Latest / Reality: We've got thoughts / Earle Meets World Ep 3: Drunk Text, Firing a Friend & Making Mom Mad

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Earle Meets World Ep 3: Drunk Text, Firing a Friend & Making Mom Mad · Reality: We've got thoughts

• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: We're back for episode three of Earl Meets World.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: This episode, they're in Aspen for the Palm Tree Festival.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: And it just the show just really keeps getting better and better.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: So the last one ended with Alex seeing Braxton at the festival and waking up to realize she texted him at 4 30 in the morning.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: And that was just crazy because I think we've all been there and we know what it's like to have sent a text like that.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: But I kind of like the way they started the episode where they started off with that and then they kind of rewind.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_01: They rewind 24 hours earlier.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: So she also immediately mentions the possibility that Braxton is going to be an aspen.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: So you kind of know that, you know, obviously you already know that from her saying that she um she's nervous that she's gonna run into him and how that's gonna be and how she's gonna act and react.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: And again, like it jumps right into it.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: They're on this family trip, they're in this rental house, like TJ's cooking, they're all talking, and then it's kind of funny because they start talking about, you know, Riz or whatever, and it's so typical because I was right there along with them when they're trying to get the kids to explain what Riz is.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_01: And they're like, Do you have Riz?
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: They're saying, Does that is dad cool?
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: Does dad have Riz?
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: And then I thought it was really cute how they asked the girls if Thomas had Riz.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: And they both were like, Yeah, no.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: Typical Thomas has Riz.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: He's the coolest kid.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: Typical, typical siblings.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: But Thomas also brings up that he's been texting Braxton and Braxton's been ignoring him.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: And it's kind of a rolls into an interesting conversation about, and TJ comments, he said, look, Braxton can hate all of us, but he can't hate Thomas.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and the thing is, is I did see something this week where Braxton has come out and said that that is not true.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I wanted to delve deeper into that.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: How do you think Braxton should react?
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, he's a little kid.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: I you Braxton should just he was reaching out to tell him like happy holidays or Merry Christmas or whatever.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, Braxton should definitely respond.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: But um, so it makes you wonder, like, and then why would Braxton lie about it now?
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_01: So, I mean, we do think the show is authentic, but it's still a TV show, so it does make you wonder if they told Thomas to say that.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: I would hope not.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_01: But maybe more will come on that.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: But Braxton claims it's not true.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe he really didn't respond to him, but it breakups are hard, they're weird.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: Like, how do you know when to cut everything off?
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: And do you just cold cut everything, or do you still leave those little doors open with the little brother or the mom and dad?
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, it's tricky.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's it's it is hard.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: So that was interesting.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: So are you team Braxton or team TJ on this one?
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_01: I've I I have an affinity for Braxton.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: I the little that I knew of Alex Earl was listening to the podcast sometimes with my daughter Sydney, back when she even, I guess, wasn't telling his name and referring to him as NFL man and all that stuff.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_01: And then, of course, I grew up a Dolphins fan, so of course I love him because he played for the Dolphins.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: So I I don't know.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: I just uh I've the jury is out with that.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and it's clear that Alex still has feelings for him because she, every time she talks about him, she gets really emotional.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and you could see that because these breakups don't just happen.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: And later on in the episode, she, you know, she talks about that, about how even though she feels like this was the best decision for the long term, it's not like she can just turn that off immediately.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um so on this trip, there ends up being another issue because apparently they didn't have the mother come.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_01: Alyssa did not come on the trip, and I think there was actually something where she was like invited, but not invited, and there wasn't really the accommodations, they weren't all gonna stay in the house together.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: So And the girls even comment um that they miss their mom and they wish she was there.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: Like it just feels weird not having her around.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: Mm-hmm.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_01: I think that um that definitely this brings up the whole like weird family dynamic that as close as they are, it's not easy to always be included in every single thing.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: There still has there there still are some boundaries and some separations.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: And they mentioned that apparently TJ didn't want Todd and Alyssa staying in the same house as so oh yeah, because also we're still dealing with from the last episode where they haven't really resolved the issue of TJ making inappropriate comments.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: So I definitely think um, but really do you have to take every vacation together?
