September 14, 2023 • 35 mins
Host of Good Day New York, Rosanna Scotto, talks about the toughest topics she has had to report on from September 11th to COVID-19 and dishes on her unusual feud with Tori Spelling.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thank you so much for listening to the podcast. We
have new episodes coming out, starting with this one today.
A very special guest and to be totally totally transparent,
she's one of my very best friends.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
So if you're from New York, you've heard of her,
My dear friend, Rosanna Scotto.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
She's in an incredible thirty plus year career in journalism,
which is of course currently anchoring Good Day New York
on Fox five here in New York. Rosanna is a
brilliant journalist, a brilliant person, and she truly is the
face of morning TV here in New York City. I
can't think of a better guest to welcome our podcast
back online.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
So let's listen in with Rosanna Scotto.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
It's so weird having my best friend Rosanna Scatto here,
and I'm telling you she's my best friend because I
want to be very, very very open and honest with you.
But I want to talk to you today about things
we've never talked about.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Oh gee, you know it's funny. You've been on my
show Good Day New York a number of times and
usually I get to ask you the questions. But I'm
really nervous now because you kind of know where the
bones are buried with me, because I do you know
where all the bones are buried with me.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
I'm not digging up any bones.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
How deep are we going? Is this with or without alcohol?
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Obviously we're without right now.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
No, I think you're going to enjoy where we're going because, Okay,
it's weird having a friend who you're as close with
as we are with each other, but there are things
we don't know about each other, true, and I.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Just want to go down those those those Okay, I pass.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
I feel like, you know, during twenty twenty, you and
I kind of explored a little bit because well, you know,
the world fell apart and we had a lot of
time on our hands, and so we actually had conversations.
But now we're busy again, and now you want to
go down that rabbit hole.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Well we're busy going down a rabbit hole. Okay, So
of course.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Rosanna Scotto the co host, actually the host of a
Good Day in New York on Fox five.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Here in New York.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
She has been a part of the media scene, a
TV journalism scene here in New York City for how
many years?
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Here in New York Let's just say over thirty because
it might be more.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
So it's more than thirty.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
But before working on TV doing TV journalism here, you
were in Atlanta.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
I was in Atlanta and I worked for Eyewitness News
at one point two, and then I was doing After
I Witness News, than I did the ten o'clock news
on Fox five, and then I've been with Good Day
New York for almost twenty years now.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
If you're not familiar, not from New York, A good
in New York is the number one rated morning wake
up show on TV here in New York City.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
It's a lot of fun. We do everything from newsmakers
to celebrities like you.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
I'm not a celebrity, but no, so the times Rosanna's
inviting me to co host on the show, it's only
the last hour. That's when they loosen up from the
news and turn it into more lifestyle lifestyle show. Yeah,
and it's a lot of fun. So I never asked
you like a girl growing up in Brooklyn, Yes, with
a great, great family. It's very well known here in
(03:06):
New York City. Then later on your family opens up
Fresco by Scotto, which is just the premiere restaurant for
people in media and politics for lunch and dinner.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
First of all, where did the restaurant come from? How
did that get toto?
Speaker 3 (03:20):
Okay, so this is the story. So my brothers were
living in California and they had a restaurant. My brother
John had this place called Bar One. It was near
Sunset Tower, and it was crazy, like we would go
visit him and they would be like throwing out Julia
Roberts out of the club because she had no shoes on.
(03:41):
Sliced Alan was there. I mean, it was just it's,
you know, the same players back then are the same
players back right now? Anyway, So my mother thought like
they were going to get in trouble, which they did,
and so she said, what will it take to get
you back to New York? And they said a restaurant.
My mother, who had volunteered her whole life, really didn't
(04:02):
know about, you know, dollars and cents. And she said,
we're going to open up a restaurant. When she realized
how much it would cost, she mortgaged the family home
in Brooklyn. Now she was retirement age when she mortgaged
the family where this this was nineteen ninety three. We're
celebrating our thirtieth anniversary at Fresco by Scottola Fall. So
(04:25):
it was nineteen ninety three, and my dad didn't think
it was a good idea. He was like, we should be,
you know, thinking about our future. We're at retirement age.
And she said, I want to do this for our family.
And since it was her house, it was her family's house.
She mortgaged the house in Brooklyn. Never knew this, Yeah,
(04:45):
and so, and it wasn't easy because, don't forget, my
mom had no track record as a businesswoman. So when
they found various places, nobody wanted to do business with
her because she had no track record as a bit
business woman. And we went to one place which is
now the Monkey Bar. It's Charles, that Charles Steakhouse in Midtown, Okay,
(05:10):
And we wound up not taking that place, and we
found Fresco by Scotto on fifty second Street two blocks away.
So when they were doing the negotiations for the restaurant,
the real estate person said, I'm going to bring the
old owner of this restaurant in here, and I'm going
to tell him if the Scottos can't make it, he
(05:33):
just gets the keys back. Like in other words, like
I don't really believe that you're going to do this.
So I'm just going to give the keys back to
the other guy who was failing in that spot.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
And this is always a good thing to go back to,
is people who doubted you. It makes you work extra
hard to prove them very wrong.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
I know. And it's so funny. So my mother and
I went to a clairvoyant and the Claire Waran said,
you are going to have politicians, You're gonna have royalty,
you're gonna have presidents. And my mother totally believed it.
She's like, this is gonna happen, and what were you thinking?
And I was thinking, is this guy a whack or whatever?
But seriously, we've had presidents Clinton, Biden, Trump, We've had royalty,
(06:20):
Princess Beatrice and Princess Fergie. We've had celebrities Elvis Duran
sliced the Loane Jennifer Aniston. I mean, just crazy.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
We're always rolling through there, and.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
You know, of course all our favorite food influencers as well.
But we've had it all. That clairvoyant was absolutely right.
Mama's right to believe it.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
So not knowing anything about business, not knowing especially not
knowing anything about a restaurant. Everyone says, don't open a restaurant.
It's the worst idea ever. You guys have been doing
this for thirty years. Fresco by Scatto still is the
hottest seat in town.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
Thank you. But it takes a lot of massaging. As
you know. There are times where we go out and
I go I have to go back to the restaur
So and so is going to be there. I have
to show my face. It's you have to nurture that business.
It's it's not easy doing, you know, business in New York.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Well, and keep in mind, Rosanna is doing this while
she's hosting a TV show every morning on Fox five
in New York City. So this is a long, many
long days for you. And we've been together at many events.
We're like, oh my god, let's go to sleep.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
I know. He and I are like, well, you started early,
a little earlier than I do. An hour earlier. I'm
on the air from seven to ten. You're six, right,
I know. But you have to look this great. I
don't have to look I can look like shit. No,
you always look great. I mean I think it's easier
for guys, you know, for women, we have to kind
of really get ourselves together, put on some kind of makeup,
(07:41):
make sure that we have colors on, you know, so
that we don't look, you know, kind of blah.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Well, you always look so beautiful every day.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
Thank you have black on. I have New York black on.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
Yeah, you're wearing your knee on black for summer. All right,
So let's talk about where you're taking us.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
You are taking us to men versus women as far
as getting up and having to look a certain way
for being on TV. So I I must assume since
you started way over thirty years ago, Uh, where was
your first job?
Speaker 2 (08:05):
And said? Atlanta?
Speaker 3 (08:07):
Atlanta, Atlanta?
Speaker 2 (08:08):
What did you do there? So?
