Big news of the day. Very big, powerful, big news.
So big, so strong, greatest news ever, so big.
Um, an NFL player was banned for a year for betting on games.
Yeah.
And, like, people are angry, and I'll be honest with you.
I don't understand it.
I don't understand why athletes aren't allowed to bet, you know?
Why can't they bet on the sport?
There's a few reasons for me. Number one-- I think
you should always be allowed to bet on yourself.
You know what I mean? If you believe in yourself that much,
bet the money. People are like, "Oh, no. No gambling."
No. Bet the money.
And people would be like, "Oh, but they shouldn't be allowed
to bet against themselves." I think you should.
You should be allowed to bet against yourself, as well.
'Cause sometimes you know truth. Do you know what I mean?
Like, if I was a New York Jet, I would bet against my...
I know what's going to happen. Why not make some money from it?
You know what I mean? Just, like, that-that kind of thing.
It should just be public.
We should know how they bet, the athletes.
It should be, like-like, on the stock exchange type thing.
They should tell you. "Yeah, this athlete--
they bet this, they bet that, they bet..."
I'm in for that. But I don't think this guy should be banned
for a year for betting, especially when...
Have you watched a football game recently?
Have you watched any sport?
Every single ad is "Sports betting! Bet on sports!
You need to bet on sports!" Then this guy bet.
Then they're like, "No, you're banned!"
ANNOUNCER: Coming to you from the heart of Times Square
in New York City, the only city in America, it's
The Daily Show.
Tonight-- Cuomo's coming back?,
war rages on,
and Jesse Williams.
This is The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.
Hey, what's going on, everybody?
Welcome to The Daily Show. I'm Trevor Noah.
The war in Ukraine is still going on,
and we're gonna be covering it.
Yes, the Russian troops are still pushing
through the country.
We're gonna get to all of it, all of it, all of the updates.
But first, we're gonna catch up on some of the headlines.
And here to provide both his companionship
and his two cents is my good friend Michael Kosta.
What's going on, Michael?
-How you doing? -What's up? Good. March.
You should have your Christmas tree down by now.
Think about that.
And... it's nice out there.
I dined out there today because I wanted to,
not because I had to.
I could feel my legs while I was eating.
-Outside, yeah. -That's nice.
The city has, you know, removed the indoor vaccine mandate.
-Yeah. -So I had the vaccine taken out of my body.
I am de-vaxxed, I am de-waxed, and...
Oh, I was supposed to tell you there's a guy on 42nd Street
who will sell clean blood to anyone who needs it.
So, happy to be here. That's my two cents.
-Hey, man, I'm happy for you, and also worried. -Yeah.
All right, let's jump straight into today's headlines.
♪ ♪
We kick things off with big news from the MAGA verse.
One of Donald Trump's staunchest supporters
during his time in office was William Barr.
Remember him? He was the attorney general
and less friendly Jabba the Hutt.
But what's interesting is that now that Trump is out of office,
and Barr has a book to sell, well, he's suddenly not a fan.
No, no, he's singing a different tune.
NEWSWOMAN: Former Attorney General William Barr speaking ou
live for the first time about his volatile time
in the Trump administration and his dismantling
of the president's lies about the 2020 election.
BARR: I told them that all this stuff was bull(bleep)
and, uh-- about election fraud,
and, uh, you know,
it was wrong to be shoveling it out the way his team was.
He was obviously getting very angry about this.
I said "Okay, well, look, I-I understand you're upset with me,
And I'm perfectly happy to tender my resignation."
And then-- Boom!
-He slaps the desk? -He slapped the desk and he said,
"Accepted! Accepted. Don't go back to your office. Go home.
You're done."
After the election, he went off the rails.
He wouldn't listen to anybody except
a little coterie of-of sycophants who were telling him
what he wanted to hear.
I'm sorry, did Bill Bar say that after the election,
Trump went off the rails? That's what he said?
After the election?
So, before the election, when he was trying to nuke hurricanes
and inject bleach, that was-that was on the rails?
That was normal? You know, it-it feels like
Trump fans are a lot like Euphoria fans. You know?
They act like the thing got more extreme over time,
but really it was like that from the beginning.
