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When comedian Eric André was boarding a flight in Atlanta, Georgia, he was “randomly” picked out of line by cops and searched for drugs. Instead of chalking the experience up to yet another racist day in America, he decided to sue the Clayton County Police Department for racial profiling. In one of our favorite episodes from 2023, Sam asks Eric what went into making that choice, why he no longer works in coffee shops, and how one prank on his show led to his arrest.

Follow Eric André @ericfuckingandre on Instagram and @ericandre on X (formerly Twitter). Check out his podcast, Bombing with Eric André.

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Transcript

SPEAKERS

Samantha Bee, Eric Andre

Samantha Bee  00:00

I have lived in the United States for 20 years now. And I think for the most part that I have generally come to have a pretty good understanding of this place. But there are some laws I just, I’m never gonna get used to. For example, in my home state of New York, it is illegal to shine shoes after 1pm On a Sunday. Okay. And in Arizona, you can’t have a donkey sleeping in your bathtub after 7pm No donkeys in the bathtub. Get out. It’s 715. You know what? The story of why is surely too long to get into now, but I do have some serious choice words for an American legal procedure called civil asset forfeiture. Oh, if you are unfamiliar with it, well, you know for sure don’t get all of your information on it from me. But it basically is a system where law enforcement can seize any assets if they merely believe it’s connected to any sort of illegal activity and practice. It often means during a routine interaction with police officers can take whatever cash is in your wallet. It is one step removed from stealing a kid’s lunch money and stuffing them in a locker. This practice has grown dramatically since gaining popularity during the 1980s and the war on drugs. I’ll talk about something we should just say no to. But since 2000, law enforcement across the country has taken more than 70 billion billion with a B dollars. That’s That’s enough to buy Twitter almost twice. Its proponents argue that civil asset forfeiture deters illegal behavior and the bonus is that it makes a lot more money for police departments than their sexy calendars ever could even though 80% of people stopped or not ultimately charged with a crime. Unsurprisingly, this process is undeniably racist in practice targets people of color at disproportionately high rates. It’s simply legalized theft, which is stoppable, the only legalized theft that we can’t stop is the youth that my children have stolen from me. This is Choice Words. I’m Samantha Bee. My guest today is comedian Eric Andre, whose new podcast bombing with Eric Andre is out now. Last year, Eric filed a lawsuit against the Clayton County Police Department in Georgia after being racially profiled and stopped while boarding a flight at the Atlanta airport. Eric’s comedy is full of amazing stunts and surreal things and pranks. But unfortunately, this was actually super real. And he is lending his voice to an incredibly important cause. I am a massive fan of Eric’s I loved talking to him about his work and how he makes his career decisions. So take a listen and make good choices.

Samantha Bee  03:26

Oh, my God, I must so excited to talk to you. Well, thank you. Okay, just as we were starting this conversation, you said that you were trying to work in a coffee shop and someone tried to make themselves throw up in front of you. Does that happen to a lot?

Eric Andre  03:44

It happens in various forms of that. But that was that was one of the All Stars and I am sure he is thrilled that we’re talking about it right now. Let me tell you. So for your listeners at home, I was I I lived in New York. After college for five years. Then I moved to LA for 15 years. I just moved back to New York. And I was trying to live the New York Life I used to have when I was a broke open mic, homeless comedian. And I was like, I’m still hit man. I’m a beatnik I’ll still write and do work out of a coffee shop. But between in this within this 50 years, I had a avant garde. Show talk show on Adult Swim.

Samantha Bee  04:36

They want to get your attention.

Eric Andre  04:37

They want to get my attention. They’re overwhelmingly lovely there. 99% of them are lovely. Yeah, but 1% of them are crazy. And they want my attention. And this guy was as I was writing for school was forcing himself to vomit near me to get my attention. Then once I once I looked up and I realized what was going on. He started vomiting at me. And then I ran away and I got an office.

Samantha Bee  04:59

You’ve ran to directly into an Uber who were like should I during our recording, just to keep it super real.

Eric Andre  05:09

I ran into the closest office. And I just, I was like squatters. Right? So you gotta give me the Wi Fi password.

