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Pop culture isn’t just entertainment—it’s a survival guide in disguise. On Talk Pop To Me, celebrity producer and casting director Ash Cantley dives into Hollywood’s juiciest scandals, love triangles, and money moves with sharp humor and insider cred.
How else would you know how to survive your own scandal, dodge a messy breakup, or decide where to shop… if celebrities didn’t teach us the hard way?
With 20 years behind the curtain, Emmy-recognized work, and a viral TikTok following, Ashley breaks down the drama with wit, perspective, and just enough takeaway to make it stick. It’s gossip—smarter, funnier, and way more useful than it has any right to be.
You're listening to talk pop to me. I am Ash Cantley, and I have been a celebrity booker and a talent executive for the past twenty years in the TV and film business. Meaning, I've worked on a lot of your favorite TV shows with a lot of your favorite celebrities. And when I think about pop culture, I think about more than what's happening in the world. I think, why should we care about this?
Speaker 1:And when people say to me, leave them alone, or why do you care? Or mind your own business. And I'm like, what? No. I'm not gonna do that.
Speaker 1:You know why? I believe that when we look at what's going on with other people, especially people who are putting it all out there for us, We can learn. We could start feeling some empathy. We can, I don't know, improve our lives somehow? So yeah, I'm gonna talk pop to me.
Speaker 1:And guess what? If you're listening, I'll talk pop to you too. There has been so much going on in the media this week. I'm gonna give you a little roundup of what's going on in my mind at least. Tori and Dean are still going through their divorce, which is incredible.
Speaker 1:It happened in 2023. And part of me is like, is this karma? Like, I don't wanna be like that. But all I could think about is how she walked away from a really good guy that she was supposed to marry because she met Dean on set of a Hallmark movie. And like, he was just this, you know, random actor.
Speaker 1:She left her wealthy husband behind for Dean. And Dean is this like, okay, I'm I'm sure there was something attractive about him at the time. He's Canadian. He's got the Canadian look and he was an actor and whatever. But cut to cut to five years later, remember the disastrous reality show they had where he basically tortured Tory?
Speaker 1:He was suicidal. Like, he was so gross. He has just filed divorce papers where he calls out their salaries, their salaries. And in it, we see that Dean is basically broke and he's found himself a broke ass girlfriend too because he had to declare how much she made. She makes $600, Dean makes $3,800.
Speaker 1:And I'm really thinking like, how does Dean even make that much money? Honestly, he's in $200,000 of debt. He has medical debt. He's like basically the every person, especially the every person who works in TV and film. And Tori makes anywhere from 3 to $75,000.
Speaker 1:She has a hit podcast. I think Tori Spelling is one of the most underrated talents of Hollywood. I've said this before. I know Aaron Spelling passed his genes onto her. And if you grew up in my era, you watched nine zero two one o religiously.
Speaker 1:I have worked and met every one of the people in nine zero two one o and Tori Spelling by far has this mystique and energy that nobody else has. And I think it's the Aaron Spelling genes coming out. She had that show so notorious. That was so good. Zachary Quinto was in it.
Speaker 1:I think Tori Spelling has got such a creative mind and she's got the energy, which is funny because if you grew up watching nine zero two one o like I did, then like actually Tori Spelling was one of the ones they were like, how did she get on the show? She's not cute. Like she was always the one they ripped on because she was not the traditionally good looking one or like she was a little awkward. But I'm telling you what, she has more potential than anyone on that cast had. And I think we're still gonna see the best of Tory to come.
Speaker 1:But I worked with her at thirty Rock on an NBC show, and I'm gonna tell you what, she was not nice to me. She looked me up and down the way that women do when they're like, you know, when they don't like you. And that's weird because I was working with her. I was a celebrity producer. I was trying to get her ready to go on set.
Speaker 1:But what was going on at the time was a real life reality show playing right before my eyes. She and Dean were fighting. Dean had to go out of the green room and take space from her and talk to the publicist. And Tori was such a professional though. She showed up on set.
Speaker 1:She was a professional. But behind the scenes, she was mean. And you know what? I'm such a fan of Tori that I'm gonna blame it on Dean because he tortured her. Anyway, I hope for her sake and the kid's sake that this divorce happens and she doesn't have to pay him a cent.
Speaker 1:And I hope that Tori gets some of that candy spelling inheritance money that candy has and so that her life can become a little easier. She could live and create and we could see what's next for her. Kyle from Real Housewives of Beverly Hills reunited with her husband Maurizio at their daughter Alexia's wedding. Alexia basically married as the spitting image of her father. I couldn't tell them apart.
Speaker 1:She's like 28. They have been dating for a long time. Supposedly, were supposed to get married together in Aspen. They canceled that wedding. It was too stressful.
Speaker 1:So they got married in Topanga Canyon, California. And Kyle had a purple strapless dress. She looked great. Maurizio was there. I feel like based on nothing other than my own opinion that Kyle is still in love with Maurizio.
