0:00

No one likes being ghosted,

0:02

especially when they're real ghosts.

0:05

Gina Rodriguez is back in the

0:07

hilarious comedy, Not Dead Yet. She

0:09

plays Nell, who's a perpetual singleton.

0:11

Not only does she write obituaries,

0:13

but she also receives life and

0:15

dating advice from the other side.

0:18

This show is lovable, relatable,

0:20

and even dateable. It's got

0:22

Hannah Simone, Lauren Ash, Brad

0:24

Garrett, and a surprising ghost

0:27

guest every episode. Watch the

0:29

season premiere of Not Dead Yet

0:31

Wednesday at 8.30, 7.30 Central

0:34

on ABC and stream on Hulu. Warning,

0:38

things are about to

0:40

get intense. Like when

0:42

you stare into the

0:44

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0:46

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0:48

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0:50

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1:41

time. ["Tape Me

1:43

Why Won't You Date Me"]

1:49

Why won't you date me? Why

1:52

won't you date me? Why

1:54

won't you date me?

1:56

Please tell me why.

2:06

I'm just talking to fun people having a nice time. And

2:17

my guest today is a hilarious comedian,

2:19

actress, and writer known for her work

2:22

on South Side, Insecure, and a Black

2:24

Lady sketch show. We've recently seen her

2:26

stealing scenes as Officer Nicki in the

2:28

Emmy-nominated series Jury Duty, which I thought

2:30

was very funny. I'm thrilled she's here

2:32

today. I might fuck up her last

2:34

name, but I'm going to try really

2:36

hard. It's Rashida, Sheeb, Ol- Olayi

2:39

Wola- Oh no. Oh, you did it,

2:41

you did it. No, you did it.

2:43

You said Olayi Wola. I

2:46

tried so hard. It's

2:49

such a pretty name that I was like,

2:51

I don't want to fuck this up. She's,

2:53

how are you? I'm so good. I'm thriving.

2:55

I'm living my best life as a single

2:58

woman. Are

3:03

you single? I am single.

3:06

I don't want to be, but I am. And so

3:08

I'm doing good. Shit. Okay.

3:12

So you don't want to be single. What

3:15

are you doing to combat being

3:17

a single lady? So

3:20

you know, I go to a lot

3:22

of therapy with my black woman therapist

3:24

and what I'm not doing, which

3:26

I think is important is I'm not settling.

3:28

So I rather be single than settling. And

3:33

I decided in 2024, I'm not going to

3:35

be on any apps because I

3:37

don't like meeting people through apps anymore. It's

3:40

a nightmare. And I've

3:42

tried them all. I

3:45

actually liked the hinge, but it was

3:47

just the more that my life blows

3:50

up, it's blowing up. It's

3:53

hard to decipher through like, I

3:56

was meeting dudes who act like they liked me and then I would

3:58

get to the date and they'd be like, yes. So I got

4:00

the script and I'm like, oh my God. No,

4:03

that's only happened to me once,

4:05

which is very, it's

4:08

like disarming. Cause you're like, wait a minute.

4:10

You want me to read a script

4:13

on this date with you? Right, or you want

4:15

me to talk about how you can get into

4:17

a room or it's

4:19

really, like you said, it's disarming and it's

4:21

gross. It's like, you don't like me, so

4:23

what we doing here? I

4:27

might take a cue from you and get off the

4:29

apps in 2024 because

4:32

they're not good. They're not like,

4:34

I haven't been on a date in forever.

4:36

I, I've been swiping the last person I

4:38

matched with messaged me, but then was having

4:40

a bunch of problems and then they couldn't

4:43

meet up. And I was like, I don't

4:45

know you. I don't want any of this.

4:47

If you could, if you, if you want to go

4:49

out with me, let's go out. But if

4:51

you don't, leave me the fuck alone. That's

4:53

me. That's my whole MO, man. Like, and

4:56

I had something similar happen to me the last

4:58

day I went on. Like I actually liked the

5:00

dude because he made me laugh. Anybody who like

5:02

made me laugh, I'm attracted to him. You

5:05

know, I was like, oh, this is cool. And then

5:07

he just, it just started

5:09

being weird. Now we met on Hinged

5:12

and then like we had,

5:14

we went on two dates and for both dates,

5:16

he was late. And I was

5:18

like, why does his fan keep being late? Like what

5:21

is, what's going on? So then

5:23

after he asked

5:25

me out a third time, I was like, you know,

5:27

I don't, I said, I value my time. I'm like,

5:29

clearly you don't. And I was like, 10 minutes.

5:32

Okay, five, cool.

5:34

But 20 and 30 minutes, what's

5:36

going on? And that's when

5:38

I found out that he was a liar. He

5:41

lied about having a car. This man was

5:43

literally taking the train all

5:45

the way from Inglewood to closer to like, to

5:47

wherever. I don't know. I'm not from LA, so

5:49

I don't know how their

5:51

train system works. I didn't even know they had one.

5:54

But he was lying and it was just like, if

5:57

you're lying about that, what else are

5:59

you lying about? So I was just so turned

6:01

off and he was like, oh, you just,

6:04

I thought you weren't like that. It's not because I

6:06

don't have a car because this. And I was like, it

6:09

ain't about that you don't have a car. You were lying

6:11

about why you were late. So

6:13

that turns me off. And like you said, I

6:15

don't know you. We met on

6:18

an app and I just, I'm such a,

6:20

if anybody knows me, I'm so personable. Like

6:22

I'm organic. Most of my relationships, even in

6:26

industry and out of the industry are so organic.

6:28

My friendships, all of that. And

6:30

I don't like the feeling of like having

6:33

to be on this app, warm up,

6:35

shout out to anybody who met their

6:37

husband, wife, partner on these things. Tell

6:40

me what I'm doing wrong. Cause this whole

6:42

like, hey, what's up? What's up?

6:44

What you doing? What you doing? Hey, then a

6:47

day or two goes fast. And I'm just like,

6:49

I don't have time. So

6:52

what I'm doing to answer your questions, I

6:55

am putting myself out there. I'm going to more

6:57

events because I like, you

7:00

know, I spent a lot of time

7:02

like working while God works and doing

7:05

the dream work tour. Sometimes I don't get to

7:07

go to as much things as I like, but

7:09

now I'm going to more things. My friends invite

7:11

me to, whether it's a

7:13

concert, whether it's everyday people in LA,

7:15

that's bomb. Any events where I'm

7:17

like, I can meet good people. And I also talked

7:19

to all of my good friends. I had a meeting

7:21

with them at the end of the year. Yes, I

7:23

did. I

7:26

said, I need

7:28

y'all to look out for a sister. If

7:30

you know a suitable man,

7:33

preferably black men or of

7:35

the diaspora or Afro

7:37

Latino, I don't listen. I'm at

7:39

that point. I'm like, tell

7:42

them about me. Cause I've noticed in a lot

7:44

of other friend groups that I heard from, they

7:46

talk to, they like hook people upwards, be like,

7:48

hey, I know her, you should meet her. So

7:51

I talked to them about that in their life,

7:53

say less. Because I ain't got time. That's

7:56

smart. I mean, I've tried to do that with

7:58

my friends, but. I feel like I

8:00

know everyone they know and it's a

8:02

bunch of comedy people or people I

8:05

don't want to date. And it's like,

8:08

oh boy. And then I'm having trouble because

8:10

I'm like, well, apps

8:12

are the only way I have dated for the

8:14

last, I don't know, six, seven,

8:16

eight, maybe 10 years. And

8:18

I'm like, I don't want to do it anymore. It

8:21

seems it feels useless, but I I

8:23

guess I just have to leave my house.

