The maKING of Carlos

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Speaker 1: Hay, rain Drops. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I know I did so. Look some of y'all may know this, but I'm vegan, so I wasn't gobbling turkey. I was definitely gobbling meat, bless wings, non dairy macaroni and cheese. And yes, it does taste good. It's not disgusting. Sto making you know, stop making those faces. And I also had vegan stuffing plant based dessert and it was so delicious. Family came over, friends came over, and look, it was nice to have a break because you all know I work so much, which I wanted to spend this episode being thankful for where I am in my life, but to also give you all a back story on who I am. I have this wonderful fan base called my rain Drops, as you all are, but I also know that some of you all don't know much about me besides what you read on the Internet. And baby, don't believe that shit. Stay away from the world Wide Web please, but no all jokes aside. I am calling this episode May King Carlos. You get it, Carlos King, May King, Carlos, Yes, clever, yes, Okay, on the strength of me being named one of the most powerful producers in unscripted television from the Hollywood Reporter, the very prestigious Hollywood Reporter. I am so thankful for that acknowledgment because, look, I have been producing reality TV for fifteen years, and as a black, gay male in this business, it's not a lot of us, and I'm a hustler. I work very hard on prayerful So when you get the acknowledgement of your peers to make a list out of the millions of people who are part of unscripted television, reality TV, all of those things to be in the top thirty alongside people like Chris Jenner and Ru Paul and I mean some amazing, amazing names. Lizo. You know, it's very flattering and I'm super humbled by it. But I want to take you all down this journey of how it came about of me being one of the most powerful producers and on scripted television. All dates back to me being in Detroit, Michigan, which is my hometown. And my mom is now deceased, and she is the reason why I have this personality, this affection for women and having a voice in your life. My mother was a housewife. Surprise, surprise. So before Nini Leaks, Vicky Gomvason and Ramona Singer, there was Gail King, not Oprah's best friend, but my best friend, my mom. Yes, my mother's name is Gail King. How funny is that? So long story short, I am one of ten siblings. I have ten siblings. So my mother and father who were married up until she passed away. They were married for oh my gosh, like over forty years. And my mother was a real housewife of Detroit, and she and I were the best of friends. I was a mama's boy. I stayed underneath her, and I was always like Peter Thomas in women's business. I was always in the women's business, honey, because I just needed to know the tea. So when I was in middle school, my female friend used to tell me all their business. I had the trust of the teenage girls in middle school. In high school. They would tell me when they were dating somebody, when they lost their virginity, when they had an abortion. Girl like, I knew everything about the girls. The girls loved some Carlos King, and I never knew why. Just to be honest with you, you know, listen, I was a popular kid based on me just being smart and always had I mean this personality, but I was always confused, like why do these women tell me their business? I don't get it. And it took me a long time to realize it's because of my relationship with my mom and being around her girlfriends and watching soap operas with her, watching Oprah Winfrey show with her. So I was always just the guy who understood people, but really women. So then in high school, I was the first guy to ever in the history of my high school to be the editor in chief of the high school newspaper. Okay, it was a big deal for me because prior to that it was always women. It wasn't a lot of guys in the journalism department, and it wasn't a lot of guys in the journalism class. So my former teacher named mister Wooten, he was the professor for the journalism department, and he was, you know, also a black guy. And when I said to him, I wanted to be the first male to be the editor in chief of the high school newspaper, he was impressed with the fact that I knew I wanted to be the first and that I was really serious about it, and all of the other classmates was like, no, you got to give it to Carlos, like we all love him. He gets all the tea blah blah blah blah blah. So girl, I got the position, and baby I turned the high school newspaper into a tabloid. Yep. So, prior to that child, the high school newspaper was about like the varsity team and the student government and like fundraisers, which listen, all of that is finding dandy. But I knew that that wasn't going to make a mark in terms of really having a publication that spoke to the students, like spoke to my peers. I was like, girl, you can have that in there, but we need to be able to get people to not only purchase the newspaper because it wasn't free. The high school newspaper was twenty five cents, and that money went towards funding the journalism department. Long story short, I had stories in the high school newspaper about gossip, pop culture. I had an advice column called dear big Lows, y'all gonna stop laughing because the football players will call me big lows. I don't know why. Yes, there's jokes in between that I'm not going to go there. They also called me Carlos Queen instead of Carlos King, but that's a whole other conversation for a whole nother podcast. Child. Anyways, so I had an advice column called Dear big Lows, and the students at the school would write me and ask me questions. Carlos, I'm in love with this girl. How do I let her know that, Carlos, I'm thinking about having sex by the first time? What should I do? It was very controversial and it was also a hit. My professor, mister Wuten, was so impressed with the high school newspaper that it was always sold out within twenty four hours of the release. So before Beyonce broke the Internet, Carlos King broke records in high school. Bitch. Yes. So this went on for a few months, and listen, I'm about to humble brag real quick. I was already kind of like