# The Carlos Watson Show

The Carlos Watson Show is an American talk show produced by Ozy Media, and aired on YouTube and Amazon Prime Video. It initially aired one-hundred and nineteen episodes between August 2, 2020 and February 18, 2021 as a self-made show on YouTube, and featured well-known guests like Bill Gates, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Hillary Clinton and Anthony Fauci. It was shortly shut down, then came back for a third season of an additional forty-three episodes on Amazon Prime from May 22, 2021 to July 21, 2021.
An accompanying podcast version of the show is also available, featuring longer, unedited versions of each conversation. The show ended when a large controversy surrounding fraud and host and executive producer Carlos Watson and producer Samir Rao precluded any new episodes. Watson was sentenced to one-hundred and sixteen months (almost ten year) in prison.

## Format

Conversations between host Carlos Watson as host and the guest take place entirely over Zoom, on account of the show launching during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was taped in Mountain View, California. The interviews are longer and more personal than typical talk show appearances, with a single guest discussing their journey to success and their take on current affairs over the course of a single 15-to-30-minute episode. The show weaves in archive footage and small tape packages about the episode's guests, acting as a deeper guest profile than the typical talk show appearance. Each episode typically ends with a "Rapid Fire" segment. The show has also broadcast two live specials: one on the evening of January 6, 2021 after the storming of the U.S. Capitol, and the second to mark the inauguration of President Joe Biden.
Some exclusives The Carlos Watson Show reported on have been: learning H.E.R. used to be in a band with Kehlani and Zendaya, David Oyelowo saying he became a born-again Christian at sixteen and how that choice affected who he later became engaged to, and Matt Damon commenting on Jennifer Lopez's relations with Ben Affleck, saying "Oh man, no one's pulling harder than I am... They're both great. I just want for their happiness. They seem pretty happy right now."

## Development

Watson said he was make a show that "meets the current moment with a strong enough combination of insightful conversation, flavorful and diverse guests, plus a bit of levity and entertainment.”

## Marketing

The marketing campaign for The Carlos Watson Show included billboards and posters in Los Angeles New York with quotes with misleading attributions. An executive producer said the marketing was aimed at potential investors and executives in television and advertising, rather than general viewers.
The show did book several sponsors including Chevrolet, JPMorgan Chase, and Discover. GroupM signed a two-year preferred partnership to further the agency’s DEI efforts. Dentsu made a three-year deal as part of its investment in “meaningful media.”

## Reception
### Audience viewership

The show has received over 50 million views, and the Carlos Watson Show YouTube channel has received over 70,000 subscribers as of March 2021. However, during the controversy, The New York Times spoke to an expert who said the numbers may have been artificially boosted.

### Critical response

Essence described the show as featuring "energetic and informative conversations with some of the biggest names in sports, entertainment, and politics". People Now described the show as featuring "long-form, wide-ranging interviews with even wider-ranging celebrities". Good Morning America announced the show as "the fastest-growing talk show in YouTube history," but the New York Times later called those claims dubious.
The New York Times’s media critic has noted multiple examples of misleading or unverifiable marketing associated with Ozy Media, such as advertisements claiming that The Carlos Watson Show was the “first talk show” on Amazon Prime Video, a claim that Ozy withdrew after Amazon complained that it violated its promotion guidelines.

