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How ‘Zatima’ Became a Cultural Phenomenon 📺🔥 | SWAY’S UNIVERSE
Sep 26, 2025
Don’t miss this powerful and heartfelt conversation on Sway’s Universe as Devale Ellis gets real about fatherhood, family, and the struggles of balancing life onscreen and offscreen. Joined by the talented Crystal Hayslett, the dynamic duo behind BET Plus’s hit series "Zatima" dive into the challenges of portraying relatable Black love, their rise in Hollywood, and the importance of representation in media. Devale opens up about teaching his sons emotional vulnerability, while Crystal shares her inspiring journey from production assistant to leading lady. The two also reflect on navigating podcasting, spirituality, and their impact on culture. This candid interview is full of laughs, life lessons, and behind-the-scenes gems you won’t want to miss. Subscribe for more exclusive interviews and stay tuned for more inspiring content from Sway’s Universe! #DevaleEllis #CrystalHayslett #Zatima #SwaysUniverse #Fatherhood #Representation #KeepItPositiveSweetie #BETPlus #motivation #jimrohn #motivationalvideo #selfimprovement #successmotivation #motivation #selfimprovement #mindset #mentalhealth #selfdevelopment CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro 01:45 - Falling Off Your Square 05:24 - Reading With Your Kids 07:06 - Importance of Season 4 08:44 - Crystal Hayslett’s Journey 11:59 - Crystal Hayslett’s Hit Record 14:26 - Crystal Hayslett’s Impact on BET Plus 15:59 - Successful Podcast Tips 21:30 - Personal Development Obsession 25:22 - Tyler Perry’s Casting Process 26:14 - Freedom to Discuss God
View Video Transcript
0:00
Listen, round of applause for whoever produced that trailer right there.
0:07
That's from the BET Plus original series, Zatima. Um, and we have the
0:13
stars of it play the roles of Zach and Fatima here. Heather B, would you do the
0:18
honors? I know you co-starred with them on a lot of projects. Come on. Come on, Heather B. Here's the thing about Crystal and Dval. Not only
0:26
are they amazing people on screen and super talented, but offscreen I think
0:31
that is the thing that all of us have been able to additionally fall in love with. Watching Dval be a husband, be a
0:38
father, be a standup man, stand on business. And it's so refreshing to see men with their children. I repeat, it is
0:45
refreshing to see men with their children and particularly boys loving on his sons, raising his sons at the same
0:52
time being a partner, an extremely loving partner and caring partner to his wife. So, we salute you Dval for not
0:59
only what you do on screen, but offscreen I believe you have bigger fans and a bigger audience. When I get to
1:06
Crystal, we all know what she's been able to do on screen. But again, offscreen, keep it positive, sweetie, is
1:11
one of my favorite things to watch and study and see. And we're all learning
1:17
and growing and being comfortable spiritually and and and expressing ourselves spiritually and finding a safe
1:23
place to be. Coming from a black female, there's not a lot of outlets like that. And if there are, um, you know,
1:30
sometimes they get shied away or pushed to the side. But Crystal has been bold in her purpose in making sure that this
1:37
platform stands on those principles. And so I salute you, sis. And I love you for what you're doing.
1:42
I love you so much. I love you, too, man. So, here they are back.
1:48
We back together. Yeah. Just come together.
1:53
Come on, man. Team crash out. Yo, you didn't mention Dval's skin regimen either. I'm going to leave that
1:59
up to you, Sway, since you studying his skin over there. Yeah, I look at Deval. I look at Devar and I go, "What did I wear today?" You
2:05
know, am I in Q, man? Um, but but that's the other thing you do well, man. I've
2:10
I've seen you in conversation with Kirk Franklin and others. I've seen you everywhere you go. You're very
2:16
consistent. Um, and you you you stand on your fortitude, bro. And I and I with
2:21
everything Heather is saying. Plus, as a man, as an older man, too, it's great to look at a younger man and be inspired
2:29
and learn. You know, we ain't never too old to learn. Right. We aren't. Yeah, man. Do you do
2:35
you ever fall off your square, though? Have Have you had have you ever had any wavering moments? I feel like I do a lot and I feel like I
2:42
have good people around me who will protect me. Um, one is sitting right here. Um, we we talked about this recently. um going through things
2:49
oncreen and offscreen, but also having a family and businesses and trying to make money and also losing money, tax things,
2:55
like you go through a lot and sometimes you going to fall off that square. But when you have someone that you can rock with as a friend, my wife Kadine is like
3:03
my that's my dog. Shout out to man, she came to our show in LA and stole a stole a shot.