Speaker 3 (08:09):
I started off really, you know, as a beginner, I
was doing the chirons that you see up on the
screen when you watch TV, like the sports scores and
stuff like that. I was really terrible. I couldn't type
that fast, especially with the sports scores. But they then
promoted me to researcher and I kind of worked my
way up. Very different back then, I mean, you know,
(08:31):
it was very much guys did like the hard news
stuff to men's club, Yeah, Woyn's club. And it followed
me really like up until you know Fox five, and
then I had to like flex my muscle a little
bit because you know, even in the beginning Fox five,
all the guys were getting the great assignments and I
(08:52):
was kind of getting the lifestyle stories until the preppy murder. Trall.
Now I bring this up because he's made news again
just recently. Bring everyone up to okay, ninety something, yeah, yeah,
So what happened was this good looking guy in New
York City going off to college, is accused of killing
(09:15):
a woman in Central Park and they were friends. He
wound up using the rough sex defense. He wound up
taking a plea deal in the case, got out of
jail fifteen years later, and then gets in trouble with
drugs and winds up going away again for a heroine.
(09:38):
I don't know if it was distribution or something. Anyway,
he just got out of jail on parole just the
other day, just the other day anyway. So that was
one of the first stories that I was not on.
I was not assigned to that story, but I knew
the victim's family, and I went to my boss and
(09:59):
I said, another eleven family, and I think they'll talk
to me. And he said, well, if you get an interview.
The story's yours.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
So there you go, and there you go.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
And that's how I broke through. And it went, you know,
it kind of like one one thing leads to another, right,
I did a lot of trials back then. Woody Allen
me a pharaoh custody case.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Well, you were almost personally involved in that as.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Well, because in a strange way, somebody believed that Woody
Allen was going to get away with the initial accusations,
and so they brought the tape of his daughter, Dylan,
making these accusations that he inappropriately touched her. He was
(10:43):
afraid that Woody Allen was such a big store in
New York City at that time, Beloved Beloved, he was
New York right, that this would completely get swept under
the rug without being looked at. So we got the tape,
we looked at it, we had our lawyers luck at it.
We could never put it on the air, but I
(11:03):
went on the air and paraphrased what Dylan said, and
we made international news. In those days, there was no
social media. We had people calling from all over the world.
They wanted me on the show. And at that point everybody,
my bosses were like No, she's ours. That's it.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Oh so now you're like the prize possession.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Prize possession. You're not allowed to talk to anybody. All
information will be disseminated on Fox five and a current affair.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Oh if I was your boss, I'd say the same thing.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
And so, I mean we covered that story for over
a year.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
So Rosanna, you know, doing your thing in the boys club,
in the newsroom, and you start to get this traction right,
did the men treat you differently? Did things change a
little bit a little in a good way or a
bad way?
Speaker 3 (12:03):
No, in a good way. First, I think there was
a little jealousy. And then you know, it's funny. I
look at some of the pictures with the guys back then,
like you could see they're giving me the sly you know,
the side eye. But I think then I, you know,
I worked it over. I was always like, you know, unassuming,
(12:24):
humble Brooklyn girl. Oh my god, pinch me. I can't
believe I'm doing what I'm doing right now. This was
my dream to be doing this in New York, you know.
And I think they came around, but there was always like,
you know, a little snide comment, like you know when
I'm about to go on the air, they'd be like, oh,
don't embarrass me. Like, why would you say to somebody
(12:45):
before they go on the air, don't embarrass.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Me because you're you're good at getting the truth out
of people or getting to what's happening.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
And I mean, I take such a different approach when
people come on our show or like just starting off,
and I'm always like, so you know you're going to
be great, You'll be fine. Pretend you're talking to your friends,
don't think about you know how many people are listening.
I would never say don't embarrass me.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
Never, Well, it's well, that's the sign of nervousness. If
someone says that the thing is Rosanna is. I've seen
you do some interviews on Good Day New York of
late and you will you are not embarrassed to go
after a question looking for or go after an answer
that you believe no one else is getting out of
this people person you're interviewing.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
I can't talk, so no, no, I totally I know where
you're going with that. And yes, we have, especially the
first two hours of Good Day politicians on and I
have to say I equally don't trust any of them,
and when they come on, I am trying to get
through that spin. I'm a New Yorker and I'm not
going to take it. I live here, I was born here,
(13:50):
I was raised here, and you can't pull the wool
over my eyes. I'm not going to take it. So
I'm going to keep asking the questions until I think
you're going to give me the answer.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
You see, it takes years of experience, years of mileage,
to get the courage to conduct that sort of interview. Yes,
this is why people love watching you, because you're not
afraid to go in there on their behalf. Someone is
sitting in their living room watching you do these interviews.
They're thinking, Rosanna is asking these questions of my politicians
on my behalf. They trust you to be there for them.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
That's my job.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
It is your job. There's a job, but with that
job comes some pressure.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
I make some enemies.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
You make some enemies. Yes, you're a list of your inemyes.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
Okay, Well the first one right now, the MTA, the
Metropolitan Transportation Association. They run the subways, the buses and
everything in New York. As you know, it is an abyss.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
It's dangerous.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Now, No much no matter how much money you give them,
they don't have any money. Right, Okay, the going to
raise fairs this week. They screwed up. The fair doesn't
go into effect for another month, but they started charging
the new fair yesterday. Okay, we expose that. Second of all,
they want to do congestion pricing. They want you to
pay twenty three dollars to drive your car into a
(15:09):
certain area of New York. Why because they need that
money to fund the subway. Because why nobody wants to
take the subway. They're scared out of their mind. They say, Oh,
it's so much safer, we have police there. Yeah, but
you know what, there are so many mentally unhinged people
on a normal day New Yorkers. We're so used to
(15:31):
going down there seeing some crazy person, you know, either
taking a crap on the side of the subway station
on the train, rolling a joint in your face, asking
for money. It's like, this is every day. This is
what every day New Yorkers sees.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
And see.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
This is why you know Rosanna is so trusted here
in New York because you're looking you're looking out for us.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
And the thing that this is why thet MTA is
met at me because I will say exactly what I
see and what I know.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
You're not the only one that thinks that, and they
know that.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
But you have such a loud microphone. But okay, to
other enemies are Tory spelling? Oh going from the MTA
of New York City to Tori spell Tory.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
So this is the thing with Tory. I feel sorry
for Tory. I do. I mean, she was living in
a dollar motel, right, not necessary when her mother has
like she's sitting on muddy mountain, right, why won't the
mother give her money so that she can les stay
in a nice hotel with her one hundred kids? Like,
what's the what's the story there? Okay, So she comes
(16:32):
on her show with Jenny Garth. They're a little bit
mean girls. So first, you know, they're giving me a
look like oh this is gonna whatever. They come on like, oh,
everything's fine, and then they start talking about BS and
I go to Tory, how are things like financially with you?
She's like They're fine. I'll go really Now, meanwhile, I
(16:53):
know she asks somebody I know for money. She said
she had no money, like not even like fifty So
I go, really, I'm like you're paying your bills. All
hell broke loose. The husband starts tweeting the husband at
that time, are they still together? I don't know, saying
nasty things, calling me the sea word.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
You called you the sea word?
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Yeah you know that word?