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_01: No, I I think that that would be really hard.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: I think that would be uh, you know, there has to be those the the separation with that.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um but the other thing, going back to Braxton, that she brings up, that Alex also brings up when she's kind of talking about how hard it is, is that they broke up over the phone.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: So they never really had that full closure.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and because I guess Alex says that she asked him about coming, and then once the breakup happened, he didn't want her to come, which I guess I understand.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it makes sense.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: Well, he was clearly hurting too.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's not it's not easy.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: And then so then she has more crying.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: You know, there's a lot of she's crying again, um, you know, for that.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: And she talks about how it's hard that there's a lot of online support where people think that they um they want them to get back together, and this is harder on them than it is on Alex and Braxton because they've been following along and are so emotionally invested in all of this.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: And we do, don't we?
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_01: Because we see these people and you watch them and you and when you're you know rooting for a couple, that is that is hard.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: So then that starts where we get back into this whole thing where Ashley is pushing the dating thing.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: And um she's talking to both Alex and Ashton and how they need to be dating and not spending all their time with girlfriends that they need to be dating, and it's weird.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: The whole conversation to me was just kind of weird.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, because she and Ashton even brings it up how she's like, it's kind of like she's like, Well, date, but don't date, but be in a relationship, but don't get too serious, but go enjoy yourself.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: And then Ashley even brought up the comment um about how you know she was just dating and she was so tired of dating because all men cheat and they're all jerks, and that's why she got into escorting because she wanted to do something without emotion because all guys cheated.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: Which is crazy.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: So weird.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: It's so weird.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, it's like we have to talk about rewinding.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: We have to rewind back to 2008 when she got herself into that situation.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, really the timeline is, you know, when everyone found out that um Elliot Spitzer, you know, he resigned in March of 2008 as the governor of New York because it was found out that he had been with an escort.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: And then um they that's when they apparently around that same time, that's when the reports broke identifying Ashley when she was Ashley Dupree, because she used an alias.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if you read that, that she used an alias, Kristen, in her escort business.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_01: So this literally was in federal court affidavits, like basically outing her and saying that it was Ashley Dupree.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_01: So then you go from March when this all comes out, and she goes apparently through the whole summer back then, and in November of um, November of 2008 is when Ashley actually did an interview, a major television interview with Diane Sawyer on 2020 about the incident.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and you know, they're saying, like, how did somebody who's in her situation, like, you know, middle class, what girl from New Jersey, apparently her stepfather was an oral surgeon and and all this stuff.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_01: And actually, that's her last name, Dupree, came from him.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: That was not her biological father's name.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_01: She um she changed her name.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: So I feel like a lot of this stuff starts to delve into like why she is how she is today.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: I agree, I agree.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: There's there's a book out there somewhere that was written by a f a former escort that actually worked with Ashley, and there's two chapters supposedly in this book that dedicate specifically just to Ashley and talk about it.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: So we might have to.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we need to we need to check that up.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_01: We need to check that out.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: And um, yeah, because when she um in this interview, apparently she even said um that she changed her name because she wanted a new name.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: She said, I've been searching for so long for that identity of who I am.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_01: She said that in high school she was an honor student, worked in a restaurant, and she said she never really socialized and went to any of the parties.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, she's saying she was popular, but at the same time she was saying she was always looking for something.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_01: So when you think about what's going on with her now, it really does go back to some of these decisions and things that she did.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_01: Now I feel like she's searching for fame.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: Mm-hmm.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: For lack of a better word, purpose and um I don't even know the right word that I'm looking for.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because she said even back in the interview, she said that she was looking for validation in men and all that.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_01: So same thing that maybe that's what you were thinking.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_01: Which is what she wants now.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, just like you and I saw that post, just she just posted that TikTok with the which she looks great.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like I guess she should post whatever she wants, which we're gonna talk about that because that becomes a big topic.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_01: But um, but it is interesting looking back and also pointing out that she was 23 years old when all that happened.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: Which is how old the girls are now.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and Ashton kept arguing.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: She was like, What's wrong with being independent?
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: Why do I have to have a boy to make me happy?
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: What's wrong with being independent?
