[theme music]
ANNOUNCER: Coming to you from New
York City, the only city in America, it's The Daily Show.
Tonight, will the trains go on strike,
the latest supernatural trend, and Pam Grier.
This is The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.
[cheering]
What's going on, everybody?
Welcome to The Daily Show.
I'm Trevor Noah.
Thank you so much for tuning in.
Thank you for coming out in person.
Thank you so much for being here.
We have got a great show for you tonight.
Take a seat, everybody. Take a seat.
Let's get into this.
Elon Musk is going to war with Apple.
We find out what virus will kill you next.
And Joe Biden is working on the railroad.
Plus the legendary Pam Grier is joining
us on the show, everybody.
So let's do this, people.
Let's jump straight into today's headlines.
[cheering]
All right.
Before we get into the big stories,
let's catch up on a few other things going on in the world.
We kick things off with the World Cup,
where the United States has moved on to the round of 16
after defeating Iran, 1-0.
[applause]
Yes, it's such an amazing win for them.
It means that they go to the next round,
and they now get to say "I-ran" instead of "Ee-ran."
In Hawaii, the world's largest active volcano
has just begun erupting for the first time in 38 years,
which is a shame, another brother
fallen during no-nut November.
[laughter]
It was so close, man.
It was so close.
In other science news, researchers have now
reanimated a so-called zombie virus
that has lain dormant under the Arctic ice
for nearly 50,000 years.
Yeah, now the good news is that Joe Biden is immune.
He already had it as a kid.
[laughter]
And I know.
I know a lot of people are worried.
They're like, why are we doing this?
It's dangerous to mess with viruses this way.
But think about it, people.
It's actually pretty smart because these viruses are
eventually going to emerge anyway when the ice caps melt.
So the quicker we can learn about them,
the quicker we can make a vaccine that no one will take.
Oh, and in some legal news, a Florida woman
is suing Kraft Foods over its microwave mac and cheese,
arguing that while the box says it's ready in three and a half
minutes, that doesn't include the amount of time
it takes to add the water, and then wait for the sauce
to thicken.
[laughter]
And you can laugh, but she's right.
I mean, the box doesn't even include the time
it takes for me to cry over the fact
that I have to eat Kraft mac and cheese for dinner.
That's another 45 minutes.
And, you know, stories like this
make you think about it must be so hard for the lawyer who
works on a case like this to discuss
their work with their peers.
You know?
Like, they're just sitting in a room.
It's like, I'm working on a case
to protect the right to abortion in the South.
Yeah, I'm working on a case to shut down
a company that's been poisoning the water of poor communities.
How about you, Allen?
He's like, well, you know how sometimes
mac and cheese takes longer to make than you expect?
All right.
Well, let's move on to some of the biggest stories
of the day, starting with the ongoing firestorm facing
Donald Trump, former president and host
of the most disturbing dinner since the one Jeffrey
Dahmer had.
Last week Trump ate dinner at Mar-a-Lago
with Kanye West and a prominent white supremacist
named Nick Fuentes.
And we don't know exactly what happened at that dinner
except that nobody ordered latkes.
But, apparently, a lot of Republicans
don't think it's a great look for the leader
of their party to be splitting apps with neo-Nazis.
REPORTER: Donald Trump facing growing backlash to his dinner
last week with prominent white nationalist Nick Fuentes.
Republican politicians now among those calling
out the former President.
I think there's--
it's been clear that there's no bottom
to the degree to which President Trump will degrade
himself and the nation.
Well, I think he can make better choices, obviously.
That was a bad decision.
There's no place for that in the Republican Party.
President Trump was wrong to give a white nationalist,
an anti-Semite, and a Holocaust denier a seat at the table.
And I think he should apologize for it,
and he should denounce those individuals
and their hateful rhetoric without qualification.
Let me just say that there is no
room in the Republican Party for anti-Semitism
or white supremacy.
(IMITATING MCCONNELL) That's right.
There's no room at all because we're all ready full.
Yeah.
I mean, we do have room for someone who hates Dothrakis,
but that would be a new one.
