00:00:53.240and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them.
00:00:58.760I'm Elizabeth Smart, and these are The Survivor Files.
00:01:02.380Every week, I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable, abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced.
00:01:09.920These are stories about what it takes to make it out alive.
00:01:13.740Listen to The Survivor Files with Elizabeth Smart on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:01:21.360If your bookshelf and your For You page are equally important to your personality, welcome home.
00:01:27.100Pro Society is a weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for anyone who thinks Pride and Prejudice and Love Island deserve the same level of discourse.
00:01:35.740Each week, we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and pop culture with your favorite writers, book talk creators, and plenty of overthought opinions.
00:03:28.080Winter got into media in the first place because she cares about the truth.
00:03:32.760I started out, I wanted to be, I wanted to be a journalist.
00:03:36.640Like I was, I felt like when I was born, that's what I wanted to do.
00:03:41.320And I was I was really committed to, you know, even as a kid, writing, creating stories, writing stories and watching the news.
00:03:52.800Linda has worked in all facets of entertainment and media.
00:03:56.280She's been a journalist, a podcaster, a writer, a brand strategist.
00:04:00.100Basically, if it involves media and entertainment, she has done it.
00:04:03.360I watched the news very young because I grew up in a home where my parents were radicals.
00:04:11.520They were, you know, watching the news to have the fundamental understanding of like what's going on and what was shaping the culture and how that would influence me.
00:04:19.580My parents were very involved and and concerned about the future and how that would affect my sister and I as two young black girls.
00:04:27.680I was always fascinated by people's perspective and people's reaction to trends and things that
00:04:33.900shifted and how we reacted to it. And as I kept getting older, I kept sort of staying in this
00:04:39.520trend of journalism. And then I realized that the internet was literally approaching so quickly.
00:04:46.060And Bridget, when I tell you, like, you know, I don't know how old you are, but like the approach
00:04:50.180of it as a teenager who had really been brought up and raised in a world that was very firmly
00:04:57.080analog. It was trending towards technology. But the moment the Internet came, it definitely felt
00:05:02.700like things just fast forwarded very quickly and supercharged. So I, you know, moved to I worked in
00:05:09.980news here, you know, sort of taking on odd jobs and internships, not really going to school
00:05:15.580just because I wanted to just jump into it. And I got a job at NBC when I was like 17. And then I
00:05:23.360just completely left abandoned school after that. And then I started working at like tech TV and
00:05:28.980radio stations and magazines. And then I moved to LA and the only, everything that I'd read about,
00:05:34.920you know, working in entertainment was that you have to work at an agency. So I went to go work
00:05:38.800at William Morris. That's where I moved to LA for, that's the job I moved to LA for because
00:05:43.420in order to work in entertainment, you kind of have to have this foundational understanding of
00:05:47.000how the business works. Did that terribly. And then I kept progressing upward into working at
00:05:52.800magazines. Winter kind of saw where the Internet was headed as it pertains to media and celebrity
00:05:59.180early on. So she shifted her career around it and jumped on the wave early. In 2011, I realized that
00:06:07.020the Internet was too, the presence was looming too large. And I just said, you know, I can do
00:06:13.280this for people. I can create news. I can push out news, distribute news and do it on behalf of a
00:06:18.800brand instead of working for a brand that's dying and wouldn't convert. You know, Us Magazine,
00:06:24.260OK Magazine, I loved those experiences. It was amazing working in those environments,
00:06:31.400but they were not progressing fast enough for me in the digital space. So I had to start to just
00:06:37.820sort of jumpstart it myself. And that's where I've been, what I've been doing now for the last 15
00:06:42.300years is managing digital presences for celebrities and brands. I want to see a version of that
00:06:47.980documentary, The Kid Stays in the Picture. But from your perspective of all the different stories
00:06:52.460and entertainment, like that's how I think of you, the person who knows all about the business of
00:06:58.920media and entertainment. It's literally it's one of those things where I'm so glad that I
00:07:06.780stuck with it because I wasn't actually getting you get fed so many influences. Thank you,
00:07:13.180Bridget, for those kind words. I you don't you get influenced by so many different perspectives
00:07:19.060and like this would be seductive or this would be cool. And I realized I was like, none of that
00:07:25.020stuff sounds cool. I like just being in this lane. I don't don't want to. You're not following this
00:07:30.940train of thought. And I got in a lot of trouble for being in this train of thought. I got fired
00:07:36.120from William Morris for having a blog about my, you know, 25 years ago. And now they're putting
00:07:41.580assistants in Vanity Fair like I like you know what I mean like there's a whole blog dedicated
00:07:47.240to being an assistant at an agency and it's like I was at the press of I literally started this and
00:07:52.880it's so funny because people talk about this now when they see me they're like you're really ahead
00:07:57.740of your time I was like yeah I had to take the blows for it but I was ahead of my time like and
00:08:01.980and I think I've always been good at that being able to kind of foresee when something is shifting
00:08:07.420And I think we're deep in that now. I think it is shifting very quickly, faster than when it shifted from analog to digital.