8:26

Go to things. We

8:29

do, sis, we do. That's like I'm

8:31

I'm I'm stepping out on a phase

8:33

and we have a whole plan.

8:35

And I'm like, I'm done with these apps.

8:37

I'm like, and and we pay for them.

8:41

Like, I'm I'm I'm

8:43

sorry, I could save my seventy

8:46

five dollars a year from Raya and

8:48

I can save my twenty one ninety

8:50

nine from you. I

8:52

love that you know the exact prices that you

8:55

pay on each app. Look,

8:57

Apple Apple won't let you forget. They creep up

8:59

on you. Well, you'd be like, damn, wait a

9:01

minute. That is the first

9:04

thing I did this year in twenty

9:06

twenty four. I stopped paying for the app

9:08

because I was like, I don't open them.

9:10

I'm never on them. I'm not doing it.

9:12

So it's like, why am I just throwing

9:15

my money away? That was like the very

9:17

first thing I did. And then

9:19

the second thing I did was get covid.

9:21

So I can't go out. And then the

9:23

third thing I'm going to do is once

9:25

I'm healthy is gather all my

9:28

single friends and then have like I think

9:30

I'm going to try to like go out

9:32

once a week to like a bar or

9:34

I don't really want to do singles mixers.

9:36

I do. That just

9:38

feels a little. I

9:41

don't know to putting myself out there in a way

9:43

that doesn't feel good. But I'm like once

9:45

a week and go to a bar and get a drink.

9:47

I could, you know, try to talk to one

9:49

dude. And that's that's

9:51

not hard. I could do that as of

9:54

recently. I've noticed that I

9:56

didn't know so how the nice

9:58

the nice ones like the one. West Hollywood, the

10:00

one in Malibu, they have the happy

10:03

hour events and maybe buses. Like I didn't even

10:06

know I just was there working one day and

10:08

then the waiter came over and was like, Hey,

10:10

we just want to let you know we're about

10:12

to start our happy hour mixers. Girl,

10:16

they are bomb. So that's something I'm trying

10:18

to go to like every Thursday evening because,

10:20

and at least I know them people

10:22

in there, maybe not all of them, because some

10:25

people, they be guests of the people who have

10:27

the memberships and shit. But at

10:30

least I know I'm at a

10:32

job. I'm like 70% of them have a

10:34

job that, you know, I know they ain't

10:36

lying about taking a

10:39

train here. So, um, I

10:41

just, I just have been stumbling apart or, or

10:43

just like, I know like you and I and

10:46

other folks were in like the TV academy and

10:48

all that. They have these things, they have events

10:50

that I'm like, I used to ignore all the

10:52

time. And I'm like, you know, I'm gonna see

10:54

one of my best friends wants to go to

10:56

this academy mixer just to,

10:58

you know, you don't know where your person's

11:00

going to be. But I'm like, if I'm

11:03

going to take myself off these apps, I'm

11:05

going to do the work of like going,

11:07

putting myself out there. Like

11:10

single sheets is determined to not be single

11:12

no more. Cause I'm, I'm tired. I'm tired.

11:14

I ain't doing this life by myself. I

11:17

can do it by myself, but I don't

11:19

want to. Yeah,

11:21

that is the distinction that I think,

11:24

uh, cause sometimes people are like, Oh, if you're so desperate,

11:26

you can just, you know, uh, date

11:28

any old person. I'm like, it's not desperation.

11:30

I'd like to share my

11:32

life with somebody. I would like to come

11:34

home to somebody I really love and you

11:36

know, tell them about my day and shit.

11:39

But it's so annoying cause like

11:41

the dating somebody in the beginning is so

11:43

hard. It's hard to like get to know

11:45

people. It's hard to like put yourself out there.

11:47

But then once you're in the relationship, you're like, Oh, I'm

11:49

comfortable with this person. That's nice. And then you gotta make

11:51

it work. And then that's the hard part. It's

11:53

so hard. It's so

11:55

hard. I have a dude that I hope he, well, even

11:57

if he listened to this, I don't care. are

12:00

interested in me now and like he just

12:02

refuses to do the work and

12:04

I'm just like I told him to call me before

12:07

I would have to go out of town for some work

12:09

and he was like okay didn't call

12:11

and the next week he was just like man

12:13

you been looking so good on these red carpets

12:16

like it should have been me on

12:18

your arm and I'm like bro you didn't even

12:20

call it could have been you you didn't

12:22

call you didn't do the that's the

12:25

wildest thing where you're like I'm asking

12:27

you to do one thing and

12:30

it's like you can't do what one tiny little

12:32

thing which is call me you don't even gotta

12:34

leave your house you just have to pick up

12:36

your fucking phone which is probably already in your

12:38

hand and by a number you leave a dial

12:40

number you find my name and you hit send

12:43

and you call me listen with all these damn

12:45

ass on updates it's they making it easier and

12:47

easier for you to call people you even see

12:49

the damn picture when you call them now and

12:51

they pop up I know what outfit you got

12:53

on bro stop playing with me

12:56

but it's like you said it's like

12:58

you couldn't even do the simple issue but now you

13:00

want to I'm supposed to listen to how good I

13:02

look and how you were supposed to be no

13:04

I'm sorry no no thank

13:07

you yeah man it's tough

13:09

in these streets you're one of 72 grandchildren that's

13:11

so many grandchildren yeah do your

13:17

parents are your parents still together um no

13:20

I don't even think my parents

13:22

were ever together but I

13:24

my father is Nigerian so he's

13:26

in Africa somewhere I don't know where he is

13:29

but that's how that's how that I got

13:31

that last name you know I'm proud of

13:33

everything I am and my mom is born

13:35

in bridge first generation in Chicago I'm

13:38

Nigerian my grandparents

13:41

migrated from the south and

13:43

so when I was younger my grandparents used

13:45

to always say wealthy back

13:47

then for black folks was a big

13:50

family like having so

13:52

my mom is one of 12 children so

13:54

if each of those children have like five or

13:56

six it's easy to see how I'm one of

13:59

like seven You know,

14:01

and that's like all of us together. So I come

14:03

from a very huge large

14:06

fertile ass family That's

14:11

wild 72 grandchildren is so

14:13

many your family reunions must be wild Yes,

14:16

and my birthday parties when I was little I never

14:18

got to invite friends from school because they was like,

14:20

uh-uh It's already you got your

14:23

cousin. I just like damn Y'all

14:26

can't buy one more extra pack of hot

14:28

dogs like I

14:31

want to invite some my friends to school But I

14:33

couldn't because it was like all my cousin my cousins

14:35

were at my birthday parties until I was at least

14:37

like 11 12 years old Do

14:40

you feel like your cousins or anything were like

14:42

protective of you when you started dating or no?

14:44

Uh, Yes, um

14:47

even as a recently So

14:50

one of my cousins he's in the business

14:53

and I little real howry and people find

14:55

out that we're related They're like what the

14:57

hell so they are protected with

14:59

his brother had came in to visit us and

15:01

um So my big

15:03

cousin Matt, I had just got out of my life.

15:06

My last relationship was The

15:08

toughest year for all of us 2020. It was it ended in 2020

15:12

And so he had came like early 2021.

15:14

He's like man cuz you doing so good.