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Yes I do. OK. But she didn't she go off
on you on air a little bit, went.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
Off on me a little bit, and then I apologized
because I was like, oh, that was so rude. I
don't really like to talk about somebody's finances on TV
because you know, listen who everybody has a problem with
checking and balancing right on their checkbook. But hers are
part of who she is right now because she goes
(17:45):
from one house to another. She's got five kids. She's
living in a dollar motel. Her father was like a
big many had a hundred room mansion in Beverly Hills.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
The largest mansion at that time, right in Beverly Hill.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
Why is she living in a dollar motel? There's something
I'm missing.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
As a journalist. Rosanna, you have that that gene you
need answers. You can't sleep at night.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
I know, but if you're coming on my show, you
can't pretend like you know everything's Okay, you see.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
But do people come onto your show Orsanna thinking you know,
she's got a little bit of a background and like
going for the jugular sometimes, right, And that's why they
say things like, don't embarrass me because you have you
have this.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Well, people know who you are.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
They do, they do, but they also expect that they
are going to have a good time.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Well, look, you know I have not honed that craft
as well as you have. I need to. I'm not good.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
I don't go to for the jugular with people. I'm
super nice. I want them to come back.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
You are so kind, you do, but you still elicit
the same information. You just have a different approach.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Well, one approach that you and I both have is
disarming our guests, making them feel at home, making them
feel comfortable. If they feel comfortable, then they're more likely
to open up to you.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Yeah. I mean you have some of the people that
I like, Oh my god, I love the Jonas brothers.
They come to you know, Elvis like it was like
their their cousin. They're here all the time, they go
to his bedroom, they wake them up. I mean, this
is a crazy stuff.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
You know that was all pre planned by the way
they didn't really break into my apartment.
Speaker 3 (19:19):
They didn't, darn it. That was my fantasy anyway. But
everybody trusts you, Elvis, and they know that you're gonna
ask the right question.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
You're turning this around.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
This is my job.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
This is I know. I know it's hard being an interviewer,
being interviewed.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
This is one of the most difficult things I've ever done,
being interviewed, But interviewing you is easy.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
So I'm gonna go back to something.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
I'm gonna talk about your ambition to get into this business. Right,
you were ambitious. You moved away from New York all
the way to Atlanta. I mean, did you go to
college there or something?
Speaker 3 (19:52):
No, I went to college in DC. I went to
Catholic University.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
So Atlanta was the only place that would hire you.
So you took a job.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
But when I started there, it was nineteen eighty Ted
Turner had just started CNN. It was the most fun
place to work ever. We used to call it the
Turner School of Broadcasting. Everybody out of college was just
starting there.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
So what was it like like? The hallways must have
been just full.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
Of FES's just so much fun. Oh, you never knew
who you were going to meet and then on a Saturday,
because of course, you know, as a you know, a rookie,
you work Saturdays and Sundays. On Saturday, you would walk
through this big studio that was doing wrestling on a Saturday.
Could you imagine Atlanta wrestling back.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
In those days, so that you didn't see in New York.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
Something you didn't say. I was like a mom, this
is not Kansas anymore. It was wild. And then he'd
be like, really fun. People like Maria Shriver was just
starting off and she had a little bit of a
show there, and I just learned so much, you know,
I just learned the business there. They would very kind.
I then got on a show called Nice People and
(21:04):
Winners and we would follow people all over the country.
My boss would say, find three people in any state
you could go. So I interviewed Malcolm Forbes on his
ranch in Wyoming. We went ballooning with him at his
home in New Jersey. Right, I mean, just crazy fun
things that you wish that you I sat on Aspen
(21:27):
Mountain with John Denver and the head of Celestial Seasonings Tea.
There's the Superstar, Okay, I mean, could you imagine that
this is a kid twenty two years old.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
I know, but you know, it's really funny.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
Celestial seasonings tea something that everyone loves or everyone is
at least it's like Staf, It's like interviewing.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Duncan Duncan.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
He I don't know, but Rosanna, I mean, obviously what
you do being a journalist has become different things for
you over over the years. So getting into the business
as a young lady to now where you are truly
the queen of morning TV here, the king of morning
TV here in New York City, and everyone knows that
(22:10):
people here in New York love you. And if you
don't live in New York understand she is like the
god of morning TV.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
Hey, listen, you can stream us on the Fox five
NY app. It's absolutely free.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
And she's great a promotion.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
So how has journalism in your heart changed from being
a rookie to now?
Speaker 2 (22:30):
What is so important to you?
Speaker 1 (22:33):
I think, to get accomplished every day and what makes
you feel satisfied at the end of every day?
Speaker 3 (22:37):
Interesting quality of life? You know, in the beginning, you know, yeah,
you want to interview the President of the United States,
and of course the mayor and the governor but quality
of life you live in New York. It's a time
where we're seeing so many changes. Crime, things are dirty.
I just want things to be better for my children
(23:00):
and possibly grandchildren down the road. And so if I
can work my little magic every day to make New
York City a better place to live, that's my focus.
You know. I don't want to come on TV every
day and be an a sayer and you know, hit
up all the wrong things that are happening in town.
(23:20):
But maybe that's what we need to do to improve.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
Now.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
You, of course, are owning New York City. Have you
ever wanted to be the National Journey?
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Yes? Yes, and why aren't you doing that?
Speaker 3 (23:44):
In the beginning, everybody said my accent was a problem.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
You do have a New York accent? Really, you do?
Speaker 3 (23:52):
What do you mean by that? You was talking to me,
you know?
Speaker 2 (23:56):
Okay, So Danielle on our show has a bronx accent.
Speaker 3 (23:59):
I never noticed, and we.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Were told that our show would.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Not work on a radio station in Portland, Oregon because
of her accent. We have proven that theory wrong across
the country through the Midwest, where we're number one in
Des Moines and number one and these other cities where
we never thought we'd be number one. It's her accent
that lets people know she's being herself, She's being her real,
true self. And I think they all made a stupid
(24:26):
mistake and thinking your accent would have been a problem.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
It was a real detriment because you are yourself. So
in the beginning, they sent me Channel seven, sent me
to a speech coach, Lillian Wilder. Oh, do you remember, Lilyan.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
No, but just the fact that they wanted to change
something that really is the backbone of who is And
then I understand that, right.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
Right, so interestingly enough that you say that. So then
when I moved to Channel five, I was fired and
moved to Channel five. They continue with the speech lessons,
and finally the teacher said to me, I give up.
So I said, fine, because I can't be myself. I
can't be because everybody kept saying, you know, you're not
(25:06):
Rosanna on the air, and I kept saying, well, because
you want me to sound like somebody I'm not, and
my personality is tied up with my accent.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
You, by the way, when you watch Rosanna Scotto, she
is Rosanna Scotto on camera and off the camera. Thank
you you still get enthusiastic. You hear it in your voice,
and thank god they didn't change that about you.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
Thank you. No, I have to say, and the same
thing with you. We love what we're doing, and you know,
there's a certain amount of curiosity that we come into
our jobs with every single day, and I think once
we lose that curiosity and that enthusiasm, then it's something
to hang it up. But right now we still got it.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
Amen's sister.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
You did say one reason why you aren't national it
could be because of your accent.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
What else is on that line?
Speaker 3 (25:53):
I think you know, at the beginning, when they gave
me the anchor job, they said to me, I don't
look like you don't look like our typical anchor.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
So I think, what does that mean? What they mean
by that?
Speaker 3 (26:08):
I think that I was not a good old American,
classic beauty, you know, I looked like an Italian American,
And in the beginning, that kind of colors your judgment
on how far you can go.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
Wow, I don't like hearing this.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
No, it's it's true, it's true.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Has it changed at all? I think that's how.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
I think that we totally embrace ethnicity now, which I'm
so happy you don't have to be a classic beauty
to be on TV anymore. You can have that jewish nose,
you don't have to go to to get effected. You
can look like your Puerto Rican. You can have that
crazy hair, which I did. I did have in the beginning.
(26:56):
I did look like Roseanne Rosanna Downe.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
With you had crazy hair.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
That was the only thing. And by the way, that
was a reporter, you know, being in the anchor spot,
you had to be quaffed, you had to have, you know,
I guess a classic beauty. I WoT them down, wore
them down.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
No, what about some of the people you have worked
with at the anchor desk over the years.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
I know you recently lost a really dear.
