188.) Rosenberg Addresses Ye Rant + Video Music Awards Recap (9/28/26)

The Ebro, Laura, Rosenberg Show

In this episode, guest Marisa Mendez joins the crew to navigate a heavy mix of news and pop culture. The discussion moves from the serious r

Key takeaways

• New York prosecutors are reopening the criminal investigation into the 'Cornell 7' fraternity members following a civil lawsuit.
• A former accuser of Jay-Z has officially recanted her allegations, stating there was no truth to her previous claims.

Main topics

• Cornell Sexual Assault Case
• Jay-Z Accuser Recantation

Notable quotes

There is no truth to any of my claims against Mr. Carter.

Conclusion

A high-intensity episode that balances grave social justice reporting

Transcript preview

Speaker 4 (0:00) Just don't call it a podcast. Having a Speaker 5 (0:38) hard time, I guess, waiting his daughter off the pacifier. Speaker 2 (0:42) But there's no mention of the past anymore. Speaker 4 (0:46) It's Speaker 2 (0:46) almost like she doesn't remember it. Speaker 2 (0:49) Listen, I'm sure she'd be hyped if we busted it back out. Of course, of course. It's just a feeling. But the inability to self-soothe. Yes, the Speaker 6 (0:57) soothing portion. Speaker 2 (0:58) There's no soothing that's happening. Oh, the dulcet tones you're hearing are those of our good friend Marissa Mendez. Yay! What is a Speaker 6 (1:07) dulcet tone? My levels aren't good? There you Speaker 2 (1:11) go. I'm getting you up. Thank Speaker 6 (1:11) you, thank you. Speaker 2 (1:12) Levels are good, levels are good. Welcome, Speaker 6 (1:13) Mari. Hi, hello. Speaker 5 (1:15) Hi, hi. Speaker 2 (1:16) We figured since Ebro's out, who better to have jump on the show than a white appearing Latin woman from New Jersey? Speaker 6 (1:26) Who better than that? You know, Ebro or white appearing Latin woman. He cares about Speaker 2 (1:31) black righteousness. She cares about the Backstreet Boys. I do. Speaker 6 (1:35) I do. But I also care about black righteousness. You do. You're a righteous gal. Speaker 2 (1:40) Yeah. You're a righteous gal. I'm Speaker 5 (1:41) a Speaker 2 (1:41) righteous dude. How's everybody doing? Speaker 5 (1:43) Pretty good. Pretty good. um let me see what a weekend i rosenberg texted me yesterday i like show stuff and i was like i'm gonna hit you back yeah i'm chasing kids through dave and busters so that's what i was doing yesterday Speaker 2 (1:54) that feels like a lot Was that Brooklyn Dave and Buster's or Manhattan Speaker 5 (1:59) Dave and Speaker 6 (2:00) Buster's? Speaker 5 (2:01) Brooklyn Speaker 6 (2:01) Dave and Buster's. It's entirely too overstimulated. Speaker 5 (2:03) It's very overstimulated. I had a great time. I had to just dive in and be like, no, I'm going to play some games and be a part of this because if I don't, I get extremely overstimulated. And I'm like, maybe a mini panic attack. So I've had to just kind of like focus and lean in and like just try to enjoy it because it's a lot. Speaker 2 (2:20) How do you do with the... Speaker 2 (2:23) Following Wenza around. Speaker 5 (2:25) So yesterday it was Kenza and her cousin Waffle. So it's like, it's a five-year-old and an eight-year-old. And just hype. Like, you know, going from like place to place and jumping around. So it was just me trying to keep them together so they don't split up. Because I can't do two, you know? Speaker 2 (2:39) Right. And also like, it's... It's Dave and Buster's. Everything should be fine. Yeah. But also, if you were a creep, wouldn't you go to Dave and Buster's? Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Absolutely. There's so Speaker 6 (2:50) much going on. That's an easy, you know. That's what I'm saying. Speaker 2 (2:52) Like, it scares me to think about who the creepers that could show up there. So you got to be like. Was Speaker 6 (2:58) it just you? No, no, Speaker 5 (3:00) no, no. Ricardo was there too. Yeah, I had other adults. But still. That's Speaker 6 (3:02) a lot Speaker 5 (3:02) to do on one Speaker 6 (3:03) person with more than one child, you know? Speaker 5 (3:06) Anyway. A lot going on. I think we should jump into this Cornell 7 conversation. They're calling it Cornell 7. Some people are really annoyed by that. Speaker 2 (3:14) Just want to start the day with gang rape in the morning. Yeah, I mean, Speaker 5 (3:18) it's a dark Speaker 6 (3:19) story. We Speaker 5 (3:19) might as well. It's Speaker 6 (3:20) a Speaker 