Samantha Bee  05:16

Please give me space. That’s so uncomfortable. Okay, Eric, I have been a fan of yours for such a long time. And we’ve run into each other at various like television events. And I remember running up to you at some event, and I was like, I love you so much. And you were like, What? Are you? FUCKING kidding? And I was like, No, I’m serious. You were like, I don’t believe you. And I was like, nobody. I don’t know if I really said that. Did I really say that? I did. You really do. We’re like, that’s not fucking true. You’re a liar. And I was like, No, but I really am. And I am because I’ve like, loved you from your own show, which was like such a surreal says just trippy. It was crazy show and like from the Howard Stern, and then the righteous gemstones really love you.

Eric Andre  06:04

This is well thank you. And this is what I want your listeners to know. You were actually the person vomiting at the coffee shop.

Samantha Bee  06:15

Please see me see me today. Okay, let’s I want to first start, there’s so much that I want to talk to you about. But first I want to talk because this podcast is really about choices that you’ve made in your life. And I think you’ve made some bold choices, sir. So I first of all, like you. I think on the surface level, someone might look at you and go, you might be an impulsive decision maker, because you put your body at risk. Yep. You put your shit on the line when you do stuff. Yeah, but I could be wrong about you. What kind of a choice maker Are you? Are you as impulsive as you would seem to be like on the Eric Andre show? Are you like intentional? And actually you’re like, no, I ruminate for weeks.

Eric Andre  07:04

Kind of both. I think like part of it is impulse. Part of my mind is impulsive and part of my brain takes its time. I was very impulsive. When I’m caffeinated, I’m impulsive in romantic decision making. My therapist is beating out of me. And I’m impulsive at record shops. But I take my time I’ve been trying to move back to New York took me fifth. It took me 15 years, at least like the Bermuda Triangle. I don’t know I couldn’t get out of it was a quick Santa clicking out of LA. But also New York is expensive. It’s very expensive. Extremely.

Samantha Bee  07:51

It’s excruciatingly expensive.

Eric Andre  07:53

It’s insane. I’m like it’s everyone here in oliguric. How are you guys affording any of this and then you meet people? They don’t even have a job. Yeah, because it’s a palatial apartment. You’re like, wow, it doesn’t make any fucking sense.

Samantha Bee  08:06

There’s a lot of there’s a lot of like, secret secret Trust Fund kids here who are like, I don’t know, I guess I’m just I guess I just grind it out. They’re late and you’re like, but your apartment and they’re like, yeah, I work really hard.

Eric Andre  08:19

But even where does their trust come from? Like, everyone’s just like this industrialist. Oligarchy everyone’s a molt. On some round, every apartment is filled with multimillionaires, because it’s the only thing that would make I mean, how many? How many fucking millionaires and billionaires are there?

Samantha Bee  08:34

There’s a lot and there’s a lot. There’s a lot. There’s a lot of people who are like, Yeah, I haven’t been working in a while. So I guess I’ll just go to Switzerland, you know and go for some hikes and you’re like, wait, oh, when? What? I’m like I would get a I get a restaurant job. Like what are you talking about?

Eric Andre  08:50

What are you talking about? That doesn’t make any sense.

Samantha Bee  08:53

Okay, so you were in LA for a long time. You made a lot of huge, like monumental relationships there. His great career in LA I feel like you seem like a New York person though to me like hey, we’ll go live.

Eric Andre  09:06

We’re gonna go see Mamma Mia on Broadway lady get some espresso.

Samantha Bee  09:12

Oh, get down to spiral have some pizza slice? Was that your Christopher Walken? That was it. That was so fucking awful. I’m not. It’s not what I’m known for. It’s clear.

Eric Andre  09:28

Why are so many comedic lines from Ontario? What’s going on there?

Samantha Bee  09:33

Dark Canadian winters. You know, like when you go to the like, you go to Scandinavian countries. They’re like, now that you’re here. Let’s talk about depression for five months out.

Eric Andre  09:45

year, but there’s not there’s not there’s not like a ton of comedians coming out of Norway.

Samantha Bee  09:51

No, because that’s too dark. We’re a good blend. We’re like a good mix because it’s like dark and grey in the wintertime and we we develop have fucked up sense of humor. Yeah. What is something that you recall is like a huge swing that you made that either paid dividends or messed you up entirely.

