Child Stars on Trial: The KJ Biermann Case & Portia's Mic'd Up Childhood

Juicy Scoop with Heather McDonald

Hosts Heather McDonald and Georgio Takanakis dive into the turbulent world of reality TV, discussing the controversial reboot of the Real Housew

Key takeaways

• Jessel from RHONY is criticized by hosts for using scripted lines and potentially relying on ChatGPT for witty insults.
• The KJ Biermann case has escalated with a $200,000 bond being approved despite serious allegations involving minors.

Main topics

• Real Housewives of New York Reboot
• KJ Biermann Legal Case

Notable quotes

You think that you're Zendaya, but you're really Blossom or something.

Conclusion

The episode serves as a heavy-hitting deep dive into how reality TV fa

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) For many of us, going further isn't a choice. It's a feeling we can't ignore because ambition has a way of outgrowing where it began, turning dreams into direction. Every journey brings us closer to the life we imagine. So where will your journey take you? Etihad, beyond borders. Heather Speaker 5 (0:31) McDonald. Has got the Juicy Scoop. When you're on the road, when you're on the go, Juicy Scoop is the show to know. She talks Hollywood tales, from Mr. Saving Serial Data and Serial Sisters. You'll be addicted and addicted fast to the number one tabloid real-life pod, Heather McDonald. Juicy Scoop. Speaker 4 (1:01) Hello and welcome to Juicy Scoop. I have a new Juicy Scoop guest who you're going to love. You might be familiar with his hilarious work on Housewives and Pop Culture. We have Georgio Says. Your real name is Georgio Speaker 3 (1:14) Takanakis. Okay, Speaker 4 (1:15) I want to say it right. It's very Speaker 3 (1:16) Greek. Speaker 4 (1:17) I was going to say that's Greek. It's Speaker 3 (1:18) very Greek. Speaker 4 (1:19) Okay, I love it. I wish you brought me some Greek food, but whatever, I should have asked previously. Welcome to Juicy Scoop. Thank you for coming. I Speaker 3 (1:28) can't believe I'm here. Speaker 4 (1:29) You're so cute. Thank you. I'm glad you reached out. We follow each other. I sleep Speaker 3 (1:35) in your dumpster outside of your house sometimes. Speaker 4 (1:40) But no, let's get into it. I wanted to just, I saved some topics for you. Get some of your insight. You go on deep dives and you have a lot of insight into pop culture and some specific housewives. So let's get into something fun at first. Yes. Speaker 3 (1:57) Or Speaker 4 (1:58) not, depending how you feel. Real Housewives of New York, the reboot. We are in season. Speaker 3 (2:04) This is the third season of the reboot. Speaker 4 (2:07) Third season of the reboot. I've talked a little bit about it. They brought in Carol. I think they brought in Carol because she is good TV. She's a good reality TV person. She's very smart. Speaker 3 (2:22) And Speaker 4 (2:23) I don't know. I don't know how I feel about the season so far. I was a little more hopeful. And now I don't know. What is your thought so far? Speaker 3 (2:34) I was feeling that way up until the premiere because I thought, oh, they're giving us this trailer. It's going to make us get all excited. And then we're going to watch it. And it's just going to be like stalemate. I will say that the girls have picked up the pace. So that's good. Hayley is saving the show more for me right now than Carol. Carol's great because I think she ties in that. I think Hayley Speaker 4 (2:55) and Carol could be sisters. Oh, Speaker 3 (2:58) my God. I was thinking that this morning. Even though they're Speaker 4 (3:01) like literally, you know, 25 years apart. Speaker 3 (3:04) Isn't that crazy? Speaker 4 (3:05) It's a lesson. And that's like the third time I've talked about it with Haley. It is a lesson why you don't get your buckle fat removed. And that's this part of your face. And get cheekbones and everything when you're in your 30s. Because you could look like you're 60 and had work done. Well, Speaker 3 (3:25) I think that's more of the issue. Everyone in the comment section is like, she's only 39. 37. 