You know, it's so funny watching Republicans try
to chastise Trump for hanging out with someone who has
the exact same views as him without chastising Trump
for having those views, right?
Because here's the thing.
I'm willing to believe--
I'm willing to believe that Trump didn't know
who Nick Fuentes was when he came to his dinner,
as Trump says.
I'm willing to believe that.
But you've got to admit, it says a lot about him
that he enjoyed this man's company and everything
that he had to say. Right?
Like, if your friend brings Darth Vader to your house
for dinner, that's not your fault.
But 15 minutes in, any decent person would be like,
I'm not comfortable with how much this guy talks
about blowing up planets.
Also, why is he wearing a mask?
We've all been tested.
[laughter]
And it is nice.
It is nice to see Republican officials speak out
against Trump for a change.
But we all know how this is going to end.
Republicans get mad at Trump for a little while,
and then they always get back together with him in the end.
Trump scandals are basically like Hallmark Movies.
You know?
Except Trump never actually changes
and becomes a better person.
It's just like, Donald, either you choose your career
or you choose me.
He's like, (IMITATING TRUMP) well, I choose my career.
OK, you can have me, too, Donald.
But let's move on to some news about trains,
or as I call them, choo-choo trains.
You may think about trains as just a form of transport
or a place where people gather to solve murders,
but they're not just that.
It turns out that trains are responsible for carrying
billions of dollars in goods across America every year.
But over the past few months, railroad workers
have been trying to negotiate better working
conditions with the railroads.
And the dispute has gotten so bad
that now President Biden, Amtrak Joe himself,
is stepping in.
President Biden is calling on Congress
to avert a looming rail strike and impose
a settlement that some Union members rejected.
REPORTER: The president's involvement
signals a major shift for him that could potentially pit
him against his union allies.
But right now, George, he says that he was reluctant to get
involved in this one.
But the potential that this could cripple the economy
was just too much.
A strike could threaten everything from farming
and food to crucial chemicals for clean water,
causing major supply chain disruptions.
Yeah, that's right.
A railroad strike wouldn't just inconvenience passengers.
It would devastate the entire economy,
which you've got to admit sounds weird in 2022, right?
No, it does because railroads feel so old-timey.
You know, it's like, (OLD-TIMEY ACCENT) on the railroad.
And it's like it will devastate the economy now.
It's like finding out you're losing
your job because the Whale Hunter's Union went on strike.
You're like, but I work on computers.
Yeah, well, actually, the internet runs on whale oil.
What are you going to do?
Now the situation is complex.
But, basically, some railroad unions
are threatening to strike because, despite railroad
companies making billions in profits,
workers' schedules are so unpredictable that they
can't plan their lives.
And they definitely don't get nearly enough sick days, which
they deserve, especially because every few train rides,
they have to climb on the roof because they hear a sound.
And it's James Bond, who's coming to punch
them and take over the train.
That's at least a mental health day.
So it's kind of messed up for Joe Biden to step in
and forbid the workers from striking.
You know?
That's the only point of leverage that workers have.
If they can't strike, what are they supposed to do?
Be like, all right, we'll run the trains.
But when we blow the whistle, it's going to be real sad.
Choo, choo.
At the same time, though, I can see
why Joe Biden is willing to stop the unions
from going on strike.
He can't have the economy take a hit on his watch.
His administration has enough problems-- high interest
rates, war in Europe, they can't find
a sitter for Pete Buttigieg.
Times are hard.
But if anyone can solve a train crisis, it's Joe Biden.
This man has spent his whole life obsessed with trains.
This is his moment.
Can you imagine?
It's made for him.
This is like if Trump had to solve a crisis
involving the McRib, you know?
He's just like, (IMITATING TRUMP)
everyone out of the room.
Melania, get me the Hamburglar on a secure line.
We're going to solve this.
But this is yet another reminder of all the things
happening in the supply chain that we
all just take for granted.
We take it all for granted because a banana doesn't just
show up in a grocery store.
Somebody grows a tree in Costa Rica.
