Lizzo's Legal Limbo. Plus, Guest Aaron Whitfield and the Battle of Tech Titans.

In this episode of Truth Lies Shenanigans, we delve into the controversy surrounding Lizzo's recent legal battles and the allegations of weight discrimination.  We also explore a playful debate on the proposed cage fight between tech moguls Musk and Zuckerberg. And we welcome special guest Aaron Whitfield to discuss his projects, what Mu.Fa.Li means, and whether Jaime Foxx should apologize. 

Find out more about Aaron Whitfield at www.IAMMUFALI.com

 

Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched!
Start for FREE

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

Truth, Lies, Shenanigans S4E29

[00:00:00] 

Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats. The show is about to begin.

Truth. Lies. Shenanigans. Truth. Lies. Shenanigans.

Tune tls TLS S Hey, welcome to The Truth Live Shenanigans podcast, social commentary, hot topics, amazing guests with a ton of fun and shenanigans along the way. today. We have some hot topics diving into the buzz around Lizzo's recent legal battles and what it means for the entertainment industry.

And then we'll have a debate on the cage [00:01:00] match fight between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. And we have a special guest, Aaron Whitfield, inspiring artists a podcast, content, creator . and community activists All right, If it's your first time tuning in and we record live on Wednesdays, 8 p. m. Eastern time, you can watch us live on YouTube, Facebook, Twitch TV, true life shenanigans.

com. And today we're back live on TikTok. We'll be checking your comments on YouTube, Facebook, and also TikTok. Just search at TLS live show to find us and official podcast is available on Fridays on Apple podcasts, pods, network, P O D Z network. com or anywhere you listen to podcasts. All right. I've got to introduce you to my wonderful cohost today.

First up, we have our nature lover, the gamer, the rock star. Coming to you from Ontario, [00:02:00] Canada, Rob,

what's up, my friends, happy hump day. What another great week. Uh, we got together with my cousin at Windy Lake provincial park. Check it out on Google provincial park. Yeah, it's absolutely beautiful. It's just outside of Dowling, Ontario. It didn't live up to its namesake the day that we were there, but, um, we got to try paddle boarding for the 1st time and it went so well.

Yeah, Joe and I have tried very, very naturally and Joe, to her credit, never went into the drink. I did lose my balance at one point. I was adjusting my paddle and I didn't have my eye on the horizon. And then all of a sudden I had this, this, this inkling. I was like, Oh no, I'm moving. And I just fell for like, I just faced what in the water?

Yeah. I'm not doing any paddleboard. Maybe 'cause I'm, [00:03:00] maybe 'cause I'm a bigger guy and maybe I, maybe that's why I'm not doing paddleboard. I've, I've tried paddleboard and no, it's just not there. I've seen, no, I've seen And on top of that, It gets taxing to balance on that.

Yeah. It is. It does. No, no, no. If you're not used to it. For a first try. If you're not used to it. If you're not used to it. We were out on the water for a couple of hours the first day and it was great because people were like, are you sure this is your first time? We're like, uh, yeah, we've never done this before, but it was just fun.

It was intuitive for both of us. I think that's going to be our next, uh, health hobby. We are next. That's your next thing. All right. Our college student model business owner streaming from Atlanta, Georgia. Hey guys, I have missed you so much. I have been sick. Unfortunately, I've been sick for a few days now.

 maybe you guys can hear it. I'm sure you can hear it, but [00:04:00] it's no idea. No, that's good. But it's like right here. Like It's a sign to see thing, but I've been doing what I can instead of going to the doctors or to any like emergency room or anything because I want to just not be sick.

But I'm just flushing myself out. Maybe not with this wine, but like, vitamin C, water, you know, tea, green tea and stuff. I've been The healing properties of grapes. The healing properties of grapes. Right. Well done, Joni. It's good for your heart, so they say.

 Yeah, you know, the coronavirus has been going around again. Apparently, there's a new variant, like my, it never stopped. Yeah, true. Of course, it never stopped, but there's a new variant because my sister in law and her family, they caught it, the whole family caught it.

And then I've heard other people catching it. It's been going around like crazy all of a sudden, and they were all, vaccinated. I think it's probably time[00:05:00] to get a booster. Yeah. I know that the experts are saying to, wait until you get your flu shot, wait until the fall, get your boosters.

Yeah. I was hearing that too. Booster also. Yeah. Well, I'm gonna get it soon. All right, now, of course, I'm your host, Neil Knicks. So have you guys heard of the show, The Traitors? I've heard of it. it's a really good show. So basically, you have a group of people get together and, you know, you have these people called the faithful, and then you have about three or four people out of that group.

And they're secretly chosen to be traitors and throughout the show. Okay. Like a back stabber? Yeah, basically. Okay. Well, what they do is they actually murder people from the faithful, they call 'em faithfuls. The people who are not traitors are called Faithful. And they, murder them throughout the show.

And then, so this is a reality show based off of among us. Similar. Yes, it's very similar. the faithful has to [00:06:00] try to figure out who the traders are and then they banish them. I mean, I,watched one and then I ended up watching. There's only one season of the U. S. one. I ended up watching the Australia one, the English one.