3:09
She's going to do that and she's always going to do that. But um falling off my square is part of being human. So, I
3:14
just I hope that people have empathy for me and give me grace cuz it's going to happen to all of us. Do do you have a problem with when you
3:21
do fall like you I have a problem with expressing certain things online or even on this mic that are way too personal?
3:28
Things that I haven't really dove into myself for myself. Well, I see a lot of people crash out,
3:34
you know, before thinking about what it is they want to say. How they're being affected emotionally, how they're being affected personally about things that
3:40
are happening that the public don't see. Right. Uh, do you have a problem with that or do do you do you hold back?
3:47
People who know me know that I I don't hold back. But I am very uh strategic about what I say because I never want to
3:53
offend anybody. Okay? Right. My truth and this is one thing I had to learn recently. Even if it's your truth, your truth can hurt feelings.
4:00
So you have to say things in a way where you're not offending or trying to hurt people, but still be honest to who you
4:05
are and stay, you know, in alignment with what you believe. And that's what I try to do my best. Okay. All right. Well, look at this dude. Look, he folded his hands. He got
4:12
all of it. He got all the [ __ ] right? He got all the [ __ ] right? Right. I would tell you something funny that
4:17
you asked this question. And the last time I met with you, I didn't hadn't done this yet, but my oldest son, Jackson, he's 14. For the first time, I
4:24
asked him, I said, "Yo, you got five minutes to tell me how you feel about everything going on in the day. And I'm
4:30
not going to interrupt you." What do you think he did? What'd he do? Cried.
4:35
Oh, wow. Do you want to know why? Why? He said to me at 14, "No one's ever asked me how I feel."
4:43
And I said, "Well, how do you feel?" He said, "Scared to say how I feel cuz I don't know what that feels like."
4:49
And I said, "You have something bad to say?" He said, "I don't know if it's bad or not. No one's ever asked me." And that's what made me realize
4:55
how many people, not just men, just people in general, never get asked until they're adults how you feel.
5:01
Kids, we tell kids how to feel all the time, don't we? And I just realized that I'm not going to do that to my kids. And I'm also not
5:07
going to do that to myself. I'm not always going to continue to suppress how I feel because I'm afraid that other
5:13
people may be taken back by it. I'm just going to say how I feel and then we can discuss how my feelings may have made
5:18
you feel. But I'm open to that and I do that with my kids so hopefully they don't have those same issues when they
5:23
become adults. What What that was amazing. I Jeez. My gosh. I'm a father. But you got to spend time with your kids
5:29
to even know that to know that. Um do you read with your kids? Absolutely.
5:34
What What are you reading right now? Absolutely. Well, for example, uh Cash just got into he's seven and that's my
5:40
my third child and he doesn't like reading. So, anything we get from school is an
5:45
opportunity to read. But I'm going to be honest, we read a lot of black history in my house. Okay. Um and it started because in 2020,
5:53
Jackson asked me a question and this was during the time when George Floyd was murdered and he was like, "Um,
5:58
daddy, everybody's saying black lives matter. Why do we have to say that? Like, doesn't everybody know that?" M
6:04
and then I went through the history of slavery, u black codes, mass incarceration, red, um red lining, and I
6:12
was explaining him the history of black people in this country. And then he was like, I got it. And I just said to
6:17
myself, I'm not going to let time go by and I have to explain to my sons why. So the minute they become seven and they
6:23
start reading, we read a lot of black history because you see they're trying to erase black history in this country. Well, they are,
6:29
but um they can't if we as black people don't let them do it. I'm not going to let the school system teach my kids.
6:36
Oh, talk. See, I did write a book in 2020 called The Ellis in the Time Machine.
6:41
Why do we have to say Black Lives Matter? And it goes back in time and talks about those things. So, those are one of that's one of the books
6:48
we're reading with Cass now. Ellis is in the Time Machine. Check it out. Damn. This guy right here, man. Thanks, Chris. You see how you see how
6:54
my road Crystal came in. Crystal backed you up. Had the reference point, the page.
7:00
You know what I'm saying? You see what I'm saying? The chemistry is there. It's the chemistry is there. This is It's
7:07
important to know, you know, we see the chemistry on screen. Uh so, congratulations. Season 4, by the way.
7:13
Right. That that's that doesn't happen all the time. No, it doesn't. Right. How important is that, Crystal?
