue about that. You can have that. But people. Jennifer, you don't even live here. I'm not letting a bitch who don't even live here tell me that I'm not a fucking New Yorker. Bitch, I don't care. You were not. Do you know that being born in New York City was not your personal accomplishment? Do you know you did absolutely nothing to make that happen? What if you moved to New York when you were like four? And that's the other thing. They all have their own little caveats and their own little exceptions and oh, well, it's okay if you did regions. Oh, it's okay if you came before you were two. Oh, it's okay if you an immigrant. Oh, it's okay if you. Like, everybody has their own little mm, it's okay. Which is another reason why you don't pay attention to what random people have to fucking say. Bitch, I live here I'm part of the community here. I shop local. I have immersed myself in New York City. I allowed the city to change me because this is where I was destined to be. This is my home. Therefore, I am a New Yorker. I'm not arguing with you about it. I've never claimed to be from New York City. That would be ridiculous. Have you heard me talk? If you hear me talk for 10 fucking seconds, you're going to know that I was not born and raised in New York City. I don't sound like it. And I've never claimed to be. I will never say that I was born in New York. But where I was born, where I grew up, and where I live now are three different cities in three different states. So what the fuck do you want? What the fuck do you want? It's not my fault I was not born in New York City, just like it's not your accomplishment that you were born in New York City. The idea that I'm somehow not a real New Yorker, I really live here, though. So, okay. So I think that, like, saying you're a New Yorker or any other, you know, city, whatever, is different to me than saying, like, I'm from New York. Right. And you would think that that would be, you know, obvious. Right. You would think that, and yet the conversation, the argument has gone on and on and on and on and on because people refuse to say, okay, there's a difference between people who moved here and people who were born here. Or, you know, if you grew up here saying you're from here versus people who moved here when they were 30. Like, I don't know. I, to me, the conversation is asinine because words mean things and you just need very small, specific words to clear this whole shit up. So I'm blaming Jennifer Lopez for that. It's really her fault for reigniting this dumb-ass debate. And at a time where, as New Yorkers, we should all be one band, one sound about the NBA finals. We should all be coming together to make sure Donald Trump does not, because look who you excluding. You're excluding Spike Lee. But you're including Donald Trump. That's who you want on your team? That's how strict you want to be? Think about it, bitch. Like, I wouldn't if I were you. I wouldn't if I were you, but okay. Like, I just feel like y'all are being too weird about it when all you have to say is, I'm a native New Yorker or I'm from New York or I moved there when I was 30 or whatever. Like, you can just. I don't understand what all of the. the non-stop debate is about. Like, do y'all not. Y'all haven't heard these words? Y'all didn't know about this? This is brand new to all of you or what? Like, it's just not making sense, but. Yeah, Donald Trump's not coming tonight, so let's go, Knicks. Shout out to God for putting me in a position to where I would not be conflicted. Rooting for this team, and yeah, we hoping for the best. Knicks in five, ho. Did you. Did you see the reporter who asked Zoran Mamdani how much his tickets cost and, you know, where he would be sitting or some shit like that? Mm-hmm, yeah. I did. I was like, yeah, that's gonna be this because of socialism. I was like, I paid $1,000, I got them from Madison Square Garden, I would be standing up next. Right, and that $1,000 is standing room only. That is the. He will be in the section with the poors. For $1,000. $1,000. That is. In this economy. Right, in this economy. While Trump is in a fucking box with the owner of the team. But Mamdani's the problem? No, I don't think so. James Dolan is the problem, y'all. Let's all stay focused. Yeah. Let's all stay focused because the way he has. I mean, and this is just me. I've done a lot of reading and learning over the past few years. I've done a lot of reading and learning over the past few weeks. He's not done a great job at managing this team. Y'all have been asking him to sell the team for decades. I don't think he's going to do it. But if they don't win this fucking series. I don't know. I don't know. I just don't think it's going to be good for James Dolan. I really don't. Like, I'm not sure exactly how we can touch that billionaire, but he got to get the fuck up out of here. The city needs it. We're riding high, okay? Things are doing. Things are great. It's Pride Month. Everybody's being ultra gay. Yeah, so we, you know, we deserve this. So, but we'll see. Let's go, let's go, let's go. I'm nervous. I'm nervous for the game tonight. I'm finna go out. And I. Yeah. Anyway. I'ma watch it. I'm alright. You should. You really should. I kind of want to watch it. I mean, are you going to follow it? Yeah, I might check it out. Are you going to, like. Do you follow basketball pretty well, or.? No, yeah, I could follow. Basketball is the sport that I can follow. Okay. Like, football. Oh, my goodness. Give me a graph. I can't. I cannot. That's crazy, because football is so much slower. It's so much easier to see what's going on with football. Yeah, but it has so many more moving parts, and, like, the way that scores work, and all that type of shit, and when you. Like, a foul, or what. It's just. Okay. I can kind of get it. Okay, so they trying to get to that side. They trying to get to that side. And you try. You got to try not to let them stop. That's all I got for you. All right. I don't know who does what, but I know you just, you know, trying to get to that side. Yeah. But basketball, yeah, I