Episode 8: The Power of the Celebrity

What if your biggest celebrity idol found themselves in a public scandal? This episode of the Best Men Podcast gets into the messy world of celebrity culture! From Diddy's recent legal troubles, to controversial figures like Michael Jackson and R. Kelly, we touch on the power dynamics that celebrities wield. For example, how should we perceive stars after their public falls from grace? And which celebrity would you be most surprised to hear a scandal about?! 

This week also expect Michael and Sameer to chat about what they might be famous for, their dream jobs (spoiler alert: someone's dream is to be an M&S food buyer), and which celebrity the Best Men would be most starstruck to see!

With laughs, insights, and thought-provoking debates, this episode offers a wild ride through the highs and lows of celebrity life!

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Transcript

Content Warning

Michael 0:00

Welcome to this week's episode of the Best man Podcast . Just a quick heads up about this week's episode . We do cover a couple of sensitive themes related to some of the celebrity information that's out there in the press at the moment . Just giving you a heads up in case you want to know beforehand . So sit back and listen . Welcome to this week's episode of the Best Men Podcast . I'm Michael and I'm Sameer , and if you found us , it means you're looking forward to sitting back and enjoying 30 minutes of two best friends taking the piss out of each other , debating life's big questions whilst ultimately learning how to become better men .

Sameer 0:45

So sit back and enjoy this week's episode .

Michael 0:52

Yo , yo yo , welcome . Welcome to the pod , episode number eight . What's going on ? You all right ? Very good , I've just eaten your Atta biscuits .

Sameer 0:59

I brought you some biscuits today . I didn't think you'd consume all of them in the first 10 seconds when you bring biscuits in the form of a bucket .

Michael 1:07

It's the best form of any kind of food .

Sameer 1:09

A bucket of chicken .

Michael 1:10

Yeah , yeah , KFC A bucket of chicken , a bucket of chocolates , a bucket of… A bucket of chocolates . Yeah , where have you got buckets of chocolates ? It's Christmas time .

Sameer 1:19

We get buckets of chocolates , don't you ? But you've never had biscuits in bucket form , I bet .

Michael 1:24

I have , I've had tin Biscuit tin .

Sameer 1:26

Yeah , of course We'll show pictures of this . This is a proper bucket .

Michael 1:30

Anyway , anyway , how you been All good , All good , all good , great week , great week . Good to hear that I don't want to know any more about that .

Sameer 1:40

Okay , good , end it there , then we don't need to talk about anything .

Michael 1:43

I just went to my daughter's parents' evening today . Oh , how did it go ? Yeah , pretty pointless For any of those parents listening who know me .

Sameer 1:54

Why is it pretty pointless going to your daughter's parents' ?

Michael 1:56

evening . I mean it's all the same . It's yes , she's very nice , she's doing very good , we like to concentrate a bit more .

Sameer 2:03

Does she work in an old person's home ? Is that ? Why is this person 85 ?

Michael 2:07

She's not but that's what they all say .

Sameer 2:09

Oh okay .

Michael 2:10

So whenever I pick my son up from nursery , they say the exact same things he's had a really good day today . And once someone said that and they didn't even know who Hugo was Wow it who Hugo was . Wow , it's just a boilerplate . Yeah , they've had a really good day today . Why ? Because they're not crying . Why ? Why did they have a good day ?

Sameer 2:27

Tell me exactly what they did . Tell me exactly why they had a good day . I don't know who they are .

Michael 2:32

Anyway ,

I Tell You Who's Not Having a Good Day: Diddy

Michael 2:33

I'll tell you who's not having a good day .

Sameer 2:35

Go on , diddy , oh about this , not just today but generally mate .

Michael 2:44

He is absolutely sorry to say fucked , I know , and that's why this week the theme is the power of the celebrity .

Sameer 2:50

Celebrity Celebrity ready On your marks . Who is that guy ? What was his name ? From Gladiators John Motsen , john ?

Michael 2:57

McEnroe .

Sameer 2:59

Yeah , no , no , he's also . Oh , no , no , John McEnroe .

Michael 3:01

John Motsen no , not John McEnroe .

Sameer 3:03

John Motsen no not John Motsen , it is . Do you know who John McEnroe is , a tennis player ? Yeah , exactly .

Michael 3:07

You cannot be serious . No , it's the guy who's like Gladiator ready .

Sameer 3:11

Yeah , that's John Motsen , Contestant ready . You look , when you're saying that to me , I'm looking at you . It looks like you .

Michael 3:20

That's because I think he didn't have any teeth towards the end of his career . Yeah , true , he's got battered , but no , did he not having a good day ?

Sameer 3:26

Mate , did he ? I can't believe what's been going on .

Michael 3:29

You know I'm going to America , yes , I actually looked up where he's staying , and by staying I mean which prison , which jail he's being held in at the moment .

Sameer 3:37

Where is ?

Michael 3:38

he In Brooklyn no .

Sameer 3:39

Oh my God , brooklyn is huge . I don't know where he is . Why were you looking up where he's staying , to avoid it or to go ?