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: And Ashley just keeps pushing and pushing for her to be dating and to be out there, and she's like, nothing Ashley says there's nothing wrong with going out and playing the field.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: But if that's not what Ashton wants to play the field, yeah, it's just weird that she's pushing it on her so hard.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it says more about Ashley than it says about anything.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and that's when you really go back into figuring out.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: So do you think, does this like knowing all this, and as people get to know her, does this make Ashley more likable, less likable?
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: Do you feel sorry for her?
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: Or do you just kind of understand why she's the way she is?
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_01: What do you think?
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: I think you see a little bit of why she's the way she is, but she's also supposed to be somewhat of a um authority figure to these girls, and she's trying to be more of their friend and just push them to to be one of the fun girls, and it's just it's just a weird dynamic to me.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's hard.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_01: Because think about it.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_01: She is only, I hate age math, but she's only like 16 years older than Alex.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: So it's, you know, it's it's definitely uh gotta be an interesting, uh interesting dynamic.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, one thing that I think about with Ashley again going back to these, you know, circumstances she put herself in, she made bad decisions, but hey, uh she was young, you know, whatever it was a bad decision.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: She's actually pretty lucky her life turned out as well as it did.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_01: Because you think about the turn it could have taken, especially since it was not only think about it, it's bad enough if you make these decisions and you live the life that she lived, but the fact that it was major news and it makes me curious as to how she and TJ met.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: Did they meet through her escort business?
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: Was she one of TJ's escorts?
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: Because he was married at the time.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, did they just by happenstance?
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: He he said they met in a bar.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: Hmm.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: So that'll be yes, I wonder.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_01: And again, I feel like so much more attention's gonna come to this now that the show is out and getting and getting popular.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_01: So I do love that Ashley, she's putting herself out there, like you said, I think she's probably loves being on the show.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: She's probably loving this, and she's good.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: She's a great reality TV character, any way you look at it.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_01: So in this episode, I want to know how you feel about when she brings up the Dumois post.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_01: You know, they're getting ready to go out, so they're all at the house, they're getting dressed.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: Alex seems like she's in a very good mood, they're ready to go out.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: So, why does Ashley bring this up then?
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like, was this the worst timing ever?
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: That she comes downstairs, they're literally getting ready to walk out the door, and Ashley's like, Did you see the Dumois post?
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's like she's trying to stir up drama.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: She's trying to make um herself the center of attention because she's bringing this big issue out to light.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: Really?
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_01: And think about like, I always say, like, what was her purpose?
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_01: Like, did she have to tell her that right now when they're getting ready for a night out?
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: And really all it was, it was a picture of Braxton out talking to another girl.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: Olivia Jade, right?
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: I guess I don't even know.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: Who is that?
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: Olivia Jade.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: Don't you remember Olivia Jade?
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, there was a big scandal behind her parents paying for her admission into Stanford.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, is that Mossimo?
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's um that's Aunt Um.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_01: Full House.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_01: That's Becky.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_01: That's Aunt Becky's daughter.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my God, talk about full circle, no pun intended, full house.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um oh, okay, now I know who that is.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: These girls get around.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: It brings this whole issue up that look, here's Braxton out with Olivia Jade.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: They're canoodling, and but really the picture that it shows, he's standing in front of her.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: He's not touching her at all.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: He's just standing in there having this conversation.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: So it was unnecessary drama to be brought up, especially when Alex is on edge to begin with, knowing she's probably gonna run into him.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_00: I just think that's hilarious.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: Dumois is so funny.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_01: I wonder how much money that person makes.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, they um, you know, sidebar on that.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_01: Think about it.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of the stuff that they posted on their think it's all stuff that gets sent to them by people, and then they put the blind thing, or sometimes they'll say a so-and-so star.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, Jeff Lewis actually went, they have a podcast, Du Dumois, and um anyway, it's just crazy.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_01: That's a whole other thing that uh that we could delve into, but that's that's pretty funny.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_01: So I just don't know.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: The one thing, too, when this happens, again, back to these little siblings who are the stars who I love, is it so cute when and I'm so bad, I gotta learn how to tell Penelope and Isabelle apart.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_01: But one of them goes up behind um Alex and hugs her when Alex looks upset, like when she's sitting there in her cute fur coat, getting ready to go out, and Ashley brings up the Dumois post.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_01: And it's so cute.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's just cute how she's comforting her because she recognizes that she's sad and that and that I think she recognized that it was totally uncalled for to even bring it up.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_01: It was really bad timing.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_01: If she wanted to show it to her at some point, or she probably would have seen it.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I just used to always tell my kids that sometimes it's like, why tell somebody something?