popular, but honey, I was the most popular man in high school, so much so they even voted me to be the vice president of the student council. Okay, so I was on my Kamala Harris bitch. Yes. AnyWho, the high school newspaper became very controversial due to someone writing dear big Lows saying that and I will never forget this. This guy in high school wrote, dear big loast, I'm the man in high school and I have a girlfriend, but this other girl likes me. Can you tell me how I can get the draws right? So for my listeners who may not be either black or hip, when someone says, draws, honey, that's underwear, and I printed that question my professors boss, because in the real world everybody has a boss. His boss was so disturbed by that question because I guess it was like promoting sex with the high school students was the whole thing. She was so pissed. She defunded the high school newspaper and said, and I will never forget this. She walked into the class. She looked at me, and she said, Carlos King, you have single handedly turned the high school newspaper into a tabloid. And I thought to myself, is that a good thing? Because I think that's great. Child. She said, effective Immediately, I am defunding this department, and the high school newspaper is voided, and my entire world at that time like crash down. I was depressed because for me, I felt like I found my calling, Like I am the voice of the people. So that was stripped away from me, and I was so sad, and I was like, God, what am I going to do. I'm a senior in high school. I got accepted to college based on the fact that I am the editor in chief of the high school newspaper. My major is going to be journalism. I am going to be the blackmail Barbara Walters like I had a plan. So when she defunded the newspaper, child, I really was like, what is my existence? Little did I know a few years later I would really find out exactly what my calling is. I hate to interrupt, but stay tuned for more. We'll be right back after these quick as. This is reality with the King, and I'm Carlos King. Let's get back into the show. So in nineteen ninety seven, that was the year I was a senior in high school and the editor in chief of the high school newspaper. It just wasn't popular for a man to be in the journalism department. That department was dominated by women. So in nineteen ninety seven, you know, the fashions was Cross Colors. You know, we had TLC as the best girl group of all time. You know, it was a very different time, and I knew at seventeen years old I wanted to make my mark in history. So after high school, I took a gap year and I remember reading Rolling Stone magazine and Puff Daddy who not goes by P Diddy. He was on the cover, and long story short, he spoke about internships, the importance of internships, how you need to get your foot in the door of the industry you want to be a part of, because nobody's gonna turn down a freebie. And a freebie is somebody either in college or in high school. Really who wants to get an internship credit in exchange for child being someone's flunky, Because that's that's what it was. Child. So I decided to take a gap year. I interned at a gospel radio station because y'all know your boy's very spiritual. And I went to college in Detroit called Wayne State University, majored in journalism, and I still did not feel like that fulfillment that I felt when I was in high school. So I knew that my hometown of Detroit, Michigan was not going to be my final destination and for my listeners, I strongly believe you must leave your hometown. If you have big dreams and you want to accomplish so much more in life, you have to leave your hometown. Even if you don't leave forever, get the fuck out of your city and experience life. Because who you become as an adult is due to who you are around the most in your life. So if you're hanging out with people who are doing great things, news flash, you're not going to be great. So I knew that in order for me to be great, I had to leave my hometown. I left Detroit, Michigan, moved to New York City, stayed in an apartment child with my sister and her best friend, Honey. It was three people in a two room apartment in Harlem. So this is in two thousand and two. So in two thousand and two, you know, that was a time where you know, Beyonce was becoming a solo artist, and you know, Rockefeller Records was like the top record label in the world. It was, it was the early two thousand was a good time. I moved to New York City, got a job at the Gap. I made no money, honey, no money. And I remember having nothing but faith and a dream, and I remember praying to God that if you allowed me to become who I believe in my heart I meant to become, I will always give you the glory that's always been my faith, Like I am going to praise you and give you the glory. So I interned at jef Jam Records, I intern at BEET, I intern at MTV and Baby. I interned at The View. Yes before Megan McCain, there was Meredith Viera. So I interned there and again working on a show where women were able to have a voice and healthy debates and conversations. Just again, it reminded me of high school and just being the guy who was every girl's gay best friend. Everything just started making sense for me. I left that internship interned at BET and this beautiful woman named Joy, who has been the joy of my life. She said to me, I have this opportunity to do a reality TV show and may be called the Real Housewives of Atlanta. Are you interested? Because at Beet Child, I had all those black people watching Laguna Beach in the Hills, So everybody at BET knew that Carlos King is obsessed with Laguna Beach in the Hills, and all the black folks at Beet would watch it with me and they were like, this low key lost is the best thing we seen on TV. So long story short, I decided to take the opportunity of going to Atlanta. Chi I left New York City, I thought I was Carlos Bradshaw. Yes, Carrie Bradshaw's brother, Carlos I was on my Carlos Bradshaw And I was like, am I really going to leave New York fucking City to go to Atlanta. I prayed on it and God said go go and I promise you you won't regret it. And Baby, the Real House Spots of Atlanta was my first reality show, and that feeling that I felt in high school being the editor in