It's so good. I'm just like, I am like caught up in this show. I love it. That is so funny. I love it. I'm gonna have to watch it. and Chad

GPT. So I started like, I started trying to figure out how to do a live version of the game. So, cause I want to do it. I want to do like a, I want to put together an event and do a live version of the game. It's like. So much fun, like the concept of the game. That is a really cool. It reminds me kind of like a clue, but like to play Exactly.

It's very similar. Very similar. Very similar clue. Yeah, but You guys should watch it. That's all I suggest the traitors Like it's on peacock actually, okay. Yeah, it's one [00:07:00] peacock but The UK version was actually the best, the better of the three. well, before we get to our guests, I know I can't help it.

All right, before we get to our guests, I got to take a minute to remind you guys about pods network. I've been telling you about it for the past few weeks. If you still haven't checked out pods PODZ network yet, you're missing out on some of the most exciting and diverse podcasts around. And yes, of course, truth, lies, shenanigans is a proud member of pods network.

And there's a few other new podcasts you should be checking out, like the B two podcast, two guys caffeinated and ready to bring you the latest news of the world, caff. And they do it in their own way. I mean, they, they are funny guys. and they, they're similar to us 'cause they tend to have a lot of fun.

And then there's a sister session podcast. There are two sisters, Alicia and Katis. They're navigating life, relationships, sisterhood. So if you're looking for like some fresh, new, [00:08:00] engaging podcasts, head over to pods network, PODZnetwork. com. Aspiring podcasts, curious listeners. While you're there, of course, don't forget to download the latest episode of truth, lies, shenanigans.

All right. All right, let's get to our show. We have a really deep guest today.

Let's welcome Aaron Whitfield, owner of I am Mufali. His journey is a testament to creativity, resilience, purpose from writing music and influencing fashion to dedicating over 15 years to youth development. His multifaceted career is truly inspiring. As a podcast, content, creator, author, motivational speaker, minister, songwriter, community activists, many, many hats all driven by love, faith, and humanity.[00:09:00] 

Aaron, we are thrilled to have you with us today. Thank you. Thank you. I'm thrilled to have you introduce me like that. You made me sound really good. So I appreciate it. Hey, you're awesome. Do it again. Do it again. Download it, download it on Friday and then put it on repeat. Every morning, I'm going to listen to that.

All right. It's inspiring. Well, let me start off by asking you the same question we ask every guest. What can our audience not go on Google right now and find out about you? Yo, so I have two things, just two things off the top. Um, I'm 39, so I'm gonna show my age with this one. Okay? I'm gonna show my age.

You're young. Anybody watch, watch The Apprentice at all? Unfortunately. Yeah, I enjoy it was a guilty pleasure, . So my, uh, my former babysitter was Omarosa Manigault, who is known as Omarosa on the show. What? She was [00:10:00] your babysitter? Oh, wow. She was my babysitter. Yeah. She used to babysit me when I was she as evil as she seemed?

No, Oni was incredible. We call her Oni. And so, uh, yeah, Oni is incredible and she used to bake us cookies and stuff like that. And, she went to an HBCU by where we grew up and live. And she was a beauty queen. um, yeah, the queen of the college.but she was incredible, a nice person.

Then she, she went to the dark side with Trump, but I mean, she, she made a move. She made a move, but she brought it back. She brought it back. She left. Left midterm midterm. She left or maybe she got kicked out. One of the two. Like, yeah, let's define leaving, but, uh, she was wonderful as a person and driven as a person.

So not respect the drive. So, uh, even if we drive her to Donald, so, yeah. [00:11:00] All right, so I gotta ask you, I gotta ask you because, you know, of course pre show. I was struggling with the name because you have the website. I am Mufali. So I was thinking that was your like, pseudonym. I know it wasn't your real name, but I thought it might have been your pseudonym.

But can you tell our audience? What is Mufali? Mufali, the M U stands for music. The F A stands for fashion and the L I stands for life. And so, Mufali. Those are the three things you know, before when I had a whole lot of hair and just living life, that I came up with to sort of, you know, really just write about who I am. I'm still a huge fan of music. I write music every day. Life, well, I have pretty self explanatory in fashion. It's just my way to express who I am. So whether it's a black hoodie or getting dressed up fashion is always gonna play a part of my life.

That's awesome. in your bio, we did just mention you're moved by love faith and inspired by humanity. How do those core values kind of drive your creative [00:12:00] process and impact the kind of content you create? Whether it's music or writing or your podcast, you know, a lot of what I do is about creating community.

And so what I do in my, you know, professional life or my own personal life, I'm always trying to bring people together to see. Even in the midst of differences, how we have commonalities and how differences can be uses tools to create learning experiences. And so even as a black introvert, which that's the podcast that I have, I have a weird way of sort of maneuvering around life and bringing people together.

I'm often that weird bridge. Bridges two groups together and so, yeah, humanity influences me and inspires me each and every day that listen to your podcast. And I gotta say, I really enjoyed it. I mean, I, I just like the stories that you tell. And the way you tell them, and there it's short, which is good, you know, little 20, 20 minute [00:13:00] episodes, right?

And you just, you give these tidbits of information. So, where does that come from? You know, a lot of that is from, um, you know, prior to working at at a major university, I, worked at a library. And, you know, in libraries, you have story times with the kids.

