Navigating Authenticity and Success with Top Latina Comedian Gina Brillon
This week we’re thrilled to welcome the fabulous Gina Brillon, a top Latina comedian, actor, and author, hailing from the boogie-down Bronx. Join us as we explore Gina's journey in the entertainment industry, her insights on staying authentic, and how she managed to secure deals with some of the largest networks in the world.
During the Talk that Talk segment, Victoria Jenn and Gina dive deep into the recent backlash faced by actress Zoe Saldańa and how the complexity of our Latinidad can work for or against us.
Full Transcript:
What's up everybody welcome back to Banking on Cultura I am your host Victoria Jenn Rodriguez and you know on this show we talk about all things La the complexity the vibrancy entrepreneurship and of course all the Bonin in between and today's guest is actually the perfect guest to talk somea to laugh to get educated and this is going to be a very Lively what is the best way to describe this episode because I I don't know if they ready I don't know if they are ready I don't know they ready to meet the one and only Gina Brillion yes very very well pronounced oh thank you thank you very much thank you very much I'm so excited to have you on banking on cultura because you are such a badass you love as are you thank you real recognize real period uh fellow borua hey one of the top Latina comedians in the world thank you so much and uh are just living out your dreams in like real time and doing it scared doing it your way on your terms which is bold as hell and amazing and what we truly like to represent here on the show so I'm excited for the audience to get to know you to learn from you and to just feel this energy that's about to go down yes so Gina yes is a comedian an actor an author and raised in the boogie down Bronx that's right BX baby period and she's got specials all around town you got an amazing special on Amazon Prime you have your latest special that we're going to get into and all that jazz but first we like to start with actually you know what should we let the people know how we met first I think that's always a good place to start okay so we met and a couple of my guests this is how we met because it's just such a dope amazing network of people we met in Napa yes sweet in California sipping on some wine I was I was not sipping I was watching others sip oh I'm a very plantbased person you know what I'm saying okay okay okay okay um but it it was one of those atmospheres where you really get to connect with people and meet them on a human level and get to know them in a very genuine way which is how I got to get to know you yes and are you going again this year are you going I believe I am I hope so I believe I am I have to talk to Sir Richard Sir Richard Sir Richard well shout out to the hive by way because met incred people yourself included at The Hive and I just remember meeting you and being like Oh when energy matches energy yeah same it's like magnetic totally like I was like let's let's just bug out together and and have a blast and I feel like we had really just connected so I'm so happy to have stayed in contact with you me too cuz you're an inspiring person so are you baby and listen fellow New Yorker fellow boriqua fellow Herman you got to stay in contact we got to support each other big up each other exactly support each other's projects like that's how this that's how we Elevate each other yes and I wish more of the community understood how critical that actually is yes instead of Highly criticizing each other if we can actually support one another we can always keep it real like I feel like it's a very family relationship uh inos like with our communities it's very family so it's like I'll tell you if I feel like you know something's not right some ain't adding up but I can also support you you know my home girl loves to say that she always says two things can be true at once I can tell you you acting out of pocket and still support your projects yes and isn't that what real friends are supposed to do anyway than people that really love you they should be able to hold you accountable and be like uh let's get it together you're looking crazy out here or that was inappropriate like you need to apologize or you're looking a little ton deaf and maybe maybe you should uh step back exactly examine your behavior and things you're saying totally but I love you glad you're doing good exactly looking a hot mess let's let's wrap this up come now I'm I'm going help you out here you know what I mean like you can still support and love and what do they call that and give feedback that is like helpful constructive constructive that's the word that I was looking for right constructive feedback and I would love to see more of that in Comm uh but let's get into what talk to us tell us give us some tea give tea what tea you want cuz I got so much tea I'm a tea shop I'm the Boston Tea Party I'm full of tea bro okay well I got tea all day every day tea that is steamy better so the throat steamy but I like that yeah yeah this is that kind of but so the throat that's the kind of you need to do commercial commercials for tea right steaming but the throat commercials for tea or commercials for you know some some gadgets that can help for some gadgets that could maybe be of assistance you know what I mean yeah but yeah give us some BO okay so are we talking personal boin up to you business Bo up to you child okay okay okay here's the boa that I think we should really talk about being two uh two women working in a in the entertainment industry essentially yes um here's the tea I'm getting from a lot of my friends that work in digital a lot of them have co-signed this okay that we as a society seem to be moving away from celebrity worship and into a place of authenticity so now people have been wondering for a long time like oh why are influen like taken over and you know I've had a lot of talks with influencers and I worked with influencers and a lot of it is because people are really sick of celebrity worship it's like this uh the younger generations of people are seeing through a lot of the BS that I think we've glorified for the longest time including tabloid stories including treating celebrities like they're not people all of that stuff seems to be kind of fading away from what my peeps is saying thoughts feelings emotions tell me you know I agree okay I think there is a delicate balance though because you see the cancel culture that exists and you see what happens when people use their authenticity and it becomes highly