Yeah, they just hit their limit.
"Oh, there is so much nudity in Euphoria these days!"
My man, it's HBO. Everything has nudity. Everything.
Euphoria, Game of Thrones. I mean, that's why I stopped
watching John Oliver. Every episode, "And now, my dick!"
You didn't have to show me your dick, John.
That didn't help me understand the opioid crisis!
And here's what all of Trump's acolytes don't understand:
He didn't become crazy. He didn't become that. No, you
just realized he was crazy when he started disagreeing with you.
Like, kamikaze pilots are not sane when they're taking off.
You're just agreeing with that part of the flight. Yeah.
"So, what time do we land? What?!"
But the point, the point is that, just like John Kelly,
John Bolton, Michael Cohen, uh, Omarosa-- remember her?--
Bill Barr has now come out and said, "Actually, guys,
Donald Trump is crazy and was not fit to be president."
Yeah. But before you get all excited
and welcome Bill Barr into the resistance,
you should probably hear his plans for the next election.
I certainly have made it clear
I don't think he should be our nominee,
and I'm gonna, you know,
support somebody else for the nomination.
GUTHRIE: But if he is the nominee and you have...
your choice is Donald Trump
or whoever's running on the Democratic side,
would you vote for him?
Uh, because I believe
that the-the greatest threat to the country
is the progressive agenda
being pushed by the Democratic Party,
it's inconceivable to me
that I wouldn't vote for the Republican nominee.
So, even if he lied about the election
and threatened democracy, as you write in your book,
-better than a Democrat. -Well, it's h... Well, it's hard...
It's hard to project what the facts
are gonna turn out to be three years hence,
but as of now, it's hard for me to conceive
that I wouldn't vote for the Republican nominee.
Yo, man, these people are wild.
William Barr literally agrees
that Trump tried to overthrow the election,
but still, he would vote for Trump
over a Democrat.
"Yeah, I mean, maybe Trump's gonna end America
"and put me in a prison camp,
"but it's better than learning new pronouns.
Am I right?"
It's actually sad how in America,
politics has turned into sports.
Right? 'Cause this is like a sports attitude.
Right? Where people have, like, this blind level of support.
You know, "You support the Knicks?"
"Yeah, I support the Knicks." "But what if they start
doing synchronized swimming, not basketball?"
"Oh, I hate that! But I'm still gonna support them, man.
"I-I'm a Knicks fan at heart, you know.
"Doesn't matter what they do on the court.
"Swimming, dancing. I'm a Knicks fan.
"I don't want to get a new jersey. It's a whole new color.
Now I got to learn new things. I'm a Knicks fan."
It's not that. It's not sports.
It's politics. You know?
He wrote... It seems like he wrote the book
about the wrong thing,
He says, "What I'm most passionate about
is fighting the progressive agenda."
Well, write a book about that.
-(laughs) -You know? I mean,
your writing teacher says to you,
"Write about what you're passionate about,"
not-not "Write what you're second most passionate about."
-You know? -That's-that's what seems to have happened here.
-He's just... -So...
They're all heroes when they leave.
-Yeah. That's easy. -"I-I told him.
I told..." No, you didn't.
-Yeah. -You were there, and then at some point,
you're like, "All right,
this guy's crazier than I thought."
And they're also all heroes when they got to push their book.
-Dude, it's always the book. -The book.
Yeah. This is what I find.
-All these people were there. -Do you mind if I just...
-if I just push my book real quick? -Oh.
Oh, I don't have a book. But...
-Oh, if you did... -I was practicing. I was practicing.
-Oh, you did you very well, actually. -Thank you.
Yes. My Time at The Daily Show: Why I Hated Trevor Noah.
(chuckles) When I... How I Resigned on Air.
(laughs) "I used to tell him on that show,
'Ooh, let's move on,' I used to tell him."
All right, let's move on
to some news about Andrew Cuomo,
the disgraced governor of New York
who was never a guest on The Daily Show!
If you see pictures of that, it's a lie.
Cuomo, you might remember,
was at the center of a whole bunch of scandals.
There was his history of sexual harassment,
his shady handling of the early COVID pandemic,
and he abused the power of his office
by making people watch all those PowerPoint presentations.