37? Speaker 4 (3:32) I Speaker 3 (3:33) just made that worse. Sorry. No, I just mean like. So that's what that's. And Speaker 4 (3:37) I listen. I don't want to just talk about somebody's looks, but I mean, you are on the show and it is about glam and looks. And there's a makeup artist on there. Her dad's a plastic surgeon. Like, I think we have to talk about it. What else are we talking about? Except that that she roller skates and is gay. Speaker 3 (3:53) She's bi. Speaker 4 (3:54) But we don't ever see the husband. We have no idea how she makes her money. Speaker 3 (3:57) I don't think they like each other. But Speaker 4 (3:59) she is like kind of a quirky thing. She's Speaker 3 (4:02) quirky. But I Speaker 4 (4:02) wonder if the quirkiness is a little Kathy Hilton-ish. Speaker 4 (4:07) I think she's just Speaker 3 (4:08) a pothead. Speaker 4 (4:08) I saw a clip where she said, well, she was talking to someone on a FaceTime and she's like, well, they want to, you know, want to set me up on a queer bird watching thing. Did Speaker 3 (4:19) you catch? And Speaker 4 (4:20) she's like, okay. And she goes, well, I mean, how do they know if the birds are queer or not? And I'm like, that's some hunky-dory shit. A Speaker 3 (4:29) little bit. It's a little bit. Speaker 4 (4:31) It still made you smile. It still made you smile. It still made you laugh. So I give her that. The producers are trying to give us someone entertaining. She is entertaining. We are talking about her. So I'll give her that. Speaker 3 (4:45) But get Speaker 4 (4:46) ready throughout the season if it turns real Kathy Hilton hunky-dory-ish. I Speaker 3 (4:50) wouldn't be surprised by that, but I was laughing more at the fact that she started the sentence with, you know my therapist is they them. She told me that I should go. Speaker 4 (4:58) I was like, Speaker 3 (5:00) what? Yeah, exactly. Speaker 4 (5:02) Because I'm like, you're not even walking the walk of the talk of your lavender. So Speaker 3 (5:07) now I'm like, is her therapist, see? No, I'm saying it right. Is her therapist going to be upset with that? Right. I don't know. I honestly, I think it's still early. It's only been three episodes. But what I will say is Aaron is, Aaron and Jessel are making me like laugh with their interactions because Jessel seems to be. Speaker 4 (5:30) Well, like this was the thing. I mean, this woman, Jessel, who is from London, but it's not a super, it's not a super strong accent. And she's very pretty. She's Indian. And she had a big blow up from the first season. And, but... I don't understand who this person is. And I'm like, was she always this much of a bitch? Probably. But I don't think we saw it on the show. I feel like she's now bringing it. I think producers Speaker 3 (6:02) told her, you need to be more snobby and lean into that because it's a shtick. Speaker 4 (6:07) Yeah, it feels like such a shtick. And then there was this one scene with Aaron, which I guess is in this latest episode. But they're eating and she's like saying these things. She's like. You think that you're Zendaya, but you're really Blossom or something. And thank God Erin caught on. She goes, all right, enough with the scripted lines. It's not killing it. And I know that people have hired help, hired writers. Sometimes the producers are those people. Sometimes they actually have someone going, give me a bunch of witty lines. I want to have the iconic lines that the women of yesteryear had. Sometimes when people say, you know, these new girls don't have those iconic moments of, you know, close your legs to married men and, you know, all those type of things that make T-shirts and you say it to someone and they know exactly who you're talking about. they happened because they were not scripted because they happened in the moment because these women are smart and funny and clever and they are kind of snarky bitches and they did live in a bubble and they are a woman of a certain age and privilege. Yeah. And that's why we watched them. So I feel like she's, I love that Aaron called her on her scriptedness. And Speaker 3 (7:27) I think Aaron is. Well, now I understand why Erin was saying the things that she was saying about Jessel to these other women at the Ultimate Girls Trip. She's Speaker 4 (7:35) like Speaker 3 (7:35) a clout chaser Speaker 4 (7:36) and she's like, oh shit. You Speaker 3 (7:37) are fake. Speaker 4 (7:37) She's so fake. Speaker 3 (7:38) Like, you can tell just by how she interacts on the show. Like, as soon as the camera goes off, she's not talking to you anymore. Speaker 4 (7:45) Yeah. You Speaker 3 (7:46) know what I mean? You're not going to lunch with Jessel after cameras go