Marc Lupo Reveals the Truth About Fame, the Spotlight, and how he exposed Blake lively’s secret

0:00Marc Lupo:I got the job. It was a lot of learning on the go. I wasn't prepared for exactly, you know, you are now a reporter. You have to go out and investigate and break news and figure out people's situations. And it's, you know, it's being like an investigator, like pulling court documents and just putting things together and being fair and accurate. And then going to red carpets and covering the Grammys and the Emmys and all those kind of things. It's a lot of fun and it's a lot of work. Are you always happy like this? I'm always happy. You're always happy, never mad? I mean, sometimes I'm mad, but I mean, how could I not be happy being on the show with you?

0:54welcome back to the bilf pod where authenticity trumps authority now today i have the pleasure of sitting here with Mark Lupo, who is the head talent producer at Tamron Hall, who, by the way, I did share the stage with. I like brief encounter. No, no encounter. I just shared a stage, you know, just to make me sound good. But welcome. I'm super excited that you're here.

1:18Marc Lupo:Me too. Thank you for having me. This is an awesome podcast. Oh, you were roped into coming. No, I mean, it's you guys are doing an amazing job here and I'm excited to be a part of it. Thank you for having me. Well, I thought it would only be appropriate if you were here since you have such an extensive background. So I really just brought you here so you can get me in. Yeah. That's a real, no, just kidding. Just kidding. I'm excited. And you're like the man behind the scenes. So I figured you'd like to give us some little nuggets and share a little bit about what you do, how you do it, and where you started.

1:45Marc Lupo:Yeah, totally. So I've been working in entertainment for about 20 years. I started as an intern, much like many other people that I know, working behind the scenes for Regis and Kelly. It was a big talk show back in the early 2000s. And then I found my way to Tyra Banks. I worked at the Tyra Banks show for a season and then worked for Wendy Williams for almost eight years and then found my way into tabloid talk. I'm working for Us Weekly and now for Tamron Hall. Did you always know you wanted to do something like this? Yeah. I mean, since I was a kid, I've loved storytelling, the news, staying home from school and watching like trashy talk shows like Jerry Springer.

2:25Marc Lupo:I just like love that element, that crazy vibe that would happen on these shows. And I knew I wanted to be a part of something like that. And so when I was in college, I looked for opportunities where I can insert myself into that. How do I get to be a part of that? And that was through internships. And then that kind of confirmed what I already knew, which is I want to do this for a living. That's insane. So you really are the real deal. Like for real, real, real deal. An Emmy nominee. I mean, that's incredible. I mean, that's not you just kind of, you know, brisked over that. You didn't even say anything.

2:55Marc Lupo:I mean, listen, getting nominated for an Emmy was truly an incredible thing. I got to go twice to the Emmys and it's just you're amongst all these people who've worked so hard for something and we haven't won yet but it's a dream to be one day up on the stage and collecting that award surreal no? Yeah it was totally a pinch me moment. What's cool too is it's the daytime Emmy so you're surrounded by all the soap opera people and all the other like the game shows and the talk show hosts all these legendary people and you're like wow how did I end up in this room? But who is your favorite person that you that you saw there and met?

3:31Marc Lupo:Oh, my God. There's been so many people throughout the years that I've met. But in terms of like the daytime world, it's like meeting all those people. Like I just said, Maury and Jerry and meeting all those like daytime old school hosts. Sally Jesse was just, you know, Montel. It's just it's such a reminiscent moment of your childhood. And it's just cool to see that full circle thing happen in person. That is incredible. So here you are. OK, 19. You start 19, right? 19 as an intern. Yeah. Then you like gradually you're moving up, you're going. Did you ever like think that you would be where you're at right now?

4:05Marc Lupo:I knew that if I wanted something I'd have to work really hard for it and I made a lot of sacrifices much like yourself. You don't just become a boss. You don't just become successful without sacrificing and working hard for something and investing your time into it. So I knew that I would have to give up certain things but that would pay off in the long run. It's a long game. It's not the short game. Yeah, I mean, smart. I mean, who starts their career at 19 years old? Like, seriously, that's like you really are an anomaly. At 19 years old, I was hanging out in college. And then there you are, you end up at Wendy Williams.

