D.L. Hughley Talks Late-Night TV, Politics And Not Wanting Another “Old White Dude” President

D.L. Hughley has a lot on his mind. The actor and comedian, who’s known for sharing his unfiltered opinions on social media, now has a late-night platform, and he’s not holding back.

The DL Hughley Show launched March 18 on TV One. The nightly series features Hughley and co-host Jasmine Sanders using humor to tackle everything from hard news and politics to celebrity fare. Hughley serves as an executive producer on the show and says there are no subjects he won’t touch.

“I don’t believe that any topic is off limits, but I’m careful as to how to broach them and to be clear about what my intent is,” Hughley said recently during an interview at the Burbank studio where the series tapes.

While other late-night shows feature games, karaoke and mean tweets, Hughley wants his guests to keep it real, like the time he asked Morris Chestnut “is Steven Seagal a d-ck?” To many people’s surprise, the actor answered.

“He wasn’t the best to work with,” Chestnut said reluctantly. Pressed as to why, Chestnut, who appeared on screen with Seagal in Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995) and Half Past Dead (2002) eventually relented and said Seagal was a nightmare to work with.

“He’s inconsiderate,” Chestnut recalled. “You know, when you have an eight o’clock call time and people show up to work at 12, not knowing your lines.”

Watch that clip here:

There was also the time Meagan Good, whose producer-husband DeVon Franklin is a minister, said she sometimes avoids church after facing repeated criticism from fellow Christians because of her sexy on-screen persona.

“If I’m being completely honest, my experience with some church folks has not been that positive,” she explained to Hughely. “I will always love the church. I love my Lord and Savior, period point blank. That’s first and foremost over everything. But even though I love some of those people, I have to love them from a distance because my spirit is too sensitive… so I have to protect my spirit.”

Here’s that clip:

Hughley prides himself on that type of candor. “I don’t like having people on, who have an active mission in mind, in other words, they have something to promote,” he said.

Still, he admits sometimes the interviews can go “off the rails.”

“When it comes to religion, that is a very sticky point for lot of people, and so those have been the most challenging,” he admitted.

Politics can be tricky too. While Hughley wouldn’t say which 2020 presidential candidate he plans to vote for, the left-leaning star has zero interest in seeing Donald Trump return to the White House. He’s no fan of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders either.

“When I see a 78-year-old white dude, like Bernie Sanders, exciting a lot of young white people because he’s going to change things, that makes me laugh,” Hughley said.

Instead, he said he wants to see someone get the Democratic nomination who could bring real change. For him, several candidates fit the bill.

“I like Kamala [Harris]. I like [Elizabeth] Warren. I like Beto [O’Rourke], I like [Pete] Buttigieg,” he said. “I like a lot of people, but I think pragmatically, there are only so many things that America is ready for.”

Hughley relishes talking politics and current affairs. It’s part of the latest chapter in his nearly three-decade Hollywood career, after leading the cast of the ABC’s The Hughleys and appearing in such films as The Brothers (2001), Chasing Papi (2003) and The Original Kings of Comedy (2003) alongside Steve Harvey, Cedric the Entertainer and the late Bernie Mac.

Harvey’s been a guest on the TV One show before. Asked if he’d ever host a Kings of Comedy reunion, Hughley said anything is possible.

“Maybe we will. You never say what will happen. I’m happy that I had that opportunity and I would be ecstatic if we got to do it again,” he said. “I was blessed to have seen it before and I’d be triple blessed to see it again.”

The DL Hughley Show airs Monday through Thursday at 10 PM ET/9C on TV One.

Source: Read Full Article