[MUSIC] Today on Essence Live, Emmy-winning actress and start of HBO's The Leftovers' Regina King stops by. Plus, a Being Mary Jane hottie hits the steam room. Ladies, you can thank me a little bit later. And of course, my favorite part of each and every show, Slayed or Shade takes on a white singer who thinks he might be black. But now. Three. The December issue of Essence magazine is on newsstands now, and Naomi Harris is looking fierce. In her first Essence cover, the James Bond beauty talks breaking into Hollywood, growing up in London and her love live. Her latest film Spectre hits theatres Friday. Two. Two. Don't come for President Obama unless he sends for you. While speaking at a fundraising event in New York, POTUS shot back at GOP claims that he's weak on foreign relations. Every one of these candidates say, Obama's weak. Putin's kicking sand in his face. When I talk to Putin, [LAUGH] He's gonna straighten out. Just looking at him, I'm gonna be, he's gonna be. [LAUGH] And then, it turns out, they can't handle a bunch of CNBC moderators. [LAUGH] One. One. Hillary Clinton met with the mothers of slain teens Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin, and Jordan Davis in a private meeting in Chicago this week. The goal, to discuss criminal justice reform and how to repair the mistrust between law enforcement and minority communities. But In light of Sandra Bland, that McKinney, Texas pool party gone wrong, and now, the Spring Valley High student who was brutally assaulted by an officer for disturbing school, should black women and girls take special precautions when encountering police too? Essence Live starts now. [MUSIC] Welcome to Essence Live. We wanna hear from you. Use the hashtag Essence Live to share your thoughts on today's topics, ask some celebrity guests some questions, or just let us know what you'd like to see in an upcoming show. As I mentioned earlier the topic of police brutality has focused heavily on black men and boys. But here at Essence, we know that the issue hits home for women too. So, we hit the streets of New York City to find out how Black women are coping and what, if anything, we could do to prepare our young girls. [NOISE] My initial reaction was shock. Well, I just felt like it was very outrageous. Like blatantly how aggressive the [UNKNOWN] was. It really broke my heart. I have family in South Carolina and it saddened me. I'm accustomed to student's misbehaving in class but when I saw that I thought that the adult in charge really did not take charge of that situation. School is supposed to be somewhere where you You feel safe, your not supposed to be attacked so viciously. Well what was she doing to deserve that? And what were they doing? And sometimes there's really nothing you can do to avoid those types of situation. No matter what this child was doing it should not have gotten to the extent of the violence I seen in the video. He literally threw her across the room. I don't feel like you should've put your hands on a female like that. Especially a young female. She's not even an adult, and you're a grown man. I mean, as black people we're constantly gonna be hassled by the police. But I've never, to be honest, seen something like that in person in my life and I wouldn't even know how to react. Nowadays, considering the whole police brutality issues, I feel like just do what you have to do. But also know your rights. In order to deal with children, African American children, you have to use violence. No, this message is continued over and over again. This has to stop. More than his job should've been taken. I feel like he should've been in jail. It's disgusting, it's appalling and I'm disappointed in the police officer that took that action. People have very little respect for black women and so I felt like, that kind of reiterated that feeling and that point, you know? Thank you so much everyone who shared their opinion. And you can sound off, of course, any time using the hashtag #ESSENCELIVE. Joining me now in studio, is the beautiful and talented, Regina King.>> Hi. Welcome back. I'm so excited you're here. I'm so excited to be here. I'm so excited that you are here and thriving in all of that because the last time I saw you Was a new beginning for you. It was. And you gave me some fabulous words of encouragement. You have no idea what they meant to me. Aw, thank you. And so, I'm just fanning out. But you're just a regular, regular here. Well thank you. Well thank you very much. [UNKNOWN] flip the hair. [INAUDIBLE] But some things have happened for you since you were here last time. Congratulations on your Emmy. Thank you, thank you very much. What was that moment like for you? It was awesome. I mean the whole entire night I feel like everyone was as happy for me as I was for myself. So it was a constant non-stop celebration every step of the