15:17

You look at so nice blah blah Where's your

15:19

guys at where's and I was like, well,

15:21

I just got our relationship. It was in

15:23

it terribly and he was

15:25

like Well, what's that need to

15:27

do? Like he they they don't

15:29

play like they're and because of the kind

15:31

of heart and mind I have and how

15:33

I moved throughout The world they always are

15:35

like we know you didn't do nothing. What

15:38

did they do? or

15:40

like, um Even when

15:42

I talked to rail and I'm just like yo, tell

15:44

me about your friend He's like and I don't want

15:46

you with none of them or I'm just like Well,

15:49

he was like, I'm a fan of good news for

15:51

you or I'll you know But even

15:53

my family my cousin's back at home. I don't

15:55

think I want none of the people they would

15:57

hook me up with cuz my I

16:00

still in the hood and shit. And my

16:02

last cousin, when I was home, this

16:04

is a funny story, I was home visiting and

16:06

there are certain areas I can't go to no

16:08

more. Cause yeah. And

16:11

so my cousin, my cousin Birdie was

16:13

like, oh my God, like you, he's

16:15

good. He got his own crib, blah,

16:17

blah. They look out for stuff like

16:19

that. And he was like,

16:21

he loyal. I'm like, oh, okay. Come to

16:23

find out this man is on house arrest.

16:25

Of course he's loyal. Where the fuck can

16:28

he go? He

16:31

can't go anywhere. He was like, but he's

16:33

not going to be on house arrest for

16:35

long. He's only on house arrest because before

16:38

he started his car business, he

16:40

was, I'm like, I don't even want to know

16:42

no more. Like this man is on house arrest.

16:45

Why do I want a man with an ankle bracelet? Like

16:48

so, but they are protective of

16:50

me. Even when we were

16:53

little, I have so

16:55

many stories of just like things that happened.

16:58

When I don't know if you want to hear

17:00

it and you got time, but it's one that's

17:02

hilarious. If I can tell you the dynamics. So

17:05

when I was little, I played basketball

17:07

and soccer. I was really good. And

17:10

for those, anybody out there who grew up

17:12

in the inner cities, we would play basketball

17:14

in the alley. We would hang a milk

17:16

crate on the phone calls, cut

17:19

the bottom out. And that's how you play basketball.

17:22

And so I'm 11 or 12 and

17:25

I'm like, hoop it, you know, and everybody, all the

17:27

dudes, I was like one of the only girls they

17:29

would pick to be on their team because I was

17:31

really good. You know, I didn't know what sexism was

17:33

at a young age. I don't think any of us

17:35

did. So

17:37

one day I go up for the,

17:40

you know, the layup. And when I

17:42

come down, I'm bleeding. I

17:45

don't know where this blood is coming from. Okay,

17:49

pause real quick. For those who have put

17:51

two and two together, I started my

17:53

period. Yes. I didn't

17:55

know that. And they didn't know

17:57

that. I fell and the dude who was

18:00

like tried to block my shot when

18:02

my cousin saw me bleeding, they

18:04

like was beating this dude's ass.

18:06

Like you, what'd you do? Like you heard her

18:09

and I'm, and mind you, I'm putting on a

18:11

full fucking drama hack in

18:13

class. I'm like, Oh, so my

18:15

cousin, birdie, KK, Shawn and man,

18:18

listen to these nicknames y'all, I

18:20

am from the gas. Oh, so,

18:24

um, I don't know if anybody's ever seen the movie

18:26

or if you've seen the movie Nicole, a menace to

18:28

society. When Kane, when Kane

18:30

got shot, how they picked him up, he,

18:32

the man got shot in the shoulder, but

18:34

he, you would've thought he was just being

18:36

assassinated. So they carry me

18:38

in the house. Like I'm Kane off

18:41

menace society. The blood is

18:43

all over my pants. It's now it's on

18:45

my shirt. And

18:47

my grandma's like, what happened? What happened? They're

18:49

like, she, they, they hit her. She

18:52

went up for the basketball. So my grandma was

18:54

like looking and she's like, where's it hurt? And

18:56

I was like, it doesn't hurt. And

18:58

she's like, well, she took me in her bedroom

19:00

and she's like, well, where is

19:02

it coming from? And I was like, and I pointed

19:04

to my crotch area. And she was like, Oh baby,

19:06

sit down. We sent a, so she called

19:09

my mom from work. It was a whole thing.

19:11

But my cousin is like literally till this day

19:13

was like, yeah, we beat his ass

19:15

cause we, they didn't know that's how

19:18

protective it was.

19:21

And like that story till this day makes us

19:23

all laugh. Cause now we're all adults and they're

19:25

like, man, and

19:27

the dude across the street that they beat up his

19:29

name was rabbit. And they were like, we beat him

19:31

up for no reason. I'm like, well, you

19:33

didn't know. I

19:36

mean, rabbit probably goes through life being like, I got to

19:38

treat women. Right. Uh, I can't, I can't

19:40

be doing shit to women. So maybe it was good

19:42

for rabbit to get it. It was good for rabbit.

19:44

And then once that, once that, that

19:46

chapter happened in my life, rabbit was,

19:48

I was wondering why rabbit was liking

19:51

on me. I was like, okay. So

19:53

rabbit was one of my first boyfriends after

19:55

that. Oh, my

19:57

12 year old boyfriend. That's.

20:00

Also, it's so funny that

20:03

you didn't get like taught about

20:05

your period until that moment until it was

20:07

like That moment which I think a lot of women

20:09

go through that where it's like, I don't know I

20:12

don't know what's happened My sister didn't know what was

20:14

happening to her The only reason why I knew what

20:16

a period was because I had an older sister and

20:18

then I read this book called Are you there God? It's me

20:20

Margaret and I was like when is it gonna

20:22

happen to me and it happened so late and

20:24

I was so sad about it But now I'm

20:27

like, let's go back to those days where I

20:29

don't have it I don't like it. All right,

20:31

my shit I did not you are so I

20:33

did not know and I was like why didn't

20:35

they to but You know, that's

20:37

a whole nother topic But I didn't know

20:39

until that moment play and and of all

20:41

places whooping in the alley with a bunch

20:43

of sweaty boys I

20:47

mean that is a way to be like, oh, I guess

20:50

women are different than men. I My

20:53

period has never been regular and

20:55

then I got birth control And

20:57

then it became even less regular I get it So

20:59

like I'll have my period for like seven days it

21:02

goes away for three and then I get it again

21:04

for seven days And then I was

21:06

like I've been sad this year and I was like wait Is

21:09

my birth control making me sad and then

21:11

I googled it birth control can make you

21:13

depressed And I was like, why didn't anyone

21:15

tell me this when I got it and

21:17

then when I was sad Why didn't anyone

21:19

go do you have birth control because I've

21:21

never been depressed like this before So

21:24

I'm getting it taken out because I'm not controlling

21:26

any births right now So

21:30

the least you can do is control

21:32

like the emotion Yeah, the

21:34

emotion the ups and downs and then hold right

21:37

here to go back to like being non-existent because

21:39

that was delight I used to get it for

21:41

like three days It would hurt for two

21:43

but it would last for three and I was

21:45

done for the month. That's me. That's back Hurts

21:48

for two. I have it for like three

21:50

fo and then I'm cool Yeah,

21:53

that's what I want. I want to get back to that Real

21:56

quick. We gotta take a break Oh

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24:34

and restrictions may apply. Where

24:37

in Chicago are you from? My whole family lives on

24:39

the South side. Yes, so I was

24:41

born on the West side of Chicago and then

24:44

asked like around high school times South side

24:46

of Chicago. So I always be like Chicago

24:48

or everything. I am truly like a

24:51

born and bred Chicago. I love Chicago.