But now, just seven months after being forced to resign,
Andrew Cuomo has decided that he's served enough time.
Former Governor Andrew Cuomo's first public appearance
since leaving office has some wondering
if he's considering a political comeback.
Cuomo spoke Sunday at God's Battalion of Prayer Church
in Brooklyn. During his remarks, the former governor repeatedly
took aim at cancel culture,
which Cuomo says forced him out of office.
Don't underestimate the strength and the virulence
of the cancel culture. They broke my heart.
But they didn't break my spirit.
(applause)
I want to take the energy
that-that could make me bitter
and use that energy to make us better.
Okay, okay. First of all, pretty slick move
delivering that speech in church. Yeah.
Because people have to forgive you even if they don't want to.
Yeah, Jesus says so.
And secondly, let's agree on something, people.
Let's agree on this, please, can we agree on this
once and for all? Getting canceled
is not the same thing as getting investigated
for sexual harassment. All right?
"Canceled" is when people yell at you on Twitter
for, like, a joke. When you're getting canceled,
you can put your phone on airplane mode and keep moving.
That's not what happened to Andrew Cuomo. Right?
That wasn't the woke police, that was the police-police.
It's a big difference. "Oh, I was canceled."
No, hey, my man, this is a crime.
Everyone just uses that. "Aw, I was canceled."
What were you doing? "Aw, I kidnapped some people.
(scoffs) Cancel culture's out of control."
It feels like these days people can blame
literally anything on cancel culture.
"Mommy, wh-why is the fish upside down in the bowl?"
"Oh, cancel culture, Timmy. Yeah, that fish is gone now.
So sorry about it,"
I guess, in many ways, this comeback effort
is classic Andrew Cuomo, though.
Nobody asked him to come back,
but he's gonna make a move anyway. Yeah.
People are like, "We don't want you back, Governor." He's like,
"It's fine, I'm Italian. Let's kiss on the mouth.
-Mwah, mwah, mwah." -(Kosta laughs)
I... You know, I don't think he's running.
I think... since he lost his job
-and since his brother lost his job... -Uh-huh.
I think they're living together,
on the bunk beds and he just wants to get out of the house.
Didn't it kind of feel like he was just happy to get out?
-It does seem like that. -Yeah. I...
He's blaming cancel culture for everything the way that
-I use "supply chain." That's my... -Oh.
You know, "Hey, I called you ten times, you didn't call me back."
I did call you back.
There must be a supply chain issue. you know?
My wife was like, "I love you." You know, "You don't
say it enough." I said, "Look, that's a supply chain question.
You know?" I don't know
if I can just-- So...
You know what's funny is we don't understand
the supply chain enough
to know how to argue back against.
-Right. -That's actually a brilliant thing.
-Any problem: supply chain, yeah. -Supply chain.
I'm gonna say that next time the landlord comes.
-"Trevor, you haven't paid the..." -Yeah.
-"S... The... supply chain. -I was in the elevator,
someone's like, "Can you hit number 12?" And I'm like,
"Yo, supply chain. I can't do that." You know?
-That was brilliant. -Yeah.
Wait, wait, wait, I asked you
about my birthday present and you said "supply chain."
-Was that the same thing? -It's been...
Look, it...
Supply chain's been a problem for a lot a--
-long time. (laughs) -(laughs)
All right, finally,
do you guys remember that Canadian trucker protest
that shut down the border
and forced you to learn the capital of Canada
a few weeks ago?
Yeah, you probably remember it.
Where the truckers blocked the streets for weeks
to show their outrage over COVID vaccine mandates
and other Canadian government tyranny,
like free health care and education.
Anyway, some Americans saw what happened in Canada
and they said, "Hey, we have trucks, too.
-Why not do that here?" -(horn honks)
But, sadly,
the result has been less impressive.
A caravan of pro-Trump, antivaccine truckers
modeled after the Canadian freedom convoy
has reached the nation's capital.
The People's Convoy traveled across the country
to reach Washington, D.C.,
starting in California last month.
The caravan planned to circle the capital several times
and then return to their home base in Maryland,
but a number of them were sort of-- were frustrated
by the traffic on the Beltway,
of course, surrounding Washington D.C.
and did not complete the laps they had hoped.
