EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Dwight Eubanks – The REAL Story Behind RHOA, NeNe & She by Shereé!

0:03Speaker 1:Reality with the King is hosted by me, Carlos King. I'm an executive producer who have produced some of your favorite shows from the Real Housewives of Atlanta, New Jersey, and my own creation, the Love and Marriage franchise and Bell Collective. Every episode, we recap reality television from the Real Housewives franchise to The Bachelor or Selling Sunset. in addition to celebrity guests, whether in the unscripted space or scripted as well. Raindrops on today's episode of Reality with the King. I am here with Royalty, okay? He is an icon, a legion, honey. He is the one that started with me day one, season one in 2008.

0:51Speaker 2:He is the godfather of the peaches, honey. Give it up for the one, And the only Dwight Eubanks.

1:01Speaker 3:Wow. Look at you! You know, I love you so much! Look at you. It's been a long, long, long time.

1:10Speaker 2:How many years has it been, Dwight?

1:12Speaker 3:I can't even begin to count. I don't know.

1:16Speaker 2:It's been a long time.

1:18Speaker 3:So much has happened over the years. I know. Time goes so fast. You know, life just evolves. It just keeps going and going and going before you realize. We're almost half a year out. And it seems like it was just a couple of weeks ago. It was the beginning of the year. I know. So time waits for no one.

1:36Speaker 2:Well, look, life may have evolved, but that face is the same.

1:39Speaker 3:Do you really get it? No. You have to get the pool. Babe, the face is... Got a little salt and pepper. A little agent.

1:54Speaker 1:No, that's the skin. Okay, so like Botox, is it?

2:01Speaker 3:I got a little Botox, and that's it. You know, I've always had beautiful skin.

2:07Speaker 1:I was going to say, because even when the girls get Botox, you can see a little pulliness or a little wrinkle.

2:13Speaker 3:Your skin is so good. Well, you got to know when to stop. And my doctor is like, she's not having it. Me, I would want more, but she's like, I ain't doing no more. Get out. And a lot of times, people don't have that in their life. And they just go, go, go. And then you start looking like something else, like Avatar. We don't want that. We don't want that.

2:36Speaker 2:You are as fabulous as ever.

2:38Speaker 3:Well, thank you for old man.

2:40Speaker 2:No. How old are you now?

2:42Speaker 3:I'm almost 70. I'm just kidding. No way. Well, today I'm 55. Today? No, it changes. It changes? It depends on the day. You know, your body tells you your age, you know, and your mind over matter, you know. You know I've been through a lot, so. You know, I'm feeling good. You know, I'm really feeling good for real, for real. You know, in spite of all that I've gone through and going through. God is good and it's amazing.

3:15Speaker 1:Yeah.

3:16Speaker 2:No, listen, you are amazing and you have always been amazing.

3:20Speaker 1:Since the first day I met you in 2008 on this little Atlanta reality show.

3:27Speaker 3:Whoever knew what it was going to be. Nobody knew at that time. Do you remember calling my house?

3:33Speaker 1:Yes! Because the thing is, so Raindrop, just so you guys know, I was NeNe Leakes' producer. You guys know that. And we obviously met Dwight through NeNe. So I'm going to have to call Dwight and be like, hi. You know? So at that time, describe to all of us, because, you know, we are... 17 seasons in and the franchise itself is celebrating 20 years of of the first one which is Orange County but in.

4:06Speaker 4:2008 Atlanta Georgia okay that's 18 years ago what did you think about these girls doing the show at that time did you always embrace it or did you feel like I don't know if the world needs to see this.

4:28Speaker 3:For me, it was always cautious. And it was new. Reality TV was new. And we didn't really know what to expect or the direction that it was going to go. And it just took off. And it just had so many turns and so many situations. And here we are 20 years later.

4:49Speaker 2:Yeah.

4:51Speaker 3:And it's still going on. So it's been amazing. I didn't really go into it thinking anything. You know, for me, it was from a business perspective. That was it. It was to promote the Purple Door, to promote the salon, all of the charity that I've been involved with, HIV and AIDS, the homelessness, SCLC Women, all the things that I was doing. And I thought it was a good opportunity to get out there on just community services. And that was my objective. And then a lot of that was never shown. And it just didn't make good TV.

5:27Speaker 3:You know, they wanted the ratchetness. And, you know, you have to give the people what they want. And it's still giving the people what they want. In spite of, you know. Do you watch it? I watch it every now and then. Not like, well, I've never really watched. I've never been a television person. Right. To be honest. And every now and then I want to indulge in entertainment. And it's entertainment, you know. And it's really interesting how it has just gone so far left. You know, we were catty, you know, but... It was catty with a purpose.

6:15Speaker 3:You know, I think now it's just catty and just catty and it's just going a little too far. And I just I'm just afraid at some point people really think take it serious, more serious than what it is, you know, and they get their feelings involved and the emotions involved, particularly with women. You know, women are emotional creature and When you get that involved with everything else and you got the family involved. And we're all going through something. But when you get those emotions involved, it just takes it to a whole nother level.

6:49Speaker 1:Did you think that, okay, when you did season one, you came in through NeNe Leakes. Describe to us what your friendship was like at that point in time when.

6:59Speaker 2:She referred you.

7:01Speaker 3:Well, see, I knew Greg first. So I knew Greg and I knew Carla.

7:10Speaker 1:And just so the audience knows, Carla was a housewife season one for the first couple of weeks of production.

7:19Speaker 3:And then she got saved. She was saved during that process. Not saved.

7:25Speaker 5:Well, you know, because, you know, she... So you look at it that way because she got... Removed from the show. But you looked at it like it was a saving grace for her.

7:37Speaker 3:When I say saved, I mean she got religious. She got into a spiritual realm. And she was praying for everybody on the set, remember? I do. And she was blessing the walls with oil. And she was going through her whole face. And I did Carla's hair. And so that's how that whole thing came about. And somehow between Carla and... Nene and, and Kim is how that whole, how I got involved. Uh, it was not a Nene originally. It was Carla. And, um, then that was not what they was looking for. So they kind of connected me with, with, with, with Nene. And, um, from there it just evolved. It, you guys were an instant hit. The chemistry was good, you know, and, um, It was a great relationship. But again, we allowed other people to get into our relationship and our friendship. And other people twisted it and turned it into what they wanted to be. And it was not necessarily the case. And I think she felt portrayed. But she only got one side of the story. And we've never talked about it. Or we never had those conversations. But, you know, we used to hang out. For real, for real.