And then it's picked, and it's loaded onto a truck.
And then a ship, and then another truck, and then
a train, and then another truck, and that's
when you buy it at the store.
You put it on your counter, and you
let it slowly rot before throwing it in the garbage.
And that garbage is picked up by another truck.
And then it's shipped back to Costa Rica.
It's actually beautiful when you think about it.
It's the circle of life.
[applause]
Hakuna matata.
All right, finally, history is full of famous feuds,
you know?
Godzilla versus Mothra, Swifties versus Ticketmaster,
Herschel Walker versus condoms.
And now there's a new one, Elon Musk, the world's richest man,
is picking a fight with the world's richest company.
Elon Musk has a beef with Apple.
He claims the tech giant has threatened to pull
Twitter from its App Store.
A move like that would, of course,
crush Musk's new company.
REPORTER: Musk tweeting a series of claims against Tim
Cook and company, calling out the iPhone maker
for pulling back on advertising on the social platform,
also complaining about the 15% to 30%
fee that is placed on app developers.
Musk also said that Apple had threatened
to remove Twitter from its App Store
as part of its review moderation process.
He likened this move to a suppression of free speech.
REPORTER: This is a battle for the future of civilization,
he writes.
If free speech is lost, even in America,
tyranny is all that lies ahead.
Really, Elon?
Tyranny?
You can't give the Braveheart speech about everything.
Everything?
This dude is walking around Twitter headquarters
like, this threatens the very existence
of democracy and mankind.
Than the janitor is like, OK, jeez,
I'll refill the paper towels.
Stop shouting.
Now we should unpack this a bit because Elon went
full on ludicrous mode yesterday
with a bunch of different claims about Apple.
The first thing he complained about
was that Apple stopped advertising
on Twitter, which he thinks is an attack on free speech.
And maybe it's just me, but, like,
do you also find it funny how free speech
and giving Elon Musk money always
seem to be perfectly aligned?
Right?
Elon is like, oh, so the world's most perfectly
protected brand doesn't want ads
showing up next to Nazi memes.
I guess you believe in censorship, huh?
Secondly, Elon is bitching that Apple has threatened to drop
Twitter from the App Store.
And if that's true, it's probably
because Apple requires all of its apps to be safe.
And Musk has essentially fired all the people who
are responsible for content moderation
and replaced them with a sign that just says,
hey, don't post that.
And the third point-- the third point that Elon
is crying about is that Apple has too
much power over iPhone apps.
Yeah, because if he charges $8 a month for Twitter
verification, Apple automatically
gets to take up to 30% of any money people spend in the app.
Elon doesn't want that.
I mean, he can't afford to give 30% of Twitter's money
away just because some idiot made him spend $44 billion
on an app that we all use for free.
He can't afford that shit.
And so that's where we are right
now, the richest company versus the richest man in the world.
And the stakes could not be higher.
Because, remember, the outcome of this war
could determine how we spend our time while we poop.
All right, that's it for the headlines.
Before we go to a break, it's time
to check in on all the latest social media trends
with our very own Ronny Chieng, everybody!
[cheering]
What's going on, Ronny?
Thank you.
I love social media.
It's the one place where you can keep your Thanksgiving
fights going all year long.
Here's what's trending today.
OK, there's this weird video on TikTok of a doll
dancing around in the forest.
And now parents are showing their kids that video
and tricking them into believing that the doll was
them as a baby.
Now what I just said may not make any sense, but trust me.
After you watch it, it will somehow make even less sense.
All right?
Just take a look.
WOMAN: Do you remember?
That's not me when I was a baby.
WOMAN: Yeah, it was.
You don't remember?
I'm flying.
WOMAN: Yeah, you were just born.
OK, stop.
Stop the video.
Putin, if you're watching this, please, just nuke us right now
and end it, OK?
Because if you're going to gaslight kids like you have
done Men in Black brainwash your children,
at least give them a good fake memory, OK?
Like, make them believe that two years ago, you already
got them a Nintendo instead of losing their college
fund in Bitcoin, right?
Because this challenge is just mean.
