The Napkin In Between
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The Napkin In Between
Steven Colbert, South Park, & Censorship: What's Really Going On?
Freedom of speech is under attack, and I'm not staying silent about it. Just as I've reached 2,100 subscribers by being authentically myself, I'm witnessing escalating censorship that should alarm everyone who values free expression.
My journey from quiet child to outspoken podcaster reflects a personal revolution against self-silencing. Growing up, I was that kid who barely spoke, always flying under the radar to avoid conflict. When people would say "you're so quiet, you should talk more," I'd try—only to be criticized for what I said. This led me into adulthood as a people-pleaser, a doormat letting others dictate my life while suppressing my true thoughts. The exhaustion of living inauthentically finally pushed me to speak up, set boundaries, and embrace my voice—even when it meant losing relationships with people who preferred the silent version of me.
This transformation mirrors what's happening on a larger scale. The recent cancellation of Stephen Colbert's show under suspicious "financial" circumstances, despite the same company signing a $1.5 billion deal with South Park, raises serious questions. South Park's brilliant 27th season premiere addressing censorship has essentially created a litmus test: if they face repercussions for criticizing powerful figures, it reveals the true nature of Colbert's cancellation—not financial troubles but silencing of dissent.
We're witnessing increasing restrictions on free speech across social media and mainstream platforms. I've lost multiple accounts for speaking against racism and political issues, but when established media figures face similar silencing, we've crossed into dangerous territory. The First Amendment specifically protects us from government interference with our speech, yet we're seeing potential political influence over media cancellations.
Your voice matters—whether you have two followers or two million. In a world of sanitized, brand-friendly content, authentic expression becomes radical and necessary. I'll never regret finding my voice after years of silence, and I encourage you to use yours. What made you smile this week? Share your thoughts and join me in speaking truth, even when—especially when—powerful forces would rather we stay quiet.
Don't forget to subscribe to join our growing community of people who refuse to be silenced.
Is this thing on? Hello, hello, uh-oh, another yapper with a mic. Hello everyone, and welcome back to the Napkin in Between podcast. I am your host, Daijné Jones. I hope everyone is having a good week, except for that orange drink, lady, of course. Guys. Wait, I'm finna cry. I hope everyone is having a good week, except for that orange drink, lady, of course. Guys. Uh, wait, because I'm finna cry. I'm blushing so hard right now.
Daijné:I don't know if you can tell because I have melanin, in case you couldn't tell of that either, but we hit 2,000 subscribers. Well, I think point um subscribers on youtube. Oh my god, wait. Yo, oh my god. Thank you guys, so much, I'm so like.
Daijné:Okay, so this past episode that I posted last week has been like my most viewed episode ever. Currently, as I'm filming this, it's at like 3.1 thousand or 3,100 views and that's like. It's just so crazy to me, like I know in hindsight of like podcasts and things like that. Like 2000 subscribers isn't a lot, 3000 views isn't a lot, but like for me, that means so much to me and that's like crazy to me because, like that episode, that means so much to me and that's like crazy to me because, like that episode. It was very last minute and what I mean by that is like so I filmed that episode, right, and I had filmed it, talked about what I wanted to talk about, and then I was like, okay, I'll edit it later. And then my procrastination like I'll be trying to fight the procrastination, but sometimes she'd be winning. So last week, for last week's podcast episode, the procrastination was winning. Like I didn't open that, like I filmed it and then, like later on in the week, I was like, let me, let me edit this. Right, I open all of the you know, the video, the sound, whatever, and I had accidentally um recorded the sound not through the mic, like the mic that I hold in my podcast episodes. The sound wasn't recorded through that, it was recorded through my laptop and so it's not like you could barely hear me talking through the whole thing. And I was like, fuck, what do I do? Like it was Thursday.
Daijné:Usually it takes me like a week to to edit my podcast episodes because I just like I'm very tedious about I'm a perfectionist. The perfectionist in me really comes out during editing. So it usually takes me like days to edit and I had already procrastinated way too close to the sun, and so I'm like, do I skip this week? Do I try to re-record it? Like what do I do? So I was like you know what, I'm just gonna re-record it. So I re-recorded the episode on Friday, friday morning, edited the entire thing on Friday so that it would be available for Sunday when my episodes come out.