The protest slowed down traffic a little,
but the truckers did not know
that the Beltway is like that all the time.
So the protest ended up having a far smaller impact
than the Canadian protest that inspired it in our states.
Aw, man, this is just sad.
American truckers were trying to block traffic,
but D.C. already has so much traffic
that nobody really noticed they were protesting.
And, I mean, let's be honest--
a protest isn't much good
if it's too subtle for people to know it's a protest.
Yeah. It's like if Rosa Parks bravely decided
to sit in the middle of the bus--
just wouldn't be the same.
Yeah, the bus driver would be at the front like,
"Is that Black woman sitting...
Ah, whatever."
Also, I bet when these truckers planned the driving protest,
they didn't think that gas was gonna hit $5 a gallon.
Yeah, that's a horrible time to be driving as your protest,
because now they're praying
the cops tow them away just to save on gas.
"Do you see what I'm doing?
"What, you want to tow me back home?
"Please, man, I need you to tow me back home.
I didn't plan this part."
You'd think if anybody is comfortable with traffic,
-it would be truckers. -(chuckles)
Isn't that the whole definition of the job?
It is, isn't it? It's actually a very hard job. You're right.
It's a hard job. And I always feel bad for truckers,
'cause, even on their day off,
if they want to go somewhere,
they got to drive.
They got to work.
-I didn't think of that. -And timing is everything with this.
It doesn't help them
that vaccine mandates are being pulled off
and-and the mask. It's like,
you know, "What do we want? No mandates.
When do we want 'em?"
This morning. We-we ended it this morning.
-You know? It's already happened. -(laughs)
I would just say that the protest was successful.
I wouldn't admit that the thing happened.
-Right. -I would just be like, "How was the protest?
-We got everything we asked for." -Yeah.
Imagine if Martin Luther King came, he's like,
"I have a dream. What? What? It already happened?
-Oh. That was reality." -(chuckling)
All right, everybody, we got to go for a quick break.
Uh, but don't go away, because, when we come back,
we'll be looking at how Putin is not just waging war
on Ukraine but also on his own people in Russia.
Yeah. I know.
I'm starting to think this guy's not a good dude.
We'll be right back.
Welcome back to The Daily Show.
It is now day 12 of Russia's invasion of Ukraine,
or as Putin calls it,
Russia's relaxing shoulder massage of Ukraine.
So let's catch up on all the latest
in our ongoing coverage of the war in Ukraine.
♪ ♪
Despite the world telling Vladimir Putin
that he's being not nice,
the Russian military has continued
its indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas in Ukraine,
reducing them to rubble and leaving the people there
without homes, food or even water.
And when the civilians tried to flee those cities,
well, it turns out that Russia has been bombing them, too.
NEWSMAN: More and more civilians being killed
as Russia escalates its attacks here.
People trying to flee the invasion struck
at an evacuation crossing point.
NEWSWOMAN: Twice Russia and Ukraine agreed to ceasefires,
in order to give people a chance to get out.
Both times, Russia broke the ceasefires
with violent, indiscriminate shelling.
(speaking foreign language)
(loud explosion, debris clattering)
NEWSWOMAN: At least four people, including a woman
and her two children, were killed in that attack.
NEWSMAN 2: "We will not forgive, we will not forget."
Ukraine's president Zelensky vows to punish Moscow's troops
as he reacts to the killing
of civilians attempting to flee the conflict.
(speaking foreign language)
NEWSMAN 3: "We will find every (bleep)
"that shot at our cities, our people.
"There will be no quiet place on this earth for you
except for the grave."
Sweet Jesus, this is insane.
Like, it's bad enough
that Russia is blowing Ukraine to smithereens,
but it's even worse that they are bombing people
who are trying to escape during a ceasefire
that Russia agreed to.
I mean, what's Russia's logic here?
I honestly don't get it. What is it?
First, we murder the people.
Then they'll warm up to us as their new rulers?
What's the plan?
And today, after attacking civilians
during the first two evacuation attempts,
Russia offered to create new humanitarian corridors
to allow people to escape these cities, except--
and you can't make this part up--
many of the evacuation routes
would funnel civilians straight into Russia.
