1. Welcome to BET headquarters.
Copy !req
2. I'm Deborah Leevil. It's 2 p.m.,
Copy !req
3. so it's time for our morning staff meeting.
Copy !req
4. Our leader, Bob Johnson, had a dream.
Copy !req
5. A dream of creating a network that would accomplish
Copy !req
6. what hundreds of years of slavery,
Copy !req
7. Jim Crow and malt liquor couldn't.
Copy !req
8. The destruction of black people!
Copy !req
9. Yo, sister! Is that so hard?
Copy !req
10. Mistress Leevil, since BET came into existence,
Copy !req
11. terrible things have happened to black people.
Copy !req
12. Dropout rates, teen pregnancy, unemployment and incarceration
Copy !req
13. have skyrocketed since our debut 25 years ago.
Copy !req
14. We really believe we're making a difference—
Copy !req
15. Silence!
Copy !req
16. Agh!
Copy !req
17. What the devil?
Copy !req
18. The destruction of black people
Copy !req
19. is not happening fast enough.
Copy !req
20. The other day I saw three niggas reading books.
Copy !req
21. One of them was smiling.
Copy !req
22. Yes. He gonna die.
Copy !req
23. No, I'll have to call them back.
Copy !req
24. Oh, and I need another math guy. He gonna die.
Copy !req
25. You know, the dude with the charts and shit.
Copy !req
26. He dead. Yeah, him. I need another one.
Copy !req
27. Yeah, and a cleanup crew. Oh, and another shoe.
Copy !req
28. Left. No, Prada.
Copy !req
29. Wedgie Rudlin,
Copy !req
30. my Harvard-educated president of entertainment,
Copy !req
31. tell me about the evil shows you have in development.
Copy !req
32. Um—Tell it, brother!
Copy !req
33. —Mistress Leevil, my Harvard education tells us
Copy !req
34. that our goal is to take all the shitty reality shows
Copy !req
35. MTV did five years ago, and make them black.
Copy !req
36. Anyone who wants to see a shitty black version
Copy !req
37. of an MTV reality show, well,
Copy !req
38. they'll have to come to us. What else?
Copy !req
39. Next month, we're gonna have our first awards show
Copy !req
40. honoring video hoes.Video hoes!
Copy !req
41. Or as I like to call it, a "Hoe-wards" show.
Copy !req
42. Right.
Copy !req
43. I don't get it.
Copy !req
44. Must be that Harvard humor. Faggot-ass faggot.
Copy !req
45. Personnel, how are we fucking up niggas' money?
Copy !req
46. Well, let's see. As you've requested,
Copy !req
47. nobody outside this room has been paid for months.
Copy !req
48. And you fired everyone that could read.
Copy !req
49. Mm-hm. I love it.
Copy !req
50. Okay, and public relations?
Copy !req
51. Mistress Leevil, we got one thing to report, a'ight?
Copy !req
52. Some little nigga named Huey Freeman.
Copy !req
53. He all critical of the network and shit,
Copy !req
54. talking about a hunger strike.
Copy !req
55. Why? What did we ever do to him
Copy !req
56. except try to destroy black people? What?
Copy !req
57. This hunger strike will continue
Copy !req
58. until BET is taken off the air, the office is shut down,
Copy !req
59. and all its top executives commit Japanese ritual suicide.
Copy !req
60. He's just a kid.
Copy !req
61. No one can stand in my way of destroying black people.
Copy !req
62. Especially not
Copy !req
63. Huey Freeman.
Copy !req
64. ♪ Fake meat
Copy !req
65. It was the third day of my
Copy !req
66. hunger strike to bring an end
Copy !req
67. to the tyranny of Black Entertainment Television.
Copy !req
68. Mm-mm. Man, fake meat is good.
Copy !req
69. Hey, could you pass me one of them veggie burgers?
Copy !req
70. There was someone around here who used to love veggie burgers.
Copy !req
71. You wouldn't remember who that was, would you, boy? Hm?
Copy !req
72. What's with all this hunger strike, boy?
Copy !req
73. What did food ever do to you, hm?
Copy !req
74. Can I be excused, please?
Copy !req
75. No, you are gonna eat with the family, boy.
Copy !req
76. Ain't nobody told you to crusade against BET.
Copy !req
77. BET is out to destroy black people.
Copy !req
78. My nigga, I watch BET every day, feel me?
Copy !req
79. There ain't nothing wrong with me, feel me?
Copy !req
80. Nigga, you just hating, feel me?
Copy !req
81. That's why you ain't never gonna have no paper, no bitches.
Copy !req
82. Boy, watch your mouth. See? That's BET.
Copy !req
83. He's right though, Huey. Women don't like hating.
Copy !req
84. You better listen to your granddaddy. Heh.
Copy !req
85. You don't wanna be bitchless.
Copy !req
86. I know bitchless. Look, I'm bitchless right now.
Copy !req
87. It's no fun.
Copy !req
88. You feel me?
Copy !req
89. Hello? Hey. Uh, good day.
Copy !req
90. I'm looking for brother Huey Freeman please.
Copy !req
91. Speaking.
Copy !req
92. Hey, brother Huey,
Copy !req
93. my name is Reverend Rollo Goodlove.
