- 30 minutes ago
The comedian talks about his reality show 'United States of America' and two Emmy nominations.
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00:00Hi, this is Mariah Gullo from The Hollywood Reporter and this is Meet Your Emmy Nominee.
00:04And I have here with me Kamau Bell from United Shades of America.
00:09Yeah.
00:10Congratulations!
00:11I know, it's weird.
00:12It doesn't make sense.
00:13Meet your Emmy nominee and then it's this guy.
00:16You have two Emmy nominations this year.
00:18Yes.
00:19One last year, two this year.
00:20Which, I mean, it seems silly, but we were surprised by the Emmy nomination last year.
00:26But then the second year you're like, I mean, I hope we get it again.
00:29So you get two, I was totally surprised by.
00:31That's amazing.
00:32I mean, okay, so outstanding hosts for reality competition or, wait, reality competition or reality-based programming?
00:42Yes, so there's not a competition.
00:43I mean, we're competing.
00:44I'm competing to win America.
00:45You're competing against.
00:48I'm trying to make America win.
00:50That's what I'm competing for, but there's no internal competition.
00:53We're not keeping score amongst other people, yeah.
00:55Right, right.
00:56And you have some interesting people in your category.
00:58You've got Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg.
01:00You've got RuPaul.
01:00Which seems unfair.
01:02As a team, Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg.
01:04Yeah.
01:04Yeah.
01:05Do you have anything that you need to say to people like Gordon Ramsay and RuPaul and-
01:11Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn are also a team.
01:14I know, yeah, it's totally ridiculous.
01:15Okay.
01:15So the team is a problem.
01:17The team is a problem.
01:18I feel like that's not fair.
01:19I would have gotten a co-host if I had known that we could do that.
01:22Nobody told me we could do that.
01:24I mean, it's all, I mean, it's, I feel honored.
01:29It's a little overwhelming.
01:30It also feels a little bit ridiculous.
01:31I'm a comedian.
01:32I can't help but see the ridiculous part of it.
01:33I mean, I couldn't get into a party with those people.
01:36If they were in the back room, a VIP room, I couldn't be like, no, I'm in there too.
01:41So it's funny that I'm sort of, you know, amongst them in this nomination.
01:45Well, I hope you partake in some of the parties that happen over the Emmy week.
01:49Oh, that's, I'm definitely going to do that.
01:50I'm definitely, my wife is coming.
01:52You know, I didn't go to prom, so this is my prom.
01:55Yeah.
01:56Besides your wife, who would you like to sit next to at the Emmys?
02:00Who would I like to sit next to at the Emmys?
02:02Um, I'd like to sit near Snoop Dogg just to see what that's like.
02:06I don't know.
02:06Next to him seems like it might be too much, you know, catch a contact high.
02:10But I'd like to, you know, it's fun to be in that room and sort of see random celebrities
02:17that you never thought you'd be in the same room as.
02:19So yeah, I mean, I think it, you know, I mean, Alec Baldwin's also in my category.
02:23That's true.
02:24You know, I'm a huge Alec Baldwin fan from way back.
02:27But I don't know if I want to meet him because I'm afraid I might make him mad.
02:31But I'm a big fan.
02:33So I'd like to, you know, it'd be fun to sort of photobomb a picture with Alec Baldwin
02:38and then post it on my Instagram.
02:39That sounds like a good goal.
02:41Yeah, my goal is to meet Alec Baldwin and have him not be mad at me.
02:45Perfect.
02:46Now, with your show, you actually do a really good job of kind of smoothing over some of the rougher
02:52edges of society
02:53because you're looking into kind of some interesting groups of people.
02:58For your first two seasons, the first episodes was you meeting up with the KKK
03:04and then you meeting up with the alt-right.
03:07Yeah.
03:08Why did you choose to open your seasons that way?
03:11You know, I mean, I think the second season, it was funny.
03:15It was really an episode about immigration and refugees.
03:18And we felt like we needed to show the people who did not support immigration and refugees.
03:23So that ended up being Richard Spencer ended up being the symbol of that.
03:26So I think a lot of people who just saw the commercial thought it was like an hour long sit
03:30down with Richard Spencer.
03:31And it was not that.
03:32He was in one segment of the show.
03:33But we really did feel like we needed to show that, like, I believe in America opening up its borders,
03:38representing a friend of their immigration and refugee policy.