down. Of Speaker 4 (7:49) course not, darling. Because you're... A one-woman Ponzi Speaker 3 (7:52) scheme. That was so chat GPT. I am so tired of these housewives going into chat GPT and putting in the description of the other housewife they're fighting with and say, give me like 10 lines that I could go at her. And they're like, sure. Thanks for your query. Here you go. And it's Speaker 4 (8:07) like. That is. I think you're 100 % right. One man Speaker 3 (8:10) Ponzi scheme. One man Houdini. Like how many. Those were chat GPT. Speaker 4 (8:15) Why one man? First of all, why wouldn't you say one woman? And why are you saying one woman? Why don't you just go, you remind me of a Ponzi scheme. Like what? Because she's not a real writer. So even if she, a real writer could take something from chat GPT and bounce off of it and be clever or whatever. I don't know. Make Speaker 3 (8:31) it your own or use it. I hate when it's not authentic. It's not. Speaker 4 (8:35) Even Speaker 3 (8:35) the get up from the table that she did was like. she thought of it in her head. Like, I'm going to let her say the sentence and I'm done. You know what I mean? There was no reason for her to leave. Right. They didn't even finish their beverage. Erin paid for her water, I think. Speaker 4 (8:49) Well, darling, I'll pay for your water since so much water killed your house. Or whatever, like, that was just... Speaker 3 (8:56) The popcorn ceiling stuff, that really pissed me off. So, Speaker 4 (9:01) Jaisal goes into the makeup artist's house. And she was trying to have her what? Oh, honey, not a white refrigerator. She was trying to have her white refrigerator moment. Speaker 2 (9:09) And Speaker 4 (9:10) she walked in and realized that they had, we would call it cottage cheese ceilings back in my day, houses that had it. Speaker 3 (9:16) And Speaker 4 (9:17) at a time they were supposed to have asbestos. So in my real estate days, it was like, well, you could cover it all up, but you never know what might be in it, whatever. It's an apartment. I don't know. It was just, it was weird. Well, Speaker 3 (9:31) it's another reason why Jessel stands out in New York because a real New York, like I lived in New York for four years. You would die for a rent controlled apartment with popcorn ceilings. Like it's a dream, you know, especially if you're living in Manhattan. If Speaker 4 (9:47) it's rent controlled, you can't fix it. No. And Speaker 3 (9:49) it's rented. So you wouldn't care. I mean, you let it go is what I'm saying. But I think. That also proves that, Jessel, you're not a New Yorker even just from transplanting here. Because, like, I'm not from New York, but I got there and I realized, like, this is what it is. Right, remember when she said, Speaker 4 (10:05) like, oh, Tribeca, it's kind of an up-and-coming cute little neighborhood. Speaker 3 (10:09) Because in her mind, she sees city and all of it's kind of, like, garbage-y. She doesn't realize the, like, the levels that, you know. I Speaker 4 (10:17) think if it's my, if I was to bet money, I think, uh, She heard they were looking for housewives three years ago, that they wanted a diverse cast. And I also remember hearing that she moved there. She did. We still don't know what either of them do for a living. There's no way he's making money off of food videos. Not on Instagram. I predict there'll be a moment where he tries stand up if he hasn't already. That's my prediction. The husband. That's kind of on the Speaker 3 (10:45) intro package, I feel like now. Like when you get on Housewives, it's like, okay, husband, in a year, we're Speaker 4 (10:50) going Speaker 3 (10:50) to get you a comedy show. And then we're going to get you. You're Speaker 4 (10:52) going to try Speaker 3 (10:52) that Speaker 4 (10:52) because you're kind of funny. You're going to do Speaker 3 (10:54) food reviews. Yeah. And Speaker 4 (10:56) so she's like, she's just looking for a ticket out of that one. You know, and. I Speaker 3 (11:02) don't Speaker 4 (11:02) think Speaker 3 (11:02) she likes him. Speaker 4 (11:02) No. So. I don't think he likes Speaker 3 (11:04) her. Speaker 4 (11:04) Anyway, I thought. So I thought that was kind of interesting and that's about it. I don't know if there's anything there Speaker 1 (11:11) is and I Speaker 3 (11:12) mean, honestly, this is still fresh We're still getting to know the newbies. I'm