5 (3:20) big story. It's right, Louis. It's one of the biggest. By the way, it Speaker 2 (3:23) completely missed me until you, bro, sent it to our group chat last night. I think Speaker 6 (3:26) so, too. But also, my algorithm is like cats and... happiness so yeah Speaker 2 (3:31) mine's my mine algorithm only gets the important stuff like um Rory and Queen's Flip Speaker 6 (3:37) so Speaker 2 (3:38) I only get the big important issues that matter yeah yeah so no like so I don't really have a gauge of like how quite how big this is. Although I think the New York Post this morning. No, Speaker 6 (3:48) it's literally everywhere. It's Speaker 2 (3:49) like Speaker 5 (3:50) one of the biggest Speaker 6 (3:50) stories. Yeah. So Speaker 5 (3:52) basically, a former student, she's going by Jane Doe, filed a 101 page civil lawsuit alleging that she was pushed and coerced into taking drugs and ended up, you know, being the subject to hours long assault by in this fraternity house by seven fraternity members. And It includes evidence of a Snapchat group where the message was sent from the members to each other, basically telling them to join. Pull up Speaker 6 (4:20) and we got this free thing going on. Speaker 2 (4:23) Yeah, there was literally a message that says free pee. Yeah. Speaker 6 (4:28) Yes. Speaker 2 (4:28) And then the first reply to it. reply to that was like free fee is wild or something like that like the first message is only like that sounds insane but then someone else said i Speaker 6 (4:39) love chi-fi that was Speaker 2 (4:40) yeah and then people were like i'm in this Speaker 5 (4:42) yeah so um after the lawsuit was revealed that cornell's internal investigation led to no criminal arrest while two students were expelled the remaining students basically received minor disciplinary actions such as temporary suspensions Speaker 6 (5:00) workshops and they were told to write essays. That was the punishment. For gang raping a girl. I'm just going to write an essay about why I'm so sorry. Right. Why that was bad. I Speaker 2 (5:10) didn't understand. So who was expelled? Speaker 6 (5:14) Two of the seven. Yeah. Two of the Speaker 2 (5:16) seven. What, their essays weren't good enough? Speaker 6 (5:18) I guess maybe they perhaps were like the ringleaders. Yeah. Conspirators of the situation. But the Speaker 2 (5:25) others who showed up and just Speaker 6 (5:28) participated and raped a Speaker 2 (5:29) drugged girl ketamine Speaker 6 (5:31) she said it was so she was and they were like snorting lines off of her it's Speaker 5 (5:36) disgusting if you'd go if you dig into the details it is so disturbing but you know the conversation really blew up because how many times have we heard of like all these sexual assaults that happen in college campuses Speaker 6 (5:49) Like Speaker 5 (5:50) this is a thing that is like it's like the quiet little dark secret that, you know, people don't like to talk about because everyone at least I heard that it happens more than people think. And they just kind of sweep it under the Speaker 6 (6:01) rug for the bad to save face. Yeah. So Speaker 2 (6:04) do you guys read that somewhere in one of the articles? Oh, maybe it was the Cornell student newspaper where they like ripped Cornell a new asshole. They were like. They were like, during the time in which you've been keeping this undercover, the percentage of women on campus claiming they've had some sort of like inappropriate sexual conduct or contact has gone from 11 to 15 percent. So like while they were hiding it. Yeah. Things have literally been getting worse at the Speaker 1 (6:34) campus. Speaker 5 (6:35) Yeah. Yeah. And here's a video real quick. Go to video 11, Rahsaan. Speaker 1 (6:39) Breaking news this morning, New York prosecutors have reopened a criminal investigation into the Cornell 7. This comes just two weeks after a Jane Doe student filed a lawsuit against Cornell University and seven Chi Phi fraternity members, alleging that she was drugged and she was gang raped, alleging that Cornell University just gave some of these students a slap on the wrist, asking them to write some essays. Well, initially, New York prosecutors declined to prosecute any of these seven fraternity members. That may soon change. New York prosecutors overnight have announced that they are reopening the criminal investigation. They are going to be presenting all of the new evidence, or this case again, to the