Your Dad Had A Crush On Her And After This Episode I Do Too (The Connie Chung Episode with Sydnee Washington)

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On this episode, we are joined by the stylin’, stuntin’ and and stunnin’ comedian, actress, writer and Emmy-Nominated entertainer Sydnee Washington! And today, I’m going to tell her the story of one of the most legendary people in News: Connie Chung – the FIRST! Asian American and second woman ever to be named to the coveted post of nightly news anchor at a major network.

Next time on FIRST! – make sure to catch me and Nimesh Patel as we talk about Zaha Hadid: the FIRST! Arab and FIRST! woman to break through the upper echelon of architecture.

Transcript

SPEAKERS

Kareem Rahma, Sydnee Washington

Kareem Rahma  00:33

Alright, let’s go. Alright, Sydney, I’m gonna ask you a question. Look at this picture. Do you know who this is?

Sydnee Washington  01:26

Connie, she’s on the news. Yeah. Yo, let me tell you. Okay, so I used to work at the Gramercy Park Hotel. And she had to stay at the hotel for like a month because they were doing renovations on her home or whatever. And she would come down to the J bar, the nicest person, okay, she would sit and chat and tell stories and everybody was obsessed. She was very cool. Sweet, sweet, beautiful individual. That’s my bitch.

Kareem Rahma  02:00

That’s legendary that you know her and we’re about to be talking. I’m gonna tell you her life story.

Sydnee Washington  02:05

Oh, honestly, the way we started to J bar, you would swear that we grew up together.

Kareem Rahma  02:11

That’s an amazing little anecdote. I don’t know her. I’ve only spent a lot of time on her Wikipedia page. And looking at her old interviews though. Introduce me. Do you have her number? Well, you guessed right, because you will have seen her which is really crazy. I think she’s like one of those legendary people that you never actually see in real life.

Sydnee Washington  02:35

Not New York, maybe?

Kareem Rahma  02:45

What’s up, y’all? I’m Kareem Rahma. And welcome to FIRST! A funny show about spectacular people who had a serious impact on society and culture because they were first. Today, I’m sitting here with comedian, actress and writer, Sydney, Washington, and we’re going to talk about one of the most legendary people in news. That’s right. Connie Chung. In case you aren’t familiar with her, let me give you some context to just how famous she was in the 80s and 90s. She was famous, like Kim Kardashian famous. Okay, maybe not that famous. In the news world. Yes. And if you ask your parents, they’ll probably say they knew who she was.

Sydnee Washington  03:31

Yeah, and because that’s Connie who don’t even need a BBL honey. We’re not worried about the body. We’re worried about the face in the voice in the news. She don’t need to BBL.

Kareem Rahma  03:47

Connie don’t need the BBL. Your dad probably had a crush on her. My dad definitely had a crush on her. My dad was into Connie Chung. But did you know that Connie Chung was the first Asian-American and the second woman ever to be named to the coveted host of Nightly News anchor at a major network.

Sydnee Washington  04:09

I didn’t know that but I’m telling you when she was at the bar. This woman she was acting like she was just everybody else just super regular. But you could tell by her teeth she’s somebody important like she didn’t have like you know rough draft teeth. She’s definitely had to upgrade TV, great a, veneers and whatnot.

Kareem Rahma  04:28

She was always camera ready.

Sydnee Washington  04:31

She used to bust down the sliders to what like little beef burgers. Yeah she used to bust down the sliders.

Kareem Rahma  04:41

Connie with the sliders? Connie without the BBL with a slider. So probably heard the name, Sydney knows the person. But Connie Chung has been a fixture of TV news my entire life dishing for America’s Big As news outlets for 30-40 years straight from 1972, all the way through 2006. She’s not done yet. She was the most popular newscaster everywhere she went, ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN. And just so happened to be the first Asian-American to take top billing and anchor on each of those networks. She got her big break in 1971 when she became a Washington correspondent for CBS News. At the time, the station was like, oh shit, the newsroom is looking real white and male like a frat. That was my impression of being a frat president.