night. And in your speech, you thanked your son. We just watched a piece on police brutality. Have you had any conversations with your son on police brutality and maybe how to handle those difficult situations? Yeah. Absolutely. That kinda comes with the territory. Especially when you have a son. Hm-mm. A black son. But the unfortunate thing now is that those conversations are extending to our daughters, Hm-mm and It's just kind of unfortunate that those same concerns that parents were having when I was a kid, and probably before that, it's still the same conversation now. And we have camera phones, and we have all of this. Right. And we are seeing it. Live and direct and something's gotta happen. Definitely, I understand. But we're gonna change to a lighter note. Yes, we will. We will continue to talk about that. We will continue to have that conversation but now I would like to talk about the Leftovers season two. Yes. Congratulations on coming back Thank you. Now it moved from Season One was in upstate New York. Yes. Now it's in Miracle. Miracle in Jarden Texas. Jarden Texas.>> Jarden Texas y'all. So can you tell me about your role as Erica Humphrey. I play Erica Murphy. Oh excuse I apologize. Yeah,no it's okay. So for those who aren't familiar with Season one. Season one, this departure happened- Mm-hm. Where 2% of the world's population disappeared- Vanished. Mm-hm. And we meet this family, or the people in Mapleton, New Jersey- Mm.hm. And See how that effects them. And we pick up two years after season one, In a town where no one disappeared. This is the only place in the entire world where no one disappeared. And that's where my family lives, the Murphy's. And We are a family that looks picture perfect. But when you look up close, you see fractures all in that crack. All in that picture.>>All up in that picture, let's take a quick look.>> People throwing rocks through our window, you think it's because of what I do?>> That man that you beat the *** out of this morning. He thinks its because you were selling our water. No he was selling lies Then why did you kick his palm print? because I seem to recall that the only one left on the car that our daughter disappeared from. Let's just call this what it is what is it? You need to hit people because you need to hit people. You better hold him accountable!>>Man>>You are not backing down>> I know.>>Was there any hesitation about taking on two roles such as Aaliyah from American Crime, and Erica back to back cuz these are two very strong, heavy hitting>>Right>>girls back to Right, no hesitation whatsoever. I love shows that are dark, that are provocative, and Leftovers fell right in that category. Definitely falls right into that.>> So, no there was not an Hesitation at all. << Will we see you return to do any more animation of course like we talked about the Boondocks before or comedy or are we going to see you go back to << I'm sure, there just has not been the time for that right now, but I would love to. Animation is so much fun, because You don't have to go through hair and makeup. Mm-hm. [LAUGH] You don't have 5 AM calls. And you really get a chance to really be someone else. So yeah, I would love to do it again. We're gonna right now take a quick video call. We have a video question from our Essence family. Let's take a look. The Ariel from New York City. I was wondering, being a voice on The Boondocks, did you ever have reservations about the show's content or using the "N" word on the show? Oh that's a very good question. Yeah. I mean I feel like the conversation of the "N" word is one of those that, I don't think it's gonna die, you know? Right. I don't think so either. It's a way that generations express themselves. I understand people who have really strong reactions to it. Mm-hm. I totally get it both ways. Mm-hm. No, I didn't. I think Aaron McGruder is very smart. I think He uses his voice to tell social commentary in a very clever way. I feel like you can get a message across much stronger through comedy than you can being really heavy-handed with The drama. Making people think, you're making people take a step back. Yeah, yeah, exactly. So, no, there was no hesitation because of the subject matter. And you're doing a lot more directing now, behind the lens. Would you ever consider creating your own show, a la Shonda Rhimes, putting together your own franchise, your own series. Absolutely, absolutely, I mean that's, watch out. Oh! Yeah, yeah. Would it be a comedy, would it be a drama, like what? It might be a little bit of both. A little zhoosh? Yeah. Okay. You heard it here first on Essence Live. [LAUGH] So in honor of it being Throwback Thursday, we also have a Throwback Thursday question for you, this time from a viewer. Hi caller, are you on the line? Yes. Hi. What's your name and where are you from? Hi, my name is Leticia, I'm from Oklahoma City. And I'm really excited to be on the call. So. [LAUGH] Thank for you joining us. Hi Regina. Hi. [LAUGH] What's your question for Regina. Okay, so my question is, I've been watching you since your on 227 and I wanted to know if you still keep in touch with the guy who played Calvin in your [UNKNOWN] [LAUGH] Where's Calvin? [LAUGH] Where's Calvin? You know, I don't talk to him regularly, I haven't spoken with him actually in a few years. And he sent me the loveliest message, and a bouquet of flowers to Austin after I won the Emmy, and. Just really a wonderful message. Just how proud he was and telling me I'm a super star and I'm a queen and all of those wonderful things that ladies, we love to hear.