grand jury in central New York. Ultimately, it'll be up to the grand jurors to decide whether there is sufficient evidence to bring forth an indictment in this case. But this only happens because of you. Yeah. Because of your advocacy. Because of you sharing videos like this one. It shouldn't have had to take. Mass outrage across the internet for us to get back to this point. But we are now here and prosecutors are reopening the criminal investigation into these seven fraternity members. Spread the word. Follow for more. Isn't that crazy, though? How Speaker 6 (7:46) do you get like there's enough evidence to expel two students from a major university, but not enough evidence to charge Speaker 2 (7:53) them? My brain cannot process how insane this story is. I really am naive, I guess. Speaker 6 (7:59) Yeah. I really wouldn't think a Speaker 2 (8:01) college that would allow this to happen to a woman. I didn't. And Speaker 6 (8:04) of course, she had to drop out. So her education gone. And traumatized forever. Louie. Hold Speaker 3 (8:09) on. Hold on. We need to hear right now. So as of this morning, prosecutors have announced that they are reopening the investigation of the of the gang rape. Speaker 5 (8:19) Yeah. Okay. Basically, that was, yeah, the Aaron Parnas video. But it's crazy, though, because when I went on threads and Twitter just to just see what everybody's talking about, how many people are like, yo, there's this story is like it's happened numerous times. It happens so often and people just hide it. And just sweep it under the rug and say, hey, we don't want any bad press because then it affects funding. No major university wants any bad press. Well, Speaker 6 (8:46) now they've got it tenfold because they hit it on top of the fact that it actually happened. So Speaker 2 (8:51) a week ago, the Cornell Sun, I don't know when this story started taking shape, but the Cornell Sun, the student newspaper, in their article, the first thing they do. Matthew Ingalls, Jonathan Newell, Winston Lee, Gilio Lopez, Diego Sarabia, Scott Norris, Scott Kretschmar. These are the names of the seven men. And they just list the names and they said, Cornell won't do it. We will. Nice. It also like, you know, we can't even really play the normal game, which I shouldn't call it a game. We can't do what we would normally do, which is sort of like, but this is all complete hearsay. Like. there's some level of concrete evidence here. Because Speaker 6 (9:33) they were expelled, we know for sure something really happened. And there's the Snapchat. There's at least people Speaker 2 (9:39) participating in it. So between that and I'm sure frat brothers gave up on other ones, of course, with good reason. They were like, these dudes are violent and they're disgusting. I'm sure they know who did it. So the good news is by this going to the court of public opinion. If you believe, you know, societal punishment is a real thing. These dudes are finished. Oh, Speaker 6 (10:03) yeah. With their names out. Great. But are they? Because the way society has. I know. Well, they thought who's Speaker 2 (10:11) president. Well, I was going to say, because they're watched. There will end up being some sort of group that supports them and raises money. Yeah. And says kids will be kids. It's college. That's all. It's a great point. They were just Speaker 6 (10:24) boys being boys. Yeah. And Speaker 2 (10:26) what was she like? Speaker 6 (10:27) Yeah. Did she party there? Speaker 2 (10:29) What did Speaker 6 (10:29) she do to create this environment and welcome Speaker 5 (10:31) this? What Speaker 6 (10:31) was she wearing? Exactly. Was she someone Speaker 2 (10:34) who partied with them normally? Exactly. Because there are a lot of people who while out and have, I know nothing about this person, but there are a lot of people who while out and party in college and have the right to do that without fear of being raped by people they're partying with. You could be a Speaker 6 (10:46) hard partier. You could do all the things. You could have slept with some of these men and that still doesn't give them. the right to touch her at Speaker 2 (10:52) all especially Speaker 5 (10:53) when she's completely knocked out intoxicated done Speaker 2 (10:57) can you imagine though you raise kids and i don't know you know what it's like here to raise boys but can you imagine you raise boys and you get to the point where at college age they would