The Morning Show (2019) s04e05 Episode Script

1
["NEMESIS" PLAYING]
[MUSIC ENDS]
[RIZO] Just a hit of you
will make me fly and soar ♪
Without a clue and dive
into the great divide ♪
And not care if I
come back black or blue ♪
A hit of you ♪
One taste of you ♪
The air up here ♪
Is sweeter with you ♪
I feel the sun come through ♪
And then I fall ♪
Then I fall ♪
- [PEOPLE APPLAUDING, CHEERING]
- [SONGS ENDS]
[BOTH CHUCKLE]
- [BRADLEY] That was awesome.
- [RIZO] Thank you.
- We'll be back in a bit.
- [BRADLEY] You're actually
a very good dancer.
[CORY] Hey.
Ballroom lessons when
I was in middle school.
- Wow.
- Paid off.
I think my mom wanted me to join
a country club or burn one down.
- Oh, really?
- Yeah.
- Where'd you land with that?
- Haven't yet.
Though I did try to set
my dad's car on fire once.
- [LAUGHS] What?
- [LAUGHS]
I thought I was the fuckup
in this relationship.
Oh, Bradley, there's a lot
you don't know about me.
So, tell me, what else should I know?
Well, I'm unemployed.
- Oh.
- Mmm.
And, um, I've never been married.
[SIGHS] That's hot.
- Is it?
- [SNICKERS]
I got soft-canceled
a little while back.
You're turning me on.
- Well, wait till you hear this.
- [WHISPERING] What?
I'm emotionally tied to my
mother in a way you're gonna love.
- Stop. You make me crazy.
- Mm-hmm.
And I have half a movie.
And locations in Big Sur if I
ever get to make the other half.
Oh.
Wait, do you have any pictures of it?
- Yeah.
- I'd love to see.
Okay.
- Okay.
- Mmm.
Just swipe right.
Oh, my gosh. That's beautiful.
I know, right? And look
at the rocks over there.
- [BRADLEY] And that beach. Um
- Yeah.
- Do you think I could get another drink?
- Of course.
Another Merlot?
I'll have a Negroni.
- Negroni. Okay.
- Switch it up.
Sophisticated.
[SIGHS] Fuck.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]
[MOUTHING] Fuck.
[SIGHS]
[BARTENDER] Here you go.
[PHONE THUDS]
- Everything okay?
- Oh, man.
I've been getting all these crazy texts.
- Work is just kind of blowing up.
- [SIGHING] Oh.
I'm not sure I'm gonna be
able to stay for the next set.
Oh. All right. Well, we
could go back to my place.
Put on a record.
I know, you gotta be up in five hours.
It's all your fault.
You're the one who put me on TMS.
You should have just left me in
West Virginia a million years ago.
Oh, well, then
we wouldn't be here tonight.
And I'd be missing you.
Cheers.
Cheers.
I have had high hopes for UBN.
I mean, Alex and I go way back.
And I am dying
for her to show these boys she
can get it done without them.
- [MIA CHUCKLES]
- But it's really hard right now.
Yeah, legacy media is a numbers game.
It's all about staunching
the profit-bleeding
- and juicing the stock price.
- You don't have to worry about that here.
We are privately funded so
we don't answer to the Street.
- [MIA] Hmm.
- That is the whole idea of this place.
That we side-step the
usual corporate quicksand.
Hmm.
I have to ask you a question.
Okay.
Your exit from UBN was abrupt.
And from everything that I've
heard, that is not your style.
What happened?
I thought I could do more
at the company, and, uh,
they had a different vision.
We parted ways. No hard feelings.
And you'd basically done
everything you could in that job.
Mia produced Bradley Jackson.
And she made Chris Hunter a star.
My hype man over here.
Well, growing our talent
roster is a high priority,
but I have to make it clear,
we don't have the money for the
Chris Hunters of the world. Not yet.
Yeah, well, it's a different
network, a different strategy.
For Defy, I would lean into the niche.
Break the stories that nobody else will.
And then promote iconoclasts
that are indelible to your brand.
So we gonna go out and find
the next Chris Hunter. Right?
We're not gonna catch up to
UBN overnight, I know that.
But you don't need the biggest
audience, you need the most loyal one.
And that is what we build on.
I mean, um, if I were to join your team.
[MISCHIEVOUS MUSIC PLAYING]
- You crushed it.
- I loved her.
Yeah. I-I think you're
gonna get an offer.
No, wait. No, no. It won't
be a UBN-sized offer
No, but then we can make
our 60 Minutes, girl.
With hosts that aren't
all white geriatrics?
- [SQUEALS]
- No, no, but hey.
- What?
- We can't jinx it. Okay?
'Cause I really want this.
And you're gonna get it.
- You're gonna get it.
- Get it.
- You're gonna get it. We're gonna get it.
- We gon' get it.
- We're gonna get it. That job
- Come on. Come on. Take money.
- Come on. Uh. We're gon
- We're gonna get it. Eh. Hey.
- Hello.
- [MIA] Hi.
[STARTING PISTOL FIRES]
- Hold on. Is she gonna
- Ooh!
She's killing it!
- You did it! You did it! Come on!
- Whoo! Yes!
- [CHRIS] Come on, Kali!