Eric Andre  10:11

By huge swings. The first time I got arrested doing a prank, I knew I knew right. As I was about to jump into it, I was probably going to get arrested. And I remember being it was the first season of my show. And I remember being so scared, I guess rightfully so. But like so, so unbelievably afraid and scared that it was like fight flight or freeze where I was like completely disassociating I’ve never felt this level of fear. And I was like, all I have to do is run up to that podium, and it’s 10 feet away. But it really felt like jumping out of an airplane. And then I did that I did the prank. It’s like a totally mediocre bride and I got arrested.

Samantha Bee  11:02

What was the what is it? So you had to run up to a podium what you have to do.

Eric Andre  11:07

We there was a there was a town hall meeting in the city of Rancho Cucamonga. Yep. And the mayor and the city council were talking to people about like parking tickets, something really kind of like, pedestrian and like lame. And it was a hidden camera prank I dress I ran up dressed like a frat boy. I ran up to the podium with like, like Greek letters on my crimson sweater. And I was like, Hey guys, vote for me for class president and I’ll put beer in the water fountains, Go Bobcats, something like that. And then there was like 20 shares and like, I just started the show. I thought it was very funny. It was like a joke I wrote in high school. I think I crashed. I think it came from somebody who’s running for class president and 12th grade. And I ran an interrupted them at the podium and actually said that as a as a bit like in the lunch room and 12th grade. So I was like, Oh, I have my own show. I should actually do that again, but to a mayor. And he got arrested. And there was a what there’s a lot of talk, it was like that we found some municipalities that had the mayor was going to be at the actual podium, but then my producer was like, if you run up to a politician at a podium, they’re gonna think you’re sir Han, sir Han, and they might shoot you. Right? Or to tackle you. They might think it’s like an assassination attempt. So we found like, we found one where there was a podium, but the mayor and all the politicians were, like 1020 feet back. And but anyway, there was all these sheriffs there. And then they arrested me and I went to jail.

Samantha Bee  12:46

But did you feel like because you wrote that for yourself? Like isn’t that crazy that you wrote that for yourself? You thought of that? That? You did that? You weren’t you were like, I’m gonna do this on my own. I’m gonna do this. And still, there’s so much fear. It’s so scary.

Eric Andre  13:00

Terror, terror. It’s terror. That’s every time I do a prank on the subway. I like regret writing it.

Samantha Bee  13:07

Write it that’s so I really understand that feeling of writing something for yourself. That you fully fucking regret. Doing it anyway. Yeah,

Eric Andre  13:19

Well, you only regret it. Things it is the worst part. You only regret it. Right before you go out there and do it. But then once you’re doing it, and it’s like, you’re in the flow of it, and especially if it’s going well then then it’s worth it. But that that anxiety is crippling. And so that’s, that’s rough.

Samantha Bee  13:39

Very difficult. That feeling of like where you’re like facing something down, and you just step on the gas anyway, because you’re like, everybody’s here for me. Yeah, I guess I’m gonna do it.

Eric Andre  13:50

Yeah, just gotta do it. You got to push yourself off the ledge.

Samantha Bee  13:54

Push yourself off the ledge. We’ll be right back with Eric Andre after this. When you started your TV show, I read that you took matters into your own hands. You shot the pilot yourself. Yeah. And rather than pay for an editor you learned Final Cut. Is this correct?

Eric Andre  14:29

Yeah, I bought I downloaded a cracked like illegal version of Final Cut and then I bought Final Cut for dummies. And I would read like a chapter a week and I would like edit like, shitty little two minute sketch a week. And it took me like a year to make like a five minute sizzle reel.

Samantha Bee  14:51

Do you tell people that when they asked you for advice you’re like actually I did. Literally everything myself,

Eric Andre  14:59

I guess that would be the advice it’s like you have to like what can you do because no one’s gonna do

Samantha Bee  15:05

No one knows you favors. No one knows you better than you know you. N

Eric Andre  15:09

Yeah, no one’s a mind reader, so they can’t really tell what you want to do with the footage, or where you want to wait what footage you want to create. But also, nobody’s doing you favors. That stuff is very time consuming. So I it was like out of necessity.

Samantha Bee  15:22

What is the shift been like for you? From like producing and writing for yourself on the titular. Your namesake shell.

Eric Andre  15:33

My eponymous.

Samantha Bee  15:35

To doing participating in projects run by other people. How do you just, I guess how do you decide what you want to be involved in? How do you put yourself forth?