Well, I can't tell these stories to the kids. Obviously, they're not meant for the young children, but I'll almost look at what my podcast is as an adult story time. How can I paint a picture or tell a couple chapters? Of my life just in general or my experiences today for those who, are on their way to work.

 maybe bring some enlightenment, maybe make you mad at me, maybe make you cry a little bit, but to evoke some sort of emotion,and, hopefully impact your life in a positive way. Absolutely love that. I love that. Now, I'm very curious how does your creative process vary when you're taking on different projects?

Because you have a lot of creative outlets, which is amazing and [00:14:00] total respect for that. But I guess I'm curious, like, how do you tackle your music versus how you would. Tackle a fashion project,

that's a great question. Music is almost therapy for me. Um, when I need to pour out my soul, which is generally every day, music is constant. It is really a lot of what I do with music is for me.and I have incredible rhymes everywhere, phones, books, whatever. But a lot of that is for who I am.

Um, the fashion element is, I started getting back into really dressing. Not every day, because I'm not that consistent, but 3 days out when I go to work. Yeah, I want to look good 3 days out the week not for everybody, but really for myself. And so, a student challenged me to take a selfie. Every day, um, when I go into work to not only get more comfortable being in front of the camera, but also [00:15:00] this is show who I am.

Show my blackness show, you know, show what 39 looks like. Show what life looks like in general. And so, I'm really trying to do things like that more and just, you know, find a different way to express who I am. And you talked about your music. Did I read on your website that. you create your music, the sounds are created during times of, like, depression and self destructive behavior or any pain into art.

So, can you tell me more about that? Yeah, I have a, an instrumental album, that I put out on my podcast and may re release it. And it was at a time in my life in which everything when I talk about everything was going wrong. Everything I was depressed. we went through, uh, two miscarriages, uh, lost my job, um, financially broken, relationships broken, losing who I am.

And, and at that time I could not write music. And that was the first time in my life really, that I could not write. And [00:16:00] so I started just making beats and, um, and the beats turned into, yes, a depressing soundtrack. But I found little ways to put words within the beats and so, and it really sort of evoked how I felt.

And so when I go back and listen to it, I'm like, oh, my gosh, this was me speaking through the music in a different way, as opposed to writing the lyrics down. I'm using the sounds. The vocal manipulation to tell my story. So you went through two miscarriages. I'm sorry. I just want to, I want to just follow up on what he said.

I went through, there was a three years point in my life where I was kicked outta the church,that I, attended and started. Uh, my grandmother died. Wow. My sister-in-law died. Two miscarriages, lost my job. My wife lost her job. Um, like it was just a storm and, and back to back to back to back.

Yeah. I've been there before losing. I've been there before losing. I know how that feels. that's, oh my goodness. That's, that's [00:17:00] difficult. I mean, it feels like it's just weight of like nonstop attacks on you just like getting beat down and you just can't get up and it's,

 it happened to me and it was related to a miscarriage as well. And it was just so difficult to kind of break out of that funk for a little minute, you know, and it hurt. I mean, it hurt a lot. II know women struggle with miscarriages, but men struggle with it too, more than they let on oftentimes.

And sometimes you have to be strong for the woman in that time and you really can't share how you're feeling about it. I mean, was that the case with you? Yeah. You know, I didn't know how to process it. You know, I, um, I was angry. I was angry and I didn't realize how angry I was until years later, I was, I was really, I'm gonna go here, but, you know, I was angry with God, I was angry with self, you know?

And so I was like, this is not what I signed up for with my twenties, [00:18:00] you know, I was supposed to graduate college and have the house, have the picket fence, this wasn't on the plate. But I had to eat it anyway. And so, um, and so, you know, I could look back now and appreciate the music, but I call those almost my dark years because I don't remember all of it.

And really I'm thankful. I don't, I'm thankful. I don't, I remember enough. Yeah, no, it's, uh, I was just going to keep talking about the music, as far as the samples and the sound bites that are used in your music, do you create that yourselves? are you sourcing it from, other performers? Yeah, so, I, I am very much influenced by, like, the nineties, hip hop era of sampling records I've never been trained on,how to make beats.

 I use a program called fruity loops. what I do is sit there and just whatever sort of comes out of my soul is gonna be on the screen. Andat that specific time, [00:19:00] the records that I was just finding, and just sampling, which is, it was the perfect moment to create.

When I felt like I couldn't create and so now that, I sort of went through that. I am able to write. like I told you, I write music every day. My writing has gotten so much better. and so I'm able to creatively myself in a different way. But, life inspires the music and the art and the creativity.

So speaking on that, and as a teacher and a motivational speaker, what message or what kind of idea do you find yourself pushing the most or returning to the most? What kind of like underlying, message or idea that you use to inspire others to pursue their own passions? You know, empowerment, it's really a lotabout empowerment, whether you are 8 years old, whether you are 18 or 28.

Or 3839, whatever it may be, I speak a lot about empowerment because I didn't know the power that I had at an [00:20:00] early age. I was almost just going through life and, Instead of impacting life, I was allowing life to impact me. And so once I got to be about, 3233, I'm like, I need to hit back at life.

I need to move. Toward life in the way that life is moving toward me. And so I really became,very focused on intentionality, being very intentional with my movements, waking up each day and saying, hey, who can I positively impact today? While also telling myself, Aaron, you have to open yourself up to be positively impacted by other people.

So, it's a 2 way street. And just little steps like that, and just finding the joys in the day, as opposed to just going through the day, like, that has significantly changed my outlook on life. So, I teach those same principles of positive impact and also being able to be positively impacted to my students.