- [COACH] Let's go!
- [CHUCKLING]
- [EXCLAIMING]
- [TEAMMATE] Kali!
- [CHRIS] Damn.
Breaking her own record at practice.
- I remember what that feels like.
- Mm-hmm.
And we got it in 4K.
- Yes.
- Mission accomplished.
- Let's go home. I need an actual bagel.
- Mmm. Mmm.
[BEN] LA is too damn healthy.
- [CHRIS CHUCKLES]
- [BEN] Hot dog!
Hey. Got everything you need?
- Ah! God, you're amazing. [LAUGHING]
- [LAUGHING] Thank you.
- [SIGHS]
- It was such a privilege to see.
[SIGHS] Let's just hope I
can make that time in Paris.
You could beat it. I'm
getting podium vibes.
Um, I didn't want to ask
in front of everybody,
but, um, are you doing all right?
Yeah.
They always come after us, right?
They don't believe we
can win without doping.
It's like, "Say it to my face,
you little keyboard jockey bitch."
What are you talking about?
Jesus.
Yeah. [SIGHS]
[BEN] You ready for this?
People are taking dumps in the
Seine so the swimmers can't compete.
Yeah, I guess some people let their
feet do the talking and others
Have you seen this?
Uh.
No.
- Neither has anyone else.
- There is some troll online
saying I doped in London and Rio,
and people are starting
to pick up the story.
Come on. I mean, these-these sites
report when they think somebody
- got their ass done.
- This is serious.
People will believe this.
And they're saying I cheated.
[SIGHS]
I'm not gonna let them bad-mouth me.
And I do not want this following me
to Paris when I'm interviewing LeBron.
- Hey. Hey.
- And Simone Biles.
There is nothing bigger than the Games.
And you are the face of them.
If you let these typo-riddled
memes pass for real journalism,
you're only gonna make it worse.
I wanna go on TMS this week.
- What? No. No.
- Show my face. Let the people see
- I have nothing to hide.
- [STAMMERS] Chris,
TMS has hosts.
- Bradley's there so you don't have to be.
- Bump Yanko if you have to.
I wanna shut down the chatter.
Fine. Uh
Talk about your book club. Talk about
- what you're gonna eat in Paris.
- Mm-hmm.
But do not talk about doping. Okay?
- Don't give it any air.
- Fine.
Ben wants to drop the hurricane piece,
but all the other changes
for Chris are good to go.
I cannot believe he's
letting her do this.
It took me an hour to
calm Yanko down last night.
He said we were taking food
out of his kids' mouths.
- Does he have kids?
- Apparently he meant
- the kids he's going to have.
- [SCOFFS]
And then I spent another
hour rewriting these segments.
Well, you got it done. That's
all that Ben cares about.
- [SIGHS]
- You see this?
It's the best part of my day.
Huh. I wonder who made them.
Of course, I gotta
have my heated booties.
End of the day
you pop these in the microwave,
you slip 'em on, and you feel
- that high-heel trauma melt away.
- Oh.
[CHUCKLES] Okay, tell me what this is.
Ah, that's my pepper spray.
Wow. It's very Barbiecore.
Mm-hmm, yeah. I carry it when I run.
And, you know, it's Paris,
so I'll be a little slow.
What? You're the fastest
woman in the world.
- Not after, uh, three croissants.
- Oh.
- [LAUGHS]
- [LAUGHS] But
Okay, you have to be safe.
- And I have my earbuds in, running.
- Yes. That's right.
And you never know who's
behind you. Could be a mime.
Could be, uh, Gaston
- Gérard Depardieu "Dieu".
- [LAUGHS] Oh, my goodness.
It's very hard to outrun the patriarchy.
- But I think you could take Gérard on.
- Y'know. [MUTTERS]
Just don't outrun us.
This has been so
lovely having you today.
Oh, my God, I love being here.
We have to sign off,
- but will you join us tomorrow?
- [SIGHS]
[STAMMERS] That could happen.
Then what about next week?
Mmm. The Olympic interviews
with my schedule [SUCKS TEETH]
That math ain't mathin'.
- Layla, great show.
- Thanks.
Hey, listen, I know we talked about
having Chris on again tomorrow,
but we might need to punt
a little PR speed bump.
So, call Yanko, tell him
we might need him after all.
What?
[SIGHS]
The Olympics, the election,
everything going on in Gaza, Ukraine.
We can't get on top of all of that.
Not when we're changing
the show every five minutes.
I get it.
None of this is ideal.
But I think you can handle it.
So, can you pitch me
some new ideas by lunch?
[REPORTER ON VIDEO] After
cancer rates began to rise,
Wolf River residents reached
out to Kenneth Stockton,
a lawyer known for tackling
environmental issues.
In this case, harmful PFAS,
known as "forever chemicals",
substances found in everything from
cookware to makeup to yoga mats.
Well, the guilty party
is Martel Chemical.
The compounds they make, the
waste they generate are toxic.
They're poisoning the water, the
air, every living thing in it.
But this company, they're shutting
down anyone who dares to speak out.
Employees have been harassed, fired.
It's absolutely outrageous.
And I intend to hold them accountable.
Whatever it takes.