4:36Marc Lupo:That was, I mean, it was the craziest thing. I was working at Tyra Banks. The show got canceled unexpectedly. And it was devastating because I really loved working there. It was a wild place. And that's what the nature of the beast is in entertainment. One day you're on, the next day it's over. And you have to find your new gig. And luckily, someone I was working with had a contact at Wendy. They were looking for a production assistant. It wasn't paying a lot of money, and the hours were really long. But I was like, sign me up. And it changed my whole life after taking on that role. So can we talk a little tea about Wendy?

5:07Marc Lupo:Let's talk about Wendy. Can you really do that? Yeah, of course. So where is Wendy? What's your take on what's up with Wendy now? Yeah, I mean, it's super sad. I worked for Wendy for more than eight years. She was a wonderful person. smart, one of the most influential people of like pop culture really when you look back on it. And, you know, her life kind of started to unravel. At the end of my time there, things with her marriage took a dark turn and she was having some issues at work. And to see what has happened to her now, it's just kind of unbelievable because she's so smart and she was so nice and we had such a great time working there.

5:45Marc Lupo:The staff, everyone loved her. and it's just, it's a true tragedy to see her kind of locked up now in this, what they call like a glamorous prison really, is she's just stuck in this hospital and this conservatorship and it just goes to show, it's like Britney Spears, Wendy Williams, it can happen to really anybody. Oof, do you think it was like pressure? Like this, do you think it was like a genetic thing? Was it like, it's not an age thing, that's not, what do you, like just the pressure from society? I think it's a mix. I think there's certainly, you know, she had addiction for many years. She struggled with cocaine addiction.

6:18Marc Lupo:She was an alcoholic. I think part of that has influenced her medical situation now. And I think, too, is the pressure of people commenting on your life. You know, she made a living talking about other people. And then when her life was falling apart, everyone was commenting on hers. And she had to do a talk show every day. The pressure must have been insane. I mean, you can dish it out, but you've got to be able to take it. That's right. And she usually, she could until, I mean, until it was almost bigger than her. It became bigger than her story. Terrible. And now she's in this, what you said, like a, how did you describe it?

6:52Marc Lupo:They call it like a glamorous luxury facility. It's a place where she is not really able to leave on her own. She's under conservatorship, so someone is making all her decisions for her, her legal decisions. Her every move is determined by a court appointed a guardian. So it's really devastating to see. I mean, there seems to be now some more freedom. She goes out to dinner with her niece or she has some family support, but it's certainly not what it was years ago. Are you in touch with her? I haven't talked to Wendy in several years, but I am rooting for her. I reached out to her niece, who I know, and sent my support.

7:32Marc Lupo:And so that's all I can do for the moment. That's rough. I don't care who that's rough. But then you got into journalism, right? And you like briefly slipped over that you worked for Us Weekly, which I love. I love trashy gossip. I mean, I love it. It's fun. On the planes, I used to get like tons of Us Weekly and just read all the gossip that was going. It was my favorite. It's the best. So what did you do for them? So when I was working at Wendy Williams, one of my responsibilities was booking all the gossip columnists on the show for these gossip segments. And I became friends with these people.

8:05Marc Lupo:They would go out to dinner and drinks and they would tell me like the news on what was happening. And I was like, this seems really fun. and this gossip columnist, his name is Rob Shooter. He's a legendary gossip columnist in New York and he and I became friendly and he's like, hey, there's a job opening at Us Weekly. I sense that you maybe want to change and just the timing was perfect and I was like, you know what? I really am looking to make a change and so that was it. I just, I got the job. It was a lot of learning on the go. I wasn't prepared for exactly, you know, you are now a reporter.

8:39Marc Lupo:You have to go out and investigate and break news and figure out people's situations. And it's, you know, it's being like an investigator, like pulling court documents and just putting things together and being fair and accurate. And then going to red carpets and covering the Grammys and the Emmys and all those kind of things. It's a lot of fun and it's a lot of work. It's a lot harder than you would think it is. No, I think I like what I imagine. This is like what I imagine is you have like a hat on. you're incognito and you're like looking in their trash for stuff and then you're like looking around then you're asking people questions like were you contacting like you know exes and friends were you doing that oh i'll tell you a funny story so i did break a story once about a star who was pregnant and she was hiding her pregnancy and so no one knew she had actually given birth or not and i had read that she had dinner at a restaurant hudson yards and so i was like let me go to hudson yards and check out the restaurant and see if anyone could give me some details.