00:08:14.680And I think that we have a lot of challenges ahead for us in that sense.
00:08:22.740So I know there's probably someone listening wondering, why are they talking about entertainment media on a tech podcast?
00:08:28.660But entertainment stories are media stories, they're tech stories, they're business stories.
00:08:33.280Do you ever get the sense that people poo-poo all of this as celebrity gossip or just gossip more generally, even though we know that entertainment touches so many important facets and leverages stakeholders across all of these spaces?
00:08:47.520Well, you're right. And that's kind of the reason why I was able to exist so long in it, because I wasn't like a gossip hound in that sense.
00:08:55.780I had relationships. So when I came into the business, I already had relationships, which was a coup for them. But the one thing I can say is that, you know, getting the information that I got that built the articles that were published or reporting, a lot of that was rooted in having a business mindset about it.
00:09:18.140looking at the business mindset, looking at the business landscape and how this would affect
00:09:22.680X, Y, Z. And that kept me, even if I didn't have a story to publish that week, having news about
00:09:29.540something that was happening inside of, you know, a studio decision that could affect, that would
00:09:36.440ripple across the industry or something that is, you know, knowing that, you know, you're saying
00:09:41.660that so-and-so might be hooking up. And it's like, that's crazy because they were filming such and
00:09:46.160such over here with you know all these people that can't be true those were vital having the
00:09:51.760script to something to verify that this scene takes place and this could create like a liaison
00:09:56.680that would be interesting to to the magazine so like I think there is you know reporting that I
00:10:03.000did always came from sourcing I sourced every single thing and I didn't get just one source
00:10:08.580I would get three sources and people would try you know there was always a hater inside he'd be
00:10:12.900like that's didn't I didn't hear that well I heard it from three people and they're legitimate people
00:10:17.940and they are they're my long-term sources and my editor confirmed it so yeah like that's the
00:10:23.580problem I think I think not having you know these people that we're talking about that we and that
00:10:29.140I had to deal with over the last two weeks my the the saddest part of all of this is that they don't
00:10:35.920have that experience they just don't and you simply need it they think because everybody jumps on
00:10:41.600and blind gossip and, you know, all those other, you know, fake news, FOMO, all of them have the
00:10:49.980ability to just jump online and start spewing stuff. You don't understand what it takes to
00:10:54.920get things verified, which is why the blind gossip pages, you know, are constantly being taken down
00:11:02.740because you're constantly putting out information or being threatened or being sued because you0.74
00:11:07.740haven't verified anything you're editorializing and making shit up it's not moral and it's and0.80
00:11:12.720it's not legal to be honest i'm so glad that you brought this up i think in this day and age0.90
00:11:17.640we have forgotten that there's a difference between entertainment journalists who know
00:11:22.160how to fact check know how to source stuff and then people who just get on tiktok who get on
00:11:26.260whatever instagram page they might have millions of followers and they'll just say whatever and0.98
00:11:31.840those are it's two different things right like yes people used to to dog on wendy williams she
00:11:37.440knew how to fact check right like she she knew how to like you know there's a difference between0.99
00:11:41.520getting on tiktok and making essentially fan fiction lying right even if that goes viral
00:11:47.200and i do think we're at a place where more and more celebrities and also everyday people who
00:11:53.340have been defamed or lied about are taking those kinds of fabulous to court and saying hey this is
00:11:59.120defamation you went on your youtube channel and lied about me you didn't have a source for any
00:12:03.360of this. It's not true. I'm going to sue you and you're going to take it down. Let's be real. Our
00:12:08.160current digital landscape has created a financial incentive for lies. And it's not just the people
00:12:13.600who lie who profit. It's also the platforms. For instance, after rapper Cardi B won a defamation
00:12:20.600suit against YouTuber and blogger Tasha Kay, YouTube did not automatically remove videos
00:12:26.260even after the court deems them defamatory.
00:16:50.300Every week, I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable.0.98
00:16:54.720I knew if he woke up, without a doubt, he was going to hurt me.
00:16:59.180I started feeling that there was someone at the end of my bed, and I just started screaming.
00:17:06.240They are abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced.
00:17:10.700But these aren't stories about what's taken from them.
00:17:14.160They're stories about what it takes to make it out alive.
00:17:17.780Listen to The Survivor Files with Elizabeth Smart on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:17:26.220If your bookshelf and your For You page are equally important to your personality, welcome home.