still trying to figure out the new girl Erica. I'm interested in her She's married to the billionaire the tech billionaire. Yes, Speaker 4 (11:23) that sounds good When they go to her island, that'll be kind of good. Don't I mean listen, we'll we'll we will watch Oh Aaron so then Aaron Speaker 4 (11:34) Oh, she gives the Haley. Haley said she's boring. So Speaker 3 (11:38) she puts the jelly or whatever. God, Speaker 4 (11:40) really? That seems to be something that really gets under a housewife's skin. I remember Teddy Mellencamp somehow accused me of calling her boring, and I never did. You? Speaker 3 (11:52) I Speaker 4 (11:53) thought that was Sutton. I don't know. I heard her talking on her Two Cunts and a Zoom show that she. Speaker 4 (12:01) that she said that I called her boring or something in a live show. And I'm going, okay, so if it was in a live show, somebody in the 500 people or whatever watching it wrote something. I didn't say it. There's no proof to it. I don't call Housewives boring. Well, actually, I take that back. I kind of think Gina sometimes in telling stories, it can go a little long. Gina on OC. But I don't necessarily. Anyway, I know I didn't say it about her because I never did find Teddy that way. I liked her on the show. I liked her. Speaker 2 (12:34) I had no problem Speaker 4 (12:34) with Teddy on the show. But it's funny that Erin just is taking such offense to this. And she says she's boring like jam. What? Well, Meghan Markle would have a problem with that. But anyway. And so then she did her thing at Watch Problems Live. She did a cute little dress. I mean, she has great style. She's very pretty. When the party needs a splash of boring, I'm like, wow, I guess when you're a housewife, that is the worst thing that could be told because that means that you could be fired. That's what I was just going to say. You'd rather be hated. You'd rather be called a bitch. You'd rather be called, you know, polarizing is the best one because some people love you. Some people hate you. You know, that's. It Speaker 3 (13:14) comes with the territory. But you're right. The last thing you want to be is the last seat on the end. It's just. Speaker 4 (13:20) Or comes in halfway through. Yeah, Speaker 3 (13:22) no, you better come in and throw a plate or something because you need to capture everyone's attention. Like, I would be, like, on the fringe. Like, you're not calling me boring. I'm going to ruin your life every day I see you. Speaker 4 (13:32) Right. But I almost think that if she would have heard that, I think the thing to do is not to address it. Because then it kind of makes you kind of wonder, like, is she a little bit? Like, let me watch it. I don't. I think maybe because she's so pretty to look at. And I've gone. I had her on the show, I went out to dinner with her. Yeah, and I found her to be the person that you'd actually want to be friends with. She's exactly who she presents to be. Yeah, Speaker 3 (13:56) you can hang. Speaker 4 (13:56) You can hang with her, for Speaker 3 (13:57) sure. Speaker 4 (13:57) One thing I would Speaker 3 (13:58) maybe think of is that Erin may be the type that is different when cameras go up. I'm on now, so I'm going to be on, maybe perhaps off. She's not as. And Speaker 4 (14:10) listen, people change. They change a lot as the years go by and they see what the game is. And they want the people out of their kitchen as quickly as possible so they will get right to the subject and the story that has to happen versus a true documentarian type of situation where we're just following you through your day to day and you forget the camera's there. Who knows? Speaker 4 (14:32) Anyway, let's also now talk about the latest, God, with the K.J. Bierman, Kim Zolciak's son. So I kept seeing this article yesterday and I was thinking, isn't this old news? And it was that he did get released from incarceration. He was at the prison or the jail. I guess you'd say the jail because the prison is where you've been sentenced. And I thought that. That happened last week. But I guess you want to clarify what happened. So Speaker 3 (15:03) I've been covering this from pretty much the beginning. So what happened was his bond hearing on the 11th was when the district attorney and prosecutors came forward with this additional evidence. They unsealed the juvenile case. Even after all of that being said, the