Now I’m curious, because a little bit ago you were talking about feeling comfortable drinking in the house. I think we all saw in a video recently where you Latto and Usher were out. It kind of looked like you would rather be anywhere but there.
This is true. That moment was a real moment. Both of them are amazing people. Usher’s a really close friend of mine, and he told me we were going to a little lounge atmosphere, which is my vibe. I don’t mind. But we ended up being at what I would consider to be a club. So what you saw was just somebody who has the days of nightlife and partying at that scale, and I was ready to go home. I was ready to take my ass home.
And whoever took that picture or had that video just captured a real moment and a real face. And it’s nothing against the club, by the way. I want to make that very clear. I think the energy in the club is great, and there’s a time, there’s a place where maybe I can enjoy that or maybe I partake in that. When we do the HartBeat Weekends and there’s nights where we have artists that come and perform, I’ll do it and it’s a part of an event, but it’s not a recurring thing for me. Not at this point in my life.
My fear is just looking like the old guy in the club. I never want people to look up and [and people] go, ‘Why is he here?’ That to me, that’s aggressive. ‘Oh God, you see Kevin over there in the corner? Why is he here? It’s 21, 22 night. Why did he come?’ Bumping into my kids’ friends from school, that’s just aggressive. I don’t need those problems. I’ll take my ass home and be happy.
You were at the Tom Brady roast. You were hosting it, and Robert Gronkowski was giving some major frat boy energy, and I think he took a shot of your drink. At what moment during the show did you realize he was buzzed?
Here’s the thing: first of all, Rob can drink. To the audience watching, it could appear that Rob was buzzed. Rob was drinking Gran Coramino with me all night at that show. So he was never buzzed or crazy. That’s just who he is. That’s his energy. He has just an exciting energy to him, and he’s a very energetic personality, energetic, high octane. And what I love about him was he was excited to talk in that manner. They got to get a lot of stuff off their chest in regards to Coach Belichick, to Tom, to the systems, to the Patriots. And it was fun.
You looked at a person that was not necessarily in his environment, but it was very comfortable being outside of his norm. And when he did the thing and threw the shot glass on the ground, that’s just him being him. You can’t plan for that. You can’t predict that. And I won’t blame that on him drinking. I will blame that just on him being unpredictable and such a captivating presence, man. And he’s always been like that throughout his career. So I’m glad that the world got to see a dose of that behind that podium. He was very funny.
Who impressed you the most during the roast?
I was impressed by everyone. I think it’s very hard for the athlete that doesn’t do that to get up and do that. So I take my hat off to the Randy Mosses, to the [Julian] Edelmans, to the Robs, to the [Drew] Bledsoes, these guys, they got up there–even Coach Belichick–they don’t do standup. They don’t perform in front of thousands of people in a sold out arena, even Tom. So for them to put their nerves to the side and go up there and do a good job, I thought that was huge. And the comedians did what they’re supposed to do. Nikki [Glaser], Tony [Hinchcliffe], Jeff Ross, Sarah [Tiana], I mean, that’s just to name a few. We had an amazing amount of talent that was on that podium, Andrew [Schulz], right? People got up there and destroyed.
So, I personally think that that was a roast for the ages. It was necessary. It was needed. And I think the idea of getting back to comedy and removing just this temperature that’s been attached to it for the last couple of years for a moment, and having people set that aside and really laugh and enjoy it, I think it was a big deal. So to all the comics that participated, if I left anybody out just now and rambling names, of course it’s not on purpose, but it was a legendary night. It was a legendary night attached to a legendary moment with legendary record-breaking numbers. So everything came together the way it was supposed to. Shouts out to Netflix and shouts out to Casey [Patterson], my producing partner and friend who did an amazing job at helping put it together. Jeff Rosss played a great role in that too, helping produce and put it together. So we had a lot of amazing pieces to that puzzle.
I also wanted to ask about the Twitch stream between you and Kai Cenat, because that was pretty big this month. What’s your opinion on how streamers and influencers like him and Druski [are] changing comedy?
I love what they’re doing. If you notice, I try my best to align myself with them from a place of support, not a place of trying to do what they do or learn how to do it so that I can.. It’s a place of just amplifying their names and their brand. I think what you’re witnessing is a smart, groundbreaking approach to entertainment that the industry is now paying more attention to that fans have gravitated towards. And I think it was only a matter of time before those opportunities for them get bigger. And as a friend and a future partner, I’m trying my best to figure out how to crack the concept attached to television and or movies to get them over that hump to the next stage. And to do it, just take some vetting out and really thinking about the right things to do.
And that’s kind of what we’ve been prioritizing. So I think Kai Cenat has built a crazy brand, crazy following, him and his friends. I can relate because I too shared energy with a group of guys. We called ourselves the Plastic Cup Boys, and there’s nothing better than finding success as a group. And this group is doing great things. And I want it to continue. So right now we’re talking about doing something else and trying to find the time to do it with Kai, Druski and myself. But it’s just being silly, just being funny and more importantly, just really engaging with that audience in the way that the audience loves, which is real authentic.
Can you detail what your idea was behind the Gran Coramino bottle designs? Because I noticed they’re extremely sleek.
The whole idea and concept behind the bottle was to give a smooth look and hopefully grab, what I would like to call, some shelf appeal. When you think about how many SKUs you have within a product where you want to always think about your display, and now as we’re about to set up and gear up to have three SKUs in our cristalino añejo, and now, reposado, what’s that look like on a shelf?
I think the display of those bottles, the curvature, it’s almost like a ski slope. And if you ever ski, when you go down, smooth is the best way. It’s always smooth when you’re going down. That’s how you get the best results when you’re skiing. And I think the best results come from a smooth taste and a smooth response to the taste when you’re drinking tequila. So that was the mindset behind the bottle, that was the reason for it. And it came out amazing. I couldn’t have asked for a better display.
Why were you eager to develop this new Gran Coramino Reposado considering your busy schedule?
Regardless of my busy schedule, when I see an opportunity for innovation, I move on it. Reposado is driving the tequila category, so we knew our consumers wanted it. We already have a lineup of accessible, aged tequilas with incredible quality and wanted to bring that quality standard to the Reposado category at a more accessible price point.