00:17:32.160This is Prose Society, the weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for thought daughters, pop culture obsessives, and anyone who thinks Pride and Prejudice and Love Island deserve the same level of discourse.
00:17:44.640I'm Eli Rallo, and every week we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and the conversations everyone can't stop having.
00:17:51.740I'm going to have to look up this story.
00:17:54.880From best-selling authors and your favorite book talk creators to the latest pop culture moments, nothing is off the table.
00:18:01.280It's like if you can hide some real messages inside compelling characters, then that is a Trojan horse.
00:18:09.200Whether you're looking for literary deep dives, smart pop culture conversations, or a community of readers who love to think a little too much, you're in the right place.
00:18:18.360Listen to Pro Society on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:22:15.760So walk me through how you first realized that this was a narrative starting online about you.
00:22:20.620I think there was one poster where he posted it and was just like really defiantly not.
00:22:28.740A couple of people took it down in the beginning and I posted the photo of me.
00:22:34.960And so first, I want to clear this up.
00:22:36.620I post the photo of me and Diddy because I was talking about in my stories how I and I will send you a screenshot of that, how I how it was an underwhelming experience.
00:22:47.940And it kind of was before that experience had happened.
00:22:52.040I'd interviewed to work at Bad Boy when I was in like 17.
00:22:55.500One of the many reasons why the claim that Winter would have been chosen as a juror on Diddy's trial makes no sense is that Winter actually interviewed to work for Diddy's record label, Bad Boy Entertainment, when she was just starting out.
00:23:09.200She remembers how odd the interview was.
00:23:11.800She was expecting to meet Diddy at an office, but instead, she was asked to meet with Diddy at Justin's, a soul food restaurant that Diddy owned in New York City.
00:23:21.060thank god that fell apart and thank god it was a really awful weird awkward experience where i
00:23:28.360definitely was being like i don't want to say groomed to do something but it wasn't an a typical
00:23:33.520thing it wasn't like other entrances where you they bring you into the office and they're like
00:23:37.800hey and like these are the people and this is where you work usually when you're interviewing
00:23:41.180for an internship they kind of give you the back then they give you the lay of the land and what
00:23:45.960your experience could be like and then you're excited and you want to do it and work for free
00:23:50.080and and this was much more like um meet us at this restaurant and meet us over you know do
00:23:58.240yeah like like it was Justin's by the way uh meet us at this restaurant it was very like
00:24:03.340it was it was just a very not professional situation so you know I didn't really care
00:24:08.580and I didn't think much more of it after that because I was underwhelmed and then to meet
00:24:12.860to I interviewed Diddy at at the 2009 BET Awards when I was working I feel like okay or us I can't
00:24:19.520remember. And, and I remember just being like, what an underwhelming person, this outsized
00:24:25.600personality. And I, and, and that's why it's so funny in the documentary, they talk about how he
00:24:30.180actually interacts with African-Americans. And I'm like, yeah, that's the sense. It's like he
00:24:34.380had to be there because he is a black entertainer, but did he want to be around all these black1.00
00:24:40.700people? Not necessarily. And, and, and that was the, and you got that sense. You, I don't want1.00
00:24:46.260to again i'm not going to put uh words or thoughts into what diddy might have been thinking at the
00:24:52.700time but i can say that it was an underwhelming experience that's not even the last time i saw
00:24:56.460him i saw him again at a concert and backstage and again and this was closer to all of this
00:25:03.040stuff falling apart so this is when i definitely think he knew somebody was coming and you want
00:25:08.140to talk about underwhelming in 2009 it was even more hilarious to watch a man who was under
00:25:13.760who is who is knows that the feds are watching and i'm like saying to myself you know like all0.97
00:25:22.360that bravado all that bravado all that you know you know king of new york shit and he's literally0.97
00:25:30.700backstage in a very secured area and looking around and and and can't stand still so like0.98
00:25:36.800i always just felt like you know part of my job is being in front of a lot of big personalities
00:25:43.140like this and you can't help but observe and he's one of the ones where the energy was always dark
00:25:47.840so so i post the photo i should have given more context that is the one mistake that i think that
00:25:53.720i made and i i i suddenly wake up the next day i didn't think much of it that day i was like just
00:26:00.940take it down then the next day i it's just like further and then i started this is when i knew it
00:26:05.420was bad i'm hearing from people i haven't spoken to since elementary school i'm hearing people from
00:26:10.820people that I, you know, family members, my parents, like my sister, like I'm hearing from
00:26:16.920people that don't typically like it has traveled far and wide. So now I'm getting pissed because
00:26:23.380now it's like, I know that I'm, I'm, I work on the internet and I know if they're hearing about it,
