4-20-11 - Our Nation's Tragedies, Being Gay and An Interview with Kevin Hart

In case you missed it...

PIERS MORGAN, GLEE, FIRES IN TEXAS, COLUMBINE AND OTHER DISASTERS
Rosie began today's broadcast discussing last night's episode of the Piers Morgan Show.  Rosie said it was the best show he's ever done.  Piers did a show about the oil spill one year after the disaster just as news has broken that BP's fund to pay out families has been largely untouched.  He interviewed widows of the Deepwater Horizon explosion, fisherman who have been affected by the disaster and Ken Feinberg from BP.  Rosie called it "great investigative journalism."  Rosie and the staff discussed the illnesses that have occurred since the cleanup.  Janette said she tried to talk a family member out of participating in the oil spill cleanup last year but said BP was paying workers $75 an hour and that was too hard for them to turn down.  Overall, Rosie thought it was a great interview and that Piers should do more shows like that.  Rosie thought Piers should do a show on foreclosures and show the faces of the families behind the crisis and Janette said ROSIE could do that too!  Janette said a fan recommended the book Drowning in Oil: BP & the Reckless Pursuit of Profit on her Facebook and she said she's going to check it out. 
Bobby and Rosie LOVED last night's episode of Glee!  Janette liked it too but wished they had shown more of her favorite character, Kurt.  They played Gwyneth Paltrow singing Adele's Turning Tables.  Rosie was surprised that she liked the cover, but she did and she thought Gwyneth sounded beautiful.  They played Paltrow's version of the song as well as Adele's original.

Adele's Turning Tables

Rosie took a few calls from listeners about last night's Glee.  Rosie and one caller discussed their favorite scenes from last night.  Rosie took another call from a listener who thinks all the celebrity cameos are starting to take away time from the other characters on the show.  Janette and Rosie said they're still hoping and waiting for the character Lauren's big singing number! 

Rosie and the staff discussed the big fires they're having in Texas right now.  As of today, there are firefighters from 34 states fighting fires in the state of Texas.  Due to the very dry weather, the fact that it's been extremely hot in the state and the high winds, Texas is fighting horrible fires.  They've had little to no rain since December and there have been fires in 252 of 254 counties in the state.  Overall 170 homes and 1 million acres have been destroyed.

Rosie took a call from a listener who was in school to be a teacher during the Columbine shootings who almost didn't go into the profession because of the tragedy.  Rosie said she used to be really scared over celebrity stalkers until her therapist told her it was more dangerous to be a teacher than a celebrity.  When Rosie heard about Columbine she remembered feeling there had to be a way to combat the violence and guns in America.  She hoped to help get rid of (or at least limit) automatic weapons and hoped she could get everyone together and form a league against guns.  Later she realized her efforts were futile and it was like trying to fight a dragon with a toothpick. 

Rosie took a call from a listener who quit her full-time job to be a stay-at-home mom after Columbine.  She said the reason it happened was because no one was home watching their kids and realizing they were making bombs in the home.  Rosie understood the caller's feelings but didn't know if the parents should be held totally responsible.  Rosie took a call from a high school English teacher who was inspired by the tragedy so much so that she became a counselor in order to help troubled teens.  Rosie and Janette remarked how everyone reacts different in tragedies and some run to help while others run and hide.  Janette said everyone makes the right choice for themselves.  Rosie took a call from a listener who remembers Columbine now every time she hears a siren near a school.  Bobby, who was in New York on 9/11, said he still gets flashbacks to 9/11 whenever he hears sirens or a plane overhead.  Rosie took another call from a listener who said we have to stop glamorizing the killers in these tragedies.  She was upset that she knows the names of the killers but not a single name of one of the people who were killed.  Rosie took a call from a teacher who was struck by the look of the killers at Columbine because they looked like many of the kids she taught.  She said for a long time she was hyper-vigilant wondering what each kid in her school was thinking but that became too exhausting.  Rosie said she felt heartbreak for all the parents, both the parents of the victims that day and the parents of the killers.  She asked everyone to think about what it must have been like for them to not only lose a child but then live with the knowledge of the horror that their child had done.  She said blaming the parents and convincing yourself that "you know your own kids" is an easy way to make yourself feel safe and make sense of something so senseless.   