Eric Andre  15:45

I’d say I feel a lot more comfortable doing stuff that I wrote. Because I’m not a mind reader. I always I always have this impostor syndrome. When I show up on somebody else’s show. I’m like, do you use this? Is this when you want it? I don’t really. But it is a lot less work to show up on somebody else’s show. Right? It’s still work. But yeah, but it’s, it’s less fresher. But I still rather have the pressure of being on both sides of camera and running and producing something I’m in. But like, in the case of righteous gemstones, like I love Danny McBride, and roughhouse and all this stuff that guys do is so fucking brilliant that I just like, I’m like a super fan of their work. So I just couldn’t wait to be beyond that.

Samantha Bee  16:32

Do you know them all? Personally, I love Danny McBride. I think what they do is unbelievable.

Eric Andre  16:37

And they’re like the nicest guys. They’re so easy to work with. They’re so fun to work with. It was such a, they’re in Charleston, South Carolina, which is really fun town. It’s like clean New Orleans.

Samantha Bee  16:50

Did you know them to get involved in that show? Or did they know you? Or they just did it? How did it come together to work on that show?

Eric Andre  16:58

At one point, I pitched them like a very, very early, rough, rough, rough version of bad trip. Okay. So we were like figuring out a way, ways to collaborate and then that role came up and they reached out to me. That’s nice. Yeah. And they were like, can you put your there like, You got to prove to HBO that you can like act. And I was like, and they were like, can you please? Can you like record a couple of these scenes on your iPhone or something?

Samantha Bee  17:39

Do you really get impostor syndrome still got that? I get that. insecure? What? No.

Eric Andre  17:47

Why else would I be doing this?

Samantha Bee  17:50

Isn’t that a fact? I feel like if you’re a performer and you’re secure, you’re boring to watch.

Eric Andre  17:58

You’re a performer. Validation of strangers, to the point where you’re chasing it on a professional level. And like every hour of your day, and every every brain cell is devoted to this like silly career of stupidity.

Samantha Bee  18:16

Love me. Papa, do you love me?

Eric Andre  18:21

You love me?

Samantha Bee  18:23

You’re okay. You have a new podcast. It’s all about. It’s about bombing.

Eric Andre  18:27

Yes. Do you got any good? If you got any good bombing stories? You gotta come on my pod.

Samantha Bee  18:32

I just have so many of them. I would really go pack in the memory. Tell them all and think about it. That is there is no worse feeling.

Eric Andre  18:43

Do it wakes you up?

Samantha Bee  18:47

It wakes up every nerve ending in your entire body. Yeah. And it? I think it’s still I think it happens to everyone. Like, as even if you’re a very established performer, you’re gonna go on something, and no one’s going to know you and they’re not going to like you.

Eric Andre  19:04

Even if you’re known even if you’re on the wing. Did you know we both know, very famous, successful comedians that we have seen bomb recently.

Samantha Bee  19:17

Is there a memorable bombing story that you can share with us?

Eric Andre  19:22

Gosh, so many I bombed opening up for Chris Rock one time and and so many people are there so many people and celebrities come out to see him. And God and Anthony Mackie was in the audience. And then apparently I didn’t know this later. Then my agent like I felt so I felt like I swallowed arsenic. Like I felt like hell for like weeks after the bomb. And then like I kind of started forgetting about it. And then my agent called me because dude, I just said Anthony Mackie in my office and he told me and I told him, I represented you and he said, You’re You’re the worst stand up comedian. And he’s ever seen. and it came back you.

Samantha Bee  20:05

Anthony Mackie, how dare you? Oh, like a bad review that keeps I get did a play once and it was so bad and no one came to see it and then they kept refreshing the review of the play because it went on forever. And then every two weeks or so they’d be like, well don’t go and see this piece of shit and Samantha bisa then she is bad and it’s not worth it and it was just kept replenishing the hatred toward this very bad just sticking the knife in that six. Okay, your show as originally you said that you would do five seasons of it and be done but then you did a six season Why did you choose to keep it going?

Eric Andre  20:52

Bad trip didn’t make any money and mortgage.

Samantha Bee  20:57

Okay, you were like, Okay, I gotta I’m moving to New York. I need as much wealth as an oligarchy?

