Thirsty Topics podcast
Thirsty Topics is where unfiltered conversation meets culture, entertainment, and everyday life. Hosted by Lawrence Elrod and co-hosted by Meryl Klemow, the podcast dives into the latest headlines, social media buzz, and trending stories—always with humor, honesty, and fresh perspectives.
From pop culture and viral moments to real conversations about society, relationships, and lifestyle, Thirsty Topics is designed to spark dialogue and keep listeners engaged. No scripts, no filters—just real talk that’s as entertaining as it is thought-provoking.
What listeners can expect:
- Engaging weekly episodes featuring the latest cultural trends and stories
- Thoughtful and funny takes on social media, entertainment, and everyday issues
- Multi-perspective conversations that feel like sitting down with friends who aren’t afraid to “go there”
Available on all major podcast platforms, Thirsty Topics is part of the Elrod TV Network, expanding the brand’s mission to deliver bold, original, and diverse media.
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Thirsty Topics podcast
Jimmy Kimmel's Return and Disney's Dilemma for 9/23/25
The battle over free speech in entertainment takes center stage as Jimmy Kimmel's "indefinite suspension" from ABC comes to a surprising end. Breaking news during our recording reveals Kimmel will return to his show after just days off air – a stunning reversal that follows Disney's estimated $4.4 billion stock drop and widespread subscription cancellations across their platforms.
We dive into the complex dynamics at play, from The View's delayed response to the controversy to Republican senators Ted Cruz and Rand Paul speaking out against FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr's threatening language. This rare breaking of partisan ranks highlights growing concerns about government overreach in media regulation, with Cruz comparing Carr's statements to threats "right out of Goodfellas."
The conversation shifts to a tragic accident at Universal Studios, where a 32-year-old disabled man died on the opening day of the Stardust Racer roller coaster. This prompts a deeper discussion about thrill ride safety and whether the pursuit of increasingly extreme experiences has gone too far. Meanwhile, Tom Holland's hospitalization after a Spider-Man stunt accident raises questions about actors performing their own dangerous scenes.
Travis Kelce's oddly specific $14,491 fine for an "obscene gesture" during a Chiefs game leads to examination of sportsmanship standards and whether such penalties effectively deter behavior. We also explore Justin Baldoni's legal strategy in his ongoing dispute with Blake Lively, having hired Alexandra Shapiro – previously part of Sean "Diddy" Combs' defense team.
On a heartwarming note, we celebrate 66-year-old retired accountant Kent Brossard, who proves it's never too late to follow your dreams by joining LSU's marching band after retirement. His story reminds us that amid cultural battles and corporate power plays, the pursuit of personal passion remains a worthy endeavor at any age.
Subscribe to hear more thought-provoking discussions on media, entertainment, and the cultural forces shaping our world.
Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.
Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.
Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.
Hello, and thank you for listening to Thirsty Topics podcast! I'm Lawrence Elrod, and every week Meryl Klemow and I dive deep into the stories that matter, the conversations that shape our world."
Please help support our show by following us and telling others about our show. New podcasts weekly.
Hello everyone, Welcome to this week's episode of Thirsty Topics. I'm Lawrence Elrod.
Speaker 2:And I'm Meryl Clemo. How's it going, Meryl? It's so good. How are you?
Speaker 1:I am doing great, you know, other than technical glitches here and there.
Speaker 2:I would expect nothing less from us, from you, I mean from me. You're really good about it, but from me how?
Speaker 1:was your weekend.
Speaker 2:It was very good. I went down to San Diego and did a show with some friends. It was amazing.
Speaker 1:I went down to San Diego and did a show with some friends. It was amazing. How about you? Well, you know what my Bears got their first win, so I'm very happy.
Speaker 2:Yay, oh, you know what I did do, which will, I'm sure, lead us into the first talk but, like a bad girl, I went to Disneyland, even though everyone's canceling it. But we'll talk about it. I've canceled myself already, so I'm cancel-proof.
Speaker 1:I'm curious, was there still a lot of people there?
Speaker 2:Yes, it's so funny. When I did my comedy thing, I was telling a joke about how I'm like I thought all the people on the left weren't going and everyone on the right is at home on Reddit. So, like, what's everyone there for? I don't understand. I guess they're waiting to see what happens, right, exactly, and I think too, in our minds, disneyland tickets seem a little bit different to me than streaming Disney. You know what I mean. If we're going to cancel Disney and everything, then there's so many trickle-down things that have to go into that, so I don't know. It gets a little ridiculous of getting mad at people for going to Disney. I've already had this trip planned forever. This is where I mean it gets a little silly when we start getting mad at each other for stuff like this.
Speaker 1:That's true. That's true. Talk about mad. I don't know what side of the fence you're on. The View has finally spoke about the Jimmy Kimmel suspension. They started talking about it today. This morning, In fact, it was the first thing they talked about and what they stated was that they were waiting for a response from Jimmy Kimmel before they said anything. And they did acknowledge that a lot of their fans got really upset that they didn't mention anything about it. So I guess the real question is do you kind of believe what they said, that they were waiting to get information from Jimmy, or they were pressured not to say anything but had to retract that pressure, that decision, because of their fan base?
Speaker 2:Honestly, I probably believe it was all of it is true to some degree.
Speaker 2:Like I bet I bet the next day maybe they got some pressure from executives saying, like this is not the time to go off and double down and if you do that today or tomorrow you're going to get like taken off the air and maybe just like I saw the other shows like how colbert and felon and um, all these are, uh, seth Meyers like I thought they all did it in such a funny way too that it seemed like everyone was just taking a day or two to like say, okay, we don't agree with this, but we're not going to go in so hard quite yet. So I think it was probably a mix of like I bet people told them it wasn't a good idea to go in like really, really, really hard at first and then also maybe they were getting some details and talking about how they wanted to discuss it internally do you think that the view should have said something last week when it first broke, or do you think they did the right thing by waiting till today?