Speaker 3 (27:19):
Old friend, John Roland.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
John Roland, and John Roland was just an institution here
in New York City, and you did a very very
beautiful piece about him. It looked as if you got
a partner to help produce and direct it, and you
did that piece.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
It looked like it came from your heart.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
Well, you know, I knew that John was not well,
but I did not want to face that John was
not well and not going to make it and so
I had talked to my producer, Jose Salvador, and he
started compiling some of the video and the Sunday that
John died. That morning, I woke up like six o'clock
in the morning and I'm like, I really need to
(27:57):
start jotting down some ideas. And then I got the
phone call from his wife and I was like, Okay,
going into work. Really need to put my big girl
pants on. And I wrote it.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
From was it rough for you? Yes, very you're getting
You're getting choked up now see see when it was
that it cries. I cried both. It's a little combination
thing we have. We've got to connected at some court
or whatever.
Speaker 3 (28:21):
But we respect the people who taught us exactly.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
I agree, I wholeheartedly agree, which brings me to this thought,
this question.
Speaker 3 (28:32):
Here's some clear thank thank you, thank you, and thank you, Andrew.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
And cry.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
I'll turn the mica on me for a second. The
day after a school shooting, we have to come in
here and do a show. On September twelfth, two thousand
and one, we had to come in and do a
show during oh god, crazy awful, awful times during you know,
(29:02):
when black lives matter became such an important, important movement
that we need to be a part of. But in
those stories were also stories of awful murders and assassinations
of citizens by the hands of police.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
We also, uh, there's the list. You know what I'm
talking about.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
These are the things you had to tackle as a
trusted journalist or a goofy guy on the radio to
deal with the day after.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
Does it affect you?
Speaker 3 (29:32):
Absolutely, talk talk.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
To me about like things that have totally affected you
in the news stories that you have to.
Speaker 3 (29:38):
Do so you know, I realized part of my job
is normally giving out information, but you have to be
a voice of comfort. And in those times like you
talk about nine to eleven devastating as a New Yorker
walking to work, hearing the city absolutely quiet, that you
could hear pin drop, starting to see people's Do you
(30:02):
remember walking in New York and seeing people putting posters
up a missing loved one?
Speaker 2 (30:09):
Yes, the chain link fence down in the village down Tribeca. Yeah,
they never came home.
Speaker 3 (30:15):
Yeah. Things will never forget COVID being locked down. We
were scared. We were just as scared as anybody else, right,
And then what then took place? With, you know, the
Black Lives Matter movement, watching it outside my window, learning
about what I didn't know as a white woman their journey.
(30:40):
So was it difficult to do, absolutely, But I also
knew my job was comfort that no matter how unsettling
the times were, I needed to bring comfort that we
were going to get through every single one of those
events together.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
I remember you actually it was during COVID and you
called me while you were walking I think it was
after you got off the air yours. I had the
feeling you were kind of walking aimlessly around the city. Yes,
you walked over to your restaurant, which was closed at
the time. Everything was closed, and you I was on
the phone with Rosanna when she walked up to the
(31:19):
front door and she's like, well, here it is, here's
our baby, and she's all shut down, and you were
very emotional about that, you know, and I was thinking,
you know, not only is she giving us the news,
she's actually a part of the news.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
Living it like everybody else.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
And look what we do.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
We don't want to be a part of the news,
I know, not at all, but sometimes I am.
Speaker 3 (31:40):
You know, yeah, you know, closing down the restaurant was
very traumatic. It was something that you know, who's our baby,
who was our labor of love, it was our second
and all the people, the family, the people that you
know worked with us. I mean, we have people who
were there from day one that Fresco opened its doors.
And at that point when I was talking to you,
I said to you of us, are we ever going
(32:01):
to open this restaurant again? Didn't know the future?
Speaker 2 (32:05):
Wow?
Speaker 3 (32:06):
And we did. We did, and we reimagined it. It
took a few it took a few starts, but we
were reimagined it. And it's better than ever and so
much fun. And you've been there where we've been dancing
in the streets.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
I danced. I'm dancing with these ladies, all these ladies
with tight face, lips wearing black leather pants. Crazy people.
Well look, you know, what do you want to say
to young women who are thinking?
Speaker 3 (32:35):
God?
Speaker 2 (32:36):
You know, it's not like it was.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
When Rosanna started in the business. It's a different playing
field now, it's a different thing. But they want to
follow in your footsteps. They want to do what you do.
What do you tell them?
Speaker 3 (32:50):
You know, Listen, young people have challenges too, some of
them I don't understand. It's a different world. You know,
when I started on TV, we went to a smaller
station and kind of work our way back to the
big station. Now there's social media. You can be online.
You can start your own little station on social media.
You're an influencer. You can come in every big back
(33:12):
door there is. Just be passionate. Don't let people tell
you can't do it. You can do it. If this
is what you love, just go for it and may
take a few times to finally achieve it, but it
could be yours. Just stay with it.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
What's your legacy?
Speaker 3 (33:32):
Oh, my legacy.
Speaker 2 (33:33):
There's a hard one to answer.
Speaker 3 (33:34):
Oh, honesty, honesty. I hope my legacy is honesty. That
people know that I was the voice of New Yorkers everywhere,
that I no matter what background, where you lived, what borrow,
that I was going to say what you wanted me
to say.
Speaker 2 (33:55):
Rosanna, thank you for being here today.
Speaker 3 (33:56):
I love you, love you, thank you for making me
laugh And.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
Sorry about that.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
Oh well, you know, sometimes the range of emotions, the
spectrum of emotions is a very important thing, this podcasting thing.
You know, you're my She's my fifth interview, maybe interview five.
Speaker 2 (34:12):
Maybe I'm loving it.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
Are you yeah, because you know, when you're doing live
TV or live radio, you see these clocks in the walls.
Speaker 2 (34:19):
They're always ticking down.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
There's always someone circling their finger in the air saying,
you gotta wrap it up when you know there's so
much more you want to say. There's there's it's further
you want to drive. And I love being able to
do this. So I told you at the very beginning
of this we're going to talk about things we've never
talked about, and we just did.
Speaker 3 (34:35):
I know, thank you.
Speaker 2 (34:36):
See, I didn't ask any buried bones questions.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
We'll do that later.
Speaker 1 (34:39):
Okay, that was my favorite podcast so far. Thank you
so much, Rosanna. I love you incredible insight into the
world and a lot of personal things you'll never hear
anywhere else. So outside of being one of my best friends,
she truly is a New York icon and we're so
thankful that she could share some of her stories with
us on our podcast. Coming up, We've got a lot
of special guests lined up, so you need to like
(35:00):
and subscribe to Thinking out Loud wherever you get your podcasts,
and leave us a review too. I love reading those
the good ones anyway, follow me at Elvis Duran on
all socials and DM me if you have any other
guest ideas as well, because you and me we're in
this together. Thank you for listening. Thinking Out Loud is
hosted by me Elvis Duran. The podcast is produced and
(35:23):
edited by Mike Coscarelli. Executive producers are Andrew Paglsi and
Katrina Norvel. Special thanks to David Katz, Michael Kindheart, and
Caitlin Madore. Thinking Out Loud is part of the Elvis
Duran podcast Network on iHeartRadio. For more, rate review and
subscribe to our show and if you liked this episode,
tell your friends.
Speaker 2 (35:41):
Until next time, I'm Elvis Duran.
Thank you so much for listening to the podcast. We
have new episodes coming out, starting with this one today.