controversial it could work for you or it could work against you so it's kind of like I think about this I think a lot about like how authentic do I really want to be and how much do I really want to share and be vulnerable about so that it's not weaponized against me later on but still stay true to myself and I that's the error that I'm in trying to like manage that and like figure out like okay and also coming from a corporate background understanding how that game is played understanding that I have corporate clients understanding that there's still an old-fashioned way of doing business people will still judge you Etc but honey if you got that audience and you got the attention that is the currency baby in the words of the Prophet Kendrick Lamar you can't fake influence so that is something you just it's a word like if you have the people you have the power essentially you have the control but I get what you're saying because I think there is a fine line between letting too much of who you are out to the public public because some should be kept private like I've always respected the celebrities that kept like their love lives private or kept their private life exactly that private and then the people who you saw all their messiness you were like H this is not really our business mhm but now that it's out in the public you now have to deal with public opinion about your private matters right so there's a fine line between the authenticity that I think is okay to show to everybody meaning I I am who I am and no one your opinion is going to know your opinion your opinion that's not going to change who I am right but I can be open to listening to you but this is the authentic me this is the me you get and sometimes you know that means you may M upep you may say something out of pocket you may say something that you didn't really think out I think there has to be an understanding and more of an empathy to an extent and compassion for humanity and for the fact that humans are flawed mhm we are flawed you catch me in the wrong moment I might say the most spiciest thing you ever heard me say facts you know what I mean yeah you catch me in the wrong mental state and that's I think when it's almost like like in those moments that's when you got to be like okay camera's off I need to reassess because I was too angry when I said that I was too sad when I said that like sometimes some of y'all need to shut down your Twitter accounts before you get to tweeting I think you know who I'm talking to F yes absolutely so it's like this fine line like how do we truly step into our authenticity in a way that is true to ourselves that is relatable that is going to land with people but you're also not completely losing yourself in the process or even sharing the best parts of yourself that like the world doesn't need to know uh so I struggle with that I go back and forth with that like all the time I'll give you a great example of on my way here I had someone comment on a previous episode that I had and a guest was dressed chill and of course it was a man but I know women are thinking this too and he said so is there a standard like there is in the workplace for how people dress on podcasts let me say something real quick I'm going talk to the camera right now mind your business mind some some some of y'all some of y'all walking in the street looking first day homeless so mind your bit if somebody got it together and sat in front of a camera mind your business but is that the reason why your latest specialist called mind your business yes cuz some of y'all really need to mind
your ever loving business but I share that because I was thinking earlier when I was getting dressed today and I was like wow like I'm here in my little hoodie I got my Hoops I got the Latina here do like Latina 101 hair stra Latina but it never fails but it never fails and they wish they it would they wish wish they could exactly it's like you wish you could pull it off you don't got the face for this I was thinking about that and I was like I feel so interesting to be at this Crossroads where I have these different layers to me right where I can dress like this where I'm in I'm on my show on my podcast in my element in the heart of my City New York City and I'm boriqua and this is a show that's based on Latinos and also I can still speak intelligently and drop game rocking my big ass hoops and having my hair back and having my curls out in my hoodie but people will still judge you off of that 100% so again this thin line between authenticity and also the way that people expect you to be packaged and looked and presented in a public setting so all of us need to decide how we want to show up and if we're going to do it our way and on our terms which you have been able to do in a very for me at least admirable way because I see you in action and I study you and I'm like wow I know that it's hard I know that but you are just so unapologetically you and I think there's just so much Freedom that comes along with you deciding I'm going to wear my big ass Hoops my hoodie pinb back my hair and look so New York
boriqua and not give a damn right the days that I put my hair back in a pony tail it's like don't start them with this chick though the hair's in a ponytail she's already ready to go I think that when people say that first of all it's like the highest compliment so thank you it's so funny because ever since I started uh comedy but really my whole life people have always kind of said that about me and I think there was a part of me that was like there's another way I could be like I think there was a part of me that was like I didn't realize I could be something else I only know how to be me I don't think I was ever good at you know what people well a term that now gets used a lot U masking I don't think I was very used to masking in every situation I think I knew when I had to protect myself and was like oh this don't feel right or at least know that situations I needed to walk away from because I I was like oh y'all aren't listening to me respecting me or letting me be myself so why am I in this space and I I learned how to sort of weigh the pros and cons I think a little bit of is it beneficial for me to even be in this space why am I in this space if I feel constricted or confined like I can't be myself Mi I've got the perfect freebie for you so I just dropped a 17-page workbook to help you get your mind right especially in this climate of so much uncertainty so if you are an aspiring or current entrepreneur and you're just feeling stuck you're not feeling too good