00:26:29.500then everybody is going to hear about it shortly. Right. And I know that it's traveled
00:26:34.600further than just the threads. It's now gone from threads to, you know, TikTok to Instagram to
00:26:42.000Facebook to Twitter. And that is when I got really mad because it was already proven within that day
00:26:50.940that I am not her. I'd already said it. And yet they kept saying it. And then I kept saying to
00:26:56.860myself, how do you think that? Why would you think that I would not say I am that person and that it
00:27:03.140wouldn't have already been reported it would not it would have already been pushed out through
00:27:07.400uh larger platforms you know uh verified news outlets the tmz's the peoples and then i said
00:27:14.300they're not going to cover it and that also kind of made me mad because i can't get them to i have
00:27:20.040friends on all these places i can't get them to report a fake news story and say that it's true
00:27:25.120because I, A, I don't want it further out and B, it's, I shouldn't have to do that. I shouldn't
00:27:33.280have to do it. My word should be bond and it didn't matter. And what upset me the most is
00:27:39.660that it was mostly black bloggers. It was mostly black bloggers. It wasn't like, you know, MAGA,1.00
00:27:47.080this was not a MAGA hit job. It was mostly black bloggers. So instead of taking me by my word0.59
00:27:53.400using google you can google me and see that this is this is my look this is my look this is you
00:28:00.960know it's on i'm i'm my instagram page is public you know my threads you could read down threads
00:28:06.380and see me talking no research no nothing just i'm gonna go with this and very defiantly so0.99
00:28:15.800and i was i just feel bad for them i i feel bad for them like i have pity because they're so stupid0.99
00:28:21.020and also so manipulative that they would rather be wrong for clicks than be right and that's0.99
00:28:28.660going to be the that's going to be their entire like that's going to be their entire like brand
00:28:34.000you know they don't realize that that's actually just a detriment to their growth you can't just0.61
00:28:39.340walk away from lying about shit um and then and some of these people want to be comedians and0.91
00:28:45.800and and and and and stand do stand up and movies like that it's like I work in this business0.97
00:28:51.980if I see you I'll say something so like you don't understand how small it is I'll never forget their
00:28:59.080faces I'll never forget their names I have like saved everything I don't know when I'm gonna
00:29:04.140strike that's the other thing I have a business so I don't know when I'm gonna strike Bridget I
00:29:10.120might wake up tomorrow and and just strike you never know that's the that would make me nervous
00:29:15.900but they're going to be defiant and think what they want yeah this first of all this could not
00:29:21.920have happened there's almost an irony to it because not that it should be happening to anybody
00:29:26.680but this could not have happened to like a more visible more connected kind of person so i find
00:29:32.960that very i don't know it's just like nobody should have to go through it but of all the people
00:29:38.920to pick to target in this way you I find yeah there's almost an irony to it I guess is what
00:29:45.300I'm saying it's an irony to it but it's also not surprising and not the most extreme thing that's
00:29:50.060ever happened to me which is why I was able to deal with it I was annoyed for sure I was pissed
00:29:54.480but I was able to deal with it because I have dealt with worse this is not the most extreme
00:29:58.720thing that's ever happened to me and it's also not the most extreme thing I've ever had to work
00:30:04.760with in the workplace. I've worked with people that have had really intense scenarios happen
00:30:08.680and I have worked, helped support them in working through it. And I've watched it. And I also know
00:30:13.520that these things died down. Unfortunately, we've had some really horrible things happen since.
00:30:17.640So the importance of it, at least in my frame of reference, is no longer where it was. But I think
00:30:24.120that, you know, a combination of all of these things that are happening and all this stuff
00:30:29.600that happens and the way the internet reacts to news is a thing that's up for debate that I wish
00:30:36.220there was someone who can kind of step in and we don't have you know the credibility of news
00:30:42.500organizations every single news organization whether they're you're on their side or not
00:30:46.380are corrupted and it's just hard to know who to lean on you know that would actually support
00:30:54.700some preservation of accuracy and in news reporting.
00:31:00.740I mean, I just think that it's becoming a bygone era, unfortunately.
00:31:06.760It was all over the news, all over the media.
00:31:09.060If a juror in that trial had been credibly proven to have had this level of prior relationship
00:31:14.200with Diddy where they had been photographed together and met, don't you think media outlets
00:31:18.880would have covered it and followed up on it?
00:31:20.780It's like the people who believe this and that are spreading this online, they're not willing to engage critically with this at all because that's how much they need for this story to be true.
00:31:32.000There's kind of another weird dynamic happening here, too, because the people who are smearing and lying about Winter are doing it to support this broader claim that Diddy got a light sentence because the jury was full of people who liked him or who were dazzled by his celebrity.
