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What Now? With Trevor NoahWhat Now? With Trevor Noah

No One Told Trevor He Was Hosting the Grammys | What Now? with Trevor Noah Podcast

This week along with Grammy Executive Producer Ben Winston, and my good friend Sizwe Dhlomo, we take you deep behind the scenes of music’s biggest night.

Trevor NoahhostBen WinstonguestSizwe Dhlomoguest
Feb 6, 20252h 7mWatch on YouTube

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At a glance

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

Ben Winston and Trevor Noah Reflect on Grammys Amid Fires

  1. Ben Winston says he missed Kanye West's red carpet appearance because he was consumed by the pre-show crunch, and he disputes the claim that Kanye was kicked out.
  2. Winston and Trevor Noah explain why they went ahead with the show despite calls to cancel, citing about 6,500 LA workers who depend on it, and turned it into a fundraiser that brought in over $8.5 million during the telecast.
  3. Winston describes panicking when he realized Noah had never been announced as host and none of Noah's team answered his calls, while Noah was off his devices in South Africa and spiraling in his own way.
  4. Noah and Winston detail the live-TV craft behind the night, including running order, filling time, the Jim Gaffigan joke, camera cuts, and Winston's choice to avoid showing upset losers.
  5. Noah explains how he handles offense and criticism by treating context as the key ingredient in comedy, and sees the Grammys as rare common ground for people from different worlds.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

Winston stayed out of the Kanye drama

Winston says the 90 minutes before air are his most stressful of the year, so he only saw the Kanye moment afterward, and he says he understood Kanye left after the carpet rather than being kicked out.

The Babyface moment was amplified by outrage on his behalf

Winston felt sorry for the young reporters and Noah noted Babyface himself wasn't offended; Noah later cited it as an example of people taking offense for someone who didn't ask them to.

Canceling the Grammys would have hurt the people it was meant to help

Winston says about 6,500 LA workers earn wages from the show, many of them had lost homes, and he judged that fundraising on the broadcast was better than a separate benefit event.

Small donations added up to big money

Winston reports over $8.5 million raised during the telecast, over $9 million in total, and $24 million across the weekend's events, with the average donation under $50.

Running order and tone management carried the night

Winston says he obsesses over the running order, and that Sabrina Carpenter's comedic performance only worked because the earlier segments set the right tone; by the end of the best new artist block the room was on its feet.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

making a live show is like flying a plane and then discovering something's wrong with it while it's flying.

— Trevor Noah

the number one thing that comedy needs is context.

— Trevor Noah

the downside of humans coming together who are not homogenous is there's likely to be more offense. The upside is that's when you get the most beautiful tapestry, and I think that's what we experienced on the night.

— Trevor Noah

everyone just give what you can in every situation. $5 doesn't help anybody who's lost their house. It doesn't. But if everybody can give $5, you'll be shocked at what can happen.

— Trevor Noah

I know that's good for gossip and I know that's good for the internet, but it's not good for them, and it's not good for the person who's won.

— Ben Winston

Read the available transcript
Kanye West red carpet appearanceBabyface and the AP reportersProducing the Grammys during the LA wildfiresFundraising donations during the telecastHosting live TV and the high-wire actBeyoncé's album of the year momentContext, comedy and handling offense

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SPEAKERS

  • Trevor Noah

    host

    Comedian and TV host, former host/executive producer of The Daily Show and host of the What Now? with Trevor Noah podcast.

  • Ben Winston

    guest

    Television producer/showrunner who discusses the Grammys from the perspective of its executive producer and control-room lead.

  • Sizwe Dhlomo

    guest

    South African media personality and host who joins as a conversational guest discussing live TV/music award-show moments.

High quality AI-generated summary created from speaker-labeled transcript.

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