9:02Speaker 3:I know. We'd go to the clubs or we traveled and did some stuff. I would hang out at the house. And we had some great times, you know. And when the time is right, we'll reconnect, you know.

9:16Speaker 1:The biggest thing that happened that we were able to see was season three. There was this conversation of whether or not you. You loaned Greg $ 10, 000, right?

9:32Speaker 2:And it was this whole thing that happened.

9:34Speaker 1:And at that time of filming, it was intimated that you were going around telling people he owed you this money.

9:43Speaker 3:That was never the case. That was a conversation. Something was going on in California and Cam Zosak was there. Lamo was there. I can't remember why we were there, but we happened to be at the same time. And Corey, Corey was Cam's friend. And we was just hanging out. Of course, Kim was in her element with her wine. And it was just a fun evening. And Kim just went in. I mean, she just went way beyond. And I was just... I think it was at the Ritz or whatever hotel it was. And I was just shocked because she was telling me things that I didn't know and personal stuff. Personal stuff about Nene. Right. Okay. And I never repeated any of it. And I just kind of blocked it out of my head. And we were just kidding. And I made a statement about Greg. And I don't even know how the $ 10, 000 came into fruition, but it came back. You know, a dog to carry a bone will bring a bone. And that's who she is.

11:00Speaker 3:And that's who she was. And I never rectified. I was hurt, you know, from the reaction from Neenah because apparently Kim couldn't wait to get back to tell her side of the story. And there was never a conversation about the whole story. So I just let it go. You know, that's how you feel. That's how you feel. That's your decision. But when you know who you are and what you stand for, you understand. And I understood the whole scenario because I understood Kim and Big Popper and Brianna, the whole thing, you know. So that's how...

11:45Speaker 3:It happened. Do you think Kim betrayed you? Well, Kim and I didn't really have a relationship. My relationship was more with Corey. And Kim just happened to latch on to Corey for her benefits at the time. And that's, you know, there was no allusion to Kim, you know, one way or another. You know, we have always been cultural friends. with each other, but there was no relationship. My relationship was with Nene and Corey. And that's how that whole thing happened. And there was conversations that we've had and situations that I would never talk about. I would take it to my grave. And because what's the point?

12:38Speaker 3:What's the point? I mean, why? It has no merit. So why bring up certain things I think you just need to take to your grave. And not worthy to be repeated. And here we are.

12:55Speaker 1:So in that moment when you handed her, I mean, she handed you the check.

13:00Speaker 3:Well, first of all, okay, we was at the St. Regis or whatever the hotel was. Lowe's. Lowe's. Lowe's Hotel. Okay. The way we got to Lowe's was nobody wanted to film with Bravo. Okay. Nobody wanted to film with the network. So they came to me and said, okay, Dwight, do you have some recommendations of filming? The hotel hadn't even opened. And I went to Valerie Ferguson and I said, Valerie, and this is a strong black woman that was over the hotel association for years, two terms. And she said, Dwight, I'm gonna let you come in, but we just can't have no craziness going on. And I, and I told her, I said, it's not going to happen. It's going to be a calm evening. I promise you, I promise you, I promise you. When your word ain't worth shit, you ain't about shit. So I had confided into battle. We were friends. I mean, we were friends for real. And we get to the hotel and we're going up. And remember you said. I remember.

13:57Speaker 6:The conversation you and I had on the elevator. And I was like, what the hell is he talking about? But I wasn't, didn't make the connection. I was thinking it was something to do with Sharae. Because the fashion show had been happening right around the same time.

14:09Speaker 3:Yeah. This was season three.

14:11Speaker 1:And Sharae had her fashion show season two.

14:14Speaker 3:Right. Right. Okay. Yeah. I thought because, you know, we was going through the whole thing with that. What I did and what I didn't do. So I never even thought about Nene. It was not an equation. So when we got in the room upstairs, it was like she was possessed. And I was like, what the hell happened?

14:34Speaker 2:Because prior to that, you had no idea.

14:37Speaker 3:Y'all had an issue. No idea. No idea. Had no idea. And then she just came out. It was like veins came out of her. Horns came out of her head. And I was like, Okay. You know, I was not getting ready to have, first of all, I had promised that there will be no competition. And then it just escalated. And then they just started, remember, they just started pulling the plugs. The hotel, Valerie had given them the signal. that anything go down, just pull the cameras. And they started pulling the cameras and it just went. You have a good. I literally forgot about that. I did not.

15:20Speaker 2:First of all, he's telling the truth. I forgot about that. They were like unplugging the cameras, the lights.

15:26Speaker 3:Security. The hotel security. So it just, and I was like, and it was what gave me the moment was like Carrie. when they poured the blood on her in the movie. And I'm just sitting there like, are y'all kidding me? Are y'all really, really Carlos? Are you kidding me? After I had given the word, my word, and it just, it was bad. And I don't think the television really showed how bad it was. And I was shocked and I was more shocked and devastated and hurt because we could have had a conversation. And I would have told her everything. I would have told Nene everything, everything that I could remember at that time had she approached me that way. But it didn't happen that way. So I, you know, and then it escalated from there to the lobby.

16:23Speaker 3:And so when I get downstairs to the lobby and y'all separated us. And it took me, and I was hotter than fish grease. You were, you were hot. I was, I was more, I don't, I can't describe it. I've never really been in a situation where I was not in control of, of Dwight Eubanks. And I was out of my element. And I saw a side of a person that I had never seen. And I would never have a confrontation with a woman. And that's just not. You've never been about that life. I've never been about that life. You know, we can, we can have a, chitchat, a fish fry or whatever you want to call it.

17:06Speaker 3:But I'm just never going to belittle a woman because I was rid by three women, my grandmother, my mother, and I have two sisters. So I'm all around women and I have the utmost respect for them. And I would never, ever cross that line because I've seen physical abuse in the family and mental abuse. So I would never disrespect a woman for that. And again, you know, I'm Pentecostal. Baptist, Holiness, Jacobus, and all other religions. And so my grandfather was a Pentecostal minister. My dad was a minister. So what would I look like? And at that time, my grandmother was still living. You know, so what would I look like having that kind of conversation with a woman? My mother, my grandmother probably got a switch to my rear end and just or extension cord to beat the hell out of me, even as an adult, because certain things you just don't do. So I gave them that that that safe way. And it's all good.

