Ricki Lake on the Kelly Kopp Show! -With Ricki Lake

11:32Kelly Kopp:You know? It made me smile. It makes me feel really good that people, and particularly a lot of people know my story and been following the fact that we lost our home. And so moving back here, I feel very much embraced by this town. and it's been such a smooth, I mean, I can't even say it because at the time it was so, so scary. I mean, what we went through, losing everything, literally being homeless, literally not knowing where we're gonna go. And I very impulsively said, let's go to New York. And my husband, to his credit, Ross, my new third and final and favorite husband. Final and favorite.

12:14Kelly Kopp:And he's 6 '6".

12:15Ricki Lake:I saw him in one of your reels.

12:16Kelly Kopp:He's 6 '6", yeah. He's a giant. He's an ex-Mormon. He grew up in San Diego. He's an attorney. He had never spent more than one week in New York City at a time.

12:24Ricki Lake:Really?

12:24Kelly Kopp:Like, not one week. Like, just barely.

12:28Ricki Lake:So you moved out there, and that's where you met him.

12:30Kelly Kopp:I met him in L.A. Yeah, I met him in L.A. during COVID. But I said to him, hey, like, I had a hit that I don't think we want to be in L.A. and wait for our house to be rebuilt. Something about that. First of all, I didn't believe what they were saying about the air quality at that time. Like I really.

12:46Ricki Lake:What were they saying?

12:47Kelly Kopp:Well, they just, they were saying it was safe. In LA. I'm talking about LA. They're saying, you know, oh, it's safe, but they weren't doing all the proper testing. And so whatever. I just, I just got a hit that I was like, I don't think that's going to feel good. And I was going to be, I was about to lock into a, like a one year lease on a house in a different part of town. And I just was like, I don't, I don't, I don't like this idea. And I just, what do you, what do you, what do you think about going? And I have to say, my friends gifted me their apartment for the month of February right after the fire.

13:15Kelly Kopp:And like they said, go stay there. We're not there. The month of February, it's all yours. And it was in West Chelsea. It was in the area. And I fell in love with that neighborhood again because when I left. I completely agree. When I left in 2003, there was no High Line. There was no Little Island. There was no West Side Highway built up. It was such a different. It was kind of a nice day shithole. It was kind of now with the art galleries. I mean, it's just such an amazing part of town. So it was when I was there during the month of February of 2025, reeling, like literally licking my wounds and trying to figure out where we're going to go.

13:52My friend who's a realtor showed me around at places and I just found this apartment.

13:57Kelly Kopp:I bought it. I bought it with the insurance money. Where you live now? Where we live now. Yeah, I bought this incredible piece.

14:01Ricki Lake:I mean, I don't know where you live, but I saw your videos. You know, I've seen your page, you know. I don't want to like every poster and be like, Kelly's crazy, you know.

14:08Kelly Kopp:Oh, no, no, no. And I share because I want, like, if I can, like, if I can share with people, like, how, like, I am really resilient. I, like, bounce back really fast. And I land on my feet. And, you know, I have this great partner who was willing to just take a leap of faith. And, yeah, we landed in a big way. Like, New York, I mean, I feel like it's such a great time to be a New Yorker. Yeah. It's, I mean, I know times are tough. Like I know so many people are going through so much hardship right now and I recognize that. And I also like appreciate how like how blessed I am and how like I had insurance.

14:46Kelly Kopp:You know, I had really like appropriate insurance that I, you know, got the money right away and was able to lock in this apartment and settle again.

14:56Ricki Lake:Can you tell us the story of what happened in Malibu like to your home? For us, yeah. Like what were you doing? What happened? Tell me the. So I was home that day.

15:04Kelly Kopp:I was still doing my podcast. I did two seasons of a podcast and I literally did the very last, and it was planned, the last interview that I did was the day before the fire in my podcast studio in my house. So I was there the next morning.

15:20Ricki Lake:And you were living there how long at this time?

15:21Kelly Kopp:We were living there almost four years, but I owned the land since 2013. The house, can I curse on this thing? Yeah, I can. The house was the shit. and anyone who looks at it on my Instagram, it was even better in person. It was a vibe. It was a hub for so many people that I care about. We had so many parties and sound baths and healings and gatherings and just my husband and I getting stoned every night, looking at our sunset, drinking a gin and tonic. It was the place that I'd built from everything I'd earned and it took seven and a half years to build and it was like the pinnacle of where we get to end up for the rest of our lives.

16:03Kelly Kopp:We had two rocking chairs that sat on the edge of our property overlooking this very special Surfrider's Beach view. And your dogs. And my dog, my dog, Dolly. And it was just such a magical spot. And yeah, so on that day, on January 7th, I saw the smoke from my deck. I saw, and it was 12 miles from our house. to Mescal Canyon, which is where the fire started, literally is 12 miles. Not only is it 12 miles away, it is 12 miles in the most densely populated, highly affluent, like neighborhood. Like you can't imagine like the level of homes and businesses and the idea still to this day, to say it out loud, that that fire traveled to our house within 24 hours and burned it down.

16:51Kelly Kopp:It was by 6.45 a.m., our house was on fire. And it almost burned to the ground at that point. Was it terrifying? It was totally terrifying.

17:00Ricki Lake:So were you scared of getting trapped within the fires? So here's the thing.