Speaker 2:um, I think they should have at least said something, even if it's like we're still gathering our thoughts but you know, jimmy's our and we don't agree with this. I think I don't know. I'm surprised like Whoopi didn't say something, because I don't know the other people on it, but I mean the article. I can see their names, but like I'm surprised they didn't at least say something to address it. But yeah't, I don't know, I think it's always I. I also don't know if, if a lot of people like tune into the view for like, oh okay, this is my news source, like I know you watch it for fun and everything, but I've never heard someone say, like the view said this and that really, like changed my mind on this opinion. Yeah I.
Speaker 1:I guess you know the way I look at it is. You know everyone is definitely open to whether or not they want to listen to someone or believe them or whatever. But I guess, from my standpoint, I think the reason why so many people were concerned or even got mad about them not approaching it is the view talks about anything and everything yeah, yeah, yeah everything. So it was very, very, very awkward that all this thing happened up around them and they said not one thing about it, so that's kind of weird to me it was yeah, especially when everyone else, like even letterman and people that weren't on the air, are saying something.
Speaker 2:so I bet executives were probably like, if you mention it at all, you're going to get fired today, which is really, like you, you know, not good, but I always think about that too, because I've heard that too. I've heard one of the things was that they told Jimmy Kimmel to like stop going so hard on it, and he was like, not only will I not do that, but I'm going to double down and like go even further. And it's hard to know like which one you would be, because I don't want to say I'd sell out, but if, like, if I had a job that was helping people like you know, say, save with their families, and if I was like supporting my own family in a million things like, I could see a scenario where I kind of am like, oh okay, that's boring, but I like will keep my opinions to myself.
Speaker 1:so maybe I'm like more of a sellout than other people, but, um, I don't know you know, the sad part about this is that, even though jimmy is the person that we're talking about, you know he has a whole staff, that right now working. Now, jimmy, regardless of what happens, jimmy's gonna be fine financially, you know exactly. He may take a little bit of hit um entertainment wise based on what happened, but he's going to be fine. But that may not be the case for the people on the staff exactly, and I guess too.
Speaker 2:I guess maybe because I haven't found yet like once there's a cause where it's like no, I have so much conviction about this whole thing that like if I was on, I, just if I was on air, I just like wouldn't even want to mention trump or bad things at all. It would just be like I don't want to spend my time on it or energy on it, like I'd rather talk about other stuff. But but I think that is cool, that jimmy and other people have such like strong convictions that no matter what, even knowing that they might get let go from like a huge career, that they're still sticking to it that's true.
Speaker 1:Now, I believe wasn't steven steven cobert the first one who had his show canceled and is running yeah contract. Now I know what's interesting about that is why do you think the outrage is so much more prevalent with jimmy kimmel? Versus, versus. Because it's noticeably different.
Speaker 2:Exactly, I think, a few reasons. I think number one, like Trump literally said, like Kimmel's next, you know. So I think stuff like that the two of them have just been so outwardly like going after each other for years that I think we all knew that Trump kind of had it out for Kimmel. The second thing is maybe I think for years they were like reporting that Colbert's ratings were pretty low, but maybe we didn't know the extent of like how low the Kimmel ratings were or anything. You know, to us in our minds that's one of like the couple big, big ones. So it's like, oh okay, those ones are just like sailing along fine, and we didn't know really like what the if it's losing money, if it's making money. We didn't know really like what the if it's losing money, if it's making money. And yeah, I think maybe also Kimmel's just more like outwardly he's hosted the Oscars and hosted stuff before. So I think in our minds he's just like Mr Hollywood. So now that Ryan Reynolds canceled, now Jimmy Kimmel's next up.
Speaker 1:Well, I can tell you, there's you, there's more to this story coming.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, there definitely is. But yeah, I think my wrap up is I'm surprised if you ladies didn't say anything. I feel like when I think of Whoopi Goldberg, I do think of a very brave, awesome person that speaks her mind. So I think I don't know. It just seems kind of weird. But I also think these types of things come up every week where it's like okay, if you don't speak on this, you're not a good person or you're not right, and so next, month there really will be, I think, another cause du jour that everyone needs to talk about.
Speaker 2:That's true, that's true. We've had like five of these things this past year where it's like if you don't talk about this right away, you're part of the problem.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's true, and you know, sometimes people need to understand too. The way entertainers are paid are much different than everyone else. They're literally under contract, which means they can lose their contract, possibly be sued, uh, for breach of contract. So it's kind of a a very, very tight line to walk yeah you're under that type of employment a hundred percent.
Speaker 2:There's no one. Because I I was on like san diego radio and I'm like there is no way I would have made it through the pandemic and through everything on air. I would have gotten fired like a million percent just for even if I had like stupid opinions or no opinions, just like, and there was times that they would call me into the office and be like we can't really talk about this. Or you know, one woman got mad because I was talking about that JLo skin looked moist during the Superbowl and she hated that. I said the word moist.
Speaker 2:So even just stuff like that where I'm like okay, this was a very nice paying job. Do I want to just like fight this? Or do I want to continue to say the word moist that much so like I just cut it out of my vocabulary because I wanted like a nice salary. So you know not that obviously this is way more important. This is like big freedom of speech things. But I don't know if I was. I admire Jimmyimmy kimmel for at least like having such big convictions that it's like no for everyone.
Speaker 2:I'm gonna stand up to this I agree I agree, but I'm not that strong, I have weak character you're very strong character thank you, that's so sweet.
Speaker 2:Thank you, even though I went to disneyland, but it's okay, well. Well, speaking of character, we won't be seeing ones like Aladdin and Mickey Mouse because a lot of people are canceling their Disney and canceling their Hulu. To be honest, I wouldn't even know how to cancel ABC if I tried, because I don't even know if we get ABC or not. It's a good thing that I don't know how to work a lot of our TV that I like don't even know if we're canceled or not with these things. But Disney has been dealing with the fallout for days and things are not getting any better. As of yesterday, disney stock has dropped more than 2% an estimated $4.4 billion since dismissing Jimmy Kimmel.
