- The NAACP Image Awards were like
super amazing this weekend.
Some of the most fun I've ever had.
This was honestly, maybe one of my favorite moments in life,
that I will, I will cherish until I die.
So, at the end of the awards,
so Jay-Z was the recipient of the President's Award
for all the work that he's done
with criminal justice reform.
Right, he's done an amazing job fighting
to reform mass incarceration in America.
And Beyonce is up for the final award of the night,
which is Entertainer of the Year,
so she might go up and then receive her award,
and so like there's gonna be a whole thing,
like when she goes, is she gonna leave?
Is Jay-Z gonna stay?
So she wins, right she's Beyonce, she wins.
So she goes up, and she receives her award,
and then she leaves backstage,
but Jay-Z's sitting in the front row,
and his security, I guess,
didn't realize that the show was gonna end
as abruptly as it did, right.
And so like his bodyguards are standing
at the edge of the theater where we're at,
and we're in the middle of the theater.
The Anthony Anderson comes out and he's like,
"All right, good night everybody,
"that's the show, good bye," and that was it.
So everyone just stands up, and everyone was like,
they just bum rush the stage,
and then everybody just rushes to Jay-Z 'cause they're like,
"It's Jay-Z!" (audience laughs)
Everybody rushes towards him.
Now, I'm trying to get out because if you've ever left any,
you know when you leave an event,
there's gonna be chaos, there's gonna be,
doesn't matter, celebrity or not, traffic is traffic.
All right?
So I'm like, I wanna leave.
So I see Jay-Z and now Jay-Z is getting mobbed
and so like, he wants to push his way out
and the bodyguard wants to push their way
but like you're jammed cause everyone's leaving that way.
And Jay-Z can't push the people cause he's Jay-Z.
Right, you can't push people
when you have a billion dollars.
Everything is a lawsuit waiting to happen, you can't.
So he just has to keep his arms by his side.
So I run up to him and then I'm like, "Jay!"
And he turns and his eyes light,
he's like, "Oh, Trevor, what's up?"
And I was like, oh, he remembers me, thank god.
(audience laughs)
'Cause it's not like we're friends, I just know him.
So I'm like, "Oh, yes, it's me."
And I was like, "Are you okay?", he's like, "My bodyguard",
and then I was like, all right, "Just walk."
And he's like, "What?", I'm like, "Just walk."
And I don't even know why, I grabbed the back of his jacket
and I push him through the crowd
and I put my head down behind him.
And people are trying to come and I just started going
"We gotta move, people, we gotta move, people.
"We gotta move, people, yo, Jay, keep it movin',
"we gotta keep movin', sorry about it.
"no selfies, we gotta keep movin', y'all."
And people are like, "Jay-Z, can I get a selfie?"
I'm like, "No, move, no selfies, people!
"Everybody, we gotta keep movin, sorry, Jay,
"we gotta keep movin', Jay, we gotta keep."
And I literally push him through the crowd
and we like barrel through and then we get to the other side
and the bodyguards are there
and then they start like clearing the sides
and then I'm like clearing the back,
people are trying to come from the back and I'm like,
"No, we gotta keep movin', no selfies!"
And no one sees it's me
'cause why would you think that I'm pushing Jay-Z.
So no one is like, "Is that Trevor Noah behind Jay?"
No, so I'm just like there behind him,
"We gotta move, Jay-Z, we gotta move!
"Sorry, ma'am, no selfies, we gotta move, we gotta move,
"gotta get him outta here."
'Cause the guys gonna get mobbed so he's pushing
and then the security guard, the most amazing thing,
they're walking together, and I guess there were two,
one was supposed to be ahead of him
and one was supposed to be behind him
but there's a moment where they look at each other like,
wait, if you're here...
(audience laughs and applauds)
And so then like the one, there's a panic and the one turns
and then he sees that I'm like pushing Jay-Z
and this guy just, he came over, he was going to break me.
(audience laughs)
It was like slow motion, he like turned
and he comes as I'm like, "Jay-Z, I'm sorry!"
And he comes and as he grabs Jay-Z's like,
"No man, he's doin' a great job, man, let's go."
And the bodyguard goes and then like I just carried on
rolling with Jay-Z just like pushing him,
walking ahead of him like, "no, no, no, no pictures, no!"
And I was just like, I was like Jay-Z's security
the whole way through and then we went into a secret exit
where they leave out of, like,
I feel like they built a basement for them.
'Cause that's not how I came in, we came in on the street.
And then I was like, "Where are we?"
And we just keep moving, just keep moving
and then he jumped in the car and then he turns like,
"That was amazing, baby,
we gotta do it again sometime, baby, that was amazing."
