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"Join “Reasonable Doubt” creator Raamla Mohamed and stars Emayatzy Corinealdi, McKinley Freeman and Morris Chestnut, as they unpack the shocking twists of season one and preview the highly-anticipated second season, premiering August 22 on Hulu.
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00:00Kenny Williams, contributor of Forbes, BLK.
00:17Hey, y'all.
00:23Thanks so much for being here, y'all.
00:24Look how beautiful y'all look.
00:26All right, so now it wouldn't be Essence Fest
00:30if we didn't have some special surprises.
00:32So here's a special exclusive clip
00:34from Reasonable Doubt, season two, just for y'all at Essence Fest.
00:40What did you do?
00:41Well, happy Sunday to you, too.
00:43No, no, Chanel needed to remain in jail
00:46looking like the victim for the world's seat.
00:48Do you know what made the difference
00:49when we were fighting for our civil liberties?
00:51Everyone thought it was when the fireman was holding down
00:53those kids, but you see, that wasn't the first time
00:55that that happened.
00:56What changed the game was the first time
00:58that the cameras were there to capture that inhumanity
01:01for the world to see and work for the movement.
01:03Okay, Chanel's not a movement.
01:04You shouldn't make your client fit your strategy.
01:07Chanel is a mother who wanted to be home
01:09with her daughters and not in jail.
01:11Your way ignores the client's needs.
01:13Oh, come on now, Jax.
01:14It's not about the client's needs, and you know that.
01:17Look, I saw how you reacted
01:19when you saw how jail was affecting her.
01:21You couldn't take it.
01:22You knew that you couldn't do what's best for her as her friend
01:24and her lawyer, so you hired me.
01:26You said it was my case, and then you go behind my back
01:29and you undermine me.
01:30Why even bring me here if you're going to sabotage me?
01:31I'm not trying to sabotage you.
01:34Corey, it is just that I know for a fact
01:37that you're wrong about this.
01:39See, you know for a fact.
01:42Wow.
01:43Wow.
01:46Okay, well, you know what I know for a fact?
01:48I know for a fact that if we don't follow the right plan,
01:51we lose.
01:52Everything after this is going to be on you, Jax.
01:55Not me, you.
02:00Well, I suggest you take some of that bass out of your voice, homie.
02:07Don't worry, bro.
02:09You're done here.
02:10I don't care if he is your co-worker.
02:20The next time he comes in my house and raises his voice at you,
02:24he going to find out what a real nigga fucking look like.
02:26Yeah, so we got some heat coming for season two, right?
02:40Yeah.
02:41Right, yes.
02:43All right, so joining me today on this beautiful panel,
02:45first I want to introduce the creator, the showrunner,
02:48and executive producer of Reasonable Doubt,
02:51Ms. Ramallah Muhammad.
02:52Let's give her a round of applause.
02:54And then we also have our leading lady, Emma Yahtzee Coronaldi,
03:01who plays our favorite lawyer, Jax,
03:03and our favorite leading lady.
03:06Beautiful, hey, friend.
03:10And then upcoming, we have Mr. McKinley Freeman,
03:13who plays the lovable Louis.
03:14Won't be no truth at your funeral in an all-black suit.
03:17Couple of white girls walking all-black suits.
03:19Me and man march in an all-black boots.
03:20Call up the truth, call up the truth.
03:22Punch you in the mouth, then knock out your tooth.
03:23And then, last but not least, ladies,
03:26y'all are going to love this one.
03:28Mr. Morris Chestnell, who's joining season two
03:31as Mr. Corey Cash.
03:33Make some noise, y'all.
03:34Black, black, black, black, my tongue so black, black, black,
03:37I'm black, my skin is so black, I'm rockin' all black.
03:38Everything is black.
03:39Friends from these black wheels,
03:41in this black wheel, in this black chest.
03:44Black, black, black, black, black, black.
03:46Ayy.
03:47Black out the truth, pop out the roof,
03:48when I run into you.
03:49Thoughts black, cause the dark side of the moon.
03:51What's up, what's up?
03:56Good morning.
03:57How you doin'?