7:19
Season 4. Season 4 is huge, especially in the climate of the industry right now. We see so many of our peers are not
7:25
working. Um shows are getting cancelled. networks are just disappearing and just
7:30
going away. So just to be a part of something that is a part of our culture, it's so huge to still tell our stories
7:37
and to have a voice because a lot of times it's not us in the writer room, you know. So it's our voices being
7:43
written by people who have not walked in our shoes. So I love it. I'm I'm proud of everyone. Season four, I love our we
7:48
both we were talking about how much we love our castmates and so excited that everyone's getting to live out their dreams.
7:54
Yeah, you do a great job by the way. Congratulations, man. Oh my.
8:00
Thank you. You got it, man. You got it. You guys are doing like some people, you know, you could watch it all at the same time.
8:06
Some is once a week. This is two episodes a week. Two episodes a week. Yeah. Damn. See, I'm a binge watcher, so I do like
8:12
Give it to me. I want You want it all at I want it all. Yeah. But two episodes a week. Yes. I think I think it's a strategic
8:18
way for them to keep the uh the psyche of the viewer, you know, because if you binge watch and you watch the entire
8:24
season in say five hours, how do you keep them coming back every week if you watched it? So, it's like
8:29
give them two, let them watch that, let them watch some other things while they're waiting and every week we get them to come back. Yeah.
8:35
Wow. Okay. That's amazing. Crystal, um, your your story, even working with Tyler
8:41
Perry Studios is should be celebrated, you know, because I often tell folks,
8:46
man, where you end up may where you start may not be where you end up. Absolutely. Right. And you you have one of those
8:52
stories, right? Yeah. You didn't start as an actor. I did not. No. You wanted You studied as an actor,
8:57
right? You wanted to act. Yes. All my life. Okay. And then when you start working for Tyler Perry, you were what? Costume
9:04
designer. Start as a PA. PA. Oh [ __ ] in the costumes department. Yeah, I already talked to him. I already
9:09
talked to him. Oh, I felt it. They were talking outside. I asked him like literally I was like what do you what do you want to do? And
9:15
I said my advice to you, he told me like just working here and I said my advice to you the young what was your name again? Tyler Tyler.
9:21
Tyler DJ Tyler. I was like my advice to you would be to um be a sponge, soak everything up,
9:28
learn. I said you're already ahead of the game because you're working around what you want to do. A lot of people don't have that privilege to be able to
9:34
be around what they want to do. I said, "Keep your nose clean. Stay out of mess." And I said, "And you will learn everything you need to know." You know,
9:41
because for me, working as a PA, I was just putting tools in my toolbox, you know, and it's taken me through every
9:46
job that God gave me was just more tools to where I am now where I'm like, "H, got it. Now I can pull this out. I know how to
9:52
fix this. When this happens, I know who to call, you know." So, it worked out. It worked out. What What did they say? Hey, put that
9:59
costume down and put the wardrobe down and we got a part. So, I had to step out
10:04
on faith and just call the big man T and say, "Hey, Tyler, this is what I've been doing. I've been grinding for years
10:10
since I was a PE. I've been auditioning." I was literally dressing people, putting people's shoes on.
10:16
She being sides. She being humble. I'm I'm a No. No. Cuz you weren't there.
10:22
I know. But here's my thing. I was so many ideas. This is why she has a podcast called
10:27
Keep It. She has her mind is so beautiful. Mhm. She was talking to Tyler about these stories and then Tyler came up and said,
10:34
"We should do a show and she was like, "Sisters, what she doesn't tell people is season one, she was costumeuming the show and
10:40
on the show." This is why I had to cut her off because she won't tell people about it, right? Come on. Talk about it.
10:47
You ain't showing off or bragging. It's just people going to hear it and understand that, you know, it's more
10:52
than one way to reach your goal. It is, right? No. Exactly. And I think too, like to your point, um, Deval, once I got there,
10:59
it was so many classically trained actors that were on the show and I'm just this girl that got it out the mud.
11:05
My life was my acting studio, you know, and after I went to courses and took classes to really hone in on those
11:11
skills, but a lot of things I pulled from is real life. And I did have a little like insecurity when I first started because I saw these You went to
11:19
Where'd you go? Yeah, I studied Esper Studios. I graduated Studios and then you got somebody who went to Tish. two people
11:24
went to Tish and all these different accolades in the arts industry and I'm just this country girl with a dream,
11:30
you know, that didn't have all the experiences or the the outlets that a lot of people who had living in the city
11:36
had. Um, so to be where I am now, I'm just super grateful. I I never heard you I never thought that
11:42
perspective. That is actually profound. I never thought I never viewed you as a country girl, but I mean seriously from
11:49
from Martin Martin, Tennessee, that is even more impressive. from Martin, Tennessee. I keep thinking
11:54
you're from DC. You're not. Yeah. No, I left Tennessee to go to to work on Capitol Hill after college. But
12:00
yeah, you worked on for with Congress, right? I did. Yeah. In the Senate. What did you do? I was actually a legislative
12:06
correspondent for the state of Tennessee. So, I worked for my senator then Senator Lamar Alexander
12:12
and um he was um the chairman of the health committee, which is health, education, labor, and pensions and immigration. And um I worked on studying
12:20
any type of bills and laws that needed to go into place. I met with constituents from Tennessee, learned
12:25
what they needed, what they really wanted, and brought that information back to the senator and to the liaison that worked on that committee.