(audience laughs) Then I was like, "Yes!"
I'm Jay-Z's security.
(audience cheers and applauds) I made it!
Oprah has to leave.
(audience groans)
Yes, she was going anyway, don't be greedy!
But, but, but, but, but, I mean,
this is like just a moment where we get to hang out,
I know you're dying, so we'll do this, two questions,
I'll take one from this side of the audience
and one from that side,
something you've always wanted to ask her,
don't ask her what her favorite color is,
think for a moment.
I'll ask her one question first
just so you can think for a little bit,
just one from this side, one from that side.
- This is the behind the scenes thing you do, right.
- Oh, this is Between the Scenes, yeah, we'll just hang out.
It's funny, I didn't know you talk to your audience.
- Yes. - Yes, this is me,
I just hang out with the real people.
- Isn't that cool? - I love it,
are you kidding me?
I wanted to know one thing, you are Oprah Winfrey,
you have been very wealthy for a long time,
you worked hard to get there, I often wonder
how much normalcy there still is in your life?
Like, how many normal random things happen to you.
Like, when was the last time
your phone ran out of battery while you were speaking?
Has that ever happened to you?
- No. - Okay.
(audience laughs)
So for instance, have there ever been a moment where
you're in the bathroom and then the toilet roll is done, no?
- Oh, no.
- What is the most?
- No, you know why?
Because at my house, I don't know
if this happens at your house,
but at my house when the toilet roll is checked regularly
and when it's been checked,
like after you're going to the bathroom,
somebody will come in and it's folded
into a little triangle. - They fold a little triangle?
- Yes. - Like you live in a hotel?
- It's like folding into a triangle every time.
- Okay, okay, we'll take one from each side.
- I will tell you though, some things very normal
that you wouldn't think. - Okay, let's go.
- I travel with my own bread and I bring my own avocados.
- Are you serious? - Yes I do.
So I have an avocado orchard so I think it's--
- Oh, the story got not normal, Oprah!
You just said, "I'm gonna tell you something normal",
then you said, "I have my own avocado orchard."
(audience laughs)
- But, so I think it's ridiculous to pay for avocados.
- Which is why you bought your own orchard?
Are you kidding me?
That is not a normal story.
I made my own avocados because they're too expensive.
(audience laughs)
This Mueller Report thing
is one of the most entertaining scandals
that's happening right now
and I'll tell you why, for me personally.
Because I can understand
where Trump and his supporters are coming from.
Trump and his people are saying, "If there was no collusion
"how can there be obstruction of justice?", right,
but what they don't seem to understand is
America does make provisions for that in the law,
you can obstruct justice for a crime
that was never committed,
which is a very weird thing in my opinion, I won't lie,
I do think it's weird.
'Cause Trump is like, "I never did the thing."
Then it's like, yes, but you still
might've obstructed justice.
He's like, "How can I obstruct justice
"for a thing that never happened?"
They're like, "You still obstructed justice,
"that's how it works."
Like, basically it's like you lied about eating the cookies,
wait, let me think, 'cause it's such a weird thing.
(audience laughs)
You know what it's like, you know what it's like?
It's like your mother accuses you of eating the cookies
but then you block her from going to the kitchen
to prove that the cookies have been eaten.
And then even if there were no cookies eaten
she's gonna beat your ass for blocking her.
(audience laughs and applauds)
That's essentially what it is.
Your mother's like, "I don't care."
You're like, "But there were no cookies!"
She's like, "I don't care, whey were you blocking me?"
You're like, "'Cause I didn't eat the cookies!"
She's like, "I don't care, you blocked me,
"you stood in my way, young man."
And that's what's happening to Trump.
And the reason I'm so entertained by it
is because I feel like 2019 is the year
when powerful white people
are learning about the justice system
in a way that black people in America
have known about for a very long time.
(audience laughs)
No, 'cause everyone, 'cause like you look at the parents
involved in like the college admission scandal
and they're like, 40 years in jail, this is ridiculous!
And black people are like, uh-huh.
(audience laughs)
Tell us how excessive
your criminal justice system is, mm-hmm.
And then Trump is like, "How can I go to jail
"for blocking an investigation
"to something that never happened?"
And black people are like, "oh yeah,
"you mean like getting arrested for resisting arrest?"
Which by the way, is another thing
that can happen to you in America,
you can literally get arrested for resisting arrest.
That happened, there was a young black man in Florida,
this went viral awhile ago,
he was arrested and they were like, why did you arrest him?
And they're like, he's arrested for resisting arrest.