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what's your purpose?
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_01: Is it gonna, you know, she maybe obviously she would have seen it at some point.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and I feel like Alex handled it well.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: She had a really level head about it, and she goes, Look, they're just talking.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: Like there's nothing to it.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: When inside, she was probably just tearing it, tearing up inside, wondering what's going on.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: But she handled it really well, I thought, and very maturely.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, she really did.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_01: Because nobody wants to see that when you just broke up with your boyfriend.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_01: And um and she's like, I'm fine, let's go.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: So then they all leave and they go to this party.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: What do you think about Ashley and TJ being at the party with them and partying with the girls?
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: Because it looked to me like it was quite a bit younger crowd at the party.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_01: So it's funny you say that because late there's been a few situations over the last couple years where, especially once your kids go to college and stuff, and you're and I just I don't have the energy for this.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_01: I know that um, you know, TJ's about my age, she's younger, and obviously they're doing it for the show, but I just don't know about this being older and being in these parties.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_00: And as a parent, I don't want to sit back and watch my kid drinking to death for the night.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: I really don't want to observe that.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_00: Let him go out and have fun, but I don't need to be there hovering the whole time.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that was that's definitely interesting.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_01: I I agree.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_01: And they see Braxton out.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, and then what makes it worse, so like you said, not only are the parents out, but then they do end up seeing Braxton.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_01: And then TJ's hanging out with him.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_01: They say, and then remember she said there were like somebody was either they were making TikToks together.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_01: Apparently, Alex was literally looking like he said that she saw TikToks with Braxton and TJ.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_01: Like partying.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: She's like, whatever happens, we're having fun tonight.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just not gonna worry about it.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just gonna enjoy myself.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: But why would TJ feel the need to even go over and talk to Braxton?
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_01: I know, right?
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, so this is interesting because it reminds me I was in a situation lately with an adult friend whose boyfriend had just broke up with them, and I'm like hearing this.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm at this event, and the friend tells me, like, oh, just by the way, we're broken up.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: And then the the guy comes like walking over to us, and I can see him, and my eye, she said, my eyes got big.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_01: And I didn't know that was literally the first time they had talked to each other in person since the breakup.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, suddenly it transported me back to like high school or college.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_01: But I hope everything works out with that.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_01: But I it just reminded me of poor Alex, like um, you know, having that having that happen.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but then how about that Alex went up?
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_01: She did get up the nerve, and she we don't see it on camera because I think Braxton pretty much is part of it.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: Rashman's put the kibosh on any filming with him involved in it, which I don't blame him.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: I would too.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_01: I don't blame him, but I wish he would be like, I want to see it.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: I know.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_01: I don't blame him at all.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_01: But what do you think?
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_01: So she does get up the nerve to to go up there.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: Which she should.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, just because you're broken up doesn't mean you can't have civil conversations with each other.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_01: Especially, like you said, like or like we were talking about the fact that the breakup ended up happening um on the phone.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_01: On the phone.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_01: So she finally gets to see him.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_01: And it's kind of sad when she's telling the story back and she's saying that he, you know, she's trying to just tell her real feelings to him.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I guess you can't blame him.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_01: Apparently, he was saying, like, I told you not to break up with me.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, she was saying it's hard, and she said he was being very standoffish.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_01: So she finally just walked away and then went and had the rest of the night.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, and then went and texted him at at 4 a.m.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: At 4 a.m.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: And then it kind of fast forwards back to them laying in bed, discussing her texting him at 4 a.m.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: And then he texts her back.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: And she just starts freaking out, which it's sh it it still to me just shows that she cares so much still.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: She wants she wants the approval of Braxton and that she did the right thing and and she's still really struggling internally with all of that.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm sure it's I'm sure it's hard.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_01: They all go crazy and um, you know, it's funny.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: And really her text to him was fine.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_00: It just said, off camera, can we, if you have time to have a discussion, can we talk?
