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The Joe Rogan ExperienceThe Joe Rogan Experience

Joe Rogan Experience #1287 - Rich Benoit

Rich Benoit is a car enthusiast who salvages Tesla vehicles typically by combining several cars which have been totaled. Check out his YouTube channel Rich Rebuilds: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfV0_wbjG8KJADuZT2ct4SA

Joe RoganhostRich BenoitguestGuest (Rich Benoit)guest
May 1, 20192h 51mWatch on YouTube ↗

EVERY SPOKEN WORD

  1. 0:00 – 1:09

    A flooded Tesla as the origin story: why insurers and Tesla write EVs off

    1. JR

      ... believe in wireless. He needs to see it. (laughs) Boom, and we're live. What's up, Rich? How are you, man?

    2. RB

      What's up? What's popping, baby? What's going on, man?

    3. JR

      Thanks for doing this. I really appreciate it.

    4. RB

      Dude, thank you for having me on this show, man.

    5. JR

      Well, I read about you, a fellow Boston native.

    6. RB

      Right.

    7. JR

      And, uh, I read about your Tesla journey.

    8. RB

      Right.

    9. JR

      And I was like, "This is a fucking interesting story." This guy buys a broken Tesla-

    10. RB

      Right.

    11. JR

      ... and then you couldn't get parts for it anywhere.

    12. RB

      Nope.

    13. JR

      So how, what had happened to the car? Had it been in a accident?

    14. RB

      No. So the, I, I met the previous owner, and he actually, uh, I think it was during Hurricane Sandy.

    15. JR

      Oh.

    16. RB

      He thought that, uh, he goes, "Wait a minute. That water level seems, uh, low enough for me to drive through it." And he just started driving through the water, I think got up to, like, the, uh, almost, like, the B pillar.

    17. JR

      Oh, no.

    18. RB

      Up to where, like, his neck is. Yeah. And he just-

    19. JR

      Jesus Christ.

    20. RB

      Yeah, I know, right? So, uh, he thought he could fight the water. He lost, obviously. And, um, it was just under water, and I'm like, "You know what? I gotta try this thing."

    21. JR

      And so what did, what would Tesla do in that situation if he wanted to bring it back to them? They would have to rebuild the entire car?

    22. RB

      They wouldn't even do it, because at that point, uh, once, uh, anything liquid, you know, any kind of, like, water intrusion happens in an EV, they just write the whole car off.

    23. JR

      Oh.

    24. RB

      Insurance company's just like, "We're not gonna deal with this."

    25. JR

      Too risky.

    26. RB

      Too risky, not worth it.

  2. 1:09 – 4:34

    Hurricane Sandy, Fisker disasters, and a quick misinformation detour

    1. JR

      Were you aware of the, uh, Fisker, uh, dilemma at Hurricane Sandy? When they had, uh, the Fiskers that were parked at the... It was, like, at a, some sort of a dock-

    2. RB

      Right. What'd they all burn?

    3. JR

      ... where they brought 'em up to ship. They all exploded.

    4. RB

      Yeah, they all burned, yeah.

    5. JR

      The water level rose-

    6. RB

      Right.

    7. JR

      ... and the water got into them, and they just went off-

    8. RB

      And they-

    9. JR

      ... like fucking fireworks.

    10. RB

      And they lost a whole bunch of them, yeah.

    11. JR

      Yeah. Look, here's a video of it. You can watch the video of them fucking blowing up. So as the water level rose, and the Hur- you could see the water breaching.

    12. RB

      Yeah.

    13. JR

      Well, the water gets to the cars, and when it gets to the cars, they just start going off like fucking fireworks. (laughs)

    14. RB

      Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, I know that feeling. Oh, yeah.

    15. JR

      There it goes.

    16. RB

      Oh, wow.

    17. JR

      Look at it. Boom, boom, boom. (laughs)

    18. RB

      Oh, damn. I never- (laughs)

    19. GB

      (laughs)

    20. JR

      Look at that shit. Dude.

    21. RB

      Whoa, it's like a supernova.

    22. JR

      I mean, those are big ass fucking batteries-

    23. RB

      Yeah.

    24. JR

      ... just blowing the fuck-

    25. RB

      That's no joke.

    26. JR

      That's insane. It turns night into day.

    27. RB

      That's amazing. How many... They lost, like, 40 cars or something like that?