03:41And there's all sorts of information that show why I believe that and why it helps this country overall, not
03:46just for them, but for us.
03:47It makes us a better country.
03:49It makes us a more successful country.
03:50So there's all sorts of information.
03:51But then it felt like, well, let's show people who don't believe in that.
03:54And it just so turns out that that was right after President Trump had won.
03:57So it was like these ideas are in the White House.
03:59So it felt important.
04:00Yeah.
04:00You know, so to me it felt like we shot last season before the election and then after the election.
04:07And it felt like that immigration and refugee episode was a good place to start because it's like this is
04:10the theme of the season.
04:12We need to sort of remember what makes this country great, if I can say that.
04:16Right.
04:17And then the first season it was really, the Klan episode was just like, it was the pilot for the
04:22whole show.
04:23So when they were like, do you want to do this show?
04:26Where do you want to go?
04:26It's an idea of going places where you were going to learn things and be around people you've never met
04:30before.
04:30And I was like the Klan, like if we're going to do this, let's go all in.
04:34I just felt like for me it was about like, you know, I don't know.
04:37That was the pilot.
04:38I don't know if it's going to be a series.
04:38I got to go all in.
04:40I got to do something that I would like to do and have all of a sudden thought about doing,
04:43but I've never had the resources to do.
04:45And it felt like CNN would be a good partner with that.
04:47And so, yeah.
04:48And then once, you know, once you film that episode and they bought the series based on that, you know,
04:54it's kind of hard to beat a blackout of Klan rally.
04:57We had a lot of great stuff in that season.
05:00I think our St. Quentin episode is great.
05:02I think our community policing episode is great.
05:04We did an episode in Alaska.
05:06But as far as the like, watch this new show you've never heard of, Black-Eyed at Klan rally is
05:09sort of, that's your opening like good morning.
05:12Yeah.
05:13Oh, what I loved about the immigration and refugee episode is also that, you know, you're talking about all these
05:20heavy issues.
05:20You're talking to people who, you know, are right in your face, you know, telling you things that, you know,
05:28most people would want to argue about.
05:30But you are able to just talk to them about it.
05:33But then you end the episode with, you know, just like, look how much fun it is going to a
05:38party where they're celebrating immigrants and refugees.
05:41Yeah, like to me it was like when you sort of, we spent some time at the alt-right conference
05:46and then we spent some time at our refugee Thanksgiving.
05:49And it was like, well, it looks more fun.
05:51Just, you know, where would you like to hang out for a few hours?
05:54Now some people would pick the alt-right conference.
05:56Good, then go hang out there.
05:57I'm not saying you can't go there.
05:58But me and most people I know would rather be at the refugee Thanksgiving.
06:01Because where is the food better?
06:02The food is way better.
06:04Even Spencer had to admit that the food is way better.
06:07You know, the food that is brought to this country and the food that, you know, all the different people
06:12have come here and contributed to the American menu.
06:14It's much better.
06:16What part of the United States do you think naturally has the best sense of humor?
06:21Oh, that's, um, probably the south.
06:28I think that, uh, if I had to sort of guess, uh, I mean New York's pretty good.
06:33But I would say, naturally, a good sense of humor comes out of difficult times and difficult experiences.
06:40People who, you know, rich, successful, good-looking people aren't that funny.
06:45They take themselves very seriously.
06:47Or if they're funny, they're funny for rich, successful, good-looking people.
06:50Like they're not funny for regular people.
06:52It's like, you know, that billionaire is kind of funny for a billionaire, you know what I mean?
06:56But the, you know, America's oppressed class is usually where the comedians come from.
07:01And I think the south, because of the history of oppression and all of the pain that comes out of
07:06the south, you know, I would take, if you had to just grab a random person from the south and
07:10a random person from the other part of the country and you had them square off, um, I just pitched
07:13a new show.
07:15I just sat here and pitched a new show.
07:17If you had them square off of who was the funniest random person, I'd go with somebody from the south.
07:22Black or white, no matter whatever their race is.
07:24If they have lived in the south their whole life, I'd pick them.
07:26I'd like to see like the UFC for comedy.
07:28Yeah.
07:29Just like take people from really different backgrounds and hit them against each other.
07:33And at the end of the day, choke the hell out of each other.
07:35I don't know.
07:36I'm still working on the pitch.
07:37I'm still working on the pitch.
07:38I'm not there yet.
07:40As a comedian, do you think you have an advantage for how you get to speak to people?