Which is insane.
Like, just think about that for a moment.
People are trying to escape, and you're like,
"We'll let them escape, but into our country."
Like, imagine hostage takers saying,
"All right, we'll let the hostages leave.
"We'll let them leave the bank,
but only if they come with us to our house."
Then they're still hostages! Are you insane?
I mean, not to mention even refugees probably don't want to
live in Russia right now. Things aren't great in Ukraine,
but at least they still get The Batman.
There's nothing in Russia.
And because many Russians have family members who are
living in Ukraine, the idea of the Russian military
leveling Ukrainian cities and killing innocent people
was never going to be popular in the first place.
Which is probably why Putin has now gone into overdrive
to make sure that, in Russia, nobody hears about it.
Well, a new Iron Curtain has fallen in Russia,
and this time it's an Information Iron Curtain.
That's why most Russians don't know
what's really happening in Ukraine.
The Kremlin today blocked Facebook and Twitter,
and there are no independent media outlets left.
NEWSWOMAN: Vladimir Putin signing a law tonight
making it a crime to spread
what the Russian government considers "fake news"
about the conflict in Ukraine.
The maximum penalty: 15 years jail.
Independent Russian news outlets have always found it difficult
to operate. Now it's impossible.
The staff at Moscow's last independent TV station
walking off set as their final symbolic broadcast played out,
NEWSWOMAN 2: A similar scene played out at Russia's
oldest liberal radio station, "Echo of Moscow,"
which says it's been forced to close.
WOMAN: We just can say, "Welcome to the USSR."
Yeah, just think about that for a moment.
The only place to get any news in Russia now
is state media. That's it.
Putin even shut down Facebook in Russia.
Which is so messed up.
Like, why couldn't he have shut it down everywhere?
Why only in Russia? This man's truly evil.
We also want a break from Facebook.
I mean, on the plus side, the one silver lining of this
is that everyone is getting the exact same news in Russia,
which means Russian family dinners are probably gonna be,
like, the least-contentious affairs ever.
Especially way more than American family dinners.
"Well, I heard the war in Ukraine is going well."
"Oh, yeah? I heard
the same thing. Yeah. More stuffing, please."
♪ Happy Thanksgiving, we're Russians together ♪
♪ Enjoying same news so we don't disagree. ♪
They sing during Thanksgiving in Russia.
You can't prove that I'm not lying
because there's no Facebook there anymore.
Now, many Russian people are against this war.
In fact, over 4,000 protesters were arrested just yesterday.
But for most of the country, this media blackout
means that they'll never know the truth
about what's really going on.
Yeah. There are in... There are even stories
of Ukrainians who have called their parents in Russia
to tell them what is happening,
and their own parents don't believe the stories.
Which is terrible.
And at the same time, I guess that's what happens
when you lie to your parents
about everything else in your life.
"Oh, sure, Putin's invading you.
"Just like that time you didn't throw a party
when we were out of town, huh?"
But while Putin is cutting off Russian people's links
to the outside world, the outside world itself
has been trying to cut itself off from Russia.
Russian banks have been banned
from the global financial system,
Russian airlines have been blocked
from entering most countries,
and even Apple has stopped selling its products in Russia.
Which means Russians can't watch Ted Lasso anymore.
It's terrible for them, probably fine for Putin.
'Cause, I mean, if a show has no villain,
who's he supposed to root for?
And every day, every single day,
more companies are joining Apple and all these other companies
in leaving Russia.
NEWSWOMAN: The list of private companies
cutting ties with Russia is mounting.
Visa, Mastercard and American Express
are boycotting business there.
TikTok is blocking users on its platform in Russia,
and Netflix announced it has suspended service.
NEWSWOMAN 2: Toyota says that they are putting a halt
to its factory in production in Russia.
This comes as the vehicle imports
into the country have been suspended indefinitely.
NEWSMAN: Accounting firms KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers
both announced they are exiting Russia due to the invasion.
NEWSMAN 2: From now on, it's just Stoli.
The maker of the vodka,
which has been marketed as Russian vodka,
is launching a major rebranding
in direct response to the war in Ukraine.