about what the future holds and all the turmoil the politics all of it is just throwing you off your game this workbook is actually going to act as a journal for you it covers goal setting efficiency tips how to manage your time financial management tips strategies on how to wrap your head around the next big thing that's coming down the pipeline to bring you consistent Revenue in your business it covers what you should be doubling down on in terms of your well-being and it is just my favorite jam-pack Journal full of marketing and sales strategy to help you get clarity but most importantly to help you secure the big bag so make sure to tap on the link in the show notes I've linked it there so that you guys can get really clear on the top hacks that you can put into play to set yourself up for success I hope you love it mhm because I think what happens and we've seen this with a lot of artists we've seen this with a lot of artists when they first come out they're heavily controlled by whatever machine they're in and then when they break out of that machine usually it's like oh they drop their first label F follow fire their manager or they or they get dropped from their label or they get fired from someplace and now they're actually free to sort of just be I mean we saw with artists like pink even with artists like Christine Aguilera Kelly Clarkson and music is the biggest way for me to kind of show that because you see it in other ways too but that's the best example is how you can see how an artist can change how a creative to put it in in terms that's a little more inclusive creative can change into who they really are or really not even change into who they really are but allow themselves to be who they really are cuz there's no longer the powers that be kind of controlling them and for us those powers that be could be everything from cultural stereotypes to beliefs of how women should act and dress and be to business corporate the control in that environment so there's a lot of factors or a lot of hurdles to get over in order to become your authentic self and be free yeah essentially what I can say to that is it's [ __ ] worth it it's worth it there is nothing like truly living in your skin and being really comfortable yes and I have uh I've had conversations about this with friends before um I'm the kind of person I don't have a lot of regrets but the moments that I do regret are always moments where I felt like I wasn't really allowed to be myself in that moment or I held back or I didn't listen to my intuition those moments I regret but a lot of moments in life even if a situation did not work out the way I wanted it to I don't regret that situation or what happened because it led me to where I am today and if I'm happy with where I am today then why would I regret the journey that b me here totally yeah I mean I think those scars that we get on the journey are worth it and those moments where we feel like is it really worth it like do I really want to operate in my truth or do I want to collect this check and suck it up for right now right all of that really makes you who you are one of the things that I really love about comedians is I feel like you guys have a profession where you are able to truly be you and monetize that and people expect comedians to like say the things we wouldn't ever say hey and some people do yes some people would rather you not say the things yes that is true of course cuz there's the other side of that where people are like oh my God I can't believe you said that or people just getting angry or getting angry for other people of course yeah I mean we saw that with Dave Chappelle yeah like people can get angry for other people um it's I think I've heard this term used I don't know if it's the right term but third party offended where somebody's like I'm offended for the group of people you're talking about and there's a part of like how do I handle this situation cuz it's not you and they didn't ask you to advocate for them glad you're being an ally but now I don't know how to navigate around this situation do I apologize to you or the group or how do you how do you work this MH cuz what really what cancel culture became was kind of comedy's HR department cuz it started to check an industry that had never been checked before you know what I mean and if HR serves the company then who's the company the people so when all the canil culture stuff started happening I remember having the same reaction that a lot of comedians did was like you will not silence me but that really wasn't the point the point I think was hey there's a lot of stuff that maybe you should let go of that's just not hitting like it used to anymore whether that's due to new sensitivities or new knowledge it brought up the question was the stuffff ever funny or were we laughing out of shock and that for a comedian can go either way you can either go well screw it then I'm going to say whatever I want and I'm going to just be in your face and I respect that or you can go I'm more the kind of person that's you know I can be a little can be a little smartass so there's a part of me that was like well what can I say what is your process now when you're writing for like your specials like are you considering like will this get me cancelled no cuz I think I write with the idea of let's play with this you know with a curiosity and a playfulness so it's like let's play with this and I'm very OB the obvious things that you know like I'm like oh that will definitely not even and it's not so much about being canceled it's like well people miss the point because of the words I'm using what is the overall point I'm trying to make and how can I use the words to Lead them there instead of cutting them off before they actually get to the point because I've decided I'm just going to say what I'm going to say which is fine but you run the risk of losing somebody might have a great bit and if they started off the wrong way and they're using the wrong language and they're pressing too hard on the accelerator now you've lost the beauty of what you were trying to say and I'm such a a lover of stand-up comedy and a student of Comedy that I'm like oh you had such a great point point that everybody missed because of how you phrased it because you were so adamant on being in people's faces that you you lost sight of what the real goal was how is that process though because I just I will write it out and I'll be like okay now it's time to edit it now it's time to look at it do it on stage kind of free form it and see what people react to then go back is