18:12Speaker 1:Well, do you look at the iconic moment that you did that people still replay because you were so calm and collected? that when Nene handed you the check and said, here's $ 5, 000, you said, honey, it was $ 10, 000.

18:27Speaker 3:And then you... Dwight, you ripped it up.

18:30Speaker 5:But not only did you rip it up, Dwight, you threw it in the air like a fatty.

18:36Speaker 3:And I was like, you are... Dwight, you are.

18:41Speaker 2:Made for TV.

18:42Speaker 3:I don't know where that came from.

18:44Speaker 2:Because even at the moment, I could tell, like, this is who Dwight is.

18:49Speaker 3:He's like, you've always just been... No, but it wasn't it wasn't about the money. You know, it's never about the money and and I've had money and I've had not had money so Money with something we can get friendship is something that you don't come by like that so I my circle is really really close and it's even more closer now than it was before so I Cherish things like that. So It wasn't about the money. It wasn't about what she said or he said. It was just that I was devastated that a friendship that I thought we had was stronger than what I thought it was stronger than what it was. Because if that's been the case, there's nothing that we can't talk about and resolve. You know, it's never about, you know, there will be no divorces if we just have conversations, real conversation.

19:44Speaker 3:It's never about the power of the pussy or the power of the penis. You can get some more of that. You can't sell it all, nor can you buy all of it. of it. So money, we can get some more money. So what issues do we have? I mean, you worried about that? They didn't get it all. So, you know, in my world, when friendships, true friendship happens, There's nothing that can come between us other than death. And that's how I felt, and that's how I feel now, and that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

20:19Speaker 2:So this happened like 15 years ago. Have you seen Nene since?

20:25Speaker 3:Yes, we've seen each other on several occasions, just out. And situations keep coming up, and trying society, the street committee, keeps trying to pull us back together. In a good way. In a good way. Okay. And, um, and it's like, and it's probably me, uh, not being the bigger person. And, um, I just don't know if it's the right time. It will happen.

21:01Speaker 2:Even 15 years later, Dwight?

21:03Speaker 3:Well, it's, it's not necessarily me reaching out to, and to pass the olive branch. Maybe it is me. Maybe I should be. But I guess it's my insecurity because if it goes another way, it's like I'm going to turn into another person. And it's okay.

21:24Speaker 7:So I've never really thought about it. I've never really thought about it until now. So when y'all see each other, you're just like, hey. We hug. Because even at the Christmas party, You know, there was, was it the Christmas party when we did that at the salon?

21:38Speaker 3:That was afterwards. Yeah. With Phaedra.

21:40Speaker 7:Yeah, Phaedra.

21:40Speaker 3:That was season eight. But, yeah. You can keep up with the seasons. I can't keep up. Maybe I am. I can't keep up with my name. So, you know, so we've been around each other. Phaedra and Nene gave the party. And it was at the salon. Uh-huh. When Portia was doing her... Might not... What's the boxer's name? Holyfield. That was the Holyfield tape and then the back of the salon. Now, that was iconic. That was iconic. That was iconic. Okay, everybody was in ball gowns. Bob was Santa Claus. And we had the elves. And it was a great party.

22:28Speaker 1:It was.

22:29Speaker 3:And all of a sudden... Portia go out in the back of the salon. And I go out there to see where she's going because it's like in the dark, in the dark, in the back. And I see her straddle this girl on the ground. I mean, she was like, I was like, Portia, what are you doing? And she got up. She walked back in the salon and she sat on the bench. Like, and can I have some, caviar and it's like this bitch is crazy for real something's wrong because it's just now you don't go from a thousand to zero in a matter of seconds so it's like are they for real is this really really happening and it was so.

23:27Speaker 2:I didn't know you saw that!

23:29Speaker 3:It's not much that I don't miss. I may not say nothing about it, but I see it all. Were you shocked? Shocked? I was... I'd never seen nothing like it. And then when I asked her if she was okay, she was like, yeah. She looked at me like, what are you talking about? Am I okay? And she went on to have a conversation with whoever she was sitting next to. And I was like, you know what, this is beyond my pay rate. I'm not, I didn't go to school for this. I'm not a therapist.

24:01Speaker 8:But these dogs need some real help for real. There's a mental disconnect going on somewhere. What Bravo needed is a therapist on this set. And it's not Ayana.

24:14Speaker 3:It's got to be, God got to come down from heaven to give us a really understanding. On this and this and it's still going on. It's still going on. That's what's so amazing about the whole thing.

24:29Speaker 1:This is reality with the king and I'm Carlos King, let's get back into the show Are you gonna think about you have always been this you've always been a classy man I mean even look like you you've always felt the need to bring class even when you invited us to your home and Your home reeked of fabulousness and art and all these.

24:51Speaker 3:Wait a minute. Do you remember when Nene came to my house for lunch? Yes. I don't want to go second. Baby, that was awesome.

25:02Speaker 2:But I said it.

25:03Speaker 3:But say it. Say it to the audience. It was over. It was over, baby. You thought the goddess was heaven from heaven coming down at 12 o'clock in the afternoon. There wasn't nobody coming but me and she and I. Deborah Van Treese had laid the table out. I had pulled every piece of crystal, every piece of china, water, foot, baccarat. Everything was out. And then at that point, I was really going through this art phase. And I said, get rid of all the art in my house. Got rid of all the art and brought in all this fabulous artwork.

25:36Speaker 3:Do you learn the art?

25:37Speaker 2:I do.

25:38Speaker 3:And then the funny part is when you all came in, Y'all looked at all this shit that was in the house. It was like, what the hell is this? So they said, okay, who's coming for lunch? Nene. And I mean, Debra had everything that you could imagine on the table. So they said, okay, well, let's see what the back looked like. So we went out in the back. And at that time, I had gone to Morocco. And I had all these rugs around the pool. All of these. Incense. You had a thing.

26:12Speaker 3:All I needed was a thing. Fabulous. All we needed was a thing. So the house was the French verrier. Outside was Morocco with the candles and the incense and the pillows. Y'all went outside and said, well, here, we're trying to film the ocean. So I said, I'm done. We went on the other side of the pool, and I think we filmed some stuff over in the bushes. I was like, you know what? Y'all ain't ready. They're not ready. They're not ready. They don't want it. They don't want it. They don't want it.