24:53

The only thing about Chicago I don't

24:55

love is it's so segregated in a

24:57

way that is so

25:00

wild to me because I remember when I

25:02

was little, anytime I saw a white like anytime a

25:04

white person was like, oh, I'm from Chicago. I'm like,

25:06

you're from the suburbs. I've never seen you

25:08

on the South side. I went to the

25:10

North side and I was like, oh, there's

25:13

so many less potholes. Oh gosh,

25:15

yes. You said it. You said

25:17

it. It's wild. It's wild because

25:19

they built it that way. I'm

25:21

such a nerd, like history, nerd,

25:23

science nerd, but they built it

25:25

that way in like

25:27

the forties, the way that they built the

25:29

train system. That's why they call it the

25:31

red line. The red line runs through it's

25:34

segregated. So even with not just

25:36

like with the black people and with the

25:38

expressways, the way that they built the bridges,

25:40

the bridges go up at night. You separate

25:43

it like the streets that connect. Yeah.

25:45

That's a lot of things that people don't know or like

25:48

certain train lines that stop running at a

25:50

certain time. I remember like being out all

25:52

night and I couldn't get home one time.

25:54

I was like, what the fuck? And they're like,

25:56

well, the red line doesn't go to 95th after. 10

26:00

o'clock and you're like, well, why does

26:03

the fuck does it still go up

26:05

north to Sedgwick? Mm-hmm. And it's just like

26:07

a lot of little things that they're trying to get

26:09

better at now, but people

26:11

be like, well, why all the best food on the south

26:13

side and the west side? Well, that's where

26:15

it's mostly season. That's where we're at. You

26:17

know, even though Chicago in its entirety,

26:21

whether you black, white, Hispanic,

26:23

Latino, Greek, we

26:25

have so many mixtures at the end of

26:28

the day. We don't play

26:30

about Chicago. Like that's the one thing we come

26:32

together on is like, we don't play about our

26:34

city. We don't play about our food. We don't

26:36

play about our sports teams, but it

26:38

is very like you want to see the black people. They're

26:40

here. You want to see the white folks. They're either up

26:42

north or in the suburbs. You want to see, you

26:45

got to go to Chinatown. You're gonna go

26:47

to Greek town. You're gonna even pockets of

26:49

like those broken down by cultures. Little

26:52

Italy, it's really everybody's where they're

26:54

at. And we come together during

26:56

like the summers and the festivals,

26:58

but it was awesome

27:00

growing up there and being from

27:02

there is dope. I love Chicago. Did

27:05

you find dating in Chicago to be easier?

27:07

So wait, did you move from Chicago to

27:09

a like, no, you were in New York

27:11

for two years, right? I was in New York

27:13

for two years, like a year and a half, two years, which

27:16

I, and it was crazy after every

27:18

ended relationship. I like moved somewhere, but,

27:20

but I did find it, it is

27:23

way, way, way more easier dating in

27:25

Chicago and New York as

27:27

a black woman. Yeah,

27:30

I always say New York is easier. I've never

27:32

really dated in Chicago because I would just spend my

27:34

summers there and stuff or like

27:36

spend a couple weeks at a time, but LA is

27:38

tough. LA is really,

27:41

really, really, really, really hard

27:43

as you know, a

27:45

black woman and then also the fat black woman because

27:47

I see the black women who go out with people

27:49

and I'm like, oh yeah, well, I don't

27:51

think I'll ever look like that nor do

27:53

I want to. I love

27:56

the way I look and that

27:58

is a hard thing to be like. I

28:00

love the way I look, but like

28:02

other people might not. And

28:04

I don't know, sometimes it gets sad, but other times

28:06

I'm like, well, I mean, at least I like what I see

28:09

in the mirror. And at least you keep

28:11

it away who's not for you. But

28:14

out here is so hard. For me, what

28:16

I've come to see is hard

28:18

to date because as the story

28:20

we were talking about in the beginning, I

28:23

have to decipher, it'd be

28:25

some men who literally, one

28:27

of my first dates I ever went out with

28:29

in LA, this dude was homeless and I didn't even know.

28:33

He kept trying to

28:35

get me to come near, he

28:37

kept saying, Will Shire. He's like, we could find a spot

28:39

to go to on Will Shire. Will Shire, Will Shire. And

28:41

I'm like, why is this dude on Will

28:43

Shire? He's like, well, it has to be before

28:45

eight. He had all these weird, it's

28:47

because his ass was trying to get back to the shelter

28:49

before eight, or he's gonna lose the bed he needed to

28:51

be in. Nice

28:54

looking dude, all that, but he was broke.

28:57

He was trying to come up off of me. Other

29:00

ones are just like, just speaking

29:03

my truth, you see a lot of black

29:05

men who date non-black women out

29:07

here who want what we have.

29:10

Like I have friends who are black men all

29:12

the time and they're like, they'll complain to me

29:14

about these non-black women. And I'm like, well, I

29:16

don't understand. And also you don't get to do

29:19

that shit with me because I'm

29:21

like, we got everything you quote unquote

29:23

want, but what is it? Or

29:26

you have the dudes where there are people

29:28

looking for a come up, they see that

29:30

you've made it. They haven't found shit into

29:32

you, but they want a

29:34

way into the industry. And I'm just like,

29:37

I'm trying to have a good date and a good

29:39

time and you're trying to prey on my success. Which

29:43

is insane. After

29:46

Jerry Diddy came out, do you feel

29:48

like you had more people in

29:50

the DMs, more people trying to go out with you?

29:52

Cause it was such a hit. Yes,

29:54

after, so it started to really

29:56

get, become a way, cause

29:59

I'm so. such a multi. And

30:01

I know that I'm sure you can relate to

30:03

this because you are outstanding in every avenue you

30:06

do says I just want to give you your

30:08

flowers on that. Yes, I have to if I'm

30:10

sitting in a room with somebody I haven't sat

30:12

in the room yet you gonna get your flowers

30:15

because I and I and it's gonna be genuine

30:17

but I salute you and I've watched everything you've

30:19

done and I see how you treat people. So

30:22

congrats. I'm a multi

30:24

fascinating person to I'm a comedian and

30:26

actress a writer. We

30:28

can add producer on the list but I there's

30:31

so many hats that I work

30:33

in award shows like they pull me to write

30:35

for the I've written for those I write for

30:38

several different television shows and now on

30:40

screen I've blown up and it's gonna

30:42

continue with other projects coming out this year

30:44

and the next. It's really my

30:47

DMS be on fire. Mm

30:49

hmm. I had to tell someone last

30:52

week they got upset at me because they

30:54

were just like quick question that I was

30:56

like hello Happy New Year. How are you?

30:58

And it

31:01

turned into my bad dang this and I'm

31:03

like no I was like I don't even

31:05

get greeted no more by some of these

31:07

folks where it's just like and then you

31:09

get mad at me because you want and

31:11

like you want something. Let me get this

31:13

straight. You want something you don't greet

31:15

me don't say hello and I'm just supposed to be

31:17

like oh cool. Yeah here. Mm hmm.

31:20

It's crazy to me or just

31:23

like people were I'm writing a book

31:25

but I want you to write it. Can

31:28

we do one that's why you want to be

31:30

a ghost writer. That's a whole lot of job.

31:33

I'm not doing that shit but they don't see

31:35

it as that they see it as this like

31:37

you know and I I I'm a firm believer

31:39

of giving grace but not being no goofy. So

31:42

I give grace but at the same time I'm you're not

31:44

gonna play with me. You're not gonna play with my time.