[KEYBOARD KEY CLICKS]
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]
[BRADLEY] Who are you?
[PHONE BUZZING]
[SIGHING] Oh, my God.
[MARCUS] Okay [SPEAKS
INDISTINCTLY] Ben.
[MARCUS] Okay. Benjamin, this is
just a blip in the social media cycle.
She's all over those promos.
Of course somebody is
gonna take a shot at her.
[MARCUS SIGHS] Mm-hmm, I hear
you. I hear what you're saying.
Not to worry.
Yeah, you Ben, you seriously think I
don't know what the
Olympics means to her?
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, I'll talk to you later.
You mean, y'all finally decided
this rumor has some teeth?
Babe, I'm trying to
shield you from this shit
- so that you can stay focused.
- [SCOFFS]
Am I some kind of fragile flower?
- [SIGHS]
- I am the one who told you
- that it was happening.
- Yeah, and I'm handling it.
I got it. There's Nothing's changed.
I'm getting dragged online.
No one's doing anything.
And you're just placating UBN
with some half-assed spin
and keeping me off the air.
That is not protecting me.
I thought I was protecting us.
Hmm?
[ALEX] So, Layla came and spoke to me.
And she's very concerned about TMS.
The workload. The last-minute changes.
The staff is just at breaking point.
Alex, I've already talked to her.
All I'm saying is if
you continue to pull
this three-card monte talent shuffle,
we are headed for an
epic on-air fuckup.
Mmm, I get it.
But until this online chatter
around Chris is resolved,
we might need to come
up with a backup plan.
Let's do that.
That would be fantastic.
Have you seen those Mia flyers?
"Wanted."
Yeah. I've seen them.
Do you think she should've
gotten this job instead of me?
Uh
I just think there was a much
better way to handle all of this.
Because we need Mia.
[KNOCKS ON DOOR]
- [REMY] Hey, sorry.
- Hey.
Your assistant's trying to find you.
He said it's urgent.
[SIGHS] Oh. Maybe they found the troll.
- Let's hope this is the end of it.
- [ALEX] Mmm.
- [SIGHS]
- Joy Taylor from Defy Media called.
- About Mia.
- Mia. Okay.
- Um, also, there's one more thing.
- [SIGHS]
It sounds terrible. What?
The Times picked up that
story about your dad.
Do you want to see it?
No. Will you just get Joy
Taylor for me on the phone?
- [GROANS] Oh, God. Okay.
- Chris's books have been a big hit for us.
But Target has to walk a certain line.
Especially after we got torched for
selling rainbow T-shirts to kids.
And these doping
allegations are out there
Understood. We appreciate your patience.
- But I can assu
- This partnership means so much to me.
I just want to reiterate that.
- You're a role model
- [WHISPERS] Stop.
and we want to support you.
Keep us in the loop, Marcus.
- And thank you, Chris.
- Of course.
- Have a nice night.
- You too.
They do not believe us.
- They think it's true.
- Slow down.
You know how these companies
get nervous when rumors fly.
It's not a rumor. It's a lie.
[MARCUS SIGHS]
How did they even get my old records?
I handled it. Okay?
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]
You know who it is.
We sent a cease and
desist this afternoon.
We'll give it another day
to see if they respond
It's someone I know?
This is my legacy.
This is everything.
I'll show you if we
can put this behind us.
Yes.
[CHRIS] Wow. I mean, she never liked me.
But this is
Babe. If your old teammate can't handle
something that you've
earned on your own,
- that's on her.
- Mmm.
- Just, please, just let it go.
- Mmm.
It's date night. We said no phones.
- Hmm?
- [CHRIS] Yeah.
[MARCUS GROANS]
Let's just be married tonight, okay?
[KISSING]
[ALEX] I know this has all been so ugly.
And I want to make it right,
I really, really do, Mia.
Just, please, call me back.
- We-We should talk.
- [KNOCKS ON DOOR]
- Zaria, hey.
- [CHUCKLES] Hey!
[STAMMERS] Oh. What? What the hell is
Well, I was in the area.
So then I thought I'd check on you
and bring you some Ethiopian
food and some Pinot.
[MIA] In the area?
You live in Brooklyn. What are you
Defy's not making you an offer.
I wanted to tell you myself. I'm sorry.
- What the That interview was
- Uh, Joy wants to move quickly.
She's already focusing
on another candidate.
What happened?
Uh
She called Alex Levy.
Who apparently said you're the
best EP she'd ever worked with.
So good that UBN is willing to do
everything they can to keep you.
- Really?
- Then Alex promised
to cohost Joy's charity gala
this fall to make it up to her.
'Cause she's such a
friend to those in need.
[SIGHS]
So, if UBN can't have me, nobody can?
Don't think about that.
Think about something you
can build for yourself.
Something new.
Yeah, I thought I'd found it.
[ZARIA] Come on.
Sorry.
[BREATHES DEEPLY]
["WE SHOULD" PLAYING]
[SCOFFS, CHUCKLES]
- Drink. Eat.
- Hmm.
- Mmm. Good.
- Where did you get this from?
- [LAUGHING]
- [LAUGHING] Damn right.
- That's what I wanted to tell her ass.
- [HOUSE MUSIC PLAYING]
It's working!