26:42Speaker 1:We wanted to think, okay, but one of my favorite memories about your house, too, is when you invited her over, and you had those thrones.

26:52Speaker 3:The king chairs. The king chairs. I just got rid of those. Did you? I gave them away. Everything.

26:58Speaker 1:And you and Mimi are sitting down and then you ask her did.

27:05Speaker 3:You choke that?

27:06Speaker 2:Did you choke him?

27:09Speaker 1:And she picked up her drink and drank it and you stood there like this.

27:16Speaker 2:Eyes wide open like.

27:22Speaker 3:Yeah she never said.

27:25Speaker 1:She did she never said she did she took a step and your eyes was like.

27:30Speaker 9:Did you really choke but you should have if you did and I'm not about promoting violence but okay if you did I understand and then it was she and Sheree so you got a double ass whooping can you.

27:47Speaker 3:Imagine that No. I can't.

27:50Speaker 2:I don't want no.

27:54Speaker 3:Partner. But, and again, going back to what I was saying in the beginning is that you knew what she was dealing with. You knew what she was and who she was. So why are you surprised?

28:06Speaker 2:Is that why you felt so hurt?

28:08Speaker 1:Because I didn't, I knew you were hurt then, but I now can feel that when you look back at that moment, you still feel a sense of like, sadness.

28:18Speaker 2:Because I never thought about this.

28:20Speaker 1:To your point, the prior season, season two, her and Kim had issues. She shifted the wig. Sharae shifted the wig. Her and Nene had it out. And then comes season three. What was interesting was Sharae, Kim, and Nene, they all bonded together.

28:41Speaker 3:And it was like it was a plot against me.

28:44Speaker 1:It's like, And you were introducing Phaedra to the show at the same event.

28:51Speaker 3:And it was like, well, maybe they weren't friends anyway from the beginning. In spite of everything that we had done for Shit by Sheree. And it was just irrelevant. It was like it just went out the door. But, you know, I can't let that define who I am. Because if I can help you, I'm going to help you. To the best of my ability. And when it's not appreciated, you just move on. You know, everybody that say it won't help, don't want help. Everybody that say they want to get off of drugs, don't want to get off of drugs. Everybody that say they want to get off of alcohol, don't want to get off of alcohol. So when a person show you who they are, we have to accept it and believe it. And you know what not to do. So yeah, it was like a tag team.

29:40Speaker 3:against one.

29:41Speaker 2:But why?

29:41Speaker 3:I did, whether it was a dollar or 50 cents, if your man came to me and asked me for help or whatever it is, I helped him. You know, that was irrelevant. You know, what I did for Sheree is that I'm not going to let her go out there like that and not try to fix it. I'm not going to set her up for failure.

30:02Speaker 1:So explain to us how it happened when you helping out Sheree when she was a fashion show.

30:06Speaker 3:Sheree came to me like a week prior to the event.

30:11Speaker 10:A week?

30:12Speaker 3:Oh, it was like a week. And I went to work. You know, it wasn't together. And it's like, OK, so how are we going to have a fashion show if there's no fashion? So let's fix it. You know, so I called in Clarence. I think I called in Clarence. and some other designers. I said, we got a, Vivian Jones. I called in Vivian. I said, and Vivian brought her sewing machine to the hotel at Dunwoody. Dunwoody, yeah. Okay. She brought her sewing machine, was in the room sewing, making pieces to make it look like something, just staging it.

30:54Speaker 3:And that was my intention. Then I called Lucy Arian. And, you know, Lucy Harris is training girls for Miss Universe. I mean, she was a muse for Saint Laurent. And, I mean, I brought in... These are relationships that I've had over the years. This is not something that just started. So I was calling in people, flying them in. I think James came in from New York. Lawrence was supposed to do the hair, never showed up. But, again, we just gonna make it work. Glenn was my publicist. Glenn Beam came in. He had the... sections, the press set up.

31:30Speaker 3:There was no press. There was no media set up. Glenn did all of that and paid for it. I'm not just talking about volunteering services. I'm talking about going into your pockets. Did it go in your pocket?

31:42Speaker 11:Yes.

31:42Speaker 3:I mean, it didn't happen. Nobody's giving you fabric for free.

31:47Speaker 1:Do you remember how much you gave to the fashion shows? A lot.

31:53Speaker 3:More than $ 10, 000? It was a lot. You're talking about airline tickets. I brought in people. Remember the mink chinchilla shorts? And then somebody, I can't remember, was, what's the, Michael Kors? Or somebody said it was tacky. But that inspiration came from Saint Laurent. Luciera was the model that wore it for Saint Laurent. And I put the same thing in this show, and it was tacky. So a white man can do it, but a black man can do it in this tacky. Really? What's really going on? This is nothing new. So, but we did it. And she pretended like we didn't do nothing but show up. Can you imagine what it had been had we not stepped in?

32:40Speaker 3:But again, when I get involved, I get involved 100%. Otherwise, I just step away, don't get involved. But it's all good.

32:50Speaker 2:No, the thing is, I was there, so I know how much work. Everything you're saying, I remember... It was second season, and I just remember.

33:01Speaker 1:The people you're describing. I remember the lady sewing, the sewing machine. I remember all those things, the media.

33:07Speaker 3:I remember those. James came in from Boston, or was it from New York? We brought in a whole hair team. We brought in a whole makeup team.

33:15Speaker 2:And this is all out of pocket from you?

33:19Speaker 3:Who else was going to pay for it? She already didn't have the money to pay for it. She didn't even know what I was doing. Sharae was even, what, an hour late for the show. So where was she? Is it true that.

33:33Speaker 1:Because I remember you doing an interview.

33:36Speaker 2:You said Sharae did not see the clothes until the day of.

33:39Speaker 3:She didn't. She didn't. And those were my samples. They weren't her samples. I just started doing something to make a collection. And then people started calling, trying to buy. And I was like, well... okay, sure.

33:56Speaker 2:Right.

33:56Speaker 3:What are we going to do? Let's set up the website. I can't remember what it was, one item or something that was in a show that people really was trying to buy. I remember. And I called, I said, okay, sure.

34:06Speaker 11:Right.