## Controversy

Mr. Watson and Ozy’s chief operating officer, Samir Rao, told the show's staff and the guests that the show would appear in prime time on A&E, but the executive producer became suspicious when they had no contact with A&E executives during the making of the show. One of the other producers pointed out that A&E had already scheduled Hoarders for the time slot that was supposedly meant for The Carlos Watson Show. Executive Producer Brad Bessey was willing to “suspend my disbelief,” partly because of the difficulties of running a show under the restrictions related to the pandemic and partly because he “was so hopeful for that social justice conversation.”
When Bessey got in touch with an A&E executive, he learned there was no plan to air the program on A&E, at which point Bessey resigned, saying “You are playing a dangerous game with the truth. The consequences of offering an A&E show to guests when we don’t have one to offer are catastrophic for Ozy and for me.” When Bessey told the staff he resigning, Watson told everyone on the call that The Carlos Watson Show would actually eventually air on A&E, and things were just in progress and until the time it would air on A&E Watson stated show would air as a YouTube Original. However, it was later revealed that Watson had not sold the show to YouTube Originals and instead would be uploading it as a normal YouTube video as anyone could do. Additionally, the show never aired on A&E.
"Some of the videos on The Carlos Watson Show YouTube channel have received fewer than 100 views, while others have hundreds of thousands or more than a million views. Those figures, and the small number of comments on most videos, 'may indicate paid boosting,' according to an analysis by Tubular Labs, a company that tracks audiences for online videos."
Watson was eventually tried for fraud as more information came to light. Among other things, there was proof that an Ozy executive had posed as a YouTube executive, telling potential funders that The Carlos Watson show had an order from YouTube Originals, when they did not have a deal with YouTube). This impersonation was used to get more funding from Goldman Sachs, among others, under false pretenses.