03:57Let's give it up for this beautiful black show,
04:03Reasonable Doubt, coming back for season two, y'all.
04:10Let's give it up.
04:11Season two.
04:12Season two.
04:13Okay, so, diving right in, they got me on,
04:16they got cue cards and me on a time limit, y'all,
04:18because I can talk a lot, I'm a Pisces, so just bear with me.
04:21But, Ms. Ramallah Muhammad, I want to start off with you.
04:24Yeah.
04:25I'm a fan of the show, I told you backstage.
04:28And I was hoping that you could just discuss the importance
04:30and intentionality behind having an all-black writers' room
04:34and all-black directors this season.
04:36Yes, you know, this is such a black show, and it's about black love,
04:42and it's about, you know, being a black woman, and black marriage,
04:46and friendships.
04:47And for me, I just was like, I just want an all-black writers' room
04:51to have a shorthand, right?
04:52I don't want to have to, you know, kind of describe the nuances
04:56of what this means and what that means.
04:58And actually, what ended up happening is that I was able to have just
05:02people in the room, right?
05:03We talked about all different kind of things, you know,
05:06that we have a single man in the room, we have a married man
05:09and father in the room, you know, we have mothers in the room,
05:12and so we were able to talk just as humans, and I think that's what makes
05:16the show strong is that we bring our own life experiences to the show,
05:21and we happen to all be black.
05:23I love that. I love that.
05:27And Emma Yahtzee, our favorite leading lady.
05:30Let's give it up for, please.
05:34Yes. Now, my question for you is, it's clear that Jack Stewart,
05:37she's a formidable lead, formidable black female lead that we love to see,
05:41but what has been your favorite part in really bringing her to life?
05:45You know, my favorite part of bringing Jack to life is all of her messiness,
05:50because it's real.
05:51You know, we all have our issues.
05:53You know, we have the things we need to work on about ourselves, you know,
05:56but the fact that we get to see Jack work those things out in the way that she does,
06:01you know, in her powerful role as an attorney, you know, as a wife, as a mother,
06:05in the way that she does it, still with a level of esteem and respect about herself.
06:10You know, so a lot of people can relate to that element of Jack's, you know,
06:15because she's just, she's very multifaceted, you know.
06:18And at the end of the day, everyone can relate to that,
06:21because we don't often have a lot of characters, especially as black women,
06:24who get to have all of those rough edges that we get to see, you know, softened.
06:29Yes, I love that.
06:30Now I want to flip it to you and ask a follow-up question.
06:33How do you most relate to Jack's?
06:35Oh, so you trying to start something now, you know.
06:38I think I most relate to Jack's just in her, in her strength.
06:44You know, as black women, that's the one thing that we, it's the thread, you know,
06:48it's the thread, right?
06:49We're able to get it done all the time, on time when it needs to be done, you know.
06:54And so as a black woman.
06:59C-play of Jack
07:00Provelling
07:01C-play of Jack
07:02Provelling
07:03C-play of Jack
07:04D- período
07:05C-play of Jack
07:06A beautiful
07:07D-
07:08C-play of Jack
07:10D-
07:11M-
07:13The
07:15Body of Jack
07:16D-
07:17Why?
07:18The
07:19Descent
07:21D-
07:23D-
07:24D-
07:25C-play of Jack
07:26D-
07:27D-
07:28This
07:58And family by family, rule by rule, I think so.
08:15Mr. Morris Chestnut, I have to ask you too.
08:19Right?
08:21Could you tell us about, tell us about Corey Cash.
08:23What's the tea with him?
08:24What's going on?
08:25So Corey Cash is, he's an old friend of Jax's.
08:29He gets a call from Jax to come help on, to come help on a case.
08:35And of course, there's past situations or past experiences, not experiences, I don't know how to call it.
08:41There's past, I've known Jax's character.
08:43So we've known each other.
08:44We've come in contact.
08:45We're acquaintances.
08:46And, you know, she got a husband and all that.
08:50But who cares?
08:51You know what I'm saying?
08:52No, no, it's really, it's really, so Corey, he comes, he mixes things up a little bit.
