George Santos may need been booted from Congress — however he’s not able to preserve quiet. His subsequent pulpit: the brand new “Pants on Hearth” podcast.
“The idea for the podcast is, ‘George Santos is flexible and may get away of politics,’” Santos instructed The Submit. “I’ve been working actually laborious over the past yr to transcend politics and be capable of simply be a cultural determine.”
The previous consultant from New York’s third District, who was expelled from Congress in December 2023 and pleaded responsible to corruption expenses in August, was approached by York and Wilder manufacturing firm to do the podcast.
The title, a reference to Santos’ fame for being unfastened with the reality, was their thought, although he readily agreed to it: “I’m sport about most issues, till you begin slandering me.”
The primary episode, that includes an interview with Cameo app CEO Steven Galanis, dropped on Sunday. Santos claims he has raked in $600,000 on Cameo by making customized movies for paying followers.
New podcast episodes drops each Sunday and focus on cultural, somewhat than political, points, with a special visitor every week.
“This was an enormous alternative to not be overtly political and have enjoyable — however even with having enjoyable, after all, politics goes to come back up,” Santos stated. “I imply, I’m George Santos. I’m a former member of Congress, in all probability one of many high 10 most recognizable political figures of this technology.”
Different upcoming friends embody former “Gray’s Anatomy” star Isaiah Washington, who exited the sequence in 2007 after utilizing a homosexual slur on set, and brothers Ola and Bola Osundairo — who pleaded responsible to serving to “Empire” star Jussie Smollett stage a hate-crime hoax.
“They’ve a powerful perception that [the staged hate crime] got here from a a lot increased energy primarily based on their interactions with Jussie,” Santos stated of the Osundairo siblings. “They consider that Jussie is only a pawn in the midst of all of this.”
The brothers declare that Smollet’s declaration that he “just isn’t suicidal” throughout a 2022 courtroom tirade is proof of a bigger conspiracy plot — however Santos isn’t completely shopping for it.
“I truly give them s—t as a result of they had been a part of a second on this nation that divided us for weeks, in probably the most poisonous kind humanly doable,” he stated. “This isn’t the George Santos Simple-Move Softball Questions Interview Present.”
His dream friends embody fraudster and scheming socialite Anna Delvey; supermodel Gisele Bündchen, as a result of she is a fellow Brazilian; and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of the left-leaning Democrats in workplace.
“I wish to bridge the hole and the divide that we’ve on this nation,” stated Santos, who served within the Home of Representatives as a Republican however is now an unbiased. He stated he’d even be open to having Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) or Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) on. “I’m a non-confrontational pacifist 100% of the time.”
In truth, Santos, who says he will get fan mail “regularly,” reviews the overwhelming majority of his assist comes from younger folks on the left — and he’s hoping to achieve them together with his podcast.
“I’m extra interesting to Democrat youth than I’m to conservative youth,” he stated. “Why the left appears to be extra inclined in direction of me, I don’t know, perhaps the truth that I’m homosexual makes me extra relatable … [and] regardless of being known as a liar and every thing, I introduced much-needed authenticity and value-add to the mundane nature of Congress, proper?
“I’m the primary brazenly homosexual Republican however not alone. I wasn’t the one homosexual Republican in Congress, however I used to be positively the one one which was out.”
He sees the podcast as a option to rehab his picture after a traditionally chaotic 11 months in Congress that included included naming payments after Nicki Minaj, a number of revelations of a colorfully fabricated resume, alleged misspending of marketing campaign funds and false statements to the FEC, a federal indictment and ascendancy to popular culture infamy. “I’m not an evil man. I’m enjoyable. I’m relatable … I simply need folks to have the ability to see that.”
He celebrated his podcast launch with a journalist-packed get together on Monday at Au Bar 56 in Manhattan’s Columbus Circle neighborhood. Santos was rocking an Hermès bracelet and bedazzled loafers as he posed for pictures in entrance of a scorching pink backdrop plastered with the “Pants on Hearth” brand.
“I’m genuine. I’m humorous. I’m bigger than life,” he stated. “Like, I’m positively that man that exhibits up and folks say ‘The get together simply began’ or it ‘simply walked in’ or no matter.”
A cloud hanging over the jubilation, nevertheless, was Santos’ February 7, 2025, sentencing date. His fraud and identification theft expenses carry a minimal sentence of two years and a most of twenty-two years — which may complicate a weekly podcast schedule. (In accordance with US Information & World Report, Santos has agreed to not attraction any sentence of round eight years or much less.)
“Everyone went into this endeavor with me realizing that this was very a lot part of an enormous gauntlet that may drop at any time on my head,” he stated of his looming jail time. “We stay hopeful that we are able to proceed with no interruptions with this mission.”
Santos was not keen to share particulars, however stated his “authorized crew is exploring and exercising every thing and each avenue out there” to maintain the present going regardless of the end result in February.
Regardless of his looming courtroom date, Santos says he’s open to alternatives past the podcast. After his ouster from Congress, many speculated that he can be a perfect actuality tv star. Now he’s entertaining the thought.
“At that cut-off date, when these conversations would come up, I used to be not amenable to them,” Santos stated.
“Now, if these alternatives had been to come up, I might do them as a result of I feel each alternative I’ve to point out the American those who I’m not the scumbag that the media charged me to be is a profit for me — and in addition a profit for People.”
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