do something like this they would see a girl in that situation and rather than think i need to help her they would jump in like what if like the parents should go to jail yeah it's so sad the amount Speaker 5 (11:19) of people who know that this is happening and didn't choose not to say anything i Speaker 6 (11:23) mean some of that could come from home though it Speaker 5 (11:27) could come from home it could come from you know the the fraternity environment you know you don't rat on your brothers like all of that but yeah man this is this is a big one and i think this is just the beginning i have a feeling that this might be the case that might open up like blows the lid off yeah yeah yeah open up for other ones and Speaker 2 (11:45) like cornell we're talking Cornell. Like, this is Ivy League. Yeah, but isn't that Ivy League? This is Ivy League. This is what's supposed to be. Right. That's Speaker 3 (11:56) probably the reason why they try to. Put it under the rug. Oh, for sure. Exactly. It's so Speaker 6 (12:01) prestigious. They can't have this tarnishing their name. Exactly. Exactly. Speaker 5 (12:05) Well, look what you did. Yeah. So let's see. We'll keep, you know, we'll keep you guys informed as this story continues. But man, this one was a big one. And Speaker 2 (12:12) this just happens to be the day that I'm proudly wearing my alma mater school on my hat. What is it? Marilyn Speaker 6 (12:17) Terps? Speaker 2 (12:18) She literally. I Speaker 6 (12:20) have never heard of your college. I don't know. I'm so sorry. Speaker 2 (12:23) No, no. You don't expect to know Marilyn. But like it comes up on the show here and there that. I guess, it's just not something that I Speaker 6 (12:29) retain. No, I understand. University of Speaker 2 (12:31) Maryland Terrapins. Our logo is a turtle. What is a terrapin? It's Speaker 6 (12:35) a Speaker 2 (12:35) big, scary Speaker 6 (12:36) turtle. Speaker 2 (12:37) Got it, got it, Speaker 6 (12:37) got Speaker 2 (12:37) it. We're a big-ass, scary Speaker 6 (12:39) turtle. Speaker 2 (12:39) We had Speaker 6 (12:40) a red hawk, so it's not much better. Speaker 2 (12:41) You at Rutgers? No. Where did you go? Montclair State University. Montclair Speaker 6 (12:45) State. The prestigious D3 school or D2, whatever the hell we are. Yes, Griff? Speaker 4 (12:50) My sister's a dean at Maryland. Speaker 6 (12:51) And you didn't know Griff's sister is a dean at Maryland? I literally had not even a clue. I knew you went to school somewhere over there. I would not have known about Griff's sister. You know, Speaker 2 (12:59) I went to, Laura, I went to this new vintage store. Oh my, I mean, maybe you've already been or maybe Rick's already been. Okay. It's absolutely psychotic. In a good way? Yeah. Absolute madness. Madness. No, I walked in. I was like, how long have you guys been here? They were like, April. I was like. This is fucking madness. What's happening here? It is Ludlow and Rivington. I'm not going to be that guy. I'm going to share it with the people. Okay. Speaker 6 (13:28) Yeah. Don't get. Speaker 2 (13:29) Bruh. Bruh. Speaker 5 (13:32) Bruh. I think Riccardo knows about this. It got a lot of press. They told me they got a big Speaker 2 (13:36) complex thing. They said their opening weekend was a huge thing. I've been out on account of not trying to buy more. And we happened to walk by it. And I was like, holy. So I just, all I kept it, Maya was screaming, yelling, walkie, walkie, walkie, walk. And insisting on walking. And the people who worked in this vintage store with amazing stuff everywhere were not like. thrilled at the one and a half year old running. Probably not. We wrapped it up. Speaker 4 (14:04) What Speaker 2 (14:05) do you guys think of the look of Bubba Sparks? Let's switch things up a little bit. Speaker 6 (14:09) Yeah, let's go. Video nine. He looks great. Looks like an improvement. Speaker 4 (14:22) But it's much improved. What are we, can poppy? Yeah. That sucks for you. Cause this is Bubba's moment. I put my mother on it. I said my mama. He looks like a down south white man. So Speaker 2 (14:31) buckle Speaker 4 (14:32) up. So is this just like a. He looks amazing. If Speaker 6 (14:35) you do that. I mean, compared to what we got when he was just like a chubby kid. Speaker 6 (14:41) He was probably early 20s when he came out. Speaker 2 (14:44) So, no, real quick. I have to imagine he has not looked like, I mean, he has looked like