Daijné:So I was like I wasn't really happy with the episode. Like it was very rushed, it was very last minute and I was like, oh, like, hopefully, like this is okay, like hopefully they like it. Whatever, fast forward to today. That episode is my highest viewed episode of my entire. All of my podcast episodes. I got like so many new subscribers, which I'm so thankful for.
Daijné:Like it just shows me that like I put too much pressure on myself for my content sometimes. Like I'm like I'm such a perfectionist and like I'm very tedious when it comes to editing. Like my dream is to get to the point in podcasting where I can just film and then send the footage off to someone else to edit. I'm already praying for my future editor because I'm so annoying and I'm like if there's one little thing I don't like, I will literally spend so much time on it more time than is needed to get it to where I like it. So I'm already praying for my future editor.
Daijné:But like I wasn't very, like I didn't get to watch the episode enough, where I felt like, okay, like this is a good episode, I'll put it out. But I was like I don't really want to skip a week. I had skipped a week a couple weeks ago because my family was here. So I was like I don't really want to skip a week, like I love to be consistent with you guys, like I and I also love like seeing you guys, I love reading your comments and like engaging with them and different things like that. So I was like I don't really want to skip a week. I already skipped a week this month. So I was like you know what? I'm just gonna put it out like we'll see how it does.
Daijné:I hit 21,000 subscribers or not 20, not 21000, 2,100 subscribers, most viewed video of all my podcasts, like and like that's my thing is like I put so much pressure on myself where it's like you don't really need to do all that, like it's okay, you can just talk, edit it and put it out, like that's what I need to do, moving forward. I'm saying this now, knowing very well that I'm not going to do that moving forward, but it's like a good, a good sign to have. You know what I mean. That's like I don't have to put so much pressure on myself, I don't have to be such a perfectionist, I don't have to be so tedious to know, like what I'm saying matters and like to know that you know I'm making sense. Like sometimes, when I'm talking, I'm just like am I even making sense? Like even like what I just said.
Daijné:I'm like does that even make sense? Is this like a flowing chain of thought? Because my thoughts are so jumbled all the time and I'm always like jumping from thought to thought to thought, so every time I film something, I'm like, is this even cohesive? Like, does this even make sense? I guess it makes some sense because, like y'all liked it and I love that y'all liked it because, like I love to talk, I love to yap, I love to put my ideas out there, and that's another thing about the podcast is like number one. I feel like I talk about important things and doing the podcast really helps me to like amplify my voice. Like every day I'm trying to amplify, amplify my voice even more and I feel like it helps me, especially like heal my inner child, having this podcast, because as a child, I don't want to say my voice didn't matter, but like not too many people like told me that my voice mattered, you know.
Daijné:So I was always very quiet. I was always very like go with the flow, like do whatever is necessary to just, you know, fly under the radar. You know what I mean. And so I didn't like ever really make a fuss about anything like I was always just very like timid and my voice was just like I just didn't talk much and people were always like asking me my thoughts, but then when I shared my thoughts, I was like reprimanded for it, like they were like oh my god, you're so quiet, you should talk more. And then I would try to talk more and they're like, but not like that you know what I mean. So it's like do you want me to talk, do you know?
Daijné:So I always, like, going into my adult life, I was just very like passive. I didn't want to rock the boat like. I just was like agreeing with what everyone else said, whether or not I truly agreed with it or not. I was just going along with whatever everyone else said and it got to the point where it was like people just like wouldn't take my feelings or my thoughts into account, like they would just do whatever they wanted and regardless of how I felt, and that gets tiring after a while. Like it's very, very tiring and I was just like you know what fuck it like I'm gonna finally start speaking my mind and saying what I feel.