12:33
Come on, man. You see what I'm saying? She be trying to be humble. Yeah, I worked a little
12:39
bit on Capitol Hill. Yo, she gave us a five punch combination right there. Body head body.
12:48
What the heck? The little the little thing I did downstairs. That was me.
12:54
What? How? We played one of your hit records from your past, too. People don't realize. What a well.
12:59
Yeah. You got that song again, DB? Let me get a little bit of that. Just I don't have the words to say what I want to say, but
13:08
I know what I'm trying to say. Say it. Say it. Young teamer, we
13:17
are you going to leave. I just want to say I need to be with you. Everything I'm
13:24
saying, boy, you've heard before. Nothing I'm saying is new. Baby, I promise I'm being honest. Yeah.
13:34
Get you. They know. She hit them notes for real. She hit them notes for real.
13:39
It's early. Yes. Um but yeah, that was shout out to Ron Thomas. Um literally a hitmaker. He's
13:46
written so many number ones on the charts. Um I went into the studio with him and Ray Daniels. This is like 2012.
13:53
Yeah. Listen, you know the
13:58
Yes. And um they were like I said, what do you I love hard and um that's and I was like I was free
14:04
and he was like well how do you love? I was like I don't just love like I [ __ ] love like I [ __ ] love you and
14:10
that's how we came with the song and then the clean version of course is I effing love you but um yeah it was
14:16
a great time and even hearing it today loud it sound good like this
14:21
you wrote a hit baby it does it stood the test of time right
14:27
man we're celebrating Deval Ellis and Crystal Hazlet Crystal Renee Hazes from the Satima on BET plus make sure you're
14:34
watching it um I Love this show. It shows us in different colors, different shapes,
14:40
different forms. A a person doesn't have to fit a a standard, an industry beauty standard to
14:46
be seen on this show or to be heard. Um and that's what attracts me part of
14:51
what Plus I know y'all, but that what attracts me to the show. But that's important too, right? Very intentional. Yeah. But when we were
14:58
talking to Tyler about like how we wanted this show to be, how we wanted it to look, we wanted everyone to feel seen
15:04
because a lot of times in Hollywood, you turn on TV and it's like it literally amplifies every insecurity
15:10
you have because it's just like over glamorized. Everybody's perfect. And we was like, "No, we want we want real
15:15
people." Yeah. You know, and we want every viewer to feel like they see themselves in a character. Well, y'all accomplished that. Y'all
15:22
even got the be to come and be a part of the nosy neighbor. the TPU. So good. She She saved Michael. She
15:29
saved baby Michael. She saved baby Michael, man. No, it was good. I was explaining to Sway, this is the first time I've seen y'all together
15:35
since we shot because the cast of sisters came up separately. And then Dval and his wife
15:41
Kadines came up separately. So we I've not seen y'all two together since season six. So that's that's cra I know. I
15:49
know. It's crazy. That's crazy, right? It's crazy. But that's how things happen. But the two of them have just
15:55
been amazing. And I and I want to talk to about outside of work, Crystal, when I mentioned your podcast. I think a lot
16:02
of people now feel like I have an idea. I want to do a podcast. And the same with you guys as well, you and Kadine.
16:08
People don't realize how much work goes into after you work, you have to work.