Sydnee Washington  05:35

Oh, no, I was laying you rock off. I was like, yeah, I was like, I’m here for it. Well, that feels like that’s now it’s giving Bill Cosby. We don’t need those vibes.

Kareem Rahma  05:53

It turns out there right, and newsrooms are still overwhelmingly white. But hey, we’ll leave that for another show. But Connie Chung was kinda like a diversity hire. She literally never she’s like Donald Glover. They put him on TV. He took off.

Sydnee Washington  06:08

And that’s the thing is like, if you give somebody the spot, like you think that you’re doing them a favor, but they’re actually going to put on for their city, they’re going to do what they need to do because they were always qualified. You just overlooked them because you were too busy putting on Tom and Jack, and John and Wilson or whoever.

Kareem Rahma  06:32

I gotta get back to this. I gotta get. Chung was given an inch, but she took a mild and soon after she was tapped to anchor for the network. She became very famous for her forthcoming but comforting style, getting big names and culture and politics to confide in her their secrets. If only they could have interviewed Ghislaine Maxwell.

Sydnee Washington  07:01

Listen, okay, we all know everybody wants to get in and sit down with the evils. Okay, but I mean, Connie, I just really felt like she was different because there was this positive, like light around her. And news is so freakin dark. So she was, she was an angel for me. She was an angel.

Kareem Rahma  07:23

And she also happened to break news. In fact, she broke two of the biggest news stories in news history to this day, and exclusive with Nixon in the middle of the Watergate scandal, and Magic Johnson revealing that he tested positive for HIV. But that doesn’t mean Connie was always treated like the breakout star that she was. Throughout her career, And unfortunately, like many others were breaking down racial barriers. She faced heavy handed bouts of racism and sexism. But she found her own way to handle it by cracking people up and never giving anyone the satisfaction of thinking that they got under her skin.

Sydnee Washington  08:02

And you know what that’s called? Grace.

Kareem Rahma  08:06

That’s called Grace.

Sydnee Washington  08:07

Grace, baby. Y’all should learn. Y’all should truly let because we could see your cards and that’s just, it’s not the look kind of you. I felt like you really couldn’t tell if she was pressed or sad or struggling. Like she really did the job. She came she showed up and showed the fuck out.

Kareem Rahma  08:25

She was a professional. So the story of Connie Chung starts in 1946 when she’s born as Constance Chung in Washington, DC. She’s the youngest of nine of five of her siblings die as babies, and she becomes the first and only person in her family to be born in America. Her dad was an intelligence officer and diplomat for the Chinese national government. And in 1945, there were a lot of bombings and shellings because it was the World War Two era Japanese invasion of China.

Sydnee Washington  08:55

Wait a minute, hold up, you’re not gonna get tell me how he died. […]

Kareem Rahma  09:16

How did the siblings died?

Sydnee Washington  09:19

You don’t know? Wait a minute. How you gonna mention that now? Tell us. […]

Kareem Rahma  09:21

I will get the information. Okay, so we get the information please. Okay. So, let’s get back to the story. Their home was destroyed and the family relocated 13 times before settling in Washington DC where her father works as a diplomatic attaché specializing in Chinese politics. I’m not sure what an attaché is. But when I say it, it sounds like a manila folder.

Sydnee Washington  09:43

I’m gonna go with that.  I think I heard attaché on you know the game, 007. I was always Natasha. She’s got the […] job.

Kareem Rahma  10:04

No […] jobs. The game is unfair. It’s cheating. Because He’s short. He shoots at the legs so good. We played we said no […] jobs that was a rule is no, no rocket launchers. So, back to the story. Connie is born less than a year later after they arrived. She has a pretty normal childhood life is chill. Life is good. She’s growing up in America. Everything’s great. She was really popular in her DC suburban high school and was elected homecoming queen. Here’s a photo. Oh, I forgot. You guys can’t see. You can’t hear photos. I will describe her picture later. She was classmates with hold on, I’ll try and impress, Sylvester Stallone.

Sydnee Washington  10:54

I see what you did there. And I’m proud of you. Because I’m not I’m not mad at that. But I’m also couldn’t if you didn’t tell me beforehand who it was. I’d be like what?