Speaker 2:Um, now I'm seeing today a lot of marvel stars like mark ruffalo, and people are warning disney that the stock would drop even more if disney did not take action and bring the show back. Um, from what I've heard, it's so funny. People are saying on tiktok that when you like, go to cancel hulu or whatever it's like, no, please, we'll keep you for 2.99 a month, or it's almost becoming desperate. Where they'll, they'll lower your stuff so much, so that might be a hack for people, even if you don't want to cancel your account, just pretend like you're going to and then they'll lower your price, and I thought this was so funny. There was also one influencer that took to social media and shared the screenshot of him canceling Disney Plus, but then by accident he kept it in that he had just signed up like that day. So he pretty much like signed up to then undo it, and so everyone were like that's performative, good try, but we could see that you just signed up like two hours ago.
Speaker 1:Gotta get those views some kind of way, huh.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so okay, this is where and I love, I would love your opinion and I'm sure I feel alone, but sometimes I understand that we have to show this is how we show our like movement within our dollar. You know we vote with our dollar, type of thing. I totally get that and I get that like that's how we would show them is we hit them in the pockets and you know all that stuff. What I don't like is when sometimes now it turns to like inside fighting, where I'm seeing people on Facebook fighting with each other for not canceling Disney or like you're not showing it on your social media, and I think this is where we like lose the plot a little bit with just getting mad at each other as people you know.
Speaker 2:So I don't know, have you canceled your stuff and like, how do you feel about that?
Speaker 1:Oh, I don't have to worry about canceling Disney Plus and all that, because I don't know, have you canceled your stuff? How do you feel about that? I don't have to worry about canceling Disney Plus and all that, because I don't have that anyway.
Speaker 2:You're part of the solution way before You've been doing the good thing. I feel bad for the people. I work a lot on having my own movies and TV and stuff and I know how hard you work, even at the beginning stages, when it's not even on there. I feel so bad for the people that have shows on Hulu and Disney that have nothing to do with this and it's like you accomplish your dream of getting something on the air which is already like a close to impossible feat and then, due to something that's not even you now people are like boycotting it. It just I wish there was other ways that we could still support these people that have nothing to do with it and not pay the corporations.
Speaker 1:That's true. What's interesting about this boycott is the boycott is probably I don't know maybe 10, 100 times or even 1,000 times more than the budget of his show. When you start getting into the. B word, 100 times or even 1,000 times more than the budget of his show. Yeah, when you start getting into the B word, the billions, yeah, you know they may not say it out loud, but at some point someone's going to sit down and go. Is this really worth this?
Speaker 2:I know, but then it's going to look so weird it's going to be awkward. Like we said, if they do bring him back, then is he gonna be? He's gonna go triple hard on trump and then it's just gonna be weird. So like I don't know, in my mind the disney people probably have so much like ego and whatever that they're just gonna be like. Nope, we came with this decision.
Speaker 1:We're going to stick with it that's true, but you know at some, at some point they're gonna have to address it because you know they probably did not anticipate the backlash that they're getting from their support. You know it's one thing to be criticized for it and media and all this. It's another thing when it hits the pocketbooks because that's how you get a business's attention it's hit them in the pockets.
Speaker 2:They do pay exactly, and it's it's amazing that it we really could move. This is I can't think of anything else like huge that we've had in the like. I know there's been little drips and drabs over here. I'm like boycott this, don't spend money on goya beans or you know these like things that are supposedly not a good businesses. But then I haven't like I know like starbucks and target and these things people for a long time have been saying to stay away from. But I mean like let's be honest at any point, like Starbucks and Target are always full with people and stuff. This is maybe the most like powerful one I've seen so far.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's true, and for it to be, you know, not even a week old yet, for them to have millions of dollars. You know, that's something that they they can't ignore.
Speaker 2:They can't ignore those numbers I know and I think this is the first time I've seen a lot of like hollywood people say I know they're starting to say that they're like um, foregoing their own movie promotions and their own like marvel red carpets and everything. So it will be interesting once again.
Speaker 2:If I was like a movie person with nothing to do with this, I would just kind of be like well, you know, I understand it means like free speech for everyone, and this is this is like the example that we all have to set so that we show networks that we don't deal with this, but I don't know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I hear you. Well on the topic of the view here, let's see, the FCC is possibly targeting the views. Basically saying in a nutshell that I think Trump stated that they're very mean to him. You know they, they always talk negative about him and you know, maybe they should be taken off the air. Next, do you think that this was a coincidence, that this came out like right around the time they're actually saying something, or is it just kind of a, you know, a direct okay, you want to say something now?
Speaker 2:yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean because one could argue either way.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I think, like I said, it has to be all around that if we're targeting shows like the View, then we have to target shows like that. On the other side of politics or you know like that are saying it has to be symmetrical, and I have felt that way for, like, no matter who's kind of the winning team at that point. So, yeah, I feel like the view seems so innocuous to me, Like, even if they have opinions, I don't like they're not hurting anyone or they're just sharing their opinions and not really inciting violence or anything like that. So, yeah, I think this definitely seems very targeted.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, one thing about the view for anyone who's watching. They kind of know, even if they feel strongly about something, they're always quick to point out that it is your choice. Especially when it comes to politics. You choose who's there and what they do by your vote. Yeah, and they really encourage that. And what I like about it is that even if you have a difference of opinion, you can respect that opinion and still disagree with it and be civil about it. You don't have to yell, scream, want to fight and all this and it's okay to debate. It really is.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:But you can't have a system to where okay, you know what. This show's not saying anything nice about me, we're taking it off the air. You can't have that either.
Speaker 2:I know and I wonder if it's also I don't know how the view is doing financially, but it's like what else would they put in that time slot? Like, as humans, we still want to watch other humans sit and talk around about their views and that's interesting. I think a lot of talking head shows talking head shows that that's what we want to watch is other people's opinions and it makes us feel we like we agree with them or we disagree or we learn from them. But, um, I think, like jimmy kimmel and the view they could, they really could like take it off broadcast and do numbers that are even more like. I think I saw the john the daily show. One had like seven million views on youtube and that's so much more than like what the other, what the actual broadcast numbers are doing.