- Hmm. Mmm. Mmm.
- Really?
Okay, then who would your
first guest have been?
- Steve Harvey.
- Come on!
[BOTH GROAN]
- Text me when you get home.
- Okay.
[BREATHES DEEPLY]
[INHALES SHARPLY, SIGHS]
[PHONE CHIMES]
["MOMENTS IN LOVE (BEATEN)" PLAYING]
That white ball was Alex Levy's head.
Okay.
So was that yellow one.
Is this a booty call, or am I about
to help you kill your old boss?
This is not a [BRITISH
ACCENT] "booty call".
Oh. You literally wrote, "You up?"
- That can mean anything.
- Uh-huh.
What? I wanted to see
you before you left.
If you die, who am I gonna beat at pool?
Wanna know what I think?
No.
Ooh! Are you hustling me right now?
[CHUCKLES]
Deal with it.
["M.I.A." PLAYING]
I think that you stayed because you
thought you could change the place,
but it ended up changing you.
Where'd you get that?
Page-a-Day calendar?
Come on, Mia. You even dress like them.
Blazers, hair
Don't talk about my hair. Ever.
See, they think you'll play by
their rules 'cause you always have.
So?
Brutal. Feeling better?
["BETTER" PLAYING]
- [CHRIS CHUCKLING]
- [GRUNTS, CHUCKLES]
[CHRIS] Oh.
[EXCLAIMS, SIGHS]
[MOANS]
- [MARCUS MOANS]
- [GRUNTS]
[SIGHS] Wait. I gotta
I gotta check on Naima.
- What? She's fine, baby. She's fine.
- [GASPS] Promise?
No, no, no, no, no.
We [PANTS] No, look.
- Uh-uh. [CHUCKLES]
- [CHUCKLES]
I'll be back.
Mmm. Okay. [MOANS]
[BREATHES HEAVILY]
[MUSIC FADES]
[LINE RINGING]
[MYSTERIOUS MUSIC PLAYING]
Hey. This is Tunde. Talk to me.
[PHONE BEEPS]
Tunde,
it's Chris.
I don't know who the fuck you
think you're playing with, but
[FOREBODING MUSIC PLAYING]
[CHUCKLES] If you have something to
say, you should say it to my face.
But you know if you did,
I would drag your ass.
[ON VIDEO] Really, bitch?
Is this what we're doing?
Really? Fuck you.
I have to deal with these phony people
- who don't respect me
- [BRO CHUCKLES] Oh.
or want to see us
get anywhere, and you,
- you want to be the one to tear me down?
- Fuck.
- Put those lies in the street?
- Wow.
- Well, fuck you. Fuck you.
- [BOTH LAUGH]
You're just pissed
because I got somewhere
- and you did not.
- Oh, no.
- Mmm. Wow.
- [CHUCKLING] No.
- How fucking dare you?
- That sounds like some good
- old-fashioned roid rage.
- Do you know who I am?
[BRO] You know, maybe Chris Hunter
isn't Black Excellence Barbie after all.
- [SUNNY] Poor Chris.
- Brotallion, guess what, y'all?
I got an advance copy of her new book,
My First Needle. You
should check it out.
- It's coming to Target near you.
- Chris, you've been a real naughty girl.
Yep. More of this and a
deep dive into Hunter Biden's
hijinks after the break.
[SUNNY] Nice.
- What the actual fuck is wrong with you?
- [CHUCKLES]
Chris is one of ours.
Do you give a shit that you're
fucking with your own network?
My audience expects me to
call people out. It's my brand.
Your audience expects the Illuminati
to dance a satanic sabbat with
Hillary Clinton and George Soros.
Just stop talking shit.
You know, if I'd left that voicemail
Oh, if Trump had left that voicemail,
it would be a banner on the
Alex Unfiltered home page.
You see, I think you
being overprotective
- [SIGHS]
- of Chris Hunter
is actually extremely patronizing.
She can obviously fight her own battles.
And it is relevant and newsworthy
that a face of UBN's Olympics coverage
might have cheated to win her medals.
It's just trash talk.
- It's just gossip.
- Like the baseless rumor
a while back that you were fucking
- a billionaire trying to buy this place.
- Oh, shut You know what?
- Don't go there. Don't, Bro.
- This is news.
And you know it.
So, if you don't mind,
I gotta get back to it.
[SMACKS LIPS] I think my ad
revenue pays for your salary, right?
[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING]
Fucking piece of shit.
- [BRO] I'll have a great show, thanks.
- [ALEX] Yeah, fuck you.
[SIGHS]
Motherfucker.
- [KNOCKS ON DOOR]
- [SCRAPING]
- [CHRIS] Come in.
- Hey.
[GRUNTS]
Just checking on you.
- I'm so sorry about all of this.
- Mmm.
I'm just trying to get this ice out.
Do you want someone
to help you with that?
I'm okay. [SIGHS] Really.
Well
Okay, well, I'm here
if you need anything.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]
[SIGHS]
- How is she?
- Whew.
- Time to call Bradley?
- Float it.
Let's see what she says.
- [REPORTERS CHATTERING]
- [CAMERAS SHUTTERING]
- Chris, hey.
- [SIGHS]
You look different.