I like that. I [00:21:00] love that intention. So how do you put that into practice? Because I try to live very similarly. I had traumatic experience with my family and I try to bring that positivity out when I'm dealing with people because this could be the worst day of their life. I don't know. So be kind. So I'm just curious how you put that positivity out in the world, the impact that you try to create.

You know, I tried to meet them where they are, not as students necessarily, but as people. the message that they probably hear the most from me is that people are expecting you. People need to feel you people need to experience you. And not just in a way in which they want your money, or they want your talent, but people need to experience your heart, your love, your mind.

your passion, things like that. And so once I sort of drop that seed and almost try to help. Not change their view of the world, but understand that yes, there are people that against you, but there are people that are so for you that they are anticipating your [00:22:00] arrival and theythey get it.

I'm not just here to go to school. I'm not just here. On this earth, just to go from life to death, but each day, there are moments that create positive momentum that can really change the outlook of someone's life or change their lives to, you know, it's so natural for us to just focus on the negative all the time.

And, sometimes we got to remind people that there are good things that are happening, it's, we talk about silver linings, but. It's not clouds all the time. there are sunny days. Sometimes you just got to see the sun through the clouds. but it's difficult.

Sometimes I want to switch gears a bit because, you know, this is truth. Lie shenanigans and we're all about social commentary. and you have a unique perspective, with your intersection of art, culture, social issues. So, recently, Jamie Foxx, and actually Neo, faced some backlash for comments that they posted online.[00:23:00] 

Jamie his comments were considered anti Semitic, and, uh, Neo had some issues with the LGBTQ community. in the age of cancel culture, how do you navigate that online between expression and then also social responsibility? You know, what are your thoughts on how public figures should approach these sensitive topics and.

Also, I want to know, do you think they should have apologized the question? Um, yeah, let me start with the last question. Do I think they should have apologized only if they mean it? I don't like false apology. Um, and I think we live in a world of performance, especially as celebrities.

Well, even as we perform, without If the intention or without,the authenticity or being genuine about what we're doing. and so, um, if they meant it sure, but if not, if you're just doing it for the money, if you're doing it to release the [00:24:00] backlash, then, you know, I would say, stand true to your principles or what you value, right?

I think it's interesting that people see. Controversy as opposed to conversation. I think that's pretty much the world that we live in. Oh. Um, and so whatever you say may be, that may have been a jewel. I dropped. I don't know. That's the gym you know, everyone is looking for the controversy as opposed to the conversation.

I don't need people to agree, quite frankly. I do things personally, I don't even agree with what I'm doing, . Okay. So like why would I to agree with anybody else. Mm-hmm. . I don't need to, I don't need people to agree respect opinion, respect the stance, and respect a different viewpoint. We're creating a world of polarity and very few of us are learning how to exist in the gray in this black and white world.

And so I try to stay in the gray and see both sides. I [00:25:00] can see what Nio saying. I can see what people are saying. I can see what. Jamie Foxx, even though that's a whole other Jamie Foxx. he was talking about something completely different. He's talking about his friend or something.

It wasn't that deep. And that's one of those terms in the black community that they, it is, we use that a lot, but it wasn't that deep, but when people are looking for controversy, as opposed to having conversation, we'll miss it every time. Yeah, I agree with that. All right, one last question.

You'll like it. Aaron, who is some of your, uh, favorite musicians or favorite artists? Oh my gosh. top two. So I am going to go with, um, I'm going to put Kendrick Lamar as an artist. because I feel like his last album that he dropped was really art.

And I like how he released it. on his own terms. And it was a,[00:26:00] it was an album for him expressing him and not necessarily for the fans, which I respect. It wasn't for the masses. It was for. It was for the folks. Yeah. And so I'm putting Kendrick and then my 2nd 1, um, Rhapsody, who MC out of North.

Yeah, I am a huge raps when she drops in the. Yep, 12 o'clock and she drops the album at midnight, which, which is what happened on Apple music. I'm up it. That's awesome. What type of music? Yeah. What type of music she sing? She's hiphop A rapper?

Yeah. Oh, she's a rapper. Oh, so you know her young. Okay. I've heard her Rhapsody. Yes. I'm surprised I haven't that. Yeah. has like three, in my estimation, three near classic or near perfect albums in a row. And so her music is so authentic and beautiful. Um, so, yeah, I'm a huge fan.

We'll check her out. Big endorsement. All right. Big endorsement. So, that is all the time we have. So, [00:27:00] if you could just take us a minute, tell people where they can find you, and then share any final thoughts that you have for us. Yo, get at me on, IamMufali. com. I am doing a lot of trainings, whether it be team building trainings.

diversity, equity, inclusion trainings are really how to create community. I am big on that and I can teach that. So reach out to me on. I am also check out my podcast. The semi social life of a black introvert podcast anywhere on Spotify. apple, wherever you can find a podcast, I'm going to be there.

And so definitely reach out. I will answer back. I'm an introvert, but I would definitely hit you back. Well, this was a great conversation, Aaron. I really enjoyed talking to you. I appreciate you joining us. Thank you. Thank you so much. We'll see you.

 Man, that was awesome. Aaron was really good. Really good energy. I like his energy. He's, uh, [00:28:00] Very very positive positivity. Yeah, that was. Invaluable stuff, so really enjoyed him. Yeah, you're right. He is a really good speaker and how he kind of portrays his message.

