-Ava DuVernay joining me now and the Exonerated Five.
Gentlemen, how are you? So good to see you.
Korey Wise, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, and Antron McCray.
-Very good! That was impressive!
-So nice to see you.
I have to tell you.
I have not stopped thinking about you.
I have not stopped thinking about you. I have not stopped thinking about you this moment.
Being able to share this with you on the red carpet is truly incredible, and it's a privilege.
And I just want to say, first and foremost, welcome.
Thank you for being here tonight, gentlemen.
Thank you for being here.
So, Ava, if I could start with you for a moment,
powerful, gut-wrenching, important --
The list of words goes on and on to describe this series and what you brought to this series.
And I read that it was actually Raymond who had reached out, right?
-Yes.
-In a very modern way, right?
-Very modern. -The way we do it these days.
Tell us the story.
-The story started with Raymond Santana hitting me up on Twitter.
-That's right.
-And it was -- We were just looking at the tweet in the car.
And it was an outreach from someone saying, "Consider telling our story."
And I get a lot of those, but I had known about these brothers' case.
I was a teenager in Compton when they were teenagers in Harlem
going through what they were going through, so I felt connected.
I met Raymond. He introduced me to all the rest of the brothers.
I remember the first day I met each of you.
Cut to four years later, and now we're here in tuxedos.
I mean, what -- It's crazy.
-What is that like, gentlemen?
-It feels great. -I mean being here tonight,
but also having the real story, the true story put out there for the world to see,
and the world has embraced it. The world is seeing it.
-It's a blessing. It's a blessing.
And it was all a dream.
Until it become a reality.
-That's right. Yusef, I want to ask you,
because you said that it wasn't until you watched the series
that you saw what Korey had been through,
because, for those who haven't seen it yet, first of all, see it.
See it.
Secondly, Korey is really the focus of the fourth episode and what he goes through.
Tell me a little bit about, Yusef, and why it was so important
to make sure that his story was told the right way.
-I think it was the most important thing for us to see each other's story, because we hadn't even talked about this.
And so, first of all, to humanize us in such a magnificent way was such an honor.
And for me to see Korey, who had gone to the park but wasn't a suspect --
They weren't looking for him.
And when they came to get me as a suspect, they asked him if he would go with me.
This is the ultimate "take a bullet for your homey" kind of thing.
And I was just so grateful to see that, because I didn't know.
We never spoke about what our experiences were like.
And this was really the first time after numerous -- almost a decade, I believe,
for us to have seen each other's stories and to really vibrate with it on a different level,
and now the whole world got an opportunity to see it, and it's just an honor.
-And to feel the -- I really hope you're feeling all the love...
-Oh, yes. -...from the world
Even being here tonight, Antron.
Being here tonight, I got to tell you, lot of celebrities here -- Everyone wants to meet you.
-Wow. Wow. -Everyone wants to meet you all.
How does that feel, Antron?
-It's overwhelming. Really is.
We're trying to take it in. It's great.
-Doing a good job. -You are.
[ Laughter ]
-Well, take it in. Enjoy every moment of it.
You deserve it. We love you.
Ava, you are brilliant.
-Thank you. That's kind. -You are brilliant.
It is an honor, an honor... -Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you very much. -...honor, gentlemen, honor.