Yeah, well, that would
be the murderous rage.
- I think it's the hair.
- Can we talk?
I don't know, can we?
Or is my child-bearing womb
going to come between us?
Yeah, that was out of line.
I'm sorry.
But I-I just heard Bro's show.
And And I'm guessing no one
has your back in the building.
And you do?
I've seen what you can do,
Chris. I know what you deserve.
I can help you get it.
Take a ride with me.
- [REPORTERS CLAMORING]
- Smile for the cameras.
[MIA] You know I wasn't mad at you?
I was mad at myself.
Letting those people have power over me.
For giving so much of myself
to that place. And I
[INHALES DEEPLY]
I knew, deep down, that they
were never gonna give back.
And then I saw you, you know?
You wouldn't bend for them.
You wouldn't compromise.
I was jealous.
And I took it out on you.
I just wanna get to Paris
without this hanging over my head.
What do you want to do?
I want to muzzle Tunde.
Tell the world she's a liar.
- Clear my name.
- Yeah, do that.
Go on Bro's show.
You're kidding, right? Bro?
Y-Yeah.
The Hot Pocket-eating
man-child? [CHUCKLING] What?
Tell him off for
amplifying this bullshit.
- You're more than one angry voicemail.
- Oh, yeah.
- Tell that to Ben and Target
- You
and everyone else coming at me
- with a pitchfork.
- You tell 'em.
[INTRIGUING MUSIC PLAYING]
People don't stop caring
about you because you fuck up.
Not if you own it.
It just makes them love you more.
Does it? [SCOFFS]
Chris, everyone is gonna
tell you to play it safe.
That's just gonna take
you out of the game.
Believe me, I know.
[ELEVATOR DINGS]
- Hey.
- [ALEX] Hi.
I'm in here.
- Hey.
- Jesus. God.
I'm about to put my hand in a blender.
This Chris shit is insane.
I know. Ben called me.
[ALEX] And?
I can't sign a contract
extension right now.
I don't wanna get involved
in all this Chris stuff.
Not to mention, I feel like you didn't
really want me here in the first place.
Whoa, whoa. No, no. But
the extension is my idea.
- Really?
- Yes.
- Why?
- Because I I'm
Clearly I'm a masochist and even though
you're a huge pain the ass, I really
I believe in you.
- Well, maybe you shouldn't.
- What does that mean? Why?
Uh
I slept with Cory.
Wow. Okay, so,
- um
- It just happened.
Yeah. Just like Like, um, "Oops"?
- [SIGHS] I was a mess.
- Mmm.
And he seemed safe.
Cory Ellison seemed safe?
Like an open elevator
shaft kind of safe?
Oh, no.
Oh, God.
Bradley, you didn't ask him about
the Wolf River thing, did you?
Or Claire? Oh, shit.
Do I need to recuse
myself from the story?
Well, if he
If he did something, yeah, probably.
But we don't know what he did.
- I don't.
- Okay, you know what?
You should just call Cory
right now. Call him right now.
The longer you wait,
the harder it's gonna be.
- Okay.
- You can do it.
Just rip the Band-Aid.
- Yeah. Okay, okay.
- Okay.
[LINE RINGING]
Hi.
Bradley?
[BRADLEY] Hey.
[CHUCKLES] Hey.
What's up?
I just wanted to talk.
I've been thinking a
lot about Jonathan Groff.
Oh, yeah. I do that too.
You wanna go see Merrily We Roll Along?
Self-hating, middle-aged New Yorkers
reflecting on their bad choices?
- [MOUTHING] Oh, my God.
- I mean, sure. That sounds like fun.
- All right, great. I'll get tickets.
- Okay, just ask him.
Ask him.
Do you
wanna have dinner tomorrow?
- Oh, my God.
- It could be,
like, a second date type of thing
and then we can talk about stuff.
- Uh, my place? I'll cook.
- Oh, my God.
- [SIGHS]
- [BRADLEY] Yeah, okay.
Hey, Bradley.
I know you're on the fence.
Maybe we go away for the weekend.
Try it out.
I figure either one of us ends
up dead or we move forward.
Either way, it's an answer.
Uh, why don't we talk
about that tomorrow?
Okay. Sounds good.
Okay, see you then.
- [LINE DISCONNECTS]
- [BOTH SIGH]
Okay, I-I know. I'll do it in person.
He deserves that much.
["CINDERELLA'S DEAD" PLAYING]
I cannot believe you.
You ready?
You're gonna shut this down.
You're gonna go home clean.
Look at you.
Look at us.
[CHRIS] Marcus thinks
it's a terrible idea,
but he also wore a wool
suit to our summer wedding.
- So [CHUCKLES]
- [CHUCKLES]
- Give you a minute?
- Mm-hmm.
Hey, Chris.
Good to see you.
Tunde,
it's been a while.
Thank you for coming
all the way to New York.
Last time I saw you,
you just got engaged.
Now Marcus is threatening to sue my ass.
Yeah, I-I could've let him handle
this, but I wanted to see you.
[LAUGHS] You sure?
Thought you wanted to
drag my ass. Mm-hmm.
[CHRIS CLEARS THROAT]
No, I wanna apologize.
The voicemail?
That wasn't right.