Speaker 1:So it's so interesting to me that you know the power can be like more independent stuff that's true and you know, like the view, I did not know people watch the view like this, but you know there's a weekend view, there's a podcast of the view, oh really. So people watch the view way, way more than I do, obviously.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And I guess the point I'm trying to make is that even if you successfully get them taken off the air, you're not going to necessarily kill their voice, If anything you're going to amplify it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, and that's ridiculous. If, like, what they're saying is not allowed to be in our common, it's like we have channels that they can be talking about that, whatever people on Fox can be talking about what they want to talk about. You know, people on the Food Network are talking about this. It's like it's just we're allowed to have all different stations and if you don't like it, then yeah, exactly, tune out.
Speaker 1:And you know, my thing is like this if you're going to talk about you don't like their speech or whatever, you can do it on both sides. You can't go well, this person is real extreme, but we like him. He's one of us, so that's fine. But because we don't like this person, no, we need to take him off the air right, yeah, and to me like they would have to be saying worse things.
Speaker 2:I don't know. It gets really weird when, if we start to have a situation where, like you can't talk badly about the president or you know, like it's just, it's just weird. But there's also the I was listening to a podcast, kind of with the other view of things where it's like well, these are private businesses and they're allowed to do what they want to like, no one's putting them in jail for the freedom of speech. They're basically excuse me just like letting go of shows that aren't making money, like it's a money thing at the end of the day is what they're saying.
Speaker 2:But we know it's probably not all that I know. Okay then what are you going to put in? I don't know at this point what would make a lot of money on broadcast TV.
Speaker 1:I don't know. I mean right now. In Jimmy Kimmel's spot they have reruns of Celebrity Family Feud right now. It's just going to keep being game show after game show. Yeah, it seems to be a lot of game shows these days. That's true, but will they bring in the amount of viewership as Jimmy Kimmel? I could be wrong, but I don't think so.
Speaker 2:I know. I wonder if they're also trying to target different age brackets where it's like, okay, most people now, from 18 to 45 or whatever, are going to be watching pretty much YouTube or streaming, but maybe traditional broadcast people in their later years are tuning in more. I don't know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's true. That's true, it's going to be interesting.
Speaker 2:It's going to be interesting to see if they go in hard on the view or if they kind of back off yeah, it's very cool here too, living in burbank, because I get to a lot of my like friends that are comedians and writers who are part of the writers guild.
Speaker 2:Um like, they strike right by by disney studios right by where I live. So, like you know, I'm not in the writers guild or anything, but it's really cool to like drive by Disney Studios right by where I live. So, like you know, I'm not in the Writers Guild or anything, but it's really cool to like drive by and see all these people. They were doing it for animation when the Animation Guild was kind of going through some stuff, and then during like the AI times and so like, when I drive to go get my groceries today later when I drive by, I'll see like hundreds of people right outside of Disney with signs and like a few of my friends have gone viral for having like protest signs and stuff, so it's really cool to see people like you know taking action absolutely, absolutely well, someone else that's voting with their dollar is Travis Kelsey, who, uh, recently just got fined $14,491 for making quote-unquote obscene gestures.
Speaker 2:During last week's match before the Kansas City Chiefs and the Eagles, after a 23-yard gain by the Chiefs, he celebrated by gesturing animatedly to his groin, seemingly directing his movements towards the sideline, the Philly sideline. The NFL announced that they would be cracking down on gestures that were unsportsmanlike, violently and sexually suggestive. Then the chief was lost, which was also embarrassing, but then I don't know, I guess. Okay, my first question for you is like do you know where the odd number of like 14,491 come Like? Why not just round up to a cool 15,000? Do you know why it's that number?
Speaker 1:No, it actually sounds ridiculous.
Speaker 2:Yeah, why make it to that dollar?
Speaker 1:Why not just say 15,000, to call it a day?
Speaker 2:Exactly.
Speaker 1:And you know the real thing about it. Merle is now don't get me wrong, $14,000 is a lot of money, don't get me wrong. But the players that make like in his case, you know their contract is worth $100 or over $100 million. That $14,000 is really nothing. I mean, let's be real, right, it's nothing to them. Yeah, and you know they've always had rules in there about unsportsmanlike contact, unnecessary celebrations, you unnecessary celebrations when they kind of take it over there. I think what he did was kind of a little bit over the top.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.
Speaker 1:It's not classy. That could have really got out of hand. What if that started a big brawl on the field?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I feel that way where it's like I think it's totally okay to celebrate, it's not. It's not offensive to me, like per se, but it's also just kind of like oh god, it's not the classiest or whatever, but I think it's kind of silly. And I think also when you're, when you grow up, playing football, like at what point does that start? That's just kind of acting like a little kid which we all are sometimes, you know like it's kind of like if you win something and you're like suck it, you know we've all, we've all. It's like at what age are you supposed to grow out of that?
Speaker 2:I don't know, maybe when you're playing like college football or something, I don't really know. But if I was Travis Kelsey, I literally every game would just get fined. But then I would also I would say I'm going to match my donations every game to like a charity. So, um, you know, I'll pay 15 grand to like an animal shelter or something like that and I would just make it fun yeah, that would be an interesting way of making money, but yes, definitely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would just say like, okay, I'm gonna do whatever gesture I want and then just like, but I'm gonna match it to a charity and then then that charity hopefully will get like the spotlight. Um, I think it's a little silly and like, yeah, not classy. But I also I don't know why that amount to be fined, that is a weird amount.
Speaker 1:I mean, I don't know how yeah?
Speaker 2:I know I wonder, yeah, yeah, I wonder what the calculation is there. I'll have to find that out more. But um, it's funny because because like our, now that he's marrying taylor, he just seems so like, I think, in our minds. We think of a lot of people, think of him as a Prince Charming type of perfect guy. But then some of his actions on the field, whether it's pushing his coach or just acting a fool, definitely he's not the most grown-up, I think.
Speaker 1:No, and the other thing, too, is he needs to be careful, because there are certain things that will not only get you kicked out the game, but get you suspended for a few games too. So yeah he needs to understand that, yes, you know you do have a very famous fiance, that the world knows who it is. There are limits to what you could do on that field and I know.