Even Woody Allen is like, this is
no way to treat your own kids.
OK?
What, too soon?
Too Soon-Yi?
TREVOR NOAH: [laughs]
Kids, let's--
[applause]
Let's try a new challenge, OK?
The call protective services and tell them your parents
are exploiting you for likes challenge, OK?
Because you might even get a new family out of this.
It'll be hilarious.
Something for the gram.
And the other thing that's trending right now
is, as Trevor said, Elon Musk versus Apple.
He's very upset right now, and, of course,
Elon is upset at Apple's policy, OK?
Elon barely read his own contract to buy Twitter.
You think he read Apple's terms and conditions?
OK?
No one seems to understand, this guy is rich in America.
OK?
That means people should just do what he wants.
Stop oppressing him.
OK?
Elon grew up in South Africa under apartheid, Trevor.
Do you have any idea how hard that was for him?
[laughter]
That's something none of us in this room
could ever understand.
And that is what's motivating him
to save democracy by preserving our right to have
neo-Nazis call me a cuck.
So you commies better let the free market save this company
that's not profitable.
But speaking on Twitter, the only trend
that matters this week is the World Cup, OK?
Yeah, that's right.
And every day, every trend, every trending topic
is someone versus someone--
USA versus Iran, Morocco versus Belgium.
You can't see anything but World Cup hashtags.
OK?
It's so bad-- I don't even know who Pete Davidson
is [bleep] right now, OK?
That's how unclear my feed is.
It's just buried under inane soccer tweets
from idiots like this guy.
You see this?
Look at this.
[laughter]
Lionel Messi, what a player.
Do we need this?
What a player.
What a tweet.
What a discovery.
Oh my god.
This guy should quit his job and become a soccer scout,
whoever he is, because he's got a real eye
for finding the best player in the world
for the last two decades.
Listen, Pete Davidson could be [bleep] Kathy Bates right now,
and I wouldn't even know because of trash like this
cluttering up my feed.
Anyway, I got to go.
My mom just sent me a video of me
as a baby playing in the forest or something.
I got to go watch this.
All right, back to you, Trevor.
Ronny Chieng, everybody.
RONNY CHIENG: Oh my god, I'm so cute.
Thank you so much for that.
And you should check out Messi.
He's pretty amazing.
All right, when we come back, Michael Kosta will give you
the secrets to getting rich.
So don't go away.
[cheering]
Welcome back to The Daily Show.
You know, with the global economy looking shaky,
you may be wondering where you can safely invest your money.
Well, Michael Kosta has covered with an opportunity
you can't miss.
MICHAEL KOSTA (VOICEOVER): When you think
of successful markets that have thrived during the pandemic
while so many others have perished, you think of Zoom,
Amazon, sweatpants, and haunted dolls.
That's right.
Haunted dolls are big right now.
Now I'm not usually an occult guy.
But to survive in this economy, I'm willing to make
a deal with the undead.
But, first, I had to find out more about the business.
And who better to teach me than Kat Blowers,
the number one seller of haunted dolls on eBay?
Be scared of demons.
Be scared of negative energy.
But other than that, if you're interested,
you should jump in with both feet.
You are literally in the business of ghosting people.
When did you notice that the haunted doll business was
skyrocketing and that you are basically the Jeff
Bezos of haunted dolls?
[laughs] I started in 2014, and there
was only a few shops.
Now there's probably 50, 60 shops for haunted dolls.
How many dolls would you say you've sold in the last year?
Probably a thousand.
There's money in this?
There is.
I've seen a haunted doll go for $4,000 before.
Woo!
OK, now Kosta is into it.
MICHAEL KOSTA (VOICEOVER): But my big question,
aside from how can I hide $4,000 of dolls sales
from the IRS, is what made a haunted doll a haunted doll?
According to haunted doll sellers,
any doll that was inhabited by the soul of a dead person
was prime for selling.
But what made one haunting more expensive than another?
MICHAEL KOSTA: When you say haunted, for me,
that sounds scary.
You're also saying that there's a positive haunting?