Kareem Rahma  11:04

Anyways, she graduates in 1964 and goes to college at the University of Maryland. She doesn’t choose to major in journalism until her senior year. And that’s where our similarities end. And also begin and then ended. Because I’m a journalism major.

Sydnee Washington  11:22

I did not know that. But you do give me those vibes.

Kareem Rahma  11:27

Like Borat. I picked it because my dad was gonna be my ass. And he was like, it’s literally senior year like you have not picked a major. And I was like, yeah, but college is a vibe. It’s not about choosing a career. It’s about vibing.

Sydnee Washington  11:41

And I know that for a fact, because one, did not graduate, and two I was in the quad, like socializing. That’s what I did. S is for socializing.

Kareem Rahma  11:55

Sydney. Focus. Let me get back to the story. So Connie, She interned on Capitol Hill, she writes press releases for a local congressman, and watches these reporters grilling her boss. And that’s when she’s inspired to choose and pursue journalism, particularly TV journalism, because it was young and exciting, kinda like the internet is today. Right? In fact, at the time, CNN hadn’t even launched yet and wouldn’t launch for another 11 years or so in 1980. So this was like the golden era of news. A time when news anchors were major celebrities, people like Walter Cronkite, were getting 30 million viewers every single night on CBS. For context, that’s more than the combined audience for the three major evening newscast on CBS, NBC and ABC today. Because I must be watching TikTok and Instagram’s instead of the evening news.

Sydnee Washington  12:49

Wait a minute, well, actually people watch TikTok because one mental illness, and two, joy, but like who wants to watch the news? It’s so depressing. And then every time you watch it, you’re like, Okay, so why am I living? So that’s why people on TikTok and not watching the news.

Kareem Rahma  13:08

Walter Cronkite had a saying, and he was like, and that’s the way it is. That’s what he said. And that’s the way it is.

Sydnee Washington  13:15

There it is.

Kareem Rahma  13:16

Let me let me finish up. She literally was just. Okay, so right out of college in 1969. She lands an entry level job as a coffee person for the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite. She fantasized about doing his job. And it was only a dream back then. And you have to understand this was a huge fucking deal. Walter Cronkite is cited as the most trusted man in America. Who do you think is the most trusted man in America today?

Sydnee Washington  13:47

Mr. Rogers?

Kareem Rahma  13:49

Yeah, that’s a good trusted man. Although he had tattooed sleeves on his arms. That’s an urban legend.

Sydnee Washington  13:59

We couldn’t see because he was always wearing them. Damn cardigan. Itchy and Scratchy cardigans. He had him on.

Kareem Rahma  14:05

Okay, I’m gonna I’m veering off again, Sydney. This is a conversation so engaging. I need to get back to it. At the station, she went through a hazing period and was given a lot of grief over every bit of coffee she wrote. She wasn’t sure whether or not it was because she was young and inexperienced. Or if it was because she was a woman. Or if it was because she was Asian. I never knew when people were giving me a hard time which reason it was except when they would say Oh, this is yellow journalism or you slap the news. Less than two years later, in 1971 She gets her big break. CBS News decides that their network is too male and too white. How nice of them and bang. She becomes an on air correspondent in Washington her new job is to be out in the field reporting on the things going on, in and around the White House. So in 1971, she’s 25 years old. And you know, just because the newsroom was more diverse didn’t mean that the discrimination just up and disappeared. Connie recalled that her and all the other new women on the staff were discouraged from going after big stories, but she immediately made a name for herself anyways, and somehow got an exclusive sit down interview with President Nixon right in the middle of the Watergate scandal.

Sydnee Washington  15:30

Now how does she do that? How does she get the plug?

Kareem Rahma  15:33

It’s funny, you should ask. She literally just like ran into him. In her words. I happen to be walking into the White House and he’s just standing there. I didn’t want to take my pad out because I was afraid he’d stop talking.

Sydnee Washington  15:47

Stop it.

Kareem Rahma  15:48

That’s really what happened.