Speaker 1:And he needs to be careful about that. And the other thing, too, is when you get suspended or kicked out of a game, you hurt your team. Yeah, To do the gesture and to turn around and lose, you got to ask the question was it really worth it?
Speaker 2:Exactly, especially since, like this is supposedly maybe his last year and he's going to retire soon. Like it's a weird way to go out, but I don't know. It just brings up a better, a bigger conversation of like what do we expect from a bunch of men on the team, like filled with testosterone and you know, like tensions are high and everything. And then I think sometimes, especially in baseball, when people start like yelling the F word to each other and people gather in fights like that, that to me is not as, just as bad as like someone signaling to their testicles or whatever you know.
Speaker 2:So I don't know I just feel like you have to be classy the whole way through, or we have to just say like no fighting, no acting weird oh yeah, and then the other thing, too, is a lot of people forget this is what are we teaching people that are young, people that are in school playing ball?
Speaker 2:What are we teaching them Exactly. To me, acting silly and fighting is just as annoying as these weird gestures. Sometimes I think it's silly. I do like when they spike the ball and dance and do all these things. I think it's like, just be cool, you have all the money in the world, just calm down amen to that, talking about somebody who's not calming down.
Speaker 1:jimmy kimmel was spotted going to see a high-powered entertainment attorney, so there's there's speculation that he's either trying to negotiate a deal to come back to the show or negotiate a deal where they pay him off to move forward. We don't know, because it's all speculation, of course, but what do you think, meryl? What do you think this means or potentially means?
Speaker 2:I think some attorney is probably so excited for this case I wonder who it is. I bet there were so many attorneys that were like please meet me because they're, because like when trump was like we let him go because he's not talented, and like what he said was offensive, it's like that is so subjective, that's like, but I don't know, in california I feel like wrongful termination or like you're pretty much you can like let people go at will. So it will be very interesting to see what they come up with. But I don't blame him and I like. The minute I saw that I'm like, oh, I bet he has like a really good, at least a good case. You know that is worth getting a lawyer for.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, I mean definitely no-transcript. Or is it a situation where they could say it was, you know, some type of issue with morality or whatever? Because I know in every contract, especially big contracts like that, there are the morality clause in those contracts. But I don't think the reason they got suspended is a morality issue. Again, I'm not a lawyer so I don't know. But what can the network actually say?
Speaker 2:Right, exactly, I mean, I think, if anything, it's like oh, we said indefinitely, we didn't mean forever Like maybe they'll even walk it back too.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm, Because right now he knows what indefinitely means. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh. I just refreshed to go to the story and it just said now he's going to return. Are you serious? This is breaking news, you guys. Yeah, I just updated. It just said he's going to return on tuesday night. So when you guys are listening to this, that means tuesday night whoa wow, I was wrong. I said I was totally wrong. I said no, I don't think, because from what I heard, people were telling me they were like moving stuff out of the office and everything.
Speaker 1:Wow, so it worked. The crazy thing about the mail is that, um, the chemo shop forgot what network is actually owns them, um that they're an affiliate of abc and they were trying to another company like next star or something, or, they need yes, they need the fcc approval in order to do the merge. So a lot of people think that this is really a money play, Basically the FCC threatening them. Well, if you want this merger to happen, you need to get rid of Kimmel.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:The backlash and I think for the companies, the more important thing is losing billions of dollars in a matter of days. The backlash from viewers and subscribers to the streaming channel, you know, from viewers and subscribers to the streaming channel. I think it, hit to the point, is like okay, how much are we going to lose to make this work?
Speaker 2:Cause at some point.
Speaker 1:You have to look at it and go. Is this really worth it?
Speaker 2:I'm so interested to hear from everyone too that canceled their Disney. It's like are you resubscribing right now? Like I wonder if there's like what if resubscribing right now? I wonder if there's what if they make a subscription more expensive? They're like we've raised the fees $5 since you've been gone.
Speaker 1:Wow, talk about breaking news.
Speaker 2:Exactly. Maybe we conjured it. I was totally wrong. I really thought no, they wouldn't do it. He's gone, gone, gone, but it'll be. If anything, they don't have to worry about ratings for at least that night, because people will be tuning in to see what he has to say.
Speaker 1:I think that um something that attorney my attorney, in my opinion probably reached out to the company as well as to abc and said and somehow or another, there was some kind of come to Jesus moment, because that's very, very fast to them to retract.
Speaker 2:Exactly. I would have to think that there's cases for all of the employees too, like you know, some type of wrong. I'm sure somewhere there's something legally that would help the people that were let go from this situation too.
Speaker 1:Oh sure, wow. Well, you know we have to follow up on this next week as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh my gosh, that's so funny. That's really really, really funny. It's getting spicy. This is a real first. This is also good. This is why it's good to like refresh, like I was reading the article, your article, and I refreshed it in real time. I'm like wait, hold on. Well, we'll see. We'll see if, during this story, things change too.
Speaker 2:But, um, speaking of lawyers, justin baldoni hires sean diddy combs, lawyer in blake lively's legal battle. He has hired defense attorney alexandra shapiro, who previously represented sean diddy combs, to join his legal team among his um ongoing dispute with blake lively. So, yeah, they pretty much. She was part of his defense team in Diddy's trial early this year. She was one of Ruth Bader Ginsburg's first clerks on the Supreme Court, which is pretty big.
Speaker 2:And now, yeah, there's just all these countersuits going on between, like, blake Lively and her team and Justin Baldoni. I don't even know. It feels like what do you think me? It's just this seems to be dragging on forever and I feel like both of them are doing themselves an injustice by like continuing this on. If I was justin, I'd want to be like no, you accused me of something I didn't do, so I'm, I am gonna like pile you into the ground, um, but it seems to be really taking a long time it's taking a long time and also I think they're making their attorneys rich in the process yeah, yeah because these are very expensive cases and you know, at some point, you know, someone's gonna go.
Speaker 1:You know what? Is this even worth it at this point?