Copy !req
94. And it's my honor to speak with you.
Copy !req
95. Wait, the Rollo Goodlove?
Copy !req
96. You mean, the Rollo Goodlove
Copy !req
97. who toured with Parliament Funkadelic in the '70s,
Copy !req
98. became a community activist in the '80s,
Copy !req
99. ran for president twice in the '90s,
Copy !req
100. and currently is host of the syndicated public-access show
Copy !req
101. "What's Goin' On?" with Rollo Goodlove, Rollo Goodlove?
Copy !req
102. Mm-hm. The same. Hm. Glory.
Copy !req
103. Anyway, I had to call and share with you my support
Copy !req
104. of your hunger strike. How you feeling?
Copy !req
105. Hungry. Well, you know,
Copy !req
106. you made a powerful statement, young man.
Copy !req
107. And I'm proud to call myself your ally.
Copy !req
108. Are you going on a hunger strike with me?
Copy !req
109. Uh, yeah. Um... Uh, no. No, no, no.
Copy !req
110. You see, I have to have dinner with Puffy later on.
Copy !req
111. But don't you worry though.
Copy !req
112. Together we're gonna bring our enemies to their knees.
Copy !req
113. Now, listen, I'm holding a rally downtown tomorrow, brother.
Copy !req
114. And I would love for you to come and stand with us.
Copy !req
115. Brothers and sisters.
Copy !req
116. I said, bothers and sisters.
Copy !req
117. I don't know what this world is coming to.
Copy !req
118. But if you ask me what I think about BET,
Copy !req
119. I'll tell you with no shame:
Copy !req
120. BET sucks.
Copy !req
121. Suck that dick!
Copy !req
122. Suck!
Copy !req
123. Now, I say that because
Copy !req
124. when I sit and watch BET,
Copy !req
125. my dignity is sucked away.
Copy !req
126. And, uh, my pride is sucked away.
Copy !req
127. And the progress we've made in the freedom struggle
Copy !req
128. over the last five decades is sucked away.
Copy !req
129. Now, brothers and sisters,
Copy !req
130. we are here today because we're not gonna let BET
Copy !req
131. suck anything more from us.
Copy !req
132. I say, stand up and tell 'em:
Copy !req
133. "I will not be a prisoner to your foolishness. I am free.
Copy !req
134. "And I will not be captured by your ignorance.
Copy !req
135. "'Cause I'm free.
Copy !req
136. "I will not be trapped
Copy !req
137. "in your negrofied matrix, either.
Copy !req
138. Because I am free."
Copy !req
139. Uno, dos, tres, cuatro.
Copy !req
140. Yeah, baby!
Copy !req
141. Yeah, reverend.
Copy !req
142. Let me show you how to do it.
Copy !req
143. Right here, baby! Yeah!
Copy !req
144. ♪ Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah
Copy !req
145. Yeah!
Copy !req
146. Ooh, have mercy.
Copy !req
147. Brothers and sisters, y'all give it on up
Copy !req
148. for Otis and the Action Band.
Copy !req
149. Granddad, you should have seen it.
Copy !req
150. Reverend Goodlove, it was amazing.
Copy !req
151. Man, the people were so inspired.
Copy !req
152. Oh, yeah, I saw it on the news. Looked like American Idol to me.
Copy !req
153. I still don't know what your problem is with BET.
Copy !req
154. I love Beyoncé. Shoot. Little sweet thing.
Copy !req
155. Ain't you hungry yet?
Copy !req
156. Well, I was thinking that tomorrow
Copy !req
157. we could reach the people by marching
Copy !req
158. to the BET headquarters—
Copy !req
159. Now, now, we ain't gonna do no shit like that.
Copy !req
160. Uh, now, Huey, black people have style.
Copy !req
161. And we are attracted to things of class.
Copy !req
162. Especially you young people.
Copy !req
163. Ahem. Now, see,
Copy !req
164. but that's what makes BET so dangerous now.