    28. JR

      They lost a fuckload.

    29. RB

      Yeah.

    30. JR

      And the company essentially went, they went radio silent-

  3. 4:34 – 5:58

    German engineering, American muscle, and Tesla’s ‘physics-breaking’ acceleration

    1. JR

      'Cause I feel like so much of it is, like, market driven. But they, when it comes to, like, engineering and handling, like, goddamn German cars have it nailed.

    2. RB

      They really do.

    3. JR

      They got it nailed.

    4. RB

      They really do. But you know what? The Americans are, they were trying to sneak up and get close for a while.

    5. JR

      Mm-hmm.

    6. RB

      But I mean, like, the Germans just a- it's just, this is standard.

    7. JR

      The only weird-

    8. RB

      This, it's a benchmark for everything.

    9. JR

      ... place where the Americans fuck with it is, like, have you ever driven a Camaro ZL1?

    10. RB

      I have, yeah.

    11. JR

      They're, that's a preposterous car.

    12. RB

      It's an awesome car.

    13. JR

      It's amazing.

    14. RB

      I have a, um, uh, a Corvette Z06.

    15. JR

      Ooh.

    16. RB

      And-

    17. JR

      Which year?

    18. RB

      And- it's a '06.

    19. JR

      Ah.

    20. RB

      Z06. Which is, you know, the LS7, seven liter. And, uh, it's an insane car. Uh, uh, by today's standards, it only has, like, 505 horsepower.

    21. JR

      Isn't that funny?

    22. RB

      But, like, it's a-

    23. JR

      That that's not a lot? (laughs)

    24. RB

      It's a mean, it's a mean car. The car'll put you on your ass really quick, man.

    25. JR

      Well-

    26. RB

      Turn you into a man.

    27. JR

      ... our friend Taylor out there was telling us that they put a, a Tesla in ludicrous mode on, uh, a dyno.

    28. RB

      Mm-hmm.

    29. JR

      And it had some insane number of torque.

    30. RB

      Right.

  4. 5:58 – 7:23

    Dyno run of a P100D and why EV torque is different

    1. JR

      Is this it right here, Jamie?

    2. GB

      Yes.

    3. JR

      Is, is this the ... Which model is this?

    4. GB

      Uh, P100D.

    5. RB

      P100D.

    6. JR

      So that's the, the m- biggest one. So what does it say?

    7. GB

      It's on a- it's on a Mustang dyno.

    8. JR

      Hmm.

    9. GB

      So we're gonna go from like a 20-mile-an-hour roll.

    10. JR

      Sound like-

    11. GB

      Yeah, these are-

    12. JR

      ... good ol', good ol' boys.

    13. GB

      (laughs)

    14. RB

      (laughs)

    15. JR

      We'll take this Tesla up here and-

    16. GB

      Right. (laughs)

    17. RB

      (laughs)

    18. JR

      ... try to figure out how fast she goes. I think I can get it to jump.

    19. GB

      I thought it said 56 seconds.

    20. RB

      Yeah, no, I think it, uh-

    21. JR

      Look at him. Hey.

    22. RB

      It even almost jumps off the dyno at this point. There's so much torque.

    23. JR

      Yeah, it's a very, very, very powerful car. There you go.

    24. GB

      Now look.

    25. (tires screeching)

    26. (laughs)

    27. RB

      (laughs)

    28. JR

      But I've tried to describe it to people, especially people that have never driven an electric car-

    29. RB

      Right.

    30. JR

      ... I'm like, "It doesn't even seem real. It seems like it violates physics."

  5. 7:23 – 10:12

    Buying a $15k salvage Tesla: cheapness, auctions, and months of late-night work

    1. RB

      Well, it was 15 grand and just to be clear on something, I'm not like some like evil genius or brainiac. This was driven by my cheapness.

    2. JR

      (laughs)

    3. RB

      (laughs) Because I didn't wanna spend the kind of money they were asking for one.

    4. JR

      Right.

    5. RB

      So, so basically this car was like 15 grand and, um, uh, the whole story started when my friend came over. He actually had a job at Tesla and he's like, "Buddy, listen, there's these crazy cars. Uh, I know you have a ZO6, but this car is faster than that. You're gonna love this thing." I was like, "That electric crap box? I don't want anything to do with that." Whatever.