could fully follow a full thing of basketball, but. Oh, all right. Anyway. Is that what I want to do tonight? Fuck Donald Trump. Fuck James Baldwin. Forever and always. Fuck J-Lo just because. And Nixon. Yeah, why not? Stirring up the dumbest possible discourse. You're not a real. Why say that? New Yorker. New York City is made up of people who were not born here, for better or worse. It is. It has always been that way. You either. You either fuck with the vibe of New York and the vibe of New York fucks with you, or you don't. Like, it's not for everybody, of course. But the same. New York City is made up of people who weren't born here. I don't know why y'all go around acting like you did something by being born in New York. Maybe if it was like, you're not a New Yorker if you've only been here for less than a year. So, I don't know. Maybe something like. Maybe. You weren't born here? Girl. I mean, everybody has their own little rules. That's the thing. You could get together all the native New Yorkers, and they would all have different caveats about who they are. Who's really a New Yorker? They would all have their own little exceptions and their own little rules. And, oh, 10 years, 20 years, 50 years. As long as you've spent more than half of your life here. Like, these are all things that I have heard directly from people who were born here. That's why I don't take none of you hoes seriously. Because y'all can't even come together on a consensus about it when the definition is a bitch who lives here. Like, sorry. I will never claim to be a native. I'm obviously not that. But I'm absolutely a New Yorker. And I'm not a New Yorker. And I'm not gonna not call myself one because Jennifer Lopez doesn't think such. Like, fuck out of here, bitch. Can you imagine? Bitch, of all people, it won't be you stopping me. Actually, since Jenny from the block said it. Jenny with her orange drink and her ham and cheese on a roll, which no real nigga has ever ordered, ever. Wait, she ordered a what? You didn't hear about that? When did she do that interview when they asked her about her bodega order and she was like, um, like a ham and cheese on a roll and like an orange drink? Let me see if I can find that Jennifer Lopez. Has Jennifer Lopez ever been to New York? Like, have you, have you ever been to a bodega? Ham and cheese on the roll, a small bag of chips and an orange drink. I'm like. An orange drink? Which what? Talking about if you know, you know. What do you mean? You talk about the little. No, what? I don't. Anyway. It won't be. I mean, I'm sure people order a ham and cheese, but like, I don't. It's like, the only times I've been in a bodega, I don't, I can't recall anyone ever ordering a ham and cheese anything. I've never heard nobody say orange drink up here, but you know, whatever. Whatever, girl. Whatever. Like, I think you was just saying something, Miss Girl. Oh, it was a 73 questions interview with Vogue back in 2024. Oh, where they like walked through your house? Yeah, where they. Okay. Um. Ooh. Okay. She cleared the air about it in an interview with Harper's Bazaar. About a sandwich? About the drink. The orange drink was basically just a plain orange drink. It came in a little plastic container with a little bit of aluminum foil on it. Okay, so yeah, you're talking about the little huggy thing. Oh, she's talking about the, yeah. Yeah, the little fruit barrels. I don't even know. Miami, we had a name for it and I can't think of what it is right now. I want to say we called it juice thinking it was juice. We used to call it something. Oh, Jennifer. Water waters. Something water. Not quarter water. Yeah, I think we used to call them quarter waters. Really? I think so. Okay. Well, you know, different cities, different. Oh, you know what? No, I just Googled it and somebody on Reddit called it the same thing. Okay. Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what we called them. Well, regardless, Jennifer Lopez won't be the bitch to change my mind about whether I'm a New Yorker. Unlike Jennifer Lopez, I'm not leaving. So. And my daughter's a native New Yorker so suck my dick. That'll wrap up this week. There's that as well. My child's still from Harlem, so what's up, bitch? Bitch, I'm not arguing with you about this. Fuck out of here. Imagine. She's trying to gatekeep a city for you and you don't even stay there no more. That you don't even live in, girl. Get out of my face. All right. That is going to wrap up this week's episode of The Read. Check us out on social media at This Is The Read. Our website is thisistheread.com. Thank you again to the producers of Kat's A Jellicle Ball for having me at the Jellicle Ball. I had a beautiful time. God, it was so good. It's just a good old gay time. It really is. Thank you so much, Jade, for joining me this week on Crystal's Couch to help me answer more of your emails for advice. You can find the show at Crystal's Couch and all of our episodes and so on and so forth. And all the usual places. Any news from you this week, Kid Fury? Um, my podcast, Furious Thoughts, is available on YouTube as well as all your podcast platforms. This week, we have Jonica Booth on the podcast. Always great to see my girl. We got to talk about rap shit and have a little rap shit moment and recall all of the hard work. The fun times that we had on that show. We also talked about some other shows and her comedy work. Go check it out. I think, like, the longest episode slash interview that I've done so far. Because we was just running our mouth like we always do. So, go check that out. Patreon.com slash Kid Fury for more. Also, Link is famous. She has toys now. So, you can go to KidFury.com slash merch to get yourself a Link plush toy. And that's it. Oh, thank you, everybody. Thank you, everybody who came to my stand-up show last week. I had a really good time. It was fun and I didn't pass out. And I remembered my jokes. So great. And amen. All right, y'all. Take care of yourselves. Next in five. We'll see y'all next week. That's right. Five and six. Oh. No, that's not how that works.