bad boy defender from mike tyson to chris brown, mark gerragos has waged courtroom battles on behalf of the the biggest stars in the world. and baking cakes with cement mixers and wrestling crocodiles. not routine for most chefs, but barry lewis isn't most chefs. tonight, kitchen confessions from a youtube phenom.

>> hello, everyone. and thanks for joining us tonight. it's been 30 year since paul mccartney and stevie wonder recorded "ebony and ivory" a commentary on racial tolerance.

ll cooljay and brad paisley recorded a socially cognizant song of their own. but instead this tune has ignited a media firestorm. abc's rob nelson. >> reporter: it's the new country meets hip-hop song. ♪ i'm just a white man coming to you ♪ ♪ from the south land >> reporter: that's anything but black and white. >> dear mr. whiteman, i wish you understood what the real is really like when you're living in the hood. >> reporter: brad paisley and ll cooljay tried to bridge the gap with their new song "accidental racist." ♪ but it ability like i can walk a mile ♪ ♪ in someone else's skin." >> reporter: it begins with a

simple premise. explaining his confederate flag on his shirt to a black worker. >> this is the most important song in our world today. >> i wanted to break outside of my comfort zone and basically explore things that i wasn't sure if they had never been explored because it doesn't work, or just the fact that it's just one of those things that's difficult to do. ♪ and we're still paying for the mistakes ♪ ♪ that a bunch of folks made long before we came ♪ >> reporter: the lyrics are jarring yet earnest. both the country crooner and the rap legend say ultimately the message here is one of compassion, respect and moving on. >> some people take exception to some of the lyrics. i respect that, i'm sensitive to that. b >> but in the end, i felt like what we had on tape was

something people needed to hear. >> in terms of similar bombs, sometimes i put a skull and cross bones on. and, you know, my wife will get upset with me. but i'm not a pirate. you know what i'm saying? if my man got a confederate flag on, that don't mean he's a confederate soldier. >> reporter: the song landed on youtube monday and has since been described as everything from a bad idea, horrible and simply misguided. >> clearly, they wanted to get people talking, but i don't know if they actually expected it would get to this. >> reporter: this is the music critic for "the new yorker" haen covered paisley's career extensively. >> he usually has a way of tackling these subjects with some wit and some charm. and this is a slightly more earnest approach, which might have been why it didn't work better. >> reporter: music delving into the sensitive territory of race is certainly nothing new. ♪ ebony and ivory >> accidental racist might lack the soothing chorus of stevie wonder and paul mccartney's

"ebony and ivory" or the mega hit "black or white." but the strong still strikes a chord. >> what's unusual is he's willing to sing a song about it, where the country singer would think there's nothing to be gained doing this song. >> brad paisley has even parodied country music and his own work. ♪ not everybody drinks sweet tea ♪ >> but for ll cooljay confronting race is a far cry from his usual fans. ll says when it comes to america's past, let bygones be bygones. >> i'm not advising anyone who

truly forget slavery. but what i'm saying is forget the slavery mentality, forget the bitterness. don't get bitter, get better. >> reporter: beyond teaming up to try to heal racial tensions, it may be a savvy business strate strategy. >> these are both genres where people in that genre wave the flag and say yes, i'm hip-hop. yes, i'm country. >> reporter: black artists finding success in the largely white world of country music dates back decades. ♪ but just between you and me >> reporter: most notably, the success of charlie pride back in the '70s. and most recently darius rucker from hootie and the blowfish. that has now found platinum record success as a country star. but still, the issue of race remain answer unwaivering lightning rod, especially when

confronted as bluntly as "accidental racist." for these two stars, the song isless about bluntness and much more about progress. >> let's not be victims of things that happened so long ago. >> right. and at the same time, let's respect it but then after we respect it, let's also open our hearts up so that we can move forward, you know, like human beings and get this country rolling and get it on course the way it should be. ♪ but i see that red flag ♪ >> reporter: i'm rob nelson for "nightline" in new york. >> crossing the music and color lines. thanks to rob nelson for that. next up, lawyer to the stars. mark gerragos is a savior to showbiz icons in their time of crisis. he opens up to some of the most famous cases in hollywood history. i've been going around the country asking people

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news stories captivate the public more than stories that stars may have done something wrong. the headlines are memorizing as they are polarizing, largely because of the courtroom outcomes they ultimately spawn. jut comes ok stated in many cases by a man named mark gerragos. tonight, abc's david wright sits down with the lawyer to the stars. >> reporter: he's a celebrity lawyer, not just because his

client roster includes so many famous names. chris brown, for instance. still on probation for beating his girlfriend rhianna. mark gerragos is a celebrity lawyer in the sense that he's one of the best known trial lawyers in the country. >> i don't believe he's responsible. >> reporter: famous for defending the infamous, including scott peterson. >> do you really believe scott peterson is innocent? really? >> look, i will tell you i'm not even sure that there was a murder committed. >> reporter: gerragos famously lost that case. his client now on death row for killing his wife laci peterson. it cost him his most famous client, michael jackson. do you regret choosing scott peterson over michael jackson? >> it was a death penalty case. i did not want to drop client.