9:38Marc Lupo:So I'm sitting at the bar. I'm asking the waiters, hey, was so-and-so here? No answer. They didn't know. It was Blake Lively. And so I was walking around the restaurant. I felt kind of defeated. I couldn't figure out if she had given birth or not. And as I'm walking out, I stopped this waitress. And I'm like, hey, were you here when Blake Lively was here last week? And she's like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm like, was she pregnant? And she's like, no. She's like, no, baby. Boom. That was the story. We broke the news that she had given birth. And then every outlet picked it up because we were the first to get that scoop.

10:13Marc Lupo:And that's how it kind of works is you have to go out there and do the work and figure out what's really going on. I love it. I just love that it's tea. Like you get the tea or the first with the tea and then you break it and you're like, all right, I got you. I love that. What do you think about print and where it's at today versus like, you know the internet I feel like for me at least I think having a magazine is like number one I don't like the the whole media thing yeah social media or like you know online we're millennials are nostalgic for that time of life where it's like the print photos we want something to hold like the newspaper or the magazine like I kind of miss it reading teen bop but what was remember where you can pull the you know I'm talking about like new kids on the block what was it called with the the seat like the vinyls and or the you can pull them out of the magazines and they would have like oh yeah the posters yeah what was it teen bot what was it called i don't remember i mean i think you know on a bigger spectrum i think it's kind of dying but i think there still is a an interest and a need for it and i think it will kind of always be around but i think uh as far as i can understand people are now getting their news from social media that is the place where people are going to for better or worse tiktok tiktok tiktok's it it's where it's at i know i'm like don't even ask my 17 year old really told me i'm super outdated with the instagram so you should to see before you came.

11:29I was sitting here doing a TikTok with my outfit changes.

11:32Marc Lupo:Doing the dances. No, I won't dance. I got to draw the line somewhere. I'm not dancing. I'm not. I'll do the outfit thing. And like, I'll try to say funny shit. I'm at least I think I'm funny. But TikTok is where it's at. It is. And that's funny because it is a lot of work to putting those those videos together. It takes a lot of time. I was sweating changing the outfits. Trust me. I know how these kids how do they have so much time to do this? I mean, you have a 17 year old. I at that. She's sitting there with TikToks during school. I can't. No, I can't either. I don't know. I like the journalism part better.

12:04I just think it's so, there's something intriguing about it. And I know that you had, um, an interview with Lamar Odom. Yes. Right. Like, and he admits to you on camera, like, yeah, bro, I just like did a line before we talk. Did your like jaw drop or like, it was funny. And how did you even get that out of him that he was just like, yeah, bro, I just casually did a line.

12:22Marc Lupo:He was, I mean, he was promoting his memoir. Right. And it's, the book was fascinating because he speaks about how he ended up in that bunny ranch where he almost died and you know he's in a coma for months and uh at the brothel right and um you know he was kind of joking when he said that he did a line of coke as I asked him what his status was like where are you with your sobriety and he just said that I we both just laugh because it's like once you build a rapport with someone you make someone feel comfortable and you you they open up and they reveal things and I think that comes back to like are you a good listener are you an active listener listener.

12:56Marc Lupo:I think people love to talk and they love to hear themselves talk. But if you are silent, people just reveal a lot more than they realize about themselves. Who is your favorite interview and why? Oh my gosh. I mean, I love so many of the people that I've been able to speak to. Kristen Bell is an actress who will just tell you anything. You can ask her questions and she is an open book. She would tell me outrageous stories and we'd be on the phone for like a half an hour. And I just really appreciated her like fun spirit and just being open because, you know, publicists sometimes will jump in and cut the interview short.

13:29Marc Lupo:They're like, oh, that person, my client's not going to go there. And Kristen's not like that. She will say, no, I'll answer it. I will let you know what, you know, what's going on or whatever. And so I just like people who are just more free and like want to have fun and play. How authentic do you think like the people that are in the glamour star world? Do you think the majority are authentic or unauthentic? What do you think? I think it's tricky, right? Because celebrity is changing. I think the celebrity culture has made a big shift in the last maybe 10 to 15 years. At one point, celebrities, you would see them a few times a year on the red carpets.