Eric Andre  21:04

No, I felt like I felt like I made the decision to make it only five seasons season one before the show even started. And then like, at the end of season five. I was like, I still love doing the show. And I was like, why don’t I do it? I never want to like say the show is over. I always want to keep the door open. So why not just like an Adult Swim never care. They were never like you have to just keep doing it every year they were like come and go as you please. So they’re so like creatively nurturing. And so hands off and malleable. That as a company that I just dislike. Yeah, went on to another season.

Samantha Bee  21:45

Did they give you standards and practices notes? Do you get SMP notes?

Eric Andre  21:50

That we kind of at this point know what they’re gonna be? You know, they’re never okay. Every once in a while you’ll get surprised by one there was one the best one was Eric can only defecate out his organs. If it looks unintentional.

Samantha Bee  22:06

Ah, so like the difference would be so it can’t be you deprecating out your innards. If you’re like, I’m trying to I’m going to shut out my intestine. I’m going to distend myself.

Eric Andre  22:23

Yeah, can’t be like, I’m gonna fucking shoot out my.

Samantha Bee  22:27

It’s gonna be like, Oh, no, what’s happening? Yeah, so we filmed it like that, so I won’t see. Because I feel like you’ve done stuff on your show that no one has ever done before.

Eric Andre  22:39

Oh, they they’re not even. They’re not even paying attention. We can do whatever we want. You could do whatever you want.

Samantha Bee  22:47

When I was doing my show, we get a lot of s&p notes that were like, you can definitely make fun of like PF Changs is fine, but never say anything about Taco Bell. Oh, yeah. You just like all in on one company. But not another company was very, it was just like, fully ad based. They’re like, you can’t show an elephant. ejaculating. But you can show it. deprecating? Yeah. And wagging its little tail? Sure. Do you like being the boss? Do you like running your own show? Kind of a boss? Aren’t you? How are you to work for?

Eric Andre  23:25

Sassy, fucking sassy. No anxious and obsessive compulsive? I do because it’s the only way I would say comedy is about your point of view, and having a distinct point of view. So the only way I can really fully feel completely creatively satisfied is from like..

Samantha Bee  23:55

In complete control?

Eric Andre  23:57

Yeah, not in complete control. But like in heavily involved in the right. thing. It’s kind of all I got in it for you know what I mean? I didn’t go to theater school to just like act and I’m not like a working actor. That’s just like grinding at auditions and stuff like that. Like no, like, like, those kinds of actors are like, they’re like session musicians. They’re like, I can play classical music and I can play jazz and I can play rock and I can, I can, I can kind of only play like, death metal. And it’s like, that’s all I can. I can only do. Like, I can only play one style of music. And this is what i This is the style of music that I enjoy making.

Samantha Bee  24:38

And you are you are a musician, because you were I think people don’t know that. You went to the Berkeley College of Music.

Eric Andre  24:44

I went to Jazz school.

Samantha Bee  24:48

jThat is fascinating. You played double bass. That’s right. Let’s hit an enormous instrument. How does a person pick up the double bass for the first time in their life?

Eric Andre  25:00

That’s incredibly heavy. Large.

Samantha Bee  25:03

Was it taller than you?

Eric Andre  25:07

And I’m seven foot four.

Samantha Bee  25:09

Holy, and you’re seven foot four when you were six years old? Since I was six years old, my Do you still play the trumpet? Do you still play? Do you still play jazz?

Eric Andre  25:23

I have it at my house in LA and I’ll pick it up and go boop, right when I’m bored. And then like five minutes later, I’m like, fuck this shit.

Samantha Bee  25:32

I have I cannot go down this path. What turns you away from that path?

Eric Andre  25:36

It’s a path of poverty. Oh, right. Like learn like a jazz degree like is like having a degree in Sanskrit, right? I mean, yes, yes. Like, all you can do is hope that the college will pay you to teach Sanskrit right? hire you as a teacher. Right? Right. Because that’s like, oh, you could do that degree.

Samantha Bee  25:57

There’s more with Eric Andre in just a moment. I feel like I, I’m going to ask you a question. I feel like I might already know the answer to but I’m asking it anyway. Because I think it’s interesting. It’s like, what will you do? When eventually you have like, Fuck you money? Do you know what I mean? Like when you’re like, I don’t have to work. Again. I’m still waiting for that day. When the day comes though. And it’s going to come when you have just like fuck off money. I feel like you’ll do what you do. You’ll still do comedy, right?