    6. JR

      Right.

    7. RB

      He brought the car over. Great looking car. I said, "All right," you know, "I'll take it for a drive," or whatever, and the thing was amazing, right? Amazing car. So I was in tech and I'm just like, "Listen," like, you know, like, "How much does this thing cost?" Like, "I make decent money." Whatever, I'll just throw some money at it. He's like, "Listen, this will cost you about $120,000." I said, "You know what? Have a nice day."

    8. JR

      (laughs)

    9. RB

      "I'm not buying that shit." Um, and then he, he ... So he left and I thought to myself like every night I was like, "You know what? I gotta get my hands on one of these cars, man. I g- I gotta get one." Like, you know, sell a kidney, whatever, sell a testicle, whatever I could do. And it's ... I was searching online and, you know, what happens is whenever a car gets messed up, whenever a car gets, uh, as they say totaled in a way and it's a total loss, an insurance company will take it and they'll kinda auction it off to like the highest bidder. So I went to an auction site and I saw one for sale. It was like, you know, 15 grand. They said it didn't run or drive and it was in a flood, and I'm just like, "15 grand? I could do that. That's a piece of cake, man. I'll throw some money at it, whatever. How hard can it be?" You stick it in a bag of rice, you know-

    10. JR

      (laughs)

    11. RB

      ... you tie it up. You know like an iPhone? You know you ever drop your iPhone in the toilet?

    12. JR

      Right, right.

    13. RB

      You know what I mean? It's just like, "Ah, man."

    14. JR

      Yeah.

    15. RB

      "it sucks." You throw it in a bag of rice and you're good to go. So I figured all I'd do is just buy more rice for this thing and, uh, I got it home and, um, I was like, "You know what? This is, uh ... I got myself into some shit here 'cause, uh, this ... it was a lot more work than I thought it was gonna be."

    16. JR

      So you didn't ... sight unseen? You purchased it?

    17. RB

      Sight unseen.

    18. JR

      Okay.

    19. RB

      Nope. Sight unseen. And that's, that's the way it is most of the times. They don't really let you on the auction lots too often.

    20. JR

      Mm-hmm.

    21. RB

      So they took five photos of it. It was, uh, some from the interior, some from the side and, uh, one under the, the frunk and I was just like, "I could probably do this, right? No big deal."

    22. JR

      So this begins this project which takes how long from, to completion?

    23. RB

      I think it took me about maybe six or seven months or so.

    24. JR

      Of straight work?

    25. RB

      No. So I have, um ... So I was working at the time and, uh, I, I think only between the hours of like 7:00 PM and like 11:00 PM, like every night.

    26. JR

      Jesus.

    27. RB

      And then weekends for a few hours until I figured it out. Yeah.

    28. JR

      So goodbye social life.

    29. RB

      Pretty much, yeah. I was, I, I was a hermit for the, for those months and what I actually ended up doing was ... So I, I had the car, right? So I was freaking out because my wife was just like, "How much was that thing?"

    30. JR

      (laughs)

  6. 10:12 – 15:52

    Wrecked Teslas as valuable parts: battery packs, motors, and the new ‘LS swap’

    1. JR

      How much did you get that one for?

    2. RB

      That one was about, I belie- guess.

    3. JR

      Four grand.

    4. RB

      That was 20 grand I paid for that.

    5. JR

      What?

    6. RB

      Yes.

    7. JR

      What?

    8. RB

      Yes.

    9. JR

      That thing's totaled.

    10. RB

      Yeah, I know but these c- they're so valuable, man.

    11. JR

      Really?

    12. RB

      Be- because you know why? It's the, the, the battery technology and the motor technology that Tesla's using, everyone's just dying for that stuff, man.

    13. JR

      Oh.

    14. RB

      So, so any, any, any wrecked Tesla that you find, minimum ... I know I'm spilling the secret sauce here, minimum worth 15 grand.

    15. JR

      Wow.

    16. RB

      Even if it looks like that. Dead serious.

    17. JR

      That's insane. What? That thing does- doesn't even have doors.

    18. RB

      Yeah.

    19. JR

      Why is there no window?

    20. RB

      I took, I took the doors off.

    21. JR

      Oh, you took the doors off.

    22. RB

      But the, but the battery pack is still in there.