Speaker 2:you know, and I I could be wrong, I could be totally wrong, but to me I think that's what's going to end up happening, because this has been going on a long time, yeah, yeah, and I also think too, like, if you're them, I mean it will be interesting to see how Blake tries to return to the cultural zeitgeist and stuff, because, especially like with the news that taylor swift was mad at her you know, I don't know how much of these things are actually true or not. I'm sure it's not as bad as it actually is, but it's just. I feel like this has done more harm to her reputation than it has to justin's. Like. I know people that disagree with me and that's totally cool, but, um, I don't know. But if I was him and like someone said you did this and you harassed me and it wasn't true, then I would be like I don't care how long it takes, I'm gonna make sure everyone knows the actual truth yeah, that's true.
Speaker 1:But you know also, there's going to be a point where you have to look at the dollars that you're spending and go. Is it worth the fight anymore?
Speaker 2:you know, yeah, totally yep, and I have it's definitely wear and tear on, just like their yeah, their that you're spending and go. Is it worth the fight anymore? Yeah, totally. It's definitely a wear and tear on their reputations, their money, everything.
Speaker 1:That's true. Do you think there's any kind of end in sight for this?
Speaker 2:I feel like no, I feel like it's going to end vaguely. I feel like they're going to maybe dismiss some proof, saying it's like not enough for either of them, maybe, like I think it's almost like when two dogs fight and they just like fall into a river, like that's what I picture it was. Just you know, maybe one dog started it and it wasn't right, but both of them now are just drifting in a river. But like the kmel thing, I've been wrong before, so I don't know. It would be amazing if Justin does win and he wins $400 million. That's just crazy.
Speaker 1:Does she have $400 million?
Speaker 2:I don't know. I mean, I think between her and Ryan and all of their businesses, I think so, but I don't know.
Speaker 1:I don't think they're billionaires or anything, but that would be crazy yeah, that's true, and I feel like Ryan will be like bye, I'm actually leaving but it's definitely been a long case though, because, man, we've talked about this a long time ago and it's still I know, because remember it was like at first a few months ago it was that she was blackmail.
Speaker 2:Because remember it was like at first a few months ago it was that she was blackmailing Taylor Swift and it was just all the like. It seems like once a month, and I think both of them are trying to like plant stories in the news now to try to like persuade the public one way or another.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's true. At some point you got to wonder. When you see all the information, everything going on, it's hard to decipher what's true and what's not true when there's so much information that's coming out.
Speaker 2:Exactly.
Speaker 1:Very interesting. Well, talking about a sad situation and I know you and I talked about roller coasters multiple times on this show- yeah.
Speaker 1:A 32-year-old man dies on the Stardust Racer roller coaster. Um, this is sad because there was, I guess, reports that a piece of the roller coaster was hanging down and he died of blunt trauma. And they said blunt trauma by accident, which is a weird kind of stating, but I don't know. I guess if I was reading into that I would think, okay, something went wrong with the roller coaster, he died as a result of this roller coaster and I believe it was the first day the roller coaster was even open.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh Really.
Speaker 1:Yes, Um, in fact, um, it says here. A 32 year old man, his name is Kevin Rodriguez uh Zavala, died from multiple blunt impact injuries after riding the Stardust Racers roller coaster at Universal's Epic Universe in Florida on Wednesday, September 18th. The cause of the death was an accident and Universal Orlando stated that the roller coaster functioned as intended. The ride remains closed as authorities continue to investigate the incident, and there's been a recent update to that story saying that this man I guess he was disabled. So you know he's in a wheelchair. They had to put him into the roller coaster. You know, put them into the, into the roller coaster. That, either his harness or maybe the harness in front of them was malfunctioning didn't work.
Speaker 1:It came loose allegations we don't know, but that's what's coming out now. But I guess it goes back to the thing we kept talking about, as far as these roller coasters, to me are getting more and more dangerous yeah higher and higher, faster, faster. You know the drop, you know steep and all this and you know, at one point to me that's not fun anymore, you know no, I know it doesn't need to like, shake and rattle us like to the extreme.
Speaker 2:I I totally agree with you where I think we're getting farther away from just the normal thrill of a roller coaster which is just supposed to be going like up and down and scary and maybe like a loop here and there, but it doesn't have to throw us around or like separate parts of our body or anything.
Speaker 1:That's very, very sad oh yeah, and you know there's a warning on there if you have high blood pressure. If you have, it's all kinds of crazy stuff, oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:If you're it's all kinds of crazy stuff, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. If you're like heart issues, yes, yeah.
Speaker 1:But the blood pressure thing was the one that surprised me. What?
Speaker 2:I know, I know it's like that's giving me high blood pressure.
Speaker 1:I mean, it's like at some point you got to say this isn't fun anymore. This is just ridiculous, you know.
Speaker 2:I agree, I totally agree and I fun anymore. This is just ridiculous, you know, I agree, I totally agree. And I think, of course, like accidents hopefully very, very rarely happen where it's like, okay, someone might, their bar might not work or it's a malfunction, but just going on a ride itself and having to be jostled around so badly that you get injuries is just yeah, there's no excuse for it do you think that at some point they're going to have to change how they look at roller coasters in this country?
Speaker 2:yeah, because I really I have to think I feel like less and less people may go on them too. You know, like, between all of the now that it's publicized about that, it gets like stuck up in the air, and the more we see this, I think like a lot more like I don't really know any of my friends anymore. That I think also, once you hit a certain age, you're like I'm good on that.
Speaker 1:I agree. I mean there's a difference between having fun and try to scare the daylights out of someone. I mean that's. That's not fun to me if I feel like I'm gonna die on on a ride.
Speaker 2:That's not, yeah, yeah, exactly like when I went to Disney with my friends there. So they know me and it's like we go on, it's a small world. We go on Pirates of the Caribbean. We go on stuff that 80-year-olds can go on. Nicely, I have just as good a time as I would going upside down and getting nauseous on a roller coaster.
Speaker 1:That's the thing you want to go. Have fun. I used to ride roller coasters back in the day, before they became skyscrapers and stuff like this.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:You know what? Call me a wuss. I don't care. I will not go on any of these new world courses. It's not that serious.
Speaker 2:Totally Exactly. They have the name inverted corkscrew or something. I'm like I don't need it, I just need a simple like. Space Mountain was okay. I think those are okay, but same thing is especially when you go on the newer ones. You feel like you're I don't think our bodies are meant to like.