08:57But he, you know, at the end of the day, he wants to win in every aspect of his life.
09:02Every aspect of his life.
09:05Period.
09:05We can all learn from that.
09:06So, Morris, I'm going to flip it back to you and just ask you, how did this role come to be?
09:12Or what really attracted you to joining the Reasonable Doubt family?
09:15I was a huge fan of season one.
09:19I mean, who, how can you not be a huge fan of season one, right?
09:22You know, there's so many people I've talked to, even now since I've, you know, since they've been announcing that I've been a part of the cast, that really walked up to me and said they can't wait to see season two.
09:33And I was a fan of season one, and when I got the call, it was a no-brainer.
09:37They said there was interest, and I told them I was interested, and I said, you know, let's make it happen.
09:42It was not even a thought.
09:44The show is extremely well written.
09:48It's extremely well acted.
09:49But even beyond that, it's extremely, it represents us.
09:55It represents people, real people.
09:57You know, so many times on TV, you have shows that have lead characters that are afraid to be flawed, that are afraid to be real.
10:04And this show has a bunch of real people doing real things.
10:08Yes, yes.
10:10So, I have a secret to tell.
10:13I already told Ramala, but I already took a sneak peek at some of season two.
10:17I'm not going to tell y'all, because I'm trying to get fired, but I have to ask, I'm going to ask all of y'all.
10:22I'm going to point this to all of you guys.
10:24How would you describe season two, but how do you also feel it compares to season one?
10:30So, I honestly, like, I mean, I obviously, I created the show, and I do love season one.
10:36But season one shows are hard, because you're trying to do so many things.
10:40You know, you're trying to balance new storylines, set up a world, get people into the show.
10:44So, I feel like season two's are more exciting, right?
10:47You know the characters already, you're excited to see what happened.
10:50I just think the show is sexier.
10:52I think it is, you know, filmed very well.
10:55We have a great new cast, and it just shows the strength.
11:00I think that all the elements that were great about season one, I think it's like on crack now.
11:05It's like another lover.
11:06And season two is, you know, it's much more vulnerable.
11:11You know, Jax is more vulnerable.
11:13Louis is more vulnerable.
11:14You know, you get to see a bit more of those interior things happening with a lot of the characters, you know, in a way that you didn't see on the first season.
11:23So, if you take those vulnerabilities and add to it the same drama and the same sexiness and all of that, it's a different season.
11:29Yeah, I would say just describing the second season would be a lot of collaboration.
11:37Like, how do we make the most of whatever the situation we are in at the moment?
11:42And also, like, the situation with Jax and Louis is the added element of having kids and a family and trying to, like, maintain some sense of stability and normalcy while we're still trying to figure out our personal things.
11:55And I think that, along with what you said earlier about being able to see ourselves on camera and seeing the transparency of who we are with authenticity, excuse me, that's really what I think season two brings, for sure.
12:08For me, I wasn't there for season one, but being a part of season two, it was, I literally would read one episode and at the end of reading the episode, I couldn't wait to see what happened in the very next episode.
12:22The cliffhangers were unbelievable and I've never really done a show to where I could not wait to see what happens in the very next episode that I was working on.
12:29And so, I would say, just from, even from being a fan, just the cliffhangers are stronger, I think, you know, I didn't, I went there for season one, but it feels like it was a well-oiled machine.
12:39You know, the cast, the crew, the writing, everything just clicked to the nth degree.
12:45Now, Ramala, we talked a little bit about this backstage, and we talked about it a little bit here, too, with the idea of black love being showcased on the show.
12:53But I feel like when a lot of people think of black love, they think about relationships, you know, like romantic relationships.
13:00But here, I feel like Reasonable Doubt, especially Upcoming, it really delves into black love of black female friendships, too.
13:08So, could you explore that?
13:09Yeah, I, you know, I always feel like when you watch shows, particularly with a female lead, she has, like, one friend that she calls and talks to.
13:17And I'm like, I don't know women who would just have, like, one friend.
13:20Like, we have a group of friends.
13:23And also, I mean, I have friends from elementary school, from high school.