00:31:47.700And look, I need to say, I hate Diddy.
00:31:50.920I've hated him for a really long time, even before all of this.
00:31:54.560So I obviously don't disagree with this instinct to interrogate power and celebrity.
00:31:59.960But I found myself in this bizarre position,
00:32:02.460arguing with people who are spreading outright lies about someone,
00:32:06.080an incredibly talented Black woman like Winter, no less,
00:32:08.920who didn't do anything wrong in service of something I ostensibly should agree with,1.00
00:32:14.520that Diddy did get too light of a sentence.
00:32:16.800and that his celebrity probably did impact that.
00:40:22.580If your bookshelf and your For You page are equally important to your personality, welcome home.
00:40:28.940This is Prose Society, the weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for thought daughters,
00:40:35.340pop culture obsessives, and anyone who thinks Pride and Prejudice and Love Island deserve the same level of discourse.
00:40:41.380I'm Eli Rallo, and every week we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and the conversations everyone can't stop having.
00:40:48.500I'm going to have to look up this story. I'm obsessed. I'm obsessed.
00:40:51.640From best-selling authors and your favorite book talk creators to the latest pop culture moments, nothing is off the table.
00:40:58.040It's like if you can hide some real messages inside compelling characters, then that is a Trojan horse.
00:41:05.940Whether you're looking for literary deep dives, smart pop culture conversations, or a community of readers who love to think a little too much, you're in the right place.
00:41:15.120Listen to Pro Society on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:43:46.700When you look at who is sitting in the White House press briefing room, it's we it's no it's there are some journalists there still.
00:43:53.960But now it's it's the Tim Pools of the world.
00:43:56.020It's people who are podcasters, bloggers.
00:43:58.800And I do think we've just completely conflated and blown up what these different roles are.
00:44:04.700If you're an influencer or a contact grader, no, like no shade.
00:44:08.680We I think that those are voices are can be very important and very useful.
00:44:11.880But that's different than somebody who's a journalist. And I just think that we have stopped asking those questions about who is who. And we've all just decided it's all one in the same when it's not.
00:44:21.300it's not being a content creator is not journalism when i when i was a kid and i was working in these
00:44:28.900internships and i wanted to you know make news i was you know they they they i got the hard
00:44:37.080questions asked to me i got stuff killed you know things they would kill certain stories so they
00:44:42.780didn't have any juice or it had no merit or it didn't make any any it didn't make sense it didn't
00:44:48.060it didn't come together the way they wanted. And that was part of the learning. That was part of
00:44:52.540the learning of knowing what is the news, what's news here, having an editor say, so what's the
00:44:56.840news? What here is of interest? And then the first story I broke, the first story I broke
00:45:03.640when I was 18 years old was Courtney Cox and David Arquette getting married in San Francisco
00:45:10.060for Kron. It was the kicker at the end of the newscast. And I stood there having already now
00:45:15.760been through all of this training with some of the report journalists and reporters and anchors
00:45:20.640I grew up watching from the time I was a baby I my the this is a perfect example I was at the
00:45:27.280Nordstrom uh counter and and down in San Francisco Center on Market Street getting some makeup and
00:45:35.120because I was working in a professional setting and I was just I was like I need to step my makeup
00:45:38.680up. So I was getting color matched and, um, I go, I love this brand. And the makeup artist goes,
00:45:46.360you know, everybody loves his brain. You know, who was in here yesterday, Courtney Cox.
00:45:49.500And I was like, Oh my God, I love her. And he's like, she's like, yeah, she's getting married at,
00:45:53.400um, uh, I forget the church. She's getting married, uh, here tomorrow and, and her makeup
00:45:59.020artists and her were here like doing color matches and swatches. That's a tip. So then I0.94
00:46:05.480start calling everybody that I know in the that I know at the news station and saying like who like
00:46:12.300the assignment desk editor and and and my mentor and I go okay I got a tip and they were like
00:46:18.020they're covering hard news they were like go report it go report it go report it out so I
00:46:24.760couldn't call the church and say hey is Courtney Cox and David Arquette getting married there today
00:46:29.560and that wouldn't have worked so what did I do I I went to the assignment desk and say I need a
00:46:34.980camera. I need a, I need a cameraman. And I'm, we're going to stand out in Grace Cathedral.
00:46:40.060We're going to stand in front of Grace Cathedral all day. Stood in front of Grace Cathedral. And
00:46:43.740I remember thinking, if this doesn't come together, because there was nothing, there was
00:46:47.240no activity happening. There was no activity happening, Bridget. We were standing there.