Copy !req
165. Excuse me. It sells you young people
Copy !req
166. a lifestyle that you're attracted to.
Copy !req
167. Mm, that's good— But, uh— But you can't afford it.
Copy !req
168. And in order to save them kids, I gotta reach them kids. Mm.
Copy !req
169. Now, see, when I shine,
Copy !req
170. they walk toward me for the light of them diamonds. Heh.
Copy !req
171. Ain't nothing wrong with that. But when they walk away from me,
Copy !req
172. they got the light of their truth.
Copy !req
173. You think I wanna be at the VIBE awards?
Copy !req
174. Do you really believe I want to be
Copy !req
175. ringside at the championship fight? Mm-mm.
Copy !req
176. You think I wanna be doing Skating with the Stars,
Copy !req
177. falling down, fucking up my ankles?
Copy !req
178. Well, goddamn it!
Copy !req
179. Waiter, this ain't no beluga caviar.
Copy !req
180. Now, see, for example, let's look at music.
Copy !req
181. Now, here's my rap demo.
Copy !req
182. Personally, I like jazz and gospel.
Copy !req
183. But if I spit that hot fire,
Copy !req
184. I might be able to reach some of them kids out there.
Copy !req
185. You see, thing with me though is,
Copy !req
186. when I do it, I'm a gonna do it for the people, now.
Copy !req
187. I work all day and night to get their attention.
Copy !req
188. And it's hard. It's hard work, Huey.
Copy !req
189. Look, I even know all the new dances.
Copy !req
190. Mistress Leevil, the new slogans are ready for your approval.
Copy !req
191. Oh.
Copy !req
192. Hm.
Copy !req
193. Uh-huh.
Copy !req
194. Hmm. I'll think about it.
Copy !req
195. Sorry to bother you,
Copy !req
196. Mistress Leevil,
Copy !req
197. but the Freeman boy is on CNN. What's CNN?
Copy !req
198. But I submit to you today—
Copy !req
199. Rollo Goodlove.
Copy !req
200. I know just how to deal with the good reverend.
Copy !req
201. Thanks to Goodlove
Copy !req
202. and a very slow news cycle,
Copy !req
203. the boycott became a big story and started to take off.
Copy !req
204. Man.
Copy !req
205. Fuck BET. I'm gonna read a book.
Copy !req
206. BET was evil.
Copy !req
207. Okay, welcome back, little lambs.
Copy !req
208. Uh, we are sitting here with former BET host,
Copy !req
209. sister Sherry Carter.
Copy !req
210. First things first.
Copy !req
211. You never could get that hair right,
Copy !req
212. now could you, baby? Oh, heh-heh.
Copy !req
213. But we was with you, baby,
Copy !req
214. because you had the big old thighs.
Copy !req
215. And you was a red bone, mmm.
Copy !req
216. Never could understand how a sister
Copy !req
217. that light-skinned had bad hair, though.
Copy !req
218. Is Tigger short for tiger and nigger?
Copy !req
219. Or are you just a big old fan of Winnie the Pooh?
Copy !req
220. We are now sitting here with a former BET host,
Copy !req
221. Tavis Smiley. Now, Tavis, correct me if I'm wrong,
Copy !req
222. but you had some problems over there at BET, now, didn't you?
Copy !req
223. Well, I'm not gonna lie and say I didn't.
Copy !req
224. Yeah, but things went okay for you afterwards.
Copy !req
225. I mean, after all, you do have an NPR show.
Copy !req
226. Well, yes, I do have the NPR radio show.
Copy !req
227. And I also have a talk show on PBS.
Copy !req
228. Oh, two shows. Hm.
Copy !req
229. I guess that beats my one, huh? Heh-heh.
Copy !req
230. You're doing real good, brother.
Copy !req
231. You're doing real good.
Copy !req
232. You know, I don't think I've ever been invited
Copy !req
233. to either one of those shows, though.
Copy !req
234. Well, then, we'll just have to get you on, now, won't we?
Copy !req
235. I mean, heh, I put you on my show.
Copy !req
236. You know, I'm sharing my light.
Copy !req
237. Helping you move a book or two.
Copy !req
238. But I don't see the favor being returned.
Copy !req
239. At all. So I was just checking to see
Copy !req
240. if I had done something wrong to you.
Copy !req
241. I think we're out of time.
Copy !req
242. Motherfucker, that's my line.
Copy !req
243. See, Granddad? That's called exposure.
Copy !req
244. And with enough of it, we can change the world.
Copy !req
245. Mm-hm.
Copy !req
246. And finally tonight, Reverend Rollo Goodlove,
Copy !req
247. who's been very critical recently of BET
Copy !req
248. and their sexually-explicit videos,
Copy !req
249. starred in a pretty explicit video of his own.