34:07Speaker 3:We need to produce this and just go run and take pre-orders. But I guess she was just doing this for the show. And I didn't know that. I just thought you was for real. And, uh, I went and ran with it. And, um, was trying to make her, it said she by Sheree, it didn't say Dwight by Sheree or whatever. It was she by Sheree. So here we are. So you all say you want a show, but you don't really want a show. Because it really, the one person that has been on this network that really got it and understood, and that was Candy. That was out of everybody that has been on the show, Candy understood the assignment, and she ran with it, and she got her money. And everybody had that opportunity, but they got caught up into... Remember, I went to... What's the designer that did Rwanda? Carter, Carter, Carter. Ruth Carter.

35:11Speaker 3:I had gone to the Atelier in L.A. They was giving the clothes. They shipped clothes for the girls to wear. They didn't want none of it. Beautiful crocodile bats, but somehow we have gotten so obsessed with society and what society said we should be doing to everything that we wear, we are making it. But for some reason we don't support them. And that has always been my mission because fashion is my background. Beauty is my background. So my thing is how do I promote these people that are really talented. I mean, these young kids that's coming out now are, I mean, they are a beast when it comes to design, but they need a platform. So that was always my objective to Liz Russell and, I mean, Barbara Bates. These are people I've known for over the years, not just locally, but international. So pick up a telephone and call and say, okay, send me this, send me this shoe. I'd much rather have go kill this crocodile and said, I'm going to paint it, dye it this color, make me a bag. And it wouldn't be $ 50, 000. A real genuine crocodile. But we don't want that. We want the Hermes and the things that the masses have. But

36:34Speaker 3:somehow society has really messed us up and conditioned us to think that we're not worthy. You know, all this hair that the girls are wearing. What is it? What animal is growing hair that fast? You know, what human is growing that? All over the world. And I'm talking about dancers are changing their hair color and their length every day. So, horse? How many horses in the world? I'm talking about in the world. Not just Atlanta. All over the world. So, what is this that the black dolls are putting in their head? You know, and they want to say it's relaxers that has my mouth. Well, everything has formaldehyde in it. It's connected to your eyes, your nose, your ears, your mouth, your skin. And you're living and breathing this. What is this chemical that we're doing?

37:26Speaker 3:But everybody, when did a black doll have hair down to her knee? And shiny. I mean, like, shiny, shiny. You know, it's Avatar. Avatar has taken over.

37:38Speaker 2:Not Avatar.

37:39Speaker 3:That's what they look like. You're not impressed. With the beauty now? Yes. Oh, absolutely not. There is no beauty. There is no beauty. There is no glamour. Period. Everybody got a part down the middle and down their back. The bust out. And it's shiny like lacquer. The black doll has never had no shiny hair like that. It just doesn't exist. God gave the black woman her face. That's the black woman. Her eyes, her lips, her nose, her forehead. It's her beauty. And you pull that hair off her face, she can shut down any room she goes in with nothing. God gave white women hair because they don't look like nothing. They have no complexion. They have no lips. They have no cheekbones. So they've got to have some hair to soften up the rest.

38:36Speaker 12:You're looking at me like I'm... But I'm just saying that Somehow, the black woman has lost her identity.

38:48Speaker 3:And she don't understand her wealth and her worth and her beauty. And it's time now. It's time now to come back around. But those that have hair, you got to realize a lot of them don't have no hair and it's never going to come back. So they got to live in the wig. Lace France, nothing new. Lace France was back in the opera days. from the Asian opera, they transformed men into women. They castrated them so they can have the notes. That's when female impersonation started. This is nothing new. Homosexuality is nothing new. This is old.

39:28Speaker 3:Lashes was not to be butterflies on your eyes. It was for the balcony. You paint the stage, the theater for the balcony. The front row can see because they're right there. You're painting for the balcony. Fashion 101.

39:44Speaker 2:So talk to me about Dwight Eubanks as a kid.

39:49Speaker 3:Like, who.

39:50Speaker 1:Were you always this confident, this fabulous, into fashion?

39:57Speaker 3:Yes, absolutely. That's all I knew. You know, I flunked him. I flunked him three times. True story. What did you not do? I didn't work out. I wasn't playing no games. I wasn't playing with no balls. Those kind of balls, anyway. So, Miss Jackson finally came to me. And my mother was. Number 13 out of 14 kids. I love that. Thank you. She was not going to press no blue jeans or do all this stuff that she had to do. So I wore a suit to school. You wore a suit? Yeah.

40:39Speaker 3:At what age? Probably, I wore dress pants and short pants and white shoes to school when I was in kindergarten. And so we dressed. My mother dressed my sister and I like we was going to church Sunday morning. And, of course, the girls at school didn't like my sister because she had bowls and ruffles and all that shit. And finally, my Belinda Butler used to beat my sister up every day on the way home and pull all her ribbons out and tear all her clothes off. So my mother finally said, you come home one more time with those clothes off, I'm going to whoop you. So that's when we teamed up together. I would fight for her.

41:26Speaker 3:She would fight for me. I was always skinny. I mean, I'm fat now. But back then, I was really, really thin and skinny.

41:35Speaker 1:How old were you when you first heard the word skinny?

41:42Speaker 3:Oh, shit. Being referred to as what? Probably kindergarten. Early on, you know. So you always were effeminate? I guess it was more I was shy. Okay. When I was on the first season of Housewide, my mother was shocked because I was always quiet. She said she never knew that I talked. And to see me talk that much, even now today, she's still in shock because I was always that shy, quiet guy. that was just always in the corner. So, um, I don't think we did was with the church, you know, it was Sunday, Bob, um, Bible studies on Wednesday, Usher board, Friday, fish fry, and this meeting choir rehearsal. That was our life.

42:31Speaker 3:And then when the family discovered my lifestyle, it, everything shifted. So, um, wait, how old were you when they discover your lifestyle? I think I was probably in the 10th grade. What happened? My mother was nosy and was eavesdropping on the conversation I was having with my boyfriend at that time, who was, I was, what, 16 or 17? 16. So he, John had to be 16, 18, about in his 20s, 21, because he had his own apartment. So, baby, that's a whole nother world. But I was, I was, in kindergarten, I had girlfriends. And I had boyfriends too. In kindergarten? Oh, yeah.

43:19Speaker 3:If you didn't bring me Now Laters, you could be my girlfriend. And if you didn't bring me Yellow Now Laters, you could be my girlfriend. But if you brought me the great ones, you could be my girlfriend. I love the Now Laters. What would the boys bring you? Now Laters.