00:46:51.880The sun's also about to go down. And the next thing I see another camera come up. And then I
00:46:56.740see another camera come up and it's at the other news stations. Cause they also too got the tip
00:47:01.340and or got a tip somehow and then the next thing you know here comes these suvs and it's brad pitt0.97
00:47:07.860and jennifer aniston and you know lisa kudrow and every and everybody's coming and the archettes
00:47:13.600and we got like 10 seconds of a video of everybody got brad pitt waving and and walking into the the
00:47:21.240the church and i they i reported i sent my script in the anchor reported and i'm getting emotional
00:47:28.360because that was the best day of my life.
00:47:30.000That's when I said, I know I can do this.
00:48:53.120When you're talking about a long form magazine,0.80
00:48:55.240You do need to know it was she was sitting by the pool. She had a sad look on her face after reading her phone. But if it's tabloid journalism, they just want like boom, boom, boom. And when I worked at us, that was like the it was trailing off. But that was like the era of like really good, fun, juicy, scoopy stuff. And now it's just it's not their fault.
00:49:17.200One of my good friends is the editor-in-chief of Us, and it's not his fault. It is just the way the world has gone. People like me have disrupted this space because my clients don't need to talk to us. They can just post it, that they're having a baby. They can just post that they're getting a divorce. They can just post that they're starting a new show. They don't really need to deal with them for that kind of information.
00:49:41.120Yes, but it does sort of make me sad that we live in a culture and a media climate where what you just described of having a nose for news, sniffing something out, it coming together, getting the attaboy or attagirl from, you know, a higher up.
00:49:59.400people who get on the internet and just make shit up will never have that they'll never know that
00:50:03.820they'll never know what that feels like to actually do reporting to get something pretty0.87
00:50:08.920juicy out there and have the receipts and the proof to back it up they won't and they've actually
00:50:14.740flooded the market so much that is diluted when it does happen um you know i don't it's that's why
00:50:21.280i got out when i got out because i saw it i saw that it was becoming a kardashianified way of
00:50:27.780entering this space when I wanted to do the Oprah version of this space and it just wasn't going to
00:50:34.340happen. I didn't see a runway for it. I didn't see a world where this was going to become
00:50:41.360a situation that wasn't going to be like, you know, chili out of a pot. There's no way to get
00:50:49.140all the chili back into the pot there. It's just corrupted. And I feel that way. I hate it because
00:50:54.760I work with these platforms and I don't trust these platforms. I don't trust Instagram. They
00:50:59.960lie to us all the time. They lie to my clients. I remember one of my clients was at the Paris
00:51:04.800Olympics, was posting on the Paris Olympics, had posted the opening ceremony because she was there
00:51:11.700and they took down her content. And we kept saying, why did you take down her content? Why
00:51:16.600did you take down her content? She was in Paris, goes to Paris every year. It's documented on our
00:51:21.080page she is a big celebrity Emmy winning all the stuff uh they would not answer us finally I said
00:51:27.320I need an answer right now because we are asking questions or somebody above me is gonna like her
00:51:31.540attorney's gonna ask NBC took the content down so NBC has more say in what someone's lived experience
00:51:40.080in this moment this spectacular moment NBC can decide and you weren't going to tell us for weeks
00:51:46.340until we told you, you better tell us before we get our internities involved. What the fuck is0.99
00:51:51.580wrong with them? Like, what the fuck is wrong with you? If you don't have the infrastructure1.00
00:51:57.980to deal and work with, especially talent of this caliber and say, hey, sorry, we had to take this
00:52:03.840down. Here's why NBC decided. No, they disabled her account and made it made it so we couldn't
00:52:10.980post anything for three days. So you're disrupting her flow of business because your flow of business
00:52:43.780And I think that because there's no regulations
00:52:45.840and rules around it or there's no uh uh uh systems that are to support you know things being accurate
00:52:53.060i think that we will see something like that in the very near future yeah and i think that's the
00:52:58.700thing is like it's really not a game this is people's real lives people's real livelihood
00:53:03.300and i agree with you i think we have gotten close i will never know how close we have gotten to
00:53:10.140things really escalating but like people have been sued and like lost their entire livelihood
00:53:14.780are going to be paying restitution for the rest of their lives because of stuff they got on the
00:53:19.660internet and said and i don't think people really truly understand the stakes here and i think as
00:53:25.800you said that the the media climate that we live in where everybody's thirsting to be first
00:53:29.820we have replaced things like proof with engagement and vibes and and whether or not something gets a
00:53:36.800lot of likes and travels far and wide you know um and i do wonder i don't even know how to ask this
00:53:42.440But, you know, I wonder if what's happening with these lies about you being Juror 160 kind of mirrors this dynamic more generally, like the film, the Netflix documentary, The Reckoning.
00:53:53.620I think that there are people who like want to hear the stories of survivors and victims.