07:45Like, do you, can you get people to open up?
07:47Yeah, I mean, yes.
07:48Humor is a, when people are laughing, they're relaxing.
07:52So for me, it's like, it's just a way to sort of get people to relax and have a good
07:56time.
07:57If they're laughing, then they're, and also, you know, they're paying attention.
07:59If somebody laughs at me, he says, you know, they're paying attention.
08:01If they, and if they fake laugh, you know, they're fake laughing.
08:04So for me, it's like the laughter is a way to know if the conversation is going.
08:07And then when people are having a good time, they will say things they maybe weren't expecting to say,
08:11or they will open up.
08:12And even if it's the middle of a sad story, we've had some really powerfully sad moments this season
08:16on United Shades that ended in laughter just because laughter is a way out of those moments.
08:21Yeah.
08:22What were some of your more challenging interviews?
08:25I mean, the Spencer interview, people sort of highlighted a lot.
08:28The challenge of that was that we'd been there all day.
08:31And so there was a lot of anticipation.
08:32And we were there for hours.
08:33And the whole crew just started to, like, starts to weigh on you.
08:36Yeah.
08:36Hearing, like, white guy after white guy talk about how white people are the best and da-da-da.
08:42Also, let's be clear, white guy after white guy.
08:44Not even a woman.
08:45No woman went up on the stage to talk about how white women are the best.
08:48So it was all, that becomes exhausting mentally and physically.
08:51And so we had to wait for that.
08:52So that was just, like, by the end of that day, we were all pretty, the whole crew was pretty,
08:56like, just, whew, we've got to go home and watch, stream some Black-ish and some Modern Family
09:01and some, you know, just to sort of see some other types of people.
09:05Yeah.
09:05Yeah.
09:06Yeah.
09:06But, and so, and then I would say, you know, one of the, my favorite moments in the history
09:11of the show happened in the episode we did about Natives, you know, the Indigenous people
09:15of the country.
09:16Yeah.
09:16Some people say Native Americans.
09:17There's a lot of debate about what that is.
09:18Sure.
09:19Or what the right word, but, so I'm going to give voice to that.
09:22But, you know, we ended up the, we heard while we were there, we were on the Pine Ridge
09:28Reservation, that there was a family whose son had been killed, like, three days before.
09:33Hmm.
09:33Actually, when the producers landed in town, they heard that on the radio, that this son
09:36had been killed in gang violence.
09:39We heard that they were there, they were having, like, a memorial service at their house,
09:42and they might be open to talking to us about the challenge of living there.
09:46And so we, somebody reached out and called them, and so within about a half hour I was sitting
09:50at this house where they were having a memorial service for their dead son, and we sat down
09:55and talked about the challenges of living on the Native American Reservation.
09:58And it ended in laughter, incredibly.
10:00So that was one of those moments where I was like, I didn't expect that we would find
10:03humor in this.
10:04Wow.
10:04Yeah.
10:06When all was said and done, which episode do you think, did you really, like, just came
10:13together in the way that you didn't expect at all?
10:16You know, I was really, I knew I needed to go do an episode in Chicago, because I grew
10:20up in Chicago, went to high school in Chicago, and there was all this talk, as there
10:23always is about gang violence in Chicago.
10:25And I just felt as a person who lived there and loved Chicago that I had to go back there
10:28and try to, like, put out a different story and a different narrative, but I didn't know
10:32how we were going to do that, because I didn't, I didn't grow up in that life, so I can't
10:36go back and, it's not like I'm from those neighborhoods, but I felt like I have to go
10:39and give it a shot.
10:40And that episode, I think, came together really incredibly, it was really powerful, and I still
10:45hear from people in Chicago about how much they felt like this, this got it more
10:50right than anything that had happened before.
10:51So, you know, and, you know, so that, that to me was like, it was really important that
10:56I get that episode right, mostly so I could go back to Chicago.
11:00You know, you don't want to make something so bad that they go, you're not welcome in
11:03the city anymore.
11:04So, yeah, so I keep hearing about that episode.
11:07That's good.
11:08Yeah, in that, in that episode, you had kind of a round table discussion with all these hip-hop
11:13artists from Chicago, and you said you started to feel a little bit left out.
11:17Yeah.
11:18No, they didn't need me.
11:19It really was like, I provided the reason to sit down, because they hadn't sat down and
11:23had the conversation, and then about, and I sort of opened the conversation, and they
11:28all looked at me like, who invited the guidance counselor?