Speaker 1:it's almost like what astronauts do in their training, like going upside down and triple the force, and I just don't need that. Oh yeah, exactly, and you know, I think at some point they're gonna have to take a look at this, because you start having way too many fatalities on roller coasters. Either a, they're gonna have to change how they look at building these roller coasters, or b, like you said, I think a lot of people are gonna go you know, what I'm good yeah, yep, yep, I agree.
Speaker 2:well, oh my gosh, this is this ties into that too, just some weird things. Um, actor tom holland was just rushed to the hospital after a botched stunt while filming the Spider-Man movie. Filming was suspended on Friday and could be on hold for weeks, so it was believed that he cracked his head in a fall and was treated for a concussion. He it was a new movie, spider-man, brand new day was suspended at when he was doing it, and a woman thought to be a stunt double was also taken to the hospital in an ambulance, and I just think that's so sad. I hope he's okay. I guess like he left feeling ill and maybe it was a precaution too, but that's just so sad. I love Tom Holland so much. I think he's cute and awesome, but yeah, it seems like they were doing the stunt and got hurt I know they should be doing their own stunts though, especially with all the um I know like maybe some of them, but it's I don't know.
Speaker 2:I almost feel like maybe some of the easier things you can almost get hurt on, like if there's a bar you have to jump on, it's like you can almost get hurt by the stupidest thing. So, and I do feel like there's more respect in the industry when you're able to be like and I did this all on my own, you know so I don't think they should I would imagine, because I'm quite sure you know, especially the key people in the movie you know have have that key man's insurance or accidental insurance or whatever.
Speaker 1:Because of that I would imagine that the rates to insure those actors would probably go through being a. You know, some of them are doing their own stunts, I would think yeah, yeah, I agree I mean, if there's something simple, that's one thing, but I know like tom he likes to take it to the limit in a lot of his movies. And a lot of the stuff that he does. I'm shocked that the studios let him do I know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I feel like some of the Mission Impossible ones too, he'll be like I don't think he's just free. He's not free jumping from a plane with nothing on him, but I think some of the jumps and the going from building to building and train to train I heard that he has done them and I love. What I do love is when actors learn, like sword fighting or they learn karate for different things. We just watched all the Batmans and like I think Anne Hathaway like learned a bunch of it. You know it wasn't her the whole time. She's not doing cartwheels and stuff, but I think she did a good deal of her own stunts, which I think is super cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like I said, the easy stunts, the less dangerous stunts, you could probably do those. But jumping from train to train, jumping off cliffs, stuff like that, I don't know. I think that if you're going to already have a big budget movie, spend a little bit more and let the stuntman or stuntwoman do those stunts.
Speaker 2:Exactly. Yeah, you're not going to catch me when a building is blowing up and it's a scene where they're running out like, ah, I would last six minutes, and then they're like, oh shoot, she was in the building, whoopsies.
Speaker 1:Yeah, interesting, interesting, but I don't think a lot of people, and you probably know better than I do. I don't think a lot of people, and you probably know better than I do. I don't think a lot of actors or actresses do their own stuff these days, do they?
Speaker 2:No, it'd be really interesting to know I could be. This is so random, but like I think there was like a movie long ago with Meryl Streep. Was it like when a River Runs Through it or something? Something about a river, where they're like on a river, you know, kayak or whitewater rafting and it goes really poorly. And from I remember hearing that like Meryl Streep did a lot of her, like she didn't do all the stunts but it was pretty impressive what she did do.
Speaker 1:Very impressive, I don't know.
Speaker 2:I know, I feel like after this I'm honestly going to research actors that did amazing stunts because I'm into this, but hopefully Tom Holland feels better. I think he's adorable.
Speaker 1:He's one of the young actors that I like Nice, nice.
Speaker 1:Well, my last one to me is a feel-good moment, because of Kimmel being suspended indefinitely, obviously, independence, but also a small handful of Republicans have spoken out against the attack on freedom of speech, especially the language that's been used. Regarding what was his word? Asir? Let me take a quick look here, but I thought it was very, very interesting that he said this. Let's see here. Oh, here it is. So you had Ted Cruz and I think he was on a podcast when they were talking to him, but basically he was comparing the language to that that you would hear from a mafia figure. No, yes that.
Speaker 1:Let's see. Senator Ted Cruz, the chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, which is oversight over the FCC, likened Carl's comments about threats made by a mob boss, and this is a quote. He said I got to say this right out of. I got to say this is right out of Goodfellas. The senator said right out of. Uh, I gotta say this is right out of goodfellas. The senator said, referring to the 1990 mob movie that's right out of the muffles. Going to a bar saying nice bar, you got here. It'll be a shame if something happened to it.
Speaker 1:You know, oh, okay and then um another person who was definitely a diehard Republican, senator Ron Rand Paul, appearing Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press, called Carr's threats absolutely inappropriate and I think and I could be wrong, I think the reason why you're starting to hear trickles of Republicans say something is there's a couple of things there are true.
Speaker 1:First, amendment hawks out there yeah that they're thoroughly believe in protecting the first amendment. But the other thing too is this is a dangerous precedence. Yeah, because at some point we're going to have a democratic president. It always flips. It always hasn't, it always will. So now you get a democratic president in there, they go okay, we going to return a favor, shut this show down, shut that show down. And all you do is, every time the presidency changes, they start shutting down each show.
Speaker 2:I know.
Speaker 1:And that gets out of hand.
Speaker 2:Yes, I definitely believe that like being extreme on either end and being silly about it is like gets everyone in trouble and I think, yeah, same thing. Like I think there's there's people on the other end of things that were taken off the air that I'm like really I didn't agree with that. Like I think both sides have had situations where I'm just like, oh god, this is like a little much. But yeah, I totally agree where it's like they don't want to start a precedent now of shutting down shows like Kimmel and the View, because in a few years or closer than we think, maybe they will swing back the other way oh yeah, and do you think that this will kind of help curb some of that, or do you think that the train has already left the station and can't catch it now?