00:53:58.160Right. But then there are people who just want drama.
00:54:00.500They just want 50 Cent versus Diddy Juicy feud on screen.0.98
00:54:03.620And so I think that like, we just see a lot of Black women kind of becoming collateral damage for the sake of the hunger for a juicy story, right? And so I don't think people see you or some of the women who shared their stories or people that shared their stories in the documentary, I don't necessarily know if they see them as real people who have real lives, if it is in service of like this larger juicy story that they just want to be told. Does that make sense?0.73
00:54:33.620I think it's also just a maybe the storytelling wasn't maybe the storytelling.
00:54:41.140The story, look, the documentary was definitely manipulated to fit a narrative in that way.
00:54:53.060I mean, my jaw was on the floor most of the time, my jaw was on the floor most of the time.
00:54:56.760And even, you know, there were a lot of things I obviously knew, you know, about the creation of Bad Boy and how he came to be.
00:55:03.020And I knew all that stuff from just having grown up in it. But like, do we ever get, you know, I watched a documentary about she saying goodbye horses, Hugh Lazarus.
00:55:17.440And that was, to me, one of the first times I'd ever seen a documentary frame a black woman and all of her, the good, the bad, the ugly, in a way that felt well-rounded and felt like a beautiful picture of a woman just trying.
00:55:34.940And I don't think that it's interesting to it's I noticed that it stopped being interesting for people once they saw my page, once I let people because I privated my page to figure out how I'm going to respond to this.
00:55:48.580And then I put up a series of stories and the stories sort of basically explain that I wrote an essay and then explain like there's no way I live here and there's no way I was there on the day that the decision was made because I was in Ojai and there was no way I was at this other thing because I was in Denver giving a speech.
00:56:10.180and so like I was if I were a juror I would have been a bad juror because I was never around
00:56:16.320um but I think that it's more it got boring for them when I was just they were like oh
00:56:24.300I think there's two things about a bridge I think it got boring for them when they realized I wasn't
00:56:28.840going to stop saying I'm not that person and then it got annoying for them when they realized that0.96
00:56:33.660I am literally a fucking bad bitch so there's like it's you know what I mean so it's like0.97
00:56:39.160oh you know it just it just became like a snore for them and I was like I'm glad that everybody0.99
00:56:43.760like a lot but but what it did is it for me to respond that that manner is like I had to just
00:56:49.240reinforce the narrative that I was not her and that I also have a lot going on that's really
00:56:56.340fucking cool that you could talk about that is not this and you don't have to but you can you0.94
00:57:02.380but you do have to stop saying that i'm her and and no shade to her um she's she's just goofy0.98
00:57:10.540but also assuming that i'd be as goofy as her when i literally am like the least goofy bitch around0.97
00:57:18.120in that sense it's like that's also insulting you're insulting my intelligence you're insulting0.93
00:57:24.180my intelligence i would i you know what i mean that's why i'm saying i could never have been on
00:57:28.020that jury because there's just nothing there's no there there for me I have no poker face I would
00:57:34.020have been mean I would have been like like every every time something got revealed I'm like I just
00:57:39.520don't have a poker face I'm also too deep in the in the business to have been able to be objective
00:57:45.020about anything I just couldn't I've worked for one of his ex-girlfriends like I cannot be objective
00:57:50.800I don't there's objectivity there just would it would never work gosh I have to this is a little
00:57:56.780bit of a side note speaking of all the bad bitchery that you do and and encompass in your life
00:58:02.580people don't understand you have a picture wearing the daft punk helmets that is like i have told i1.00
00:58:08.980was just talking to my cousin at a bar over the weekend and i was like you don't understand what0.99
00:58:13.760that fucking means like shit like that people really need to understand i didn't know that0.98
00:58:19.440that would be like such a big deal and that's probably why he was like my friend who owns the0.99
00:58:24.460helmet I he just he owns one of the helmets he used to be a music executive at Disney he was I'm
00:58:30.640sure he was like he knew that but I'm so glad that it's been like I don't know how long I think it's
00:58:36.360been like 17 years since I took that picture I'm so glad that he told me never to post it because
00:58:43.500it means more now to me Bridget than it meant when when I first took it because that is some
00:58:50.060iconic shit you just don't see Daft Punk helmet in a Diane von Furstenberg rap dress just like0.51
00:58:55.640just like or Spanx dress or whatever it was just sitting in the Hollywood Hills I mean that is0.99
00:59:01.660literally my life how I could never be juror 160 she could never be me like that just that's my0.69
00:59:08.280life it's like the Forrest Gumpiest of all the shit is a lot of these moments to be honest and
00:59:15.440that's what's annoying me too is like I don't know that I can post more pictures because of0.97
00:59:20.140these clowns they're going to take this picture and you know start making like fan fiction about
00:59:24.340other pictures of me and other people I don't think so but it's just like you know they ruined0.99
00:59:29.320that that that so now I have to write a book so they can just be in a book and so I can fucking
00:59:35.100read it yes I know you're you're like one of many I really need to get on that yes get on that
00:59:42.300i appreciate everybody who has been vocal and saying that it's not me and just you know direct
00:59:49.860them to my instagram they'll all will be revealed there my entire i've made a highlight this is so
00:59:55.720pathetic i made a highlight of not the juror is the name of the highlight and i had to because
01:00:03.320i was like i don't want this on my feed this is crazy and i also just wanted it to be there to
01:00:10.100to set it and forget it you know because i also didn't want this the one thing i will say is i
01:00:16.320did not want this to dominate my holiday i did not want this to dominate the conversations i'm
01:00:22.040having with people i just didn't want to talk about it anymore um because i really don't think
01:00:28.880that this story you know is i have crazier stories and and i don't want that to be defined by this
01:00:38.160And I don't think I will be. But I also didn't want there to an assumption that I would take clout for it.