that how you normally test like you go and you test it out in the market like tested out if you really if you're writing something and there's certain things that I'm like I haven't really clarified what I want out of this yet so that I have to work on that more but the stuff that I bring to the stage is stuff that I'm like this is what I'm excited to work on now these are the things that I'm excited to talk about that I want to unpack with a room full of strangers and see if they're catching the same Vibe you know so do you have to like schedule the time that you write not always although I do think that it's great to write first thing in the morning if you have the ability like just because you know throughout your day your mind gets flooded with so much info and there's so much to do and life happens but that first the first couple of hours of the morning if you have a chance to take that for yourself like this morning I woke up around 6:30 um my son was still asleep I did some stretches some yoga did some writing did some meditating and it's it's just an undisturbed time there's not a lot of noise there's not a lot of the world that's up yet and so I I like to take that time to kind of write but also I'll zone out but I think the later on in the day I have to clear my mind before I get ready to write these are really good takeaways for entrepreneurs one is get your creative juices flowing in the morning get it out of your head in the morning I love that I think that is is a great strategy but to follow up with that is you have to test out your ideas you have to test out your material so many entrepreneurs will not post the thing on social media or not publish on their website or not sell the thing because they're so afraid of the reaction or maybe they won't get any reaction at all and so they just choose not to do it and there's no other way around it like that's how you test the marketplace you have to put yourself out there you have to test it has there ever been a time where you bombed on stage absolutely several times it's it's part for the course you can't you you're taking a chance every time you step on stage every time you step on stage there's a chance you could bomb even if the audience is the best audience of your life you could say one wrong thing and turn a room and not be able to get it back so I I can't even count how many times I've bombed on stage so what is your advice for someone who bombed on stage or just bombed period in pursuing their goals like what how do you recover the first thing I would always say is let yourself feel your feelings it's disappointing something didn't work out you know your set was bad maybe the audience just wasn't pleased maybe they were in a hot room maybe every person on the mic upset them that night you don't know mhm you can't internalize too much of it and after a while you start to realize when the problem was you and when the problem was the audience and on those nights when it's been me I had to have some hard conversations with myself like what could you have done differently how could you have prepared better for this did you even prepare at all for this did you think everything was going to be good and gravy because you were really in your ego and so you did not prepare and look what happened and those are conversations like the hardest thing I think is self-awareness because self-awareness is not surface level self-awareness is being able to really check yourself hold yourself accountable and see some of the ugliest and uncomfortable parts of yourself and go that's something I really got to work on if I want to be the happiest me achieve the most that I can but with that you have to be able and be willing to be vulnerable enough to potentially fail failure and success are hand inand yes I wish more entrepreneurs understood that aspiring entrepreneurs understood that because it's inevitable and you actually want to fail you want to fail a lot because by you failing a lot you're going to learn so much you're going to get thicker skin you're going to become more self-aware there's just so much benefit in failing and when we speak about Latinos in particular it's very interesting because what I find is we're like at this state of like an identity crisis like we're American we're Latino we're Latin we're Hispanic we're you know we we got all these labels we've got everything like kind of like forcing to question who we are why we are and as a result we don't even play the game because we're more afraid of failing than we are actually winning so we don't even we don't even play we don't even play at all because it's this failure thing that is so like it's daunting stuck yes but I can I have learned more from my failures than I have ever learned from my successes my failures have taught me all of my shortcomings all of the things that I couldn't see in people they have taught me what bridges are okay to burn and which ones I have to kind of keep and learn how to navigate what is one failure you learned from so I had uh a potential sitcom deal um with CBS a couple years ago that everybody always asks about cuz it was with uh uh the guy from King of Queens why am I forgetting his name Kevin James I was like I was like Kevin Smith I was going through all the Hollywood Kevin I was like Kevin Hart Kevin Smith no no no Kevin James and so I was very excited about this deal I was really excited about it and was really looking forward to the whole process it was really the first time we had gotten past the initial process of just pitching a show to a network actually being like okay work on the pilot we're interested so I sat and I worked with this wonderful writer Adam bar um shout out to him cuz I learned a lot from that whole process um and we went for months I think we just we went back and forth and there was so many steps between us and the people that could make it happen so it was like we would write the script and then it would go to the first tier of people and then the second tier of people and then finally the people that could make the show happen well they ended up not picking up the show and I I was devastated stated embarrassed there were articles written about me working with Kevin James I had been on his show um Kevin can wait and I remember like just feeling so low and like I don't know if I ever want to do this again do I do I ever want to throw my hat in the ring and the amount of people who are like you need your own show you need your own show you need your own show those those comments started to sting because it was like I've been fighting this fight