And they said, okay, but what was the underlying crime?
And they're like, no, there is no charge other than that.
So it's like, wait, so you arrested him for resisting arrest
but what was he being arrested for.
They're like, for resisting arrest.
Yes, but what was the first arrest for?
Like, that doesn't matter.
We said, you're under arrest and he said, for what,
and we were like, stop resisting, and then we arrested him.
And that's like literally, black people in America are like,
oh, we've been saying this justice system is crazy as shit
and now Trump is like, "So crazy.
(audience laughs)
"So wild, who would have thought?"
See, if he had black friends they would have told him.
(audience laughs)
How do I do the accent?
I'll be honest with you,
I never thought I was good at it or anything
but I think it's 'cause I grew like that,
I have a mixed family.
Like everyone in my family has a different accent, you know.
So my dad, my dad's family, my mom, my mom's family,
everyone has like a hybrid
'cause everyone moved around a lot.
So whenever you go to a different house
it's just easier to speak to them in their accent
than to try-- (audience laughs)
No, 'cause it was weird as well
'cause I went to a private school,
like myself and my cousins, we were all likely to go to,
like at the time they called them
Model C schools in South Africa.
So it was like the first generation
of black and white kids at the same schools.
So we had different accents to our parents and then,
like your parents were happy to send you there,
that was the funny thing,
'cause like your parents would be like,
"You must go to that school
"and you must learn to speak good English."
And then you'd go to the school and you'd learn the English
and then you'd come home and then like your parents,
you'd be sitting with them watching TV or something
and then like your dad would be like,
"Put volume, put volume."
And then you'd be like, "Do you mean, increase the volume?"
Be like, "Hey. (audience laughs)
"I'll increase or decrease your life, don't act smart here!
"Put volume!"
What is my favorite accent to do?
It depends on the day, I'm not gonna lie,
it depends on the day.
Sometimes I'll choose an accent for the day
if I'm on vacation.
Genuinely, I'll just walk around
and I'll like just be on vacation,
or some days like I'll just be like,
oh, I'm Australian for the day,
and I'll just walk around and I'll just be Australian.
Do you know, the great thing about Australian accent
is that you always sound happy.
(audience laughs)
Like, it doesn't matter what it is but it always goes up
and it's like really exciting, you know?
(audience laughs) It's just got that thing.
Like, even if an Australian gave you bad news
it always sounds good.
It's like, hey, mate, you're mum's dead.
(audience laughs)
So for those who don't know,
there's a story of an American woman
who was on a safari in Uganda and she was kidnapped,
right, her and her guide were kidnapped.
And then there was a ransom for $500,000 I believe.
And if I understand your question what you're saying is,
why does it seem like the news here
is only talking about the American woman who was kidnapped
and not so much about the guide.
And I'll be honest with you, that's just storytelling.
You tell a story from the point
that people will most connect with the story.
So if you say to an American audience a Ugandan man
was kidnapped in Uganda and is still in Uganda.
You're like, and the story is?
No, I can see how people just,
it's hard to get people to care about.
But when you go, an American woman was kidnapped
people are like, (gasps) I'm American!
(audience laughs)
That could be me.
(audience laughs)
'Cause that's, I don't know if you've noticed,
that's something that people love doing.
Whenever there's a tragedy
people always like to make it seem
like that could have been. (gasps)
People are like, it literally goes like,
when there was a plane, one of the planes that crashed
and someone was like, I was thinking of flying to Ethiopia.
(audience laughs)
I'm like, yeah but that doesn't mean you were any closer to.
Remember when we were planning that trip to Ethiopia?
(audience laughs) That could've been me!
I tried to start learning German,
'cause my dad is Swiss German, right.
And so I was like, I wanna learn his language
'cause I never learned it growing up.
And then someone was like, why don't you learn Swiss?
And then I heard Swiss and I was like, no.
(audience laughs)
I would rather learn German, and so I learned German,
'cause I thought it would bring us closer together, right.
'Cause I lost contact with my dad for like 10 years
so then when I met him again I was like,
I wanna learn German and impress him or whatever.
And I met him and then I started speaking to him in German
and he was like, "What are you doing?"
(audience laughs)
I was like, "I'm speaking German."
He was like, "No, better you speak English, no, no, no."
He's like, "It's better
"if you don't speak German at all, it's fine."
But then now I can speak a bit of German
so I decided to go to Germany and stuff
and practice it there, you know, I had a lot of fun.
Until I found out that the way I spoke German
sounded a little bit like Hitler.
Yeah, which no one told me on this side of the world
'cause we don't know how he really spoke or anything
but I would be in Germany
and apparently the way I would hit certain inflections
would freak people out.