17:03Kelly Kopp:So we had like a fire defense system in place. So we had gotten this equipment that was basically like powered by a lawnmower motor. And you use this thing and you put the thing in your pool and you spread out the fire hoses that are actual firefighters' hoses. And basically you fight the fire. Like you get, because usually when they have these fires, now I'm new-ish to Malibu in that I didn't, I hadn't been through evacuations other than the one right before it, three weeks prior. But I, you know, I felt very comfortable using the system. We'd been trained by these firefighters. You know, we knew what to do.

17:42Kelly Kopp:They say when the fire, when the wildfire comes through, it kind of takes a half.

17:45Ricki Lake:Is it like required to get trained?

17:47Kelly Kopp:No, no, no, no, no. It's not. It's good you were then. You have to have a pool in order to have this system. And I'd done my research on it. and we felt very comfortable. And so they would explain that like when a fire comes through, it basically takes like about a half hour for it to go past your house. And then you come out and you stay in your house and then you put it out with the embers. I mean, it sounds crazy. It sounds actually ridiculous that I'm saying this. But in the case of this fire, this was like unlike any fire they had ever seen. The winds were out of control. It was like tornado-like winds.

18:17Kelly Kopp:And it just took on this beast of a situation. And we would have died. I mean, there were people at the bottom of our hill, the canyon over that died staying to fight the fire. So we know that we did the right thing in leaving, but we didn't leave for a really long time. And we didn't pack because we weren't leaving. So we didn't do any preparation. So it was really, that's kind of what I kicked myself over is that I didn't get the things, the completely priceless things. You know, my photo albums, my memorabilia, you know, my artwork, my, you know, my kids, my grandparents' photo albums. My, you know, like the list goes on and on and on of the things I could have put in the back of my car if I had planned.

19:02Kelly Kopp:But we were hoping to stay. And so we left at eight o 'clock at night. We were there all day. At one point, we went to my neighbor's because we thought we needed more gas for this motor to use because we were hosing down, you know, our property and our garden and our, you know, the roof and everything and we my husband was siphoning trying to siphon gas from like a truck like he was i have video of him sucking trying to suck gas out he wasn't successful doing that but it was um it was it was it was like armageddon you know um gosh but we survived and and our you know our neighbors on either side of us survived we are in the position to be able to rebuild which a lot of people in the situation are not.

19:46Kelly Kopp:And it's so sad. It is so tragic. A lot of people were underinsured or didn't have insurance. They were dropped from their insurance. I know story after story.

19:56Ricki Lake:I've heard that too.

19:57Kelly Kopp:It's like, it breaks my heart. And I have to say Malibu is, I mean, I love New York. So it's like, it's a both ends. I equally cherish New York City and the city of Malibu.

20:10Ricki Lake:Did I see a story where someone bought a package to you or something?

20:16Kelly Kopp:Oh, the photos. Yes. Can you tell us about that? Oh, yeah. Hang on one second.

20:19Ricki Lake:Yeah. Take your time.

20:22Kelly Kopp:Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Like, my life is a movie. My life, my entire life feels like it is this never, like, never knowing what's going to come around the corner for me. And, yeah, so a woman reached out. This must have been, like, three or four months ago. We were settled in New York and we've kind of made peace with the fact that I've lost all of my photo albums. Because my children were born before iPhones and the iCloud. So I don't have any of those pictures anymore. It's like, what are you going to do? You've got to just shake it off and move on. And this woman out of the blue on social media reached out and said, hey, does anybody know how to get in touch with Ricky Lake?

21:00Kelly Kopp:I found some photos at a flea market and I believe they're hers. and of course, you know, social media, you can find people in five seconds and I'm very present on my socials. I could not believe what she was showing me. She had a box, a giant shoe box full. I think boxes actually, but like the ones that were pertinent to me were like filled one shoe box. They were apparently a family member of my ex-husband, the father of my children. She must've dumped them. I don't know, you know, how they ended up at the Pasadena flea market, But this woman, Patty Scanlon, my new friend, she likes to paint from photographs.

21:40Kelly Kopp:And so for some reason, she went through and found this box, saw pictures of me, wanted to paint me. She said, I have a face that she likes to paint. I don't know what that means. And then she recognized that it was me and she got them back to me. And it was like, this felt like a miracle. It just felt, I mean, I was so deeply moved by the magic, the magic. Yeah, these treasures of yours. It was so unbelievable. Yeah, and it's like priceless that it came back into my lap. And these weren't my actual pictures, so people were confused. They thought she went and looted at my house. Someone looted these pictures.

22:13Kelly Kopp:No, everything at my house was destroyed. Not one thing survived in my house. But these pictures were belonging to someone else that had dumped them.

22:21Ricki Lake:I saw a video, too. Like, you've seen your dog still the first time or something back in Malibu. Like, I had to fire or something.

22:29Kelly Kopp:No, I think it was my dog seeing my property for the first time. Oh, your dog seeing your property, yeah. Yeah, there was video of her just like kind of not knowing what to like wear. I recognize this place. I smell, you know, it smells familiar, but it looks different. Yeah, it's all been. And then look, I'm wearing this thing. This necklace, this is ashes from my house. I was going to ask you that. Yes, tell people the story. This, okay, so this is a company, a beautiful company. I just called it today. Really? Yeah. Oh, Eternava. It's called Eternava. They are the loveliest people. And I found them through my friend Amanda Kloots, who lost her husband during COVID.

23:06Kelly Kopp:I don't remember him. Nick Cordero, just the most tragic story, losing her.

23:11Ricki Lake:He was like in Broadway and stuff too.