Daijné:And speaking. However, I want to speak and like when I first started doing that, it was hard because it's like when you finally stop being a doormat and letting people walk all over you, like you lose a lot of people because it like it, at least for me personally, I found that like when I finally started talking for myself and setting boundaries with people, they didn't want to be my life anymore, because it's like I was just letting them do whatever and the fact that I was and now I'm not allowing that they didn't like that. They didn't like that I was no longer being a doormat, that they could no longer walk all over me, and so now that I'm at the point of my life where I'm just like doing me and doing my own thing and like Sharing the thoughts that I actually have and setting boundaries that I am keeping and like not letting anybody cross. It allows the good people to come into my life. You know what I mean. Like it allows the people who genuinely respect me and View me as a person and not just someone that they can like get over on um to come into my life. And being able to do that on such a wide spectrum, like again, I know that you know 2,000 subscribers, 3,000 views in hindsight isn't a lot, but it's so meaningful for me because it's like y'all are seeing exactly who I am. You're hearing all of my thoughts, all of my beliefs, all of my ideologies. What, like, what really goes on in my brain is what I'm actively putting out and I love that like I'm being fully myself and y'all are here because you're witnessing who I am fully. It means so much to me because this heals my inner child, the little girl who just didn't speak a lot and just kind of like went with the flow. She's being actively healed and I just love that for her. I love that for her, I love that for me and I just love that for her. I love that for her, I love that for me and I just love that for the world, because I feel like I just I wish people were just more authentically themselves and just like spoke their brains.
Daijné:I was actually thinking about this the other day. I hate how like PR trained people are now like I was watching videos of people in like the early 2000s like celebrities, and when they would discuss, like having beef or having an issue with somebody else, they would just speak their mind like it wasn't. These pr answers of just like well, you know, we just see things differently, like no, like they were not. Like, for example, hillary duff she had beef with so many people and seeing the way that they're just like so honest about it and just being like yeah, like that, like fuck her, like that bitch is messy, like whatever they want to say, I miss that. I miss. There's just like no authenticity in the world anymore and it sucks because everyone's trying to like conform and like be like brand friendly, like oh, I hate that shit and I've experienced that myself too.
Daijné:I've talked about this a little bit but like I've had interviews with like talent agencies and people like wanting to like represent me and they're like oh my god, we've seen your videos. Like we really like you, like we want to meet with you, blah, blah, blah. And so we have this first meeting, and the first meeting always goes really well, right, like they're like hyping me up and saying me how much they like me, whatever. And then I think that in between the first meeting and the second meeting, like they actually listen to my content, like I think in the first meeting they just see my engagement because not to brag, but y'all be tuned to fuck it, and so they see that engagement and they're like, oh, like she has really good engagement. And then, after the first meeting, they go to the second meeting and it's always like they tell me, without telling me, that I can't be as vocal about things that I am and by things I mean like the political state of the world and different things like that they want me to like not talk about different things. Like they want me to not call out racism and misogyny and transphobia and talk shit about Trump, and it's just like that's like bullshit to me.
Daijné:That propaganda that I will never fall for is that you have to be like brand safe and like not talk about politics in order to work with a brand, and like I've seen people like influencers that I follow or that I'm mutuals with talk about how like they can't talk so much about political stuff because it doesn't make them brand friendly. That's propaganda I'm not falling for. I don't like that. I can't call out racism and get a brand deal because my thing is like there are so many influencers and content creators who have a history of racism, misogyny, transphobia, homophobia, all these things, and they're still able to get brand deals. If you're able to have a history of racism, misogyny, homophobia, big whatever sort of bigotry and get a brand deal, I should be able to call out all of those things and also get a brand deal. Like hello, like that's like crazy to me. It's like people feel like they can't call those things out because it makes them less brand friendly. Meanwhile, they have people who have a history of racism, homophobia, transphobia, whatever, and they're like the face of a brand. Be serious, like just be serious. That's crazy to me and so like that's why I will I'll never stop talking about those things.
Daijné:And I feel like we need to bring back like non-pr trained people, people who aren't pr trained and they're just like speaking and doing them and going crazy like how, whatever that means. We need more of that. We need more authenticity, because there's too many people who are just putting on this front for, like, brand deals or whatever and they're just not being their self. I hate that. I hate that I never want to change, because I feel like again, the things that I talk about are not only important, but like I finally found a place where I can fully be me and it's taken me 25, 26 years to to get here and to finally be like you know what? Fuck it. I'm gonna say what I feel and if you like it, cool. If you don't, also cool. Like I just can never. I can never go back to like the box that I had put myself in or like the world my upbringing had put me in, like I'm. I'm too vocal now and I can't go back to not being vocal. So I say all that to say I'm very happy.
