Headlines, Handcuffs, and Housewives

In this episode of The Rufus and Craig Show, we discuss the latest sports and culture headlines, including James Harden's arrest in Houston on an unlawful carry charge and what we know so far. We also provide a follow up on former Bethlehem police officer Sean Reifel, whose Love Island USA journey ended with him becoming the first contestant eliminated after a controversy that drew comments from Bethlehem's mayor and a public defense from Sean's mother. Finally, we talk about Drew Sidora's reported Real Housewives of Atlanta earnings, her finalized divorce, and the social media debate over whether reality TV stars are making as much money as people think.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 1:03

That's our new intro. Thank you everybody for joining us for the Rufus and Craig show. I'm your wonderful host, Craig.

SPEAKER_01 1:10

And I'm Rufus.

SPEAKER_00 1:11

Yeah, yeah. Happy Sunday, Rufus. Thank you so much for making time for us.

SPEAKER_01 1:16

Good morning.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

Today, yeah, as the world would have it, um, our schedules didn't align yesterday, but I'm excited to be here with my brother today. And uh, yeah. Happy Sunday.

SPEAKER_01 1:28

Happy Sunday on this Sunday before Father's Day, I believe, correct?

SPEAKER_00 1:32

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_01 1:33

I think Father's Day is next Sunday.

SPEAKER_00 1:35

Well, shout out to all the dads and fathers.

SPEAKER_01 1:38

And father figures.

SPEAKER_00 1:40

Yeah, yeah. Shout out to you. We we commend you, Kings, and happy pride, mom.

SPEAKER_01 1:44

Happy Pride.

SPEAKER_00 1:46

In true fashion. Um, I think we ought to start the show today with Stefan Diggs because he has charted the entire um week, you know, and and you know, some people say the jokes right themselves. I don't necessarily agree with that. But one thing, Rufus, if you remember all of those headlines surrounding Stefan Diggs and those allegations that were made by his former personal chef, well, the NFL has officially wrapped up its review, and according to reports, the league has found that there wasn't enough evidence to support any disciplinary action. So Diggs has been cleared by the NFL. The case is closed from the league standpoint, and he's free to continue his career in the NFL without any restrictions. And we we love to see a black man working. Um, he is black, right? Is he Dominican or anything? Because I know we can look anywhere.

SPEAKER_01 2:37

Diggs, D-I-G-G-S. Does that sound Dominican to you? I wouldn't know. I depend on you. It it I would I don't know if he's Dominican or not, but based on his last name, I'd have to be inclined to say, no, he's not. Why don't I look it up?

SPEAKER_00 2:51

No, no, you're you're good. We'll appreciate you. You're good to do so. Um and the the beauty of that is, you know, while social media and the public had its opinion, and the league pretty much took his time to really investigate and before they made a decision. So I guess he got his due process on the league side as it relates to that. Um and one thing that that took presidents as it relates to Stefan Diggs is his botaga bag. Is it bodega or again?

SPEAKER_01 3:21

Botega Banetta Bowyard bag.

SPEAKER_00 3:23

Goyard bag. I guess.

SPEAKER_01 3:24

Oh, it's a goyard.

SPEAKER_00 3:25

Shout out to my baby for giving me that. But goyard bag. That's he in a pink goyard bag made an appearance due to, excuse me. Wow. With that look with that bucket head on, yeah, and he had his belly out. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:39

It looked real zest.

SPEAKER_00 3:41

Yeah, they call him a butch queen.

SPEAKER_01 3:43

He looked, it looked very, it was given butch queen.

SPEAKER_00 3:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:46

But we love a butch queen over here. So, but if he is a butch queen, then good to see it. But yeah, uh, based on Wikipedia, he's from uh Gothersburg, Maryland, and it does not mention anything about him being Dominican.

SPEAKER_00 3:59

Okay. Or Cuban, whatever. Yeah, I didn't know he was from Maryland. Uh I didn't.

SPEAKER_01 4:05

He's just black, a black, a black man, a black man from America.

