The JBP boys are back in business.
After a lengthy hiatus, co-hosts Rory and Mal have returned to the Joe Budden Podcast. Although they didn’t go into deep detail about the nature of their conflict, Joe, Rory, and Mal did explain how they managed their feelings toward each other and reconciled before returning to the show.
“Me, Mal, and Joe met last week,” Rory said. “There was a lot of grown man feelings, it was a little uncomfortable. It was a lot of feelings for three grown-ass men in a living room.”
Joe admits they weren’t behaving as friends leading up to Rory and Mal’s forced breaked, moving Mal to emphasize respect and friendship over their business ventures.
“I want it to work,” Mal said when reflecting on the conflict around the episode’s 14-minute mark. “But more importantly, is there still respect among us as men? … The business is the business. We can fix that, or we can’t. But as long as respect is still in play, me personally, I feel like anything can be resolved. But if there’s no respect, then there’s nothing to talk about.”
During Rory and Mal’s absence, Joe took the “show must go on” approach by having good friends Ice and Ish fill in while the original trio figured out their differences. Rory understood all parties needed space before they forced a fix on each other, but Mal thought Ish and Ice’s interim hosting jobs were unnecessary.
“My thing is, does the show go on without trying to resolve something first?” Mal continued. “I felt some type of way about that because to me it’s saying something. It’s saying like, ‘Yo, you’re replaceable.’”
After detailing that some lines were “blurred” between their business and friendships, Joe, Rory, and Mal let it be known they are working on their issues and focusing on keeping their personal relationship healthy.
Watch the Joe Budden Podcast’s 435th episode in full up top.