>> he said you've got to choose here. >> i told him look, i'm not going to dump one client for another. if you're not comfortable, you've got to do what you've got to do. >> reporter: jackson went on to win his sexual molestation case. the jackson trooir trial had more twists and turns than a three-ring circus, beginning with the arraignment, handled by gerragos. everybody remembers that moment when he jumped on the hood of the car. >> how in the hell did this guy at this age able to jump like that. >> reporter: gerragos shares anecdote in his book "mistrial." the book makes the case that there's something deeply wrong with the fact that the u.s. prison population has quadrupled since 1980. no other country in the world has imprisoned so many of its citizens. your book is the case for legal reform from, if you'll forgive me, the scum bag lawyer's point of view.

>> we get a lot of hate mail. >> reporter: it was ever thus for defense lawyers. what's your favorite legal movie? >> probably "to kill a mockingbird." >> you never understand a person until you understand things from his point of view. >> "my cousin vinny" is probably my second. >> is your attorney here? >> i am the attorney. >> reporter: the notion that criminal defense was a noble calling, disappeared somewhere around johnny cochran. >> if it doesn't fit, you must acqu acquit. >> reporter: today at the federal courtroom that o.j. simpson beat a murder rap. a lot of people point back to the o.j. case as an example. but as a defense lawyer, would you say that justice was done there? >> yes, i think the first case, the criminal case, i think the jury got it right.

>> but in the book, you believed o.j. was guilty? >> right, but they didn't prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. >> we the jury find the defendant orenthal simpson not guilty. >> reporter: he had to face down criticism from nancy grace. >> the jury is not going to buy it. >> reporter: his job is to help people get away with murder. there's that scene from al pacino in "justice for all." >> my client, the honorable henry c. fleming should go right to [ bleep ] jail. the son of a [ bleep ] is guilty! >> reporter: have you ever been tempted to do that? >> for different reasons. >> reporter: there's no one he says he would refuse on moral

grounds. but he has the luxury of being able to be choosey. >> you're somebody that they come to for guidance and counseling. so it becomes a very close and unrelenting relationship. >> reporter: who's your favorite client? >> i will tell you it's between mike tyson or chris brown. both clients who have kind of been knocked down, vilified -- >> who have knocked other people down. >> in both cases. there's an irony to that. >> jimmy: a >> reporter: and when you're facing the worst, apparently gerragos is a good guy to have in your corner. mark gerragos' book "mice trial" will be released tomorrow. next, you never met a cook like this. how a man who prepares meals in his underwear ron the respect of a world famous chef. even the inside of your dishwasher sparkles. okay. so i'm the bad guy for being clean. you said it.

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they may have set out to master the food pyramid, but many of today's celebrity chefs also find themselves sitting atop the pyramid of reality tv, snagging sky-high ratings by showcasing world class skills.

but as we found, barry lewis' recipe of fame consist for as much silliness as sauteing. >> watch closely, he's about to be try cooking a meal inside his underwear while jogging. >> i'm going to chute it down there and the heat i generate down there will melt the chieee. my boxer shorts. >> that's good. >> reporter: you heard me. in his underwear. >> one there. okay. so you can see the chocolate is all fused in there. amazing. can't wait to taste that. >> reporter: he's even tried his hand of booking in his car. >>'m going to wedge it right i .

we're going to drive around for a half an hour. i'm going to do chicken pasta dish. we need an iron. we put it on to the hottest setting. after five minutes i put the chicken breast on there. >> reporter: if that's not daring enough for you. how about baking a cake using a cement mixer. >> a good amount of sugar. >> reporter: three years ago, he could barely poach an egg. >> i wouldn't even have touched the oven i was too scared of it. >> now, do you know what this is? >> i just randomly saw someone on the tele cooking. i thought well, he's just poaching an egg. i just thought i'll give a go and i decided to put videos on the internet. >> reporter: more than 450 recipes and counting, documenting each step of his journey with these whacky,

creative videos. >> he's a regular guy. not a chef an he's not normally a cook. >> reporter: he contacted jamie oliver. >> i just made a homemade big mac and dressed up in a pulp fiction theme when i made it. he saw it and liked it. >> reporter: jamie took barry under his wing. >> he does crazy things. >> reporter: and behold the birth of virgin kitchen. it's hard not to have fun in the kitchen, especially when he's recounting one of his favorite video moments to date. when he dressed up as someone else he resembles, the late steve erwin, aka, the crocodile hunter. >> crocodile for dinner, you just need to find a crock. i found one. she's a beauty. i made this cod fish. but the cod was actually crocodile. i looked out the window and i came in with the crocodile as if i caught it in my garden.

look at the figure on her. isn't she gorgeous. >> reporter: he has many fans, many sending him recipes to try out. we thought if he could do this, maybe there's hope for me, a useless cook who can only make a mess in the kitchen. >> do you know how to light it? >> reporter: i can try. my first attempt, i made something like this. >> we're going to cut these. >> reporter: he's already won over his little helpers who always seem eager to lend a helping hand. and as for me, well, i'm not sure about this. it just looks like goo to me. i mean, it smells good. what's that proverb? practice makes perfect?

>> sticking to her day job there. time now for tonight's "closing arguments" is a deal on gun control legislation likely to appear before the senate? it requires anyone purchasing a gun online or at a gun show to complete a background check. the nra says law makers need to focus on crime and mental health issues rather than limiting access to fire arps. so what do you think? is this new deal a break through or setback? weigh in on the "nightline" facebook page or tweet us on lightning or @terrymoran. see you tomorrow.