Yeah, very well, and I liked your metaphor, you know, just, you know, sometimes you got to look for the sun from behind the clouds and just, you know, on the darkest day, you can have that sun peeking out just for a moment. And it's too. Latch on to that moment to really connect with that moment and recognize the value focus it has.

Focus on the, we spent too much time focusing on the bad stuff, the negative stuff that's happening. I mean, if we can just find that good and just be like, that's amazing you know, embrace it. Yeah. Alright, let's get to our first hot topic shenanigans. Got a talk about Gianni's girl Lizzo.

Buzz this week in the entertainment world is Lizzo. You all know her. She's the we'll call her plus sized powerhouse singer. Who's been a huge champion of body [00:29:00] positivity. Well, she's facing a lawsuit from some of her former dancers. They're claiming they were turned down and released because of their weight and supposedly were encouraged by Lizzo to do some weird things at some strip club somewhere.

Now Lizzo's all about self love, acceptance, embracing everybody type and of course she is denying these allegations. But with her dancers alleging that they were treated unfairly because of their weight, here's the first question for you. Do you think these allegations are true? And if they are, Isn't this just normal in the industry or is it different?

Because it's Lizzo who's built her brand on body positivity. This I don't know. I'm on the fence, but I want to hear you guys thoughts. Let's start with Robbie. All right. So do I think it's true? Uh, it's not outside of the realm of possibility. I can't really double down on anything because [00:30:00] there's not enough information that's been shared yet.

There are allegations from half a dozen people. Initially, it was three, then more people came out. So, you know, is it a cash grab or is it people coming out and saying, no, like, this is really a toxic environment. And like you alluded, you know, my problem with this particular story is that it is not on brand for Lizzo because she preaches body positivity.

And you can't do this while privately weight shaming your dancers, demeaning them in ways that are illegal and demoralizing. and there are other implications to this. But there are other allegations, I mean, non payment, sexual harassment, telling dancers that it's normal to get fired if they get fat.

Do I think it's normal in the industry, Neo? I was going to say. For sure, I think that it's normal in the industry. But given who this is, then no, this doesn't trend. It does not check out. Some of the sexual nature [00:31:00] stuff that you also referred to, you know, just attending a performance with nude dancers in Amsterdam and to eat a banana placed in a nude dancer's genitals, um, pressuring one of your dancers to touch someone's breast.

No, but Johnny, if you're in a position of power and you say, you know what? I want you to eat this banana. That's just tucked down here. It's like, well, no, I'm not comfortable doing that. I pay you and right. If it's a party atmosphere and people are just having a good time and then it's like, okay, so you're impaired and you're maybe saying something stupid in this atmosphere, but not recognizing the position of power that you're in.

Come on, Rob. I mean, if you're out of the strip club with it. Sure. Yeah. She's in a position of power, but she's having fun and they came out to join her and they're just all having fun. And she just has a sick club with your friends. She just she just happens to say something like. Hey, why don't you go eat that banana and she's just joking around and then they're [00:32:00] putting this into a lawsuit Okay, but i'm just saying maybe they she was encouraging them to go have fun that's interesting because it reminds me of wendy williams, there was allegations that she had like co workers like see her breasts.

Like she was like flashing them or some inappropriate behavior. You guys can look it up. But it reminds me of just the fact that this probably is a normal occurrence between artists and their dancers or their close, you know, personnel, not saying the sexual part is just like a normal, everybody does the sexual thing, but I think that the reason these allegations that are coming out, I think they're true one, but I think they're coming out because something happened.

So now they want to, like, come out with all this stuff, I'm not saying that they're not telling the truth. I just think there's a reason why they're doing this now. I mean, I agree. I think it may be just exaggerated, you know, like. These things might have happened, right?

But these people were fired. And so they're disgruntled and so they're coming up with random stuff. Like, all of the things may have [00:33:00] happened, but as with any story, you can exaggerate the story a bit, make it seem much worse than it is. Maybe she did make a comment. Oh, girl, you're a little fat today. Maybe she made that comment.

I don't know about that. So I just need to frame this context. I need to, I need to understand this. So, is Lizzo getting a pass for asking someone to go ask a banana in a nude performer's genitals? Are you giving that a pass because Lizzo was asking? Let's say it was Jamie Foxx asking one of his entourage to go eat that banana between someone's like a female member.

Oh, why is that a different reaction? Why is that a different reaction? That's fair. Yeah. Now that's my challenge. That's fair. Let me get this comment from Jacqueline Robinson. Is it possible she considers the dancers underweight and not overweight? And she also says, would we accept this behavior in an office setting?

Why would the entertainment industry [00:34:00] be different? I mean, the entertainment just is different. I'm just going to say that. This has been getting a lot of heat. So nobody's on her side is I feel like she's lost half a million followers on her platform. But you can fire people for the way they look 

especially if you're trying to look for an actor, that's fits a certain profile or things like that. Or I know there's this artist that, was working at our studio, Mel's studio. And, they're picking dancers, the dancers, some of them couldn't keep up with the moves or they were out of shape they couldn't keep up with the dancing.

and so you have to make decisions based upon who's going to fit ability, but also who's going to fit what you're trying to sell. So if you're trying to sell, you know, some. I don't know. I don't want to say skinny or 

Her brand is women that might be overweight. And so she might be looking for particular people to sell her brand. She's not looking for the skinny girls. She's [00:35:00] promoting. Yeah. She's looking for and that's the entertainment industry because the you want to fit whatever you're trying to sell, but she's selling.