Copy !req
250. Oh.
Copy !req
251. The video clearly shows
Copy !req
252. the, uh, good Reverend Goodlove
Copy !req
253. at the House of Cheeks strip club.
Copy !req
254. And it doesn't look like he was talking politics.
Copy !req
255. I bet you're hungry now.
Copy !req
256. I'm saying, man, it doesn't look good.
Copy !req
257. Jesus walked amongst the people.
Copy !req
258. Mohammad walked amongst the people.
Copy !req
259. I am a people person, Huey.
Copy !req
260. All the great prophets embraced the people.
Copy !req
261. You're embracing a butt, Reverend.
Copy !req
262. Listen, child, I can speak in colleges
Copy !req
263. and get paid a whole heap of money.
Copy !req
264. But if you're in college already,
Copy !req
265. you don't need Rollo Goodlove
Copy !req
266. as much as a young brother out there in the gang
Copy !req
267. or a young sister in the strip club
Copy !req
268. needs Rollo Goodlove.
Copy !req
269. Have mercy. Now, see. If I walk into the strip club
Copy !req
270. and start talking to a sister
Copy !req
271. about progressive politics and all that,
Copy !req
272. bettering her life and voter registration,
Copy !req
273. you think she gonna talk to me?
Copy !req
274. But if I grab me a handful of that big old ass
Copy !req
275. and ask for a dance,
Copy !req
276. now, she's gonna think I'm just another trick.
Copy !req
277. When I'm really an instrument of her salvation.
Copy !req
278. Now, I have set the table for change.
Copy !req
279. Yeah. She grinding on me, trying to get that little $20.
Copy !req
280. But she gonna get a whole lot more than that,
Copy !req
281. believe me. Oh, glory.
Copy !req
282. Now, sometimes you'll find her an apartment.
Copy !req
283. Maybe even a job.
Copy !req
284. Yeah, but it still looks pretty bad.
Copy !req
285. I just hope it doesn't hurt the boycott.
Copy !req
286. I don't think I can go without food much longer.
Copy !req
287. This wasn't the first blow
Copy !req
288. to Reverend Goodlove's public image.
Copy !req
289. Do you own a car?
Copy !req
290. 'Cause if you do, you own the keys to some cash.
Copy !req
291. Last year,
Copy !req
292. Reverend Goodlove signed on
Copy !req
293. to pitch high-interest loans
Copy !req
294. that exploit the poor and desperate.
Copy !req
295. Call the Loan Ranger.
Copy !req
296. I feareth not your scandals. My name is Rollo Goodlove.
Copy !req
297. You can't sully my reputation.
Copy !req
298. I take your attacks as a badge of honor.
Copy !req
299. They called Martin Luther King an adulterer.
Copy !req
300. They called Muhammad Ali a communist.
Copy !req
301. And for 2000 years, they called Mary Magdalene a prostitute.
Copy !req
302. Come to find out that's Jesus' baby mama.
Copy !req
303. Y'all saw The Da Vinci Code.
Copy !req
304. I don't know, maybe Rollo
Copy !req
305. just knew how to spin.
Copy !req
306. I don't think there's anything wrong
Copy !req
307. with a stripper's ass in a grown man's face.
Copy !req
308. But I do have a problem with BET
Copy !req
309. putting strippers' asses in the faces of our children.
Copy !req
310. Or maybe by now his followers
Copy !req
311. just weren't surprised by anything he did anymore.
Copy !req
312. Well, of course it was a setup.
Copy !req
313. I believe the release of this video
Copy !req
314. was engineered by BET themselves,
Copy !req
315. working in conjunction with the Republican Party
Copy !req
316. and— And the FBI thing.
Copy !req
317. Goodlove escalated
Copy !req
318. the attack on BET
Copy !req
319. by producing a DVD called BET: The High Cost of Low Standards.
Copy !req
320. These are the poor.
Copy !req
321. These are the forgotten.
Copy !req
322. The victims of black-on-black crime.
Copy !req
323. These are the employees
Copy !req
324. of Black Entertainment Television.
Copy !req
325. Now, these two comedy writers
Copy !req
326. were only offered two dollars for a pilot script.
Copy !req
327. When will this tragedy end?
Copy !req
328. The situation's gotten so bad
Copy !req
329. that workers at this Wal-Mart store
Copy !req
330. took up a collection for BET employees. Wow.