Michael 3:45

No , because I think it would be quite epic to go and see .

Sameer 3:47

Or to get a selfie with him .

Michael 3:48

No , I'm not going to be able to go in the jail , but you know , it might be like .

Sameer 3:52

What do you want to do ? You know these celebrities , they have fans . Can I just say , if you guys , my name's michael I want to get a picture of diddy you'd get shot .

Michael 4:04

No , no , no , you're confused . I want to see the celebrities like protesting for diddy , so you ?

Sameer 4:09

think other celebrities will be out outside brooklyn prison protesting no , jay lowe's gonna be , there . Jello jenna , jillian john lewis yeah , exactly you think jay is gonna be out there with a , with a sort of placard saying oh diddy , fuck off no , no , no , no no but , I mean the power , the whole reason .

Michael 4:25

The power of celebrity is because it is rife at the moment it's bad .

Sameer 4:28

Do you know when the ? I think , the trials next year , though , isn't it ? The trousers ? The trial , oh , tribulation , yeah , the trials , and tribulations of diddy .

Michael 4:36

Diddy's trousers are finally clean enough to be checked out next year um , yeah , man , it's screwed , it's screwed this . Just every day , there's more and more news coming out about him .

Sameer 4:48

I don't know what the latest is , though I heard a podcast on it , but that's all I know . I know that he cassie came out and basically just done him 13 year old .

Michael 4:55

Oh , he's , he's , he's like getting like . You know what they say . Uh , whether he crib sheet , what does he ?

Sameer 5:01

well I don't know what you're talking about you know the list of all the crimes .

Michael 5:05

Oh , yeah , yeah , Okay , fine , rap sheet , rap sheet .

Sameer 5:08

Yeah , yeah , yeah Rap sheet .

Michael 5:09

Rap sheet . That's what he is , rap sheet . I have a rap sheet , but it's full of chocolate . It's full of Atta biscuits , utter rap . Yeah , his rap sheet serious crimes .

Sameer 5:21

But they've been going on for years , dude , since , like the early 90s . Well , he killed Tupac , oh we're getting into it today .

Michael 5:27

Question to the pod Did he kill Tupac ? Exactly I think everyone knows the answers .

Sameer 5:33

yes , I've heard I don't want to influence the pod people . I've heard that Biggie got him to do it . Biggie said I want him dead and Diddy said leave it with me , mate . I thought Diddy killed Biggie as well . Oh my .

Michael 5:45

God , I don't even how much has he done . He's done everything . Who has he done ?

Sameer 5:49

Who hasn't he ?

Michael 5:49

done , Justin Bieber .

Sameer 5:52

I feel sad for that kid . He's not a kid . He's my age , do you ?

Michael 5:55

know what else Justin Bieber's come out with .

Sameer 6:00

New song you ready for ?

Michael 6:00

the new person who's going down . Go on , ellen , degenerate , no Ellen .

Sameer 6:06

Degenerate . Ellen Degenerate should be her name . Is her name Degenerate ? Yeah , it's a weird name , isn't it ? So she's not generous , she's the opposite of generous , she's degenerate . What is her name ? Let's just call her Ellen , because that's her show , right , dory , dory , just call it ellen , because that's her show , right , dory ?

Michael 6:27

dory tell me I thought she was already screwed , so she . So the thing with this power of celebrity is they become almost untouchable . Yeah , exactly , and then everybody wants to believe what they see is who they are exactly this aura around them . So ellen basically came out and it was like oh , she's abusive yeah , yeah slapping around her staff . Yeah , yeah , yeah . I mean , I probably do the same thing , I would imagine what if you're a celebrity ?

Sameer 6:48

yeah , what would you do ? What you'd slap around your ?

Michael 6:50

staff get me more utter biscuits . I told you . So yeah , ellen , ellen , ellen . Jelen jelen degenerous , uh bieber's just come out and said that he , she groomed him , she touched him inappropriately . When did this come out ?

Sameer 7:06

This week he said Ellen touched him , yeah , groped him , wow .

Michael 7:11

She's got a nice wife , portia de Rossi , I think her name's .

Sameer 7:15

Portia , portia , I think her name is . Question to the pod . Is it Portia or Portia ? Is it Indian Portia or Portia ? I don't think anyone's going to name their child Portia .

Michael 7:27

I think her name's Portia .

Sameer 7:29

It's not Portia , Fun fact where's Portia ?

Michael 7:32

What show is Portia from ?

Sameer 7:34

Portia oh , I know this Arrested .

Michael 7:37

Development , arrested Development . Ten points for Singer Thank you very much .

Sameer 7:41

I love that show . I love it . Mr Singh , did you call me Mr Singh ? Yeah , oh , I like that could be my sort of podcast alter ego , mr Singh . And who would you be ? Mr McMahon ? Wow , did you watch that , by the way , on Netflix I did see a bit of it .

Michael 7:55

It's brilliant , it's so good .

Sameer 7:57

If you

What Would You Be Famous For?