31:48

We work very hard and we have to have

31:50

our time and space for us to to be

31:52

able to be and to thrive especially

31:55

as black women because people do it

31:57

to us so much and be like oh

31:59

she's okay. You don't know if I'm okay. You

32:01

didn't even ask. So, yeah,

32:03

it's after jury duty, it

32:06

like exploded. I'm not

32:08

a person who pays attention to social media like

32:10

that. I only have one social media account. It's

32:12

by Instagram. I've been begged to be

32:14

on TikTok, all that stuff, but I don't, I just

32:16

don't want to. It's not me. I like to move

32:19

how I move. So, people

32:21

will, like, my Instagram exploded in a

32:23

year. It was just like, I was

32:25

cool with my 12, I

32:28

had like 12.5 glass, and I

32:30

wake up and look up. And

32:32

my friends who are into like social media

32:34

and stuff, you got 105,000.

32:36

I'm like, I don't know y'all. I'm

32:39

like, I don't, I swear to God,

32:41

I don't know what's going on. I'm

32:44

literally trying my best to just like, you

32:47

know, I'm always going to be

32:49

she's, but this shit, it can get

32:51

wild. And then you do have a lot of

32:53

dudes who come in my DMs and say little

32:55

stuff or like, man, you look good. Or I

32:57

had a crush on you or, oh,

32:59

like, you should give me some of your time. And I'm

33:02

like, after I decipher through,

33:04

it'd be the same dudes who don't do

33:06

what's required. So like that dude I was

33:08

telling you about, like, I told you to call

33:10

me. You have the number to the bed line and you

33:12

didn't use it. One dude asked

33:14

me out on a date. I told him,

33:16

I was like, cool. Yeah, we can go to this place.

33:18

He's like, what place you want to go to? I'm

33:21

like, well, I never tried this place. Bevel,

33:23

it was the place called Bevel or something.

33:27

He was like, oh, I know the chef. Let me hit

33:29

him up. He's like, what time do you want to do?

33:31

I said, anytime before nine, because I

33:33

don't eat after nine o'clock anymore. Dudes

33:36

to just my own health and things that I

33:38

have that was going on. And

33:40

he's like, you don't eat after

33:43

nine. Well, I was thinking nine thirty. Oh,

33:47

like Nicole, please explain to me. I

33:49

swear to God, I still have the

33:51

message. I had to screenshot it because

33:55

I literally

33:57

couldn't believe what. hell

34:00

I was listening to. I said, well,

34:02

if you want to go to dinner by yourself at

34:04

nine thirty, that's fine. I was like, but all I

34:06

said was I don't eat after nine anymore. I

34:09

can't. It literally makes me physically sick

34:11

to eat after nine. He was like,

34:14

oh, well, maybe next week I'll

34:16

see if you want to go to dinner at

34:19

and also who's starting dinner at

34:21

nine o'clock? Why dude? I

34:25

mean, I have been to dinner at nine o'clock when

34:27

there's no reservations. Yeah, exactly. I

34:30

really want to eat it. But if somebody

34:32

said to me that I'm trying to take

34:34

out, I cannot eat after nine p.m. I

34:36

would go, oh, I don't

34:38

think I'm going to be able to get us

34:41

into that restaurant before nine. Nine thirty is the

34:43

earliest. Is there another place you want to go?

34:45

Or maybe here, here's my suggestion. We go to

34:47

this place. They have reservations, you know, seven

34:50

thirty eight. That's so

34:52

wild. So then get mad at me.

34:54

Oh, so you can't eat. It gets

34:56

worse. Here's the thing. We're both

34:58

not so like I have to go to New York

35:00

this weekend. You don't have any dinners I'm going to

35:03

go to. That's after nine o'clock that I'll go to

35:05

because we know that's how the scene is. I probably

35:07

won't eat anything. I may have a drink or something.

35:09

But yeah, exactly what you said.

35:11

It gets worse because I'm like, I said, well,

35:14

OK, well, maybe when I get back in town,

35:17

he goes, well, now I got to see if I

35:19

can get my reservation deposit

35:21

back. Now,

35:25

mind you, I have his number in my

35:27

phone because what you're going to do

35:29

is never play play me. I think

35:31

I looked up the reservation deposit for

35:33

Bevel. I sent this man twenty

35:35

five dollars. I was like, so now

35:37

you don't have to worry about it. He was like, oh, my

35:39

God, why would you do it? Don't worry about it. You brought

35:41

it up. Yeah, you brought it up.

35:44

So now you not only do you have your

35:46

reservation deposit back, you're never getting dinner with me

35:48

ever. I don't want

35:50

dinner with you. Wow. No,

35:52

that's so wild. Let me see if I can

35:54

get my twenty five dollars back. And it's like,

35:57

yeah, maybe everyone doesn't have twenty five dollars to

35:59

like throw But why the

36:01

reservation before confirming before Me

36:04

and then why would you do that if you

36:06

were saying it's that he was like, it's not

36:08

about money I wasn't I'm sorry if I said

36:11

it like that. No, I I feel like you're

36:13

a control freak and you Say

36:15

this to women all the time and I'm not that type

36:17

of woman where you could say things like that, too I'm

36:20

actually very clear very confident in who I

36:22

am and I thought that we was going

36:24

we could have had a good time But you

36:27

blew it but you had to go fuck it up. You

36:29

had to go fuck it up So

36:34

you go to the Sequoia Mountains twice a

36:37

year is that to like Find

36:39

yourself ground yourself. What is that? What is that

36:41

about? I've never been to the Sequoia Mountains So

36:44

what is what is it? I do

36:46

I actually it's my happy place It

36:49

became my happy place in 2020

36:52

and how I found out about it I was

36:54

11 years old my teacher, Mr. Gershon fifth grade

36:56

teacher. Shout out to him. I hope he's still

36:58

alive last time I checked he was um he

37:03

so I went to Chicago Public Schools and

37:06

You know, we don't see things like that

37:08

We didn't I didn't so he came in

37:10

from spring break with pictures with him and

37:12

his children at the Sequoia Mountains and during

37:15

recess I Wanted to

37:17

look at those pictures all day every day because

37:20

I couldn't believe my brain couldn't connect that There

37:22

were places that looked like this and

37:24

he told me he said you're gonna go there one

37:26

day Now it's like

37:28

I hope so. He said there's a giant forest there

37:30

mind you. I'm just like I'm 11 years

37:33

old like what? so

37:36

2020 was a tough year For

37:39

I mean for everybody would also have something

37:41

tragic happened that year My niece was killed

37:43

that year my teenage niece

37:45

and but at the same

37:47

time all this beautiful stuff was happening

37:49

I had just broke

37:52

really broke breaking into the scene

37:54

where the owl Riddle

37:56

and Bashir Salahudin had hired me as

37:58

one of their main writers on South

38:01

for this show. Southside shout out to

38:03

my Southside fam and then Sherman Showcase

38:06

and I was just like, oh man, all this

38:08

stuff is happening, but it was still

38:10

like this. I don't know. Like I

38:13

was not happy. I was like,

38:15

what is it? So after we

38:17

wrap a room, I was learning

38:19

from other writers and comedians and

38:22

just creators like they're like, where are you going to go? We're

38:24

about to wrap. Where are you going to go? You should treat

38:26

yourself. And Ashley Nicole, black was one

38:28

of those people. She's like, she's after, after

38:30

you finish anything, always treat yourself, whether it's,

38:33

you know, whether it's a bag you want

38:35

or, you know, a dinner or a trip.

38:37

And I was like, well, I don't know. We're in COVID.