like people don't understand like when you're pitching a show sometimes you end up pitching 20 30 different times to different people different concepts of a show and it gets exhausting it gets draining it gets disappointing the amount of times people hit a wall and so here I was I had hit this wall and I got a call from a friend of mine Adam Ferrara wonderful comedian amazing human being and cuz he had found out about the show and you know in his very you know older Italian way he was like he said Hey kid how you holding up and I said not good and he said it's going to come in waves it's going to come in waves and then he told me a story about when his show got cancelled or denied and that he was in his apartment for 3 days and didn't want to leave and we talked it out and really what he told me that kind of kept me going was to not let this one situation destroy my passion this one thing can't derail how ambitious you are you have to kind of alchemize a lot of those feelings back into your ambition you know as much as I don't love the idea of haters fuel me I get it because it really is alchemizing that negative energy and I had to take all of that negativity and fear of of letting people down and that I had failed I had to take that and alchemize it into okay so maybe you don't want to sit calm what do you want is that even what you want and if that's not what you want then let's work on what you want do you want to produce movies do you want to be in movies do you want just to have a million comedy specials what do you want I really that situation really turned around after that conversation into what can I alchemize this into cuz I'm not going to leave I'm not going to walk walk away you know I wasn't ready to go work at FedEx just yet so I was like shout out to people at FedEx though y'all be really delivering them packages though but I wasn't ready to to bow out so I I really had to say what can I turn this into that can push me forward and I think that's an important thing people human beings we alchemize things all the time we just don't realize we're doing it but in those tough moments that's when it's essential for us to go what can I turn this into I think that is the word of the podcast alchemize alchemize that's the word for this episod aliz say it with me alchemize alchemize very Dora with my words today so let's talk about industry stuff because it's always interesting to me how these specials come about and just the process so when you said you went to go pick and they were like yeah you know create the pilot who pays for the pilot okay so um that's kind of a complicated thing it really depends on who and where you're pitching to that at least that's my understanding um we pitched to CBS like we went to CBS and we met with um people that worked in development so you would normally meet with people that work in development and they y or nay the project from start to finish you do the pitch they they go yay you go write the script they get it in their hands they send back notes you rewrite it they send back more notes you rewrite it as many times they say yay like who's paying for the rewrite who's paying for all of that it's a combination of cuz Sony works with CBS so it's a it was a combination of Sony Productions and CBS okay that were I believe handling all of the money in this situation they were the money people okay that we were meeting with constantly okay okay got it okay but for your own specials like how like for example the special on Amazon like how that was Amazon and comedy Dynamics okay so comedy Dynamics um they produced the special They produced several specials for Amazon and I think Amazon basically they just handpick who they kind of want to work with and then comedy Dynamics gets to produce those specials so both Amazon and comedy Dynamics get the Lion's Share of the money that comes into the special they have to make their money before you see anything on the back end because they're paying for the production because they're paying for the production which is why so many people are now self-producing because when you self- produce a special yes it's more on you because you now have to invest in yourself and you have to have the budget to do so and you have to work it like you know some people do a great special for $110,000 some people do a great special for 8,000 some people spend 50 Grand on a special themselves to produce it cuz they have that Capital but you're seeing a lot more people now and self-producing their specials because financially it just works out better for them even if it may not be the 75k or 10 and something K you might have gotten paid from a Netflix or from an Amazon you know in the end you own the material you own that special you can license it to whoever you want you can sell it yourself and that's just now become the new wave like this special I I I did with um 800lb gorilla was essentially produced with your business Special M this one was one that I didn't Finance this myself but I'm working with a company that's very artist friendly so they walked me through the entire process of this is how much you're going to make this is how much we're going to make and this is what you make after we've made all our money back and they walked me through that which was very helpful and for me it made me think well maybe I want to self-produce my next special maybe I really do want to self-produce it now that I have more of an understanding of how all of this works cuz for the most part the other specials I did were controlled and orchestrated by other people and I just sat back and sort of blindly trusted that everything was working out and that it was good mhm and that's not to say anything about who I've worked with in the past but I would do it differently now having the knowledge that I have and I'm still proud of that work but again I have different knowledge now that makes me go oh yeah I got played not because y'all didn't like me or didn't respect me because that's how the game is I got played like there's um no no shade to anybody psych but I got phone calls that my special the floor is lava was on like United Airlines flights and I was like thank you so much I don't see a dime of that money thank you so much I don't see any of that money but I'm so glad you got I love the exposure I'm glad for the exposure you know you're grateful for what you're grateful for but people were hitting me up and I was going ah it's just kind of a reminder of you know had I had different information then I probably would have worked out a better deal for myself yeah not only that