GETTING EXCITED FOR KEVIN HART AND BEING OUT AND GAY TODAY
Rosie was excited that Kevin Hart would be calling into the studio later in the show!  Rosie and her eldest son Parker are going to see Hart perform Friday night.  Rosie said Parker thinks Kevin is "God's gift to comedy."  They played the audio from his cussing his teacher bit for the listening audience at home.  Rosie felt badly she had never heard of him and said there are lots of great comics out there today she doesn't know about.  She said she feels so out of the loop!  She's very excited to see Kevin perform live on Friday! 
Pete read a recent news story about a man who was arrested for murdering his daughter's female lover and her mother.   The 45 year old man allegedly went to his daughter's girlfriend's home, killed the mother, then the girlfriend and then left.  His daughter was in the house, heard the gunshots and called 911. 

Janette wondered how something like this can happen.  She wondered what the father was thinking because now not only will his daughter hate him forever, he will be in prison forever.  She wanted to know what he was hoping to accomplish!  Rosie thought it was just horrible that a father would go to that extreme all because he didn't want his daughter to be gay.  Rosie said kids in New York high schools today don't have to face the same kinds of judgments about peoples' sexuality as they used to.  Rosie said she never heard the word gay in high school.  Bobby, who is the same age as Rosie, was called "fag" and "queer" in high school, but not a lot.  And he recently read that lesbian and gay teens are less likely to kill themselves if they grow up in areas that are more accepting.  When Rosie went to see Book of Mormon on Broadway, she met actors in their 30's who told her about how they were teased for being gay and liking theater.   They thanked her for her show The Rosie O'Donnell Show where they could learn about Broadway and know there's a place for them out there they could go to someday.  Janette asked Bobby and Rosie if they thought their lives would have turned out differently if they had had shows like Will and Grace and Glee on television when they were growing up. Both Rosie and Bobby said their lives would definitely have been different!  Bobby remembered growing up and thinking he was broken.  He said he's happy for this generation of kids that they have great gay role models out there to look up to.  Even today when Rosie and Bobby see two young men walking down the street in Manhattan holding hands, they get tears in their eyes because it makes them so proud.

Rosie took a call from a listener who remembered growing up in Nebraska as a gay teen.  He was taunted and frequently called "fag" or a "fairy."  He said it made him feel like he had a scarlet letter on his forehead.  He knew inside he was gay but was shocked everyone else could tell too.  He talked with Rosie about the group of friends he formed that all supported each other growing up.  Rosie said she often recommends the theater department to any kids that think they might be gay or different.  Rosie took a call from a listener who is currently listening to a lecture entitled Getting Unstuck by Pema Chodron.  In the lecture Pema addresses negative self-talk.  Rosie agreed that Pema is a wonderful teacher who helps awaken you to your natural essence of self-love. Rosie also loves Pema Chodron's book When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times (Shambhala Library).    

Rosie took a call from a mother of a gay daughter.  Her daughter is now 36 but she's known her daughter was gay since she was 9.  The caller said her daughter preferred the boy sports and tended to lean towards boy things but she was always proud of her. The caller said she couldn't be more proud to be a part of daughter's life today.  Rosie told the caller she's the kind of mother that every gay kid wishes they had.  Rosie said on the rfamily cruises all the gay cruisers would migrate towards those accepting parents.  Rosie said her ex Kelli was sure her parents would never accept her being gay and today, not only have they accepted it they've completely changed.  Rosie talked about the importance of giving parents time to adjust while knowing being who you are, while sometimes hard, is never wrong.