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: So it was very, it was Yeah, because when he they on the phone really quick and then he um then or something on the thing, you know, and he's saying that everything seems to be on camera these days or whatever.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_01: So we'd love to know what actually happened and when they actually talked and all of that.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um oh, did you notice?
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_01: Talk about, you know, we keep bringing up the Kardashians.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_01: Did you notice that Ashley had on a North Face?
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_01: It was the Skims North Face brand.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't notice that.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_01: It was the collab, her outfit, which it was cute.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_01: But um, oh, I did find out, I did not know when we did the previous episodes, it is actually the same company.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_01: It is actually the same, it's called like Fullwell or something.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not saying it wrong.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_01: It's the same production company that does the Kardashians for Hulu is doing the show.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_01: So that kind of makes sense as far as some of the similarities in the new um Kardashians, not the old, it's the company that's doing the new Hulu.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_01: And the way they're filming it all.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: So that's just a little interesting tidbit.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so then in the scene, they're, you know, again, they're the kids, they're kind of showing the family and the family dynamic.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, Isabella's making the brownies and all that.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's like the typical, and having being a mom, you could just totally see this happening in your house where um Isabelle's putting the makeup on with Ashton, and then Penelope goes up behind her and hits her and all that.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: Like And I thought it was so cute.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: Isabelle's in there putting on her makeup with Ashton and they're just having this cute little conversation.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_00: You could tell that she just adores her older sister and wants to be like her and is trying to mimic her and the way she's doing her makeup and everything.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_00: I thought it was really cute.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_01: It's one of my favorite things about the show is that they do seem to have those genuine relationships, good dynamic.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_01: They're close with the younger siblings because that's not always easy when there's a big age difference or blended families, and it is very, very cute.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and that and then it's funny when Isabel's going, well, I know everything.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_01: I've you know, I've known, I know about this going on and that going on.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I've definitely had those situations in my house a million times, having two daughters where they love each other and then they fight, and then they, you know, and and all of that.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_00: So then comes they start talking about the Sally, that it's gonna be time for TJ brings up Sally again, and if if um Alex has talked to Sally about all the Snapchat stuff and everything, and then it finally comes time that she has to have that conversation with her.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_01: And Ashton, and you know, and Ashton is saying to Isabel, I would throw up if someone fired me right now.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: And Isabel says to her, You don't have a job.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_00: I just love the little jabs.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_00: I love that the like I said.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_00: It's like typical sibling jabs.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_01: I love that the kids are they're just not afraid to go in on Ashton.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_01: The little ones go in on them.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um so the Alex free if she Alex says, Okay, I gotta confront this because she knows she's not gonna see Sally for a while.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_01: So how did you think that went when she actually had to let her know?
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_00: Like I feel like Sally saw it coming.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like Sally took it really well.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_00: It it's not like the look on her face wasn't shocked.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_00: She wasn't completely shocked that she was getting fired per se.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so I think she saw it coming.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_00: I think they both probably recognized that it wasn't working out.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think so.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that they, you know, both were saying, like Alex said, it's gonna be better just to be friends and not have work involved.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um well, and I can see that.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: I would I can see where maybe Sally got into it and it was way more than she ever anticipated, but she didn't quite know how to broach it with Alex and to get out.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: Like she was stuck.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: So I I think in some ways it was probably a relief to Sally.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: And she'll have other stuff to do, especially now with the show because I did go follow her, but I forget how many followers she has, but I'm sure she has plenty of followers.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_01: She'll get a ton more from the show.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_01: She'll have endorsements.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sure she could probably make plenty of money off of that.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_01: She'll be she'll be fine.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and she was in the workforce before.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_00: So she'll she'll she'll figure it out.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_01: I can relate to that.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_01: Working with, like we were talking about, working with your friends is not easy, working with your family is not easy.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_01: I work with my husband, luckily, not full-time anymore.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_01: But it's not it's good, it there's good and bad because just like Alex was saying, you can trust them.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_01: She's already working with family members.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_01: She got her dad as her manager, she and Ashton do stuff together.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_01: So it's probably best that she and Sally just keep the friendship thing.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_01: I agree.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_01: So then they start going in and talking about Isabella, who is 13, right?