43:33Speaker 2:Oh.

43:34Speaker 3:Or blow pop. And it's really interesting. Um, the first guy, uh, we're still friends. They still live in Atlanta.

43:53Speaker 2:The F like five.

43:56Speaker 3:You know, people have to realize you're curious at five years old. Yes. You know, you just want to, you know, your mom said, don't touch it. You know, you touched it. You know, don't look at it. You look at it. If they just had those conversations with, The world would be better. And they just think their kids are not... And it's worse now than it was back then because everything is on television. So, yeah, I was running girls. And, you know, you used to put the mirror on our shoe and put a rubber band around it. And some of the girls turned. Right. So, okay, you're much younger than I. It's the same thing.

44:34Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.

44:34Speaker 3:So... I didn't know what I was doing. It was just one of those things, you know, and I don't even know where I learned how to do it. But there's a committee in the street teaching all young kids everything they need to know bad. They're not teaching them about no bank account or about buying no land. They're not teaching them anything constructed. All the things that I've learned bad, I learned in the street. You know, and there's a trial, a It's trial and.

45:06Speaker 2:Error for sure.

45:07Speaker 3:Every day.

45:08Speaker 2:Do you remember the first time you were intimate with a man?

45:11Speaker 3:Oh, absolutely.

45:13Speaker 2:Was it with a 20-something-year-old boyfriend?

45:15Speaker 3:Oh, no. It was in first grade.

45:17Speaker 10:Don't.

45:19Speaker 3:Dwight. When you ask him, and I'm telling you.

45:22Speaker 2:What happened in first grade?

45:24Speaker 3:You show me yours, I'll show you mine. Oh, that. Okay. And then you touch it, and I'll touch yours. And then it starts getting hard. Nobody had to, you know, I can remember vividly the very first wintering I had. And I didn't understand it. We never had, I never had a conversation. And it was just sticky. I just woke up and it was just wet and sticky. And it felt good. I liked it. And so I waited.

45:55Speaker 2:How old were you?

45:56Speaker 3:Oh, I can't remember. Okay. It was, it was. maybe 10 or 12, something around there, whenever your dick started getting hard is when it happened. It got to come out some kind of way. So it happened and I liked it. So it didn't matter to me if it was a boy or a girl, and it still don't. Because you've been intimate with men and women. Oh, absolutely. Do you prefer one over the other? I prefer a man over woman, but it's more of a challenge to be with a woman than it is for a man.

46:34Speaker 3:And I'll climax easier with a man than I will a woman. My responsibility, civic responsibility, my moral responsibility is to turn a woman out. It's just that You just got to get down there and talk to it every now and then and put your eyes down there and talk to it. It's just fascinating.

46:55Speaker 2:What does it say back to you?

46:57Speaker 3:Oh, whatever I wanted to say.

46:59Speaker 2:It purrs?

47:00Speaker 3:Yes. Oh.

47:01Speaker 11:You know, but it's that, I guess it's just a control thing that I know I have the power to really take her in a place that she's never been before. Because it's more for a woman, it's more of a challenge for them to.

47:23Speaker 3:Turn out a gay guy. They feel they can switch them. So it's a challenge to them that they can convert me, or a bisexual man, being that they're a woman, but it's more of a challenge to me to turn them sexually and mentally, to stimulate them to a point that they've never been before. by a bisexual man or a gay man. So it's more of a challenge than anything. And I just get off on it.

47:55Speaker 2:What was the last time you were with a woman intimately?

47:58Speaker 3:Yesterday. I mean, I can't believe it. No, I'm just kidding. It's been a couple of years. It's been a couple of years. It's been a couple of years? That's recent. Yeah, because... Because I get more hits from women than I do guys. Fact. I get more, I can get more women than I could ever get men. Men are, I think, men just, I don't know, they're just intimidated by me or I don't know what it is. But, you know, I haven't been in a relationship, oh my God, over 10 years.

48:43Speaker 2:What happened in your last relationship?

48:45Speaker 3:That's a whole other chapter. That was with someone that I had been dating on and off for 20 years. Allegedly bisexual. And he would come and go and come and go and come and go. And then my last real relationship, we just... I guess I was just trying to be more nurturing and uh because i was older and we just got caught up we got caught up um and drugs and got caught up in alcohol the both of you there yes okay and um At some point, you know, I tried to get them help, and they had a chemical imbalance. And from that, they just wasn't ready to get help. And friends got involved. And allegedly friends got involved that should not have gotten involved and took it to my parents. It just wasn't a good situation.

50:10Speaker 3:But I loved him. I loved him dearly. And I've had some great relationships. And that's what allowed me to travel. Because my first real relationship was a guy from Australia. It was in the coffee business. So that's how I got through school, was through Nick. Because my mother wasn't paying for me to go to a beauty school at all. I went to Morehouse for a day. because that's what they said I was going to do. And from there, you know, Tony Gambino, from the Gambino family, and Edmond Boudier.

50:53Speaker 3:So I've had some really great relationships, and I think the standard is so high to, I know, now what I'm willing to accept and what I'm not willing to accept. And, and it's okay. You know, I much rather be in a relationship than not in relationship. Uh, because at this point in my time, you just want to go to the park and have an ice cream cone. You know, uh, it's not about sex anymore. It's about the intimacy and the friendship and the trust. And that's something that we don't have in our, in the gay community, black gay community.

51:31Speaker 3:We just a sexual human being. And it's beyond that. You know, it's more intimacy and nurturing than the sexual piece. And somehow the black man is just a whore. They just like to fuck around. You can have a perfect relationship. And I got some friends now that are in great, what I would think are great relationships. But they're fucking around. On each other. On each other. So what are you really doing? Unless you just really have that. But again, that goes back to saying that there's nothing that we can't talk about that we can get beyond. And I think when we have those open conversations about life and be true to ourself and true to our God, we can get beyond anything else. So there should be no divorces.

52:25Speaker 3:Why are you upset? It's just sex. And it's overrated. At this point, I'm 65. So at this point, I mean, I'm living my best life. No, you really are. And I can't complain. And I'm okay with that. So, yes, I've always dressed. And it is really interesting. I've never bought a pair of tennis shoes. All the tennis shoes I have ever had, somebody gave them to me. Every last one. Would you ever put them on? No, I wear them. Okay. I wear them, and I didn't understand tennis shoes. I had a girlfriend, Shermaine, that bought me a pair of Gucci's. Didn't think nothing of it. And the first time I went, when I was going to work out, I went walking. I couldn't get back to the house fast enough. I had blisters on my feet.