Copy !req
331. I don't know, just seemed like the right thing to do,
Copy !req
332. helping people less fortunate, you know.
Copy !req
333. But, as a Wal-Mart employee,
Copy !req
334. isn't it true that you were forced
Copy !req
335. to work overtime hours off the books,
Copy !req
336. and you had to get on food stamps?
Copy !req
337. Yeah, they forced me to work overtime
Copy !req
338. and get on the food stamps.
Copy !req
339. But at least I ain't workin' at BET.
Copy !req
340. So thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus.
Copy !req
341. Even this non-legal
Copy !req
342. immigrant worker
Copy !req
343. donates money to BET employees every month. Wow.
Copy !req
344. Me and my family, we don't have much,
Copy !req
345. but we give everything we have
Copy !req
346. to the poor BET workers.
Copy !req
347. This is not what America is about.
Copy !req
348. And Black Entertainment
Copy !req
349. Television
Copy !req
350. is really feeling the heat now
Copy !req
351. from this nationwide boycott, started a week ago
Copy !req
352. by a 10-year-old boy on a hunger strike.
Copy !req
353. The NAACP announced this morning
Copy !req
354. that it is asking its members to join the boycott
Copy !req
355. to make the network more socially responsible.
Copy !req
356. Master. Oh, this is an unexpected pleasure.
Copy !req
357. We are honored by your presence.
Copy !req
358. Ah. Okay, first of all,
Copy !req
359. why do you always kneel when I walk in? That's just so weird.
Copy !req
360. Second, we've got to figure out this boycott thing.
Copy !req
361. It's killing us. Ah, but it is Huey Freeman
Copy !req
362. and Reverend Goodlove who'll soon be doing the dying.
Copy !req
363. But we're looking at getting some ninjas in
Copy !req
364. for a cheap price.
Copy !req
365. Yeah, look, just talk to 'em.
Copy !req
366. Give 'em whatever they want, okay? Just handle it.
Copy !req
367. Not everyone is in support of the boycott.
Copy !req
368. Listen to what this BET supporter had to say.
Copy !req
369. Every time a black baby is born,
Copy !req
370. I'd give 'em a plasma TV and one channel: BET.
Copy !req
371. Slap it right on the ceiling over the crib.
Copy !req
372. By the time that nigga's 12, he'll be watching it in jail.
Copy !req
373. Ha-ha-ha-ha! BET forever!
Copy !req
374. BET! Boom-bye-ya!
Copy !req
375. BET! Boom-bye-ya.
Copy !req
376. That's the kind of language they understand.
Copy !req
377. Huh. Surprised you guys haven't given him a show.
Copy !req
378. Call Goodlove. Set up a meeting!
Copy !req
379. It was in the news that I first
Copy !req
380. heard the boycott had ended.
Copy !req
381. The details were sketchy, but there was no mention
Copy !req
382. of the network shutting down, nor of ritual suicide.
Copy !req
383. So I feared I had been had.
Copy !req
384. A show? You sold me out for a show?
Copy !req
385. Damn it, Huey, you can't change BET from the outside.
Copy !req
386. You got to change it from the inside.
Copy !req
387. This is victory, brother.
Copy !req
388. Now, my message—
Copy !req
389. Our message will get to the people.
Copy !req
390. It's a sitcom called My Dad, Rollo.
Copy !req
391. Do you have any idea how hungry I am?
Copy !req
392. You think I want my own sitcom, Huey?
Copy !req
393. No, I really don't.
Copy !req
394. But you can catch more flies with honey
Copy !req
395. than you ever gonna catch with vinegar.
Copy !req
396. And, brother Huey, laughter is that sweet, sweet honey.
Copy !req
397. Oh, Lord, child.
Copy !req
398. Have mercy.
Copy !req
399. Niggas is just gonna be niggas.
Copy !req
400. So you might as well get that money while you bullshit.
Copy !req
401. Why starve? Why just starve?
Copy !req
402. Then go get something to eat.
Copy !req
403. Me and Puffy having dinner at the Chateau.
Copy !req
404. You know you're welcome to come, don't you?
Copy !req
405. Thanks, Granddad.
Copy !req
406. Granddad, what do you do when you can't do nothing,
Copy !req
407. but there's nothing you can do?
Copy !req
408. You do what you can.
Copy !req
409. By the way, did you hear they're giving Ruckus a job at BET?
Copy !req
410. Can you believe that?
Copy !req
411. What the hell's wrong with those people over there?
Copy !req
412. Damn, they'll give anybody a job at BET.
Copy !req
413. I don't want one. Shoot.
Copy !req