38:40

So I can't get on a plane. And then,

38:42

um, I remembered

38:45

one of the assistants in our room,

38:47

his name is Paul. He was like,

38:49

well, I'm going to go to big

38:51

bear. He's like, you know, California has

38:53

all these, uh, national parks. And I

38:56

was like, oh man, there's this one national park I

38:58

want to go to. I was like, it's called a

39:00

Sequoia mountains. And he's like, that's three

39:02

and a half hours up that

39:04

way. When I tell you, I

39:06

lost my shit. So my friend, uh, one of

39:08

my very close friends, Marquita, she helped me research

39:10

everything. And, um, I'm

39:13

very spiritual. So I, and

39:15

I also give respect to space and time. I

39:17

do not play about time and space. So

39:19

I researched like the native Americans

39:21

who own the properties there and

39:24

connected with this guy named chief Paul. He's

39:27

a part of the Yoku tribe in the Sequoia

39:29

mountains connected with, um, my,

39:31

he's now my dear friend, Christian, his family

39:33

of natives descent owns like these luxury cabins

39:36

there. Cause it's like 10 you said I'm

39:38

coming to somebody's hood. I want to, I

39:40

want to go the right way. They

39:43

set it all up. When I called chief Paul, I

39:45

kid you not. He was like, Rashida, what's

39:47

crazy is me and my wife, Jessica, we

39:49

were just doing sunrise prayer. We knew you

39:51

were going to come here before you came

39:53

here. It's time. Like I was just like,

39:56

Oh my God, when's

39:58

there for the first time? I'm. about

40:00

shook. There's you drive first

40:02

of all for any of the people who don't

40:04

know it's three and a half hours outside of

40:06

LA but then you have to

40:09

drive another hour to get up to

40:11

the trees in the giant forest in

40:13

the mountains because Sequoia trees are the

40:15

largest trees in the world they only

40:17

grow in this one area and they

40:20

only start growing at 9 000 feet elevation and

40:23

then the highest the giant forest is

40:25

15 000 feet elevation so

40:28

you're driving up and up and up you

40:30

have to literally physically go up prepare to

40:32

go up to see all these wonders

40:36

as you're going up there's waterfalls there's

40:38

a lake running through i was

40:40

just like what is this and then uh

40:43

so we're in the car when this um car

40:45

chief fall goes all right

40:48

you ready we're about to enter the giant forest

40:50

and there's a sign that says entering giant forest

40:52

y'all i didn't even know i was like crying i

40:56

like i was like crying i couldn't

40:58

stop and because when you start

41:00

to go on the giant forest there's these

41:02

two big sequoia trees that are connected they're

41:04

called the twin that they're called the twin

41:07

flame sequoias they just grew like that sequoia

41:09

trees they grow in pods so they're

41:11

very family oriented trees have their own

41:13

communication system is crazy y'all i have

41:16

never it's something that a picture

41:18

won't do it justice the

41:21

11 year old me couldn't do it just it's

41:23

like you're a dot

41:25

compared to these massive trees that

41:28

only grow here and

41:31

it's just like um it's

41:34

my happy place it restores me it grounds

41:37

me it balances me it connects

41:39

me it stabilizes me just like

41:41

the sun the sun heals charges

41:43

warms illuminate nourishes the moon i

41:45

love the moon it manifests reverse

41:48

clears enhances intuition what does the

41:50

ocean do nicole it cleanses it

41:52

refreshes it invigorates it releases so

41:54

i had all of that

41:56

in this one place and i

41:58

just like i i made it my business to go

42:01

twice a year. I go either in the

42:03

beginning of the year or the end or I go

42:05

in the end or the beginning. So I just came

42:07

back from there. This was my

42:09

first thing in my first New Year's there and

42:12

the best thing about it is sharing it with friends who

42:14

are like, I want to go to

42:16

that place with you. Now it can't be any friend,

42:18

you got to be right or like sometimes

42:20

it'll be like some friends who have just gone

42:22

through something because I know what that feels like

42:25

but every time they go they come back they're

42:27

like this is magic. This is

42:29

insane. I love that. I love

42:31

that so much. You did mention

42:33

water. Water is where I feel

42:36

the most serene and the most

42:38

calm. Truly in the middle of the ocean

42:40

where I cannot see land because

42:42

I feel like a dot. Like I feel like

42:45

the smallest little thing and then

42:47

my life feels like it's not

42:49

that important and the world is so

42:51

much bigger than it and whatever shit

42:53

I'm like feeling or whatever it's like it kind of

42:55

melts away and then when there's

42:58

like a rainbow I'm like oh god

43:00

it's just so pretty. Yeah I love

43:02

a place. Like I love going

43:05

to a place and feeling serenity and

43:08

calm and happiness and I love that

43:10

you saw the Sequoia you know National

43:12

Forest as an 11 year old and

43:14

then as an adult got to go.

43:16

Like that's just really magical to me.

43:18

Yes man it's

43:21

one of my favorite places in the world

43:23

and you're absolutely right when we're

43:25

in places such as

43:27

like the ocean and the forest

43:29

and these huge forest that like

43:32

are untouched and you are it

43:34

is you the other shit is

43:36

irrelevant. It's like space I feel like the ocean

43:38

is just space. Think about this. 80% of

43:41

the earth is covered by water right and

43:44

only 30% of those waters

43:46

have been eaten researched. Like

43:49

let our brains connect to that. Yeah

43:52

it's so there's so much shit in the ocean that

43:54

we don't know about. There's so many fish, there's so

43:56

many animals, there's so many plants, there's so many animals,

43:58

there's so many plants. so much that

44:00

we just, we don't know, maybe

44:03

we'll never know. And I

44:05

think that's so magical. It

44:07

is, it is very magical. And that's why we

44:09

feel the way we feel when we connect with these

44:12

things. So it's like, even when we

44:14

circling back to the day thing, it's like, look at

44:16

all these beautiful things we do for ourselves. You think

44:18

I'm finna let somebody play with me like that? No,

44:21

but that's one of

44:23

my dreams. And I even wrote, I write it

44:25

down in our journal. I'm like, I can't wait

44:27

to share that happy special place with my guy,

44:29

with my person, because I know it's gonna be

44:32

beautiful. Yeah, the

44:34

thought of being on a boat with someone

44:36

that I love romantically is, it just

44:39

like brings a smile to my face, especially if they

44:41

feel connected to the ocean in the way that I

44:43

do. Or

44:45

just that they're happy watching me connect to

44:47

the ocean, they don't have to be connected to it. It's

44:50

like, as long as you're happy watching me being

44:52

happy, that that makes me that brings me

44:54

joy. That's the way she,

44:57

and vice versa, I say, I can't wait

44:59

to a person see me looking at those

45:01

trees, the way I look and hike through

45:03

that forest, the way I love to hike

45:05

and walk through. That would just make my

45:08

day, like sharing these spaces with

45:10

someone. It is important, wanting to build a

45:12

life with someone that shit is important, man.