SPEAKER_00 4:09

Keeping a black man working. And so, on a separate matter as it relates to him, a federal judge is reportedly demanding more detailed answers about his relationship with Chris Blake Griffith, and that's the man that has been uh accusing him in a sexual assault lawsuit. Oh. And so the judge wants more info. Um, you know, because Diggs pretty much said, hey, you know, we're simple acquaintances. And so while this is a civil court case um separate from the NFL investigation, it's still ongoing. And if you remember that case, um, that's the one where the guy pretty much said, you know, he was sexually assaulted. They were driving. I don't know if he said, I'm not gonna say he was drugged or anything like that, but whatever it was, um, you know, supposedly, you know, Diggs pulled out his member in front of him in the car, and they got in the house and somehow get robbed later. It's a lot.

SPEAKER_01 5:05

It's giving the White Howard and uh and uh Miss Kitty Cookie Kitty.

SPEAKER_00 5:11

Miss Kitty. That was one hardened ass trans. Miss Kitty was hardened. That girl was hardened, her wig was kind of shifty.

SPEAKER_01 5:21

I mean, do you know that trans people come in multiple uh packages just like we do? So everybody's not gonna be the same way.

SPEAKER_00 5:30

She's a trans that couldn't pass, though. You just thought about sitting up in that room.

SPEAKER_01 5:34

A lot of trans people can't pass.

SPEAKER_00 5:35

Oh, I think uh I've heard T.S. Madison call them bricks.

SPEAKER_01 5:39

Bricks. A brick. A lot of trans girls are bricks, and it's okay because you can be a brick if you want to.

SPEAKER_00 5:47

Well, Miss Kitty was definitely a brick. She was not passing.

SPEAKER_01 5:51

I don't know what she looks like. I ain't never seen her.

SPEAKER_00 5:53

Oh, I'm gonna find you a picture.

SPEAKER_01 5:56

I'm gonna have to go Google it when I get back to the game.

SPEAKER_00 5:57

You should look Miss Kitty up.

SPEAKER_01 6:00

I don't know how to Google it though, because Miss Kitty, so uh it's like so I feel like it's so common. They don't know what to do.

SPEAKER_00 6:06

If you put Dwight Howe with Miss Kitty, you'll see her. There we go. Yes, all in how you query. Wow. Um, okay, yeah. Moving right along. So this is a story that really um impacts a lot of the work, not necessarily impacts a lot of work I do, um, but I work with black men that play basketball at HBCUs. And this is actual, I went to Alabama AM University, so our rival institution in the state um was Alabama State University. And so, you know, this kind of touches on economy. We always highlight economy and then the social aspects of sports. And so um, just following that, Alabama State University. Um, woo! I would never want any federal investigators um in my business or in my life in any kind of way. And so Nor would I. Yeah. What the claim is that four former Alabama State uh basketball players have allegedly agreed to throw a game um for a combined, guess what, Rufus?

SPEAKER_01 7:08

A combined benefit of somebody?

SPEAKER_00 7:11

$2,000.

SPEAKER_01 7:13

Damn, they should have charged more.

SPEAKER_00 7:15

Not $200,000. They should have charged more. Not $2 million. $2,000 total.

SPEAKER_01 7:22

But they were you said they were college students?

SPEAKER_00 7:23

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:24

Okay. Well that kind of that kind of tracks, because hell, you might need $2,000 in college to eat with.

SPEAKER_00 7:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:31

You know.

SPEAKER_00 7:31

So what the allegations have said is that two of the players got a whopping $700 each, and the other two got a whopping $300 each.

SPEAKER_01 7:41

So what? Or the other $1,300 and $1,500 in?

SPEAKER_00 7:44

So $1,400 plus $600. So two of the players got $700, and the other two got $300 apiece.

SPEAKER_01 7:51

They got short.

SPEAKER_00 7:52

$1,400 plus $1,600. So it was combined, remember? The $2,000 was combined per person. Yeah, so that's the breakdown. Yeah, absolutely. And so when you think about that, for some, that might be a car note, a utility bill.

SPEAKER_01 8:06

That's all it's gonna be using gas money.

SPEAKER_00 8:08

Uh weekend.

SPEAKER_01 8:10

I'm thinking it's $2,000 per person.

SPEAKER_00 8:12

No, no, combined. They got that combined.

SPEAKER_01 8:15

So they they hustling backwards. Fuck that.