Sydnee Washington  15:49

She’s a casualista. We love casualista. She’s like, yeah, babe. What’s up? You know, we’re just hanging. We’re in the lobs. What you doing? I like your shoes. Okay. Yeah. Because I was, you know, I was just about to go get a pizza. I was just about to get a slice. Yeah, that felt that, but that’s the best time that’s when people feel like it’s not formal. I think that’s when you’re gonna get people at their best. And I think that’s what makes a really good journalist as well. Like, you can still have the integrity of getting the information without making it feel so like rigid.

Kareem Rahma  16:28

I have to finish it.

Sydnee Washington  16:28

Are you silencing our black queer woman?

Kareem Rahma  16:32

Be Black, be queer and keep interrupting me, okay. I don’t care. You know what I’m out of here. I’m gonna walk out of this interview.

Sydnee Washington  16:38

It’s my show now. It’s a first with Sydney, Washington. I’m the first Black woman. It’s over.

Kareem Rahma  16:46

All right, all right. All right. All right. I’m gonna get back to this thing right now. Here’s the good shit. Now’s a good shit. All right. So in 1976, she makes history and gets her motherfucking bag. Okay, KXT in Los Angeles, which is now KCBS. TV offers Chung a fuckload of money. And her salary goes from about $27,000 a year to about $600,000. Which is $1.7 million in today’s money.

Sydnee Washington  19:01

Wait, hold up. Yeah. Shut the front door. Are you freaking kidding me? That’s insane raise. What’s the percentage on that?

Kareem Rahma  19:18

We need a little guy in here with like a calculator.

Sydnee Washington  19:21

I wonder how she felt when that money hit that accountable.

Kareem Rahma  19:25

I mean, she’s about 30-ish. And she’s 1.7 a year annual. So that means that it comes every year. Not like one time.

Sydnee Washington  19:36

Me thinking lump sum. Give it to me.

Kareem Rahma  19:45

Okay, so she’s hosting three news broadcasts a day making her the first Asian American in the country to host a primetime newscast and the first woman hosts at CBS, and the ratings were through the roof. Ellie loved Connie and the last one littlest Press Club gave her team the best newscast award in 1977. The year after that she personally won a local Emmy for her individual achievement, which is a very competitive category. She’d win another Emmy later, but we’ll get to that. She was raking in the awards and two years after that she winds a Peabody. People liked Connie, because she came off, like your neighbor, or your buddy, someone you knew and could trust, similar to me.

Sydnee Washington  20:30

Wow, I thought you were gonna say me.

Kareem Rahma  20:32

In 1983, she makes a power move. She takes a huge pay cut. She goes to NBC to boost her career. Now, she has a national audience and again, makes history becoming the first Asian American to host a national news program. So she was like on that Scarface. She was like, I already have the money. Now I need the power. There was a bit of luck how she got there. At first, she was just a correspondent, but then she was tapped as a substitute for an anchorwoman named Jane Pauley. This was a huge deal because Jane Pauley is a legendary news anchor who’s widely known as Barbara Walters successor on the Today Show, and Connie did a kick ass job. Eventually in 1986. They gave her that seat, anchoring several shows and primetime news specials. That year, she won two Emmys, one for outstanding interview, another highly competitive category. So this is probably my favorite part. In 1984 she falls in love, who she is married to still to this day. From 1984, when she falls in love, and she marries Maury

Sydnee Washington  21:55

Get the fuck out of here. I definitely knew that. You are not you are not the father Maury. Hanging out with grandma grandpa, be Maury, you’re not the father, the most toxic show and we live for it because he was so like, matter of facts. But he always had like a little smirk like, oh, so you so you think you’re not the father, tell me how do you met?

Kareem Rahma  22:27

It’s funny, you should ask. It’s funny you should ask. They actually first met when Connie was a copywriter in DC and she’d hand Maury coffee but he never noticed or they weren’t the same place. He noticed her later when they meet KXC in LA.

Sydnee Washington  22:45

You got to start with me at the bottom baby, don’t catch me when I’m flying and shining and I got everything going for myself. Oh, you gotta catch you gotta catch me when I’m in the process. Well, you know, like most straight men. Very on brand.