01:00:44.840Like the guy who the guy who dresses up as Michael Jackson and modified his face as Michael Jackson and was upset and critiquing the Michael Jackson trailer is looking for clout.
01:00:56.740Like that is a person who needs to have a conversation with someone about that.
01:01:01.820that's not me I'm not going to start finding a way to turn this I don't need this to turn this
01:01:08.640into currency for anything that's the other thing I think is annoying is like one of these bloggers
01:01:13.300was like I will be able to go on a cruise with this post and I was like a cruise that's so sad0.97
01:01:20.100like that is really you needed to tear somebody down for a cruise you're pathetic like I would0.96
01:01:27.520a never be on a cruise just another list of laundry list of things I will not do and that's0.97
01:01:32.580jury duty cruises you know I have taste I don't like that's really weird and and just you know
01:01:42.000just at winter on instagram just at them and say that's not her if you choose to you also could
01:01:47.760just not engage they don't need the engagement they don't need any of this reinforcement they
01:01:53.360don't need anything. They need to get lives for sure, but they don't need, you know, they don't
01:01:58.640need anything. I have a huge, you know, support system. I got calls from you'd be a lot of people,
01:02:06.140a lot of people in the industry, a lot of people who are close to that documentary, a lot of people
01:02:11.620that are work at Netflix. I got calls from a lot of people. So it wasn't just like friends or
01:02:18.500colleagues i got a lot of calls so you know everybody's pretty aware how the how stupid0.97
01:02:23.800this was it was the people that don't know how to read write um or comprehend or you know have any0.97
01:02:31.840like ability to sort of dissect something and you know double check and double back and google
01:02:38.600people who don't know google um or maybe they just use bing i don't know but i i just you know
01:02:44.500what can you say this is the world we live in this is the this is trump's america
01:02:49.060last thing i'll say is i really want to i really want to start examining and exploring and i want
01:02:58.740people to do that sort of like how you get your news i think i have a tip this is a tip
01:03:02.140i think for 2026 really start going through who you're following and and and where you're getting
01:03:09.860your information and how it makes you feel after you consume it um and really start spending maybe
01:03:15.400like every day just removing uh bullshit from your your environment i'm i'm a victim of it too0.52
01:03:22.300i'm in two snark groups i'm like obsessed with them but i also think like the negativity is0.73
01:03:28.280getting to be annoying and i also think like we've already kind of gone through the same
01:03:33.360conversation over and over again. So, so if that is taking time away from you to be the type of
01:03:40.940person that is productive and informed and more learned in something, and something is taking
01:03:48.720away from that, an account, an interest or whatever, just remove it. I think we need to
01:03:53.420start. I think we've, we've gotten our fill on a lot of things. And I think the mass consumption
01:03:59.400of bullshit is by design. And we need to start putting guardrails around our mental health and0.99
01:04:05.480our energy for that. And I encourage people, you know, I love the internet more than anybody I
01:04:12.360know, but I too know when there's a moment where I need to pull back and start reassessing sort of
01:04:19.260like what I'm engaging with and how I'm putting myself out there. And I think just that reset is
01:04:24.500good for anybody and touch grass really just touch grass and get a passport get a passport
01:04:31.280touch more grass divest from the media bullshit and lies i like it winter thank you so much for0.95
01:04:37.740being here you are such a goddamn delight you are too we need to do this more often i'm gonna come0.86
01:04:44.280back anytime for some stuff i would love that you're the best thank you bridget i really love0.92
01:04:48.960you for inviting me in to take space in your space and thank you i appreciate your support so much