think about all the people who pay for Amazon Prime that get you know access to all this content and I loved that spe like that's one of my favorite specials that I've done I had a wonderful time doing that special um there's always a different experience with each special and this special that I did um recently mind your business was a whole different animal to tackle um so I'm I'm very proud of it because it was definitely more work than I've I've been very Hands-On it was more Hands-On than I've ever been with any other special so I really rolled up my sleeves and got into the grit with this one so it was good I love that and I love that you went through the experience yeah with Amazon because if you didn't you wouldn't know what you didn't know until now tell my clients this all the time like the reason why you hire a coach the reason why you go through the process because you don't know what you don't know you don't know what questions to ask for you don't know what to make sure is included in that contract you don't know how much money is market like what it is at the market value you don't know what's a pre you don't know if you're putting yourself at a disadvantage like you don't know you don't know the questions that you don't know to ask and that's what people people sometimes get intimidated or ashamed that they might need a coach or some help and um I had to learn that lesson the hard way of you know when you act like you know everything you're bound to drop the ball because there's going to be people that see things that you don't see and a lot of that is ego and a lot of that is fear of looking a certain way or of handing over to too much control to somebody else but a lot of that is also why people don't Advance because you can be in the rooms the right rooms and not know how to navigate them and not know what questions to ask and not know how to sell yourself mhm totally by the way I just want to Circle back and say I'm really happy that you kept going after that CBS experience because now it got you here for your own special that youve had to like really put in the Blood Sweat and Tears which I know made it that much better and also you have grown such an appreciation but also I feel like that gives you leverage now if you do go back to a network cuz now it's like I don't need you you need me kind of vibe like you have a little bit of Leverage you know what I mean a little bit I I think um I think what I did too to go back to your point about even coaching and listening to other people for this last special I worked with my my home girl Catherine worked with the special worked with me on the special and it's hard to put into terms the amount of work that she put into this with me because really what I think she excels at and what I think you know people that know how to ask the questions excelled at is that she excelled at challenging me and asking me questions that sort of forced me to think in a different way even if it was uncomfortable and to see things differently even if it wasn't how I would normally do things and it was hard it was challenging um but it was worth it in the end it's like you know getting a good trainer you know we put in the sweat and I may have been cursing at you the whole time but in the end I'm looking at it going I came out of it stronger I came out of it more self-aware and more aware of the world and looked back at the work and went damn I did that and I'm so thankful for people like her for the people in you be thankful for the people in your life that challenge you in a way that helps you grow because if it wasn't for that I think a lot of the material in the special would have been missed because I wouldn't have seen it yeah totally so let's get into the Talk That Talk segment there's a lot going on in the culta right now that needs to change that is taboo since you are in the entertainment industry jez Zoe zala yes what are your thoughts on the backlash that she is receiving right now it's so funny cuz I had this conversation yesterday literally um again two things can be true I can fully support the fact that she is a phenomenal actress she's great actress did her thing and I can also recognize when you know girl you might have been a little toned deaf some of your responses to things and maybe that was because you were trying to play it safe maybe that was because you were trying not to offend anybody and sometimes when you're trying not to offend anybody you end up offending all of the people but there are certain things that I think sometimes if you don't know what to say you're better off not saying anything instead of feeling forced to make a comment and I feel like a lot of the backlash has been because she she was asked a very direct question and she's been asked direct questions in the past and has had answers that are like that just make you go I'm sorry what what did you just say and people when you're in the public eye you have to be ready for the criticism that's going to come back at you and it sucks it sucks it sucks when it's one of our own it sucks when we feel like we have to be like H now now we have to answer for that but I also feel like you know what's funny and I don't think white people go through this in Hollywood I don't think anybody goes oh do you hear what you know so and so said and they're like a a white actor or something like that like in an interview I don't feel like they go through it as much as people of color when they when people of color say something that's kind of like I don't think you really meant to say what you just did or understood what you just said I think a lot of times for people of color we're a little bit more under the microscope I can agree with that and to your point about like extending Grace I was actually really disappointed in the community for how they just was tearing her a new [ __ ] and it's unfortunate because it's like in those moments when it is so much in a public eye how we go out of our way to just tear her down like we built her up because if she didn't win we would have been complaining about the fact that she didn't win right yeah but now that she won right people are like oh she didn't deserve it she shouldn't have got especially for that role meanwhile she [ __ ] slayed that role like what the hell are you talking about yeah um and also now they're weaponizing the comments that she made against her and I don't really find what she said to be so tonee maybe you can give me Insight since you mentioned tonee like yeah what was tone deaf about it because in my mind I'm like okay hold on a second yes it