>> Of course, of course.>>I pretty much have stayed in touch with most of the cast. Over the years. Sometimes a few years go by without talking to some people. But he just recently reached out. I can imagine after working day in and day out you develop a close family-like relationship with your cast. I can imagine. Oh yeah, you have all these little families along the way. Are you ready to play a little game with us? Sure,games are fun. Okay alright. So this particular game because you are a King. Regina King. We're gonna read some quotes and you have to tell me if the quote is a quote from you,a king, or if the quote was queen and by queen We mean famous, very fabulous men who are self-proclaimed queens. Okay. Are you ready? All right, I'm ready, let's go. All right. Okay, so the first one is, you better give me Grace honey, is that king or queen? Oh, that's definitely a queen. [LAUGH] Just like that is not me. And that's from Miss Lawrence, Sway in the Morning and Okay. 2013. Okay so our second quote where are all the men? << Is that's probably queen or did I say that in a movie or something? << That's you On the real earlier this year. On the real. Like, where are all the men> Oh wow. Okay, so these are real live things that I've said. I ask myself that question every weekend though. Where are all the men? Where they at? They're not calling me. Oh goodness. Alright. Wait, let me get focused. Get focused. Because I can't miss- Because you got two more. Anymore of the things that I've said. Alright. Okay. Let's go. Number three, you've got to make a way for yourself. Can't nobody do you the way you do you. The way you said it just sounds like a queen, but maybe I said it. I order my food like that at the Chinese food stop, my Starbucks, that's just like me. So, you can't pay any attention to my inflection. Did I say that? No, I didn't. Nope. Ru Paul. [LAUGH] [LAUGH] All right, see, I can see, Ru and I, yeah. We think alike in a lot of ways, that's why I got confused. I do that at Starbucks, I'm like, I'll have a double frappuccino pumpkin spice la, like, I'm into it. And what is the person that you're ordering from, are they going like this as you're I see you everyday you don't have to do that. That's what they look at, it's okay. << They probably look forward to it < That's me. That's you. [LAUGH] That from a Black Women In Hollywood event a little bit earlier this year. So, thank you so very much for stopping by. Thank you. For always just being such a great light in this space. Thank you. We greatly appreciate everything that you do for us here at ESSENCE Live. And for all the young women out there, who are watching you. I appreciate ESSENCE Live. I wouldn't be essent. I wouldn't be, Feeling myself like I do if there wasn't an Essence always on the table at my house. Thank you so very much. Please be sure to catch Regina King at The Leftovers. Not at The Leftovers, excuse me. On The Leftovers on HBO. Later on we have Christina Milian on her new music. Is she talking about Little Wayne? But up next, Being Mary Jane's cuddy buddy will hit the steam room. Stay tuned for more Essence Live. [MUSIC] [NOISE] Powerful by design. [MUSIC] I'm sorry, sorry << So what your just going to use me and leave Leave me? Welcome back to Essence Live. Joining me now in studio, a little bit of a troublemaker, but you may know him as eye candy, former NFL star and actor Thomas Jones. How are you? I'm great, thanks for having me. Thank you for coming in and causing such chaos in the Essence Live Studio. [LAUGH] [LAUGH] Hey look, that's what I do. I see that. You're stirring up quite a bit on Being Mary Jane. You're the cuddy buddy, if you will. Yeah. That Mary Jane just can't stop having sex with. So, how or what do you do to get into character for all of those scenes? I just think about the audience and the viewers, and they're watching this so it's not about me. It's not about My comfort level or discomfort level, it's about the audience and the viewers and I want to make sure that when they watch the show, this is a great show, it's Gabriel Union show it's more about the kill show. Right I want them to believe every scene. You