Absolutely, and I try to keep most of my stuff
on the positive side. - Oh, you mean--
Like that's going to--
--the baby with its legs ripped off?
KAT BLOWERS: Actually, that one's not that positive.
Right.
What if it's, like, a really evil spirit?
I actually do charge a little bit more.
I don't want the little, young kids to be able to afford it.
MICHAEL KOSTA (VOICEOVER): You can sell a human soul on eBay?
There was a ban.
Who was selling too many human souls?
KAT BLOWERS: You have to have a disclaimer if a ghost caused
you to murder your wife.
Isn't capitalism fascinating?
It can be.
That's about 25% of the business,
and people send them to me.
And right now I have a two and a half
year waiting list for evaluations.
Yeah. - What?
Write down everything you know about the doll
so that when I open the box I know what I'm dealing with.
And I'll talk to you in two and a half years.
The rest of the business is people contacting me,
looking for a haunted doll.
Are you looking for a little kid?
Are you looking for something that's going to challenge you?
Are you looking for something that's
going to scare your neighbors?
There's spirits that will motivate you to do work.
There's spirits that will attract money to your house.
There's spirits that will attract love.
MICHAEL KOSTA (VOICEOVER): Wow.
Clearly, Katherine was selling these
haunted little hot cakes.
But who are the everyday folks buying these haunted dolls?
[knocking]
Hi.
Oh, I no-- I-- it's you.
I know you.
Hey.
MICHAEL KOSTA (VOICEOVER): Yup, the Stormy Daniels.
Stormy's doll, Susan, was purchased in 2011,
and is said to be cursed with a uniquely malevolent spirit.
We believe Susan belonged to a little girl
who died in 1955.
And it definitely had something to do with a stomach issue.
Before we even started shooting, the producer on set
here wanted to touch her.
And you said, don't do that. You'll shit your pants.
Yes.
Three people that I slept with in a row she attacked.
They had stomach problems and back issues
pretty much immediately.
She's more mischievous than malicious.
I've never felt like I was in danger.
What has Susan added to your life?
STORMY DANIELS: She adds protection
when you go into these places that could be dangerous.
MICHAEL KOSTA (VOICEOVER): OK, but is
Susan really worth that much?
I have been offered $7,500 for her once
and $10,000 for her once.
But she is not for sale.
She has her own TV show.
She's on VH1's The Real Life.
Anyone who follows her Instagram will
know this little plastic bitch has
been on yachts and Ferraris.
Is that her handle, this little plastic bitch?
It should be.
Would you say she's living her best afterlife?
She is definitely living her best afterlife.
MICHAEL KOSTA (VOICEOVER): So I went back
to Kat to learn about the highly
scientific analysis process used
to identify a haunted doll.
MICHAEL KOSTA: So--
[bell ringing]
Bells?
OK.
MICHAEL KOSTA (VOICEOVER): After studying
the extensive tools needed and the strict procedure--
What if the UPS guy rings the doorbell?
That screws it up.
MICHAEL KOSTA (VOICEOVER): I knew
if I was serious about getting into the business of haunted
dolls, the next step had to be trying out the haunted product
to see what all the fuss is about.
Her name is Jennifer.
She is about seven or eight years old.
And we think she was murdered.
Is it safe to say that she was killed by a white man?
[laughs] Yes. MICHAEL KOSTA: Probably.
KAT BLOWERS: Absolutely.
What is it with a white men lately?
What would Jennifer cost for someone?
60, 70 bucks probably.
- 60, 70 bucks, OK. - Yeah.
MICHAEL KOSTA: All right, Jennifer.
Sorry you got murdered.
MICHAEL KOSTA (VOICEOVER): So I left with my free trial
named Jennifer, and I took a video diary
to record my feedback.
Hey, so day one with Jennifer,
I don't know if I really get it yet.
The only thing I can report, I have had some violent dreams.
There was a river of blood, and there was a stabbing,
but still better than what I was
dreaming about before, which was the state of this country.
So I think I'm starting to get it a little bit.
Did you make this for me?