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_01: Did they say she's 13?
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe by now she's 14 from when they filmed.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_01: So she's doing TikToks and influencing.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I obviously she's, you know, using her older sisters as inspiration and role models.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_01: So how do you think that's going?
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's hard at that age because she wants to be so grown up, but she's still a child.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think it's tricky to navigate that and help her through it in the right way.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_01: Because you won't want her to feel that pressure.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_01: You want her to be able to grow up and figure out what she wants to share, what she doesn't want to share.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and there's so much pressure online from negative people.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's so easy for the keyboard warriors to get out there and be so mean and vindictive.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_00: And for a young child who's still developing that frontal lobe, it's it's hard to process and even figure out how to handle some of that negativity.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's just like Alex was saying, it is not normal to be under such a microscope at their age.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_01: So they are encouraging them to like be smart and not let people take advantage of them because obviously Alex feels like she had to learn some hard lessons again, um, which in turn they end up bringing up the Alex Cooper thing again, which I think we see in the show, they keep bringing it up and then they don't really, you know, it'll it'll get they keep teasing about it.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_01: Just a little bit.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um in this essence, I mean, this in this ex this circumstance, if I could spit it out, when they talk about it, it's a lot about Ashley's perspective.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_01: And I guess apparently it seems like in the timeline of Ashley's life, the Alex Cooper interview is when this all really became like front and center again because Alex Earl was becoming popular.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_01: And I even remember Sydney telling me back then, like, oh, guess who her stepmother is?
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_01: So that kind of brought that all up again.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_00: See, I didn't catch that.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_01: So Ashley was saying how it was embarrassing.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_01: She said that um when the Alex Cooper interview came out, she was reliving the trauma of everything that she had been through.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_01: She said that it was very embarrassing to her.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so that that was definitely, you know, kind of put that together for me that this was kind of like it all happened in 08, and then it probably died down and nobody cared, and there was this stuff, and then it all came back out.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_01: But she also said that they really had not dealt with it as a family, that she hadn't really talked, ever talked that much to Alexander's.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_00: The younger girls were very privy to all of it and they'd had lots of conversations, but the two older girls had not had many conversations with her.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_01: So then when the younger kids also, again, these younger kids seem so wise, they um also talk about um don't not listening to the comments.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, she they they talk about the fact the younger kids are saying to them, to Alex, well, you and Ashton, and maybe even mom, meaning Ashley mom, you guys listen too much to the negative comments and they're saying, Don't let it affect you.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_01: Like I think she was so cute and wise.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_00: For Penelope Penelope to be so um observant of that.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was really cute.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_01: So then that all leads into them being at the festival, and then um, what do you think when Alex and Ashley were able to sit down and have that conversation between the two of them?
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_01: Because, like they said, they hadn't talked about a lot of these things.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like conversations between the two of them are um slightly one-sided.
• 28:47
  unknown: Hmm.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like um they're they're gonna have a really hard time meeting in the middle because Ashley is very headstrong, and I feel like Ashley thinks things should be her way, and she's trying to bring Alex into thinking the same way she thinks, and Alex is a very different personality than Ashley.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and and can anything change the way she feels?