think your ex teammates are calling you up and like Thomas really, that last scene last week, like really, do they give you a hard time? People will hit me on social media and, I think a lot of people are shocked because as a football player I really wasn't that much in the public eye. I was very low key, didn't really that much interact with the media. I didn't really interact that much with my teammates outside of the locker room. I was always pretty much by myself. So for them to see me in this way, Almost like a totally different person. Thomas Jones is a football person and then I added my middle initial Thomas Q.Jones to my acting name because I wanted to literally transform and become this actor. I think for them to see me especially during those scenes they were probably like [LAUGH] Is the same guy. So very, very fortunate. So this past week, you got caught in the act. Do you know what I mean when I say in the act? Or the action as my little card here says. So, in real life, have you ever been busted while having sex? In the act? Oh, okay. [LAUGH] Way to catch up with you, Thomas. Okay, the lightbulb finally came on. There was a dimmer. [LAUGH] There was a dimmer on the light, and you had to turn it up. [LAUGH] Don't play these games with ESSENCE Live. You know what happened. Have I ever been caught in the act? Yeah. Yeah I was home with one of my girlfriends from a while, years back,and I was at my parents house. Why's your voice dropping. He needs to be able to hear. Oh, oh sorry.>> Yes please share the story. Please share the story. And my mother, she's almost like a burglar in her own house because she never goes to sleep and she's always up doing laundry and stuff. And it was 4 AM, and I'm like oh she's sleep. And my girlfriend told me [UNKNOWN]. So you know know, whatever [MUSIC] and now your mom is traumatized. [UNKNOWN] I'm like, "Oh, god, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. No, we're just talking, we're just talking." It was a total different conversation. So now we're going to change the conversation. It's called the "Steam Room". All right Essence Live, we have now officially stepped in to the steam room. Thomas are you ready? Oh Yeah I see that you changed clothes. Yeah I changes I had [INAUDIBLE] I mean your looking good thank you, you all right okay. Got to get comfortable. All right, so are you ready for the first question? [INAUDIBLE] Yeah, let's go. All right you got to be honest, no holding back. Okay. What's the last thing you dreamed about? [BLANK_AUDIO] The last thing I dreamed about? Mm-hm. Mm. That you can tell us about. Cuz you're taking a little bit of a while there, Thomas. The last thing I dreamed about was. An audition that I have coming up on Thursday and I dreamed that I booked the role. Okay. What's something sexy you'd whisper into a woman's ear? [BLANK_AUDIO] Come here. Okay, that's a Barry White come here. You know what I'm talking about. Yeah. All right, which part of a woman's body most turns you on? [SOUND] [MUSIC] I would have to be a tie. What you mean? Legs and eyes. And notice when we ask steam room questions, your voice just like dropped tremendously. [LAUGH] I'm so relaxed, I'm in the steam room. Okay, so Mary Jane and Cutty Buddy liked to get down anywhere. Kitchens, Pools etc. what's your personal favorite place to have sex? My Personal Favorite place to have sex. [BLANK_AUDIO] The couch. Why? [BLANK_AUDIO] Because. [BLANK_AUDIO] The way you're positioned on the couch means you have to move around, which means you probably end up in different Positions. Thomas, can you let our viewers see your famous six-pack? You can go ahead and you can flex. Wink. [LAUGH] Okay. There you go. I'm in a steam room. [MUSIC] Can you work it? [LAUGH] [MUSIC] [LAUGH] Thank you for being like a sport Thomas. [LAUGH] Don't go anywhere Essence Live. We have Christina Millian coming up to stop by the studio to talk about her new P, EP and her reality show. Do you think her new songs are about that her ex boo lizzy f baby or not? Let's take a look. [MUSIC] I think you're hearing I mean just like an updated new sound of my new music. I mean I have a four-song EP that I'm dropping that's called "For You", it's four songs, four music videos, for my fans, but it's a four-page letter for The gentleman that it was all about, and just what was happening in my life at the time. Do it is featuring Lil Wayne. I guess, I suppose it's just a different sound, but it's just a different time. Rebel, well everybody's heard Rebel. Rebel is just about that chemistry, that's just fiery, it's new. It's just going and it happens. And then I've got records like the song called Liar, and it's girls are gonna feel this one. Guys have a tendency to do stuff like like, but sometimes us women are like, your heart is so wrapped up in the moment of what I was feeling. Whether it had to