Speaker 1:I think Kyle never really meant to pull the plug on their relationship. That's why they're still married. They still have not officially legally divorced. They're just separated. And I think Maurizio was mad, but I think he was probably out having fun in their marriage anyway.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean? Like, in my mind, he's out cheating on her. And then she breaks up with him and he's like, great. Now I could just go public with all these women that I'm dating because he has been seen with many of women. He seems very happy.
Speaker 1:He has a bachelor pad and Kyle is like sitting in this big house mourning the relationship with Morgan Wade. I mean, that's alleged. I don't think she ever came out and said they were item and I think they are still friends. So I posed the question this week. Can two people reunite after a long separation like this?
Speaker 1:And people are like, just let's normalize being a family. Can't they come together and just be a family? I'm like, yeah, they can. But can they get back together is the question. I think they make a great couple.
Speaker 1:I won them back together, but I don't think of our io's game for it because I think he's having too much fun and what's in it for him. The kids are grown. It's not like they're having family fun moments anymore. So I don't think it's gonna happen. Sadly, I don't think it's gonna happen.
Speaker 1:The other thing that people get crazy over is when you speckle speculate whether they're gonna get pregnant or anything around pregnancy, people lose their mind. Taylor Swift's future mother-in-law went and posted something about Taylor's uterus, like yearning to have kids. And I talked about whether they're rushing a marriage so that she could go and have kids and people lost their mind like, why are you putting that pressure on her? You know? Travis has talked about wanting kids.
Speaker 1:So I think it's fair to speculate they probably are gonna have kids. I don't think we need to say she doesn't have want like, people who don't want kids get crazy about this topic because they're like, they don't have to have kids. Like, yeah, we know, but we're pretty sure they want kids. Right? So then the question is, are they gonna have kids right away and are they gonna rush this wedding?
Speaker 1:They're gonna have the wedding after football season, obviously, probably in the spring, maybe in Rhode Island. And obviously Travis's mother Donna is on board since she's liking and posting things about their baby making. People have pointed out to me which I think is such a good point that Taylor, I would think probably has frozen her eggs. And people also get mad when you say like, by the way, you better hurry up. I wish people had told me this because I was living in New York City and it becomes to feel normal having kids later in life, forties and beyond.
Speaker 1:But the statistics know they're not outdated statistics. People are working with updated statistics, not from the seventies, current statistics that prove that having kids after 40, the odds of having a live child are very low. Please don't tell me that your mom had a baby after 40. Please don't tell me that you know people yeah. It happens.
Speaker 1:But they're in the ten percent. And I'm in that other statistic, the ninety percent. I had a major loss. So I'm in the ninety percent and yeah, I think it's helpful to start talking about fertility and also sharing this information so women can start making choices for themselves. So yes.
Speaker 1:And then the other thing is I posed the question. Jojo Siwa, who's like 22, started talking about having a baby. And the stranger things girl adopted a baby and she's 21. So my question is, I know it happens all the time. I know and I'm not saying it's wrong, but I waited till I was older to have a baby.
Speaker 1:I wonder, is that the right choice? Or do you think being 20, 21, 22 is a good time to have a baby, even though your brain isn't fully developed, the brain that is responsible for making long term decisions and impulse control. Like, I wonder if it will be, if it's wise to wait until you're 26 till your brain is fully developed to have kids. I hear so many mixed things from people and I know it happens and I know there are amazing young moms, but I just wonder from the young moms, were they happy that they had kids that age? Did they behave they how they wanted to behave with their kids?
Speaker 1:Because I personally, I I couldn't have handled it. I didn't have the patience in my twenties. So that's another conversation. I think that's worth having that people just lose it when you talk about it. So weigh in if you have an experience with this, I would love to know.
Speaker 1:Okay. The last thing I'm gonna talk about is Ariana Grande at the MTV VMAs. The MTV VMAs happened this week and it was a really weird experience especially if you're of an age or like an older older person like I am. It was really weird to watch because they people were treating Ariana Grande like an icon. They were treating Ariana Grande like Mariah Carey.
Speaker 1:And Ariana Ariana is so young but I guess to the young people of the VMA audience, Ariana was old. Okay. So that was the first thing that was odd but Ariana's style choice struck me as odd. Her voice, it like it was like she was reminding me of her Sam and Cat days, which my son watches on repeat. She reminded me of Cat Valentine.
Speaker 1:I'm like, why is she talking like a baby? Why is she talking so quiet? Why is she talking high pitch? Why does she look like the way she looks right now? I'm confused.
Speaker 1:And then someone made the best comments on my social media. They're like, Ariana Grande took on a role, the Glinda the Goodwitch, and she's stuck in it much like Austin Butler is stuck in Elvis. So confused about it. I love Ariana Grande's acting in Cat and Sam. I didn't see the Wizard of Oz.
Speaker 1:I love her music, but I am confused by her persona and her brand. And I also don't like her boyfriend who cheated on his wife who just had a baby. So there's that. Anyway, what are your thoughts? Email me.
Speaker 1:Hi. Talk pop to me dot com. Find me on social media at ash can't lie. And tell me what you think and what you wanna hear. Please share and subscribe.
Speaker 1:I will be so grateful until next time.