Sameer 7:58

were a celebrity , right ? What do you think you'd be famous for ? Podcast ?

Michael 8:02

well , maybe one day , if you're lucky mate , no , uh , what do ?

Sameer 8:06

you think you would be most , you would definitely not an actor , because you can't act . Comedy has to be comedy , definitely not comedy , because nobody understands what you're saying . Nine times out of ten you get everything wrong , portia being the latest one .

Michael 8:18

Comedic , comedic see , exactly perfect perfect example comedic , comedic effect .

Sameer 8:24

Comedic effect . Innit , you put the dick in . Comedic , yeah , comedic . You can't get it right once you think you would be famous as a comedian .

Michael 8:35

Wow , maybe Chacha Someone's a bit arrogant Chacha host .

Sameer 8:39

Oh okay , that's a good one . You and James Corden could basically be doppelgangers .

Michael 8:43

No , no , no , he's far less talented than me .

Sameer 8:46

I love that .

Michael 8:47

Shout out to James E Corden .

Sameer 8:49

James E .

Michael 8:50

Is that his name , james E ?

Sameer 8:52

Oh , james , e All right . As you used to call your friend from school Jamesh , jamesh , that's an Indian take on James .

Michael 8:59

I would love to be a food critic . Do you know what ? That's the one thing I wouldn't do . Tell me why . Because food critics are glorified people who like writing . I like writing Well what are you doing , then ? What are you doing ?

Sameer 9:13

Come on be comedic , I don't know . I just I like the idea of going to new places eating food . You know , writing up my little review on it . I know what my dream job would be just FYI .

Michael 9:24

Oh , you said it's comedic . No , no . You said , if you were famous for anything , what would it be ? And I would say I'd be comedic famous . Okay , go on , tell me Dream job . Dream job Marks and Spencer's food buyer .

Sameer 9:35

You know what ? Sometimes I have an idea of what you're going to say , and then say and then you say it and it is so left field , specifically marks and spencers , why ? Why ? M&s ? That's just a stream . That's your dream , yeah your dream , yeah , is to be a marks and spencers food .

Michael 9:54

Tell me why I just love the idea of being able to go try food and say is this marks and spencers , quality , good , worthy , is it good enough for ?

Sameer 10:02

marks andie Spencer . Such a nerd , yes , okay , why don't you do it then ?

Michael 10:07

I've never thought about it .

Sameer 10:09

Until today .

Michael 10:10

Until this moment , today , your future is born , my son . It's been a dream , for sure .

Sameer 10:16

It's been a dream for sure . I've known you for 20 years .

Michael 10:20

Yeah .

Sameer 10:20

Never , once in 20 years , have you ever said you wanted to be a food buyer for M&S .

Michael 10:26

If I was , if I had my dream job , it would be an M&S food buyer definitely .

Sameer 10:29

In the whole world . That's your . You could be , like I don't know , the captain of a ship . You could be an astronaut . You could own your own island , but what you want is to be a food buyer for M&S yeah of course I do .

Michael 10:41

Who wouldn't want ?

Sameer 10:42

that 99.9% of people .

Michael 10:44

Question for the pod then really Wow .

Sameer 10:46

we're getting a lot of questions into the pod today .

Michael 10:48

Clearly we disagree a lot . It's a big week .

Sameer 10:51

What's your question to the pod ? Then Say it .

Michael 10:53

Question to the pod Would you like to be an M&S food buyer , yes or no ? I reckon most people would say yes , they'd go for that . You tell me one person who doesn't go to Mark Spencer's and feel happy when they see the food court .

Sameer 11:05

True .

Michael 11:07

Maybe someone who doesn't have any money .

Sameer 11:09

No , they would love to see it the most ?

Michael 11:11

I don't know . I think they'd be disappointed .

Sameer 11:13

No , I mean , I don't know .

Michael 11:16

I think they'd find joy in that . Anyway , power of the celebrity .

Sameer 11:19

Yes , ellen DeGeneres . Let's get her name right , ellen D .

Michael 11:22

Yeah , she's out there . She's getting slammed Diddy Diddy . Anyone else that you think ?

Sameer 11:28

of recently , celebs that are getting slammed .

Michael 11:30

Hulk .

Sameer 11:31

Hogan , hulk Hogan , no , no , not Hulk Hogan , mr McMahon .

Michael 11:34

Hulk .

Sameer 11:34

Hogan is the fighter . Terry , terry , what's it , terry Bollier ?

Michael 11:40

Bollier , oh , I bet you didn't think I'd say that . It's stuff like that . You know , if you're on Pointless , you'd smash it , I think . So yeah , do you ?

Sameer 11:46

reckon one day we'll go on Pointless , you and I I'm going to put it out there and manifest that one day we will become Pointless .

Michael 12:00

If you so , I obviously . The Parasyllabity is all about like these celebs who are like gods , michael Jackson , bods michael jackson .

Sameer 12:03

Michael jackson , yeah , also fall from grace . Big big . That was a big one . That was a big one that in our lifetimes I reckon that's the biggest fall from christ , I don't really understand what happened .