Kareem Rahma  23:04

Okay, let me get back to the story. In 1989, after six years at NBC, Connie Chung announces that she’s made a deal with CBS. They pay her 1.5 million, which is about 3.5 in today’s money, so she left CBS to go to NBC and then when she got famous, she was like, you know, I’m going back to CBS. She’s like Michael Jordan. She’s like an athlete. This is where this is banger season now this is like she’s now a legend. She’s like doing the damn thing. C with a capital C, two capital C’s, Chanel. Connie Chanel. Connie Chanel no BBL.  I got news. In 1990, Connie interviews Donald Trump on our show face to face with Connie Chung. Matt. She fucks him up. She calls him out for claiming he doesn’t like publicity. Bullshit. She calls his condominiums not that great. He really was like you’re a loser, and Trump dog. T-dog being an insane person retaliated by spreading a story, which is probably not true, but is in the zeitgeist. He claims that Connie Chung sent him roses to apologize. And Trump claims that he actually cut the roses off and then he sent the stems back to Connie.

Sydnee Washington  24:39

Okay, grow the fuck up you, what are you a child, who does that, first of all to go out of your way to cut roses. What did the roses do to you?

Kareem Rahma  24:48

Also, do you think that he did that? Like do you think he actually went? Anyways, but Connie says that’s not true. And she told the Toronto Star that she’s still waiting for the steps. Like it didn’t happen. It just

Sydnee Washington  25:03

Sealed it. She’s like, I’m not even. I’m not even wasting my like energy on this. I’m not even gonna sweat, you’re gonna get one line from me and I’m like, waiting for the stem.

Kareem Rahma  25:14

We call that capital G? Grace. Okay, so like the heat is heating up. In 1991, Magic Johnson chooses Connie Chung to reveal that he’s HIV positive. Now, you have to understand that this is one of the most famous basketball players of all time. Even today, He’s regarded as the greatest point guard ever, and is still one of the most famous names ever. This announcement truly stuns the world. In the same interview, magic announces his retirement from the Los Angeles Lakers. And at the time, many Americans viewed aids as solely a gay White man’s disease. So Johnson, who’s black and heterosexual is like the first major celebrity to go public about his HIV positive status. And he’s still alive. So now, it’s 9093. Connie is on fucking fire. She scored all these massive interviews, and she’s a global star and a household name. So what does CBS do? They do the smart thing and promote Connie to be the co-anchor of the CBS Evening News alongside Dan Rather. This is it. This is for all the marbles; she scored the holy grail in journalism that everybody wants. And not only that, this promotion, made her the first Asian American to ever anchor the nightly news in a major network. And only the second woman after Barbara Walters, she had now broken every single barrier. And she still made breaking news. She did this famous interview with Bill Gates, where she asked him to jump over a chair. And later on an interview, he walked out. She was like, oh, let me let this man jump over a chair so that I can get inside of his psyche. And then she was like asking about anti […] and shit. And then, because this is like when Microsoft was like a monopoly and everyone was like, this company needs to break up bla bla bla. And Bill Gates did not like these questions. So she brought it up. And he was just like, I’m out. He stormed out. And she also had interviews with disgraced figure skater Tonya Harding. And this part is crazy. Like, this is Connie Chung shit right here. She couldn’t get an interview with Tonya Harding. Tonya Harding didn’t want to do inner interviews. Connie Chung literally takes a plane because Tonya Harding is taking a plane to Norway. Connie gets on the plane to sit right next to her and she did the only rich he literally did sat next to her got all the information and then flew back.

Sydnee Washington  28:07

How did she do that? I bet you Connie had her hair on like a like a messy bun she just real cash she came in there like she was you know just came from the gym, she just came in acting like nobody, right? Yeah, she have sunglasses on. I bet you she was wearing like a like a white tee, maybe even a hoodie, leggings.

Kareem Rahma  28:28

Okay, okay, I gotta keep going. Connie admits that these moments were the ones that change news forever. Like this is more or less what fucked it up and made it go from hey, here’s the news to hear some entertainment mixed with the news like hear that salacious, delicious. The story you want to hear. You know, she knows, she’s aware. The interview that drew the most controversy was in 1995. Okay, so Connie Chung sits down with Kathleen Gingrich, the GOP Congress, men, Newt Gingrich’s mom. And Connie asks Newt Gingrich’s mom. What do you think of the First Lady Hillary Clinton? And Kathleen Gingrich says like I don’t really want to talk about and then Connie leans in and sees and Connie says, just whisper. Just between you and me, what do you think of Hillary Clinton?

