Trevor, Grammy Executive Producer Ben Winston, and Trevor’s good friend Sizwe Dhlomo take us deep behind the scenes of music’s biggest night. The trio discusses the decision to hold the event against the backdrop of the L.A. fires, how a series of unrelated missed calls made Ben think Trevor was dropping out, Beyonce’s at long last first album of the year win, and the unique challenges of putting on a live television event with so many music superstars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: Why did Trevor feel unprepared for hosting the Grammys?
This is What Now? with Trevor Noah. How much time do we have with you?
As much as you want.
Oh, yes.
Oh, yes. Yeah. I was like, fuck it, let's go.
Do you want to start with the Kanye or should we?
Actually, I wanted to show you what I'm wearing underneath here. Can you imagine? That would have been really funny if I turned up in like a fur coat and nothing underneath. Would have been a bit of a weird joke.
Actually, I actually do want to start with the Kanye. So, as the executive producer of the Grammys. Yeah. Do you, like, are you happy or are you pissed? Or is there another emotion that comes with seeing Kanye West, like, pop up on the Grammys red carpet when he wasn't supposed to be there?
Like, is there, like, a thing that, no, because on one hand, it's good for the show in a way because everyone's like, oh, shit, what's going to happen? Oh, and on the other hand, it's like you have a pre-planned thing. Like, what's your first emotion when that happens?
Genuinely, honestly. Yeah, yeah. couldn't carry the way. Like I, I, I was like, I think he's like, he's not for me. Yeah. And so like, I was just like, oh, it's, you know, it's just what he does. Right. He, he, but I genuinely didn't think about it.
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Chapter 2: What was Ben Winston's reaction to Kanye's unexpected appearance?
Yes. I think it's a tough lesson for them to, like the way they're learning the lesson.
if they had a good producer someone would just say like don't do it like that again yeah next time rope the person in oh my god it's chapel roan babyface do you know chapel roan oh chapel have you ever man oh legend old school legend new school oh man chapel you you have to you have to work with baby you two should do a thing and then you get those magic moments as well on the carpet where it's like now you've got babyface and chapel roan whoever saw that coming and
And then she might go, I'm a huge fan of this song. And he's like, what? I didn't know. She's like, yeah, the way you remix that, the thing you do with Mariah Carey on that song. Oh, it inspired me to sing. That could have been a moment.
That's why they're paying the big bucks. We saw a lesson in hosting there. I thought I was coming to what now? I'm actually coming to Masterclass. I'm coming to a masterclass with Trevor Miller.
Oh, this guy. I can't even. I was going to say, this is actually the issue, though, with a lot of the, I'll say, podcast culture or the people that end up broadcasting without putting in the 10,000 hours, right? Because back in the day, if you ended up with any kind of a platform, you would have done things like a small television station or whatever it is. That's actually true.
And you get to the point where you know how to deal with the red carpet moments, which is largely unscripted. Anything happens. Now, what you end up with is people that obviously have a very, very strong following, but they haven't got the experience behind them to be able to know to do something like that. Sorry.
I'm sorry. I'm confused. We're talking about two girls who are hosting for AP live on a red carpet at the Grammys. They're not hosting the Oscars here.
No, but Caesar's right, though. This is their experience. No, but here's where Caesar's right. Back in the day, you couldn't even get to the AP hosting on the red carpet without having like- No way. You know what you see this actually is with standup comedy now today, right?
There are comedy clubs around the country, like the US particularly, and some in the world where they've started hiring people who are funny on TikTok. And then they come to the comedy club. Their fans come. They pack it up. And then 10 minutes in, everyone realizes no one was prepared for this moment.
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Chapter 3: How did the Grammys handle unexpected red carpet moments?
But I've never done a Grammys, other than COVID, but that was different. I've never done a Grammys where everyone is sat.
You mean because usually it's the mayhem that they're arriving.
Isn't that very jubilant? Yeah. Taylor Swift's walking. Nice to see you. And you know that table and that table and someone's over there.
But do you think that's because we started it with you talking about devastation?
No, no, no. But they were seated. Yeah. Regardless of what... I know what you mean. Yeah. But they were in their seats. They weren't... People are normally walking in. You know, the rappers are there. Oh, Busta Rhymes is in the corner. Hey, what's going on, baby?
There's usually a party in everybody's dressing room. Yes. There was none of that. There was none of that. But there was by the end of the show. Yes.
Yes, but it wasn't a party. It was the feeling that you have after a funeral or a wake. It was a feeling where... Most of the feelings that people had had, had been addressed. So, you know, when you're applying a balm to a burn wound, there is a feeling of relief that comes with it that allows you to not feel burnt for a moment.
Like Kendrick and his acceptance speech, that was a love letter to LA. Kendrick may have made the same acceptance speech where the fire's not there, but I don't think he would have, you know? Now he's like, he's talking about his love for each and every part of those, every city. It wasn't just Compton now. It was him going, yo, man, Pasadena and, you know, Santa Monica.
And he's like, all of this is part of me. Every single artist who got up and said something about something became part of the bomb that soothed the night and the show. So I think the feeling we experienced at the end with Beyonce standing up there, I've never seen Beyonce that emotional. Never.
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