13:26One of my best friends is right there in the audience, I'm going to point her out, because I've known her since I was 15 years old.
13:31So, for me, I'm like, those are also my family.
13:34That's black love, you know, having friendships in your life, and those are the support systems.
13:38And then there are dynamics within those friendships, you know.
13:41There's some friends you can talk to, you know, when you did something, you're like, okay, this girl, she's going to understand this.
13:46Be like, but I ain't calling the other one, because she's not, she's going to judge me, so I'm not going to call her.
13:50You know, so you're like, you know, you have all these dynamics, and that's a part of it, too.
13:54But for me, also, what was even more important than the black love, and that is the root of the show, what also is important is, I always feel like, as black women, we can only be either, like, Michelle Obama or Megan Thee Stallion.
14:09And I, and we, it's like, they divide us into these two camps.
14:12And I feel like, I'm sure, like, you know, if you're a professional lawyer, I mean, I'm a professional.
14:17And last night, Lil Wayne was hitting, and I was down on the floor, you know what I mean?
14:22And it's okay, no judgment.
14:23And it's okay, no judgment.
14:24No judgment.
14:25You know, I can come up here, and I can speak today, and then tonight is going to be Usher, and it's going to be, these are my confessions.
14:31Like, I just, I feel like we can do both, and I really, it annoys me.
14:35That's what I love about the character of Jax, is, like, she can be strong in the courtroom, you know, and then she can be singing a corrupt song in a car, whatever it is.
14:43And I just, I want to see more of that, and us not putting into these pigeonholes of, you know, either, like, intellectual or ratchet individual, because all that does is split us up as black women.
15:23And, you know, just as an actor, it's a gift, because you don't always get these kind of roles, especially as a black woman, because they're not writing these kind of roles, you know, so it takes a black woman to really write the kind of role that really portrays a real black woman, you know, in a way that's true and relatable.
15:41You know, and same as Ramla, you know, it's just easy because I relate to Jax, you know, I have my best friends, my friend group.
15:50You know, I have a good friend for 20 years who's here today as well, you know what I mean?
15:54Like, you have those friends, you have those relationships, you have those real-life things that happen, and you don't always get the opportunity to portray them in a role like this on television, you know?
16:06And that's the thing that everyone is relating to.
16:08They can see themselves reflected back, and that's the gift of Jax and the gift of this show.
16:13Yes, I love that.
16:16McKinley and Morris, too, I feel like also the different types of friendships represented in the show are also male friendships and male dynamics on an interpersonal level, too.
16:25So I have to ask y'all, what can we expect?
16:28Like, are y'all beginning to it this season, or how will those dynamics look between the two of you?
16:32Because y'all are both parts of Jax's life.
16:35Yes, you are.
16:36I'm uncomfortable sitting next to him right now for what happened during that show, you know?
16:39They keep us off of sets together for a reason.
16:42They're like, we've got to keep them separate.
16:44But I think a lot of it is, again, it's just as much as it is about Morris and I's character.
16:49It's really, for me, and from Louis' perspective, is how do you, as a man, doing the best you can with a family and still feeling like you're falling up short,
16:58how can you still do everything you can and still make your family work?
17:02And I think that's something that's important.
17:05And also recognizing that there's other ways to get help, too.
17:08We talk about, I think, last, in season one, there was the idea of maybe seeking outside help and therapy to talk to people about your problems.
17:15So I think having friends and those types of resources in your circle are necessary for any, you know, kind of journey in life.
17:22No, just in terms of the dynamic, one of the things I also loved about what Rama did for my character on the show,
17:31in addition to dealing with McKinley's character, I have a situation with my father that was unresolved coming into the show.
17:40So there are some other male dynamics on the show that will be explored that the audience will see.
17:48Well, that's a great segue into my next question.
17:50Can y'all, I know we can't reveal too much, but what are y'all most excited?
17:54And this is for everyone on the panel, for viewers to see from this season.
17:58I'm excited for them to see the show.
18:01I'm excited for the fans to see the show because they've waited a long time.
18:03They've been so supportive online.