A very special guest and to be totally totally transparent,
she's one of my very best friends.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
So if you're from New York, you've heard of her,
My dear friend, Rosanna Scotto.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
She's in an incredible thirty plus year career in journalism,
which is of course currently anchoring Good Day New York
on Fox five here in New York. Rosanna is a
brilliant journalist, a brilliant person, and she truly is the
face of morning TV here in New York City. I
can't think of a better guest to welcome our podcast
back online.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
So let's listen in with Rosanna Scotto.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
It's so weird having my best friend Rosanna Scatto here,
and I'm telling you she's my best friend because I
want to be very, very very open and honest with you.
But I want to talk to you today about things
we've never talked about.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Oh gee, you know it's funny. You've been on my
show Good Day New York a number of times and
usually I get to ask you the questions. But I'm
really nervous now because you kind of know where the
bones are buried with me, because I do you know
where all the bones are buried with me.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
I'm not digging up any bones.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
How deep are we going? Is this with or without alcohol?
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Obviously we're without right now.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
No, I think you're going to enjoy where we're going because, Okay,
it's weird having a friend who you're as close with
as we are with each other, but there are things
we don't know about each other, true, and I.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Just want to go down those those those Okay, I pass.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
I feel like, you know, during twenty twenty, you and
I kind of explored a little bit because well, you know,
the world fell apart and we had a lot of
time on our hands, and so we actually had conversations.
But now we're busy again, and now you want to
go down that rabbit hole.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Well we're busy going down a rabbit hole. Okay, So
of course.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Rosanna Scotto the co host, actually the host of a
Good Day in New York on Fox five.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Here in New York.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
She has been a part of the media scene, a
TV journalism scene here in New York City for how
many years?
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Here in New York Let's just say over thirty because
it might be more.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
So it's more than thirty.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
But before working on TV doing TV journalism here, you
were in Atlanta.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
I was in Atlanta and I worked for Eyewitness News
at one point two, and then I was doing After
I Witness News, than I did the ten o'clock news
on Fox five, and then I've been with Good Day
New York for almost twenty years now.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
If you're not familiar, not from New York, A good
in New York is the number one rated morning wake
up show on TV here in New York City.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
It's a lot of fun. We do everything from newsmakers
to celebrities like you.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
I'm not a celebrity, but no, so the times Rosanna's
inviting me to co host on the show, it's only
the last hour. That's when they loosen up from the
news and turn it into more lifestyle lifestyle show. Yeah,
and it's a lot of fun. So I never asked
you like a girl growing up in Brooklyn, Yes, with
a great, great family. It's very well known here in
(03:06):
New York City. Then later on your family opens up
Fresco by Scotto, which is just the premiere restaurant for
people in media and politics for lunch and dinner.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
First of all, where did the restaurant come from? How
did that get toto?
Speaker 3 (03:20):
Okay, so this is the story. So my brothers were
living in California and they had a restaurant. My brother
John had this place called Bar One. It was near
Sunset Tower, and it was crazy, like we would go
visit him and they would be like throwing out Julia
Roberts out of the club because she had no shoes on.
(03:41):
Sliced Alan was there. I mean, it was just it's,
you know, the same players back then are the same
players back right now? Anyway, So my mother thought like
they were going to get in trouble, which they did,
and so she said, what will it take to get
you back to New York? And they said a restaurant.
My mother, who had volunteered her whole life, really didn't
(04:02):
know about, you know, dollars and cents. And she said,
we're going to open up a restaurant. When she realized
how much it would cost, she mortgaged the family home
in Brooklyn. Now she was retirement age when she mortgaged
the family where this this was nineteen ninety three. We're
celebrating our thirtieth anniversary at Fresco by Scottola Fall. So
(04:25):
it was nineteen ninety three, and my dad didn't think
it was a good idea. He was like, we should be,
you know, thinking about our future. We're at retirement age.
And she said, I want to do this for our family.
And since it was her house, it was her family's house.
She mortgaged the house in Brooklyn. Never knew this, Yeah,
(04:45):
and so, and it wasn't easy because, don't forget, my
mom had no track record as a businesswoman. So when
they found various places, nobody wanted to do business with
her because she had no track record as a bit
business woman. And we went to one place which is
now the Monkey Bar. It's Charles, that Charles Steakhouse in Midtown, Okay,
(05:10):
And we wound up not taking that place, and we
found Fresco by Scotto on fifty second Street two blocks away.
So when they were doing the negotiations for the restaurant,
the real estate person said, I'm going to bring the
old owner of this restaurant in here, and I'm going
to tell him if the Scottos can't make it, he
(05:33):
just gets the keys back. Like in other words, like
I don't really believe that you're going to do this.
So I'm just going to give the keys back to
the other guy who was failing in that spot.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
And this is always a good thing to go back to,
is people who doubted you. It makes you work extra
hard to prove them very wrong.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
I know. And it's so funny. So my mother and
I went to a clairvoyant and the Claire Waran said,
you are going to have politicians, You're gonna have royalty,
you're gonna have presidents. And my mother totally believed it.
She's like, this is gonna happen, and what were you thinking?
And I was thinking, is this guy a whack or whatever?
But seriously, we've had presidents Clinton, Biden, Trump, We've had royalty,
(06:20):
Princess Beatrice and Princess Fergie. We've had celebrities Elvis Duran
sliced the Loane Jennifer Aniston. I mean, just crazy.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
We're always rolling through there, and.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
You know, of course all our favorite food influencers as well.
But we've had it all. That clairvoyant was absolutely right.
Mama's right to believe it.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
So not knowing anything about business, not knowing especially not
knowing anything about a restaurant. Everyone says, don't open a restaurant.
It's the worst idea ever. You guys have been doing
this for thirty years. Fresco by Scatto still is the
hottest seat in town.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
Thank you. But it takes a lot of massaging. As
you know. There are times where we go out and
I go I have to go back to the restaur
So and so is going to be there. I have
to show my face. It's you have to nurture that business.
It's it's not easy doing, you know, business in New York.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Well, and keep in mind, Rosanna is doing this while
she's hosting a TV show every morning on Fox five
in New York City. So this is a long, many
long days for you. And we've been together at many events.
We're like, oh my god, let's go to sleep.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
I know. He and I are like, well, you started early,
a little earlier than I do. An hour earlier. I'm
on the air from seven to ten. You're six, right,
I know. But you have to look this great. I
don't have to look I can look like shit. No,
you always look great. I mean I think it's easier
for guys, you know, for women, we have to kind
of really get ourselves together, put on some kind of makeup,
(07:41):
make sure that we have colors on, you know, so
that we don't look, you know, kind of blah.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Well, you always look so beautiful every day.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
Thank you have black on. I have New York black on.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
Yeah, you're wearing your knee on black for summer. All right,
So let's talk about where you're taking us.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
You are taking us to men versus women as far
as getting up and having to look a certain way
for being on TV. So I I must assume since
you started way over thirty years ago, Uh, where was
your first job?
Speaker 2 (08:05):
And said? Atlanta?
Speaker 3 (08:07):
Atlanta, Atlanta?
Speaker 2 (08:08):
What did you do there? So?
Speaker 3 (08:09):
I started off really, you know, as a beginner, I
was doing the chirons that you see up on the
screen when you watch TV, like the sports scores and
stuff like that. I was really terrible. I couldn't type
that fast, especially with the sports scores. But they then
promoted me to researcher and I kind of worked my
way up. Very different back then, I mean, you know,
(08:31):
it was very much guys did like the hard news
stuff to men's club, Yeah, Woyn's club. And it followed
me really like up until you know Fox five, and
then I had to like flex my muscle a little
bit because you know, even in the beginning Fox five,
all the guys were getting the great assignments and I
(08:52):
was kind of getting the lifestyle stories until the preppy murder. Trall.