## Episodes
### Season One (August 2020 – November 2020)

Season one of The Carlos Watson Show premiered on July 5, 2016, uploaded to YouTube.
| No. in series | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
| 1 | 1 | "Karen Bass: The Next Speaker of the House?" | August 2, 2020 (2020-08-02) |
| 2 | 2 | "Will Terry Crews Apologize for *Those* Tweets?" | August 3, 2020 (2020-08-03) |
| 3 | 3 | "Will Andrew Yang Be Secretary of Commerce in Joe Biden's Cabinet?" | August 5, 2020 (2020-08-05) |
| 4 | 4 | "How Sean Spicer Really Feels About BLM, Trump + 2020" | August 6, 2020 (2020-08-06) |
| 5 | 5 | "Malcolm Gladwell's Surprising Solutions for Racial Harmony" | August 10, 2020 (2020-08-10) |
| 6 | 6 | "David Oyelowo: Are Nigerian-Brits Taking Over the World?" | August 11, 2020 (2020-08-11) |
| 7 | 7 | "Maggie Siff: Meet the Next Meryl Streep" | August 12, 2020 (2020-08-12) |
| 8 | 8 | "Meet Tina Knowles-Lawson: The Queen-Maker Behind Beyoncé" | August 13, 2020 (2020-08-13) |
| 9 | 9 | "Baker Mayfield: The Beauty of "Locker Room Talk"" | August 14, 2020 (2020-08-14) |
| 10 | 10 | "Meet the Democrats' Black Female Power Brokers" | August 17, 2020 (2020-08-17) |
| 11 | 11 | "Why George Lopez Pissed Off the Secret Service" | August 18, 2020 (2020-08-18) |
| 12 | 12 | "How Queer Eye's Karamo Went from Crazy to Compassionate" | August 19, 2020 (2020-08-19) |
| 13 | 13 | "Could Grant Hill Have Been Better Than Michael Jordan?" | August 20, 2020 (2020-08-20) |
| 14 | 14 | "Jamaal Bowman: Is He the Next AOC?" | August 24, 2020 (2020-08-24) |
| 15 | 15 | "Hot Takes on the Future Economy from CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin" | August 26, 2020 (2020-08-26) |
| 16 | 16 | "Roxane Gay Is Still Fighting. Are You?" | August 27, 2020 (2020-08-27) |
| 17 | 17 | "The Real Legend Behind John + Chrissy" | August 28, 2020 (2020-08-28) |
| 18 | 18 | "Tomi Lahren: America Isn't as Racist as You Think" | August 31, 2020 (2020-08-31) |
| 19 | 19 | "Beto O'Rourke: Should Trump Be Prosecuted When He Leaves Office?" | August 18, 2020 (2020-08-18) |
| 20 | 20 | "Bethenny Frankel: The Reality Star Who Sold Her Company for $100M" | September 1, 2020 (2020-09-01) |
| 21 | 21 | "Why Business Mogul Tan France Tried to Quit Queer Eye" | September 2, 2020 (2020-09-02) |
| 22 | 22 | "After Playing 14 Characters at Once, Who Is the Real Tatiana Maslany?" | September 3, 2020 (2020-09-03) |
| 23 | 23 | "If Jeb Were President: Racial Reconciliation + UBI?" | September 4, 2020 (2020-09-04) |
| 24 | 24 | "Pete Buttigieg Fears Democracy is Crumbling. Here's Why" | September 8, 2020 (2020-09-08) |
| 25 | 25 | "How Avoiding Spankings Turned Tichina Arnold Into a Comedy Queen" | September 10, 2020 (2020-09-10) |
| 26 | 26 | "Will Terry Crews Apologize for *Those* Tweets?" | August 3, 2020 (2020-08-03) |
| 27 | 27 | "Why Anita Hill Still Believes in the Supreme Court" | September 14, 2020 (2020-09-14) |
| 28 | 28 | "Gabrielle Union Wants to Defund the Police ... in L.A.'s Finest" | September 15, 2020 (2020-09-15) |
| 29 | 29 | "Top Chef's Tom Colicchio Talks ADHD, COVID, Drugs and Bourdain" | September 16, 2020 (2020-09-16) |
| 30 | 30 | "Can Charles Booker Inherit John Lewis' Legacy?" | September 17, 2020 (2020-09-17) |
| 31 | 31 | "Can Rising Star Comedian Aida Rodriguez Bring Americans Together?" | September 21, 2020 (2020-09-21) |
| 32 | 32 | "Has Cory Booker's Love Affair Changed His Politics?" | September 22, 2020 (2020-09-22) |