23:13Kelly Kopp:Incredible Broadway star, 40 years old.

23:15Ricki Lake:It was heartbreaking.

23:16Kelly Kopp:To come to COVID and her story. We have become very, very good friends and I adore her. But she connected me to Eternava and they offered to do this for me. And my friend John Bonney, who's my dear friend who kind of looks after my property and helps me in every way with my house and with the rebuild. He went and got the samples because I was out of town. I didn't go back to my house for weeks after the fire. I just, I was up in Ohio and he went and got samples of different ashes in different areas of my house. So my bedroom, the area where my second husband was buried, or his ashes were spread, got some of those, my dog's ashes.

23:53Kelly Kopp:Like he just got a bunch of the ashes and gave it to them and it's like a year-long process. I'm going to butcher the way it's done. I don't remember. It's like in carbon, it's this high heat that basically turns ashes into a diamond. And so in my case, I wanted it to be green. They made it green. They made it an asher cut. It's super tiny, but it is so special to me. And the back has a phoenix on it and the date of the fire. And I wear it. I don't take it off. I love it. It's a reminder of just how much beauty can come from devastation. And, yeah.

24:31Ricki Lake:I saw the video that you did and it's beautiful. I was like, wow, this is really

24:37Kelly Kopp:I mean, honestly, I'm so blessed. Like, as much as I've been through a lot of trauma and loss in my life, I feel like always there's a gift that comes from around the corner. You know, whether it's a lesson or, you know. Yeah, I mean, it's the way I choose to see it.

24:55Ricki Lake:You know, that's interesting. You know, just for a split second, you know, the reason I moved to New York is because a good friend of mine passed away, Sandy. And I had some, you know, bad times in Orlando, just financially, blah, blah, blah. But had I not gone through these terrible times, I would have been in New York City, you know, happier than ever. Oh, I feel the same way.

25:14Kelly Kopp:And my friend Sandy is happy right now for me. Oh, yes. He says, Sandy did you a solid. May he or she rest in peace.

25:21Ricki Lake:She is.

25:22Kelly Kopp:She's amazing. No, my husband and I, we pinch each other. We pinch each other. We pinch ourselves all the time. We do that too. But we really do. We would never be on this crazy adventure here in New York. We are seeing all the shows. I mean, I am having the time of my life seeing almost everything.

25:46Ricki Lake:I was just watching one of your videos too about all the Broadway shows. somebody was saying this, this or this play, but what?

25:55Kelly Kopp:Oh, I was voting on which, which they were asking me, which I like better. Yeah.

25:59Ricki Lake:Yeah. I mean,

25:59Kelly Kopp:I just saw a great show yesterday. Joe Turner's coming gone. Oh my God. You saw it,

26:04Ricki Lake:Jay?

26:04Kelly Kopp:Oh my God. You saw it? I didn't see it. I haven't seen it. You have to go see it.

26:08Ricki Lake:You have to go see it. Well, Death Becomes Her, you were going. Oh my God.

26:10Kelly Kopp:I've seen it three times and I'm trying to go for the fourth time. I want to see it. It's closing. It's closing on the 20, June, we got to go. June 20-something, I'm trying to go to the last performance because I'm obsessed with that show. I'm obsessed with Jennifer Samard. It's brilliant. I can't believe. I think they're closing and they're going to go on tour. I think it's going to have a life. I'm so sad it's leaving Broadway, but it's going to have a life. It's a great show.

26:38Ricki Lake:There's one show I just saw and I loved it and I'm sad that it was very short-lived, which was Beaches.

26:44Kelly Kopp:Oh, I didn't get to see it. I did see it.

26:45Ricki Lake:I really enjoyed it.

26:46Kelly Kopp:I like that actress, Jessica Vla. Yeah, she was really good. Yeah, I didn't get to see it.

26:52Ricki Lake:Yes. But Hairspray. The musical? That was the running for you saying which one you said, oh, Hairspray. Oh, Hairspray is always going to be. Hairspray is an amazing musical. Let's talk about how you got into Hairspray. Okay. Real quick, what I was mentioning to Jay earlier today is what I absolutely love about you in so many ways, you know, that you're amazing, is that you are kind of yourself, you're self-made. You know what I mean? You're this girl from the Bronx, New York City, whatever, Hastings on the Hudson. And you made it. You really made it.

27:33Kelly Kopp:And I don't have a famous uncle. I don't have anybody in the business. I don't come from any money. I grew up middle class.

27:40Ricki Lake:It just proves you have real talent. You know, it's not because you're a parent or someone made it.

27:47Kelly Kopp:I wasn't a Nepo baby.

27:48Ricki Lake:That's what I was going to say. So I'm glad you said that. And my kids, my kids aren't Nepo babies.

27:53Kelly Kopp:They are, you know, my kids are not in the business at all. One's a school teacher and an artist. But you did this all yourself.

28:01Ricki Lake:You built your entire empire, so to speak, by yourself. So you're in college, you know, just in here in New York. I was a freshman.

28:09Kelly Kopp:No, not in New York State. I was at the college. I was a musical theater major. a very bad musical theater student. And I wasn't happy. It was 1986, 87. So it was 1987. It was the end of my final, my first year. It was finals week. And I got wind that they were looking for a fat girl who could dance for a new John Waters movie. I didn't know who John Waters was. I just heard movie and I heard fat girl. And then I could definitely move for a big girl.