11:32And so, after a few minutes, it got rolling, and then a couple times I tried to add stuff
11:36in, and they were like, they didn't say it, but the feeling was like, no, we got it, we got
11:39it.
11:40And so I just sort of let it go, and it went, I mean, you know, and the episode is
11:43probably
11:44six or seven minutes long, but it was well over an hour long conversation that we could
11:48have aired the whole thing, I think.
11:49But, I mean, and they really, by the end, you could tell that people had felt changed
11:53by that moment.
11:54I don't know what happened after that, like if they, you know, but it certainly felt like
11:57in that moment, they were able to connect in ways that they hadn't connected before.
12:02That had nothing to do with me, it was just they hadn't had the opportunity or the invitation
12:06to do that.
12:06So, yeah, that was one of those moments where I was like, I could have gotten up and left,
12:10and, you know, but legally, I'm the host of the show.
12:13I was trying to get that host nomination, so I was like, I gotta stay here and look like
12:16I'm hosting this.
12:19I think, you know, it's kind of, I don't know if this is like a weird subject, but I
12:24feel like what unites a lot of people when they're, you know, when they have this like
12:28cultural identity, whether it's like people from Chicago, or from an Indian reservation,
12:33or even the alt-right, is that like there's this kind of obsession in America to be cool.
12:39You know?
12:40You know what I mean?
12:41Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
12:42Like, does that, do you ever think about that?
12:45I mean, it's funny, I guess that they're, you know, everybody's trying to figure out
12:48the best version of their identity, yeah, and I think that then that also gets to find
12:53his cool, like, you know, yeah, so definitely, the reason why Richard Spencer got to the position
12:58he did in the alt-right, I don't know how they do the elections, but, but it's because
13:03he looks better in a suit than most of those guys.
13:06Like, you know, his haircut became like, oh, that's the haircut we should get, you know,
13:10so, it is funny about how this is all a pursuit for identity, for like, you know, and I think
13:16a lot of times the, the, we talk to guys in the South Side of Chicago, gang members about
13:21like, when you have nothing else, you have the gang.
13:24The gang becomes a way to define yourself and feel like you have a crew of people.
13:28Now, having said that, they all want to see the gang violence come to an end.
13:32Like, I didn't talk to one gang member who was like, yeah, this is what we should be doing.
13:35So, but yeah, the gang is, you know, they said a lot of that is where they got a lot
13:39of love from, was the gang,
13:40because it wasn't that great at home.
13:42So, the gang becomes where you get your, help, your identity from.
13:45So, yeah, we're all trying to be cool.
13:46Look at me, I'm wearing a Henry Rollins t-shirt.
13:48This is my attempt to sort of like, reach out to the youth demographic.
13:53He's still been with the kids, right?
13:55Uh, yeah, I mean.
13:57The Gen X kids who are now in their 40s? Yeah.
13:59Yeah, yeah, those, those kids.
14:02The 40s kids, they'll never, they'll never grow up, really.
14:04No.
14:08So, you know, is there anything that you're, is there anybody who you're still hoping to like, you know, get
14:14a hold of?
14:15I know you're doing another season.
14:16Yeah.
14:17Who are you still hoping to talk to?
14:19Like, who fascinates you as far as like, an interesting facet of American culture?
14:25I mean, I, you know, we're not going to get this interview.
14:27I'm, I'm okay with that.
14:29But I would love to have a shot at, you know, post President Barack Obama.
14:33I mean, by shot I mean an interview with.
14:36Yes.
14:37Absolutely.
14:37In this, in this time.
14:39Uh, in this, in this hectic time.
14:41Uh, I, I feel like a, a conversation with him about where America's at and what that means for his
14:46legacy and what he's thinking right now.
14:49I think we're still a little bit in the dark about that.
14:51I mean, every now and again, he tweets out something.
14:53Uh, so, but I think that, that would be a conversation I would love to have.
14:57I'm never going to get it.
14:58It's going to be way above my pay grade.
15:00It's not going to be me.
15:01But that's, I'm just, I'm putting it out into the universe.
15:03I'm doing the secret like I learned.
15:05Yeah.
15:05Do that.
15:06Like law of attraction.
15:07Um, uh, how, how do you think our country can start being civil to each other?
15:12Because I feel like so much of our problems are that we, we are afraid or we don't like each
15:20other or we don't understand each other.