SPEAKER_00 8:18

Yeah, so you know, here's the part that gets me. So just a few months later, one of the same players hit the game-winning shot they gave Alabama State its first NCAA tournament victory in the school's history. Now, at that time, everybody was celebrating, you know, this incredible HBCU sports moment. And now people are looking back wondering what else is going on, you know, and uh Cynthia Bailey voice. And so if you fast forward to today, um, the NCAA has reportedly hit all four players with lifetime bans, and two of them are also facing federal wire fraud and bribery charges.

SPEAKER_01 8:54

So they can't even play in the uh college sports league anymore.

SPEAKER_00 8:59

They out. And you know, previously we we reported on, you know, um, I think it was NFL or um sports betting, and so you know, the money isn't just changing the games, it's changing the decisions people make. You know, you're talking about athletes risking scholarships, degrees, and you know, careers and potentially their freedom over a few hundred dollars. That's what I just can't get with.

SPEAKER_01 9:25

Although they've been banned from playing college-level sports, I really hope that they can still get their education and pursue whatever career that they want to do outside of um football. Because that's basketball. That's terrible. Basketball, I'm sorry. It's all good. I'm a sports guy. It's all good. That's terrible.

SPEAKER_00 9:42

You do good to keep up, so it's all right.

SPEAKER_01 9:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:46

In other news, now pivoting to fit football, because I was saying fitball, speaking of thinking of FIFA. Ugh.

SPEAKER_01 9:52

That's that country coming out.

SPEAKER_00 9:56

Deion Sanders, Rufus. I saw something online. Again, this is close to home. I was at JSU at the same time um, you know, Coach Prime or Deion Sanders was, he and his his uh three children. And so I saw this online. This part of the big debate. Now, the claim is that Deion Sanders has a policy of Colorado where freshmen can't earn NIL money until their sophomore year, because in his words, making money from this board is a privilege. If you're playing on my team, you have to earn that. And so that's my best impression of uh Deion Sanders now. Whether this specific report is accurate or not, I actually think that there's a larger conversation that's interesting, right? So because, you know, the NL NIL has changed college athletics so much that some players are arriving on campus focused on brand deals before they've even played, you know, even a single snap, pass the ball, throwing the ball, got a tackle, anything, you know, part of me understands the argument. You know, you want players to be focused on development, academics, and earning their place on the team before the money starts flowing. Um, but the other side of me says if a freshman can legally earn money from his name, image, and likeness, you know, why would anybody tell him he has to wait? So prime, eh, you know, I'm kind of, you know, you look at the, you know, following what we just know about the Alabama State players, because evidently you needed that $300. Yeah. You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_01 11:20

I'm in alignment with your thick, with your thoughts. Uh, I agree that like if it's my name, my likeness, my image, I should be able to capitalize off that just like the college and or university can, because they make millions and billions of dollars off of jerseys and apparel from players. And I don't think the they get a scholarship next to it. Like, give me a percentage of this, because this is my name. Also, um I hear that Deion Sanders is now cancer-free, so congrats to him.

SPEAKER_00 11:49

Yeah, shout out to a black man being cancer-free. He he beat that. So, um, and shout out to the physicians that that helped him through that, that with those treatments.

unknown 11:58

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 11:58

Absolutely. Right. Now we gotta do a follow-up story. This is this is the unfortunate gift that keeps on giving to us, and we don't want it. You know, Jonathan Cooper, come to the front of the class. We gotta talk to you again. Because this this is just, you know, if my daddy was here, he would say, Leave those white women alone. Wait a minute. That's his baby mom.

SPEAKER_01 12:19

Can I get a refresher on who you are?

SPEAKER_00 12:20

Yeah, absolutely. We got a follow-up story. And last week we talked about Denver Broncos linebacker Jonathan Cooper. This is the guy that ate the cell phone, you know, had the domestic event, got the two charges.

SPEAKER_01 12:30

So steel jaws.

SPEAKER_00 12:33

Yes, yes. The reason this case is back in the news is because Cooper was arrested a second time after authorities alleged that he violated a court-issued protection order related to the original domestic violence case. Now, prosecutors, excuse me, prosecutors, ooh, gotta get that out, right? Speaking of steel jaws, I guess I done got it. You know, have also added four new charges, and that includes a felony assault by strangulation charge. So this isn't just a reminder of the original arrest. This case has evolved, and so those new charges have been filed, and Cooper is now facing additional legal challenges as the matter moves through the courts. And of course, the Denver Broncos are pretty much abstaining, or they they refuse to say anything. Yeah. As they seen that.