28:40Ricki Lake:Well, Jay doesn't know this. You know, she's amazing and she looks great, but she was a little bit bigger when she was younger.

28:46Kelly Kopp:A little bit. I was a circle. I was as big as a house. But I had to be. I'm so glad that I was. I was 200 pounds. So I was large Marge. And John Waters, I met him at the audition. I drove down. It was five hours from Ithaca to meet with John. Wow. And he picked me. And he changed my entire, he opened up my entire world. I had never been around openly gay people until I was on the set of Hairspray. I was a freshman at school. I was in love with this guy.

29:18Ricki Lake:I guess it was a different time, but go ahead.

29:19Kelly Kopp:I was in love with Scott Dexter, and he wasn't out yet. He was gay, but I was fat, and I thought, oh, he doesn't like me because I'm a big girl. Turns out he was gay but hadn't come out yet. So I had just never been exposed to all different types of people. So I feel like living in Baltimore that summer, I moved to Baltimore in May of 87. and my whole world unfolded, working with Dunvine, working with Debbie Harry, and Sonny Bono. And I mean, the list goes on and on. And all these kids, we were all young and it was the summer of a lifetime. And it was a movie that -

29:52Ricki Lake:What year again? I'm sorry. 1987. It came out in 88. Yeah.

29:56Kelly Kopp:And -

29:56Ricki Lake:I've watched it a few times. It still holds up.

30:00Kelly Kopp:It's still so relevant. Like the, you know, just obviously with race relations and just like where we are as a society. I mean, it's still, the messaging is so, still so important. And the fact that it's lived on in all these different iterations. And she's like the consummate role model for young people and underdogs everywhere. And it's amazing.

30:19Ricki Lake:What was her name? The rhymey timey name you had? Tracy Turnblatt. Tracy Turnblatt. Yeah. Tracy Turnblatt. I was going to say Tracy Turnblatt. I was planning on saying that when I first saw you today. But, you know, 57, I forgot. Yeah.

30:32Kelly Kopp:That tracks. We forget everything.

30:34Ricki Lake:Do people ever bring that up to you?

30:35Kelly Kopp:Oh, they mentioned Tracy? Yeah, they know the name of the character. but mostly they know my name from the talk show. Like in public, if I see you,

30:41Ricki Lake:does anybody ever bring it up?

30:43Kelly Kopp:Yeah, they bring up all different parts of my career. And it's so fun that I've been around for almost 40 years. Hairspray is going to be 40 years old in 2028. And in fact, John Waters, the Hairspray is coming out on Criterion, the Criterion Collection. Have you heard of Criterion? That's where they break, have you heard of? Yeah, you have, right? It's a big deal, it's a huge honor. And so at the end of the month, we're doing a screening of Hairspray at the IFC, which is where I first saw Hairspray before it came out. They did a screening for us there at that same theater. It was called the, not the Village Vanguard.

31:22Kelly Kopp:It was called something else back then. I can't. Oh, gosh. This is my brain. Shit. Anyway, we're going to be there. Everybody's donating to this, though. I think it's on the 26th. We know what you mean. And then we're doing something at Barnes & Noble for the release of the Criterion Collection.

31:36Ricki Lake:How cool to work with John Waters and Divine, you know, I mean. He's the coolest. They're just. He's the coolest. Divine was the greatest. Yeah.

31:42Kelly Kopp:Honestly, it was just.

31:45Ricki Lake:Did you keep in contact with.

31:47Kelly Kopp:Well, Divine died eight days after the movie opened. Oh my God.

31:49Ricki Lake:Of a heart attack, right?

31:50Kelly Kopp:He died of heart failure and his sleep.

31:52Ricki Lake:Yeah.

31:53Kelly Kopp:And so that was like, you know, the most tragic thing that could happen. It was like his first real huge hit. And the fact that he couldn't live to really enjoy it and reap the benefits of it was totally devastating.

32:06Ricki Lake:How about John Waters?

32:07Kelly Kopp:John Waters is great. He just turned 80. We just celebrated his 80th birthday.

32:11Ricki Lake:I mean, did you, was this, was a family created from that? Absolutely. I'm sure.

32:15Kelly Kopp:Yeah, he calls it the Dreamland family. They're all the same crew. So I did, I did many movies with him. Cry Baby. The main ones. Cry Baby. I did Serial Mom. I actually love Cry Baby.

32:25Ricki Lake:I thought it was really good.

32:25Kelly Kopp:It's great. It's great. I love it. I mean, people love that one. Yeah, it's, it's, it's, it was so much fun to work on. You know, and we did mostly night shoots on that film and it was four months. of living in a hotel with all the cast. I was going to ask you,

32:39Ricki Lake:I mean, were you a dancer before Hairspray?

32:43Kelly Kopp:No, no, I wasn't. Because that's a lot of dancing. No, but it was like dancing, like, you know, still. Shtick dancing. It was like doing the mash potato. So was it kind of like ad-libbing dancing? I mean, no, I mean, there was definitely like a technique to it, but it wasn't like ballroom dancing when I did Dancing with the Stars. You know, it's like a totally different thing. Yeah, so I was definitely not a trained dancer, but I was someone that could move well considering the size.

33:07Ricki Lake:I mean, the show was a lot of dancing. It was a ton of dancing. And I kept losing weight through the filming of the movie.

33:14Kelly Kopp:They didn't want you to? No, because it would change the, it would mess up the continuity. Right.

33:17Ricki Lake:And how long did it take to film?