It's a little late for "sorry".
I get it.
I mean, I'd be mad too.
But, uh, that stuff you posted online
You know, I heard you blew off a
Morning Show stop at your old school.
You can't stand people knowing
where you come from, can you?
No, our schedule changed.
I was just slammed.
I'm coaching those kids now.
We trying to raise
money for a new track.
Meanwhile, you can't even
stop by your old town.
I didn't know the school was in trouble.
- You didn't care.
- Mm-mmm.
You can stop it with
your little Oprah act.
[SIGHS]
You and I could just walk out
of here, grab a drink and talk.
Instead of airing this out in
front of a bunch of Proud Boys.
Tunde, come on.
We are better than this.
You had your chance
to make things right.
And you couldn't be bothered.
[BRO] Oh, Brotallion, do we
have a show for you today.
Crack open that anything-but-Bud-Light
and insert your catheters,
'cause you're not gonna
wanna miss a second of this.
We have not one, but two players in
America's DEI drama live in the studio.
One of them needs no introduction.
She's UBN's own pride and joy, The
Morning Show anchor, Chris Hunter.
- [BELL DINGS]
- [CHUCKLES]
- Thank you for having me.
- And our surprise guest.
The world knows her as TruthSayer2006,
but now we've lifted the veil.
Folks, please say hello to
former Team USA track-and-field
alternate, Tunde Johnston out
of Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
[GUITAR PLAYS]
Hi.
And as a quick refresher for
those of you just taking off
that VR headset after a 24-hour
spank sesh, check this out.
[CHRIS] And you
You wanna be the one to tear me
down, put those lies in the streets.
Well, fuck you. Fuck you.
You're just pissed because I
got somewhere and you did not.
How fucking dare you?
- Do you know who I am?
- [CHUCKLES]
- Mmm.
- Yeah, Tunde, gotta know,
- do you know who she is?
- [CHUCKLES] Oh.
I think I got a pretty good idea.
I want to apologize.
What I said what inexcusable.
And, uh, I'm sorry.
I'm truly sorry.
Nobody deserves that, and I came on
the show today to-to say that in person
because that's not who I am,
and it's not who I ever wanna be.
- [BRO] Hmm. Tunde
- What do you think you're doing?
do you accept that apology?
- [TUNDE SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]
- What Chris wants.
Which no one here seems
to give a damn about.
It's not enough to tank your
career. You gotta blow hers up too?
Chris is setting the record straight.
- You weren't helping her, so I did.
- [PHONE BUZZES]
[BRO] high school sweethearts.
Were you always rivals?
- Yeah, we were always rivals.
- I swear
Hey, Alex. You get my text?
We're at DEFCON 1 over here.
Yes, I'm sorry.
The IMAX meeting went long.
Can we just shut this shit down?
Uh, legally, no.
And believe me, I've tried.
I can't exactly storm in
there and drag Chris out.
It's fucking live.
- And it's already all over social media.
- All right, all right.
I'm Listen, I'm gonna
get there as soon as I can.
This is all Mia's idea.
- Okay? This is Mia.
- All right, Ben. Fuck.
When did you first think that Chris
was treating herself to
that sweet, forbidden juice?
Look, we trained together
- for a lot of years
- [BRO] Mm-hmm.
and she edged me out, she
made the team. Okay, whatever.
But what I can't take
is that she shaved off half a
second and said she was clean.
Okay, for folks like myself who avoid
running unless in extreme danger,
a half-second improvement in
track is, like, a huge number.
I was always tested.
- Hmm?
- I always passed.
- And anyone who ever accused me, I beat.
- [WHISTLES]
Oh, you you didn't always beat
me in high school or in college.
Oh!
Which is why I trained harder.
I pushed myself.
I think the real question here
is if I doped 12 years ago
- Mm-hmm.
- why wait till now to say it?
- Right? Forgive me.
- Mm-hmm. Yep.
But Tunde just told me that our
old high school track needs money.
[SCOFFS]
She's currently working there,
and she's mad that I didn't donate.
[BRO] Mmm.
- Giving back was never really your style.
- [HISSES]
[SUCKS TEETH]
I should have been more generous.
You know? You're right.
And [SCOFFS] I don't know,
maybe I have lost touch a little.
I'm just not sure that the
punishment fits the crime.
Because you're saying things
about me that aren't true.
- Mm-hmm.
- [BRO] Yeah, Tunde, well,
tell us a little bit about yourself.
- You married? Have kids?
- No.
Okay. Lone wolf. Respect.
I'm proudly undatable myself.
Now I gotta ask, would
you say you're more
- or less attractive than Chris?
- The fuck kind of question is that?
That's a ridiculous thing
to say. This isn't
Well, come on, people.
- I mean, Chris has gold medals.
- [SCOFFS]
She's got money, celebrity, a-a family.
How about this, does that piss you off?
Because I'd be annoyed
by all that shine.
- I don't give a damn what she has.
- [BRO] Hmm?
I can prove she did it.
[CHRIS] This is not
even about Tunde and I.
As a runner, there are always rumors.
- As an Olympic athlete, they're con
- Hold on. Wait a second.
- [CHUCKLES] Excuse me.
- Okay.