53:26Speaker 3:So I didn't think about them, went out and cut the grass in them, and they were worse. And I was like, these are the most horrible shoes I ever had. And she was like, why would you say that? Because I went walking. They're not walking shoes. Well, they're tennis shoes. What else am I supposed to do with them? You know, there's a tennis shoe to go jogging and a tennis shoe for that. That makes no sense to me. And to spend $ 500 for some rubber, y'all got to be the craziest person in the world. I'd get me a pair of leather shoes that would last me for 20 years and some rubber, and they'd fall apart. They'd fall apart.

54:00Speaker 3:A piece of trash.

54:01Speaker 2:They do have to wear a tear.

54:03Speaker 3:I mean, I got a pair of McQueen's platforms. They fell apart. I would say $ 1, 200 for, you know, y'all young people, y'all just come from a whole other space. I don't understand it, and I'm not trying to understand it, but I can understand a suit. I was doing a tailored suit. Joseph Hinton was making suits for me. Oh, my God. A long time ago. And still still with me. In fact, he's a tailor for Nini's boyfriend.

54:37Speaker 2:Oh, Yoni.

54:39Speaker 3:And that's who was trying to get me to come to the Christmas party last year.

54:44Speaker 1:You should have came.

54:45Speaker 3:I know, but I was there. I know. I know. I know.

54:48Speaker 1:Okay.

54:50Speaker 3:Atlanta's my town. I know. It's not much that goes on in Atlanta.

54:53Speaker 2:You know, listen, you are still the king of Atlanta.

54:56Speaker 3:I'm the governor. I passed the city council, the mayor, I'm the governor.

55:03Speaker 2:No, you know everything.

55:05Speaker 1:Even when you're talking about being 65 years old, because listen, you look amazing.

55:09Speaker 2:You have a share that you went through a health crisis. You battled cancer.

55:14Speaker 3:Well, I'm still going through it. I just... You know, after I lost my grandmother and, uh, the ending of 24, that was devastating for me. Uh, I went into a depression. I didn't realize I was in depression because I've never been depressed and I didn't know what it was, but I knew it was different. And my grandmother was the one that saved my life. She died at 103. And, um, She's always been there for me. When my mother and family found out that I was weird and I was going possessed, I was a demon and all those things.

55:54Speaker 3:My grandmother's the one that said, and she came just at the nick of time that I was ready to check out. And somehow she knew I had had enough. And she said, listen, this is my grandson. I love him. If y'all can't love him, let him go and I'll take care of him. That was a changing point in my life when things changed. turned around. And after that, December, no, that was December. My father died. Well, I had a stroke in January. And so I was his primary caregiver until the day he died, taking care of him. And then two or three weeks after that, next month would be my niece died that has four kids. That was just, wow.

56:39Speaker 3:So It was a lot. So when I discovered that I had prostate cancer, I just wasn't in a space that I can do surgery. And then a dear friend of mine had gone to surgery three years prior to that, was just devastated. And I knew I didn't want to go through that. So I just made up my mind that I wasn't going to do anything but do active surveillance. And I got a team of three doctors, personal friends, and regular professionals. And they just guided me through it to get me to the point where I can do something about it. I've changed my diet. When it came out, it came out that I was stage four. I had 24 hours to live.

57:34Speaker 1:When were you diagnosed with prostate cancer?

57:38Speaker 3:It's been two years. Two years. Uh, the year, well, my grandmother died in 24, December 24. So 25 was the beginning to a 25. And, um, I had been going to the doctor faithfully every, every year, getting my checkup, doing what I was supposed to do. And, um, I've outlived three doctors that have died. And all of my doctors were always older white guys. And so, um, I, they never said anything about my prostate. And then after the last doctor died in 2024 is when we discovered 25 and they couldn't find my records. So it was like, I went to the new doctor that my doctor's office had referred me to. And he's asking me all these questions and I'm getting, you know, annoyed because if you read my charts, you would know what I'm doing and what's going on with me. And found he said, well, I don't have your charts. What do you mean you don't have my charts? After 30 days, your charts are destroyed if you don't request them. I thought they just automatically transferred them to this other doctor office because that's who contacted me. And that wasn't the case. So we went back and we figured out who was doing lab

59:05Speaker 3:work and he could go back to 2023. And when the first sign was high. But nobody ever said anything to me.

59:15Speaker 2:Your prostate levels were high. Yeah. Yeah.

59:18Speaker 3:So at that point, I was, again, I just lost my grandmother. Now you tell me I got prostate cancer. It was a lot. So it was a lot to unpack and I just wasn't ready to do anything. And I figured we all going to die from something. But the quality of life for me is more important than the quantity. Well, you know, I've lived an amazing life. I've traveled all over the world a couple of times. I've gone to places that I couldn't believe that was there.

59:54Speaker 3:came back and went back again the next week because it was just, this cannot be real. So I'm okay. You're not doing no surgery? Not yet. Not yet. Do you know what stage you are today? Yeah. And the way that my doctor explained it to me is that we did a DNA study on my DNA because my grandfather died from prostate cancer. And, um, we did several tests and they've discovered that it's not as aggressive as they thought it was when it first came out. So being that the first, the records that we can find is from 2023. So it's not going up or it's not going down. So I've changed my diet and, um, more herbs going more holistic and more centered, uh, with wellness and mentally over matter for me. And that's where I am. So they're saying, as long as I watch it every three to six months to see what happens, I'm okay with that. I'm okay with that. And then when it's time to do something and when I'm in a better space of mind to do something, I don't like being sick. I don't like being to doctors. I don't like being down. And Right now, I can't put that on my family. I just cannot. I cannot put another burden on them, them worrying about me, being that

1:01:30Speaker 3:now that I have four babies that we have to be concerned with. I have to be strong for my sister because she's going through a lot. The youngest is six years old, and she has cancer. So to see her go through her treatments as a baby The six-year-old has cancer? Oh, my Lord. My great niece. So to see her go through when she's in the hospital, and that's a rare form. She's had it since she was four, since she was two. She's six now. So I just can't.