| 33 | 33 | "Padma Lakshmi Talks Power, Politics and Sex" | September 23, 2020 (2020-09-23) |
| 34 | 34 | "Meet One of the Most Powerful Men in Media: Ben Smith" | September 24, 2020 (2020-09-24) |
| 35 | 35 | "Adam Grant: How to Get Through the Pandemic with Good Energy" | September 25, 2020 (2020-09-25) |
| 36 | 36 | "Meet the World's Most Powerful Female Investor: Afsaneh Beschloss" | September 28, 2020 (2020-09-28) |
| 37 | 37 | "The Meaning of Life, With 'Good Place' Star William Jackson Harper" | September 29, 2020 (2020-09-29) |
| 38 | 38 | "Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo Talks Ending 'Lawful But Awful' Policing" | September 30, 2020 (2020-09-30) |
| 39 | 39 | "Ilhan Omar: Meet the Fighter Behind the Caricature" | October 1, 2020 (2020-10-01) |
| 40 | 40 | "Gloria Steinem: What History Gets Wrong About Feminism" | October 2, 2020 (2020-10-02) |
| 41 | 41 | "'Fame' Star Debbie Allen Talks COVID, BLM and Kobe" | October 5, 2020 (2020-10-05) |
| 42 | 42 | "Meet Hollywood's Next Breakthrough Director - Oge Egbuonu" | October 6, 2020 (2020-10-06) |
| 43 | 43 | "Can Simon Sinek Help Make Work Suck Less?" | October 8, 2020 (2020-10-08) |
| 44 | 44 | "Susan Rice on What Trump Got Right - and Very, Very Wrong" | October 8, 2020 (2020-10-08) |
| 45 | 45 | "How Al Sharpton Keeps Grieving Families Out of the Spotlight" | October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09) |
| 46 | 46 | "Caitlyn Jenner: Why I Failed to Make an Impact in Trans Community" | October 12, 2020 (2020-10-12) |
| 47 | 47 | "Netflix's New Star Filmmaker Will Make You Care About Gentrification" | October 13, 2020 (2020-10-13) |
| 48 | 48 | "Chelsea Handler is a Liberal Elite, and Knows It" | October 14, 2020 (2020-10-14) |
| 49 | 49 | "Lenny Kravitz on How to Stay Close with Your Ex" | October 16, 2020 (2020-10-16) |
| 50 | 50 | "20 Celebrities Weigh in on the 2020 Dumpster Fire" | October 16, 2020 (2020-10-16) |
| 51 | 51 | "Isabel Sandoval: Meet the Trans Filmmaker Who Came Out to Herself on Camera" | October 19, 2020 (2020-10-19) |
| 52 | 52 | "Why Is Jeff Flake Optimistic About the Election?" | October 20, 2020 (2020-10-20) |
| 53 | 53 | "Meet Finneas: Billie Eilish's Brother and the Brains Behind Today's Biggest Pop Hits" | October 21, 2020 (2020-10-21) |
| 54 | 54 | "Joseph Gordon-Levitt: Activism Is in My Blood" | October 22, 2020 (2020-10-22) |
| 55 | 55 | "Why Billionaire Mark Cuban Always Got Fired When Working for Others" | October 23, 2020 (2020-10-23) |
| 56 | 56 | "Dear White People's Justin Simien on Blackness, Queerness and Greatness" | October 26, 2020 (2020-10-26) |
| 57 | 57 | "Jalen Rose's Recipe for Greatness: Be a Little Crazy" | October 27, 2020 (2020-10-27) |
| 58 | 58 | "Meet ESPN's Unlikely Rising Star Football Guru: Mina Kimes" | October 28, 2020 (2020-10-28) |
| 59 | 59 | "How These Celebrities Learned to Dream Fearlessly" | October 29, 2020 (2020-10-29) |
| 60 | 60 | "Ava DuVernay: "Justice and Storytelling Go Hand in Hand"" | October 30, 2020 (2020-10-30) |
| 61 | 61 | "Why These Theater Legends Want You to Get Out the Vote" | October 30, 2020 (2020-10-30) |
| 62 | 62 | "How Christy Turlington Burns Became a Model Activist" | November 11, 2020 (2020-11-11) |
| 63 | 63 | "The Secret to Greatness in Sports? Intelligence, Says ESPN's Mike Greenberg" | November 13, 2020 (2020-11-13) |
| 64 | 64 | "Jameela Jamil on the Good That's Come from the Pandemic" | November 20, 2020 (2020-11-20) |