I don't know if she's following me.
[gasps]
Or if I just bring her everywhere.
I can't do this with you watching.
Thank you.
The soul of this doll has excellent comedic timing.
It's just great having someone around
who laughs at the jokes.
She is a haunted doll, and I know what I'm saying,
and it sounds crazy.
But it's just-- it's wonderful.
(HIGH-PITCHED) Nice to meet you.
Nice to meet-- I'm going to kill you.
Just kidding.
[laughs]
The trial-- the trial is over, and I
can't get into this business.
Sending Jennifer back to Katherine
is the hardest thing I've ever had to do.
Jennifer, you got to go.
Get in the box.
Thank you so much for that, Michael.
All right, stay tuned because when we come back,
the legendary Pam Grier will be joining
me right here on the show.
So don't go away.
[cheering]
Welcome back to The Daily Show.
My guest tonight is an iconic actor
you know from films like Foxy Brown and Jackie Brown.
And she's here to talk about the new podcast
season of her TCM podcast, The Plot Thickens.
The final episode drops December 6,
and you can catch up on the whole season
wherever you listen to podcasts.
Please, welcome the legendary Pam Grier.
[music playing]
[cheering]
Welcome, welcome. Welcome to the show.
Welcome. Good to have you.
Oh my god.
Oh, a legend.
Give an applause, ladies and gentlemen.
[cheering]
The legendary Pam Grier.
Trevor.
Welcome to The Daily Show.
Trevor, hey.
TREVOR NOAH: [laughs]
What we going to do when you leave us, boy?
Come on.
TREVOR NOAH: Well, I'm not leaving life.
No, but I look forward to you and hearing you and--
Thank you.
--and keeping me laughing at great stuff.
- Thank you very much. - Humanity.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
[cheering]
Because I feel like--
and I'm not the only one who thinks this.
If it weren't for you, so many of the movies
that we know and love today wouldn't have been possible.
Because everybody who knows film knows that if it weren't
for Pam Grier and what she did with all the movies
that she made, there wouldn't have
been Black women on screen, kicking ass the way
that we see them today.
You were the original action star
at a time when Black women weren't allowed
to be portrayed like that.
So thank you.
[cheering] Thank you.
Well, as you know, quickly, as a filmmaker,
you have to develop an audience to be prepared
for a woman performing martial arts,
whether it's internal kung fu, external karate,
an external form, and jumping and firing firearms.
I'm from the Black West.
[laughter]
Don't worry about my guns.
Worry about my chainsaw, and we make moonshine, OK?
But I wanted to bring that culture to film
to help not pontificate to anyone
with filters and fear of me, a woman
walking in a man's shoes.
You know what I'm talking about.
Hey in the blue sweater.
But to let everyone feel comfortable that they--
my grandfather Daddy Ray in my biopic and everything that's
happening, he said, Pammy, I want you to fly ties,
go fishing, bring the boat in.
I want all the girls to be self-sufficient.
And if a woman can do something,
a man will respect you. TREVOR NOAH: Wow.
I love this.
And I've had that.
And so that gave me the courage to fall, get hurt,
but to show that women are just trying
to be the best we can be.
So when you don't come home from a war,
we done cut the grass.
We done paint the house.
We welcome our men, who may not come home.
But we can do it, and you're proud of us.
TREVOR NOAH: That is beautiful.
And you really did create something completely
new and completely different.
In The Plot Thickens, the podcast,
what I love about it is we go through your life
and your journey.
There are few human beings who have lived--
it almost feels like a hundred lives--
It is.
--in one lifetime.
It is.
It's Gumpian, Forrest Gumpian.
TREVOR NOAH: It really is Forrest Gumpian.
This shit got to happen to me?
Come on.
TREVOR NOAH: Are you kidding me?
To be-- the first week I'm off the turnip truck,
literally, I get to sing backup with Bobby Womack.
He says, hey, I have a friend that
is recording tomorrow night.
Now I'm literally sleeping in a garage,
trying to get into film school at UCLA.
OK?
OK, you're going to be singing for-- working
for Sylvester Stewart.