15:22But you seem to be able to go in and talk to people, like you said, kind of diffusing them
15:26with humor or, you know, just trying to understand or enlighten.
15:30Like, I mean, do we all just need to have our own television shows?
15:33Yeah, we don't care.
15:34Everybody needs to get a television show.
15:36And then I need to produce all those TV shows so then I can get off TV.
15:40Uh, so I can just be at home with my family like I like to be.
15:44Yeah.
15:44Uh, you know, I think it really, it's like, use social media to educate yourself.
15:50Don't use it to burn down other people, you know.
15:52Especially when you're just doing it for fun.
15:55You're not doing it because a real, like, injustice has been wrought.
15:59You know, I think there's, there's times when social media can be used to tell somebody you are a person
16:05of influence and you're doing this wrong.
16:06But when you're sort of doing it with people who are not people of influences and you're just burning them
16:10down because they burned you down.
16:12You're trying to, like, sort of go back and forth.
16:13That's the, that's a waste of everyone's time.
16:15And I'm as guilty of it as other people.
16:17I don't, I don't really get involved in those back and forth, but I certainly go, look what this dumb
16:21person said.
16:22You know, I did that yesterday.
16:23Just to sort of highlight what's out there.
16:25But, you know, I think that the less amount of time you spend doing that and the more time you
16:29spend, like, reaching out to people in your immediate community who you know think differently than you and sort of
16:34go, hey, can we go have a cup of coffee?
16:36Can we go sit in the park?
16:37You know, can we go?
16:38I think that's where the real, that's, I mean, that's all I'm doing on the show is I'm having cups
16:42of coffee and talk with people that I don't understand or don't know about.
16:45Whether, and sometimes I agree with them and sometimes I don't, but, you know, one of my favorite segments of
16:50United Shades this season was a coffee conversation with this, with a woman who, her name is Rima.
16:58And she's a Muslim woman and she wears the full scarf and everything.
17:01And we had a cold conversation about hijab and niqab and, and Sharia law and all these things that I
17:06had read about, but really like getting it from a, from a Muslim woman about, and about how, you know,
17:12how she believes you can wear burqa and still be a feminist.
17:14And, you know, and things that I had not thought about in that way.
17:18And for me, it was like, I feel like I have the privilege of having a show so I can
17:22have producers call people and schedule interviews and do that.
17:25So it's not, you know, not everybody has that.
17:27You don't just walk up to any Muslim woman and go, I'm going to ask you some questions about this.
17:32But there are ways to connect with people.
17:34And, you know, certainly organizations you can reach out to and go, I don't understand this.
17:37Is there somebody who can talk to me about this?
17:38Who would be happy to provide you somebody.
17:40So I think the more we reach out to our immediate community to help, help us understand the world, the
17:45better we are.
17:46Hmm.
17:47Well put.
17:49So if you.
17:50I'm also going for the Nobel Peace Prize.
17:52Oh, thank you.
17:53You and Obama.
17:55Yeah, no.
17:55That's how you get your interview.
17:56Yeah, yeah, yeah.
17:57At the Nobel Peace Prize reunion.
18:00Yeah.
18:00Yeah.
18:03So you have you have young children.
18:05Yes.
18:06Two daughters.
18:07We only make girls.
18:10I'm pro only girls.
18:12I believe if you really want to make America great again, just a generation of all girls.
18:17That's how you do it.
18:18Just don't let no boys.
18:19All girls will be fine.
18:20Let us at least try to take over a little bit.
18:23Yeah, yeah, yeah.
18:24Are there any lessons from United States of America that you take home to your kids?
18:30I mean, yes, we live in Berkeley, California.
18:33So we live in a, you know, it's there's a lot of different people there by percentage.
18:37It's not that diverse, but everybody sort of comes through there and there's lots of
18:40different people in our neighborhood in our immediate in the Bay Area.
18:44So the thing that I think that I sort of took from living in the Bay Area that I took
18:48in the United States that I'm now sort of doing with my children is just letting them
18:51know that like the world is bigger than you know it to be and that there's lots of different
18:57people out there and they're all just doing their thing and there's nothing.
19:02There's, you know, I think the thing about my kids that is great is they're not really
19:04phased by things in the way that people would think kids are phased by things.
19:08Like, you know, I don't know what age I was when I first met like my first person who was
19:14trans.