Now I bring this up because he's made news again
just recently. Bring everyone up to okay, ninety something, yeah, yeah,
So what happened was this good looking guy in New
York City going off to college, is accused of killing
(09:15):
a woman in Central Park and they were friends. He
wound up using the rough sex defense. He wound up
taking a plea deal in the case, got out of
jail fifteen years later, and then gets in trouble with
drugs and winds up going away again for a heroine.
(09:38):
I don't know if it was distribution or something. Anyway,
he just got out of jail on parole just the
other day, just the other day anyway. So that was
one of the first stories that I was not on.
I was not assigned to that story, but I knew
the victim's family, and I went to my boss and
(09:59):
I said, another eleven family, and I think they'll talk
to me. And he said, well, if you get an interview.
The story's yours.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
So there you go, and there you go.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
And that's how I broke through. And it went, you know,
it kind of like one one thing leads to another, right,
I did a lot of trials back then. Woody Allen
me a pharaoh custody case.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Well, you were almost personally involved in that as.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Well, because in a strange way, somebody believed that Woody
Allen was going to get away with the initial accusations,
and so they brought the tape of his daughter, Dylan,
making these accusations that he inappropriately touched her. He was
(10:43):
afraid that Woody Allen was such a big store in
New York City at that time, Beloved Beloved, he was
New York right, that this would completely get swept under
the rug without being looked at. So we got the tape,
we looked at it, we had our lawyers luck at it.
We could never put it on the air, but I
(11:03):
went on the air and paraphrased what Dylan said, and
we made international news. In those days, there was no
social media. We had people calling from all over the world.
They wanted me on the show. And at that point everybody,
my bosses were like No, she's ours. That's it.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Oh so now you're like the prize possession.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Prize possession. You're not allowed to talk to anybody. All
information will be disseminated on Fox five and a current affair.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Oh if I was your boss, I'd say the same thing.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
And so, I mean we covered that story for over
a year.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
So Rosanna, you know, doing your thing in the boys club,
in the newsroom, and you start to get this traction right,
did the men treat you differently? Did things change a
little bit a little in a good way or a
bad way?
Speaker 3 (12:03):
No, in a good way. First, I think there was
a little jealousy. And then you know, it's funny. I
look at some of the pictures with the guys back then,
like you could see they're giving me the sly you know,
the side eye. But I think then I, you know,
I worked it over. I was always like, you know, unassuming,
(12:24):
humble Brooklyn girl. Oh my god, pinch me. I can't
believe I'm doing what I'm doing right now. This was
my dream to be doing this in New York, you know.
And I think they came around, but there was always like,
you know, a little snide comment, like you know when
I'm about to go on the air, they'd be like, oh,
don't embarrass me. Like, why would you say to somebody
(12:45):
before they go on the air, don't embarrass.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Me because you're you're good at getting the truth out
of people or getting to what's happening.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
And I mean, I take such a different approach when
people come on our show or like just starting off,
and I'm always like, so you know you're going to
be great, You'll be fine. Pretend you're talking to your friends,
don't think about you know how many people are listening.
I would never say don't embarrass me.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
Never, Well, it's well, that's the sign of nervousness. If
someone says that the thing is Rosanna is. I've seen
you do some interviews on Good Day New York of
late and you will you are not embarrassed to go
after a question looking for or go after an answer
that you believe no one else is getting out of
this people person you're interviewing.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
I can't talk, so no, no, I totally I know where
you're going with that. And yes, we have, especially the
first two hours of Good Day politicians on and I
have to say I equally don't trust any of them,
and when they come on, I am trying to get
through that spin. I'm a New Yorker and I'm not
going to take it. I live here, I was born here,
(13:50):
I was raised here, and you can't pull the wool
over my eyes. I'm not going to take it. So
I'm going to keep asking the questions until I think
you're going to give me the answer.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
You see, it takes years of experience, years of mileage,
to get the courage to conduct that sort of interview. Yes,
this is why people love watching you, because you're not
afraid to go in there on their behalf. Someone is
sitting in their living room watching you do these interviews.
They're thinking, Rosanna is asking these questions of my politicians
on my behalf. They trust you to be there for them.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
That's my job.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
It is your job. There's a job, but with that
job comes some pressure.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
I make some enemies.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
You make some enemies. Yes, you're a list of your inemyes.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
Okay, Well the first one right now, the MTA, the
Metropolitan Transportation Association. They run the subways, the buses and
everything in New York. As you know, it is an abyss.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
It's dangerous.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Now, No much no matter how much money you give them,
they don't have any money. Right, Okay, the going to
raise fairs this week. They screwed up. The fair doesn't
go into effect for another month, but they started charging
the new fair yesterday. Okay, we expose that. Second of all,
they want to do congestion pricing. They want you to
pay twenty three dollars to drive your car into a
(15:09):
certain area of New York. Why because they need that
money to fund the subway. Because why nobody wants to
take the subway. They're scared out of their mind. They say, Oh,
it's so much safer, we have police there. Yeah, but
you know what, there are so many mentally unhinged people
on a normal day New Yorkers. We're so used to
(15:31):
going down there seeing some crazy person, you know, either
taking a crap on the side of the subway station
on the train, rolling a joint in your face, asking
for money. It's like, this is every day. This is
what every day New Yorkers sees.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
And see.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
This is why you know Rosanna is so trusted here
in New York because you're looking you're looking out for us.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
And the thing that this is why thet MTA is
met at me because I will say exactly what I
see and what I know.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
You're not the only one that thinks that, and they
know that.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
But you have such a loud microphone. But okay, to
other enemies are Tory spelling? Oh going from the MTA
of New York City to Tori spell Tory.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
So this is the thing with Tory. I feel sorry
for Tory. I do. I mean, she was living in
a dollar motel, right, not necessary when her mother has
like she's sitting on muddy mountain, right, why won't the
mother give her money so that she can les stay
in a nice hotel with her one hundred kids? Like,
what's the what's the story there? Okay, So she comes
(16:32):
on her show with Jenny Garth. They're a little bit
mean girls. So first, you know, they're giving me a
look like oh this is gonna whatever. They come on like, oh,
everything's fine, and then they start talking about BS and
I go to Tory, how are things like financially with you?
She's like They're fine. I'll go really Now, meanwhile, I
(16:53):
know she asks somebody I know for money. She said
she had no money, like not even like fifty So
I go, really, I'm like you're paying your bills. All
hell broke loose. The husband starts tweeting the husband at
that time, are they still together? I don't know, saying
nasty things, calling me the sea word.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
You called you the sea word?
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Yeah you know that word?
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Yes I do. OK. But she didn't she go off
on you on air a little bit, went.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
Off on me a little bit, and then I apologized
because I was like, oh, that was so rude. I
don't really like to talk about somebody's finances on TV
because you know, listen who everybody has a problem with
checking and balancing right on their checkbook. But hers are
part of who she is right now because she goes
(17:45):
from one house to another. She's got five kids. She's
living in a dollar motel. Her father was like a
big many had a hundred room mansion in Beverly Hills.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
The largest mansion at that time, right in Beverly Hill.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
Why is she living in a dollar motel? There's something
I'm missing.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
As a journalist. Rosanna, you have that that gene you
need answers. You can't sleep at night.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
I know, but if you're coming on my show, you
can't pretend like you know everything's Okay, you see.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
But do people come onto your show Orsanna thinking you know,
she's got a little bit of a background and like
going for the jugular sometimes, right, And that's why they
say things like, don't embarrass me because you have you
have this.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Well, people know who you are.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
They do, they do, but they also expect that they
are going to have a good time.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Well, look, you know I have not honed that craft
as well as you have. I need to. I'm not good.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
I don't go to for the jugular with people. I'm
super nice. I want them to come back.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
You are so kind, you do, but you still elicit
the same information. You just have a different approach.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Well, one approach that you and I both have is
disarming our guests, making them feel at home, making them
feel comfortable. If they feel comfortable, then they're more likely
to open up to you.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Yeah. I mean you have some of the people that
I like, Oh my god, I love the Jonas brothers.