do with my relationships or it had to do with. Or a relationship at that time. Or had to do with just being a confident, sexy, go-getting woman that's like a go-getter. So I think a lot of women can relate to that these days. Christina Milian is back. Hey! Gotta do it my way. And her life's more turned up than ever. [INAUDIBLE] [UNKNOWN] If you like crazy, you'll love Annelian. Who's this key for real? Christina Milian Turned Up. My sisters and I were actually super into the idea. We watch reality TV in our down time. So does my mom, and that was the reason she had so much apprehension. She's heard all the rumors of oh, it could jinx our family to Oh, he's gonna let the skeletons out of the closet, and I'm like mom, what skeletons do we have in the closet? [LAUGH] Like, first off, my life is always on display. People are always, like, all my business is usually out there. And if it's not my real business, it's something that people have made up stuff about my life. Why don't we just Live our lives, and let people see what the real deal is. Cuz at the end of the day I'm not embarrassed by my life. To me, we're a great example of a family that rides together, that's passionate, we go through ups and downs, we've been through it all, and I think we're relatable. So, we really just like, there's nothing that we hid from the cameras. It was just, this is our lives. This is us. Now we're used to it, and it's definitely a turned up season. So you know it's gonna be juicy. [MUSIC] Stand out by design. [MUSIC] Welcome back to ESSENCE Live. That was a good steam room wasn't it? Mm-hm. Today's show has been jam-packed. It's hard to believe we have more room but, of course, we do. It's time for Slayed or Shade. Let's find out who is joining us today. Joining us for the first from Beats One on Apple Music. Welcome Low Key. How you doing? Thank you for joining us. Thank you very much for having me. Are you ready for slayed or shade? Yeah let's get going. Ready to get going? Yes I am. Okay let's get it going. Another slayed or shade movie, writer and comedian, Bob DeCarlo.How are you? I'm great, how are you. I'm fabulous, thank you for joining us on Essence Live- Thank you for having me. I bring you some jus jus panel. Here we go, here we go- Welcome, welcome. And of course Slayed or Shade troublemaker Tony Anderson is back [LAUGHS]. Hey Tony. Hey Dana How are you? How you doing? I'm fabulous. [LAUGH] Alright, so at home panelists, please use #essencelive and let us know what you're thinking. So, let's get started. Singer Tom Jones is seeking a DNA test to determine if he has any African ancestry. His inquiry into his lineage is twofold. One, out of his own curiosity and two, long standing speculation by fans. Jones has said he is often mistaken for being black Partly because of his baritone voice and thick, black, curly hair. Apparently that's all you need these days. All right, so, what say you? Slayed or shade? One, two, three. Shade, slay, slay, okay. All right Loki, let's start with you. Why shade? Why wait this long to figure out, [LAUGH] If you're black. I don't understand that. And then I Feel like him and Rachel Dolezal had a conversation [LAUGH] which made him be like. She was like, listen this black thing is pretty, pretty fun. you should try it. It's pretty cool. It's pretty cool, you should try it out. You should do it. Yeah, it's unusual. Hashtag BlameRachel? Yes, yes. Very unusual. Von? You had a slayed right? Well I want to slay Tom, get your DNA on. I mean do you. I think he took, The compliment from us black folk that he might, you know got a little soul in him and I don't mind you finding out the real truth, but if you do find out you don;t have any Black in you, don;t do a [INAUDIBLE] [CROSSTALK] So on. [CROSSTALK] Just let it go, be you, do you. But I don't think it's anything wrong with finding out where you get all that soul from. [INAUDIBLE] Okay. She's like [INAUDIBLE] Sure enough. Tony? Well I think He said sure enough. I think he slayed I think he needs to find out where he is. Where is ancestry is from in Africa. I think that Tom jones needs to take Raven Simone so she can figure out where in Africa she is from. I knew you were going there. [LAUGH] I think it's a great thing that if Having dark hair and being soulful makes you black, then I guess Robin Thicke is blacker than I am. So I have no clue what my man, Tom, was thinking, but I think it's a good thing. Maybe more people will go get encouraged to To find out where they're from. Tony, you still all minty. Don't feel no kinda way you all minty. [LAUGH] Let's see what y'all are saying on social media. It looks like Brittany Johnson is giving this topic a slashade. She says, slay for trying to know his genetic history. Shade depending on what he does with the information. Okay, Vaughn. So a little bit more in line with what you were saying. Thank