    23. JR

      Hmm.

    24. RB

      Right? And the motor-

    25. JR

      And that's what you want.

    26. RB

      And the motor was still in there too.

    27. JR

      Do people take those and put them in like old cars or anything yet?

    28. RB

      Absolutely, man.

    29. JR

      Yeah?

    30. RB

      It's a h- that's the new generation of hot-rodders, man.

  7. 15:52 – 18:08

    The rebuild’s real wall: Tesla refuses parts, so Rich buys a second salvage car

    1. JR

      So what- what was the struggle? Initial struggle? You have the car, you take it apart, and what did you see?

    2. RB

      Right. So pretty much I was kinda taking my time because I knew there was a point where I couldn't fix the damn thing and I was just kinda wasting everyone's time. My wife's like, "Hey, is this thing almost done?" I was like, "Yeah, babe, don't worry about it."

    3. JR

      (laughs)

    4. RB

      (laughs) "We're good, don't worry, our money's safe." And, um ... So there was a certain point where I took everything apart and I was like, "All right, cool." I found a dead fish in the back of the car, by the way.

    5. JR

      Ah.

    6. RB

      So actually, you know what the turning point of this whole thing was?

    7. JR

      (laughs)

    8. RB

      The- the turning point was, um, I- I realized it was salt water and not fresh water.

    9. JR

      Oh.

    10. RB

      So you know what salt water does to stuff, right?

    11. JR

      Yeah, gross.

    12. RB

      So it just- it just kills everything. So, uh, 90% of the car was kinda toast. And, uh, I said to myself, "All right, uh, I'm gonna call Tesla up, you know, buy a motor, buy a battery pack. I'll be good." You know what I mean? "Maybe I'll spend like 20 grand for a battery and like maybe 10 for a motor. I'll be in the red for 40."

    13. JR

      Mm-hmm.

    14. RB

      It's still cheaper than 100.

    15. JR

      Right.

    16. RB

      Right? So- so I called them up and, uh, you know, they were like, "Hey," you know, "How's it going, man?" I was like, "Hey, you know what? Uh, crazy thing happened, right? So (laughs) I bought this Tesla, it was underwater, and, um, I need like a couple of things. I need a battery, I need like a motor. You know, just- just throw me those things. It's fine." They're like, "Well, we're not gonna sell it to you." I was like, "Well, why not?" "Because you have no capability of fixing the car yourself. You know, you're gonna get yourself killed. It's not gonna work. You know, l- l- give me your VIN number." And I gave them the VIN number, they're like, "No, that car's listed as salvaged. That thing was underwater. We're not gonna help you." And they just hung up the phone pretty much.

    17. JR

      Oh.

    18. RB

      Yeah. So like, this is the crazy part too is that they know ... Uh, you know, I'm putting my conspiracy theorist hat on. They know where every single car is. They know what it's doing. They know if the airbags went off. They know if you farted in the front seat. They know everything about these cars.

    19. JR

      Right.

    20. RB

      So pretty much when you give them the VIN number, you know, the cars are always connected back to the mothership to give you the status in the car.

    21. JR

      Yeah.

    22. RB

      So they know what's going on. So, you know, if you try to hide from them, you just- you just can't do it.

    23. JR

      Mm-hmm.

    24. RB

      Um, so- so I had the, uh, I had the car and I said to myself, "You know what? This isn't gonna work. I gotta figure something out." So what I did basically, I bought another car for 15 grand. And I was like, "I gotta swap this stuff over." So I swapped everything over.

    25. JR

      So the other one that you bought for 15 grand, everything worked?

    26. RB

      Well, it was in a front end collision.

    27. JR

      Okay.

    28. RB

      It was in a hard front end collision and, uh-

    29. JR

      So the frame's bent or something?

    30. RB

      Frame was bent, the thing was toast. And I just took all the electronics from one to the other.

  8. 18:08 – 21:02

    Cleaning corroded connectors, reselling leftover parts, and getting the true cost down

    1. RB

      Well, that's a good thing. A lot of the wiring harnesses were cut, right, in- in the front end collision car. But the interesting part was that in the flooded car, the wiring harnesses were still good for the most part in the front.

    2. JR

      Really?

    3. RB

      So what I did was ... I mean, meaning not broken or torn or having bent connectors.

    4. JR

      Right.