14:05Marc Lupo:You would see them at the award shows. And that's why the Oscars and the Emmys were such a big deal, because you only had a few opportunities to see these people out and about. And now with social media, it's like we're in your basement. We're in the pandemic. You see them doing the same things we're doing. They're, you know, they're bored at home. They're saying dumb things online. And now suddenly they're not so different from me and you. They're actually very much the same. And with the ability to have a podcast, to be, you know, if you have a microphone and a camera, you can be a, you can be famous too.

14:34Marc Lupo:There's no difference between us and a celebrity. And so I think that the culture has shifted and now there's room for all of us. Yeah, I agree. I, well, you had a podcast, didn't you? Naughty and nice. I mean, so what do you think? So I'm doing this whole podcast thing. I mean, am I too naughty or too nice? Or maybe I'm not naughty enough. What do you think? Let me hear your take. Well, I definitely think you have a naughty side. I can tell. But I do appreciate that about you. And yeah, I'm on a podcast called Naughty But Nice with Rob Shooter. It's an iHeartRadio podcast. And we've been doing it for about five and a half years.

15:04Marc Lupo:And it's a 25-minute daily show about celebrities. And we go there, but we're not mean. It's a little bit of a pinch, but we have fun. And I love podcasting. I think it's a great medium. I mean, you're doing an awesome job with your podcast. I've seen your past interviews. And I think this is going to really blow up in a way that you would like it to. And I think it's... Maybe you can help me. Can you help? You can definitely help me. Can you just get me in there? Just help me. Get me in there. You're here. You are here. This podcast is legit. It's definitely fire. And I'm excited to see what other stories you're going to tell over the next couple of years.

15:36That's what it's about. I think it's just really... And that's where it goes back to journalism and why it's so... It's intriguing to me. because we were talking about like people. I love people. I'm super intrigued by them. And then you realize like when you start talking to people, it doesn't matter their caliber, you know, if they're famous or not famous, whatever. You start to see that like not, we're all not so different. Everybody has a story.

15:56Marc Lupo:They do. And I think that's why me and you get along because I'm always been a curious person too. And you seem to really be interested in someone's story and why and how they became who they are. And, you know, when I was reading about you over the past couple of years and just seeing your stories too, too. It's a lot of people want success. A lot of people want to arrive at the destination, but it's the work that you don't see. It's all the work. It's the late nights. It's the hardships. It's all the things that you've given up to arrive at this table, to arrive where you've arrived, where I've arrived.

16:27Marc Lupo:And so I think to do the work and to put in the effort, that's where you're going to get to the next step. Well, I'm going off topic with the questions because part of the show is the business part, which I think is important. You have a fun job. It's incredible. I would love to, I would just love it just to be there for the tea. But more than that, you know, the business portion I do kind of want to put out, because you said something really important. It's the work that nobody sees. Yeah. It's the sacrifice. Like, you didn't just get where you are right now just because you arrived. Talk a little bit about that.

16:58Like, what did you, you're 19 years old. Everyone's going out. They're getting fucked up. Your friends, how many times did you have to say, like, sorry, bro, I can't hang out or sorry, I can't do this?

17:06Marc Lupo:Oh, it's a great question. And so I look back when I was in college, you know, I was. Get me. I was. I was commuting from Connecticut where I went to school to New York City three times a week, getting up at 4.30. From Connecticut? Yeah, waking up at like 4.30 in the morning, going to the city, doing a 12-hour internship shift, coming back, going to school two days a week, working. I didn't have a life outside of that. I was working, school, and hustling because I knew that the next step was not going to be partying and hanging out in someone's dorm. It was like I'm ready for the next step. I was ready to be done with college.

17:40Marc Lupo:I was ready for my career. I was excited because I knew that I was following the right path for myself. And that was the time to really like put the work in to figure out, all right, what is my next step? Because getting a job is hard. Like when college ends, they kind of leave you for dead. Yeah. What do you do next? They don't teach you after. No, they don't. And so that was really, that's where, you know, you rely on your contacts. You look at your network you've built. Who have you talked to? Who have you connected with? And that's a big piece of it too. It's like building those relationships and leaning on them and not just in a one-way side of, you know, not being one-sided.

