I don’t think their stuff has crossover appeal, gonna have to tame everything down even further to go mainstream latenight.
https://www.reddit.com/r/bodegaboys/comments/w52xyg/matthew_belloni_reports_desus_mero_split_was/
What follows is from Matthew Belloni’s newsletter for Puck News. It’s paywalled so here’s the text:
“So, a couple readers texted, what the heck happened to Desus & Mero? Blame their manager.
When the news broke Tuesday that the comedy duo Desus Nice (a.k.a. Daniel Baker) and the Kid Mero (a.k.a. Joel Martinez) would end both their creative partnership and their excellent Showtime late-night show, many in the comedy world were perplexed. These guys had a great gig, were landing guests like Presidents Biden and Obama and Denzel Washington, and seemingly had the network’s full support. But the rift that led to the implosion was pretty clear to insiders at the show.
Here’s what happened, according to five separate sources. Shortly after Thanksgiving, Showtime asked that Victor Lopez, the duo’s longtime manager and a credited producer on Desus & Mero, no longer attend tapings or appear in meetings. Lopez had been accused of asshole behavior, including bullying, screaming and generally making people on the show feel bad. Several formal complaints had been made, according to two sources. (Showtime and reps for the duo declined to comment; Lopez could not be reached.)
Desus agreed with Showtime and wanted Lopez out, but Mero is said to have felt loyal to their manager, who had been with the Bronx-raised duo for years. The comics first became big on Black Twitter, were brought together for a podcast for Complex, then another pod, Bodega Boys, that led to a show on Viceland, and then, for the past four seasons, on Showtime. Lopez was there for pretty much all of it, and Mero resisted booting him, I’m told.
As the dispute metastasized, people started noticing. The duo stopped posting podcast episodes in November, which raised eyebrows among fans. Mero quietly left their longtime agent Christina Bazdekis, and lawyer, Victoria Cook, and signed in February with WME and Ziffren Brittenham by himself. The stars talked less and less during the show’s fourth season, which concluded in June. Desus hosted Jimmy Kimmel Live solo earlier this summer. Last week, responding to some fan tweets suggesting the end of the podcast, Desus said that their followers “deserved better than this ending.” And at the MLB All-Star Game’s celebrity softball exhibition last weekend, I’m told they arrived and participated in activities separately. Then, Tuesday, the announcement from Showtime. Desus is already teasing a new project.”
What follows is from Matthew Belloni’s newsletter for Puck News. It’s paywalled so here’s the text:
“So, a couple readers texted, what the heck happened to Desus & Mero? Blame their manager.
When the news broke Tuesday that the comedy duo Desus Nice (a.k.a. Daniel Baker) and the Kid Mero (a.k.a. Joel Martinez) would end both their creative partnership and their excellent Showtime late-night show, many in the comedy world were perplexed. These guys had a great gig, were landing guests like Presidents Biden and Obama and Denzel Washington, and seemingly had the network’s full support. But the rift that led to the implosion was pretty clear to insiders at the show.
Here’s what happened, according to five separate sources. Shortly after Thanksgiving, Showtime asked that Victor Lopez, the duo’s longtime manager and a credited producer on Desus & Mero, no longer attend tapings or appear in meetings. Lopez had been accused of asshole behavior, including bullying, screaming and generally making people on the show feel bad. Several formal complaints had been made, according to two sources. (Showtime and reps for the duo declined to comment; Lopez could not be reached.)
Desus agreed with Showtime and wanted Lopez out, but Mero is said to have felt loyal to their manager, who had been with the Bronx-raised duo for years. The comics first became big on Black Twitter, were brought together for a podcast for Complex, then another pod, Bodega Boys, that led to a show on Viceland, and then, for the past four seasons, on Showtime. Lopez was there for pretty much all of it, and Mero resisted booting him, I’m told.
As the dispute metastasized, people started noticing. The duo stopped posting podcast episodes in November, which raised eyebrows among fans. Mero quietly left their longtime agent Christina Bazdekis, and lawyer, Victoria Cook, and signed in February with WME and Ziffren Brittenham by himself. The stars talked less and less during the show’s fourth season, which concluded in June. Desus hosted Jimmy Kimmel Live solo earlier this summer. Last week, responding to some fan tweets suggesting the end of the podcast, Desus said that their followers “deserved better than this ending.” And at the MLB All-Star Game’s celebrity softball exhibition last weekend, I’m told they arrived and participated in activities separately. Then, Tuesday, the announcement from Showtime. Desus is already teasing a new project.”
Victor was Mero's manager first, makes sense why Desus was down to let him go. Surprised it was Mero that caused the break up
I get looking for him since he’s been with you from the start but at some point you gotta put your business interest first
Loyalty goes both ways so one wonders how loyal the other dude is when he's purposefully killing your paycheck.
Knowing when to roast someone versus being an asshole is a fine line. Desus and Mero knew that line but sounds like their manager didn't.
Knowing when to roast someone versus being an asshole is a fine line. Desus and Mero knew that line but sounds like their manager didn't.
mero definitely looked like he was comfortable with how far he made it too. loyalty by situation is a thing
Surprised the showtime show last as long as it did. Was dogshit from day one compared to the Viceland one.
By reilo Go To PostLoyalty goes both ways so one wonders how loyal the other dude is when he's purposefully killing your paycheck.
Knowing when to roast someone versus being an asshole is a fine line. Desus and Mero knew that line but sounds like their manager didn't.