They come to you know, Elvis like it was like
their their cousin. They're here all the time, they go
to his bedroom, they wake them up. I mean, this
is a crazy stuff.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
You know that was all pre planned by the way
they didn't really break into my apartment.
Speaker 3 (19:19):
They didn't, darn it. That was my fantasy anyway. But
everybody trusts you, Elvis, and they know that you're gonna
ask the right question.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
You're turning this around.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
This is my job.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
This is I know. I know it's hard being an interviewer,
being interviewed.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
This is one of the most difficult things I've ever done,
being interviewed, But interviewing you is easy.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
So I'm gonna go back to something.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
I'm gonna talk about your ambition to get into this business. Right,
you were ambitious. You moved away from New York all
the way to Atlanta. I mean, did you go to
college there or something?
Speaker 3 (19:52):
No, I went to college in DC. I went to
Catholic University.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
So Atlanta was the only place that would hire you.
So you took a job.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
But when I started there, it was nineteen eighty Ted
Turner had just started CNN. It was the most fun
place to work ever. We used to call it the
Turner School of Broadcasting. Everybody out of college was just
starting there.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
So what was it like like? The hallways must have
been just full.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
Of FES's just so much fun. Oh, you never knew
who you were going to meet and then on a Saturday,
because of course, you know, as a you know, a rookie,
you work Saturdays and Sundays. On Saturday, you would walk
through this big studio that was doing wrestling on a Saturday.
Could you imagine Atlanta wrestling back.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
In those days, so that you didn't see in New York.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
Something you didn't say. I was like a mom, this
is not Kansas anymore. It was wild. And then he'd
be like, really fun. People like Maria Shriver was just
starting off and she had a little bit of a
show there, and I just learned so much, you know,
I just learned the business there. They would very kind.
I then got on a show called Nice People and
(21:04):
Winners and we would follow people all over the country.
My boss would say, find three people in any state
you could go. So I interviewed Malcolm Forbes on his
ranch in Wyoming. We went ballooning with him at his
home in New Jersey. Right, I mean, just crazy fun
things that you wish that you I sat on Aspen
(21:27):
Mountain with John Denver and the head of Celestial Seasonings Tea.
There's the Superstar, Okay, I mean, could you imagine that
this is a kid twenty two years old.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
I know, but you know, it's really funny.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
Celestial seasonings tea something that everyone loves or everyone is
at least it's like Staf, It's like interviewing.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Duncan Duncan.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
He I don't know, but Rosanna, I mean, obviously what
you do being a journalist has become different things for
you over over the years. So getting into the business
as a young lady to now where you are truly
the queen of morning TV here, the king of morning
TV here in New York City, and everyone knows that
(22:10):
people here in New York love you. And if you
don't live in New York understand she is like the
god of morning TV.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
Hey, listen, you can stream us on the Fox five
NY app. It's absolutely free.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
And she's great a promotion.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
So how has journalism in your heart changed from being
a rookie to now?
Speaker 2 (22:30):
What is so important to you?
Speaker 1 (22:33):
I think, to get accomplished every day and what makes
you feel satisfied at the end of every day?
Speaker 3 (22:37):
Interesting quality of life? You know, in the beginning, you know, yeah,
you want to interview the President of the United States,
and of course the mayor and the governor but quality
of life you live in New York. It's a time
where we're seeing so many changes. Crime, things are dirty.
I just want things to be better for my children
(23:00):
and possibly grandchildren down the road. And so if I
can work my little magic every day to make New
York City a better place to live, that's my focus.
You know. I don't want to come on TV every
day and be an a sayer and you know, hit
up all the wrong things that are happening in town.
(23:20):
But maybe that's what we need to do to improve.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
Now.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
You, of course, are owning New York City. Have you
ever wanted to be the National Journey?
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Yes? Yes, and why aren't you doing that?
Speaker 3 (23:44):
In the beginning, everybody said my accent was a problem.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
You do have a New York accent? Really, you do?
Speaker 3 (23:52):
What do you mean by that? You was talking to me,
you know?
Speaker 2 (23:56):
Okay, So Danielle on our show has a bronx accent.
Speaker 3 (23:59):
I never noticed, and we.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Were told that our show would.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Not work on a radio station in Portland, Oregon because
of her accent. We have proven that theory wrong across
the country through the Midwest, where we're number one in
Des Moines and number one and these other cities where
we never thought we'd be number one. It's her accent
that lets people know she's being herself, She's being her real,
true self. And I think they all made a stupid
(24:26):
mistake and thinking your accent would have been a problem.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
It was a real detriment because you are yourself. So
in the beginning, they sent me Channel seven, sent me
to a speech coach, Lillian Wilder. Oh, do you remember, Lilyan.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
No, but just the fact that they wanted to change
something that really is the backbone of who is And
then I understand that, right.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
Right, so interestingly enough that you say that. So then
when I moved to Channel five, I was fired and
moved to Channel five. They continue with the speech lessons,
and finally the teacher said to me, I give up.
So I said, fine, because I can't be myself. I
can't be because everybody kept saying, you know, you're not
(25:06):
Rosanna on the air, and I kept saying, well, because
you want me to sound like somebody I'm not, and
my personality is tied up with my accent.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
You, by the way, when you watch Rosanna Scotto, she
is Rosanna Scotto on camera and off the camera. Thank
you you still get enthusiastic. You hear it in your voice,
and thank god they didn't change that about you.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
Thank you. No, I have to say, and the same
thing with you. We love what we're doing, and you know,
there's a certain amount of curiosity that we come into
our jobs with every single day, and I think once
we lose that curiosity and that enthusiasm, then it's something
to hang it up. But right now we still got it.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
Amen's sister.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
You did say one reason why you aren't national it
could be because of your accent.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
What else is on that line?
Speaker 3 (25:53):
I think you know, at the beginning, when they gave
me the anchor job, they said to me, I don't
look like you don't look like our typical anchor.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
So I think, what does that mean? What they mean
by that?
Speaker 3 (26:08):
I think that I was not a good old American,
classic beauty, you know, I looked like an Italian American,
And in the beginning, that kind of colors your judgment
on how far you can go.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
Wow, I don't like hearing this.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
No, it's it's true, it's true.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Has it changed at all? I think that's how.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
I think that we totally embrace ethnicity now, which I'm
so happy you don't have to be a classic beauty
to be on TV anymore. You can have that jewish nose,
you don't have to go to to get effected. You
can look like your Puerto Rican. You can have that
crazy hair, which I did. I did have in the beginning.
(26:56):
I did look like Roseanne Rosanna Downe.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
With you had crazy hair.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
That was the only thing. And by the way, that
was a reporter, you know, being in the anchor spot,
you had to be quaffed, you had to have, you know,
I guess a classic beauty. I WoT them down, wore
them down.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
No, what about some of the people you have worked
with at the anchor desk over the years.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
I know you recently lost a really dear.