Tunde, you're telling me
you have proof that Chris
Hunter doped to win her medals?
If you brought a dirty bag
of needles in my studio
See for yourself.
What does she have?
Jack shit.
Chris pissed off a lot
of people over the years.
And they gave receipts.
Okay.
- What is that?
- [BRO] Let's find out.
Okay. Whoa.
Plot twist.
I think we have the smoking gun here.
Looks like some concierge doctor
prescribed you anabolic steroids.
You know, Tunde, if these are legit,
Chris could sue you for
releasing her medical records.
Let her try. It should've
been me and you know that.
[BEN] This is defamation.
Chris can stop this.
- Mia, come on.
- Could you give me a second?
Yo. Okay, well, you know, you roasted
Cybil Reynolds real
good, but I gotta ask,
how's it feel to be in
that hot seat, Chris?
Things feel a little different?
Have a look, Gold Medal.
Anything you wanna say?
I did what I had to do.
[SCOFFS]
- Shit.
- [BRO] Hold up, hold up.
You're saying these
medical records are real?
Yeah. They're real.
- Throw Bro off the fucking roof.
- It's too late.
- She already said she did it.
- Just to be clear,
- you're admitting you doped
- What?
- to win London '012?
- No, not London.
Uh, it was the lead up to Rio.
- Holy shit.
- Right. Just Rio.
You're expecting us to believe you
used performance-enhancing drugs,
but you only did it once.
I didn't need anything to
win before I was pregnant.
Wait, wait. Wait. [SCOFFS]
You're saying this is
because of your daughter?
My son.
I, uh [SIGHS]
I got pregnant, uh, a
couple of years after London.
We were excited, but my
sponsors, when they found out,
they dropped me and nobody thought
I could win gold after a baby.
So, we lost everything.
We had nothing. We just
didn't have any more money.
[SIGHS]
[CHRIS] I went into labor at,
like, five and a half months.
There was a problem with my placenta.
It was fetal growth restriction
and we didn't get to,
um, take my son home.
A lot of women go through these things.
You just don't talk about it.
Mm-hmm.
I was broken.
Like, all the way down.
My body was just gone.
I, uh
Uh
And you know, it's it's all
that we have. It's our instrument.
And, um, I couldn't get out of bed.
I had to tape my abs just to move.
Uh, when I got back on
that track, I was so slow.
I had to do something.
So I, uh
I tried it out.
[CHUCKLES] Didn't tell anybody.
Not a single soul.
The PEDs made me sick at
first, but it felt kinda good,
like my body deserved to be punished.
And then they worked.
And I came back and
so did my endorsements.
And, um
I pushed the baby thoughts right
out of my head because I I just
[SHAKILY] I was so desperate to
have a reason to, um, keep going.
[SOBS]
I had to be, um
I mean
[SOBS] I had to be worth something.
After Nationals, I did quit doping.
I didn't actually need it
anymore, and by the qualifiers,
I was, uh, faster than ever.
Uh, about a month later, I
was on that podium in Rio.
They started playing
the national anthem,
and I was just standing there,
thinking how I let everybody down.
And I did.
That's when I made
the move to broadcast.
I
I didn't ever wanna be
in that position again,
where I could lose everything so fast.
And And And I
didn't do it to be famous.
I did it for my family, my
body, and for my daughter.
And
[SOBS] Sorry.
[SOBBING] I did it for my son.
His name is Amari.
Amari Marcus.
I'm so sorry.
I'm sorry you lost your son.
- Thank you.
- [BRO] I think we need a little breather.
Hey, boss. Get us into commercial.
We'll be back with Tunde
Johnston and Chris Hunter.
[SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING]
Thank you.
[SNIFFLES, BREATHES SHAKILY]
[BRO] Chris has gold medals.
She's got money, celeb
- Are you happy?
- What?
Just blowing up people's
lives like that? Huh?
[SIGHS]
You know, Alex, I had
no idea that was gonna happen.
Mm-hmm. Well, it did.
And there's gonna be a
lot of fallout from that.
Hmm. Yeah, I know. Yeah.
Also, um
It was a good interview.
[INTRIGUING MUSIC PLAYING]
[MIA] I'll convey to your
- [SIGHS]
- Well, I will, um
Absolutely.
Okay.
All right.
Bro Hartman? Really?
Ratings killed for two
of your biggest stars.
Clips are beyond viral. You're welcome.
Did you know about the doping?
No, but social media is
trending heavily in her favor.
- Oh, Jesus.
- Everybody wants an interview.
I mean, I think she's
gonna be just fine.
Okay, well, our Olympic
coverage is about to be fucked.
Maybe. Maybe not.
You know, Alex, people love it when
someone actually owns their shit.
You could learn something from Chris.
What is that supposed to mean?
You told Defy not to hire me.
Because I did not want to lose you, Mia.
We have so much more
work to do together here.
So you tanked their offer
to get what you wanted.
I didn't tank anything.
I just told Joy the truth.
I didn't ask you to do that.
I don't understand. You have
so much more of an impact here.
It is so patronizing
for you to think you
can make those decisions about my life.
Oh, my God. You know what?
I don't even know why I do any
of it for anybody. Honestly.
Considering that fucking move.
I mean, what was that?