Now Stoli Group has announced
that it will only use Slovakian sources
to avoid Russian ingredients.
Yeah, that's how bad it's gotten.
Even vodka doesn't want anything to do with Russia anymore.
Just think about that.
Can you imagines if hand gestures announced
that they wanted nothing to do with Italy?
(Italian accent): It's-a too toxic.
(regular accent): So, yeah, no Toyota,
no credit cards, no Netflix.
It's almost like all of Russia is being forced
to spend the weekend at their broke dad's house.
But unfortunately, none of this has stopped
Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Probably because none of it is actually affects Putin.
It's what people don't realize.
Sanctions are bad for the country,
but this doesn't effect Putin. 'Cause, I mean,
Putin doesn't drive a Toyota. Putin doesn't watch Netflix.
Or use credit cards. You think this man pays?
The man hasn't paid for anything in, like, 20 years.
Which waiter has the balls to bring Vladimir Putin the check?
Um, will you be paying by cash or card?
Um, will you be paying with your life?
Okay, well, I guess we'll see you guys next time.
All right then, have a good night. Drama.
Yeah, if anything, people, the war has only
gotten more intense. Russia made major gains
in southern Ukraine, and looks like
it may totally surround the capitol of Kyiv this week.
So the Ukrainian people are in a very bad place right now.
Which is why it's been so inspiring to see
how they're still, still telling the Russian invaders
to go (bleep) themselves.
NEWSWOMAN: Thousands of people taking to the streets
to rail against their Russian occupiers,
in a show, really, that while Russian forces
might be able to take some of these towns and cities,
occupying them will be much more difficult.
In Kherson, Ukraine, defiance.
Residents woke up under Russian occupation
and took to the streets.
...this man says.
This woman, draped in her country's colors, stands firm.
...she says.
Some incredible vi-- uh, video out of Kherson, Ukraine,
where a Ukrainian protester, uh,
jumped onto a Russian military vehicle
waving his country's flag.
Uh, there it is, right there.
Yeah, people, in the face of mortal danger,
many Ukrainians are standing up and saying,
"We won't back down."
I mean, did you see that one guy? He climbed
right on top of a tank. Which is insane.
It's also insane how tanks have, like,
zero defenses against that. If you're in front of a tank,
it's terrifying. "Aah!" But then, once you get on top,
the tank is like, "Aah! Aah! Get off!
Aah! Stop that. Aah! Stop that!"
And this really shows you the difference
between capturing a city and controlling a city.
You see, capturing a city is easy.
You send in more tanks than the other team and then, boom,
it's yours. But if you can't stop the old man in town
from coming out and roasting you,
have you really won?
Yeah, you haven't.
You haven't really won the invasion
if your soldiers are coming back home like...
(crying): "We-we took the city,
"but now everyone is being mean
to me..."
Ukrainians are braving this invasion
with defiance and courage.
And, and there was one specific Ukrainian
that a British reporter caught up with
who seems to know the secret
to not just coping with the possible destruction
of your country
but smiling while doing it.
Tell me quickly, are you all right?
I'm all right.
And h-how many people are trapped in there?
-British. British. British. -British?
How many more...
-Pardon? -Uh...
(chuckles) I don't know whether cannab-cannabis is licensed.
I'm glad that's all you're thinking about.
Yeah. You guys can have Zelensky.
I just found my favorite Ukrainian.
Yeah, because you see that guy? (chuckles)
Like, I don't know about you-- when I smoke weed,
I can barely handle the stress of the doorbell ringing.
This guy's in a war zone
getting questioned by a journalist,
and he's chilled AF.
In fact, he's questioning her.
"Let me ask you some questions. Hey, let me ask you."
Like, she's flustered, like, "Wait, what's going on here?"
I almost think this guy doesn't even know
that there's a war going on. You know?
He probably thinks that he's got some really good kush.
"Eh, I should have had half the brownie, man.
I'm seeing tanks everywhere. Goddamn."
But this really just goes to show you,
it doesn't matter where you are in the world,
it doesn't matter what language you speak,
in every country,
on every continent,
there's always one weird high guy on the bus.
And that...
brings us together.