Speaker 2:I think the train has left the station to the most part and I definitely think that if we have to remember some of the reason that I think a lot of people on the right don't like the left, is because they view the left as like being overly sensitive and crybabies and, you know, canceling things if they don't like them, and so it's like what you don't want to do is act like you're the person you don't. You don't want to be like, you know.
Speaker 1:So it's just, it's a little like boy who cried wolf for me. Yeah, I mean it was kind of shocking to hear this, because typically republicans just kind of fall in line. But do you think that this may um pave the way for some other republicans to speak up?
Speaker 2:yeah, oh yeah. Yeah, I feel like maybe that's their version of like, I don't know. Sometimes, when I think people on the left don't like things, like they, you know, in a good way, they like take it to the streets and protest. And I feel like sometimes Republicans don't like things, they just cancel them and shut it down, you know. So, yeah, I think you're right.
Speaker 1:It's going to be interesting. But tell you one thing maybe, just maybe, they kind of help, kind of fuel the fire to jimmy coming back, because, uh, it's going to be interesting for me to see the check the updates now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, coming back tomorrow, that's going to be interesting that's what I and we talked about this last week too. But that's why I really hope for, like, the next wave of leadership to just come in and just unite people, because I feel like so much of it is in flames now and I think our I really think our nation doesn't want to like hate each other and be split Like. I think I really have this hope that like the next person will be, make us all proud to be like Americans again and stuff, you know. So I don't know, we need some healing energy. That is one reason that like love him or not like him, like I thought Obama was so wonderful at just calming everyone and like uniting the nation and in his speeches, like the way that he spoke. So I feel like I really really really hope for leaders like that, but I don't know, it seems like we're going to take some time with that before we get it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but I don't know. It seems like we're going to take some time with that before we get it. Yeah, that's true, and you know. The other thing too is you know, I think Obama was probably the last of the old political party system, and what I mean by that is I remember when they interviewed President Biden I think it was early in his first term and you know, a lot of people wasn't aware at the time that him and John McCain were actually really really good friends, even though, you know, one's a Democrat, one's a Republican and, ideology wise, they're totally opposite. But they can still cross the aisle and talk to each other, crack a joke hey, how's your family doing? They were very cordial.
Speaker 2:Exactly.
Speaker 1:And I remember when Biden said you know, it was starting to get dangerous. When he was pulled to the side saying you know, maybe it's not such a good idea that you're so friendly. And it's like why I mean right, you know, because there are two different sides of the political spectrum. They got to hate each other now exactly, exactly.
Speaker 2:So I I really think we're gonna like grow out of this and then people will that will be leaders, hopefully will come in and just I feel like we're all like little unruly children and we need a teacher to come in and just say like listen everyone, like we're gonna all calm down and just not play the blame game so much. Imagine if all of our time was spent, instead of this, working towards something else, like solving homelessness or solving something else. I think we could have an amazing country, but instead it's like cracking.
Speaker 1:I agree with you. With all this hate that's going around, nobody wins, nobody wins.
Speaker 2:Yeah, not at all. Well, one person that did win for my last story, which I think is so cute, is um a 66 year old retired accountant, kent brossard, who proved it's never too late to chase his dream. After he retired from a long career in accounting, he enrolled at lsu, louisiana state university, as a full-time student and his one goal was to join the famed Tiger Marching Band, and he did, which I think is so cute, so he's now the oldest marching band member there. He played his sousaphone and I just think he was on the field and I think that's so cute.
Speaker 1:That is nice. That's talking about chase your dreams.
Speaker 2:I love that right and also like why wouldn't? Why wouldn't a show or a college want, like someone who's 66 on the field? Because at that point you're probably like really good at your instrument and you're probably, you know, like you, you've seen it all, you've done it all. So he was in marching band in high school and college. Um, he said he didn't do much marching there, but now their marching band is very active but he's keeping up quite well with it. So I think that's so sweet and I just feel like he's going to be the team mascot.
Speaker 1:That is definitely a feel good story and I think it's going to help the people, the students around him, realize that do not, ever, ever, give up on your dreams. Don't let anyone deter you. You know, if you have a dream, something you want to go after, go after it. Don't let anyone get away from that.
Speaker 2:Yep, absolutely, and I think that's amazing, like I wish there was people of all different ages and I think I don't know Louisiana State's awesome too. I know they have like a really great sports.
Speaker 1:Well, you know what you have to be good to make the team. They're not just going to put them on just because.
Speaker 2:I know, I know Yep.
Speaker 1:I think that's so cool, cool, wow. This has been a crazy hour. A lot of stuff going on today.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the moral of the story is follow your dreams, but cancel Disney, but now rehire Disney. Have a view but not the view.
Speaker 1:A lot of different messages today.
Speaker 2:A lot of different messages. They all boiled down to do whatever you want and it kind of is all pretend anyway.
Speaker 1:Well, talk about things to do. What do you have coming up, Meryl?
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh. Okay, so if anyone is on the East Coast, I will be in Pennsylvania performing at the NEPA comedy festival, which is like I'm from Northeastern Pennsylvania, shortened to NEPA. So their comedy festival is October 4th and, yeah, I will. I will be there. So it's in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, which I'm very excited to go back and see friends.
Speaker 1:Nice, nice, nice. So that's your hometown that you're from it's my hometown, yep and you're performing and that's gonna be a lot of fun.
Speaker 2:I know, I know I'm gonna. I don't know how much I feel like already coming from Los Angeles. Sometimes people are like oh god, these annoying LA people. So I tend to make fun of LA a lot when I'm like out town. It's annoying. Everyone views LA as annoying, and they're correct.
Speaker 1:Well, everyone, if you're in the area, definitely make sure you stop by and support Mel Say hi.
Speaker 2:Yes, thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you everyone for watching the show, for listening to us on all the different podcast stations that we're on. Again, please feel free to follow us on social media Also. Subscribe to us on LRTVnetworkcom or follow us on any of your preferred podcast stations. I am Lawrence Elrod.
Speaker 2:And I'm Meryl Clemo.
Speaker 1:Have a great day everyone. Bye, bye, bye-bye.