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_01: Like when Ashley's saying, oh, there's a lot of like unresolved and unspoken stuff between us, um, because we, you know, they don't have the open discussions.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_01: And Ashley even says that she feels like the girls have never been in her corner.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_01: She feels like they throw her under the bus.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_01: But I just think that might be hard to change.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's just immaturity on Ashley's part.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I mean, you know your kids are gonna argue with you growing up, they're not always gonna agree with you.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_00: That's just part of parenting.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and it's funny you bring up the immaturity thing because remember, that's exactly what Alex said.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_01: Alex said that she felt over the years like a lot of times they had to be even more mature than Ashley.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_01: They're the ones that are the the kids.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_01: And that even after the Alex Cooper interview, they she said that they stopped the family group chat, they they didn't talk for what'd she say, three months, and they all had to go to therapy.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_01: Which probably wasn't a bad thing because it was so many years after everything had happened and they hadn't really processed through it.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_01: So that's 17 years.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_01: Like they've been in, you know, Ashley's been in their lives for 17 years.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I think Ashley is failing to recognize that she's part of the reason they have all this drama.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly, exactly.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what I, you know, when Ashley says like um she feels like she's done a lot for the family and been through a lot, I agree.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_01: But it goes back to the thing that I was saying.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_01: She has been through a lot, and there's part of this character when it comes to her being a reality character that you can have some empathy for her.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_01: But at the end of the day, she does have to take responsibility for her decisions, for her actions.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_01: She decided to be an escort, she decided to have an affair, she had an affair.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_01: She was a homewrecker.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_01: She, you know, was a homewrecker, and who knows whether TJ and Alyssa would have ever stayed together or I mean, we don't even know if this was the only infidelity.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_01: But he has stayed with Ashley a long time.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_01: But I think she's pretty lucky that her life actually turned out as good as it has.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_01: I agree.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because she's got three great kids.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_01: She's obviously, you know, whatever, and but um she was young, I'll give her that.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_01: Like we all do some level of stupidity when we're young.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um but but she does have to take responsibility.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_01: But Alex, I d I I do think Alex probably wants to be closer with her, especially now being an adult, and because it is the mom of her three siblings that she obviously has a good relationship with.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_00: So I think all of them want to have a closer relationship when push comes to shove.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's just figuring out how to get there.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like any family.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_01: And that is probably a good thing about like there's good and bad of reality.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I did see Alex on an interview saying that obviously when they watch the show back and see what they said about each other, it opened up other issues.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_01: But in general, it did probably help them get closer from the standpoint of hitting some of the stuff head-on that maybe they wouldn't have.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_00: Mm-hmm.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_00: And and well, the realtor, um, her mom's on Real Housewives, and they were asking her, or is that in our next episode?
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_00: That might even be in our next episode.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, that might be episode four.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_00: But that's okay.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, but exactly.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_00: Like they open up doors of conversation that probably would have never been opened before, but then it also when they are watching it back.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_00: I've seen an interview with Alex saying, you know, we all we got a lot of stuff out there, but now that everybody's watched it, nobody's talking to each other again.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and that's always a recurring thing in reality TV, just like with the housewives or anything else, is like you live it while you're filming it, then when then you film the confessional.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_01: Like I've heard so I've heard reality stars say it's like you're filming it and you're going through it.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_01: Then however period of time, and then you're filming the confessionals and you're reliving it.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_01: Then the episodes come out, and then the reunion.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_01: So that I think is what makes it so so crazy.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_01: So the other thing in this episode, it did seem like this was being a little bit of a hard time for Alyssa, right?
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_01: We already talked about how Alyssa didn't go on the trip, and then now that they're back from the trip, they do talk to her, and um and she was mad.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_01: You know, she was she feelings were hurt.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_01: She was saying she was done with the show when they call her and she hangs up because of the trip and all that, and she says, you know, I want to spend real time with my daughters when they call me in private.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I get that.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_01: And that's where filming, especially for someone like Alyssa who hasn't been as much front and center in any public life, maybe at this point was when the filming was taking a bit of a toll.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_00: And she just felt like every moment that she actually had with her girls was on camera.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_00: And it wasn't quite as I mean, it was authentic, but not how she wanted it.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_01: So that was a tough, and you think about it, was she even in this entire episode?
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_01: She wasn't in Alyssa, except on the phone calls.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_01: So this was definitely a weird time.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_01: She was probably feeling left out.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_01: I think the stuff the sequential thing, like the stuff that happened at the other dinner.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I think that was hard.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_01: So it's funny.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_01: So the episode basically ends with um with Alex.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_01: I thought it was funny.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_01: She was like, okay, I drunk texted my ex, I fired my best friend, and my mom's not talking to me.
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_00: Life is good, right?
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_01: So that basically sums up the episode.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_01: Anyway, it was good.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was a good one.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_01: So we'll stay tuned.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_00: Stay tuned.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_00: We have more.