16:14
Um, talk about some of that as well and what it takes to actually have a successful podcast. And that's for both
16:20
of y'all. Yeah. Well, I can say Dval is the one who pushed me to even do a podcast. Okay. I was very private. Even on my
16:26
Instagram, you didn't really know who I was, you know? I just wasn't open to being open with the world and all that
16:33
comes with that. Um, just felt that. Um, but when I got into
16:39
it, it honestly was therapeutic. Um, it helped me to start to deal with some trauma that I didn't even know that I
16:46
was carrying. um got into therapy and then it helped my audience realize, wait,
16:52
she's been through this girl that I just look up to and admire so much has been through some of the same things and it
16:57
made it almost a family. You know, the Kips family, the sweeties, like we're a family and um but the work that goes
17:04
into it, like it's not just me going up and sitting on the couch and asking questions. I have to do research on it's
17:09
real journalism work. Journalism, you know, I have to research these people. I had to and I like to try to find
17:14
commonalities and a lot of people that come on I know them so we have like stories that we can tell but um and also
17:21
figuring out my niche and it's so many podcast you know and I've been blessed to be able to stay on the top 200 of
17:27
society and culture talk about it talk about it still getting paid
17:33
is good but that also comes with like being very intentional about the content
17:38
that I want to talk about which we talked about spirituality and like where I am and that it changes, you know, with
17:44
like spiritual warfare and the things that you're going through in life and really struggling. Do I want to talk about God? Because that's going to bring
17:51
persecution. People are going to like attack you even more. Um, so just I'm now in a place where I'm literally like
17:57
I um compare myself to Moses. Not and I want to see the promised land, Lord. So don't let me die before we get there.
18:03
But um Moses because Moses didn't get to the promised land. But like as far as letting God speak speak through you
18:08
because I used to be like I'm not the best speaker. Like I don't know if I want to be talking to these people and now I just be saying stuff and I'm like
18:15
that was not me and I see stuff like and I feel things now but that's because of that
18:21
relationship you do it very is well balanced you know it it's very well balanced and people
18:26
feel safe that's why I use that word because not everybody is open to talk about that and Dval for you and your
18:32
wife I think a lot of couples want to do things but you guys also do it very well and very balanced are there lines that
18:39
you won't cross the things that you won't talk about as a married couple just for personal reasons.
18:44
Um, it really just depends on where Kay and I are. We discuss every conversation before it airs.
18:50
We we have and like you talked about the work that goes into a podcast. Uh, both Kadina and I both have degrees in
18:55
journalism. So, journalism is important to us. So, we sit down before every episode and we discuss facts and stats
19:01
and people and we try to make sure we have enough information so that we're not misinforming people, right? But then
19:07
here comes the part where you tell your truth and you get persecuted for it. That part and you have to learn that.
19:13
I mean if you if you follow the Bible the greatest truth teller was Jesus and he was persecuted.
19:19
So do you feel like you are beyond reproach? No. No. We're all going to seek some form of
19:24
persecution but you can't run from it. So for me is if I tell my truth and it hurts someone in a way I'll apologize if
19:31
it hurts you but that's still my truth. I have to live in it. I have to stand in it. And I just try my hardest to tell my
19:36
truth in a way that we can spread love and knowledge. Yes. Right. Because you look at the world today, especially on social media,
19:42
clickbait, it's so easy to just say something negative and get people to run to your page. So to decide to be positive, to have a
19:50
show called keep it positive, sweetie, knowing that automatically because it's positivity, people automatically going
19:56
to push aside and just stay forward. That just speaks a lot to what Trist wants to do and what Kadina really want to do.
20:02
And we got the cast here. I'm going to keep saying it, man. Make sure you watch it. Some powerful acting.
20:08
Javal is always in a crisis.
20:17
She dead. This one
20:26
[Laughter] in in a matter of a week. I'm sorry I'm
20:32
crying. In a matter of a week when sisters and zatima came out, I had lost my baby. My
20:38
baby mother disappeared. My other baby mother started getting uh videos and and stuff from basketball players. Then he
20:45
tried to press my baby mother. Then we found out that my baby mother was going into another e. I was like, Jesus, what
20:50
is it? Does Zach get a day to smile? And then Crystal adds in one
20:56
of the lines, she just improvd this. We were going through and she says, "Zack, I hope you have the day you deserve."
21:03
And I said, "That wasn't in the script." And she was like,
21:08
she was like, "I can't say have a good day cuz you about to go try to fight this guy." And I was like, you know
21:15
what, Zach just going to have the day he deserve. That's just what it is. Blame it on Zack, you know. But but it makes for a great watch
21:21
though, man. Yeah, if yall haven't picked this up, make sure you start watching the team of Tracy. I want you coming in.
21:27
Yeah, absolutely. I'll be stressed at Zack.
21:32
But always figures out a way out. Oh my god. what Sway was mentioning um
21:38
both in sisters and Zatima how it's so inclusive and there's such a strong menu
21:43
of characters and you can see herself and Chris you were talking about how so many times that we've watched television
21:48
or film there's just this over glamorization right of women of men
21:54
anyone that's on screen and it can really highlight insecurities you weren't really aware of but we see a
22:01
shift now and even with folks that are leaning into personal development Both of you guys speak so much on mindset.
