The Sad Reason Damon Dash Made A Fool Of Himself On The Breakfast Club

Did you see the Dame Dash interview on the Breakfast Club? If not, you should read about it. While everyone is talking about what happened (namely, that Dash, to quote my grandmother who has gone on to be with the ancestors, acted a plum fool), what interests me is not how he acted, but why he acted that way. But to understand that, we have put the now-viral interview in context.

On September 16, Dash was a guest on the Breakfast Club because, let him tell it, he wanted to promote a new artist named Nicolette. But it wasn’t five minutes before Dash started shaking the table in anger.  Why? Well, he says it is because he kept getting cut off by Charlamagne tha God (CTG) and the other hosts, but there was clearly something deeper going on.

From the moment the interview started, it was apparent that Dame showed up to spar with the hosts. He may have brought gifts, but he was not in a cheerful mood. Especially when it came to Charlamagne.

He did not mince words when he challenged CTG’s masculinity. Outright saying that the man who has been married for 11 years is on the down low. But he gave no real reason for making such a claim other than to state that CTG’s former boss was Wendy Williams.

And it went on from there. The interview spiraled out of control to the point that Dame, on a radio show that has an international audience, said to CTG “I could punch you in the face.”

Sigh. OK. That’s what happened. Now let’s talk about why.

Damon Dash is clearly insecure about his finances. When he is called broke, the man essentially loses his mind live on camera. He resorts to behaving like a child and starts making silly claims like “my house is bigger” than all of the hosts. He even goes so far as to compare himself to President Trump by implying that filing for bankruptcy is not a big deal because the current president did it and was still elected.

This would be funny if it wasn’t so tragic. (OK. I did laugh a little.)

Dame is a man who has always measured his worth by the money he has in the bank, the cars he drives and the home he lives in. Just watch him in videos from the 90s and 2000s. He is always flexing with something expensive.

The only problem is that the man is doing the opposite of balling now. On September 5^th of this month, Dame filed for bankruptcy claiming that he was over $25 million in debt. He listed his monthly income as $0 and stated that he does not own a house, car, or electronics, save for a cell phone.  

So, not to put too fine a point on this, the man is, well, broke. And this must be devastating to his self-image.

Jay-Z, his former friend and business partner, is doing alright for himself. Mr. Z is worth over two billion dollars and married to one of the biggest pop stars in the world. And Dash? Well, he is struggling to make ends meet.

That would sting any man. But especially a Black man.

Many of us are taught measure ourselves by how much money we have in the bank. So, when we are riding high, we will find a way to let everyone know. Just look at pastors who wear flashy clothes and drive fancy cars. Or NFL players wear ostentatious jewelry when they line up on the football field.

All these men, in their own way, are letting the world know that they are successful. That they’ve made it. But Dame can’t do that. He was once successful…but he isn’t anymore or so he claims.

That’s what I saw when I watched that interview. A man who was taught to measure his worth by his economic status grappling with the reality that he is now in a terrible financial position.

So, when the hosts of the Breakfast Club kept picking at that sore wound, he lashed out. I am sure he thought he was standing up for himself. But there is a reason that interview went viral. And it isn’t because he won the argument.

Dame Dash needs counseling. And I hope he gets it. Because I didn’t see a buffoon on the Breakfast Club. I saw a man who lashed out in anger because he needed help.