“It is an honor – it is truly an honor to have Coach Lasso here with us today,” said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre Monday when cast members from the Emmy-winning Apple+ TV show “Ted Lasso” visited the White House.
She quickly acknowledged the true identity of Coach Lasso – American actor and comedian Jason Sudeikis – and the reason why the cast of the U.K.-based series made a trip to Washington D.C.
“On a serious note though, because this is actually very serious for the reasons that they are all here — Jason and his castmates – and there’s a real message around mental health, she explained. “And they are meeting with the President and the First Lady, as you all know, this afternoon on this important topic.”
Jean Pierre also noted that President Joe Biden included mental health as a “centerpiece” of the Unity Agenda for progress in the U.S.
“No matter who you are, no matter where you live, no matter who you voted for, we all – probably, I assume – we all know someone who has – or have been that someone ourselves, actually – that’s struggled, that’s felt isolated, that’s felt anxious, that has felt alone,” said Sudeikis, who plays an American football coach who moves to England to coach the fictional AFC Richmond soccer team on the TV show. “And it’s actually one of the many things that, believe it or not, that we all have in common as human beings, right?”
He said that a big theme of the show – which began its third season earlier this month – is being aware of the mental health of friends and family.
“Check in with your – you know, your neighbor, your coworker, your friends, your family, and ask how they’re doing and listen sincerely,” said Sudeikis.
For the past several years, Audacy has also made mental health awareness a priority. Each year, the “I’m Listening” event features entertainers and public figures who share about their own public health journeys and the importance of mental health.
At Audacy, this mental health focus is a daily initiative, and efforts include the “I’m Listening” podcast. On a recent episode, musician Macklemore joined “I’m Listening” to discuss mental health.
“I think for so long with mental health there was this idea of — ‘oh, you don’t have it together?’ Or ‘oh, you’re going through that,’” he said. “Y’know this red tape kinda around the mind needing assistance in order to get through life. And now we’re at a point where we’re talking about it so much, in a beautiful way that it’s become commonplace.”
“If you can ask for that help from a professional, fantastic,” said Sudeikis as he addressed journalists in the White House briefing room. “If it needs to be a loved one, equally as good in a lot of ways, because it’s – sometimes you just need to let that pressure – that pressure valve release.”
“Coach Lasso” also referenced work the Biden administration is doing to address mental health care.
According to a fact sheet from the White House, a mental health crisis impacting the U.S. was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. So, the Unity Agenda budget included reforms to health coverage and investments into the mental health workforce. Specific proposed changes were: expanded coverage and reduced costs for mental health care services; increasing the number of mental health care providers and improving the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 988.
“I truly believe that we should all do our best to help take care of each other,” said Sudeikis. “That’s my own personal belief. I think that’s something that everybody up here on stage believes in. That’s things we talk about in the [Ted Lasso] writers’ room and we talk about in the editing room and everything in between.”
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