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What Now? with Trevor Noah

Mehdi Hasan: The Freedom to Speak

6/18/20261 hr 30 min

What do Premier League football, corporate newsrooms, and 90s action movies have in common? More than you’d think, apparently. This week, Trevor and Eugene sit down with award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and Zeteo founder Mehdi Hasan to discuss fandom, media, and the strange ways everything connects. They debate the beautiful absurdity of sports loyalty, the pressures and limitations of corporate TV, and Mehdi’s decision to leave that world behind and build an independent platform of his own. Then, because no conversation is complete without a few unexpected detours, the three dive into a surprisingly passionate debate over the glory days of classic action movies.

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Clips

The G, F, R Words
“Then You’re Stupid” Moment
Facing 20 White Supremacists
Fascism Creeps, Not Explodes
Van Damme vs. Statham
Forgiveness and Forgetting

Transcript preview

First 90 seconds

  1. Trevor Noah· Host0:00

    [upbeat music] Jean-Claude Van Damme, I mean, come on. He's not, he's no Jason Statham.

  2. Mehdi Hasan· Guest0:08

    Whoa.

  3. Trevor Noah· Host0:08

    Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

  4. Mehdi Hasan· Guest0:09

    [laughs] Are you kidding me?

  5. Trevor Noah· Host0:10

    Yo, what?

  6. Mehdi Hasan· Guest0:11

    Van Damme. JCVD- There, there ... versus Jason Statham.

  7. Trevor Noah· Host0:14

    Okay.

  8. Mehdi Hasan· Guest0:14

    First of all- Statham would kick his ass. My friend, okay.

  9. Trevor Noah· Host0:16

    [laughs] Never.

  10. Mehdi Hasan· Guest0:16

    Let me start, let me start by saying this.

  11. Trevor Noah· Host0:17

    Go on.

  12. Mehdi Hasan· Guest0:18

    You're stupid.

  13. Trevor Noah· Host0:19

    Okay.

  14. Mehdi Hasan· Guest0:19

    [laughs] Uh, secondly, secondly, Jean-Claude Van Damme.

  15. Trevor Noah· Host0:23

    Yeah.

  16. Mehdi Hasan· Guest0:23

    My friend, you- I grew up watching Jean-Claude Van Damme ... you have the memory of a goldfish.

  17. Trevor Noah· Host0:27

    No, I didn't. I can tell you- Medi Hassan ... every film. No.

  18. Mehdi Hasan· Guest0:28

    My friend.

  19. Trevor Noah· Host0:29

    Blood Sport. I could watch Blood Sport again every day.

  20. Mehdi Hasan· Guest0:31

    There is no world- Double Impact. There is no world- Twin brothers in Hong Kong ... where you can make- Let's go ... a statement as ... It, will it be a close fight? Yes. [laughs] Will it be a tough fight?

  21. Trevor Noah· Host0:38

    Time Cop.

  22. Mehdi Hasan· Guest0:38

    My friend.

  23. Trevor Noah· Host0:39

    Let's go.

  24. Mehdi Hasan· Guest0:40

    There is no world.

  25. Trevor Noah· Host0:41

    I got, you want ... Go ahead. There's no scenario you've watched more JCVD films than I have.

  26. Mehdi Hasan· Guest0:43

    Eh, eh, eh.

  27. Trevor Noah· Host0:44

    I watch him now. That the B shit that goes straight to, straight to streaming, where he's like an old assassin retired, I watch that shit, too. I watch all of this stuff.

  28. Mehdi Hasan· Guest0:51

    What disability do you have?

  29. Trevor Noah· Host0:51

    My man, in what world, in what world- You did, you did the hand ... in what world are you gonna br- [laughs] What ex, what, what, what did Helen do?

  30. Mehdi Hasan· Guest0:57

    What, what, what was with his hand?

  31. Trevor Noah· Host0:58

    Like, I don't know.

  32. Mehdi Hasan· Guest0:59

    [laughs] Oh, he was doing a gun. He was doing a gun.

  33. Trevor Noah· Host1:00

    Like he has a gun now- Was doing a gun ... 'cause he, 'cause he can't do splits and kick anyone because he's fucking old.

  34. Mehdi Hasan· Guest1:04

    No, 'cause you said, 'cause you said he's old, and you did this with your hand.

  35. Trevor Noah· Host1:05

    Yeah, and then he did the ... I mean, don't get me wrong.

  36. Mehdi Hasan· Guest1:08

    I don't know what that was.

  37. Trevor Noah· Host1:08

    Yeah, but I just did it. What is his hands?

  38. Mehdi Hasan· Guest1:08

    But Jason Sta- Couple tunnels syndrome ... Jason Statham would kick his ass.

  39. Trevor Noah· Host1:11

    In what world? In what world?

  40. Mehdi Hasan· Guest1:12

    No way. Are you ki- Are you talking ...

  41. Trevor Noah· Host1:13

    Are you serious?

  42. Mehdi Hasan· Guest1:14

    Are you, are you serious? You think this Belgian dancer is gonna take out- Ah, ah ... the peak jumper- You think this British, you think this British diver- ... fucking Travis Pfanltz.

  43. Trevor Noah· Host1:20

    You think this British diver- He's the Travis Pfanltz ... is gonna beat Kickboxer? With cheesy lines like- What are you talking about? "To live or not to be."

  44. Mehdi Hasan· Guest1:26

    Yo, what are you talking about? This guy's ridiculous, bruh.

  45. Trevor Noah· Host1:29

    You're insane.

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