18:14Marc Lupo:It's a really, it's a give and take and helping each other when things go wrong because sometimes you might find yourself in a situation where you lose a job or you need help and you have that network to, you know, lean on and help you. So what's your ultimate, like if you can choose your dream, I mean, I'm sure you have your dream job right now, but like if you're like me, which I feel like we have a very similar personality, you always want more. Right. Who doesn't want more? Of course. So if you could have like any position, what would it be? I mean, I've been lucky to do the things that I've set out for myself, which is working in television and also working as a journalist and doing interviews.

18:46Marc Lupo:And I hope to do that just in the future. I hope that I can work for a streaming platform, like a news organization where I can do more of this. I love podcasting. I think it's an awesome medium and I'm excited to see where it goes next. We're talking about putting the podcast in a video format as well. So I think that would be, you know, people want to hear the chatter, but I think the visual medium is really exciting, too, to have that on YouTube. It's become one of the most popular places to watch content. It's blowing up. So maybe have my own YouTube show or something down the line. Would you keep the same name or would you like, what would you do with it?

19:23Marc Lupo:I'm not sure. You know, I go, all my handles are Mark Andrew Lupo. That's my full name. So we'll see. I'm not sure. I love it. But you're still actively doing the podcast. Yeah. So I appear once a week on Thursday mornings on the I Heart podcast. And the show is continuing. You know, the one thing I do like about podcasting, and correct me if I'm wrong, is that it's raw. It's not syndicated TV. It's like uncut. At least that's the vibe, right? That's what it's supposed to be. That's the vibe. And I think you know from doing this podcast, you don't just show up. There is work that goes into it before, right?

20:00Marc Lupo:So when we do about eight stories each show, I go before the show. I read about each story. I read about the people that are involved. And then I think about my opinions. I don't just show up and say whatever. Because if you say something that's kind of crazy, you could be canceled. In this culture and in this way, you have to be really thoughtful about what you're saying. Be smart about it because the internet is forever. Yes. Be mindful about what you post, about what you share, about what you say. And be thoughtful about it. People have feelings. Yeah, I agree. but I do I would say I don't know maybe I'll get canceled for saying this but I think people today I mean we're the same age don't you remember when we were younger like there's people are maybe a little too sensitive right now like it kind of takes the fun out of like like you know what you were saying if you can't make fun of yourself then like what are we doing but now you have to be like very very PC about everything I think you should definitely be respectful 100 % but come on man like you can have fun a little bit you can have fun and that's what I miss like like a Joan Rivers like she would just say hilarious so funny off the wall off the wall the fashion police like those years where she would just kind of say silly things about a celebrity's outfit and it's like who cares you are rich and you're famous you probably got the outfit for free she's making a joke it's not meant to be like mean-spirited and those kind of that kind of comedy I do miss and I don't think that would work in today's no way you'll be can Can you imagine?

21:22Marc Lupo:It's gotten so boring. Everyone's so just upset and in hurt. And I do wish we can get back to a place where we can have a little bit more fun and laugh at ourselves too. If you can't laugh at yourself, like I'm okay with people making fun of me. Like I love going to comedy shows and then they make fun of me. I love it. I think it's hilarious when they say all kinds of stuff. They'll be like, oh, I had this comic comic. Oh my God, I'll never forget. I have this ginormous comic. He's such a good friend of mine, Miguel Colon. He's hilarious. He came in in my sales meeting. And here I am. I'm like running the sales meeting.

21:53I'm like, they called me the HBIC. He comes in and he's like, where are the feds at? I'm like, what? He's like, we got the madam up in this bitch, handing out money. He's like, and our husband's in the back watching. We were dying. Like everyone at first was like, but I was, it was so fucking funny that it was like, this is, it's funny. Like the world is so serious. You got to let loose just a little bit.

22:15Marc Lupo:A little bit. And that's what I like about you is that you do that on this podcast. You have fun. It's so much fun. It's not boring. because I think you can really bore people with info about business and you make it fun. That's the whole point of this. You can have fun and make money and enjoy your life and career. Yeah, I think your career is super fun. I think what you're doing is hysterical. Don't you laugh every day you go to work? I mean, there's been a lot of crazy things that have unfolded in front of me. Can you tell me one? I mean, I can't say names, but I'll say there's been a few moments where I've had a musical act, like a main singer start hysterically crying before we go live on TV and she's, they got into a fight or someone fell down or like, you know, drama that's happens.