SPEAKER_01 13:17

They're protecting their brand.

SPEAKER_00 13:19

Uh-huh. And and I went to his page. Um, and I don't know. He talks a lot about, you know, it seems like he was a spiritual man, a family man. Uh, he may have give or take 18 to 20 posts on Instagram, but he seemed like he was solid, right? You see his images with family, but uh, we just never know um what happens when you you get home. So um, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:42

And they don't play about them protective orders. I don't know about in Colorado, but in Texas, if you got a protective order against you and you're at that location, you're going to jail. It's mandatory that you have to go to jail. So somebody gotta go. Damn. And that one, it ain't somebody, it's whoever the protective order is against you. Oh, yeah. The statue says you shall uh make an arrest. Not you may or you can, you shall. So that means you you have to make the arrest.

unknown 14:10

Damn. Damn, damn, damn.

SPEAKER_00 14:13

Well, um, I I have taken a personal interest in this because it, you know, I always talk about the money, and you and I both agree about the mental health um aspect of it. So Woo! Here we go, here we go. And and pivoting to our last sports story um today comes from Rufus' great state of Texas. Um, James Harden ass got arrested. He got arrested.

SPEAKER_01 14:38

He's the basketball player?

SPEAKER_00 14:39

Yeah, yeah. With the beard, with the beard, right? For the wrong. That's right. That's him.

unknown 14:44

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 14:44

You know, NBA former, MBA MVP.

SPEAKER_01 14:47

What the fuck did he get arrested for?

SPEAKER_00 14:48

He has found himself in this news um for everything but basketball. And so he was arrested on Saturday, yesterday or the morning, um, on an unlawful carry charge after police allegedly found a firearm in plain view inside, you know, his vehicle without a holster. And so now, according to the court records, he was released from the Harris County jail and didn't have to pay um the $100 bond as long as he appears in courts on the 22nd. And so um UCW's not a big deal.

SPEAKER_01 15:20

Yeah. Like at all. I can't remember what the what kind of what's the uh the penalty group for it, but it's not like a big deal. It and if you would have had that holster, it'll have been fine.

SPEAKER_00 15:30

Yeah. Uh we we are pretty much sure that he's just gonna show up now. You know, anytime a superstar athlete gets arrested, you know, people are gonna automatically start wondering, hey, you know, what happened. Um, but clearly we don't know everything at this point, but other than what has been released. So, you know, we definitely appreciate you and your your thoughtfulness, um, Rufus.

SPEAKER_01 15:52

My thoughtfulness. I was thoughtful about something.

SPEAKER_00 15:54

Yeah, you kind of shared in that little blurb, you know, that ain't too too bad.

SPEAKER_01 15:57

So you kind of I mean it's not unless it goes along with an with another charge, but it's not it's not that big of a deal.

SPEAKER_00 16:05

That's it, that's it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:08

And so now pivoting to our wow moment WOW.

SPEAKER_00 16:15

Yeah, that's it. Now, Rufus, we've got to um do another follow-up. And we talked about the former Bethlehem police officer, Sean Rifle, um, who went to Love Island, USA. And if you I that man ain't black.

SPEAKER_01 16:34

Because I could have sworn he was a black man.

SPEAKER_00 16:37

I showed you him on the last show.

SPEAKER_01 16:39

I thought I saw on the internet that he was light-skinned, but maybe I'm wrong. All right.

SPEAKER_00 16:44

He looks Asian. Yeah, he's in Samoan or something. Yeah, it's it's it's an interesting blend. He's something.

SPEAKER_01 16:50

Let me what's his name?

SPEAKER_00 16:51

Sean Rifle. That's S-E-A-N. And last name is Rifle. That's R-E-I-F-E-L. Check him out.

SPEAKER_01 17:00

Like the gun.