Michael 12:11

Because with mj , yeah , because at one point everyone's like , oh , he's a kiddie fiddler , oh he's awful oh , he's playing with bubbles , the monkey too much , and then , on the other hand yeah , I don't think many people said that , but okay , go .

Sameer 12:21

And then , on the other hand , by yeah , I don't think many people said that , but okay , go on . And then , on the other , hand .

Michael 12:25

By the way , bubbles is still alive , if anyone wonders . I saw a post about Bubbles . Really , yeah , he's a chimpanzee , he's not like . He's not like a cat . He's not a cat , not like an average 16 to 17 year life span .

Sameer 12:39

Oh fucking hell . You know what your profession should be Like Dr Dolittle that's actually what it should be .

Michael 12:46

No , no , no , I'm more of a Dr .

Sameer 12:48

Dolittle I'm more of an employee Dolittle , dr . Do-nothing .

Michael 12:52

So Michael Jackson , he's a kiddie fiddler , then he's not .

Sameer 12:57

Yeah Well , I don't think , Hang on pause . I don't think he ever was not .

Michael 13:06

Yes was not yes . He was because when he died , the spanish kid that said okay , yeah . He came out and said no , my mom told me to say that yeah , but then fast forward four or five years then there's a whole new raft of the that guy from australia who's a dance choreographer yeah , yeah , there was a whole documentary that came out .

Sameer 13:18

What was it like ? Uh ?

Michael 13:20

leaving neverland or something , or never leaving never never leaving neverland .

Sameer 13:23

That was a bit of a mouthful .

Michael 13:25

So he's Hang on . Do you think he was guilty ?

Sameer 13:29

Yes .

Michael 13:29

Let me tell you this , let me tell you this no smoke without fire . Yeah , okay , fine .

Sameer 13:33

Okay , sean Connery , team Canary . That's my Indian brother .

Michael 13:37

I've never heard a bad word about him .

Sameer 13:39

About Sean Connery . Yeah , okay , fine , michael Buble .

Michael 13:44

You don't hear him you don't hear him .

Sameer 13:45

Yeah , yeah , true , okay .

Michael 13:46

Yeah , okay fine .

Sameer 13:47

R Kelly . Oh dear oh dear , yeah , R Kelly's a bad one , isn't it ?

Michael 13:51

I mean R Kelly , the thing about the heart .

Sameer 13:53

Do you still listen to R Kelly's music ?

Michael 14:08

Do you stop listening to the music ?

Sameer 14:09

because what I heard I was . You know it's not fair on all of the people that made that song .

Michael 14:11

It was , he was just okay , fine , fine , there's thousands of people that made those songs and people that contributed to the music industry , and so you can separate someone's music from music , music .

Sameer 14:20

It was like the cow , yeah you can separate someone's music from what they've done .

Michael 14:25

Yeah , I think I can . Yeah , biggie was a crack dealer . Okay , he was out and out proud about it .

Sameer 14:31

Okay , fair enough . So I kind of that's kind of in keeping with his image , though that doesn't like surprise me . So what ?

Michael 14:38

point is it , and what point are you allowed to follow a celebrity when they're doing wrong things Like OK , you're a low level crack dealer ruining hundreds of lives ?

Sameer 14:46

You're a low level crack dealer , we'll let that pass , because obviously you're trying to .

Michael 14:50

you know , put a roof over your head , Did he too much ?

Sameer 15:00

Well , yeah , because what he's doing is is is pretty , is pretty bad man like I mean , you can't justify any of what he's done how whereas if you're a crack , dealer . Okay , yeah , not great , not brilliant . You could make some better life choices but , there's gonna be a lot of people that come from like rough neighborhoods that end up being rappers .

Michael 15:15

I think what this boils down to is the power . The word power the crack dealer doesn't mean how much power . But , actually , power is not power , power is control .

Sameer 15:24

Well , here's something I do not understand . You explain this one to me Baby oil A thousand bottles .

Michael 15:30

Who needs a thousand bottles of baby ?

Sameer 15:31

oil . I'll tell you what it could be slippery in his place . Okay , leonardo DiCaprio , I do not understand how it is all right for this dude who's now what 50-ish yeah To be with like a 21-year-old yeah 18 or 19 or 21-year-old . How is that like not totally frowned upon ? It's legal , yes , but I said frowned upon .

Michael 15:58

Not that it's legal or illegal , but I mean it's a bit weird . You can do it once . He's leonardo dicaprio . Why ? Because of the power of celebrity if it was me ?

Sameer 16:02

or if I , if I , when we're 50 if I met ?

Michael 16:05

are you telling me , if you met leonardo dicaprio , yeah , you wouldn't go for a coffee with him ?

Sameer 16:11

um , no , I would right .

Michael 16:13

You're having a coffee , leonardo , yeah he says really like you , you're a good guy . Why don't you call my jet ? Come on my PJ , pj . Please don't show me that you're this old , you don't know me , private jet Sorry , yeah , yeah , yeah , got it .