    5. RB

      I just took those connectors off and actually cleaned them.

    6. JR

      Mm.

    7. RB

      Because I couldn't get parts, you know, from Tesla.

    8. JR

      Wow.

    9. RB

      I took like the wet wiring harnesses that were all corroded, pulled them out, got like, you know, a Q-tip, toothbrush and all that stuff, and I cleaned them.

    10. JR

      What do you clean them with?

    11. RB

      So I cleaned them with, um, with baking s- baking soda.And, um, like, a wire brush and, like, I got a toothpick, too, to really get in there and, like, cleaning the contacts and stuff.

    12. JR

      Mm.

    13. RB

      And I just rinsed 'em out with water.

    14. JR

      By this time, your wife is probably like, "What-"

    15. RB

      She's pissed.

    16. JR

      "... the fuck?"

    17. RB

      She goes, "I noticed we're missing $30,000 from our bank account."

    18. JR

      (laughs)

    19. RB

      (laughs) And, um-

    20. JR

      And you got two cars that don't work.

    21. RB

      Exactly, two cars that don't work, you know, and thir- the $30,000, uh, missing from our bank account. Like, what's going on here? So, um, it was just... It, it was painstaking, but eventually, you know, I got the job done, man. So, so what I ended up doing was... So 30 grand, right?

    22. JR

      Right.

    23. RB

      Uh, I told my friends, "Hey, listen, you know, I'm in a mess here. I'm rebuilding a Tesla." And they're just like, "You know, you're an idiot. You're not gonna figure this out." Like, "No one's doing that." 'Cause this was, this was years ago. This is when the cars were still kinda coming onto the scene and they weren't as popular as they are now. And they're like, "You can't fix that." Like, "You're, you're an idiot. You can't do that. I've seen your work."

    24. JR

      (laughs)

    25. RB

      (laughs) And, uh, so... Yeah, so after a while, you know, I, I took all the parts from one to the other, um, got one running. And then, the parts that I didn't need anymore, like the, the, the, the old battery pack, and some of the actual... So there were some parts of the battery that were still good, so I actually sold those parts, like, online and on eBay and stuff like that. And then I sold, like, the motor. It had water in it. Someone gave me five grand for a motor that had water in it. That's how valuable these parts are.

    26. JR

      Wow.

    27. RB

      So I-

    28. JR

      So was he planning on doing the same thing, like cleaning it out and-

    29. RB

      I have, I have no idea. To this day, I don't know. So I think he was in the same situation. I think he brought it home to his wife. He's like-

    30. JR

      (laughs)

  9. 21:02 – 31:09

    The key heist story: using the car’s GPS ‘Home’ to track down the original owner

    1. RB

      So, uh, the tough part was I had to... So remember, I had no, I had no key for the car.

    2. JR

      Oh.

    3. RB

      So I was like, "Hey, I need a key."

    4. JR

      (laughs)

    5. RB

      You know what I mean? Like, "Help me out here. I need a key." And they were like, "Well, are you the same idiot that called?" I'm like, "Yeah. I need the key." They're like, "We can't... As I stated before, we can't help you 'cause, you know, this, this is a salvaged car, so you're on your own." So what I did was I actually... In the, in the GPS screen, 'cause the screen turned on. The, the, the guy still had the home location, so I pushed home on the GPS screen, found the guy's address, right?

    6. JR

      (laughs)

    7. RB

      Right? This is creepy. I get it gets creepy, right? Found the guy's address and I was like, "Hey, you know, can we..." Uh, I called him up. I was like, "Hey, did you own, like, a, a white Tesla by chance?" And he's like, "Y- who, who is...?" Like, "Yeah, I, I own one." I was like, "Yeah, um, so I bought it and I need the key. Do you have the key to the car?" And he's like, "No, I, I, I don't, I don't have that." Like, "What, what are you calling me for? Like, I, I don't understand." I was like, "Well, I'm rebuilding it. I'm putting th- the electronics from your car into another and, um, and yeah, I wanna figure it out." And he's like, "You know what? I, I can't help you. I don't have the key." And I was like, "Damn, that sucks, you know. 'Cause, you know, I have a family and stuff and, you know-" (laughs)

    8. JR

      (laughs)

    9. RB

      I really kinda... Getting into this talk sort of like, you know?

    10. JR

      Right.