took place in Mexico yes the cartel exists in Mexico yes we know how the cartel moves right it's it's not a safe space like they will get you you know what I mean so I don't understand when I saw all the comments of it wasn't like you know a a true depiction of what happens in Mexico when it comes to the cartel uh and why there was so much uh controversy around it and why people were so offended if that does exist there so help me maybe maybe I'm missing something well I think it was my understanding that it wasn't so much about the depiction of of the cartel but that the upset was more that she didn't understand why people were getting mad that a movie about something that happened in Mexico about I believe a character person who existed that was Mexican and it was directed by some french guy and starring somebody who wasn't Mexican and I I that's how the dissection always works in our culture is they go wait a minute wait wait a minute so you made a movie about something that happened in Mexico but you didn't bother to include people that have knowledge of cultural nuances and say what you will about it like I can say I get it I totally get it and I'm not saying that I disagree with what you're saying but there is also some argument to be made of but the movie got made and it's telling a story and the story is reaching people and clearly affecting people and I think that's always been the battle you know Gloria C don't Kell it she talks about it all the time she talks about that battle we you know I did an interview with her not too long ago where she had talked about the backlash she got for one day at a time and different things in that show and so it is something that I think is so common to I don't even want to say overly criticize but borderline no definitely CRI our own people yeah even if it is something that I can sit back and go no I get it I get it you know if a movie was made um about Puerto Ricans you know what I mean like even when they redid Westside Story I was just thinking that when they readed Westside Story Spielberg actually had a friend who was the Puerto Rican consult that they used on set for cultural nuances those things like even him taking that step was a big step you know I think he was aware enough to know I'm a white man making a movie that is very close to the hearts of a lot of Puerto Rican people how can I do this with respect to the culture but that's the thing like what was disrespectful to the culture not so much movie itself but I think the the idea of did you consult anybody was anybody consulted for cultural nuances okay or was this just blanketed as this is what happens you know what I mean I think that's kind of the question was anybody really contacted or did you work with anybody on these cultural nuances or it's a story that maybe does not capture every single thing that goes down in the country yeah right it was a segment or it was just a story it was not meant to be based based on facts it was not meant to be based on you know true events it was a story so it's it's kind of like I don't know I guess it aligns to just the heighten sensitivity around diversity the height and sensitivity that we have now placed on each other of color like people of color like the heightened pressure the heightened sensitivity the heightened Nuance just everything about it just seems so unfair yeah it is it's like we want others to respect our diversity our inclusiveness our differences the complexities and the vianes we want them to respect that but we cannot respect each other mhm in our individual like journeys of trying to explore that I think and this this was part of the conversation I had yesterday is that people seem to internalize this situation one way or the other either they internalize it and they harshly criticize her or they internalize it and they don't want the harsh criticism there's no middle ground of can we get constructive and say the things that maybe are uncomfortable and need to be said without coming across like I'm I'm trying to burn this person down or ruin this person at the stake yeah well that's the thing um and then why isn't she allowed to disagree oh she's totally allowed to this is what I tell everybody about the climate we living now you can do and say whatever you want but expect consequences it's not that she's not allowed to disagree it's play it out in your head I will disagree with this and XYZ will happen am I okay with XYZ happening and this goes back to how we started our conversation around authenticity so in that moment she was like okay should I be fake should I be real should I be fake should I be real and how will this will this be to my detriment or maybe she's like I don't care she could be like I'm tired of this conversation I don't want like one of my favorite interviews uh with Bad Bunny about his recent album was he was talking to this guy and he was asking about one of my favorite songs on the album which is turista nice job BB I do like that song by the way I'm going to put recel to his concert in August I'm very excited now I like I fell in love with this whole album but in this interview the interviewer asks him for the 9 millionth time is this song about gentrification in Puerto Rico and he literally says I'm so tired of that question he goes you want to know what the song is about he said I want people to interpret the song how they need to interpret it he said I wrote the song on a day where I happen to be feeling melancholy now I'm I'm paraphrasing the words he was using cuz he didn't know how to describe really what it was you know he was saying sad but you know he was trying to say sad is the word I can use but that's not what I was feeling so I'm guessing Melancholy just a little bit of a a sadness feeling and he was went he went to the beach and he was sitting on the beach crying because he was just in this mood and people were just walking by him enjoying their life just oblivious to his tears and that's kind of where he was in inspired to write this song and but just that first part of the interview where he just he looks at the interview and he's like I'm so tired of that question was the realest way he could have answered that question I'm so tired of this question how many times do I have to answer the same question yes I'm upset about the gentrification in Puerto Rico yes there are things that are tied to it in this album but it's not every Creative Juice that flows in me is not about that and so I think there is a part of her that may have been tired of the convo or exhausted by it and and maybe that would have been a good