45:14

So. Well, Plank,

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46:50

so one of the

46:52

relationships that I'm the proudest of

46:54

is with my friends. And honestly,

46:56

I work with myself to

46:58

be the best person available to

47:00

my friends. And honestly, a common

47:02

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47:05

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47:07

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47:09

put the work in to make them great. And

47:12

therapy can be a great place

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47:16

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help.com/ date me. And

47:55

we're back. So jury

47:58

duty. There wasn't a script. unscripted

48:00

so like How how

48:02

do you like staying character for that like

48:04

I? Feel like

48:06

that's that's a talent that I don't know if I

48:09

have Definitely definitely definitely

48:12

You've got to be a talented mofo to do what we did

48:14

Because I feel sometimes look back and

48:17

I love that what Quinta said after the

48:19

Emmys when she was like She gave us

48:21

a special shout out She's like shout out

48:23

to a cast of journey because we

48:25

were up against Abbott and the bear and all

48:27

them Comedy series of the

48:30

year and she's like that was

48:32

some of the best comedic acting I've ever seen

48:34

in my life because and it Was unscripted we

48:36

literally not only did we have to

48:38

stay these characters we had we were building as

48:40

we went Like when I

48:42

got called for the audition for Bailiff

48:45

Nikki, she didn't she just had a night

48:47

last first name and a last name and

48:49

that was it and on paper It was

48:51

like bailiff of the court officer of the

48:53

court. She runs the court with the judge

48:55

blah blah I had to

48:57

give her a personality. I had

48:59

to give her words I had

49:01

to give her like to have a

49:04

certain care for these people But also like a black

49:06

woman you not gonna play with me because she is

49:08

she was a black woman law enforcement

49:11

I researched I had to do the work and

49:13

then I had to become and stay this character

49:15

for two months Mm-hmm.

49:18

It was so hard. But also it

49:21

was so fun because that is

49:23

shit that I love to do I

49:25

come from a very strong Improvisational

49:28

acting background. I am an alumni of

49:30

the second city of Chicago Improvalytics

49:33

Annoyance Theater in Chicago Chicago is one

49:35

of the comedy capitals of the world

49:37

and You

49:40

in one of the things that I just remember

49:43

Learning from and being one of 72 grandchildren

49:46

We That's

49:49

what I thought improv was called I tell

49:51

everybody I'm like y'all I didn't know improv

49:53

had a name When you

49:55

grow up in a black household, it's called go

49:57

outside and play He Go

50:00

find something to do and me and my cousin would

50:02

play. Go find anything to do. Yes, my grandma used

50:04

to be like, right, they used to be like, go

50:07

outside and play. Go do something. We

50:09

wrote hip hop songs. We wrote parody

50:11

songs. We made up, we played it

50:13

all day. We used to play house.

50:16

And so when you put someone like

50:18

me in that world that gives

50:20

it structure and gives it a name, I'm

50:22

like, oh, okay, I got this. So

50:26

with all of us, we just had a lot of

50:28

trust and it was a lot of gift giving. Like

50:31

making sure we give gifts and also just being

50:33

in that moment and making sure this Ronald dude

50:35

don't figure shit out and he didn't. Did

50:40

you do like briefings every day to be like,

50:42

this is what's happened. This is

50:45

like what we want you to try to

50:47

go for today. Like what a, I know

50:49

it's a very technical question, but I'm very

50:51

interested. But it's a good question because we did.

50:54

You're right. We absolutely, and I know

50:56

for, I can't speak for

50:58

the others at one point they

51:00

had to separate me and

51:03

the rest of the cast, me and the judge,

51:06

like the legal team. And

51:08

I had a, my green room was upstairs.

51:10

My like, we couldn't have trailers

51:12

because of course that, so they had these

51:14

hidden rooms in the courthouse. Exactly. They

51:16

had hidden rooms in the courthouse and

51:20

my room was upstairs. Was like

51:22

a little apartment up there and whenever they needed me, they,

51:24

so in the morning, our call times were like 4.35 AM

51:26

in the morning because remember this

51:29

is court. So we have to be there before

51:31

to get ready for court. And

51:33

then we're sequestered. I have to go get Ronald

51:35

from the hotel. Then

51:39

so they would come to me and like we would

51:41

have briefings at like 7 AM after I got on

51:43

my life, cop suit and all this shit. And

51:46

my director Jake and show

51:48

runner Cody and Nick Hatton, they would be like,

51:50

okay, Roshida, here are the daily beats. But first,

51:53

what do you know that we need to know that's

51:55

going on through his head? So

51:57

I would be like, well, he spoke to his girlfriend.

52:00

on because he only got two phone calls. I'm like,

52:02

well, this is what's going on.

52:04

Or even if it was other cast shit that

52:06

was being loose, I'm like, well, do you need

52:08

to tighten up? Because, you know, I seen how

52:11

he was looking at this. So we had briefings.

52:13

And then at the end of the day, after

52:15

we would drop him and other, uh,

52:17

the ones who were sequestered in the hotel

52:19

with him, we would have another end of

52:21

day briefing at like the same time, like

52:23

7 PM. And

52:26

then in the morning that I'd get my beats

52:28

of like, so you're going to go pick them

52:30

up. Court's going to start this time, get the

52:33

lunch orders. The rest was all just us like

52:35

making this shit up as we go. I

52:38

love it. That's so fun. That's

52:40

so collaborative and,

52:43

uh, just like a special way to make a TV

52:45

show. Yeah, it was cool. It

52:47

was like, I didn't know what I was getting

52:49

into because when I auditioned, it

52:51

just said court show and we didn't know what

52:54

it was. And then when we all came to

52:56

the table read, which was just like us

52:58

talking to each other, they were like, yeah,

53:00

so it's going to be

53:02

like the office meets Sasha Baron Cohen

53:04

meets Truman show. We were just like,

53:06

okay, you know, everybody, right? Everybody committed

53:09

to it and we made something great

53:11

and it's gotten all of the rec,

53:13

like, I mean, we're golden globe and

53:15

all of the shit that, you

53:18

know, people want. It's gotten that and

53:20

it's blown. It's done what it needs

53:22

to do. I know, um,

53:25

a lot of people ask like, well, you were working

53:27

before this. I'm like, yeah, I was dog working before

53:29

this, but what it did for

53:31

my life on screen to let people

53:33

know how she's, she called like she's

53:36

though she can like, we

53:38

get it. You can also see my

53:40

writer brain. You can see my comedian

53:42

brain and you can see my comedic,

53:45

my comedic, comedic actor brain all in

53:47

this one character, which has

53:50

blown up my life tremendously and I'm excited

53:52

for my future. I love

53:54

that. You also did the CBS showcase.

53:56

I did the CBS showcase. It was,

53:58

uh, an interesting Right, right.

54:04

Did you do the show or no? I

54:06

didn't do the show. I'm

54:08

able to talk about it now because they have,

54:10

well the new people have since been apologized

54:12

for things that I went through

54:14

in 2017. It

54:17

was a lot, I mean it's no secret.

54:19

They had to remove people during that time.

54:21

But you know, I faced a lot of

54:23

racism. I faced a lot of everything and

54:25

to the point where I didn't do the

54:27

showcase, I actually left with my

54:29

material because I was told at that time I

54:31

was too black and too smart, which

54:34

I thought was something I'm supposed to embrace,

54:36

which I do embrace, which is why I

54:38

left. And now here we

54:40

are seven years later and I know

54:43

there's an alumni showcase coming up where a shout

54:46

out to Dory Porter. He came

54:48

to me because of what happened and I told this

54:50

story before and he was like, we want to make

54:53

this right. We are proud of you. He

54:56

was like, I wasn't in a position to

54:58

do what I'm able to do now, but

55:00

there's an alumni. There's

55:04

some type of alumni show that's coming up with all the

55:06

big wins, like those who are able to do it and

55:08

they wanted me to be a part of it. And

55:11

reparations too, like I'm all about

55:14

being black in this world. Like there's shit

55:16

that we go through that people couldn't even

55:19

imagine or probably they'd be like, how do

55:21

y'all do that? We shouldn't

55:23

have to, but we do it. I'm all

55:25

about making stuff right for the next person

55:27

behind me who have to stand on my

55:29

shoulders, who has to stand on your shoulders,

55:32

Nicole. Like that's what I'm about and

55:34

how they came at me after like knowing and

55:36

hearing it. I'm like, sure. I'm

55:39

not stupid. Like you don't want bad blood with

55:41

a person who's taken off and I'm

55:43

truly a good person. I don't even have to say

55:45

that shit, but be for real. But

55:47

my experience with the showcase then was not,

55:50

it wasn't, you know, but

55:53

there's ways to hopefully, you

55:56

know, from here, people can see like

55:58

also stand on your integrity. Don't fold

56:00

on who you are and that's what

56:02

I'm about a very good lesson

56:05

that it's like You don't have to eat shit

56:07

in order to like that far You can also

56:09

you can succeed on your own merit You can

56:11

say yes to things that you believe in you

56:13

can say no when something it doesn't feel

56:16

right Right, and it

56:18

didn't feel right and I move with

56:20

integrity goodness and I like I don't

56:22

I'm not feeling You're not gonna tell the gray

56:24

me and then I'd be like yeah, that was

56:27

great But I'm dying inside.