He looks like he'd be an asshole too
Wouldn't surprise me if he and Mero come out with their own podcast.
I only ever heard Victor laughing at their jokes on the podcast so he always came off as chill
This is wild if true
This is wild if true
By s y Go To PostSurprised the showtime show last as long as it did.Fans paying for showtime I'm guessing. Goes further than ad numbers
By Not Go To PostI only ever heard Victor laughing at their jokes on the podcast so he always came off as chill
This is wild if true
Fans paying for showtime I'm guessing. Goes further than ad numbers
Towards the end he would be on the podcast talking too, he'd come in late and it would be the 3 of them going back and forth. He was always talking about how he's Colombian and Queens, he sounds like a dickhead when he speaks and tells stories.
If Mero's still on his side, I wonder if the Showtime suits were trying to push him out, or fucking up the vibe that got them there somehow (I mean, I could see it) and Victor took a stand, at which point he gets labeled standoffish and "hard to work with" and you know the drill
meanwhile Desus is just trying to get paid. this makes the most sense to me
meanwhile Desus is just trying to get paid. this makes the most sense to me
Some people make their way up with a manager being gruff and rough around the edges and it helps early on but a friend/family needs to have a coming to Jesus with themselves about how that person/manager is acting when they don't need be the asshole anymore.
Producers will always tell you they are the ones that made the artist a known thing and not the art itself
By Not Go To PostIf Mero's still on his side, I wonder if the Showtime suits were trying to push him out, or fucking up the vibe that got them there somehow (I mean, I could see it) and Victor took a stand, at which point he gets labeled standoffish and "hard to work with" and you know the drill
meanwhile Desus is just trying to get paid. this makes the most sense to me
Mero had Victor as his manager first, they got with Desus later on, so there's not as much loyalty there from Desus, he's not about to fuck up the bag for him.
By You got 14 bricks right there? Go To PostTowards the end he would be on the podcast talking too, he'd come in late and it would be the 3 of them going back and forth. He was always talking about how he's Colombian and Queens, he sounds like a dickhead when he speaks and tells stories.putting the face to that is enough for me lol
conspiracy theories running rampant
this is what i needed tho, for healing. breakups hurt more when you never learn the reason
Also Desus and Mero already in a bad light no matter what, firing all their staff on vacation with no notice
this is what i needed tho, for healing. breakups hurt more when you never learn the reason
Also Desus and Mero already in a bad light no matter what, firing all their staff on vacation with no notice
Speaking on the Basic! podcast, hosted by former MTV exec Doug Herzog, he said, “Desus and I had discussed pursuing separate interests over a year prior to the show coming to an end and that conversation solidified us in signing overall agreements that recognized our intent to operate independent of one another. As far back as June of last year, we were both pitching or looking to join existing projects as individuals. It’s not like I’m breaking up with my girlfriend on the phone. It was a strategy and one that we all agreed on.”
“At the end of the day, when things are winding down you got to recognize that they are winding down and not supermax Patrick Ewing when he has two [knee pads] and his career is coming to a close,” he added.
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He added that his family also supported him. “That’s why my feet are firmly planted on the ground, I surround myself with good people and I don’t get sucked in to that industry vortex, that’s hyper important if you want to have longevity in entertainment,” he added.
By reilo Go To PostIs this Mero?
Yeah it's from this
https://deadline.com/2022/08/the-kid-mero-addresses-desus-mero-split-1235084352/
The duo’s path to fame didn’t resemble the one taken by many other late-night hosts: Go to a prestigious improv school, get hired at Saturday Night Live, and then wait your turn for a solo break. Desus had been a strip-club manager, a mechanic, and a bartender before working in media; Mero held jobs in IT and as a special-education paraprofessional. Their backgrounds featured prominently on the show and allowed them to wade into comedic territory that other late-night hosts wouldn’t or simply couldn’t touch.
Take, for instance, Desus’s mocking defense of the basketball player Tristan Thompson, which referenced the stereotype that Caribbean men cheat on their partners. “You know about us Jamaicans. We’re loyal,” he said in one episode. And then, after a pause: “to all our families.” They made frequent mention of Dominicans bringing spaghetti to the beach (if you know, you know) and of the regular fights that break out in City Island restaurants. Sometimes, the co-hosts bantered about drug addiction in Black neighborhoods, stop-and-frisk, and their parents’ threats to send them back to the islands when they disobeyed them. Though ostensibly dark, these moments reflected the humor that people who face these daily indignities use to cope. The cultural specificity kept them close to their New York City roots and their goal of creating a late-night show “for the people.”
In the Season 4 premiere, the hosts spoke with Denzel Washington (who was promoting The Tragedy of Macbeth) about having an overprotective mom and growing up in Mount Vernon, close to the Bronx. Mero dubbed the actor “Hollyhood.” (In contrast, Washington spent most of his appearance on another show quoting Shakespeare with the white host.)https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2022/08/desus-and-mero-light-night-split/671161/
😭
By Not Go To PostZiwe cancelled
I guess that's officially the end of the era
Desus said what it was for years, HollyWood Desus is here, completely sold out just like he promised.
He straight up moved to LA lol
This is all going to be even sadder when they eventually get back together out of desperation and the vibe is forever awkward
Best of luck to him tho fr
This is all going to be even sadder when they eventually get back together out of desperation and the vibe is forever awkward
Best of luck to him tho fr
By Not Go To PostJordan B Peterson?
Joe Budden.
He's more about the music industry than the general bullshiting the bodega boys did.