Eric Andre  26:46

No, I’ll move to Italy and be on like a tomato farm and then call it a day. Capitalism is exhausting. We it’s not natural. We should be foraging we should be like picking raspberries off of trees and picking fish out of the ocean and none of the other this is normal. This isn’t healthy. I stare at screens all day. I wake up I look at my phone. Then I look at my laptop. Then to decompress. I watch TV. It’s like I’m on the fucking Mir space station. None of this is it’s unnatural. I just got to get in one of those Jumanji movies, and then call and then buy that little house in Italy.

Samantha Bee  27:26

Mackay franchise. You got to make friends. We gotta make up with Anthony Mackie.

Eric Andre  27:31

I think it’s I think it’s done. I think Emily I think I don’t know I think our relationship would be on repair.

Samantha Bee  27:38

Okay, so you’re just gonna live as a as like a little house on the bridge. There’s going to be like, you’re going to wake up with a son. Go to bed with the darkness. You tend to your your vines. Tuscan vineyard?

Eric Andre  27:53

Yep. Because this is what I think is gonna happen. I think Trump’s gonna go to jail. And then when the election and run the country from jail like a sopranos character like people are going to smuggle them in garlic and sausage is going to be cutting up garlic real fine, given orders from within a prison a cell.

Samantha Bee  28:11

I agree with you and I don’t want to agree with you. But I do agree with you on like this. We are going in we are in so much trouble.

Eric Andre  28:22

The world’s over. It’s the world’s the world’s canceled global boiling. The oceans are about to be irreversibly damaged like rock to a point where the current stop.

Samantha Bee  28:36

Oh god. Can you just live near the water in Spain because you’re gonna need to be near the water to escape onto the water.

Eric Andre  28:48

Well, Canada’s gonna now feel like Miami. So maybe you’re ahead of the curve.

Samantha Bee  28:52

It will, just gonna feel like Miami and I feel like I’ve been spending my whole life making this joke about how when the water wars start, the pipelines are going to be built underneath the Great Lakes and all the water is going to be sucked sell south to like water lawns in Lake Havasu. And that is real. Like there’s, I feel it. I feel encroaching the encroachment of that. And that is scary DeCamp for Europe. They’ve got a few things figured out there. They’ve been at it longer.

Eric Andre  29:24

I’m worried about the chemical while I’m researching the Blue Zones, the places that have like the least chemicals in their food and the best air quality, best quality of life taking siestas, your bad I want to nows I want to take a three hour nap every fucking day for the rest of my life. Can you imagine?

Samantha Bee  29:44

I want this for you. You can do this. Yes, we got it figured out.

Eric Andre  29:48

Yeah. I don’t think we got to figure it out. I don’t really know what to do about the world. The world ending not quite. Elon Musk owns Twitter, and he so.

Samantha Bee  29:58

Outerspace, all over telecommunications, yes.

Eric Andre  30:01

And you can sway any election to whatever is like it is. aAm I bumming you out right now am I behind Bosco?

Samantha Bee  30:10

I’m going to ask you another double bummer question and then we’re going to wrap it up. I’m going to end on a high note. But first, I want to know about your lawsuit against the Atlanta police. I have to ask you about it. Because for one thing, I think it’s awesome. So if people are listening and they don’t know, you filed a lawsuit against Atlanta police after being racially profiled. So obviously at the Atlanta airport.

Eric Andre  30:33

Yes. So I was actually coming back from shooting ranges gemstones I went on the plane. I had a connecting flight in Atlanta. They randomly picked me out of the line on the jet bridge. These two plainclothes cops and just started like asking me if I was transporting drugs or selling drugs. And then it turned out, we uncovered this like, it was the Clayton County Police Department where the airport is located. And we like uncovered that they were like, racially profiling picking like majority of people they were picking out of the line were black and people of color. And the majority of people that fly especially out of that airport are white. So the stats didn’t make it. It wasn’t random, basically. Yeah. So we uncovered this whole system of racial harassment racial profiling, that the claim kind of police weren’t was doing. And then I found out like, not only other black people were reaching out to me, but other black comedians that I knew were also being targeted yet so. But I also heard that after I went public with their policy that they stopped for a while that I just heard that recently, they started back up again. So yeah, so yeah. And they’re shaking black people down for money. So they would, they will pull you out of the line. Be like, Do you have any drugs or anything? If you’re going to have like a little bit of weed or whatever? They will be like, we can either take you to jail right now. Or we can or give us all the cash you have on you. Why? So they were shaking? Yeah. Like it’s like sketchy. Mobsters.