19:14I don't know what I can't remember.
19:16It was certainly that I knowingly met that person.
19:18It was probably in my, somewhere in my adult life that I normally, you know, may not have
19:22even been that long ago.
19:23Maybe, you know, 10, 15 years ago.
19:25But my kids, because the nature of the life we lead, have met trans people and didn't know
19:29to think that something was not, you know what I mean?
19:32Like they were like, oh, that's your name.
19:34Nice to meet you.
19:35I like that thing.
19:36You know, it's like I like you.
19:37I like what you're wearing.
19:38They just want you to be cool.
19:39You know what I mean?
19:40Like they just want you to be nice and fun, you know?
19:42And so for me, like seeing my kids in that environment, there's all this sort of stuff
19:47about like, what will we tell the kids?
19:49What will we tell the kids?
19:51The kids are fine.
19:52Yeah.
19:53The kids will tell you, you know?
19:55Like I think that that's the big thing with my kids is like realizing that they can handle
20:00a lot more.
20:01And this is true of all children than we think they can handle.
20:04Yeah.
20:04Yeah.
20:05They're unburdened by the past.
20:06Yeah, they don't do it.
20:07As I've said before, like you can tell kids anything because they don't know anything.
20:12So they're not like sitting with a bunch of preconceived notions of like, what?
20:16Where does this person want to go to the bathroom?
20:18I don't understand.
20:19Like they're not doing that.
20:20So it's the adults who screw that up.
20:22So for me, it's like really learning from my kids.
20:24They can handle a lot more than I think they can handle.
20:27Yeah.
20:28Nice.
20:29Okay.
20:29Well, before we go, just four quick questions.
20:31Yes.
20:32This is called first, best, last, worst.
20:35First job that made you think I've made it.
20:38Oh, in the entertainment industry or in life?
20:41Sure.
20:41Yeah.
20:43Because I had a job at Ben and Jerry's when I was in my early twenties.
20:45I was like, I've made it.
20:46I can have all the ice cream I want.
20:49The first job that I've made it, I thought I'd made it with my first show, Totally Biased,
20:55when I got my late night talk show, even though the whole time I was like, I don't know if
20:59I can do this.
21:02But, let's see.
21:06I know this was supposed to be a quick question.
21:10Honestly, the Emmy nomination to United Shades made me know I had made it.
21:15I felt like now I'm on a list forever as a person who is in show business.
21:21You know what I mean?
21:22Like, the show may be canceled, but I'm on a list.
21:25Everybody who is not me for an Emmy is definitely in show business.
21:29Right.
21:29I'm on that list.
21:30So, it wasn't about the money or the job.
21:32It was about how people saw it.
21:34Yeah.
21:34You're in the archives now.
21:35I'm in the archives.
21:36I'm in the archives.
21:37When the alien invaders land and go, bring us everyone who's ever been in show business,
21:42I will be brought.
21:43Because I was not reporting Emmy.
21:44Yeah.
21:45Okay.
21:45Good.
21:46Um, best story you have from making United Shades that the camera didn't see.
21:53Oh, uh, best story that I have from United Shades that the camera didn't see.
22:00Huh.
22:01Uh, okay.
22:02I mean, it's not, it's, it's not a particularly funny story, but it was a, so, I mean, there's,
22:08I've told some stories from United Shades.
22:09But, uh, we, during the Muslim episode, we, we shot in a mosque, and we did, I got to
22:17do the, the prayer, and I got to do the whole thing, and, like, they talked about what the
22:20prayer means, what all the different things mean, and spontaneously, as I left the mosque,
22:25there was a group of about 15 Muslim women who were, like, sort of hanging out talking
22:29because they had just also done prayers, and they were hanging out talking, and it was
22:32like, this whole group of 15 millennial Muslim women, uh, some who were wearing, like,
22:39the, the, the headscarves, some who weren't, uh, some who looked white, some who looked
22:45Middle Eastern, like, the whole, like, a wide swath of women who were all Muslim women, and
22:50they were like, can we talk to you?
22:51And they sat down, like, and there was, like, 15 of them, and we had this incredible conversation
22:59about all the different ways that women in Islam can express their, themselves, and why
23:05the women who were wearing headscarves had no feelings about the women who were Muslims
23:10who weren't wearing headscarves.
23:11They were like, it's a choice.
23:12And it was this incredible way to go.
23:14We make this more complicated.