All right, when we come back,
the multitalented Jesse Williams
will be joining me right here in the studio
to talk about getting naked onstage.
So stay tuned.
Welcome back to The Daily show.
My guest is actor, producer and director Jesse Williams.
He's here to talk about making his Broadway debut
in the show Take Me Out.
Jesse Williams, welcome back to The Daily Show.
-Thanks for having me again. -Um, you think
you're gonna do it this time? 'Cause the last time I saw you,
you were getting ready to go to Broadway,
you were getting ready to make your debut,
and I will never forget it. It was around February 2020,
and you were like, "Oh, you got to come to the show.
-You got to..." Everyone made plan. -Yeah.
World shut down. Second time around, you feeling good?
I do. I feel great. I mean, we were...
Yeah, we were three weeks into rehearsal. It was...
I was nervous, I was terrified, all things I still am today,
but, um, we never got to take it to the next step.
So now, we're in tech, we're opening in a few days.
Um, and it's, uh, thrilling and terrifying,
-and we're ready to go. -It's not just your Broadway debut.
-But I mean, it's a play that's a revival... -Yeah.
...but it's a powerful story, as well.
Because it's a story of a baseball player
of color who comes out.
And I mean, and along, you know, amongst all sports,
athletes will tell you, "Look, I've got nothing against anybody
who's gay," but there's this attitude and this feeling...
-Yeah. -...in changing rooms. It was like,
"Just keep it out of... you know, keep it out
"of the change... Don't tell me about it." You know?
Right, right. The locker room is a pretty specific space.
-Yes. -Hypermasculine space.
Brings a lot of baggage in there.
Now, Richard Greenberg, who wrote the play,
envisioned this in the early 2000s,
-and he figured it was imminent that a superstar... -Wow.
...you know, not just a player, but a superstar,
top of his class, world-class athlete
-that was kind of untouchable. -Yes.
What would happen if that person came out?
Um, because you can't trade him, you can't release him.
This is somebody who is really at the pinnacle
of their profession. What would happen there?
And he thought it was gonna happen a year from then.
20 years have passed, still hasn't happened
-in any American major sport at that level. -Right.
Um, never...
And then, add to that him being Black.
Um, add to that him being biracial specifically...
-Right, right, right. -...and what that represents
in this country and doesn't.
Um, so it explores a lot of that.
And one of the things that's most fascinating to me is
that the character-- without giving too much away--
doesn't change or shift or do anything behavioral
-to provoke or let men hide behind behavior. -Yes.
-Yes. -"Oh, you know, I don't mind that he's gay, but I wish
he didn't do this..." "I don't mind that he's gay, wish he
-didn't act this way, or..." -Right, right.
He's not doing anything. This guy is the alpha, best player
in the world, best player on the team, championship team,
he hasn't changed anything, but said a word.
And look how men contort themselves and shape...
They don't know how to behave around him. They don't know how
to present themselves -Right, right.
And it takes away, you know, an interesting locker room dynamic
where guys are able to be kind of playful and homoerotic
-and maybe intolerant, and... -(laughing) Yeah. Yes.
You know, all those things that get woven into
locker room culture. Now, what do you do when I'm there?
When you're a story like this, one thing I've always loved
about fiction is that it-it oftentimes provides enough sugar
-for us to delve into facts. You know? -Mm-hmm. Yeah.
It's that through stories we get to solve all the puzzles
-that we can't seem to solve in real life. You know? -Yeah.
Like I-I know a lot of guys out there who would be,
"I'm fine with guys who are gay." And then you go, like,
"What if your friend's gay?" "Ah, that's not, that's not
"cool. Look, We got to keep our distance, man. -Right.
We gotta keep our distance, but I'm still cool with him."
And I go, "What changed?"
-Yeah. -And it's interesting when you realize
that there's still an idea of what gay is or isn't
-and how we react to it. -Yes.
And that's actually one of the more interesting things,
that there's that idea of what that means.
And if you... But if you don't behave in a different way,
it leaves you kind of flailing
for something to grasp at that makes you...
What does... What does gay mean without a demonstrable...
Very much like blackness.
-Yes. -Right? Like, you know, in a lot of media,
blackness has to be demonstrated.