22:08
Personal development can become an obsession of sorts as well. You can look at yourself as a project and no longer
22:15
as a person. I've been I've been there. Talk about it. Uhhuh. I'm wondering if for the two of
22:20
you guys, you can share maybe something a quote unquote flaw that once you were so focused on fixing that now you've
22:28
dropped that and you've just accepted. Mhm. Well, I'm still
22:35
still focused on fixing it. I just talked about it this morning. My nose and it wasn't like I broke my nose when
22:40
I was in middle school um mature and got elbowed. But then like as I got older,
22:45
you're on TV and everybody's like her nose. It's like it's like amplifying what I had gotten used to. I was like,
22:51
"Okay." But now I'm looking in the mirror like, "Okay, maybe if I just if they can just shave this side and just straighten this so this hump is gone,
22:57
I'll be okay." you know, and it's something that I still struggle with, you know, and it's a it's not a like a thing where I'm like, "Oh, I feel bad
23:04
about myself." Like, if I could just go fix that, I think I'd be okay. Because even wearing glasses hurts. Like after a while, it's like I got to take them off
23:09
because of the way my nose goes. Like even how your um you have like the nose pads.
23:15
Those hurt so bad on mine. Oh, really? You want to wear mine? You want
23:21
It might work for you. He just wants you to see that designer. That's what he was doing. All right. We
23:27
deal with him every day. I love it. That That was your whole stick to get to
23:32
my glasses. If you give them to me, you ain't going to get them back. Who's this girl that broke your nose,
23:39
though? Who is that, man? Um, what was her name? Kelly Wheeler.
23:44
Sweet girl. First, sweet girl. Sweet girl. Yeah. I don't know where she is now. That was Watching you on TV.
23:49
Yep. Oh, you know how the internet work. They going to find her. Where's Kelly Willer from Martin, Tennessee? find her.
23:56
They going to find her, right? We know where she going to be tomorrow. Yeah. Well, that was a great question, though. That was a Yeah, I would never thought
24:03
that. Yeah. And even like now, like I'm getting older. I'm getting the necklines. I sit in the mirror every day. I'm like,
24:09
that's 20 years off. If I can just noticing little
24:16
I think y the girls can like tell like there are certain things we look at like if you definitely look and see it, but I'm
24:22
more scared to to touch what what God mean. God made it. And it's like, yeah, if something happens, I can see people
24:29
I'm an advocate for teeth. I think if if your teeth if your mouth is raggedy, you got to fix
24:35
your mouth. Yeah. But it's nothing you could kind of do about the other the others. Just rock
24:41
with it. And I think uh women of color in particular look soft. They look softer. I think once you start messing
24:47
with stuff, things start to shift and change. Even if you ain't talking, your face is moving and it looks
24:52
a moving stuck. talking.
24:57
Are you scared of like I'm so scared your eyebrows ain't moving? Crystal, I will never let you get to
25:03
that point. If you get that nose done and I see his bunch, I'm like, "Hey, hey, listen, Frank. Listen, Frank."
25:09
Like, "No, no, no. Stop. Leave it alone. I will not let you do that." No. Two weeks old, but it doesn't work out
25:16
for everybody and you don't know if they're going to be on the other side of it. Not want to be on the other side side of it. Yeah, man. It's scary. I
25:23
will say this about about TPS though. Um, they were very like deliberate about how we were going to choose the cast,
25:29
especially for sisters. I was in that room. Crystal was in that room too. And there were about 12 girls that could
25:35
have been casted as the original four. Yes. And Tyler sat back and said lightkinn, light eyes, brown skin,
25:41
heavy, skinny, big. Like he was like, "No, there has to be someone that represents the entire demographic of
25:48
black women." And there was like 12 really good actors that could have all played those roles, but he was like,
25:54
"No, we're picking one from everyone to make sure everyone is represented." So, and I watched that. I watched him go
25:59
through that. I was like, "Wow, this is how it works." So, for an actor, if you don't get a role, sometimes it's not because you didn't
26:05
act properly, it's because you didn't fit the chemistry of what they were looking for, you know, opposite somebody. So,
26:10
sometimes, thank you for sharing that. Thank you for sharing. Mike, you want to jump in? I know. Mike,
26:16
what's happening, guys? What's good, bro? thoroughly enjoying the conversation. So, I have a question for each of you. So, ladies first. I'm
26:22
curious about when you talked about the unlocking of the freedom to talk about God on your podcast. I'm just curious,
26:29
how has that changed in your everyday life? Oh my goodness. So much. You know, um
26:34
funny story, not funny, but um there was a point in time in my podcast where I felt like it was getting too
26:39
faith-based, and I was still living in ways that did not coincide with that. And um I was wrestling with it and I was
26:46
like I still want to do certain things that I know like if I'm talking about this I gotta be living this way, you
26:51
know? And um I was like I want to change the podcast. I want to talk about what I want to talk about. I want to be free
26:56
and do me. What is that? What is that? So honestly, God came to me and he was like, listen,
27:03
this is what I want you to do and you're going to do it. And I stopped fighting him on it. And how it turned into my
27:09
real life. I wake up every morning now 4:30 a.m. I'm in my Bible. I'm studying. I'm doing a 52- week Bible um study to
27:16
read the Bible again, but now to understand it better because when people come and ask me stuff, I'm struggling with this. I want to be able to say,
27:22
"Okay, I may not know the exact scripture. Let me I know it's a word. Let me find it for you. Read this and meditate on this. This will help you."