Sameer 16:24

Got it when you're watching , I'm pretty sure that . And celebs , they all call it a PJ .

Michael 16:29

Anyway , leonardo has asked you to go on his PJ , okay .

Sameer 16:30

Would you ?

Michael 16:30

go .

Sameer 16:41

I mean yes .

Michael 16:42

Don't lie to me , I'm just trying to think through the question .

Sameer 16:46

I'd go on a private jet with Leonardo DiCaprio , but I'm still saying it's a little bit weird that he's dating someone that's 30 years younger than him , but he's taken you , samir , up in the sky . How old am , I Doesn't matter , it does , because if I'm 12 , then it matters If you just come out of university at 21, .

Michael 17:04

and Leonardo was like Samir , you're so funny . How's he meeting me ?

Sameer 17:07

Where is he finding me ? He just finds you .

Michael 17:09

It doesn't matter .

Sameer 17:09

He just comes to Manchester University and says oh you , there you , the boy with the moustache you come here , sit on my .

Michael 17:16

PJ you would go if he said to me sit on my PJ , I'd say sir , please thank you , but no thank you . This is the point . You would take him , sorry , you would go with him . I wouldn't take him anywhere you would go with him and go in his private jet and you would think nothing of it and you'd be like wow .

Sameer 17:30

I would think something of it . I . Why is Leonardo DiCaprio asking an Indian boy of 21 onto his private jet ?

Michael 17:38

I took you to a desert island in the middle of nowhere and you went . We were the same age but you went willingly .

Sameer 17:45

I'm not sure willingly is the right verb to use . I went begrudgingly .

Michael 17:50

Point being the power they have , but then it transitions from power into control .

Sameer 17:57

Because this is the thing about .

Michael 17:58

Diddy Diddy controlled a lot of people . The stuff I'm reading and hearing about is unreal . Tell me this .

Sameer 18:05

How do you think someone in the public eye like that I mean like publicity is the lifeblood of a celebrity ? How does someone get away with this shit for so long and no one blows the whistle , because he's got everyone ?

Michael 18:20

in his pocket , but I don't think he does though well , could be the front pocket uh , no , but I don't think he has got .

Sameer 18:25

He's not paying people . I mean he's got bad boy records or he had that .

Michael 18:29

Well , a lot of the stuff that's coming out now about him is that he blackmailed the people so he would he would he would take . He would take girls to his place and say you've got to sleep with me , you Not me . The point is these celebs . They've got so much power , they have this godlike structure . They can do whatever they want . They can get people to basically do things for them that will put others in uncomfortable positions .

Sameer 18:54

Because this problem is too much power , too much , and because this problem is too much power Too much and because they've got too much power . If you're being subjugated to it , you're not going to say anything . You're just going to be like all right , I'll do it .

Michael 19:04

Coercion there's the word of the day .

Sameer 19:05

Yeah , coercion .

Michael 19:08

Yeah , true .

Which Celebrity Scandal Would Surprise You the Most?

Michael 19:09

So my question to you is who would surprise you the most ?

Sameer 19:12

If they came out and did something , David Attenborough If tomorrow . Right , there was a massive thing David Attenborough was like getting I don't know like people to sleep with his pets . I'd be well like . I'd be like what's going on .

Michael 19:25

I have to say that's pretty good . David Attenborough would be a shocker .

Sameer 19:28

David Attenborough is in his 90s dude , I know If he's doing anything like Thing is .

Michael 19:33

I believe I was saying to my wife I believe , like you get a vibe for people , what celebrities yeah , what sorry .

Sameer 19:40

How have you been close enough to a celeb to get a vibe from ?

Michael 19:43

them . No , not personally , like not like you get a vibe from people like oh okay who do you get a vibe from ?

Sameer 19:47

who do you in ?

Michael 19:48

the celebrity world .

Sameer 19:49

Who do you think ? Ah , they're not right . Jason Statham , definitely why ? Why , jason , did you hear ? Because he's bald .

Michael 19:59

Are you baldest ? Did you hear who recently came out ?

Sameer 20:01

and I am not baldest I love the fact that you had to pause exactly what you're saying to say I'm not baldest . Greg . Greg wallace , oh , greg wallace . Yeah , what came out about him ? Apparently he was uh inappropriate people getting him to touch his pasty not good , not giovanni , strictly come dancing , do you know ? I know I know of it . I haven't followed it . This is a weird one . What happened with giovanni ?

Michael 20:24

I think the thing when the story was , he was kicking people and hitting them and saying you need to dance better . You need to be better , otherwise you're gonna lose . We're gonna get kicked out . He was kicking them . Apparently he kicked him . He hit one oh my God . Physical abuse , verbal abuse . You're a shit son . You're a shit son . You're a shit song shit dancer .

Sameer 20:43

You're a shit song . You're a shit song . You're a shit sue , as in the dog Right okay .

Michael 20:49

And he was pretty ugly , so what ?

Sameer 20:50

happened to him in the end , silvio , not Berlusconi , the other one .