Sydnee Washington  29:32

Off the record while we’re fully on the record?

Kareem Rahma  29:37

And then Newt Gingrich’s mom says, she’s a bitch. And here’s where it gets kind of bad. That does air.

Sydnee Washington  29:54

We doing it, we live baby

Kareem Rahma  29:56

And this is kind of the beginning of the end of Connie Chung.

Sydnee Washington  29:59

What? Explain.

Kareem Rahma  30:01

Well, I think it was a different time back then, like were news was to be trusted.  It was also like, unethical. I don’t think it’s unethical.

Sydnee Washington  30:10

It’s unethical because she said, it’s out there. Oh, get the fuck out of here.

Kareem Rahma  30:17

Now, back to the story. So she catches a lot of flack for this. And there’s hammered by critics who thought that she implied that the comment would be off the record. It turned into a he said she said, with Connie saying that Kathleen knew that the cameras were rolling. And this caused a massive PR crisis for CBS. So CBS is like this is a fucking disaster. They did what any smart network would do and set Connie to cover the Oklahoma City bombing. To rehabilitate her image with viewers. Connie go to the warzone. But then she got in trouble again, know, back to back to back. I don’t think this is that bad. So she was interviewing Oklahoma fire department chief, and she maybe sarcastically said, Can the Oklahoma City Fire Department actually deal with this? And people said that she sounded sarcastic and thought that her facial expressions were inappropriate.

Sydnee Washington  31:24

Even like so. I’m looking at the severity it is, can you really do this? She’s giving auntie energy at that point. How old is Connie?

Kareem Rahma  31:37

She’s like 50

Sydnee Washington  31:38

Come on. Now. That’s high key aunt vibes, that’s an aunt question. You can’t fault her for that. Aunt Sally would say I see you with that man. But I don’t know. I never really seen you keep a man. Like that’s what she’s doing. But that’s the vibe. You can’t be. You can’t be offended by that. She’s a legend. Literally the flames is hitting the side of my head. And I don’t know Do y’all got it? Like, come on. I would say some shit like that. But obviously I’m not professional and I’m messy and that’s why I don’t have no day job.

Kareem Rahma  32:20

That’s a beautiful take. I love that. Okay, so, okay, so we’re getting close. Okay, so this is actually the final straw.

Kareem Rahma  32:30

CBS said You’re out.

Kareem Rahma  32:32

They give Dan Rather his show back. Waiting in the wings. Connie believes that Dan Rather had something to do with her. She said that he was very Texas gentlemanly. What if I turned my back I felt like I might be in a scene of psycho in the shower. But he remained publicly supportive of her. He said I welcomed her arrival and I regret her departure. I’ve long been a friend and encouraged her and she said that guy’s trying to stab me in the fucking back.

Sydnee Washington  33:13

Auntie tendency is against you.

Kareem Rahma  33:18

So Connie blames her quick outstaying on potential sexism, potentially being a scapegoat for CBS’s poor ratings. CBS says hey, Connie Chung do you want to be a weekend anchor? So you know she’s I’m out fuck you. I quit.

Sydnee Washington  33:40

Imagine you getting the best ships. The best fucking chips they give you Thursday, Friday, Saturday and they like hey bitch, do you want to do Mondays? You want to clean up on Monday.

Kareem Rahma  33:52

She took her apron off. She said I quit.

Sydnee Washington  33:54

She said not in my house.

Kareem Rahma  35:03

So that’s kind of the end of the career.

Sydnee Washington  35:08

Come on, you gotta make some exceptions, Connie? I’m mad.