I thought you were
better than that, Mia.
You know what?
Fuck you, Alex.
Hey. Hey. Careful.
You just went rogue. Bravo.
And I'm sure you're feeling
really good about yourself,
but we have no idea how
this is about to pan out.
Okay, so you can screw over
your billionaire boyfriend,
and it's considered strategic.
Cory can leak a racist email
and it's a tactical move.
But when I play hard, you think
I'm supposed to be better than that.
None of us are proud
of any of those things.
Okay, but you did it,
and it's my time now.
Chris and I are gonna be
working together from now on.
Marcus will be calling you this
week as we explore our next steps.
"Next steps"? So what, is
that some kind of a threat?
It's not a threat. It's
the current state of play.
Chris isn't sure that UBN is
the right fit for her anymore.
She's exploring her
options, and so am I.
And I think we make a great team.
Mia, we are not done.
I am.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING]
[MOUTHING WORDS] Oh, my God.
- [BRADLEY] Hey.
- [CHUCKLES]
There she is.
I was starting to think maybe
you didn't like my apartment.
[CHUCKLES] Oh, no.
I like it fine.
Uh
Can I get you something?
Maybe something to drink?
[BRADLEY] Um
Do you
Do you wanna go out? I
thought we were gonna eat here.
Oh. Yeah.
We were.
I was gonna make you this
world-class lasagna, but then I
I searched through my
email to find the recipe
that my buddy had sent me from
Carbone, and you know, when you do that,
it brings up all your
previous email searches.
Strangest thing.
Somebody searched the
name Kenneth Stockton.
Cory, I tried to tell you.
You asked to see pictures of my movie
so that you could look through my phone.
While we were on a date.
I know about Wolf River.
Okay. All right. Great.
What is it you think you know?
- I know that you covered up a story
- [SCOFFS]
about a polluted waterway.
Dead animals, crazy cancer rates.
And then you sent a fixer to smear the
lawyer who was just
trying to clean it up.
[SIGHS]
What the hell is going on here?
Are you investigating me? Am I a story?
I'm trying to be honest with you.
Did you sleep with me for information?
- No.
- Really? 'Cause it kind of
- feels like you did.
- No, Cory. No.
I did not know you were involved
until after we had been
Oh.
Well
[SIGHS] That's a relief.
It wasn't all bullshit.
There's a woman in the
picture with Kenneth Stockton,
and I need to know who she is.
And I don't fucking know
what you're talking about.
Okay, so, within a month of you
becoming the head of UBA News,
the story just sort of disappears?
[LAUGHS]
You're trying to tell me that
you don't know anything about it?
- Well, you might remember I was dealing
- Nothing?
with a little problem
called Mitch Kessler.
You remember him? He
was an accused rapist,
- he drove his car into Lake Como
- Yeah, I do.
But you know, I do remember Fred told me
not to run the story because of some
legal issues, and I
did what most people do
when they get a new job,
I listened to my boss.
- And you didn't look into it?
- Of course I fucking did!
The EPA put out a report
exonerating the company.
Legal told me I had nothing
to run, so I moved on
to the predator with a
button under his desk.
And then you hired Earl to
go smear Kenneth Stockton.
I told Earl to shut down a lawyer
who was trying to sue
UBA with baseless claims.
He was wasting everybody's
time and his clients' money.
Now he's dead.
He killed himself.
What?
You really didn't know that?
Oh, my God. The fucking
You had Earl go down
there and talk to him,
but you didn't know he was dead?
[CORY SIGHS]
Uh, I made one phone call.
I told Earl to make it go away.
I don't know what the hell he did.
We never talked about it again.
But the fact that you think I could
be a part of something like that
- That's fucked up, man.
- I mean
What am I supposed to think, Cory?
I'm sorry, but that's
This is who you are.
This That's
This is who you've always
been ever since I met you.
If anybody tries to get in your
way, if anybody hurts you, you
you get to them first.
Really? So I'm the bad
guy in this scenario?
I'll tell you what it is.
You thought you could string me along,
pretending like you were
afraid of falling in love
or some kind of emotional
trauma bullshit, and it would
Hey, but thank you for enlightening me.
I'm such a fucking idiot,
I thought you were still
pining over Laura or
something like that.
You were just using me.
Like you always fucking do.
- But here Hey, take my phone.
- No, I wasn't. No.
Take a look. All of my photos,
all my texts, all my emails.
Call Earl if you want
him, and ask him yourself.
If you can find him. I don't
know where the fuck he is
'cause he screwed me over
on his way out the door.
- But I did not do this!
- Okay.
You fucking hear me?
I hear you.
Cory, I didn't know.
I had to ask you.
And I didn't wanna feel
anything, but I did.
And when everything started
to happen between us,
I thought maybe this is it. Maybe we
Please just stop pretending
to be a human being.
'Cause what you sound like is a liar.
You sound like a fucking liar to me.
Um,
you don't give a fuck about me.
You know, I
I spent a long time
getting over you.
[EXHALES]
This time's gonna be a whole lot easier.
- Cory
- Just get out.
Cory, just
[SOFTLY] Get out.
["BURNING" PLAYING]
[DOOR OPENS, CLOSES]
What are you doing here?
We need to talk.