1:02:03Speaker 3:But when I look at her in the hospital for seven days or five days, and then she goes home, she's just been a kid. All she wants is to go to gymnastic class. Can I go to school today? Can I go with my friends? You know. And so. I don't have no problems. At five years old. To see her that sick. And she's flat ironed several times. To see her that sick. And her just bounce back like that. Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? This is nothing. Really? Cancer? What does that mean? So.

1:02:47Speaker 3:That's where I am. And you're good with your decision? Oh, I'm good with my decision. God got this. That's something that man is saying that I have. And when it's time to do something, I will. But right now, I have too much to do. I have too much to do.

1:03:08Speaker 2:What's wrong with the purple? What happened with the purple door?

1:03:11Speaker 3:What do you mean what happened with the purple door? Is it still up and running? Oh, absolutely. Yeah, that's good. It's been 30-something years. We've been at this location for 22 years. I'm getting ready to go into education because I think it's time. I've been fighting. We just have to be obedient and learn to listen to All plans are not necessarily all plans. God has a higher plan, a higher power of what we're supposed to be doing. And sometimes you just have to let God take control of your life. And that's what I've, the realizations that I've come to that I just have to wait on his decision. I've been fighting teaching because these young kids are a different group of people, but at the end of the day, they just want some love and some direction.

1:04:03Speaker 2:Direction for sure.

1:04:04Speaker 3:They do not want they're to be friends with their parents. They want their parents to be parents and parents today feel like they need to be friends. They are smoking pot together and drinking together. That's, that's not parenting. So I think now is the time for me to get back into education and to share the knowledge that has been given to me and spread the knowledge. And that's where I am now. So doing more production work now, um, you know, event stuff, um, We're doing a City Vibe tour next year, a six-city tour. It's fashion, entertainment, art, culture, all the things that I like. It's a lifestyle. And I think it has to be something of substance, still doing the health fair, knowing your health, teamed up with Morehouse School of Medicine, South DeKalb Family Physicians, and some other professionals, to when you know your health, you know what to do. And we don't go to the doctors.

1:05:00Speaker 3:And so that was my calling for this is to just encourage black men to go get tested, you know. And when you think about prostate, think guys just freeze up and say, oh, nobody's going to touch my butthole. But it's not about that. When you know what you're dealing with, there are things on the market now. There's a seed implant that you can get done. And anything that you do, you have good doctors and you have bad doctors. But we have to ask the questions. And I've learned from experience that when I first went in, I only heard what I wanted to hear. You know, and I had to realize I can't do this by myself.

1:05:38Speaker 3:I had to take somebody with me that is listening for the things that I didn't listen to. And when I tell you, after I did the biopsy and Carlos, it was the worst thing that I've ever experienced. I thought I was having a baby out of my penis. And you know, after you have the biopsy, you have to sit there for a certain amount of time before you can leave. So I got to the car and I thought I was prepared, but I wasn't. I got to the car and I had this urge to go to the bathroom. And the nurse is trying to get me in the car. And I said, I'm not going to make it. I'm not going to make it. I got to go. It was like this pressure is just coming out. And I was pulling my penis out to released myself in the parking lot. So she had ran back in the hospital and got me a urinal. I could barely get it. And it's like a clog of blood like this came out of the head of my penis.

1:06:45Speaker 3:I had never seen that much blood and I freaked out. I literally freaked out and I was angry because surely This has happened before. How you send me, and I'm living in Conyers, how are you going to send me to drive on a 30-minute drive with nothing? I would have never made it. The car would have been a mess. And this is clogs is coming out, coming out, coming out for like three or four days. And I'm like, I need a tampon. But again... I had to assist her, but I didn't know the difference between a tampon or the pad things. I didn't need a tampon. I needed the pad to absorb the blood. But those are conversations that the doctor should have had with me to prepare for it. And I just knew that I don't want to go through that. I just don't want to go through that. And finally, it eased up. It got better.

1:07:48Speaker 3:But mentally... having to go through that, having to wear a pad, it just really messes with the black man mentality. And until we start having conversations about it, and you share your experience, everybody's experience is different. So when we start having those conversations, we can get to a better understanding. And it doesn't have to be that way. And just kind of imagine having.

1:08:17Speaker 10:To wear a pin at 65 or a pad at 65 Your self-esteem goes from 100 to 0 and just not being comfortable.

1:08:28Speaker 3:So I'm good. Continue to spread the message, to share the love, and educate. And we want to continue to pray for you, too. Well, prayer is good. God is good. You have a lot of supporters, Dwight. I do. I do. And I realize that after... you know, it started and then I started feeling a certain kind of way because now it's like when I go out, that's the top of the conversation. And if I'm out to have a good time, I don't want to talk about my health.

1:09:04Speaker 3:And I understand it's only been concern. And I appreciate that. But for the world to know I'm good, I'm going to be good. And God has promised me that I have another life. 50 years. Amen. So I'll live to be 110. No, you will be.

1:09:22Speaker 1:And listen, you need to sprinkle more fabulousness around the world. And the reason why I wanted to make sure I saw you and brought you on the couch is because I wanted to give you your flowers in terms of you being one of the architects of what made Atlanta Housewives the way.

1:09:38Speaker 3:It is today.

1:09:39Speaker 1:And the reason why we get to celebrate it 17 years later because of what you brought to the show, too. Because of you, other people were able to also be presented as friends to the show as well because you were the first. The first friend to the show. A little six-episode order of first season. And 17 years later, people still care about you. And that, to me, just really shows the impact that you have had on our lives. And I love you so much. And I'm so happy you're doing well. And I want to let you know face to face on this couch. I appreciate everything you brought to the show, too.

1:10:22Speaker 3:Thank you. And you need to know that. Thank you so much. I appreciate that. I love you. I love you. It's been a blessing. And just being real. Yes. That's who we are.

1:10:36Speaker 2:And you still a fabulous bitch.

1:10:37Speaker 3:Yeah! Give it up for Dwight, y'all. I'll take that from you.

1:10:47Speaker 1:Reality with the King is executive produced by me, Carlos King, produced by Jamie Schaefer in partnership.

1:10:55Speaker 3:With the Black Effect Podcast Network.

1:10:57Speaker 1:You can also find us at our YouTube channel at thecarlosking underscore. I'm also dropping tons of exclusive episodes on Patreon, which you don't want to miss.

1:11:08Speaker 2:Make sure to subscribe to that, too.