56:29

No, I was like I'm out. I see

56:31

y'all around and here I am seven years

56:33

later seeing you around You

56:36

also went to school so you you were

56:38

a black studies major with a minor in

56:40

theater you were gonna study astronomy Were

56:43

you trying to get to NASA? You

56:45

already know it baby. I was trying to be out

56:47

there with the stars I've

56:50

been connected to space since I was a

56:52

little kid not it was like either I

56:54

was gonna be an astronaut DJ

56:56

or what I'm doing now and I'm

56:59

doing what I'm doing now and I love

57:02

it so much But also how about I

57:04

get to write maybe I want to be

57:06

an astronaut and play that one day

57:08

or just I Love space so

57:10

much and then I love music the way

57:12

that I can do build and do a

57:14

music drop I just embraced everything that I

57:16

am but I was like my

57:18

friends were pissed off at me in college because

57:21

We Had to

57:23

take you, you know Yeah, you gotta take electives to

57:25

graduate and she and two of my

57:27

friends Jasmine and Siobhan They needed two electives

57:30

to graduate and um, I was

57:32

like y'all should take this astrology class for me And they

57:35

were like, okay, is it easy? I'm saying yes,

57:37

cuz it was easy for me All

57:39

a everybody in the program loved

57:41

me my one our professor professor

57:44

Kevin I said stay after class

57:46

and top with him about the polar ice

57:48

capsules on Mars My two

57:50

friends was like bitch. Are you serious?

57:53

I'm getting a D I have to graduate so

57:55

I helped them out and helped them the past

57:57

the class but they were like don't you ever

57:59

in your life suggest a

58:01

class for us to take like we thought

58:03

you was gonna suggest like dance one-on-one but

58:06

I was like it's easy are you kidding

58:08

me they're like it's math involved and shit

58:10

and I'm like I I'm such a nerd

58:12

though that came easy to me I love

58:15

that I would be one of the friends I was like don't do

58:18

that to me I don't know man like

58:20

that they would say space got stars and

58:22

it's dark right they

58:24

was like bitch yo goofy ass

58:26

what who does that I'm like

58:28

I'm sorry do you have any

58:31

advice for fellow single people out

58:33

there I do I

58:36

would say the advice that I would give

58:38

to my fellow single people we want which

58:41

none of us will be single for too much

58:43

longer because we're gonna our person is gonna come

58:45

to us we're gonna come to them but I

58:47

would say don't fold on

58:49

your like the things you truly believe

58:51

in like and don't

58:54

settle I don't don't don't

58:56

be desperate because what's for us is gonna

58:58

come for us like in the person then

59:00

that's for people too and every

59:02

time I've ever folded in my life

59:04

or I've ever given into something it always

59:07

ends up worse like I'll never

59:09

it may feel good for that moment but it

59:11

but in the long run it

59:13

ain't no longer so that's the advice

59:15

I will give and I'm sending positive

59:17

good vibes to all those who are

59:19

looking to be single no more

59:21

I like that I'll take those good

59:23

vibes cuz I think 2024 is the year I

59:26

find somebody it is

59:29

very excited about it

59:31

so if I could say to

59:34

anybody listening who feel that they're

59:36

compatible with me or interested

59:38

and you ain't know you know

59:42

you got your life together come

59:44

on flat in the DM

59:48

ooh I like that I mean

59:50

hey say what's up you see

59:52

the outside don't be on no

59:54

weird shit or no creep TV just you

59:56

know I say what's up I I

1:00:00

mean, put it out there, put it out there.

1:00:03

You heard it, getting those DMs. Do

1:00:05

you have anything that you wanna promote? Just,

1:00:08

you know, be on the lookout for things

1:00:10

that I have coming up. I know Good

1:00:13

Times on Netflix is coming out this

1:00:15

year, excited about that. Ironheart

1:00:18

on Marvel is, be on the lookout

1:00:20

at that. And just, you'll see me

1:00:22

everywhere as I continue to work and

1:00:24

lean into the goodness of things. I'm

1:00:27

excited. I love that. I ask

1:00:29

all my guests this, I've forgotten it a couple

1:00:31

times, but would you date me? Hell

1:00:33

yeah. Yes! Thank

1:00:38

you. The way you love yourself, absolutely.

1:00:42

Sheets, thank you so much for doing this. I'm

1:00:44

a very big fan of yours. I think you're

1:00:46

great. I think you're so funny. And

1:00:49

yeah, I just, I'm happy for your

1:00:52

success. I love seeing another, you know,

1:00:54

black woman fucking killing it. So I'm

1:00:56

so happy that you're doing the shit.

1:00:58

Thank you, and vice versa to you, Sis.

1:01:01

Like, I'm so proud of you from

1:01:04

Netflix to Hulu to NBC. I'm

1:01:07

proud of you. Thank you. If

1:01:09

you like this episode of Why Won't You

1:01:11

Date Me, you can like it, you can

1:01:14

rate it, you can subscribe, you can give

1:01:16

me five stars on iTunes. And if you

1:01:18

write me something nasty hitting on me to

1:01:20

whywon'tudemypodcast.gmail.com, I will read it. This

1:01:22

nice person said, we meet at a bar

1:01:24

and I'm immediately obsessed with your sweet smile

1:01:26

and soft curves. I invite you back to

1:01:28

my apartment and we play with my sex toy

1:01:30

collection till all the batteries die. Then it's

1:01:32

back to the old fashioned way. I go

1:01:34

down on you for hours. When I lack

1:01:37

an experience, I make up with enthusiasm. I

1:01:39

am licking and sucking your clit while my fingers

1:01:41

explore your warm center until you come over and

1:01:44

over and over again. When you've had enough,

1:01:46

it's morning. We get breakfast sandwiches and I take you

1:01:48

to a nearby lake to see local ducks before

1:01:50

you have to fly home. Ha ha ha ha ha

1:01:52

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

1:01:54

ha ha ha ha. Sheets face. Ha ha ha ha

1:01:57

ha ha ha ha ha ha. Goodbye. You've

1:02:05

been listening to Why Won't You Date Me? When

1:02:07

people are in the show screaming, and

1:02:11

the cast research on music happens, and

1:02:13

the negative produced by Adam Sacks, Nick

1:02:15

Liao, and Jeff Ross as Team Coco, with

1:02:18

guest booking by Paula Davis, Gina Batista,

1:02:20

and Maddie Oggs. Got a

1:02:22

dirty message for Nicole? Read it

1:02:24

so Why Won't You Date Me podcasts@gmail.com for

1:02:26

a chance to have it featured on a

1:02:28

future show. Thanks for listening. We'll see

1:02:30

you next week with our brand

1:02:33

new episode of The Biggest

1:02:55

Celebrities.