Samantha Bee  32:20

What do you got in your wallet? Yeah, don’t make me bring out my Christopher Walken impression is I’ll do it. What do you that’s not? Yeah, it’s real. It’s that cool. So what is the state? What state is your is your lawsuit in?

Eric Andre  32:36

It’s very slow. I just got a little update that the I actually, am I allowed to answer? I don’t know what I’m alone. No, I may not. I mean, I don’t really have a big update. I don’t really have a big update. There was a kickoff and we’re waiting to see, I think the cops are trying to get it dismissed. Of course, of course, we will see what the judge how the judge feels.

Samantha Bee  32:59

Feel like some, maybe it’ll be beneficial in the sense of like bringing more eyeballs onto it once there are updates to share. Since it’s an ongoing concern.

Eric Andre  33:09

Yes, yeah. And I think that I am a firm believer in local politics and not eat, it might not be able to change the world, but you can change little corners of it. So and I want to be able to use my platform to stick up for people that don’t have my platform or resources because because some people were like, well, whatever. You didn’t get beat up by the cops. But it was like what do I have to get to a Rodney King level to Phil? Yeah, I feel the wrath of being treated like a second class citizen within my own country. So yes, like if they’re doing that to me, what are they doing to other people? Like I can’t say what they’re doing to.

Samantha Bee  33:50

100% if it changes their behavior even temporarily, and then you have to re up the issue again and again, then that is changing their behavior like over it means less people are getting hopefully.

Eric Andre  34:01

Right. And that’s what activism is I think like people Yes, confuse the moment activism is I think people confuse like passive aggressive cyberbullying for activism. So this is active. This is what it is like I’m tearing.

Samantha Bee  34:19

Like advancing something actual. I can take it with an actual digging actual action. Yeah. Oh my god. I have enjoyed talking to you so much. I feel like like, why sanbi Just think you’re just such like, I don’t know what I’ll give you more compliments now.

Eric Andre  34:40

I think you were I think you were a national treasure. I think you are the jewel. Whoa, Canada. Oh, and May. What’s the George Washington of Canada Johnny Appleseed or something?

Samantha Bee  34:54

I’m Johnny McDonald. I don’t even know.

Eric Andre  34:57

And make Johnny McDonald to rest and bee.

Samantha Bee  35:03

The diamond of Canada, there’s other diamonds but I’m like the opal of Canada. You know what I mean? Like sort of a slight gem, kind of a murky gem. I love you. You’re all in. I love watching you. I think you bring, I don’t know, you bring these. You brought me a lot of joy over the years and I’ve truly enjoyed talking to you. And I hope you have a siesta today. Thank you. I’m gonna try. Thank you

Eric Andre  35:38

That was Eric Andre. And I had no choice but to look up one thing.

CREDITS  35:43

How many billionaires are there actually? Well, apparently, there are 2640 which honestly feels like 2600 to many. They’re probably like 40 good ones. They can keep their billions the rest can go to space, but they do have to promise to stay there. Anyway, thank you to Eric for joining me and good news, there’s more Choice Words with Lemonada Premium. Subscribers get exclusive access to bonus content, like a rapid fire trivia based off my interview with Laura Dern and Diane Ladd subscribe now in Apple podcasts. Thank you for listening to Choice Words which was created by and is hosted by me. We’re a production of Lemonada Media, Kathyrn Barnes, […] and Kryssy Pease produce our show. Our mix is by James Barber. Steve Nelson is the vice president of weekly content. Jessica Cordova Kramer, Stephanie Wittles Wachs and I are executive producers. Our theme was composed by […] with help from Johnny Vince Evans . Special thanks to Kristen Everman, Claire Jones, Ivan Kuraev and Rachel Neil. You can find me at @Iamsambee on Twitter and at @realsambee on Instagram. Follow Choice Words wherever you get your podcasts or listen ad free on Amazon music with your Prime membership.