He's selling body positivity. That's what she's selling there. I mean, I can't I can't that that's been a cornerstone of her brain. See, that's where I was saying I was on the fence because I'm a bit on the fence on that, because. That is true. She has been, that is her brand and she is selling body positivity.

So even if it's a skinny girl, you can't be downplaying a skinny girl because she's skinny, It, to me, it's the, it's that cognitive dissonance that are going to be faced with, it's to me, this is very akin to, um, Ellen DeGeneres, really nice girl on TV being outed as being a really toxic and mean girl, and then people have to go, okay, her public persona.

Is this and a lot of people dropped Ellen and I think that we're seeing the same thing here with Lizzo, but I think there's going to be a greater fallout. [00:36:00] You think it's going to be a greater fallout for Liz? I don't know. I don't think so. I think they're going to find that these are just allegations prove to be true.

I really think it's going to be that these people arejust disgruntled and sure there may be some truth to what the allegations are, but I believe they're exaggerated. 

The truth is usually somewhere in the gray, usually just a former guest. Yeah. I think that if, if this was to do damage, it would make people probably not stick with her, like her core fan group, because they'll feel like there's a bit of self hate there. Betrayal, So it's nothing to really hold on to if it's a gimmick. I want to segue. So recently celebrities have been receiving bad feedback or their actions, which makes me think if cancel culture is coming back, with the singer, Neo, apparently there's this clip that's going around where Neo tells his thoughts on children deciding their gender.

He says, I feel like parents have almost forgotten what the role of a parent [00:37:00] is.If your little boy comes to you and says, daddy, I want to be a girl. And you just let him rock with that. So my question

 Does cancel culture still exist? And, um, did he have. Apologize for saying what he said without a doubt. Cancel culture exists. Should he apologize? This goes back to the Jamie Foxx thing. I mean, he has an opinion and whether or not his opinion is valid. Who cares? I mean, don't know that he was being mean spirited.

 you know, we've canceled people in the past who were trying to, attack like homophobic, racist, phobic, right. And those people needed to be canceled when they're trying to attack. There's hate. There's hate behind it. I don't think there was hate behind it.

He just has an opinion on it. And the opinion is not ignorant, a popular opinion. Right. I think that there's some ignorance and every now and then, you know, that it was [00:38:00] things as people we say things. Yeah, I, I do and I'll tell you what. That's we say thing and quite often. We, we need to learn from what we say, because we say things that are.

That don't fit well with the social paradigm, and we may have an opinion, but we need more information. So, while I appreciate his opinion on this. You have to understand that it's coming from the vantage point of a cisgendered male. It's a place of privilege. He's normal life. So, but that's his perspective.

And he got called out hard and then people explain things to him. So, you know, whether or not his apology is sincere, I'll go back to Aaron on this. I, you know, the apology is great if it is sincere and does cancel culture still exist. Absolutely. It will always exist. Let me tell you a secret. When I was a kid, I said I wanted to be a girl.

Now, my parents could have chosen. [00:39:00] My parents could have chosen to run with that and been like, oh, you want to be a girl? Let me get you dolls. Let me, let me do your hair a certain way. Let me do all these other things, right? They could have run with that, but I am very much male and very happy to be male and.

No, it could have led to if I had a parent that was very focused on, you know, whatever the kid wants. all I'm saying is he has an opinion that sometimes maybe we shouldn't just run with it and just go crazy and be like, Hey, you know, you, when you want to be a girl, let's make you a girl, your parents run with it.

There would have been real world consequences to the choice. Sure. You exactly, and you would have corrected or changed. So it could have just been a statement, a whim, because it's say all kinds of stuff. Right. Random. Curious. They explore. So if you would have said that and your parents would have ran with it, and then [00:40:00] you go out playing with your sister, Olivia, and you're, you've got your hair done and you're wearing a dress, the kids in your neighborhood would have also had an opinion.

About this and we have shared it openly. That's the natural consequence. Sure. And you would have figured out whether or not you truly identified as a girl or if this was just something in passing because if you really felt it. You would stick with it or you get necessarily if you, if, if you have a parent that makes it seem like a fun thing to do, and then you start saying, oh, let me buy you a dress.

Let me do this. And it just becomes a natural thing. And the, and the, the parent gets really excited about it and says, Hey, we're going to basically turn you in because I've seen some very aggressive parents with this. Taking their children and dressing them up and just from simple conversation and then they become what they've turned into.

So they, they basically turn into a, whatever love and support, but don't press an agenda [00:41:00] and that's what some support the child. and that's the perspective that I think Neil was coming from, Yeah. And to put it out there and have the conversation like we're having now, I think is reasonable to discuss because there are some aggressive parents out there.

So, I don't know, and it's also good to have some time to reflect and. Revisit your statements, especially if people start calling you out and saying, you know, this isn't right. If you have time for reflection, if you're any type of normal human being. You recognize that we screw up all the time and it's up to us to learn from that.

And to become better people. Let me get to this comment online. Jacqueline Robinson's online. I think it should be on a case by case basis. Does it ever occur to people that parents agonize for some time about this? It's not a matter of having a kid centric household.