33:20Kelly Kopp:Hairspray took eight weeks to film. Oh, that's quick, right? It was, well, it was a relatively low budget.

33:26Ricki Lake:It was like$2 million.

33:27Kelly Kopp:It was more money than he'd ever had for the movie, but it was like, I think it was$2.7 million to make Hairspray. Ah. Yeah.

33:33Ricki Lake:Wow.

33:34Kelly Kopp:Yeah.

33:34Ricki Lake:Yeah. That takes me back, you know, to the mid 80s, too. And remembering John Waters and Divine.

33:40Kelly Kopp:Yeah. John is still very, he is busier than ever. He tours 50 cities a year. He has this incredible visual art career. He's a writer. I mean, he's just, he is such an international treasure. And he's so unique. I mean, I was at his birthday party and the people that all sort of gravitate to him and have been like loyal, like just witnesses to his genius. He's just, he's incredible.

34:09Ricki Lake:So now dancing we're talking about, then you go to Dancing with the Stars.

34:12Kelly Kopp:Many years, decades later. Yeah. And that was - I did that 14 years ago. And I had said no. They had asked me like every season and I was like, no, no, no. It sounded like too much work. I wouldn't be good at it, blah, blah, blah. And then I was going back to do a second talk show and it was during that time that I thought, you know what? it actually would be really good to be back out there in the public eye, in the mainstream, and maybe it'll help the talk show. So I did it for that reason. And I had really one of the most incredible transformative experiences working with Derek Hough, the best partner.

34:49Kelly Kopp:And I became a ballroom dancer and my body transformed and I got so strong and fit. It was incredible.

34:56Ricki Lake:Did the tango perfectly?

34:57Kelly Kopp:I did do the tango perfectly. I got the first tens of the season. It was amazing. And my cast that season was really, really good. Like Chaz Bono, okay? The first trans person to be on the show. Hope Solo was that famous soccer goalie. David Arquette, Carson Kressley, Kristen Cavallari, Chyna Phillips, who else? Rob Kardashian. Oh, that's right. He was. It was quite the bunch. And I got third place and I got the highest scores of the season. Third place is really good though. I had to be third place because the first place winner was a war hero burn victim. And he was a great dancer too. Legitimately, like hands down, he should have won.

35:47Kelly Kopp:I'm glad he won. And Rob Kardashian got second because he had all that following on social media at the time. Anyway, it was an amazing experience. No, no, no. I'm so happy with the journey. And it's such a special experience. You really do become a family doing that show. And I learned so much. And I was pushed to the limit. And it turns out I like being pushed.

36:11Ricki Lake:Yeah. I think, I don't know, you were great on the show. Thank you. I loved it. I really did. I loved Dancing with the Stars.

36:17Kelly Kopp:It's a great show. I think it's the best. You know, I'm a reality freak. I watch everything. Survivor the 50th season was so great I think hands down Dancing with the Stars those live shows are so incredible the way they produce them

36:32Ricki Lake:I used to watch all the time unfortunately I don't watch that much TV anymore because of the way the world is with my social media and stuff you're too busy to watch TV? yeah I don't watch that much TV now you know I just because I'm always trying to create or make the podcast or you know do videos for an event or something

36:52Kelly Kopp:That's why you have to be a lady of leisure like me. That's what I call myself right now. Even though I do, I work. I just made a movie. I just acted again. But I do consider myself a lady of leisure.

37:05Ricki Lake:Good for you. Well, you deserve it. Thank you. Too. I mean, you have worked hard. I worked hard. I worked hard. You have worked really hard to get where you are.

37:11Kelly Kopp:And I really, like, I feel like I've cracked the code for my own happiness. And even though the world, like, don't get me started. Like, there is, the world is falling apart. And it feels like, you know, the end is near in a lot of ways. And I really focus on my joy and appreciating life, living in gratitude, waking up every day as like another opportunity. Like what is going to happen? What is going to unfold for me today? And it's the way I choose to live.

37:42Ricki Lake:Well, tonight's Manhattan Henge. You ever watch Manhattan Henge? What's that?

37:46Kelly Kopp:You don't know what Manhattan Henge is? No, what's that? Wow. I'm going to watch the game. I'm watching OKC and the Spurs tonight. Because we wanted to go game seven so that they are tired for our New York Knicks.

37:58Ricki Lake:That's smart. That's right. Go Knicks. Yeah, go Knicks.

38:01Kelly Kopp:Even though I feel like a fraud because I'm a Clippers fan. I'm a long time. I was a season ticket holder for many years, the Clippers. But now that I'm back in New York and it is so exciting to root for these Knicks. it's the best I love the vibe the energy it is helpable in this town right now I love to feel how it feels oh it's incredible

38:24Ricki Lake:I'm basically going crazy

38:25Kelly Kopp:yes it's great you know

38:28Ricki Lake:a moment ago you mentioned your second talk show do you mean the Ricky Lake show a second time or

38:33Kelly Kopp:it was I mean the concept was supposed to be different so I you know I finished my show my first show in 2004 it stopped running in 2004 and then you know I started making documentaries. So that has been what I consider to be my life's work, particularly the film I made about birth called The Business of Being Born. Can you tell us about that? Yeah, that's a film I – I mean, of all the things I've done, and I've done a really – like I've had such a beautiful array of different things I've done in my career. But that has been the most personal. It was all of my own money. I had to finance the whole thing.