Michael 20:53

Giovanni , that's it . He got kicked off the show , didn't he ? Bbc , well , that's ironic , isn't it ?

Sameer 20:58

He's doing the kicking , and now he gets finally kicked off .

Michael 21:01

Good , no , no , that's the thing . Bbc always protects people . That's why you know Greg . Greg Wallace is there . Your card is marked yeah , if Greg Wallace is listening smoke without fire . What do ?

Sameer 21:13

you think about Philip Schofield ?

Michael 21:16

What about him ? Was your Dirty , did you ?

Sameer 21:19

think that before you saw him , though , was he a shocker , like for me , david Attenborough is a shocker . For me . I think , had this whole Philip Schofield stuff not come out , that would have been a shocker for me .

Michael 21:30

I think Philip Schofield had Philip definitely people , but people like got weird hair yeah , he had that weird hair for a long time and you know another one that would really shock , so I'll tell you . I let me tell you who I think would shock me okay , oprah . Yeah , that would be a shocking one if Oprah , if it came out that Oprah was secretly abusing people ? On that show , yeah you get a slap , you get a slap , you get a slap .

Sameer 21:54

Yeah , yeah , that would shock me that , that , but Ellen's in that sort of vein . She came across as this sort of nice , bubbly , funny comedian . I know it's quite shocking . You know who would really shock me ? Ant or Deck .

Michael 22:08

Oh yeah , good one . Yeah , that is a good one .

Sameer 22:09

Ant and or Deck . I never know which one's which .

Michael 22:12

I'm . I'm an in your deck Cause I've got a big forehead . No , because that's what the TV crew said to us when we were on the shows .

Sameer 22:19

Yeah .

Michael 22:19

True , you always go on my left . Yeah , yeah , you're on my left now .

Sameer 22:22

You see , I'm on your left now . Um and and or deck would be really , really , I'd be like dude . Wouldn't surprise you . Who wouldn't surprise me ? I've got one gone . Um , romesh rang a nathan . Yeah , you think it wouldn't surprise you if it came out that romesh was like slapping someone about ? Yeah , wow verbal .

Michael 22:48

I think romesh verbal , verbal , verbal definitely really , and also because he's got the weird eye like you never know no one would know who it's directed to . I never know which eye to look at when someone has a lazy eye . Do you look them in the lazy eye ?

Sameer 23:06

No , you look where the lazy eye is looking . So if the lazy eye is looking left , you can't look straight at the eye because they won't see it . You look left , where they're looking . So you look in the blank space where the eye is .

Michael 23:17

If their left eye is looking left and their right eye is looking straight at you , you're looking at me right now .

Sameer 23:21

I'm going to do a look like that , okay . My eye's left . You look there . You look to the left . Why do I look there ? That's your knee . Yeah , where my knee is , that's where my eye is pointed .

Michael 23:38

So I see you there ? No , no , don't look at my face . I never look at my face . I thought someone has a lazy eye . You look at them directly in the lazy eye . Why ? Because it gives you power power of the lazy eye no I don't know but romesh power of attorney romesh is . He's like , he's doing his little shows , he's just oh look at you slagging romesh off he's one of my best friends .

Michael 23:53

Don't talk to him about that way I love his lazy eye , I imagine because also he's always a nonchalant and you know he's always like oh so using these big words . He's so nonchalant yeah , I reckon secretly slap here slap there , he's a beatboxer .

Sameer 24:10

Yeah , he can rap as well .

Michael 24:11

Tell me something who would you hip hop say my life ? Shout out to the hip Hop Say my Life podcast .

Sameer 24:15

Tell me who would you be totally star struck to be around as a celebrity like you would be like , oh my god , they're . I can't believe they're here who would be the one .

Michael 24:26

That's hard , I reckon .

Sameer 24:27

Mary Berry for you , not Mary Berry for sure not Mary Berry , I think . Gordon , I'm pretty , I'd be pretty excited really , I just think he's got such why .

Michael 24:36

Gordon .

Sameer 24:36

He's such a big personality he'd just swear at you and tell you to piss off yeah , so do you , and we voluntarily spend time .

Michael 24:43

You're not starstruck when you see me or are you ?

Sameer 24:45

I don't know , are you ?

Michael 24:47

are you starstruck ? Every time I come here , I'm starstruck at how you pull off this .

Sameer 24:52

I've got a hoodie on and some joggers .

Michael 24:54

Bohemian refugee look .

Sameer 24:56

Yeah , exactly who would it be for you ? Who would I be really starstruck to see the Rock ? Oh , that's a good one . Because I look at him , I'm like if I went to the gym enough and if I got famous obviously if I got famous he's like what I would want to be .

Michael 25:14

Yeah , the Rock is a very he's so cool man . He's cool no .

Sameer 25:18

If I saw the Rock I'd be like dude . This is amazing . I've got to get a picture with him , yeah .

Michael 25:23

The Rock's up there . I love the fact that yours is Gordon Ramsay . I think I would probably be really starstruck if I saw the Queen .