### Season Two (November 2020 – February 2021)

Season two of The Carlos Watson Show premiered on July November 23, 2020, uploaded to YouTube.
| No. in series | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
| 65 | 1 | "Inside Presidential Transitions: Obama Advisor Valerie Jarrett on President-Elect Biden's Priorities" | November 23, 2020 (2020-11-23) |
| 66 | 2 | "Why Saweetie Is the New Rihanna: Discover the Music Industry's Next Billion-Dollar Global Brand" | November 24, 2020 (2020-11-24) |
| 67 | 3 | "New Girl's Lamorne Morris: There Can Be More Than One Black Actor in a Show" | November 25, 2020 (2020-11-25) |
| 68 | 4 | "From Tupac to Deepak: Health Guru Deepak Chopra on How Hip-Hop Informs His Meditation" | November 30, 2020 (2020-11-30) |
| 69 | 5 | "You Can't Cancel Kathy Griffin: Why the Troller-in-Chief's Stand-Up Comedy Keeps Getting Funnier" | December 1, 2020 (2020-12-01) |
| 70 | 6 | "Free World Class Education for Anyone Anywhere: Sal Khan on the Powerful Theory Behind Khan Academy" | December 2, 2020 (2020-12-02) |
| 71 | 7 | "Fashion Empress Kimora Lee Simmons Is Building Her 'Baby Phat' Brand to Last" | December 3, 2020 (2020-12-03) |
| 72 | 8 | "Megyn Kelly: Black Lives Matter and MeToo Have Been Co-Opted by Activists" | December 4, 2020 (2020-12-04) |
| 73 | 9 | "Garcelle Beauvais Reveals All: Jamie Foxx, the Search for a Soulmate and Sex Secrets" | December 7, 2020 (2020-12-07) |
| 74 | 10 | "Bill Gates on the COVID Vaccine: It Will Only Make Us Stronger for the Next Pandemic" | December 9, 2020 (2020-12-09) |
| 75 | 11 | "Ta-Nehisi Coates Shares the Inside Story of 'Between the World and Me' on HBO" | December 10, 2020 (2020-12-10) |
| 76 | 12 | "Why Japan Hates Their Most Famous Artist, Takashi Murakami" | December 11, 2020 (2020-12-11) |
| 77 | 13 | "Kurt Busch on How BLM Has Opened Up NASCAR to More Than Checkered Flags" | December 14, 2020 (2020-12-14) |
| 78 | 14 | "Cari Champion + Jemele Hill Won't Stick to Sports: Former ESPN Hosts on Disrespect of Black Women" | December 15, 2020 (2020-12-15) |
| 79 | 15 | "Rep. Maxine Waters on COVID, Trump, and Why American Racism is 'Hard to Digest'" | December 16, 2020 (2020-12-16) |
| 80 | 16 | "CNN's Lisa Ling on Fertility: Why Aspirational Young Women Should Consider Freezing Their Eggs" | December 17, 2020 (2020-12-17) |
| 81 | 17 | "American Idol's Jordin Sparks Reveals All on Love and Success for Christmas" | December 18, 2020 (2020-12-18) |
| 82 | 18 | "'Ma Rainey' Star Glynn Turman Bares His Soul on Chadwick Boseman, 'Cooley High' + Life Lessons" | January 4, 2021 (2021-01-04) |
| 83 | 19 | "Michael Barbaro: The Real Story Behind "The Daily", America's Biggest Podcast" | January 5, 2021 (2021-01-05) |
| 84 | 20 | "LIVE Protesters Storm the Capitol: Town Hall Conversation ft. Art Acevedo, Padma Lakshmi and YOU" | January 6, 2021 (2021-01-06) |
| 85 | 21 | "Sevyn Streeter: Iconic R&B Singer/Songwriter Serenades Carlos About 2020 and Love" | January 7, 2021 (2021-01-07) |
| 86 | 22 | "Dr Fauci Weighs in on Vaccines, Lockdown Trade-Offs, COVID Communication ... and the Next Pandemic" | January 8, 2021 (2021-01-08) |
| 87 | 23 | "Swizz Beatz and Timbaland Reveal Their Dream 'Verzuz' Matchup" | January 11, 2021 (2021-01-11) |
| 88 | 24 | "Mariana Van Zeller's Trafficked Will Take You Behind the Scenes of the World's Biggest Black Markets" | January 12, 2021 (2021-01-12) |
| 89 | 25 | "Lloyd Blankfein: Former Goldman Sachs CEO on Investing in Character and Why to Believe in Capitalism" | January 13, 2021 (2021-01-13) |
| 90 | 26 | "Shazam Star Meagan Good on Faith, Motherhood and Life with Husband DeVon Franklin" | January 14, 2021 (2021-01-14) |
| 91 | 27 | "CNN's Fareed Zakaria on Lessons for a Post-COVID World: The Next Crisis Could End Humanity" | January 15, 2021 (2021-01-15) |