27:29
And also to be able to live it, you know, because a lot of times I wasn't in alignment and everything was just I felt
27:35
out of whack, you know. So now I can actually I have the freedom to talk about it because I'm actually living it. Wow.
27:40
Yeah. So that unlocked something all together. Absolutely. It did so freedom just to be just to be, you know, and to know that
27:46
we're good. We're flawed. We're good. And he doesn't want perfection. He just wants relationship, the pursuit. Because
27:52
a lot of people like, "Well, I do I guys like I already knew what you was going to do. Get over here.
27:57
I got you." And Deval, for you, I'm just curious about what has your what difference have
28:02
you seen in your son now that you've given him permission uh to be emotional? Bro, here's the funny part. It's not
28:07
even just Jackson. He's 14. But then after that happened, I said, "I'm not going to wait till the other ones at 14." Did it with Cairo at 8, cried.
28:15
Did it with Cass at 7, cried. Right. So now it's a thing where every night before we go to sleep, we we don't watch
28:22
TV anymore during dinner. We No devices are allowed. When we go to the dinner table, we make
28:27
it a point to sit down and have conversations. And every child gets the right to speak. And we can't shame them.
28:34
So Cass, what happened in school today? I didn't like school. They served macaroni and cheese. my teacher from last year is not as good as this
28:40
teacher, this teacher better. And rather than saying like, don't say this, don't say that. I'm just like, you know what? Let's that's interesting. You know, did
28:46
you ever think about this? And I've noticed that all of them now won't stop talking.
28:51
We also have a three-year-old. This is this is Dakota. This is Fatima's godchild or well, Crystal's godchild.
28:58
But it was recorded that he had a speech delay. At two and a half, he wasn't speaking that much.
29:03
And we were very deliberate about asking him questions and making him speak. Now he's about to be four and you would not
29:10
believe his vocabulary from listening. Oh my god. I honestly think it was never
29:16
a speech delay. I just like I don't He was probably I don't want to talk to y'all. I just I got a lot to say and I don't want to say it.
29:22
But um he started hearing more words. Yes, that was a difference. That is literally what it was. The minute we sat down and all started to
29:29
converse, it was like he was like, "Oh, this is what we do." So rather than everybody doing this,
29:34
we all were sitting at attention. happened that it's helped all of my boys. So good, man. Y'all like the Waltons.
29:41
That's old school. Nobody That's super old school, bro.
29:46
Either you know or you don't. Um, we got people on the line, man. Uh, give this give our guests a big round of applause.
29:52
Crystal, Renee, Hellet, and Deval Ellis. And you know them from the BET Plus original series, Carea. Uh, we got
29:59
Lamont on the line. Lamont, what's poopping? He's in Pennsylvania. What up, El Boooogie? What's going on, family? Long
30:06
time since I called y'all. Long time since I called. What made you call? Am I? Well, no. This is crazy. So, I got a
30:13
late start this morning. I wasn't listening to y'all. I had just left the post office sending something to TPS
30:19
Studios that I created based on something that Zach and Fatima did on sisters.
30:24
Wow. Yes. I got in the car and heard y'all talking. I was like, "Oh, I got to call." So, what are the season on sisters? Y'all
30:30
dealing all those baby issues, right? Yeah. and um how black people get mistreatment in the healthare.
30:36
So I started working on a app idea based on that. I won't say the name of it.
30:43
And don't say the idea either cuz I'm still in it. All right. So you went Deval was like taking notes and I'm just
30:50
kidding. But don't give it all away. I literally just sent TP Studios the whole package because it was inspired based on
30:57
the baby loss and all the mistreatment and the racism that took place when y'all was going to had the twins delivered.