Yeah. Right. Yeah. Exactly. All right. Is this truth, lies, shenanigans? Lies, shenanigans. Um. Lizzo's up to some shenanigans. I don't know. I [00:42:00] think I think there's some lies up in there I don't think it's true. You think some lies going from the, I find that they're trying to take advantage.

They're disgruntled. Lizzo denies it. I think that Lizzo is being truthful. There may be some things that she did that were on the edge. Sure. I'm not going to argue that, but I don't think she is. I don't know that. Come on. I didn't even sound right. I don't know.

It's too specific to be fake. Like, no, I mean, right. Okay. Maybe. It's very specific. Okay, maybe. All right. All right, Robbie, let's get to your topic. to, you want to, let's see. Uh oh. You want to talk about this cage match. Battle of the millionaires. Right. So Elon Musk posted on Sunday versus Musk the fight will be live streamed on X and all proceeds will go to charity for veterans.

So the [00:43:00] two tech billionaires have seemingly agreed to the cage match face off, but Zuckerberg is actually trained in MMA fighting. He's a jujitsu fighter and he's got a blue belt. Yeah. Right. Tailor the tape real quick. Elon Musk comes in at 6'2 187 pounds, 52 years old. Zuck comes in at 5'7 155 pounds, 39 years old.

So, you know. Oh, wow. Which fighter are you putting your money on? Oh. I might change my answer. I did not know Elon Musk was that... You said Elon Musk was 6'2 Yep. He's tall. He's tall 187. Those are the latest numbers. He's relatively tall. Six, two is somewhat tall. Okay. He's like, no, I'm kidding. That I like tall guys.

I feel like past six one is [00:44:00] taller than me. Oh my goodness. Um, Do you really think that Elon Musk is cute, but I wanna know. No. Do you think Elon Musk is okay? Oh no. It, because he broached six feet, six figures, and now all of a sudden you now all a sudden he's cute. Okay. Right. He's cuter than he was.

Oh, he's six. Dude. Man, his cock exactly.

If you were five, seven, he's like super ugly, but six, two. Ooh. And then he's a five, six. Now, why would you pick that number? Oh, I don't know. I just, I feel like, I don't know. Ladies in the you comment, what I'm talking about. Yeah. Oh, I didn't even know. I'm 5'9 I'm 5'8 on a great day. So Gianni thinks we're both ugly.

No, I just think his height is okay. Gianni's body shaming now. I feel, I feel body shamed. I love you guys and your height. [00:45:00] I love you both and your respective height. No, um, I like, I think that Zuckerberg would win this fight, though. Because of the jiu jitsu training, and I just always felt like he gave me, like, Jeff Dahmer, like, serial killer, murderer, secretive, like, he just feels like he would, he just feels like he would actually, like, surprise you in a fight.

Like, he might come across, like, humble, and then at the end just be Badass, I don't know. So I think Zuckerberg, I think Zuckerberg would win. I mean, first off, we got Elon Musk is talking about he may not be able to do it because he's got to have surgery on his back or something like that. Oh, he trolls all day.

And then, so he's, he probably won't be doing it anyway, but is, he's out of shape. He claims he's lifting weights to get ready for it, but uh. Yeah, no, Zuckerberg. I was surprised. Zuckerberg is ripped. Zuck was saying, I'm ready August 26th, and they want to put it off until [00:46:00] June. So Zuck's like, I'm ready.

Let's do this. I saw a picture of him. He is ripped. I was like, wow, I have some work to do. But he also does this like, like, like Robbie said, he does this stuff. So, so what do you think? I mean, whether or not, whether or not the fight actually makes it to the ring is questionable because it has a rich history of tweeting things prematurely and not following through.

And what I really enjoyed Zuck's clap back when Elon said that they were going to stream this on X, because they want this to be like, instead of Twitter platform, but social, right? Exactly. Yeah, for those that don't know. Twitter has turned to access switch to X.

Now, by Elon Musk, go ahead, Rob. So, let's use ask to do this. but when they used ask for Rhonda Santa's latest event, it was. Postponed by 30 minutes because of technical issues. So [00:47:00] back was, you know, shouldn't we use a more reliable platform that can actually raise money for charity. I do hope that it goes through for 2.

I think that. Money for veterans, these veterans are. Under resource have so much money taken away from them. So, you know, to have all the proceeds go to it is wonderful, but with these two clowns of the ring, they have the ability to match any donations or proceeds to a factor of 100. 1 and really make a huge difference other than this celebrity, this clickbait, hey, we're talking about you, but let's actually do something real.

I hope that Musk lifts weights and that he's ready for the fight. And I hope that Zuck keeps training because the trained fighter versus. Root strength, a trained fighter. Every day I'm, I'm pulling day, I would money to see Elon get his ass kicked. So I don't know. I'm pulling for [00:48:00] Zuckerberg simply because I have Facebook stock and I needed to go up

And by show of hands, hands, you're like, this is who wants to see Elon get his ass kicked for three minutes in the ring? , I think everybody would wanna see that. All right. So Jackman, Rob says the muskie one is notorious for letting his big mouth write a check. His ass can't cash . That's so true. Yeah. What is up with him shenanigans?

Uh, I don't know. It's shenanigans. I guess there's should be, this is more be fun on shenanigans. Shenanigans and lies. 'cause I don't think it's gonna happen. Yeah. He's going to want to proxy AI robot fight.