    11. RB

      If you could really look for it and help me out, that'd be good. And, uh, we started talking about general topics and he's like, "You know, you know, I know you're a car guy. That's awesome. Um, I had a, I had a Z06 once." And I was like, "Hey, I have a Z06 too." And, uh, he's like, "Yeah, it was, it was Le Mans blue." And I was like, "Hey, mine's Le Mans blue." And he's like, "What year is it?" I was like, "It's an '06." He goes, "I sold that same car, or a car like it, like two years ago to a guy in Florida." I was like, "I bought the car from a guy in Florida." So we started bonding, so it turns out I actually owned his old Z06.

    12. JR

      That's insane.

    13. RB

      Yeah, it's crazy, right?

    14. JR

      What are the odds that two human beings on the planet, you own both of this guy's cars?

    15. RB

      Both of this guy's cars. It was-

    16. JR

      That's insane.

    17. RB

      It was insane. So he's like, "Listen." He goes, "Awesome, you know. I'll see if I could, I'll see if I could find, you know, the key for you."

    18. JR

      Are you friends with that dude now?

    19. RB

      No, we never talked again after that.

    20. JR

      Seems like you should be friends.

    21. RB

      Well, no. Well, here's the reason why.

    22. JR

      (laughs)

    23. RB

      So here's what... Hey, right. Well, one, one, it was super creepy for me to call the guy.

    24. JR

      Right.

    25. RB

      Number two, um, when I w- went... You know, I, I went kinda silent for a week. He called me back and said, "Buddy, I found the key."

    26. JR

      Oh.

    27. RB

      He's like, "I found the key to the car." I was like, "Awesome, dude." Like, "You're fantastic. I'm gonna send you an envelope to your address so you could kinda, you know, give me the key." And he's like, "Yeah, yeah. Great, great, great. How about like 600 bucks?"

    28. JR

      Oh.

    29. RB

      And I was like, "Broheim, we just bonded over the fact that I own both of your cars. What are you doing to me here?"

    30. JR

      600 for the key?

  10. 31:09 – 57:17

    Black-hat help: masking the car from Tesla, restoring features, and the app tradeoff

    1. RB

      No, so here's the, here's the long story. So, get the car going, everything's great. In order to get mask- masked from the Tesla system, so there's a certain system that the... Tesla knows where all their cars are.

    2. JR

      Right.

    3. RB

      And they could disable whatever they want.

    4. JR

      Oh, no.

    5. RB

      They could do whatever they want. They see-

    6. JR

      They could shut you down.

    7. RB

      Exactly. So I had to reach out to, like, this Tesla black hat hacker, pretty much.

    8. JR

      Oh, Jesus. You had to go-

    9. RB

      I was-

    10. JR

      ... to the dark web?

    11. RB

      I had to go to the d- dark web.

    12. JR

      Damn.

    13. RB

      And, um-And he was able to mask Tesla from seeing the car, which is why I can't have the Tesla app.

    14. JR

      Oh.

    15. RB

      So, he masked that. Um-

    16. JR

      So, he got into the actual software itself?

    17. RB

      Into the actual software itself. Guy's a genius.

    18. JR

      Switched one to zero?

    19. RB

      His name is Phil. Switch one to zero. Exactly.

    20. JR

      Yeah.

    21. RB

      He flipped the bit, and then it was able to be, uh, the car could supercharge, the car could do everything-

    22. JR

      Wow.

    23. RB

      ... that a regular car could do. And the car gets updates too. It's great.

    24. JR

      Oh, it does?

    25. RB

      It does get updates, yeah.

    26. JR

      And Tesla doesn't know it's getting updates?

    27. RB

      No. You know what's funny?

    28. JR

      Maybe we shouldn't say this.

    29. RB

      Yeah. No, I'm just kidding. No, they, they, they know the deal. And here's, here's the problem with that, is that, um, people love these cars a lot, man.

    30. JR

      Yeah.

  11. 32:56 – 42:59

    From Tesla tribalism to privacy paranoia: fanboys, laptops, and always-on microphones

    1. RB

      But people ... You know what's funny? People ... I- it doesn't make any sense, but people love the company.

    2. JR

      Yeah.