39:13Kelly Kopp:It took four years of my life. My home birth, water birth is in the film. The issue of not necessarily home birth, but like choices in childbirth was a subject matter that was very near and dear to my heart. And the fact that it's been so impactful. It's been almost 20 years since it came out. And it's still kind of the seminal film that people watch when they're having a baby. And I'm super proud of it. So, you know, my career took a turn where I focused on this documentary film work for many, many years. And then I went back. I had this opportunity to go back and do a talk show again. And at the time, after putting out The Business of Being Born and feeling like I had a voice, you know, and had more to say, I went back thinking we were going to do something more along the lines of a Phil Donahue type of show.

40:02Kelly Kopp:like elevated content, you know, provocative conversation that was like, you know, getting subject matters like covered. And I don't know. I had a real vision and that wasn't what panned out with the show. And it was ultimately really disappointing. But, you know, I won the Emmy for my work on that show. And it was...

40:24Ricki Lake:You got the Emmy for Ricky. Was it for the documentary or Ricky?

40:27Kelly Kopp:I got it for the talk show. Yeah.

40:29Ricki Lake:That's very nice.

40:30Kelly Kopp:Get burned in the fire. I lost my Emmy in the fire. What happened? It burned my Emmy, my award. Oh, did it really? Yeah, along with everything else. Oh my gosh. And I had written them wanting to get another one, but I never heard back. So yeah, I don't, whatever. I don't need it. As long as it's on my Wikipedia, I don't care.

40:49Ricki Lake:So, and the other, another documentary I know about is Weed the, what's it called? Weed the People. Weed the People. Yeah, it's about cannabis.

40:56Kelly Kopp:And it focuses children with cancer, with pediatric cancer. and you know these specific we follow like six children and put them on cannabis oil while they're on western medicine as well and it's it's it's fascinating and it really does take the stigma away it's not about getting high it's about right the medicinal elements of this plant and and how it's been completely just uh um what's the word uh just just um stigmatized i I mean, it really is such a healing modality for so many. And the fact that it's a Schedule I drug, it's not federally legal, it's crazy. So that was a film that took six years.

41:37Kelly Kopp:We made another film. And my partner is Abby Epstein, my director who partners with me on all these projects. And then we did one on birth control, which actually never sold. It's another super important film about just choice when it comes to what we're putting in our bodies, hormonal birth control, and some of the side effects that people should know about. And so that's really another film where we pull back the veil on a subject matter that's super important to so many women. We couldn't sell it because big pharma is sort of tied to everything. But yeah, so I made a bunch of films. We did a follow-up series to The Business of Being Born, and yeah, there's a lot of them.

42:16Ricki Lake:Wow. You've done some really amazing work. I think it's fascinating. Thank you. You know, I want to tell you something, too, that's kind of interesting about the Ricky

42:26Kelly Kopp:Lake show, which is kind of funny.

42:31Ricki Lake:I was actually on it. No, you weren't. Yeah.

42:33Kelly Kopp:No, you weren't. My first show?

42:35Ricki Lake:No, no, no, no. My second show? Just a long time ago, yeah.

42:38Kelly Kopp:Wait, no, no. My first, the first Ricky Lake show here in New York. What year? I won't remember because I did so many of them. Yeah, I know you won't remember.

42:46Ricki Lake:You were a guest on the show? Just a brief, just a brief, brief.

42:50Kelly Kopp:Okay.

42:50Ricki Lake:I mean, were you living in Orlando at the time we flew you in? Yes.

42:56Kelly Kopp:Were you on to confront your cheating baby daddy? Nothing like that.

43:00Ricki Lake:Nothing like that. Sure? It was, yeah, I thought you were saying that. It was nothing topical. It was nothing like crazy. Was it fun? Did you have a good time? I had a really good time. Did you meet me? I did. It was only for a brief second, though. My segment was my twin brothers, me and my twin brother.

43:17Kelly Kopp:Okay. Yeah. Did you take your shirt off and we had like a contest of like, who's the hottest twin? No. Well, I would have won. No.

43:25Ricki Lake:It was a New Year's Eve dating games.

43:27Kelly Kopp:Okay.

43:28Ricki Lake:And there was a bunch of people. So it wasn't topical. It was just fun. And I think I was on it because my friend Steve Drew, Stephen Drew, he worked for some talk shows. He was a producer and stuff.

43:41Kelly Kopp:Okay.

43:41Ricki Lake:And I think he mentioned that I have some friends, you know, twins, you know, whatever. And so I think somehow through the grapevine. Wow. That's how we got on.

43:48Kelly Kopp:And we flew you in and we put you in. What year was this?

43:51Ricki Lake:This was, I'm guessing, what was this? When did the show start? 93 to 04. It was in the 90s.

44:01Kelly Kopp:So was I pregnant? No. Had I had a baby?

44:05Ricki Lake:I don't think you had your baby yet.

44:07Kelly Kopp:Okay, so it was pre-97.

44:09Ricki Lake:Yeah, so it was just New Year's Eve. Was I fat?

44:11Kelly Kopp:Was I skinny? Did I have short hair, long hair?

44:14Ricki Lake:Gosh, that's such a good question. It was, I think your hair was shorter. I think you had lost some weight. Okay. So it was post Mrs.

44:24Kelly Kopp:Winterbourne. I'm going to guess it's 95, 96. Yeah, probably.