FABULOUS BEEKMAN BOYS AND HOOVER SIDES WITH THE SOAPS
Last night, Rosie had a cameo appearance on the Fabulous Beekman Boys on Planet Green!  Rosie's girlfriend Tracy loves Planet Green and she loves that show so Tracy and Rosie went up for their fall Harvest Festival not knowing they were going to be on the show!  Rosie said that was the reason she had no hair and makeup for last night's show.  Rosie loves that show and she loves Josh and Brent.  While they were there for the weekend, Tracy spent a lot of time with the goats while Rosie spent a lot of time laying in the sun.  She joked that laying in the sun is what she does best!  Rosie said it was fascinating to be on a working farm.  Janette mentioned the book 365 Thank Yous: The Year a Simple Act of Daily Gratitude Changed My Life and said we should all write a Thank You note to the farmers of America for all the hard work that they do. 
Rosie read that Hoover has pulled their ads from ABC because of the cancellation of the soap operas!  Rosie was impressed by that!  Rosie said Robin Strasser is burning it up on Twitter and you can go to savethesoaps at hoover.com to learn about what you can do to do more.  Rosie said it will be interesting to see if fans can make a difference!  She said she's been to SuperSoap weekend in the past and said soap opera fans are some dedicated fans! Rosie said she's honestly a little sad about the cancellations.

Rosie said she's getting some grief about agreeing to live in the Harpo studio apartment in the Trump Chicago Hotel but said it's not as though Trump gets money from her by her living there.  At least she doesn't feel like that.  She said it's only 10 days a month and everybody needs to chill out about it.

ITALY SAYS "NO" TO THE JERSEY SHORE AND THE GIRLS GUIDE TO HOMELESSNESS
Rosie and the staff briefly discussed an article about how Italy is NOT happy to have the cast of the Jersey Shore filming there.  You can read more from that article HERE.

Right now Rosie is reading The Girl's Guide to Homelessness: A Memoir that Janette recommended to her.  Rosie said it's fascinating.  She's also reading How to Be a Sister: A Love Story with a Twist of Autism and enjoying it.  Rosie and Janette talked about being homeless and how people who are homeless are the same as us. 

KEVIN HART

Rosie then introduced comedian Kevin Hart who called in to talk with Rosie about his performance this Friday and his experience in comedy.  Kevin said he was so excited to see that Rosie had tweeted him!  Rosie told Kevin how adorable he is and Kevin joked that he was just asked to be a sex symbol this past month.

Kevin said he started standup at 18 years old at comedy clubs outside Philadelphia.  He said he's a huge fan of Bill Cosby and  liked how he told a story when he told a joke.  He's also a big fan of Richard Pryor who took all his trials and tribulations to the stage and shared them with the audience.  Rosie asked Kevin about his parents and he said while his mom (who passed away 5 years ago) was very proud of him, she was very religious and wasn't comfortable in the venues where he performed.  And his Dad is very supportive and frequently attends his shows.   

Kevin said the "cussing the teacher out" bit is a true story, minus the cuss words.  But he said his mom really did get upset at the teacher taking a shot at her parenting and did send him in with a message to deliver to the teacher!  Kevin said all of his stories come from some level of truth, though they may be embellished a bit for comedic purposes.  Rosie told Kevin she and Parker are coming this Friday to see him perform!  Kevin was excited and said he'd be sure to roll out the red carpet for them and make sure they could come backstage and meet him.

Kevin has two kids ages 6 and 3 and he said he's really enjoying it.  He joked about how smart his daughter is while his son just sits and presses the same button on the remote control for three hours at a time.  Kevin said his son is just like him.  Kevin said he likes to take his kids to the venues when he does standup near where they live because he likes them to know what their father does for a living.  He said he wants them to understand it and how they're taken care of. 
Kevin said he started performing at The Laugh House Comedy Club in Philadelphia part-time until he quit his job to concentrate on comedy full-time.  Kevin said he wasn't an overnight success and has been working on comedy for a while.  He joked with Rosie about one of his worst gigs when he was hit in the face with a chicken wing!
Rosie thanked Kevin for calling in and recommended all her listeners check him out.  Kevin said he's beyond flattered by her compliments and said he cannot wait to meet her!

Rosie closed the show.

and that's what you missed - kw