Daijné:Thank you guys so much for 21,000 subscribers on my YouTube channel. Um, like that's just really crazy to me and I'm really grateful and I'm so happy that all of you are here. I'm a little freaked out, to be honest, because it's like like I sometimes forget that y'all are real people, like there's actual people behind the numbers and that's why it's so easy for me to be like, oh, I can just be myself because, like, I forget that y'all are real people. So I just want to say, like that, this has been the peak of my week just seeing all of you guys and I am so grateful and thank you guys so much for being here and, yeah, I just I'm just so grateful for all of you. So, um, I just wanted to say this has absolutely been the peak of my week. It's just like seeing the influx of subscribers, of views, like I'm really really grateful for, for all of it.
Daijné:So thank you you guys so much for 20,000. I just keep saying 20,000. I guess we're going to get there soon. I guess this is like manifestation, you know what I mean. It's 2,100, but I keep saying 20,000, but that's because we're going to get there soon. So thank you in advance for 20,000 subscribers and thank you currently for 2, subscribers. I'm really really grateful and I'm I'm just happy that you guys are all here. So that has been the pick of my week.
Daijné:Please tell me the pick of your week, something that made you smile, kept you grounded, kept you sane in the chaos of the world right now, speaking of using your voice and not allowing anybody to silence you, and being your authentic self, segwaying it right into what we're gonna talk about today the censorship and being your authentic self, segwaying it right into what we're gonna talk about today. The censorship these days is fucking crazy. Like I've I've been feeling the censorship for a minute now. I'm on my third account on tiktok and it's because I call out trump and racism and homophobia and misogyny, anti-blackness. Like I've lost several accounts because I call that shit out on TikTok.
Daijné:But Stephen Colbert just got his late night show canceled because of financial issues. I say in quotes because that's what they're saying, but it doesn't feel like it's financial issues. It's very much giving. You know. He's gotten under Trump's skin one time too many and Trump shut this shit, the fuck down. That's what it's giving to me. I don't know all of the details, let me preface it with that, but Stephen Colbert has been on Trump's ass for a hot fucking minute and the fact that his show is just now getting canceled, it doesn't seem like a coincidence to me. That's all I'm gonna say. But anyway, sohen colbert's show was just recently canceled for money issues and today south park premiered their 27th um season and it it's giving clap back to me. It's giving that they were trying to clap back at the censorship and everything that's going on, which I fucking love their episode today.
Daijné:It was brilliant in so many ways. Number one, obviously they they called out trump and they were making jokes about him, about how he's always trying to sue everyone and you know, like everyone needs to like fall in line or they can get their shows canceled too. But it was also really smart to me because, like they're saying that they canceled Stephen Colbert's show because of, like, money issues or whatever. They just signed and I'm talking about Paramount. I think that there's like a parent company to Paramount, but the Stephen Colbert show was on Paramount and South Park is also on Paramount. Paramount signed a 1.5 billion billion that's. So I can't even fathom how much money that is, like billion. Like when we start talking about billions, I can't understand that that's so much fucking money. But they signed a 1.5 billion dollar contract with the creators of south park recently and in their 27 um season premiere episode it was basically about the censorship and Trump and getting shit shut down, like if they talk negatively about him or if it's something that he doesn't like, right. So in the episode they literally had like Jesus in the episode and Jesus was telling them like you guys have to fall in line, like if you, if you don't want to get canceled, you have to fall in line. You have to not talk about badly about Trump. Like you guys have to stop all these rallies and talking negatively about Trump. And I feel like it was so brilliant, because if they really canceled Stephen Colbert's show because of money, like you just signed a 1.5 billion deal with South Park, right? So if now, all of a sudden, south Park is canceled because they're throwing shots at Trump, is is the issue really money or is the issue censorship? Because I feel like censorship has gotten really bad on social media and we we need to be worried because this is the censorship.