chief of the high school newspaper was exactly what I felt on my first day on that reality show. And that's when I knew that my calling in life was to be in reality television, but more importantly than that, it was to be a storyteller. And the rest truly is history. But it wasn't easy for me because and I never shared this before, but I'll do it now. It was a lot of struggles to make it in reality television because in two thousand and eight, when I worked on the first season of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, there wasn't any black male producers in reality TV, and unfortunately, I went through a lot of racism. I went through a lot of people who wanted to dim my light. I am going to be honest. I dimmed my light for a very long time because I did not want a lot of people to feel uncomfortable. And if I'm being very honest, I have been doing that for a very long time, probably up until a year or two ago. I never wanted these particular people to feel that I was stepping on their toes. And for the longest time, when you are the only black person in any space in life, whether it's school, at your job, in your industry, or the only minority for that matter, you sometimes feel like you don't want to ruffle feathers because as the only one in the room, you have this feeling of privilege that you made it through, that you made it in the door and everybody knew that I was a star. Everyone knew that, but they also would make sure that I didn't believe that I was one. My former boss said to me, don't you forget that I made you? And I remember in that moment thinking to myself, this is some racist shit, because I don't believe you would say this to a white man who looked like me. And that's when I realized that I have to leave the situation because this isn't this isn't a life that I want to be a part of anymore in terms of that institution. And everybody told me I was making the biggest mistake in the world. And Child, somebody who you show remain nameless. Someone said to me via email, you are burning a big bridge. And I knew that all of that had to do with They were just afraid of me knowing my worth and me executing on my desires to not only be produced from reality, but to also have a career in front of the camera. And I had a lot of struggles, you know what I'm saying. I didn't make that much money in my early years of producing. I remember living Child in a studio apartment in Brooklyn by myself. I had a cat. Because I had problems in my studio apartment with mice. Child. I would go to bid on my Futon and I would be awakened by a mouse nibbling on me. Let me just paint the picture for y'all. So your boy struggled. I struggled in my early years of getting into this business and working on these shows. I didn't make that much money because all my money went into like paying rent and just really trying to make it. So when I became who you guys called the King of Reality TV, a lot of that have to deal with the fact that I just knew that my time will come, and I know that we live in a world right now where everybody thinks things should happen right now and you want it right now. But like I just knew that my destiny would be different. In two thousand and two, when I was an intern at The View, I was twenty five years old. And I feel like nowadays people think, child, if I ain't making about twenty five, I'm gonna give up. And my advice to you is, do not give up on the dreams you have in your heart. If I would have given up at twenty five, I would not be where I'm at today. Twenty five is not that old, It just isn't. But in your twenty five year old mind, you think is the end of the world if you're not in your career field in a high position. I was a fucking intern at twenty five. Yes, me, and through the grace of God in my faith and me struggling and sacrificing a lot, I am now, like I said, considered the king of reality TV. I am part of the Hollywood Reporters Top thirty most Powerful Producers and unscripted Television. I have a hit podcast that reached number one on the TV film on Apple. We just had over a million dollars and yes, child, we're approaching two million already. Yes, I have a late night talk show on the Oprah Winfrey Network called The Night Caval Carlos King. I have my own production company called Kingdom Rank Entertainment, and I feel like I'm just getting started. So as we celebrate this past Thanksgiving, and as we approach the holidays and our New Year's resolution, I want you, my listeners, my rain drops, to really pray for God, because my thing is this, child, If you don't believe in God, I can't help you. I can't and you need to really search Him because when you are living the life of excellence, there's going to be a lot of people who are going to take you off track. And it's unfortunate because for the past couple of weeks, you guys don't know this. I have been dealing with a lot of people attacking me, and a lot of people making up stories about me, and a lot of people trying to defame my name, a lot of people who aren't trying to get people to appear in my podcast because they feel like I'm coming for their throne. So I have been going through a lot. But I also know with great power comes great responsibility, and I have the responsibility for myself and for you all, never to match anyone's negative energy. So what I do I block and go and be blessed. I ignore and go and build generational wealth within my household and the world. And no one, no one on God's green Earth, is going to take me off track. I have dimmed my light for many, many years, and baby, call me General Electric, because bitch, I'm shining bright. Thank you for listening to Reality with the King. New episodes drop every Wednesday and Friday, Share, comment, follow, and subscribe to Reality with the King. Wherever you get your podcast, visit Reality withthe King dot com and be sure to follow me at the Carlos King Underscore on Instagram and Twitter. Tweek me your thoughts and hot takes about this episode using the hashtag reality with the King. Reality with the King is a production of More Sauce by Stitcher. It is executive produced by Me, Carlos King, and Jasminhilly Brown. We are also produced by Lashik, Lotus Lee and Brandon Nix Engineering game music by Marcus Hamm More Sauce