Speaker 3 (27:19):
Old friend, John Roland.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
John Roland, and John Roland was just an institution here
in New York City, and you did a very very
beautiful piece about him. It looked as if you got
a partner to help produce and direct it, and you
did that piece.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
It looked like it came from your heart.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
Well, you know, I knew that John was not well,
but I did not want to face that John was
not well and not going to make it and so
I had talked to my producer, Jose Salvador, and he
started compiling some of the video and the Sunday that
John died. That morning, I woke up like six o'clock
in the morning and I'm like, I really need to
(27:57):
start jotting down some ideas. And then I got the
phone call from his wife and I was like, Okay,
going into work. Really need to put my big girl
pants on. And I wrote it.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
From was it rough for you? Yes, very you're getting
You're getting choked up now see see when it was
that it cries. I cried both. It's a little combination
thing we have. We've got to connected at some court
or whatever.
Speaker 3 (28:21):
But we respect the people who taught us exactly.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
I agree, I wholeheartedly agree, which brings me to this thought,
this question.
Speaker 3 (28:32):
Here's some clear thank thank you, thank you, and thank you, Andrew.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
And cry.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
I'll turn the mica on me for a second. The
day after a school shooting, we have to come in
here and do a show. On September twelfth, two thousand
and one, we had to come in and do a
show during oh god, crazy awful, awful times during you know,
(29:02):
when black lives matter became such an important, important movement
that we need to be a part of. But in
those stories were also stories of awful murders and assassinations
of citizens by the hands of police.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
We also, uh, there's the list. You know what I'm
talking about.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
These are the things you had to tackle as a
trusted journalist or a goofy guy on the radio to
deal with the day after.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
Does it affect you?
Speaker 3 (29:32):
Absolutely, talk talk.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
To me about like things that have totally affected you
in the news stories that you have to.
Speaker 3 (29:38):
Do so you know, I realized part of my job
is normally giving out information, but you have to be
a voice of comfort. And in those times like you
talk about nine to eleven devastating as a New Yorker
walking to work, hearing the city absolutely quiet, that you
could hear pin drop, starting to see people's Do you
(30:02):
remember walking in New York and seeing people putting posters
up a missing loved one?
Speaker 2 (30:09):
Yes, the chain link fence down in the village down Tribeca. Yeah,
they never came home.
Speaker 3 (30:15):
Yeah. Things will never forget COVID being locked down. We
were scared. We were just as scared as anybody else, right,
And then what then took place? With, you know, the
Black Lives Matter movement, watching it outside my window, learning
about what I didn't know as a white woman their journey.
(30:40):
So was it difficult to do, absolutely, But I also
knew my job was comfort that no matter how unsettling
the times were, I needed to bring comfort that we
were going to get through every single one of those
events together.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
I remember you actually it was during COVID and you
called me while you were walking I think it was
after you got off the air yours. I had the
feeling you were kind of walking aimlessly around the city. Yes,
you walked over to your restaurant, which was closed at
the time. Everything was closed, and you I was on
the phone with Rosanna when she walked up to the
(31:19):
front door and she's like, well, here it is, here's
our baby, and she's all shut down, and you were
very emotional about that, you know, and I was thinking,
you know, not only is she giving us the news,
she's actually a part of the news.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
Living it like everybody else.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
And look what we do.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
We don't want to be a part of the news,
I know, not at all, but sometimes I am.
Speaker 3 (31:40):
You know, yeah, you know, closing down the restaurant was
very traumatic. It was something that you know, who's our baby,
who was our labor of love, it was our second
and all the people, the family, the people that you
know worked with us. I mean, we have people who
were there from day one that Fresco opened its doors.
And at that point when I was talking to you,
I said to you of us, are we ever going
(32:01):
to open this restaurant again? Didn't know the future?
Speaker 2 (32:05):
Wow?
Speaker 3 (32:06):
And we did. We did, and we reimagined it. It
took a few it took a few starts, but we
were reimagined it. And it's better than ever and so
much fun. And you've been there where we've been dancing
in the streets.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
I danced. I'm dancing with these ladies, all these ladies
with tight face, lips wearing black leather pants. Crazy people.
Well look, you know, what do you want to say
to young women who are thinking?
Speaker 3 (32:35):
God?
Speaker 2 (32:36):
You know, it's not like it was.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
When Rosanna started in the business. It's a different playing
field now, it's a different thing. But they want to
follow in your footsteps. They want to do what you do.
What do you tell them?
Speaker 3 (32:50):
You know, Listen, young people have challenges too, some of
them I don't understand. It's a different world. You know,
when I started on TV, we went to a smaller
station and kind of work our way back to the
big station. Now there's social media. You can be online.
You can start your own little station on social media.
You're an influencer. You can come in every big back
(33:12):
door there is. Just be passionate. Don't let people tell
you can't do it. You can do it. If this
is what you love, just go for it and may
take a few times to finally achieve it, but it
could be yours. Just stay with it.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
What's your legacy?
Speaker 3 (33:32):
Oh, my legacy.
Speaker 2 (33:33):
There's a hard one to answer.
Speaker 3 (33:34):
Oh, honesty, honesty. I hope my legacy is honesty. That
people know that I was the voice of New Yorkers everywhere,
that I no matter what background, where you lived, what borrow,
that I was going to say what you wanted me
to say.
Speaker 2 (33:55):
Rosanna, thank you for being here today.
Speaker 3 (33:56):
I love you, love you, thank you for making me
laugh And.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
Sorry about that.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
Oh well, you know, sometimes the range of emotions, the
spectrum of emotions is a very important thing, this podcasting thing.
You know, you're my She's my fifth interview, maybe interview five.
Speaker 2 (34:12):
Maybe I'm loving it.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
Are you yeah, because you know, when you're doing live
TV or live radio, you see these clocks in the walls.
Speaker 2 (34:19):
They're always ticking down.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
There's always someone circling their finger in the air saying,
you gotta wrap it up when you know there's so
much more you want to say. There's there's it's further
you want to drive. And I love being able to
do this. So I told you at the very beginning
of this we're going to talk about things we've never
talked about, and we just did.
Speaker 3 (34:35):
I know, thank you.
Speaker 2 (34:36):
See, I didn't ask any buried bones questions.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
We'll do that later.
Speaker 1 (34:39):
Okay, that was my favorite podcast so far. Thank you
so much, Rosanna. I love you incredible insight into the
world and a lot of personal things you'll never hear
anywhere else. So outside of being one of my best friends,
she truly is a New York icon and we're so
thankful that she could share some of her stories with
us on our podcast. Coming up, We've got a lot
of special guests lined up, so you need to like
(35:00):
and subscribe to Thinking out Loud wherever you get your podcasts,
and leave us a review too. I love reading those
the good ones anyway, follow me at Elvis Duran on
all socials and DM me if you have any other
guest ideas as well, because you and me we're in
this together. Thank you for listening. Thinking Out Loud is
hosted by me Elvis Duran. The podcast is produced and
(35:23):
edited by Mike Coscarelli. Executive producers are Andrew Paglsi and
Katrina Norvel. Special thanks to David Katz, Michael Kindheart, and
Caitlin Madore. Thinking Out Loud is part of the Elvis
Duran podcast Network on iHeartRadio. For more, rate review and
subscribe to our show and if you liked this episode,
tell your friends.
Speaker 2 (35:41):
Until next time, I'm Elvis Duran.
Thinking Out Loud With Elvis Duran News
Host
Elvis Duran
Show Links
ElvisDuran.comMore Elvis Duran PodcastsPopular Podcasts
40s and Free Agents: NFL Draft Season
Daniel Jeremiah of Move the Sticks and Gregg Rosenthal of NFL Daily join forces to break down every team's needs this offseason.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Bobby Bones Show
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.