Daijné:Like I hate when people get online and they'll say things like racial slurs, like the n-word or whatever, and they're like oh, freedom of speech, like I can say what I want because freedom of speech, open the schools. Open the schools, because that's not what freedom of speech is for. It's not to protect you, to say the n-word, freedom of speech is for protection from the government. So it's like if you get online and you say the n-word, that's not your freedom of speech. Like that doesn't free you from from me giving you a verbal lashing. You know what I mean. Like people like I've called people out for saying the n-word and people are like oh my god, god, freedom of speech. Like you can't be mad because they host freedom of speech. No bitch. I can be upset, but people will get in my comments and be like oh my god, freedom of speech. Like they can say whatever the fuck they want. And it's like that's not what freedom of speech is. Freedom of speech isn't protection from a regular civilian like me.
Daijné:Like freedom of speech is from the government and so, like if Stephen Colbert's show was canceled because, like Trump just feels like he's talking too much shit about him or whatever, stephen Colbert's freedom of speech is the one that's under attack. Do you know what I mean? And if it's like, if he can get his show canceled because he's saying things that he doesn't like, what does that mean for everyone else? You know what I mean? Like, if not dictatorship, why? Dictatorship shaped like what the fuck? Like that's, that's weird. Like that's, that's scary. That's scary for someone's show to be canceled because and this is just my personal opinion, right like the reason they gave for the canceling is because financial, I don't believe that shit. You just signed a 1.5 billion deal, you know what I'm saying. So it's like that's suspicious, right, this is scary.
Daijné:Like this is censorship on a whole new level. Like taking away my itty bitty account. Itty bitty, I had 400 000 plus plus followers but like, like, I was not like super well known, like someone like stephen colbert is well known, like you know what I mean? Like his late night show was very well known, getting that off of the air because he was criticizing you, because he was saying things that you didn't like, bro, that's crazy. And like that's what I'm saying the censorship these days is getting really, really bad and it's getting really scary.
Daijné:Like this is an actual infringement on your freedom of speech because that, like, it's supposed to protect you from the government, and so I feel like that's why this south park episode was so brilliant. Because if they face any sort of repercussions because of their episode, because that they were making jokes or rage baiting trump or whatever, it then goes to show like, okay, like this wasn't about money, this wasn't about like, oh, we canceled the show because of financial reasons, this goes to show that it was more because he was saying things that trump didn't like. And if that's where we've gotten to as a country of like trump can criticize uh, not only criticize a show, but like, get it taken off the air because they're saying things that he doesn't like or because they're criticizing him, I want off this ride. I want off this ride. That that's not. This is literally now fucking with people's constitutional rights. The first amendment is a constitutional right and this is like I. I said this when he sent the national guard to california to like be there because the protests were unpeaceful. Meanwhile, most of the protests were peaceful.
Daijné:He's trying to see what he can get away with. He's trying to see how far he can go before somebody fucking stops him. Somebody stop this man. Like that was step one. He's just like every single thing he does is like a guinea pig thing for him to see does this work, can I get away with this? Okay, let's take it another step further. Does this work, let's? Can I get away with this? Okay, let's take it another step further. And it's like how much do we let him do before someone is like okay, we, we have to step in and by someone I mean, like like Congress, the House of Representatives, the Senate, Like when does someone stop him? Because clearly I can't say that, I don't know if I can say that, but like, what I'll say is people are dying that ain't never died before.
Daijné:But like, fuck, grim Reaper, annabelle, like y'all aren't getting the right person, respectfully, y'all are missing the right person. Like I seen, hulk Hogan died today, which ironically he passed away today on the anniversary, on the 10 year anniversary of like a rant that he had put out went viral, of him like calling black people the N word hard ER. That was shown to everyone 10 years ago today and he passed away today. Bitch, that's fucking reparations. Like sorry, sorry to that man, but damn, the ancestors don't play, that's what I'm saying. Like y'all need to stop playing with black people because the ancestors do not fucking play, don't play, that's what I'm saying. Like y'all need to stop playing with black people because the ancestors do not fucking play, don't play at all.
Daijné:But I saw somebody say, like we said the orange man, like take the orange man, but we, we weren't specific enough. Like damn, like people are dying, they ain't died before, but it's like I'm not the right person. Like we're getting closer with Hulk Hogan am I allowed to say this, I don't know? Anyway, we're getting closer, but not the right orange person. Let's try again. Let's second time's a charm. Third time to charm, I don't know. Let's try again. It doesn't seem like that is happening soon, right? So it's like when does somebody step in and like stop this man from this crazy shit that he's doing?
