Jason Weaver on The Chi, Brotherhood & Breaking Barriers
The Breakfast Club
The Black Effect Podcast Network and iHeartPodcasts
4.4 • 14.4K Ratings
🗓️ 28 May 2026
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode of The Latest with Loren LoRosa, Loren sits down with actor Jason Weaver for an unforgettable conversation about the final season of The Chi, growing up in Chicago, and the power of authentic Black storytelling.
Jason reflects on starting his entertainment career at just five years old, how his mother helped guide him through the industry, and why portraying “Shad” on The Chi has become one of the most meaningful roles of his career. From discussions about masculinity, healing, incarceration, and LGBTQ+ representation to the beauty and complexity of Chicago’s Black communities, this conversation goes far beyond television.
The two also dive into:
- Why The Chi resonates so deeply with audiences
- The responsibility of telling real stories about Black communities
- How the show helped spark difficult but necessary conversations
- Jason’s emotional fan encounters in Chicago
- His bond with Luke James on and off screen
- Why independent Black storytelling matters now more than ever
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:02.6 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:05.6 | I'm a homeguard that knows a little bit about everything and everybody. |
| 0:11.2 | You know if you're going to lie about that, right? |
| 0:13.4 | Lauren came in hot. |
| 0:15.1 | Hey, y'all, what's up? |
| 0:16.0 | It's Lauren LaRosa, and this is another episode of the latest with Lauren LaRosa. |
| 0:21.3 | This is your daily dig on all things, pop culture, entertainment news, and all of the conversations that shake the room, baby. |
| 0:27.8 | Going right back into another conversation that is going to shake the room. |
| 0:32.5 | This is part two of my interview with Jason Weaver, where we get into all things, The Shy. |
| 0:37.4 | If you guys didn't know, |
| 0:38.6 | the shy is on its final season, season eight. There's twists, there's turns, there's a lot of the |
| 0:44.2 | drama, but we get into all of the behind the scenes conversation in the meaning with Jason Weaver. |
| 0:49.3 | Let's get into it. So let's get into, you know, just some things here with you because I started this by mentioning like, you know, a few ways that people may know you, some stories that we've heard throughout your career. |
| 1:03.0 | But you've been in this business for a very, very long time. |
| 1:06.4 | What age did you actually start anything entertainment related, even if it was something we don't know about? |
| 1:12.6 | I actually started in my hometown of Chicago back when I was like five years old. |
| 1:19.7 | And, you know, I initially started off doing print ads and commercials in the Chicago land area back in the late 70s and the 80s, |
| 1:31.7 | a lot of the major jingle campaigns that people would hear on national commercials |
| 1:36.2 | were all created more or less in Chicago. |
| 1:39.6 | And the talent that was utilized for these spots was mostly black talent, |
| 1:43.8 | black musicians, black musicians, |
... |
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