-Right. Right. -It has to be shown
in some really narrow, uh, pedantic way.
Um, but with this, you know, the dy...
The friendships that Darren has, they're very different,
He's got a best friend that handles it one way.
There's religion comes into play.
There's a projection of-of aggression,
there's projection of prying eyes,
of me, you know, being a predator in some ways
when I'm not even looking at you.
There's all types of things that we forecast
that is a kind of a reflection
of what women have to deal with in our society,
what Black folks have to deal with in our society.
It comes with, and, you know, your presence alone
is two strikes out of three.
- Um, so, so it's a... -I like that.
So, you get to see how-how...
Um, it's really an interesting examination
of relationship and the damage that talking can do.
Expressing yourself too much.
Honesty, which feels like a pathway in,
-can sometimes... -Yes. Not be the best policy.
Not necessarily. You know, so, there's cultural dynamics.
We give a bias towards...
There's an interesting undercurrent
of white privilege in this story
that I think is really interesting,
whether, uh, intended or not.
Um, 'cause Darren is not only gay, but he's Black.
-Yes. -And he's one of very few Black characters in this play.
So there is a pretty...
There's an island I'm already on.
-That's fascinating, man. -Yeah.
-I can't wait to come and see it. -It's incredibly written.
-It's really... That's why I'm doing it. -Yeah.
It's really wonderful, smart material.
Incredible director. Great cast.
You are also going to be nude in some of the...
-in some of the scenes, yeah? -What?
-Yeah. Yeah. -Yeah.
-Yeah, it's happening. It's real. -This is, uh...
-This is onstage. -It's-it's onstage.
-It's, uh, no clothes. -I-I don't think
I would ever do public nudity,
but I think I would definitely not do nudity on Broadway,
because I think, like, on film, I feel like I could be like,
"Cut. I'm not feeling my best right now."
-Uh-huh. -Broadway is Broadway.
-So, you-- -Yeah, this is very helpful, I appreciate you
telling me all the things you wouldn't do that I'm doing.
No, no, no, what I'm saying is I'm-I'm commending you
and I'm asking you, because there is a certain comfort
that comes with the story and the setting.
And there's a realism that comes with it as well, by the way.
You can't have a conversation about
masculinity and power dynamics in a major sports team
without being in the locker room. A locker room,
-especially around "homosexual," um, expectations. -Yes.
It's about exposure, vulnerability.
What do I do? Where do my eyes have to go now?
And there's really interesting analysis through
the-- through conversation in the play about that.
What the-what the brief nudity does
-is bring the audience into our experience. -Yes.
Yes, this is wh-- You have to decide where to look.
You have to-- Are you listening? Can you look and listen?
Can you be here? Are you distracted? Does he
see me looking? Do I have to look up? Do I have to avoid?
-What do I do? So, the audience -I love that.
has to really experience what the characters
are going through and then that helps them understand,
who do they empathize with, what do they understand?
Lot of complex dynamics.
One of the most fascinating things is having arguments
where both characters are right.
Right? That's like real life.
-That's like arguing with your partner. -Yeah.
-You know? And reflecting on it two scenes later. -Mm-hmm.
So there's a real relatability to how messy this stuff is.
-Life is hard. -I love it, man.
It's, uh... it's exciting to see you onstage.
It's gonna be great to see you doing this for the first time.
-Thank you for coming on the show. -Thanks very much.
If we, uh, get extended, there might be a role for you
in there, if you want to whip it out.
Uh...
Think about it.
I-I will-- I will think about it.
Okay. Just take it under advisement.
-Put it under your hat. -Yeah.
Let's, uh-- let's go-- let's go-- let's go for a quick break
-while I think about this. -(laughs)
Uh, Take Me Out opens April 4,
and tickets are on sale right now.
Uh, yeah, I'll-I'll think about this,
and we'll be right back after this.
I'm gonna say no, but I-I'll think about it.
Sounds like a yes.
Well, that's our show for tonight. But before we go,
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Now here it is, Your Moment of Zen.
(translated): My life today is wonderful.
I believe that I am needed.
I think that's the most important sense of life,
that you are needed,
that you not just an emptiness that breathes
and walks and eats something.