44:27Ricki Lake:Yeah. And so, you know, I got the phone call and they're like, this is so-and-so from the Ricky Lake show. And I knew instantly like it was true, you know, because it's my man, whatever. And I'm like, they're like, would you and your twin brother like to be on the show? And I said, okay. You know, I'm like, cool. But what I do remember too is how sweet you were. So it was dating games and there was a playgirl model on there. There was a couple other really pretty girls. And then the twist was me and my twin brother picking whatever.

44:57Kelly Kopp:Okay. We sent you on a date or something, right? No?

45:01Ricki Lake:You know what? That's a good question. I don't think. No, we just met and did dating games. Okay. Fun. And it was really fun. and I remember you just being very personable and you treated everybody really, really kind and really, really nice. I love hearing that.

45:24Kelly Kopp:Yay. I like to think that I still do that.

45:27Ricki Lake:Yeah, you were really, yeah, you were just, I left the show being like, wow, she's really sweet. And we went to the Harley Davidson Cafe afterwards

45:37Kelly Kopp:for dinner. Okay.

45:39Ricki Lake:And I think you went with us.

45:40Kelly Kopp:I feel like I have a recollection of going there and taking a picture on a motorcycle. Yeah. A motorcycle there. I can't believe I'm pulling this out of my ass. But yes, I actually have a memory of that.

45:53Ricki Lake:Yeah, I think because it was a big table of all of us.

45:56Kelly Kopp:It was in like Times Square. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wow.

45:58Ricki Lake:Yeah, so you went to dinner with us too. That's amazing. And you were just cool and fun.

46:02Kelly Kopp:I can't believe you buried the lead that we have this history together and you didn't start with that.

46:09Ricki Lake:nice to see you again yeah well i just remember you're really nice even like on the show you're like good one kelly because i said something really sarcastic oh really yeah you know and

46:18Kelly Kopp:it was it was just so fun yeah you're just like good one kelly that was fun you know wow that's that that's hilarious that's the show oh my god yeah that funny yes yeah and so

46:31Ricki Lake:you know i've talked you know i've had some celebrities you know we've had some celebrities on the show.

46:37Kelly Kopp:You had Mom Donnie here. Yeah.

46:38Ricki Lake:Oh, not yet. Not Mom Donnie here. One day.

46:41Kelly Kopp:Oh, you haven't had him here.

46:42Ricki Lake:Well, I've talked to him in person and done interviews around and selected spots in the city. Got it. But yeah, that'd be cool. But you know, and Murr from Practical Jokers and you and you're awesome. But you know, you've always been really cool. Thank you. You know, and

46:57Kelly Kopp:What you see is what you get.

46:59Ricki Lake:Yeah. So that's the story too.

47:01Kelly Kopp:Anyone that knew me back when I did Hairspray all those years ago, I'm pretty much the same person, you know? Yeah, yeah.

47:08Ricki Lake:You were really cool. I remember going to dinner and just, you know, you were, it was awesome. It was just casual, fun, no big deal, you know, it was cool. Yeah. So real quick though, you've been very upfront about your plastic surgery.

47:21Kelly Kopp:I have.

47:22Ricki Lake:Let's talk about that for a minute.

47:23Kelly Kopp:Okay, what do you want to know? His name is Dr. Alan Fulad.

47:26Ricki Lake:Oh, that's his name?

47:27Kelly Kopp:Yep.

47:28Ricki Lake:It's in LA. He's in LA, right?

47:29Kelly Kopp:He's in Beverly Hills. Yeah. He's amazing. and yeah, I had the best experience.

47:36Ricki Lake:Yeah, I think, you know, I mentioned this to you before the show. I remember when you, you know, showed your plastic surgery results, you know? And I just, you know, I saw it on your page or saw your, how do I word it? Just your plastic surgery on your page. And I thought that is the best plastic surgery I've ever seen. Thank you. Because, and I mentioned this to you earlier, because it just looks so natural, you know? You know, people sometimes when they get plastic surgery, you can tell. And it just looks bad. It is so natural. I don't have a scar on my face. Yeah, it's amazing.

48:11Kelly Kopp:Nothing. And I don't have any makeup on, I told you. Yeah, it doesn't. I don't wear a lot of makeup in my own day-to-day life. And I have been blessed genetically with good skin. I've always had where I don't have pores really that you can see. And so I kind of went in with like, I think being a really good candidate. And for me, I, my issue was my, my, the skin below my chin was hanging. I had lost 40 pounds without drugs on my own. It took, you know, a period of time and I had maintained this weight loss, but this was hanging and it's just, it bothered me. And while I was like going through dealing with like, you know, this, just noticing it in the mirror and just like, I don't like in pictures how I see this.

48:57Kelly Kopp:My girlfriend had a great experience with this doctor. She had done all the homework for me. She had gone to see all the doctors around the country. She had the money to go to anyone she wanted. And she chose this guy. And he's young. He's starting out. He'd only been doing it for like 10 years. And she chose him. And he hadn't had necessarily famous people at that point. And she chose him. And I saw her right after her surgery. And I thought she looked incredible. Beyond that, she was euphoric. And I said, I'll have what she's having.

49:30Ricki Lake:And I went to him and I booked the next available appointment.

49:35Kelly Kopp:And July will be two years since I had my surgery. Wow. And my healing process was amazing. My experience with him. And yeah, I had a deep, plain, lower face and neck lift. That is what I had. I didn't do my eyes. I didn't do, and I did a CO2 laser, which is like a skin, like where they basically, I guess, burn your skin. I don't know if you know what the process is, but it like takes, it really is good for your skin. I think that's interesting. And that's what I had.