judge was like, you know what? I'm going to approve your bond, but we're going to make it a $200,000 bond. So I think people assumed, myself included, that that meant that that day he was then released because that's what I would have assumed reading the article. It seemed pretty final. And they gave all the, you know, he's going to wear the GPS monitor. He's not allowed to talk to anyone under 16. He can only pretty much do school. The article that came out yesterday was basically confirming that someone was able to come up with $200,000. I don't know how because they're both. Well, Speaker 4 (15:49) I Speaker 3 (15:49) thought Speaker 4 (15:49) 200 means you just have to come up with 20,000. Well, sure. But I'm just saying even still, they're both Speaker 3 (15:54) fighting over shoes and bags. It's like, how do you have. Speaker 4 (15:56) The daughters have 20K. A neighbor would have 20K on a credit card. You could do it. Speaker 3 (16:01) But now he has been released into her care. And so now that's where we have to wait and see what happens with the rest of this. But they are trying to. interview other minors that were impacted by this, which is also a very touchy thing to do in a case like this. The judge is not having a closed courtroom, but she is not allowing any cameras, photography or anything like that. So but Speaker 4 (16:28) people could go in. They Speaker 3 (16:30) could. So Speaker 4 (16:31) then they could write about it. Absolutely. Which is what happened when I was so surprised that we knew. that there was this evidence on his phone of him assaulting a person under the age of 11 who was his relative. Right. And I thought, how do we know this? And it was because someone, page six, was in the court, and that's what the prosecutor was saying in her plea to get him not released. And, you know, I talked to my sister who works with juveniles, and she's like, well, in California, you know, this, we... this would all have been closed. But also that attorney could have said, I have something I would like to discuss in chambers. But maybe at that point, she really wanted this out there to be known that this person is truly dangerous. And the original accuser, who is the girl from the gym dressing room, didn't want him out. She Speaker 3 (17:34) wrote a letter. There was a video of it, of the judge reading the statement. The Speaker 4 (17:39) letter, Speaker 3 (17:39) yeah. It's not so cut and dry that he's a minor and it should just be closed off in my opinion. You did something allegedly very disturbing, not once, but there's now all these other allegations in the videos. This is not someone that should be outside of supervision until things are solidified. I don't trust that Kim's going to keep him where he needs to be. been photographed out shopping and she's doing her little, I don't know who's hiring her for sponsorships these days, but you know, she's still doing things as if like, it's not a problem. And this to me, you would never see me again. You would never see me again. If my son was in this position, I wouldn't be photographed. I'd be in a house. I'd be talking to people. How do I, how do I deal with this? So it's, it's alarming that we. A, that there's minors involved in the trauma that goes along with that and what they will have to endure later. But now it's like no one cares. That's what it felt like to me when the judge reads that and then says, yep, we'll give him bond. Speaker 4 (18:41) Well, you guys, fall is here and it's time to get your life in order because you know you're probably busier than ever. Kids back in school wanting to just really. Do your best. And that is what I love about AG1 because it helps maintain energy support and gut health and support immune health. AG1 is clinically shown to support gut health and fill in common nutrient gaps. It's so easy. The NextGen formula delivers 75 ingredients clinically shown to support gut health. One scoop, eight ounces of cold water every morning before your day. And there you go. Keep it going. It's going to keep you running. I love it. It's really keeping my energy up. I know it's like I'm doing that one really good thing for myself every morning that I don't skip out on. For a limited time, save 20 % on your first subscription order of AG1 Next Gen or AG1 Pro at drinkag1.com slash Juicy Scoop. 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