23:15They're like, yeah, we support our sister.
23:17If she wants to wear a headscarf, great.
23:18If she doesn't, she doesn't.
23:18And, and all this talk about, uh, about their response to the Trump presidency, and hate
23:25crimes, and how, there's even talk, some, one of them was, like, talking about, like,
23:29some, you know, people saying she should start carrying a gun, and all this, and it was
23:33this incredible conversation.
23:35I was like, I have never seen anything like this on TV before, and it was totally spontaneous.
23:40And then later, when we were editing the show, I'm like, what happened to that?
23:42They're like, there was a corrupted file.
23:47Oh, no.
23:49I thought you were going to say they asked not to film it.
23:52No.
23:53It was just one of those things that you just go, and you go, hold on, I'll be right back.
23:58And I went to the wall and went, gush, gush, gush, gush.
24:01And I came back and said, all right, let's move on, everybody.
24:04Let's move on.
24:04Blood coming down my forehead.
24:06All right, what else we got?
24:07So, yeah, it was one of those moments where you just, like, you just have to, like, you know,
24:11as my hippie friends would say, bless it and release it, you know.
24:14So, but it was, like, I mean, it was one of the most incredible.
24:16But it's one of those moments where I'm privileged and honored that I was able to be here for
24:19this conversation.
24:20I wish America had been able to see it.
24:22But, yeah, it was pretty painful.
24:24But, you know, you can't blame anybody.
24:26It's just, you know.
24:28Technology.
24:29Yeah, yeah, yeah.
24:30Last time.
24:31That's true.
24:32I blame the alt-right.
24:33They corrupted our file.
24:34Yeah, yeah.
24:34You might be right.
24:37Last time you were recognized in public erroneously.
24:41I was at the No Hate in the Bay rally in Berkeley a couple days ago.
24:47And I was, I got on this truck with a bunch of clergy and a bunch of activists that were
24:53sort of driving through the rally and sort of speaking out.
24:55And I got to speak out and have a little moment and really felt like it was important
24:59to sort of be a part of my community claiming that we don't tolerate hate.
25:03And this, there's a couple journalists wanted to talk to me after I got off, after I got
25:07off the thing.
25:07And I said, yeah, I'll talk to you.
25:09And as I'm getting off, this guy is calling, somebody's, I hear somebody and my wife says,
25:15he's talking to you.
25:16And I look over and he's going, Cornell!
25:18Cornell!
25:19Cornell!
25:20Cornell!
25:21Cornell!
25:21And he's looking right at me.
25:22Cornell!
25:23And I was like, my name's not Cornell.
25:25And he goes, damn it!
25:28And then he still wanted to do an interview with me.
25:30And I'm like, who am I then?
25:34And I did the interview because I felt like, I don't know how to do it.
25:36But it was like, and I don't, I was like, I'm not Cornell.
25:39And he said he thought I was some other Cornell.
25:41I was like, I think you think I'm Cornell West, but I'm not him.
25:43And he's like, no, no, it's another one.
25:45Yeah, yeah, no.
25:46Younger!
25:46Yeah, yeah, yeah, younger.
25:47And yeah, more, you know, you could never be as old as Cornell West.
25:50I mean, you're clearly a young, healthy, strapping young man now.
25:54So that was like, but he was screaming, Cornell!
25:56Cornell!
25:57Cornell!
25:57And like, I think I was starting to get annoyed that Cornell hadn't turned around.
26:01And Cornell wasn't there, is the moral of that story.
26:04Yeah, of course.
26:06Worst audition experience?
26:08Oh my goodness, worst audition experience.
26:10I have not done a ton of auditioning.
26:13I've actively avoided that.
26:16Because I think every audition I ever had was the worst audition experience.
26:20Everyone I ever had, I felt like, like they would be like, did they just send like a random person
26:25in here?
26:25Not a good actor, not good at pretending.
26:28So I think every audition experience I ever had was the worst.
26:32That's why I'm a stand-up comedian.
26:33I only say my words.
26:36Well, Kamau, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us today.
26:40And your show is United Shades of America.
26:43Season three is coming up.
26:44It's on CNN.
26:46And if you've seen the show, you know what I will ask you.
26:49Can I get a hug?
26:50Ah, yeah!
26:54That's so funny.
26:57Thank you so much.
26:59Bye.
27:01Bye.
27:01Bye.
27:02Bye.
27:03Bye.
27:04Bye.
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