18:06They're here today supporting, listening to us talk, so there's just much love and hopefully, like, the episode's delivered.
18:11I'm sorry, I didn't mean to jump in front of you, Rama.
18:13No, no, no, you're absolutely right.
18:15I'm excited for everyone to see the season.
18:17And, you know, even, you know, the music is also very important to me in the show.
18:20So the songs are going to be hitting, okay, just saying that.
18:25But, you know, it is a very just, it's a very special season.
18:29I think not only because of what these three are bringing, but just, you know, overall, just the, even the storylines we're dealing with, you know, mental health, domestic violence.
18:38We have some serious topics we are exploring.
18:40So I think that people are going to be emotionally connected and invested into the show.
18:47Emma Yatsi, what about you?
18:48I mean, the same.
18:50I just cannot wait for everyone to see it.
18:53We have been, you know, working on this, and we've been, we know what it's like.
18:57We see the scripts, and we're on set, you know, but finally for everyone to be able to see it is just exciting, so.
19:03And I'm, honestly, so when you shoot a show, when you shoot a movie, you're never really sure what makes it into the cut, what makes it out of the cut.
19:11You know, there are some scenes I'm excited to see how McKinley's going to respond to, because.
19:16See how they keep bringing it back.
19:19See how they keep bringing it back.
19:20There are a couple of scenes that we did shoot that I'm really looking forward to seeing and everybody else seeing.
19:25Yeah.
19:26Yeah.
19:28There's also.
19:29There's probably what you're thinking about.
19:30I think also besides the, you know, Jax is a female, but the other thing that is important on the show are the black men of the show and the portrayal of black men.
19:41I have, I have a lot of black men who come up to me and say they're fans of the show.
19:45And as someone who is in love with a black man myself and in a black relationship, you know, it is important to me to also portray black men and, you know, not only a nice, a good light, but also a flawed and an honest light and a real light.
20:01So it's important to me to also make sure that, you know, Corey Cash or Louis Stewart, that they are actually real black men and they feel like people you can relate to.
20:10Black on black on black on black on black on black on black.
20:13There we go.
20:14That's what it is.
20:15That's what it is.
20:16Let's go.
20:17So before we close out, we have a few minutes left.
20:21Is there any parting words y'all want to give to this anxiously awaiting, beautiful audience?
20:27Thank y'all for waiting.
20:29You will not be disappointed.
20:32Tune in August 22nd.
20:34Yes.
20:34And please, and please honestly tell, tell, tell, tell your friend, if you love the show, please tell people to watch because, you know, our shows, there's not a lot of shows like ours.
20:45And the numbers are important.
20:47And so if you guys can spread the word, if you love the show, please encourage people to watch it.
20:53Yeah, it's pretty much the same thing with Rami.
20:55Listen, for all you guys to support the show, support things that I've done throughout the years, I want to say thank you for all that.
21:02But what's very, thank you.
21:03But what's very important is to continue to support and tell people about it.
21:08If you love it, how you doing?
21:09If you love it, tell people, if you love it, tell other people you love it.
21:14Because it's going to keep good quality shows like this on television.
21:18So don't just watch it.
21:20Watch it, then tell other people to watch it.
21:21And watch it again.
21:22How about that?
21:23Yes, watch it again.
21:24So August, August 22nd on Hulu, what y'all going to be doing?
21:27Y'all going to be?
21:28There you go.
21:29We appreciate y'all.
21:30Truly love and appreciate y'all.
21:33No, they said it.
21:34They said it.
21:35All right, give it up for the cast.
21:36I'm sorry, McKinney.
21:37No, I'll just say you heard him, August 22nd.
21:39And I think, again, Emiyatze, Morris, and Rama bring up great points.
21:43And the fact that we have the opportunity to make such a really in-depth and rich world
21:47that's so real and hopefully so compelling.
21:50We appreciate you guys' time and your attention.
21:52So thank you.
21:54Thank you so much, guys.
21:56All right, thank you, everybody.
21:57Give it up for the cast.
21:58Thank you, guys.
21:59Thank you, guys.
22:00Appreciate it.
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