50:01Ricki Lake:You said that you didn't do your eyes because that a lot of times is what makes people really tell that you had your, people had real work.

50:08Kelly Kopp:And I let him, like I went to him, had the consult and I said, what do you think I should do? And he told me and I did what he said. And so I didn't need that bleph. You know, they do those upper, lower. I didn't need that because the way my eyes are struck, you know, in his opinion. And so I wasn't going to do anything that he didn't think I needed. So good and so natural looking. And for me, it wasn't about looking younger. It's not about, you know, turning back the clock because I have gray hair. I don't, you know, I own like my age and I actually am super proud of who I am at this point in my life.

50:43Kelly Kopp:I just didn't want that appendage hanging from the bottom of my chin. And so I fixed it.

50:48Ricki Lake:Yes. You know, I mean, when I look at my pictures now as we get older, this is the part that I don't like. And that's, you know.

50:55Kelly Kopp:Well, I know a guy.

50:56Ricki Lake:Yeah. I remember seeing you, you know, when you posted it and I was like, that's it. That's exactly how I would like to have that. Yeah.

51:03Kelly Kopp:His last name, Foulad, F-O-U-L-A-D. And he's very busy. I like to think I have a little something to do with that. But he's special. I'm sure you do. He's special. He's a master. He's a master at that, at faces. and I've referred, I can't even, on hands and toes, I have referred many, many, many people that I know and then people that I know through people and all of them are super happy. Wow.

51:28Ricki Lake:Well, it looks great. You look great. Thank you. You look great.

51:31Kelly Kopp:How funny that I'm the poster child for that. Like, it's so funny to me that like people are like calling him saying they want the Ricky Lake. I mean, it's hilarious. Yes. It's so funny. That's what I want then. That's what I'll say. But thanks for stopping by Ricky. My pleasure. This was awesome. It's fun to meet you. And I appreciate your feed. And, you know, I appreciate us sharing this mutual love for this great city.

51:54Ricki Lake:Yeah, I appreciate you. And I love to feel the love that you have for the city, too. Oh, real quick, I want to ask you, you know, you take the subway, you know, I asked you earlier. I think it's important for our guests to hear how, especially for other women to hear how women feel on the subway. But just being a celebrity in general, taking the subway.

52:12Kelly Kopp:It is the safest. It is efficient. you know my kids live in Queens I can get to them didn't you just tell me too

52:18Ricki Lake:that you only take the subway too? 95 % of the time but I take a city bike

52:22Kelly Kopp:I take a city bike I take the bus there's a bus that is outside my door

52:26Ricki Lake:I love MTA buses

52:27Kelly Kopp:I take all forms of public transportation in the city and I prefer it because sitting in a car and sitting in traffic is just not my jam and I love where I live I'm like 20 minutes to get to Times Square I take the ACE exactly that's my train

52:43Ricki Lake:it's incredible

52:43Kelly Kopp:Oh, yeah, you take it to Washington Heights. Yeah. It is. No, it's amazing. And honestly, I've never felt unsafe.

52:51Ricki Lake:You know, I think it's important for you to hear that for people to hear that you said that, you know, again, especially women, too. But, you know, you're a celebrity, too, and you're more noticeable, which is really. No one even looks up.

53:01Kelly Kopp:Everyone's in their own world on the subway.

53:03Ricki Lake:That's New Yorkers. They're like, oh, there's Wicky Lake. Yeah. You know, we're not going to bother her.

53:06Kelly Kopp:It very rarely will someone notice me.

53:09Ricki Lake:Oh, yeah. I'm sure they notice you, but they're just. They don't say New Yorkers.

53:13Kelly Kopp:Yeah, it's, no, it's amazing. This is like, it's a very well-run city. I feel like walking through this town, it's like choose your own adventure. You never know who you're going to run into, what experience is going to unfold. It's the best.

53:30Ricki Lake:So, Ricky, before we let you go, we here at the New Yorkers podcast want to know what it means to you, Ricky Lake, to be a New Yorker.

53:40Kelly Kopp:Oh, my gosh. I mean, for me, I just feel like very lucky to have had the upbringing here, you know, to go to high school here, to see this city, you know, both for me pre 9-11 and now post, you know, coming back all these years later. There's just nothing like it. And I've been lucky enough to travel all over the world. But this is hands down the greatest city in the world. So it's an honor. It's an honor to be a New Yorker.

54:12Ricki Lake:Nicely said. And you're an amazing New Yorker, too. A true New Yorker. Ricky Lake. Yay! Thank you for joining us today for this week's episode of the New Yorker's podcast, my friends. And you can follow Ricky Lake on all of her socials. Once again, I'm your host, Kelly Kopp, also known as New York City Kopp, all across my social media. please like and subscribe to the new yorkers podcast and you can follow the new yorkers on social media at the new yorkers podcast you can leave a rating or a comment to let us know how you are enjoying the show we read through all your comments and dms so please we would love to hear from you thank you gally feliba 1611 hope i'm saying that right gally i talk to gally all the time betty jess cop who's actually my mom and nyc story time for your kind words on the last episode.

55:03Ricki Lake:If you want to be featured at the end of an episode, leave a rating on Apple Podcasts or a comment on Spotify. And thank you, Marlene Monroe, Loretta Smith, and Mark L. Hannity, Photo, for your comments on Facebook and Instagram. Have a lovely day, my friends, and we'll see you next time. Bye.

55:32Thank you.