Daijné:Because it's like this censorship is getting really crazy. And again, like I've seen, especially like I've seen it firsthand with me and like other people that I know post more. That's like politics stuff. That's like against trump. Their videos, they get taken down, their accounts have been banned.
Daijné:Like the censorship is crazy. This is infringing on people's constitutional rights, like this is our first amendment rights to be able to say what we want and not have repercussions from the government. You know what I mean. Like obviously, add nuance in modern. Like you know what I'm saying. Like you can't just say anything and not get repercussions, but like you're supposed to be able to speak your piece and speak your criticisms and not face backlash from the government for that.
Daijné:So if stephen colbert, his show is getting canceled because trump just doesn't like what he's saying about him. That's an issue, that's scary and we need to make a bigger deal about that. And I feel like that's like what this season premiere of south park kind of did. And so if, if they face repercussions because of that episode, I think it's a clear sign that, like this isn't about money, this isn't about, like stephen colbert show wasn't canceled because of monetary shit. It's because if trump doesn't like what someone is saying about him, he will step in and try to, you know, get them taken off air or cancel their show, like censor them, whatever, and that's that's a big issue. That's something that we we really need to to take seriously because, again, like that's infringing on people's constitutional rights and he's already done that with the peaceful protests in california amongst the ice raids.
Daijné:If people protesting the ice raids and like people I'm sorry, ice going into businesses and like just taking people who some people who are, like, legally here, have their documents, everything like that, like they're going in and and snatching up these people, or like people who may be undocumented but like they're here working, they have no criminal record, things like that. Like that's why the protest started, you know, um, and again I feel like that was his first step. Like, can I get away with this? Okay, I'm getting away with this. Like what else can I get away with? Someone needs to stop him. He must be stopped. He must be stopped because it's just gonna keep getting worse and worse and worse, and this is not what america's is like. America is is not a dictatorship, you know what I mean. So it's like I need someone to step in and do something. Like we can't just like keep letting him get away with shit.
Daijné:As we're off with today's episode, I just want to encourage like I know people might feel like your voice doesn't matter, but it absolutely does, whether you have two followers or you're someone like Stephen Colbert and have a million followers. Like don't, don't let censorship take you over. Like your voice matters. You know what I mean. Like you need to continue to talk about things that are important to you, criticize you know this administration if you feel like it's necessary, like he cannot keep getting away with this stuff, like this is crazy, this is insane things that he's getting away with, and like we just can't continue to let it happen.
Daijné:So, if you're able to, if you want to like, use your voice, speak about things that are important to you and just be authentically you. That's like. That's like I feel, like it's so important and, like I said, there's so many people today who are just trying to like be brand friendly or, you know, not speak about things that they really care about because, like, they're worried about the backlash, whatever. Like speak about what's important to you, like it's so important for everyone to just use your voice, whether, again, you have zero followers or a thousand million billion followers like that's not a real number but just use your voice and don't allow anyone to take your voice away, because it's so like we're just in really crazy times and authentic voices are needed now more than ever, and that's why I try to always be my authentic self. Like that is so needed these days, because there's just not a lot of people who do it, because everyone's trying to like walk this fine line of being like politically correct and saying all the right things. I never cared, and neither should you, who gives a fuck. Speak your mind, live your truth. At the end of the day, we're all on a floating rock in the middle of fucking space. Like fuck, leave people alone and let them fucking live. You know what I mean.
Daijné:I don't know what's gonna happen with south park. Um, I did see that the white house trump himself at this point that I'm filming this hasn't said anything about the episode, but the white house was not happy about the episode. But we'll see. We'll see what happens. I think it was a brilliant episode because it's either gonna it's gonna show if it is truly like an infringement on people's constitutional rights or if it was really a monetary thing. I think south park I can't remember the, the two guys names who started south park but I think it was very brilliant of them exactly what they did to to see what happens. So thank you guys, so much for tuning in to today's episode. I hope everyone's having a good week, except for that orange lady, and I will talk to you authentically and uncensoredly in the next episode. Peace and love. Talk to you later. The napkin in between, hosted by Daijné Jones, produced by Daijné Jones, post-production by Daijné Jones, music by Sam Champagne and graphics by Isma Vidal. Don't forget to like and subscribe. See you next episode.