31:02
Yeah. So that sparked me and I got in the car and heard y'all talking. I literally just mailed it to Tyler Perry Studios
31:09
at 9:00 because I wanted them to see the idea and the layout cuz
31:14
I'm I'm I'm broke as a joke now because I got federally cut and I haven't been working because I got a disability now.
31:19
So, I'm using my creative side and y'all sparked something because I watch Sisters and District regularly.
31:24
Thank you so much. And I love y'all chemistry on film. Y'all two are great. And I said I will
31:29
not get married again unless I got somebody that's going to support me like for team support. Ah, that's what I'm talking about.
31:36
Lamont, that's what's up, Lamont. Man, we appreciate you. Hopefully, you being better than Zack cuz Zach being
31:42
sometimes, man. Like, I ain't doing nothing right now. All I do is focus on my business ideas cuz I
31:47
got to make some money cuz I gave 25 years to the system and the system robbed me. So now it's all about me.
31:53
I ain't mad at that. Right. I ain't mad at that. Lamont. Great. Hey, this is confirmation for you, brother.
31:59
For you to be able to call in and talk to them and they inspired your business idea. Yes, sir. You walking the right path, Lamont.
32:05
That's right. You a super citizen. Try to do something with y'all. In fact, I'm going to send y'all another fruit basket, too.
32:12
What happened to the first one? He sent another one. Sent them edible arrangements. It was about two years ago. I sent him an edible arrangement
32:19
and I shipped it up there. But I'm going to send you something else. Okay. All right. That's what's up, man. Listening. All right. Thank you, man. Looking
32:25
forward to the strawberries. All right. I will be watching tonight. Thank you. Thank you.
32:30
Super citizen. Super citizen, man. That's in the morning. Hey, listen. I want to thank y'all for coming through today. No, it's
32:37
just turned into a a reunion of sorts. I actually I actually wrote down notes for
32:42
this interview, but I didn't get to them. It's a conversation. You like it's family. It's family. It's family.
32:47
But but I'm glad that you guys approach um I know you both approach your podcast
32:52
from a journalistic perspective where you're tracing back and you know finding
32:58
facts and and context to support your statements because it's a lot of misinformation. Yeah.
33:03
That's frivolous. Come on. In the podcast community. people are just saying [ __ ] and not looking back,
33:09
you know, not taking responsibility or accountability and not understanding the impact it has on those who follow you.
33:15
So, so I have to say, so I know you you heard that too, Mike. I know you was like, "Yeah." So, I have to say salute
33:21
to y'all for that. Thank you. Congratulations on everything. You are always welcome to come up here.
33:28
All right. Whether we in LA or New York or wherever we may be next, right? All right. Anything y'all want to say in
33:34
closing? Man, I just love y'all. Thank you for your support and keep it positive, sweeties. Keep it positive, sweeties.
33:40
Keep it positive, sweetie. Thank y'all. We love y'all. Love you, too, man. Uh, before y'all go, Zach and Fat Fatima is starting to
33:46
become has already become one of my favorite black TV couples.
33:51
Oh, man. That's right. Like, you guys are up there. You up there with the Hustables to me. Oh, man.
33:57
If you if y'all could come up with your top five favorite black TV couples, Easy for me.
34:02
Okay, it's easy for me. First thing I'm going to start with Martin and Gina Martin and Gina. Then we going to go to Dwayne and
34:09
Whitley. Okay. I like Yes. I love Then you got to do the hustles. Then you got Heath, Cliff, and Claire.
34:15
Okay. All right. Right. Where would you go next after those three? After those three. I know where I'm going to go. I'm going my wife and kids.
34:21
Okay. And Tisha Campbell. Tisha Campbell is twice on the list. People be
34:28
sleeping. I got one more too. Who's going to be twice on the list? Everybody hates Chris. I know you guys
34:35
to like come on. That that family how real it was.
34:40
Roelle wasn't playing. Come on. I got an honorable mention. Who's that? James in Florida.
34:46
Oh, okay. I I'm not I'm not going to go against that. I'm not going to go against that.
34:51
I'm not going to go against. All right. All right. Cool, man. You You guys are now officially a part of that
34:57
list. Congratulations. What an amazing accomplishment, man. Make sure y'all watch it, man. Tatima from BET Plus.
35:04
Make sure y'all support. Thank y'all for coming by. I appreciate you. All right. I'm at Real Sway across the board.
35:09
You'll be a This was live on air, but you'll be able to see it on Sways Universe. Uh make sure you go to the YouTube channel and subscribe. You guys
35:16
stay on the right side of positivity. We'll be back tomorrow, God willing.
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