Sameer 25:33

Well , especially now . Now , yeah for more . So If you saw her now , I'd almost think listen , dude , you need to take a bit of time away from work and podcasts . When would you have seen the Queen ? Can I just say ?

Michael 25:47

In Scotland . Where else would you see her ? I ?

Sameer 25:52

don't know , I don't know , so you're saying that Balmoral , balmoral , if you just sort of went around to Balmoral and you saw the Queen , because she often went off on her own in her corgis .

Michael 26:00

What do you mean ? She went off on her own or got lost no , no , she often went off on like hikes in Balmoral , so you're telling me that you're in Balmoral taking a hike and you see , dream come true , I'd love to have met the queen .

Sameer 26:16

I really would love to meet David .

Michael 26:18

Attenborough .

Sameer 26:18

I'd love to kiss the queen . Oh my god , I don't think this is appropriate . What do you mean ? Not like an intimate kiss ?

Michael 26:26

Not like I'd just kiss the queen On the cheek and be like I've kissed the queen 100% .

Sameer 26:32

If you tried to kiss the queen On the cheek During a hike in Balmoral , I would be talking at your funeral you would be shot that for me would be .

Michael 26:41

There'd be a bullet in your face . That would be my linkedin profile , fun facts . Why linkedin ? You know , like the three things when you go for a new job and they're like tell me three things about you . Two are true , one false them false .

Sameer 26:55

This is the queen .

Michael 26:57

That would be really cool to be . So you don't have to be a celebrity to be powerful . No , you don't , and there are many people who abuse their power . Yes , and I think there is a reason for this segue just okay , yeah , go on . So I think about the , you know , captain , sir thomas moore , captain tom moore oh , yeah , yeah , yeah , yeah yeah and how his family have now basically misappropriated all the funds oh , I didn't know this , but okay okay , so they've basically been in the papers , right , they um built like a swimming pool in his house and said it was for , like , recreation use for rehabilitation of soldiers .

Michael 27:36

Right , they've basically been slammed really badly .

Sameer 27:39

They've been sued .

Michael 27:40

They're in trouble ,

Feeling Like a Celebrity for a Day

Michael 27:42

but recently I volunteered to run a charity raffle for Christmas .

Sameer 27:46

Okay , I literally don't know this . Okay , go on . This sounds exciting .

Michael 27:49

And I . In the space of half an hour it all escalated and I was basically running this raffle Right and I was going around to places , and then I had my lunch in Tottenham Court Road . When was this ? Last Thursday ? Okay , I had my lunch at Tottenham Court Road and I started just walking the street . You know , walking the street , old-fashioned knocking on doors With your legs . Knocking on doors , going into places and just introducing myself to people , okay , Sorry on Tottenham Court . Road yeah .

Sameer 28:19

Who lives there , though . These are all shops . Yeah , they're shops , correct , you're knocking in on the doors of shops .

Michael 28:24

No , I'm not physically knocking on the door , oh sorry , just walking in Going into the shop .

Sameer 28:28

How did you introduce yourself ?

Michael 28:30

It doesn't matter how I introduced myself . The point is , I introduced myself . I found myself in a position where , all of a sudden , I wasn't paying for anything . Yes , and I was asking for free things , I was asking for donations , I was asking for prizes .

Sameer 28:49

Oh , okay , and if they didn't give it to ?

Michael 28:50

you . You just take it Part of the charity raffle and all of a sudden this is brilliant . All of a sudden it started working Wow . Well , people gave you free stuff , people out of nowhere , were just willing to give me free stuff , and I'm talking about hundreds . I'm talking about hundreds of pounds worth of things .

Sameer 29:10

Hang on a second , let me pause . It Was this your decision to go and go door to door , getting free shit yeah . You said for the raffle , I'm going to put my hand up , I'm going to take charge , I'm going to get shit from these stores . I didn't tell anyone , I'm going to take charge .

Michael 29:24

I'm going to get shit from these stores . I didn't tell anyone , I just went and did it . Oh well , done Right Within within . So I did that on Thursday . It's now Tuesday . Within four days , I've got over 400 pounds worth of stuff .

Sameer 29:36

I'm going to be honest here . Did you steal it ?

Michael 29:39

I didn't steal it . I have him writing that it's been gifted to the donation as a free prize . What sort of stuff have you got ? So I've got two tickets to Life Size Monopoly . Oh , wow , okay , okay , nice , I've got about £150 worth of premium wines no timber .

Sameer 30:00

No timber .

Michael 30:00

Shout out to a previous episode A local coffee shop gave me , you know , some free coffees .

Sameer 30:04

Look , my point is Let me get to my point , don't , okay , but I want to know what you said . I want to know what you said . You don't need to know what I said . No , I do need to know . No , I do need to know . That's my business , what I say . I need to know . That's my skill . Did you say please , sir , give me some more .

Michael 30:22

No , I simply said I'm raising money for a charity and I have a Christmas raffle and I wondered if you'd be kind enough to give something to the donation as a small price . Wow , okay , but here's the thing .

Sameer 30:34

There is no raffle . You got me .

