Rapper and actor Dave Burd, aka Lil Dicky, has a new web series, taking viewers inside his Los Angeles home for celebrity interviews and crude banter.
“Friends Keep Secrets” debuted on YouTube on Tuesday. Burd hosts the weekly series with his wife, Kristin Batalucco, and close friend Benny Blanco, who co-starred on Burd’s TV series “Dave” for three seasons on FX.
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In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Burd, 37, who grew up in Cheltenham, Montgomery County, said he sees the new series as more of a multimedia show than a podcast, although the Hollywood Reporter and other articles about the 49-minute premiere episode refer to it as a podcast.
Burd contends people don’t need to see the video to enjoy the conversations taking place on the show, but having a bunch of cameras pushes the boundaries of the podcast format, he said, by creating the mood of a TV show versus other podcasts with video components that other are set in recording studios.
Burd compares “Friends Keep Secrets” to a classic sitcom, but with footage recorded by cameras positioned throughout his house, it also has the voyeuristic feel of a reality show.
“I don’t want you to think that I’m saying we’re making the next ‘Seinfeld,'” Burd said. “But I think in today’s day and age, for a show about a group of friends that’s kind of living in a show about nothing, to have the same cultural impact that those sitcoms of the nineties had, I really honestly feel like it might be better served in this new multimedia format than even a show like Dave.”
The lineup of celebrity guests for the first season of “Friends Keep Secrets” includes Ed Sheeran, Gwyneth Paltrow and Paul Rudd. The show cycles between cameras in different rooms of Burd’s house, presenting conversations that unfold during extended hangouts with guests.
Burd and Batalucco got married last year and live in a 5,600-square-foot house in Studio City. Burd bought the property, formerly owned by saxophonist Kenny G, for $6.3 million in 2024. Batalucco’s background is in advertising and production.
Blanco is a music producer, songwriter and musician who is credited on hits by Sheeran, Justin Bieber, Rihanna and other. He also married Selena Gomez in September.
Burd graduated from Cheltenham High School in 2006, attended the University of Richmond and started his career in a corporate advertising job. On the side, he produced self-deprecating rap videos that garnered a following on YouTube.
His breakout as Lil Dicky came with the 2013 music video for “Ex-Boyfriend,” a song that catapulted his rap career and attracted high-profile features. Lil Dicky’s first studio album, 2015’s “Professional Rapper,” included appearances by Snoop Dogg and T-Pain.
Most recently, Lil Dicky released the 2024 soundtrack, “Penith,” featuring songs from “Dave.” The TV series told a fictionalized tale of Burd’s life and rise to fame. It was put on indefinite hiatus after its third season in 2023, and Burd since has said he has no plans to revive the show.
Earlier this month, Lil Dicky put out a video of a freestyle filmed on the snowy steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He has not teased any plans for an upcoming album, and he said he has hopes that the new video-podcast format will attract interest from streamers like Netflix.
“A lot of the stuff that I’ve done takes a ton of planning, just such disciplined execution, the opposite of living in the moment, whereas this is living in the moment with my two favorite people on earth, and inviting other people to come and share this space,” Burd told the Hollywood Reporter.
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