SPEAKER_00 17:01

Mm-hmm. So if you'll remember, um, this became a national story after the Bethlehem mayor, J. William Reynolds, publicly criticized his decision to leave the police department and go to the reality show. Um, and the mayor's comments, you know, really helped push the story beyond local news. Because everybody's like, why the hell would a mayor come back, you know, come out saying, hey, you know, we're losing resources. Um, you gotta go the other way with it. Who I be seeing is a black man. You should look and see. No, you can see I sent him to you um on Instagram, I'm sure. You'll see him on there. Yeah, he's in your Instagram DMs.

SPEAKER_01 17:39

This ain't him.

SPEAKER_00 17:40

Yeah, that's him. That man does not look black to me.

SPEAKER_01 17:42

He looked black to me. He might be brown, he might be mixed, but he's black.

SPEAKER_00 17:46

We need to ask his mama because if you remember, yes, she came forward to publicly defend her son, and she was saying that he had every right to pretty much pursue this opportunity because it made him happy and that he was being unfairly criticized for his decision. And so, you know, well, now, you know, it's been unfortunate, but since we got everybody's attention and all this stuff, Sean was unfortunately the first contestant to be eliminated from Love Island, USA, and he was sent home from the villa.

SPEAKER_01 18:19

Put me in contact with him. I know somebody has hungry.

SPEAKER_00 18:22

Okay, well, we we definitely will. Uh, we'll float a DM or email. I'm sure he may have booking information in his bio at this particular point. Um, so after all these people weighed in, you know, his TV run ended as almost as quickly as it started.

SPEAKER_01 18:37

Yeah, I'm sure he'll be able to leverage that into some other social media influencer, brand, ambassador type of shit as well.

SPEAKER_00 18:45

We can only hope. We can only hope.

SPEAKER_01 18:47

That sucks, though.

SPEAKER_00 18:48

Yep, and our and our last wild story that kind of touches even more so on um.

SPEAKER_01 18:56

You keep doing all these deep sides. Like, you're just so sad to report on this. Are you sad?

SPEAKER_00 19:00

It's the gift that keeps on giving, partly because you and I both watch this show. Um and it's out of obligation at this particular point. Yeah, that's it. So a lot of people on social media are really reacting to um Real Housewives of Atlanta star Juicidore making $26,000 per episode saying that it's not the money that they expected and that they feel she is underpaid.

SPEAKER_01 19:24

Okay, I I disagree. $26,000 an episode is not no small amount of money. How many episodes do they film in the season? 13, 14?

SPEAKER_00 19:34

You might get 16, 17 in a regular season and three-part reunion, so upwards of 20.

SPEAKER_01 19:40

So 26 times 20 and yeah, times. That's half a million dollars. That's half a million dollars for doing a little bit of work, not even really working. You're walking around and you're socializing. Yeah, yeah. Like, why are people who the fuck in this real world that we live in makes $26,000 for a little bit of work? It's still people making that a year.

SPEAKER_00 20:03

You know, I work in higher years, so it's still people say $26,000.

SPEAKER_01 20:07

People need to be realistic. Just but $26,000 is not no small amount of money. I would love to make $26,000 a month. But I live in a real world, so I don't. So people need to wise up. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_00 20:18

No, you're good. And according to court documents, it pretty much says she made about $456,000 during the most recent season. And, you know, they people are just saying, hey, it's not giving what it's supposed to give. And others have pointed out, you know, pretty much, you know, it seems like it's a huge paycheck, but it gets, you know, reduced quickly after your taxes, your agents published this. And I think Drew herself has what a 15-person team. So is everybody expected to eat off of this $456,000 salary?

SPEAKER_01 20:50

That that's her uh choice to have that large of a team. And I would advocate that if she has the right tax professional, she can do like the president and not pay as much taxes as some people do based on their income.

SPEAKER_00 21:04

Yeah, I think that money, and to your point, it went into Drusador LLC. So whatever she had, yeah, you're right. So she is doing that. And speaking of LLCs, shout out to CR Tech Services for our wonderful intro. We appreciate you. Thank you. Um, as well as uh Meet You Builders LLC, we appreciate you as well for your continued sponsorship.

SPEAKER_01 21:25

So definitely.

SPEAKER_00 21:26

That's a wrap for our show today. We appreciate you all. We're gonna give you back your Sunday. Um, Rufus and I are signing out. We will see you next weekend.

SPEAKER_01 21:36

Peace.

SPEAKER_00 21:37

Alrighty, bye.