time to be like I'm really tired of getting that question or I'm really tired of having to justify that or answer that question or maybe I'm not the person you should be asking this question to why do I have to be the one that justifies every single thing there are several Avenues I think she could have taken and she did what she had to do if she stayed true to herself then good for her Evermore you know what I mean like good for you you said the thing people got upset that's going to happen it's historically happened with people mhm it's just so ugly how far we take it like they were just like you can disagree and you can say you're upset about something but it was just so ugly how they were just coming at her and I can see why so many of us would choose you know [ __ ] that I'm keeping my creativity to myself I'm not putting myself out there I'm not speaking my truth because guess what there's no winning yeah right I can see how easily somebody could fall into that and be like why would I take the chance when it could really be my own people so I don't know if you saw you know there was a big fight this pack weekend with Davis and I forget what the other dude's name is but good fighter and um in his interview he had said so basically during the fight he got he said he got his hair done there was Grease that fell in his eye and he took the knee during the fight and he ran to go get like it cleaned up so when he's telling people what happened cuz they asked they were like yo you took the knee that's kind of like a knockout like what are you doing he's telling the story of what happened like the grease in the eye and so the audience started booing him and what he said and he was he was the one to win and everybody loves him like he's gets everyone hyped he's sells at Arena and he says he was like you know what that's the truth but guess what today you hate me tomorrow you're going to love me and I was like boom that's a great line that's a great line today you hate me tomorrow you're going to love me yeah and that's just the way that it goes so Gina thank you so much for being on banking on Cultura this was a dope conversation when in ways I didn't anticipate but that's the beautiful part of doing things organically so tell the people where they can hear about you where they get your specials where they can follow you things coming up all the things um you can uh find my special mind your business on YouTube um it's doing wonderfully and I'm very happy about that you can find me at gbon on Instagram uh G Bon on Tik Tok yes it's really me yes I really respond yes I really like everybody's comments I get that question all the time girl it is really be when you get one of those viral videos or something like that it is a lot of work I'm like I need to hire some to heart all these comments I really feel like people don't understand cuz they'll be like and then you got to be careful what you heart because if you heart some [ __ ] where they're like oh you're ugly and that sh too I heart that [ __ ] too I heart that [ __ ] too thank you for the view boo boo thank you thank you for the views my views just went up one more person cuz you decided to stay in hate thank you so much you did your part baby you but you know what I once had a guest that I wanted to have on the show and there was a controversial clip that was going around on we were talking about Dominicans versus Puerto Ricans on the show and he saw the clip and originally he was like yeah I definitely want to come on your show I can't wait then he saw the clip and he responded with you know what I don't think I can go on your show because you liked one of the comments under this clip that I don't really agree with and I'm thinking at the time I had a virtual assistant and I gave her the same instruction like everything I don't care but then this happened and I was like wait a second should I be more mindful of what I let people know I like everything so just know I like everything you could say the most ignorant thing I'll be like boooop thank you so much for the watch um boo I will immediately block you after by the way if you say some negative nasty but I'll leave your comment there I'll leave your comment I thought that was so interesting but I think that's that that's an interesting take also check out my website G bon.com because I have a newsletter so everybody can uh sign up it's a monthly newsletter that will be written by me so don't ask if it's me it is really me I have to write it every month and you will get an update from me every month newsletters honey they are Hunty they are literally a labor of love for sure yeah they are cuz you got you got to do it maybe I'll do an episode on newsletters because I was just asking my audience like what the hell you find valuable what do you want me to put in this newsletter because I'll be putting whatever I want so you really got to rock with me you really got to rock with me it's going to be a hey how you doing what's up might be a poem I might hit you with something you ain't never heard from me before I love it but it will be me all me I love it well thank you so much for for me I appreciate you edana I am so happy for all of your success everybody make sure you go out and support watch the Youtube special go on Amazon watch that special yes and just get into your world because not only is she a comedian and just has so many layers to herself but she's a poet she's really deep as you can tell given our conversation like there's there's a lot of things beyond the surface which I love and appreciate about you so definitely make sure you check her out and of course thank you for tuning in banking on Cultura and I'll see you on the next episode ciao hey guys if you enjoyed this video I'm pretty sure you're going to love the next one so make sure to click right here and tap in to the next episode.
Follow Gina Brillon
Follow Gina Brillon: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gbrillon
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ginabrillon
Check out her special "Mind Your Business" on YouTube
LIMITED TIME ONLY: FREE Workbook
Top Hacks For Entrepreneurs
Claim it Here: https://www.victoriajenn.com/freeworkbook2025
Your opinion matters! Help us improve the podcast. Complete Our 1min Survey Here: https://forms.gle/iEDvZFiTqQuKCsVH7
Join Our VIP Email List & Never Miss an Episode: Sign Up here: https://www.victoriajenn.com/bankingoncultura_vip
Connect with our Host Victoria Jenn Rodriguez
Banking On Cultura:
Don't forget to tag #BankingOnCultura or @ us to let us know what you think of this week's episode!