All right. Let's get to that's more believable.

All right. Today's game is who said it [00:49:00] read off a quote on the app and you'll have to guess who said it. You get it right, you get a point, and the person with the most points gets the final thought for the show. For example, let's start out with an easy one. Who said the words, take my wife's name out of your fucking mouth in 2022?

My wife's name. He said it with passion. Okay, say it. It was Will Smith. let me come on. He said it with vitriol. Give me, give me the Will Smith, uh, impression. But it was so awkward because Will is such a nice guy. When he was serious, you wanted to laugh too. He's not nice.

Will Smith? Aw, Myra. Richard, people usually are. Take my wife's name.

Take my wife's name. Out your mouth. He said, um, mouth? Is that what he said? Mouth. Okay, Mother dancing mouth, mother dancing. I'm trying to keep it clean for, for tick for tick tock. Oh, thanks Johnny.[00:50:00] All right. So obviously that would be Will Smith. Uh, 

Which mega rich person Said this in 2022, I didn't do it to make more money. I did it to try to help humanity whom I love. I'll start with Gianni. Um, was this Jeff Bezos speaking about his intentions to donate most of his fortune during his lifetime? Donald Trump speaking about deciding to run for president again in 2024.

Or Elon Musk speaking about buying Twitter. Ooh, I kind of think it's Bezos. Yeah. All right. Let's check it out. That is incorrect. It was Elon Musk. It was Elon Musk. It was my second answer. Okay. All right, Robbie, let's see which I'm a celebrity contestant said this while in the [00:51:00] jungle this year.

Do you know what? I have never, ever, ever farted so much as I do in here. What in the jungle was it? Boy George, Matt Hancock or Sue Cleaver. No clue. I'm so glad Rob got this one. . Yeah, right. That's, there's a one in three chance. I can't see Boy George saying that. Yeah, no, I'm gonna, I'm gonna go with Sue Cleaver.

Sue Cleaver. Let's see. That is correct, Robbie. Good. Who said it? This is for me. I just popped very quickly to Venice to spit on Chris Pine, but fret not, we're back. Was it Lawrence Pugh, Harry Styles, Olivia Wilde?

Well, clearly they're English. To spit on Chris Pine, we're fretting that we're back. I'm going to go with, no, Olivia Wilde. That is incorrect. [00:52:00] Oh, my God. That's a celebrity fight. I'd like to see Chris Pine against Harry Styles. Come on, Harry. You're talking about, you're talking about spitting on people. I got Chris Pine winning that one, personally.

That's what you get for spitting on people. All right. All right. Next round. Which star said, via alleged leaked sexts. Watching your ass jiggle on that table will permanently scar me. I'd do anything for it. I'd buy a steak dinner and whisper sweet nothings to it. 

Was it Adam Levine? Harry Styles or Shawn Mendes? I don't see Shawn saying something like that. Adam Levine? He doesn't... He's funny, but he doesn't... I think it's Harry Styles. I think he would say something like, off the wall, think it's Harry styles.

You think you go back to back with Harry style? I think Sean does. Adam. Really? Are you picking Harry styles? I'm going with Harry. You said it's Harry style. I'm going with Harry. I'm going with Harry. Right? Final answer. Oh, we were all [00:53:00] wrong. Levi. Adam Levine. All right, so you're out of a gian. 

I'll be if you get this, you win the game. What celebrity was this quote about in 2022 Blank is a hugely gifted comedian, but a tiny cretin of a man, and the most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago.

Is it Kevin Hart, James Corden, or Jerry Seinfeld? If you get this, you win. James Corden was also outed as one of the mean girls, so I'm gonna go with that one. James Corden is a mean girl? Kevin. Yeah. You are correct. It was outed about the same time as Ellen is. Wow. Wow. I had no idea. Good job.

All right. Before we close out, let's get some shout outs. Ooh.[00:54:00] 

Um, shout out to my rap fans and hip hop lovers, music fans. I know we're all fans of music, but specifically to hip hop fans, your favorite J Cole, my favorite J Cole. And thank you so much, Aaron, for joining. I think that it was really insightful having you on. So I appreciate you coming. Good guests. Uh, special shout out to my mom, who is just a wonderful person who gives so much of herself to others, asks for so little in return.

And she's been doing this for decades. I am. Proud of my awesome mom. And she just said, wow. Yeah, pretty well. All right. And I've got a shout out. My baby sister, Olivia,[00:55:00] 

it's her birthday. She's the person that brings you amazing guests like Aaron Whitfield. So. Thank you. Oh, and happy birthday birthday. All right. That is officially all the time we have for today's show. Really good show today. I'd like to thank all of you for joining us. I hope you learned something, maybe got a new perspective or just had some laughs with us.

Look for us live again, next Wednesday at 8 PM Eastern time and look for our official audio episode this Friday. on Apple Podcasts, Pods Network, PODZ, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. All right, Rob B, close us out with the final thought for the show. All right. Spend time with your loved ones.

Reconnect with the important people in your life. Talk about life together, share, connect with fellow humans who struggle from time to time. There's a value in that. [00:56:00] I love that. I love that. All right. Thank you, Robby Rock, Gianni and our guest, Aaron Whitfield. But most importantly, we need to thank you for listening to our shenanigans each and every week.

We love you. Thank you. See you next week.