| 92 | 28 | "Is Jason Derulo's TikTok Game the Start of a Hollywood Career?" | January 18, 2021 (2021-01-18) |
| 93 | 29 | "Ex-CIA Director John McLaughlin Suspects Russian Interference at Capitol Hill Insurrection" | January 19, 2021 (2021-01-19) |
| 94 | 30 | "LIVE: America United? Biden-Harris Inauguration Aftershow, Ft. Megyn Kelly, Christina Greer + YOU!" | January 20, 2021 (2021-01-20) |
| 95 | 31 | "Bridging Divided America: Understanding the McCloskeys Beyond the St. Louis BLM Gun Standoff" | January 21, 2021 (2021-01-21) |
| 96 | 32 | "BBC World News Presenter Katty Kay's Tips for Women in Power" | January 22, 2021 (2021-01-22) |
| 97 | 33 | "I Did Not Come to Play with You Hoes: Big Freedia on Life, Love and Her Beyoncé Breakout" | January 25, 2021 (2021-01-25) |
| 98 | 34 | "Adam Rippon: The Secrets Behind Olympic Success, His Relationship and ... a Future in Comedy?" | January 26, 2021 (2021-01-26) |
| 99 | 35 | "We Asked 100 Celebrities to Reflect on 2020 - From COVID to BLM to the Life Lessons They've Learned" | January 27, 2021 (2021-01-27) |
| 100 | 36 | "Hollywood Legend James Brolin Reveals the Blind Date That Led Him to Wife Barbra Streisand" | January 28, 2021 (2021-01-28) |
| 101 | 37 | "NASCAR's Danica Patrick Admits She Never Loved Racing" | January 29, 2021 (2021-01-29) |
| 102 | 38 | "Mad Money's Jim Cramer on COVID Stock Picks, Robinhood Investors, Tesla & Battles with His Temper" | February 1, 2021 (2021-02-01) |
| 103 | 39 | "Boris Kodjoe Talks Love, Parenting and Entrepreneurship with Wife Nicole Ari Parker" | February 2, 2020 (2020-02-02) |
| 104 | 40 | "Cynthia Bailey: From the First Black Homecoming Queen to RHOA Fame" | February 3, 2021 (2021-02-03) |
| 105 | 41 | "Stand-Up Comedian Jo Koy on How His Filipino Heritage and The Tonight Show Helped Him Break Through" | February 4, 2020 (2020-02-04) |
| 106 | 42 | "Meet the Educator Fighting to Fix America's Achievement Gap: Oliver Scholars CEO Dr. Danielle Moss" | February 5, 2021 (2021-02-05) |
| 107 | 43 | "How a 'Moneyball' Campaign Approach Helped Madison Cawthorn Win" | February 6, 2021 (2021-02-06) |
| 108 | 44 | "Daily Show Star Dulcé Sloan: There Are No Cheat Codes for Stand-Up Comedy Success" | February 9, 2021 (2021-02-09) |
| 109 | 45 | "COVID Protests and Kidnapping Attempts Can't Stop Michigan's Gretchen Whitmer" | February 10, 2021 (2021-02-10) |
| 110 | 46 | "Charmed Actress Alyssa Milano Talks COVID Symptoms, #MeToo, and Politics" | February 11, 2021 (2021-02-11) |
| 111 | 47 | "Charmed Actress Alyssa Milano Talks COVID Symptoms, #MeToo, and Politics" | February 12, 2021 (2021-02-12) |
| 112 | 48 | "Republican Strategist Alex Castellanos Predicts the 2024 GOP Nominee" | February 16, 2021 (2021-02-16) |
| 113 | 49 | "Kenya Moore on Juggling Being a Mom, Entrepreneur and Real Housewife" | February 17, 2021 (2021-02-17) |
| 114 | 50 | "Viral Musician Marc Rebillet on Collaborations with Snoop Dogg and T-Pain" | February 18, 2021 (2021-02-18) |
| 115 | 51 | "How Basketball Superstar CJ McCollum Fought His Way from Lehigh to the NBA" | February 19, 2021 (2021-02-19) |
| 116 | 52 | "Congresswoman Katie Porter on Her January 6th Close Call" | February 23, 2021 (2021-02-23) |
| 117 | 53 | "The Lucas Brothers on Brotherhood, Comedy and Their Upcoming Film, Judas and the Black Messiah" | February 24, 2021 (2021-02-24) |
| 118 | 54 | "Heather McGhee" | February 25, 2021 (2021-02-25) |
| 119 | 55 | "Black History Month Clips" | February 26, 2021 (2021-02-26) |

### Season Three (May 2021 – July 2021)

Season three of The Carlos Watson Show premiered on May 22, 2021 on and ran through July 21, 2021.
| No. in series | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
| 120 | 1 | TBA | May 22, 2021 (2021-05-22) |