Kareem Rahma  35:15

You’re about to get even more mad. So in 1997 after two years off air Connie Chung lands on her feet and joins ABC as a […] Reporter, she take turns hosting the program with Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters. But again, she made enemies. While she was excited to work alongside other woman, the star reporters, she often felt like they were pitted against each other and forced to compete for stories. Chung described it as a game of whack a mole. So she said, I pop my head up and one of them would have a hammer and go whack and put me down back into my little hole. But worst of all, Connie was told not to chase big stories and stick to the more tabloid ones. She couldn’t blame sexism on that. So in 2002, for strong ratings on 2020, they lead to a new job and she becomes a host of Connie Chung tonight on CNN, her first show since 1995. And then during the Iraq war in 2003. Carnage on tonight is suspended to give more coverage to the war. So instead, she had her work reduced to hourly headline reading, which as we know, Connie Chung is not about to sit down and read some headlines. And Chung said, hey, CNN. Let me get my show back. And they said, nope, we’re canceling. CNN’s founder, Ted Turner may have had something to do with it as he’s on the record of calling the show. Just awful. He didn’t even know that. Welcome to CNN. I’m the founder of CNN. My name is Ted Turner, and our show content tonight is awful. CNN offers her another role. She said no, thanks. I’m good. And Connie never really had a hit show after that in 2006. Connie Chung and Maury Povich tried to hosting their show weekend with Maury and Connie on MSNBC. It was canceled after a few episodes. She had this like weird last episode where she was you know, dressed in a white evening gown and dancing on top of a black piano singing thanks for the memory. She ended it with a voguing style death drop.

Sydnee Washington  37:26

You’re lying. I’m gonna have to see footage of that.

Kareem Rahma  37:30

The title of this YouTube video is Connie Chung has lost it.

Sydnee Washington  37:33

Oh man. He did my girl dirty. Why did press play on that and when they Sark about what the dress.

Kareem Rahma  37:44

Connie Chung has been out there ever since. All right, I’m gonna wrap this up. So Connie Chung’s work opened the door for so many non-white anchors in broadcast news, Julie Chen and Lisa Ling both credit Connie Chung has early influences for their careers. Connie isn’t satisfied with what she’s seen. She says it is better now. But women have not reached the level of parity yet because management still white male oriented sexism and racism persist in the newsroom. Though since George Floyd many newsrooms are trying to rectify it. It’s not easy to break these habits and these male traditions the caveman are still in charge at the networks. They are forgive me, but they’re all White males and you can’t get away from that

Sydnee Washington  38:31

No lies detected.

Kareem Rahma  38:33

So her and Maury are largely retired, but apparently they own a newspaper called The Flathead a beacon in Montana, where they have a home so Maury and Connie co-owned a newspaper at 76 years old. She now spends her day enjoying life and her legacy. She has been married tomorrow for 38 years. They share a son Matthew and […] has two daughters. And they have four grandchildren. And at the end of the day, here’s the deal. Connie Chung is a real fuckin, a real one. She’s just a real one. She is the realest one. She was one of the realest ones, and she was also a first.

Sydnee Washington  39:18

I mean Connie Listen, the industry was so hard when she was doing it and the fact that she was able to break through and do like many of the first but also get an air and get dirty. I liked that suit. Look a little rough, ruffle some feathers, do some messy shit man. Life is short. Don’t be boring.

Kareem Rahma  39:38

And that’s exactly what she did. All right, y’all next time on FIRST make sure to catch me and Nimesh Patel as we talk about Zaha Hadid, the first Arab and first woman to break through the upper echelon of architecture.

CREDITS 40:01

FIRST is produced by some friends and salts. Ad sales and distribution by Lemonada Media. The show is created and hosted by Kareem Rahma. Executive producers for some friends are Kareem Rahma, Andrew […], researched by […], original audio production music and sound design by Salt. Executive producers for Salt are […] salts Head of Production […], Salt’s head of engineering, […], Salt’s head of post-production Robert Adler’s, Production Manager Alice […], post production coordinator […], recording engineer Aaron Kennedy, edited and sound designed by […] Harris, dialogue supervision by Noah Kowalski. Additional sound design and music supervision by […], mixed by Ben O’Neil. Original music and composition by […] additional Music courtesy of extreme music recorded at Salt Studios in Los Angeles and the cutting room in New York City.

 

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