(audience laughs)
And it's like, think of it like Barrack Obama's voice,
like if someone learned English in America
and they got here and they were like,
"I just wanna have a", you'd be like,
"Hey, you're doing the Barrack Obama thing.
And they'd be like, "What are you talkin' about?"
(audience laughs) You know what I mean?
So I would do that, like I'd go to places
and then I would like order food
and like someone would be there
and be like, (speaking in foreign language).
And then I would be like, (speaking in foreign language).
(audience laughs)
And the people would look at me
and then when we left my friend was like,
I was like, did I say it weird, like wrong words?
She's like, "No, you sound little bit like Hitler, yeah."
(audience laughs)
And she was like, "and the people
"are really frightened about that, you know."
And I was like, "So I spoiled their day?"
And she was like, "Yeah, you did, you know."
And I was like, "well that brings me
"a lot of (speaking in foreign language)."
(audience laughs)
You guys have any questions before we move on,
anything you wanna chat about?
No, we good, yes sir?
- [Audience Member] Do you think that reparations
should just go to one group or should it target people
in the same kind of like socio-econimic group?
Because--
- That's an interesting question, what do you mean by that?
- [Audience Member] Well, there are white people
that have been disenfranchised recently.
- Recently is the key, recently is the key.
- Well, the country is deindustrialized, right?
So like a lot of people in manufacturing jobs and stuff,
their areas were affected--
- Right, so to your question,
I think you have to understand
what the word reparations means first.
So reparations, you are repairing something
that you have broken, you are paying for something
that are supposed to pay for.
I'm not saying that there aren't people
living in America today who are suffering
and are going through pain and strife
because of what's happening
when it comes to machines taking jobs,
factories becoming industrialized, et cetera,
but reparations is a specific conversation
about a specific time in America
and that is black people were slaves, you know what I mean.
I've even heard people say, like, oh,
but there were some of the Irish who were indentured, yeah.
Slavery, look at the numbers, look at the time,
look at the level of work.
You could not work toward your freedom,
for most black people in America this was a time
when you were, that was it, you lived and died as a slave
and so that's what reparations is about.
And so I hear what you're saying,
but I think that's a completely separate conversation
that needs to be had about the now.
Because if you are not careful
what you then do is you combine everybody's suffering
into the same ball and you make it seem like
all in justices have the same weighting and they don't,
just like crimes, you know,
theft isn't the same as murder,
we don't try them the same way.
And as much as there is a white person
who's suffering today,
I feel for anybody who's suffering
'cause I know what it's like to be poor,
I know what it's like to suffer.
I didn't come from a wealthy family,
we struggled when I was growing up but I also understand
that there are levels of that suffering, you know.
And so sometimes white people,
it does block a white person 'cause you go, white privilege,
and a person goes, I'm poor and I'm white,
where's the privilege?
You know, white people are like,
I wish I could activate my white privilege,
I wish I could do it right now, white privilege!
Gimme something! (audience laughs)
I get that, I get that, trust me, I get it.
It is hard to accept that you have benefits
because of the color of your skin
if you cannot see the benefits that you have.
But the thing I try to explain to a person is,
think of it more like golf,
don't think of it as privilege then,
think of it like a handicap, all right.
In golf they acknowledge that you are in a position
where you need to so many advantages
to be competitive in the game, right,
so what they say is, you have a handicap of 15
so that means like you're gonna be hitting from this tee
and you get more chances to get the ball in
because we understand that the position you're in.
And if you're a black person in America
from slavery, from day one, the number of injustices
that have held black people back in America
amount to an insurmountable,
like you look at black people's freedom,
you look at black people's land, just land alone,
the amount of wealth you can acquire over time
if you own land is exponential because you have the land,
you have the fact that you can borrow based on the land,
you have the fact that you can use the money
that you have borrowed to grow more wealth,
you can use it to grow your family's wealth,
just taking that away from black people alone
is crippling them.
And so you combine that with slavery
and then you look at Jim Crow laws,
you didn't let black people in America
live in the areas that they wanted to live in,
they couldn't get loans from the banks
that they wanted to get loans from,
and then on top of that when they started getting the loans
from American banks American banks were found
to be giving them higher interest rates
when in fact they were the same risk
as many of the other races that they were giving loans to.
So when you combine all of those things
I think it's safe to say that black Americans
have a conversation that they need to be having
with the United States.
Doesn't involve me, doesn't involve white people,
it's like, yo, American government, meet the black people.
That's it. (audience cheers and applauds)
Have that conversation.
("Dog on Fire")