Puddy Cat?
What kind of Sylvester name is that?
OK, OK, I can do it. I can do it.
I sing gospel in Denver.
I play keyboards.
So I go, CBS, and the director-- the manager says,
have you sung with Wonderlove before?
I'm like, Wonderlove?
Stevie Wonder's back-- no, I'm poor, and I live in Colorado.
And I've come out here to go to school.
And he says, OK, well, tell Sylvester.
You want to meet him?
OK, so he walks me up to this big window.
And it's Sly of Sly and the Family Stone.
TREVOR NOAH: Wow.
Fro, bass, you know, jamming.
On drums in the back, Buddy Miles.
He had already started Band of Gypsys.
What?
So I get to sing, go to sleep.
Elevator opens.
Here is three guys in the elevator,
a big, Black dude in the center with a hat,
and two white dudes on the side,
walking down the hallway.
And I'm going, I smell patchouli oil.
TREVOR NOAH: [laughs]
It's Jimi Hendrix.
TREVOR NOAH: What?
And the Band of Gypsys coming to jam
with Sly and the Family Stone.
Where are the tapes? TREVOR NOAH: What?
Yeah, and he goes, (IMITATING HENDRIX) hey--
you know, hey, Buddy, man.
I'm like-- [gasping] I'm like a zombie.
Like, don't be stupid, Pam.
You got-- she can sing.
She's country.
Don't pay any attention to her.
And they started jamming. Where are the tapes?
Come on now.
That's-- I couldn't have planned that.
TREVOR NOAH: Where are the tapes?
Can you imagine? I don't know.
Maybe you can find them.
I feel like every story in your life is this.
Like you said, you grew up in a world where you're poor.
You didn't have much. You come into this world.
You're trying to do something.
You start creating the something.
You're singing with people.
You're going out with legends and icons.
You're becoming friends with them.
You're working with them. You're creating.
And you become the legend and the icon.
I would love to know, when you've
been part of this documentary that looks back on your life--
PAM GRIER: I know.
You know, when we're living life,
oftentimes, we don't take stock of every single thing
that we've experienced.
But when you get to hear it told back to you, when
you get to tell it again, sometimes
you appreciate it even more.
I would love to know, when you look at it again,
what is one of the biggest moments not of success,
but where you go, wow, I cannot believe that I lived through
that moment in my career?
I lived through Richard Pryor.
TREVOR NOAH: Wow.
I really loved him, and he loved me.
He thought I was the funniest bitch around.
[laughter]
TREVOR NOAH: That sounds like something Richard would day.
I made him laugh.
His horse, Ginger, from the Mudbone folklore--
TREVOR NOAH: Yes.
The horse was injured.
And I come from Western stock, horses, and grew up.
The horses saved me and my family.
TREVOR NOAH: Yes.
And I had to take him to the vet.
But I didn't have a truck or a horse trailer.
Richard's in a bathrobe, crying.
He's going to kill every mother-mother-[bleep] around.
And I'm like, no, you don't have to kill anybody.
We're going to put the horse in my Jaguar.
He says, but it's a Jag.
It's a four-door, '76 XJL banana yellow.
TREVOR NOAH: But you're saying you're going
to put the horse in the Jag.
We put the horse in the backseat of the Jag.
I said, I'll go--
I'mma go pulling, and you push, Richard.
We're going to get the horse in the Jaguar.
We get the horse in the Jaguar.
The shocks go boom.
The tires go boom.
And get in the car, Richard, with your ashy ankles
and your bathrobe.
Get in the mother-[bleep] car.
- [laughs] - OK, we get in the car.
We driving down the 405-- - No way.
--to the vet. Yes, way.
And, all of a sudden, like, the car's
fishtailing all over the place with the horse in the back.
And white people saying, there's
two Negroes in the car with a horse in the backseat
of a English car.
It's a Jag!
And we're all-- and they're saying, where's the vet?
Where's the vet? And they said, follow us.