    3. RB

      And they love this guy. So, so speaking of that, um, when he was working 16 hours a day, uh, and he was sleeping on the floor in the factory, right? You know, it was a big sob story, a billionaire sleeping on the floor of the factory. A bunch of Tesla owners rallied together, and they purchased a couch for him to sleep on.

    4. JR

      (laughs)

    5. RB

      Like, tens of thousands of dollars.

    6. JR

      What kind of couch is this?

    7. RB

      It must've been a nice ass couch.

    8. JR

      Crazy coach.

    9. RB

      Yeah, be- be either way, like, they, they rallied. They purchased a couch for him. And like, I, I made a video on it, and I said to myself, "You know what? This guy's a billionaire."

    10. JR

      Yeah.

    11. RB

      With a B. But the fact that everyone rallied together to help this guy, to show that their support-

    12. JR

      Yeah.

    13. RB

      It's cr- ... People are hands over fists for this company, man.

    14. JR

      They are.

    15. RB

      Head over heels.

    16. JR

      It reminds me of Apple back in the day.

    17. RB

      Oh, gosh. Yeah.

    18. JR

      How, uh, you know, I remember (laughs) there was a, a guy, God bless his heart, who, uh, was one of the editors on News Radio, the sitcom that I was on in the '90s.

    19. RB

      Yep.

    20. JR

      And he was such an Apple head.

    21. RB

      Mm-hmm.

    22. JR

      That he was like ... He, he was talking about it like it was a sports team. He was talking about it, "Well, I think we're really gonna get those PC guys-"

    23. RB

      (laughs) Go team.

    24. JR

      "... when this, when the new MacBooks come out."

    25. RB

      Yeah.

    26. JR

      Like, but he really said something to that a- a- along those lines. "I think we're really gonna pull ahead."

    27. RB

      Like, who's we?

    28. JR

      We.

    29. RB

      What do you mean? (laughs)

    30. JR

      Mac users. We're all together.

  12. 42:59 – 1:12:13

    Fame boundaries and LA realities: restaurant interruptions and the homeless crisis

    1. RB

      How do you distance yourself? 'Cause you're, you're a public figure, right? How do you distance yourself? Like, where do you draw the line for privacy, I guess you could say?

    2. JR

      The real problem is when you're eating, man. When people, like, come up to you while you have... Like, I'll have a kid in my lap-

    3. RB

      Mm-hmm.

    4. JR

      ... and I'll be eating food and talking to the kid, and someone will literally come up to me and try to take a picture, like with me.

    5. RB

      Really?

    6. JR

      Ask me to take a picture with me. I'm like, "Come on, man." We're all out eating at a restaurant.

    7. RB

      Right.

    8. JR

      Like, this is like, you know, just say hi.

    9. RB

      Yeah.

    10. JR

      Just say hi, man. And, and I always tell people, "When I'm done and I'm leaving, I'll take a picture with you." But you can't, you can't just interrupt dinner.

    11. RB

      That's insane, man.

    12. JR

      It's, but it's just, it's just people think, like, if they don't get a picture with you right now-

    13. RB

      Right.

    14. JR

      ... "I got to get it right now, now, now, now. Fuck it, I don't care, I'm going in, I'm gonna ask him."

    15. RB

      Right.

    16. JR

      And they don't care. I mean, and then they'll say, "Hey, that's the price you pay for being famous." Well, that-

    17. RB

      It's like, no, come on, guys.

    18. JR

      That's not true. That's, it's crazy. Look, this is the deal. The deal is, someone provides something that you enjoy, whether it's standup or a thing and, and I appreciate that you enjoy it.

    19. RB

      Right.

    20. JR

      But that's our exchange. All the other stuff about-

    21. RB

      Yeah, I don't owe you anything else.

    22. JR

      ... it, it's like meeting me at a restaurant and shit when I, when I'm eating with my kid.

    23. RB

      Yeah.

    24. JR

      Like, come on, man. That's... You're asking for too much. This is ridiculous.

    25. RB

      Well, here's another question for you. What kind of restaurants do you eat at where people feel the need to come up to you? Do you eat at, like-

    26. JR

      Was it a regular restaurant?

    27. RB

      Either a high-end re- like Applebee's and stuff, or like low-end stuff?

    28. JR

      High-end... (laughs)

    29. RB

      (laughs) A high-end guy?

    30. JR

      High-end Applebee's.

Episode duration: 2:51:55

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