Michael 30:39

Here's the thing . At what point like does the power .

Sameer 30:43

I wondered why you were giving me so much coffee today .

Michael 30:45

Does the power then move into abusive power ? Because it's very easy for me in that position to be like hmm , free coffee , why not ? Hmm , go to Lifesize Melody , why not ? And that's the thing .

Sameer 30:58

Morally , though . I mean , could you live with yourself if you did this and there was no raffle and you just thought oh screw it , I'm going to go get some free stuff today ? Morally , could you live with yourself ? I probably could .

Michael 31:11

Right .

Sameer 31:12

I'm telling you right now . If you were telling me this story and the punchline was hey , no raffle , I would walk out of here and I would have serious reservations about our friendship .

Michael 31:21

What I'm trying to say is it's weird to be that close to getting all this stuff for free .

Sameer 31:27

Yeah .

Michael 31:27

And it's like all of a sudden , within two hours , I've made £400 . I mean , obviously I don't have £400 of cash , right . It's like £400 worth of goods , and imagine how many people out there do this , but for the wrong reasons , I don't think anyone does ?

Sameer 31:43

I think there are . I don't think anyone's going in the middle of broad daylight into a shop saying oh , there's a raffle coming up , you want to give me some free stuff . I'm surprised these shops gave it to you .

Michael 31:52

Well , when I go to the school charity raffles like the end of year , blah , blah , blah , they've got like thousands of pounds worth of items in those craft prizes yeah , but you think they did the ?

Sameer 32:05

same thing . You think they went around to shops and they just gave it to them for free .

Michael 32:08

They have to that's how you get , that's how you're the local . You know it's PR right . They're basically giving away a very small token of what they're doing , and then it's free publicity did you tell your team afterwards that this is what you've done and I got 400 quid no , so they don't know . I've told one person , yeah , and what did they say ?

Sameer 32:27

well done , michael wow , oh , great conversation yeah , I've done all this wow yeah , wow I . I'll tell you what it's quite so . Did you take time out of your working day to do this ? I just did my lunch break right . You made 400 quid in your lunch break . Yeah , I'm impressed . I know , imagine if I I'm impressed .

Michael 32:46

Imagine if I actually did that for for business , for some purpose , for a little that is the worst business idea .

Sameer 32:52

I've ever heard of what scamming people for free shit that you then sell .

Michael 32:56

No , no , no . No . I'm not saying to scam people , I'm saying , if I used that enterprising mind , that I did , and that lunch break hour , yeah , yeah , yeah . How amazing would I be . I wouldn't even have to talk to you anymore .

Sameer 33:07

Well , one day you might even be bigger than Diddy .

Michael 33:10

I know it's mad . Anyway , I think it's time to wrap things up about this power of celebrity .

Sameer 33:15

Yeah , I think so what's your takeaway from today ? Power of ce David Attenborough is just beyond reproach . Nothing can touch David Attenborough .

Michael 33:26

I truly believe that there's no smoke without fire , first of all . So MJ's guilty . Mj's guilty . Greg Wallace is guilty , diddy's guilty . Diddy done wrong . I think the issue is in today's world , people , it's too easy to get away with stuff .

Sameer 33:43

Yeah , I agree , and if you're a celebrity it's just even easier , right it's ?

Michael 33:46

even easier . It's even easier , and also if you're a minority kind of celebrity as well such as charlotte khan no , like if you're , if you're in the black community , okay , people are even more likely to want to support you , to make , because you've done it , you made it so no way would you be doing wrong ? Because , that's why I can't .

Sameer 34:04

He got away with it for years yeah , I , I don't think he got away with it for years because he was black . I don't think that . I think he got away with it for years because he was , like you said , powerful , uh , and he just got , he silenced people . He just silenced people , he blackmailed them , he ruined their careers you know he said I believe I can fly , and then he went and pissed off I don't know where is he now .

Michael 34:29

He's in prison . Now , I think he's in prison . Well , actually , no , I know he's in prison . Do you know why ? You're going there he just he just to get a selfie . He just said that he thinks that pdd's uh innocent but of course he would .

Michael 34:42

Of course he's not going to say he's guilty , but I'm innocent rule number one when you're in prison , everyone's innocent snitches get stitches , exactly but no , I think my take on this is there's no smoke without fire . Generally speaking , if you live a clean life , you don't end up having your name out there . You don't end up bringing this trouble . Take yourself out of the path of temptation . Yeah , yeah , yeah and you'll be okay , and it comes down to moral and ethic code .

Sameer 35:06

I think so . Well , hopefully , if we do become celebs one day , we'll live to a higher standard than Diddy .

Michael 35:12

I mean , I think anyone can do that true , not just Diddy . And on that note , thank you very much for listening in and have a great week . Remember to click and like , follow , subscribe . You can find us on Buzzsprout , Amazon , Spotify , Apple Podcasts all the good platforms . And remember , when life gets you down , You're the best around . Nothing's gonna ever keep you down . You're the best around . Nothing's gonna ever keep you down .