Follow us. And so we've got--
I've got a train of people, choo-choo train,
following us to the vet with the horse
in the back seat to get--
I'm going to save a horse. I'm going to save a life.
TREVOR NOAH: I love that.
And we get there, and Richard said, baby,
you're the funniest bitch I've ever known.
You funnier than me.
Saved your life, and he realized that I loved him.
And I didn't want him to fall off
the wagon because he was trying to get his stuff together.
And I would do anything.
When you really love someone, when you--
you don't abandon people you love.
You abandon people you're using.
TREVOR NOAH: Hmm.
And I never used him.
TREVOR NOAH: What do you think it was about you
that immunized you from a world where-- you've
talked about this in your biography,
and you talked about this in your stories-- so many
of the people around you who were
brilliant-- they were icons. They were changing the world.
They're geniuses.
TREVOR NOAH: They were geniuses,
but they were also addicted to drugs.
Drugs was really destroying who they were.
Many people going into rehab, some never making it out,
and yet you managed to escape so much of that.
What do you think it was about you?
I can't drink gin.
I'm part Native American.
The juniper berry makes my brains--
TREVOR NOAH: Oh.
I remember at my debutante ball, I had a slow gin fizz,
and I was supposed to have it.
And I remember someone said they saw me jumping
off a table in my mom's wedding dress,
fighting, duking it out.
[laughs]
I think because I've had four attacks, one as a child,
and then again at seven, and then 18, and then 20,
I fought family trauma--
many of you know about from my book.
And I found my pain is deep, but my joy is infinite.
And I find such joy in watching these geniuses
escape their genius.
It's scary.
You can't repeat that.
Who's going to play Miles Davis again,
Bitches Brew on a chart?
Who's going to do that?
Nobody.
Who's going to do a lot of the music that's done today,
and it's not being written because it's not going to be
played 40, 50 years from now?
That's genius.
And you have to play it over and over
and over again in your show, every night, or at a concert.
It's-- what do you do?
Take the fear and anxiety away. I can do it.
I create it.
I got to do it again--
eight shows a week.
That's a test for yourself and your discipline.
And you've got this out here.
It's hard to keep it out there.
What genius that you created note by note, bar by bar,
everyone who writes classical music, pages, volumes of it,
it's like, yeah, they're going to do
something because they're going to have to recreate that--
Wow.
--or sell it to someone.
And so when you do that, and when they say, well,
who's going to fill my shoes, I said,
it can be filled because there's
a lot of women that come up to me and say, Pam, thank you.
I was criticized for being a tomboy.
No, you ain't a tomboy.
You're a girly girl, and it's OK.
But just be the best that you can be.
TREVOR NOAH: That's what makes you so legendary is
you forged a path.
You know, you don't know how many
people will be inspired by it.
And now you're there on the other end,
tying it up again, forging the path for the next Pam Grier.
Thank you so much for joining me on the show.
Thank you for being here.
Congratulations on the story, on your biopic, on your life.
We appreciate you so much.
Pam Grier, everybody.
We're going to take a quick break.
But we'll be right back after this.
Thank you so much.
Thank you and congratulations.
[cheering]
Well, that's our show for tonight.
Thank you so much for tuning in.
Before we go, though, I just wanted to remind you
that today is Giving Tuesday.
So, please, consider donating to One Simple Wish, a charity
that grants wishes to kids and young adults in foster care.
If you want to help grant a wish
or donate towards their holiday wish fund,
then, please, do so at the link below.
Until next time, stay safe out there.
And, remember, USA will be playing
against the Netherlands Saturday at 10:00 AM.
So you finally have an excuse to get drunk in the morning.
Now here it is, your Moment of Zen.
I'm the mayor.
I'm the mayor of the City of New York.
If they like it or not, I'm the mayor.
We getting ready to have the World Cups here.
It's a huge undertaking.
And I want to-- since I'm in the region
already, to deal with the anti-Semitism,
I'm taking a quick flight on my dime
to go inspect what is happening there
so that we can be prepared.
It's on my dime.
When I do my dime, I could do my time,
and I won't hear one-- anyone wine.
[music playing]