you Brittany for chiming in. Next up, a trailer for Spike Lee's much anticipated and controversial new film, Chi-Raq. Was released earlier this week. The trailer focuses on gun violence in Chicago and portrays a fictional movement led by women of color to deprive men of sex if they continue to engage in the gun violence. The film features a star studded cast. Samuel L. Jackson, Tiana Paris, Nick Cannon, Angela Bassett and Dave Chappelle just to name a few. The trailer had Twitter abuzz with mixed reviews. Some tweeting that the film is too cheesy, lacks originality and rawness and is too Hollywood. Nonetheless the film is set to be released on Dec 4, based on the trailer what are your thoughts? Slayed or Shade. Oh wait, wait, we have a slshade and two shades. Okay, Yvonne why the slshade? I'm gonna slshade it because It looks like it could possibly be another good Spike Lee joint. Okay. And you can't really hate on nothing that Nick Cannon is in. [LAUGH] I mean, let's be serious, all right? And I saw Angela Bassett in it. Right. Right. Anything she's in kinda makes it an automatic black classy. Mm-hm. Mm-hm. So I'm gonna give it a slay for that. Okay. But I'm gonna shade the marketing tools, because it It's portraying the idea in its marketing that it's supposed to be about what's going on in Chicago, which is a very serious matter so maybe it should have been a documentary in that aspect. Okay. So I gotta, like, shade out the whole marketing tool. You just wish it was delivered in a different way. Yeah, if it was delivered differently, I think people wouldn't be so mad. Okay, all right, Tony. Absolute shade. We are coming off of a summer- Okay. Where we saw Straight Out of Compton, that trailor. Watching Straight Out of Compton's trailor and then watching Chi-Raq was like watching Beyonce perform And then watching little mama. Oh! Woah. Major. Major shade. That's how it was. I like little mama. That's how it was, yo. To sausage. That it was. Listen, let me tell you something. I Love Spike. Malcolm X, probably the greatest film I have ever seen. School Days, did a great job in breaking down light skin and dark skin issues, fraternities and sororities having the message and yet still be entertaining Do the right thing, so many cult classics. This is just a trailer but it made no sense. It made it look like somehow women are responsible for the violence that's going on in Chicago. I'm just saying. I disagree with you.>> Just that Then the biggest epic fail was having Nick Cannon come off as a gangster from Chicago. Tony, you have a lot going on. It's too much. There's a lot going on in that chair. Wait, let me get your opinion, [UNKNOWN]. In a more serious note, I believe what's going on in Chicago is not to be mocked. It's not to be made fun of. This is the wrong way to shed light on a situation That's been really just bringing that city down. Huh. And the fact they call it Chi-Raq makes a lot of people upset, especially people from that city. And that's unacceptable to me. Okay, All right, well we're gonna go ahead and move right along. Former prison guard Jeffrey Felix, who befriended OJ Simpson while locked up, is writing a book about the football legend. The book is set to detail several private conversations between Felix and Simpson, including Simpson allegedly fathering Khole Kardashian being upset that Cuba Gooding Jr is playing him in FX's American Crime Story. The People v. O.J. Simpson. Simpson told Felix, just call me Matt because people are always stepping on me and giving me nothing. All right, what do y'all say panel? Slayed or shade? Slayed or shade? Oh, shade. shade, shade, all right, Tony, make it snappy. Why the shade? So this is O.J.'s supposed friend, a guy who befriended him while he was in Was in prison, and he took that and sold all of his secrets. Okay. That's kinda shady to me. That's shady to you. Low-key? O.J., just, you know, let it go. I think I better let it go. Can I second that? No. [LAUGH] Alright Vaughn I'm gonna give you the final word. I don't think O.J. should let it go and I think it is very shady of his friend to do that.He should absolutely make money of off O.J.Simpson Simpson off of his own name and likeness. He was not found guilty 150,000 years ago, but he still has to keep paying over and over, and they got it right with that title cuz it's been The People vs.O.J. It has definitely been Cut it out. Well thank all of you so much. Thank you. For joining us on Slayed or Shade. Even you Tony, [LAUGH] Thank you so much. [INAUDIBLE] you're welcome back any time, Low Key, welcome back any time. Well thank you very much. I had a great time. [CROSSTALK] Thanks to all of today's guests and of course our wonderful viewers. Streaming this maybe from work. I don't know, just saying. I'm your host, Dana Blair, and I'll see you here next Thursday on Essence Live. [MUSIC]