that for more than five minutes. Since 2024. So has he not posted? Speaker 6 (14:53) He has. You know Speaker 2 (14:54) how Speaker 6 (14:54) people rediscover the same thing every so often? This happens with Paul Wall all the time. What about Paul Wall? They rediscover that he has, you know, gracefully aged and all these things. Speaker 5 (15:04) I was showing Peter old pictures of him. No, Speaker 2 (15:07) I remember. No, Speaker 5 (15:07) listen, when my girlfriend said it to me, she's like, how did he turn into a GLP-1 Puerto Rican puppy? I Speaker 1 (15:14) had Speaker 5 (15:14) to Speaker 6 (15:15) look at him like, oh my God, he Speaker 4 (15:16) looks Speaker 6 (15:16) incredible. I mean, like he does, but he also does look like the white man that lives down South and like has a big pickup truck. Yeah, Speaker 2 (15:21) but God, I'm like incredible. I mean, it's not, you're focused on the wrong thing. Speaker 3 (15:25) No, he Speaker 6 (15:26) looks phenomenal. Right. He lost weight. He got a good beard, got a tan. Got a little tan. Yeah, Speaker 2 (15:30) the Speaker 6 (15:30) tan. Speaker 2 (15:30) By the way, the tan is almost. Speaker 2 (15:33) It almost doesn't make sense. I was reading. Well, he's in Florida. If you look at. No, if he lives Speaker 6 (15:38) in Florida. But he was Speaker 2 (15:39) lived there Speaker 6 (15:39) when Speaker 2 (15:40) he was 22 and he came out. And no, he lived in Speaker 6 (15:42) Georgia. He Speaker 2 (15:43) moved to Florida in 2007. Speaker 6 (15:44) It's the same. I researched all about the situation. OK, it's not the same son. You're closer to the equator in Florida than you are in Georgia. Can you Speaker 2 (15:52) show me the video again, please? Speaker 6 (15:56) I mean, it's Speaker 4 (15:57) got Speaker 6 (15:57) a little orange tinge to it. A little bit, right? Speaker 2 (16:00) Yeah, no, he's tanned too. He's doing, he's... No, I guess maybe... Because then you, Laura pulled up the pictures and the whiteness in the pictures was great. Speaker 6 (16:08) Well, he was like on a farm, doing farm stuff. That's Speaker 5 (16:12) why I think it's important because people, we should have had an old picture of him so you can see the difference because that's what really surprised everyone. Speaker 2 (16:21) Yeah, Baskin, when you get a second, just pull up a random picture on Safari. They did Speaker 6 (16:24) say so in all this discourse. They're like, oh, but he's a Trumper. He's a Trumper. He's a Trumper? I looked into it and he has explicitly denied that he is a Trumper. However, the reason they are saying that is because he did a collaboration with a super duper Trump rapper, 4G Auto. No, don't Speaker 2 (16:40) say he did something. with Giorgio Abloh. Speaker 5 (16:42) And Speaker 6 (16:43) it was called Product of the South. I don't like, if you are not MAGA, why would you do that? I don't understand. Speaker 2 (16:49) I mean, if we're being honest. Speaker 6 (16:51) Okay. How Speaker 2 (16:51) many people have been offering bags to Bubba Sparks? So you Speaker 6 (16:55) think Giorgio Abloh paid for that? Oh Speaker 2 (16:59) yeah. I'm sure he did. Well, I Speaker 6 (17:00) guess he had to get some legitimacy. Speaker 2 (17:01) No, Giorgio Abloh was spending money. He's got a big Speaker 6 (17:04) stupid Trump chain, right? Yes. No, his whole brand is Trump. Yeah, Speaker 5 (17:07) I Speaker 6 (17:07) know. But he's the one with that chain. I guess. Yeah. But like all money is not good money. I'm sure Bubba's doing shows. Speaker 4 (17:16) I Speaker 6 (17:16) mean. What do they call that? The Chitlin Circuit. I'm sure he's probably down there. You would think Speaker 2 (17:20) he's moving around doing some shows here and there. Yeah. I would think you would. But still, look, there's an old shot of Bubba. That's, by the way, a good picture. Speaker 6 (17:26) Yeah, that's a good one. Speaker 5 (17:27) I love that song he had with Jadakiss. They had a good, they had a little Speaker 2 (17:29) bop. Speaker 5 (17:31) No, Luis, some of the other Speaker 6 (17:32) ones I pulled up. Speaker 5 (17:33) Nah. Speaker 6 (17:35) I mean, how old is he now? Do we know? Bubba? Speaker 2 (17:38) I'd say Bubba's my age almost exactly. How Speaker 6 (17:40) old is Bubba Smith? I'm Speaker 2 (17:42) going Speaker 6 (17:42) to say Speaker 2 (17:42) 49. I'm going with 46. Let's see. Speaker 6 (17:45) He looks great, Bob. 49. Damn it. You're right. 49. You