Morning Wire - Protesters Gather At Justices’ Homes | 5.9.22

Episode Date: May 9, 2022

Protesters gather outside Supreme Court justices’ homes, new data shows some industries returning to pre-pandemic levels while others struggle, and one major film studio refuses to cave to Chinese demands. Get the facts first on Morning Wire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Over the weekend, protesters gathered outside the homes of six Supreme Court justices. What is the protesters message to the court, and how is the media reacted? I'm John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Monday, May 9th, and this is Morning Wire. New data shows that some industries devastated by the COVID lockdowns have returned to pre-pendemic levels, while others may have been permanently changed. We'll look at which industries have come back, which are still struggling, and the role inflation is playing in the comeback. And one Hollywood studio has refused to cave to Chinese demands. New reporting shows that the top grossing film of 2021 chose patriotism over profits.

Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. This show is sponsored by Indeed. Indeed is the hiring platform where you can attract interview and hire all in one place. Start now with a $75-sponsored job credit to upgrade your job post at Indeed.com slash wire. Offer good for a limited time. Indeed.com slash wire. Terms and conditions apply. Pay per qualified applicant not available for all users. Need to hire, you need indeed. Protests erupted over the weekend in response to the leaked draft of a Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, which would send abortion back to the states to decide. In some cases, protesters gathered outside the homes of Supreme Court justices. columnist David Marcus joins us to discuss. All right, David, first, how heated did these protests at the homes of the justices get?

Good morning. Look, there's definitely videos showing a lot of anger, a lot of yelling outside these homes, and of course, the neighbor's homes as well. Some people drew coat hangers, a common symbol of the pro-abortion movement in chalk on the streets. In general, Republicans and conservatives have been pretty outraged by the protests. Well, Democrats seem to be brushing it off is not that big a deal. Here's a clip from a protest outside of Chief Justice Roberts' private home. So we've had condemnation of the protests from the right and a more muted response from the left. What about the legacy media reaction? Well, we see something similar playing out in media spheres. The protests are getting considerable coverage in conservative outlets and being called out as really an unacceptable threat to the safety of the justices and their families. But on the left,

of the opposite. The Washington Post ran a fairly positive feature on one of the organizers of the home protests. And I think there's been a general sense that, hey, this is fair game. What about in the rest of the country? Have we seen protests erupt elsewhere? There have been some in Los Angeles. There was some violence. There have been some relatively small protests in New York City. But it's important to note that we haven't seen anything remotely on the scale of the George Floyd protests in 2020 or even the 2017. Women's March, which is odd because the overturn of Roe is really a nuclear bombshell for the American left.

Right. Why do you think that is? There's a few things. The fact that it's a leak and not the actual decision naturally makes it a less historic event. It's like a promise that the big event is coming. But also, we aren't really seeing the media hype up these protests very much, which is a big part of what gets people out. And we also haven't seen as much reaction against the decision.

from corporate America, who may be a little gun-shy after the Disney tussles in Florida. Yeah, there's been a lot of speculation about that. Do you expect we'll see another wave of protests and greater media hype when the decision is actually finalized? Or do you expect it will burn out by that time? We could, you know, but protests movements rely an awful lot on momentum. You'll see a vote in Congress next week to codify Roe, but nobody really thinks it can pass. And I think even the news media is tired of playing the maybe Joe Manchin and Kirsten Sinimal will blow up the filibuster game.

Right. You know, it might just be that Lucy has pulled that football back too many times for Democrats in the liberal media. So, look, it's hard to see where energy will gather from. Finally, given that there is still time for the justices to actually change their minds, has there been a lot of media pressure for them to do so? Yes and no. With some exception, although notably not from the White House, the news media has generally frowned on the leak and the leaker. So media is in a tough spot in terms of really actively putting pressure on these justices. Also, these are lifetime appointments for a reason.

The news media really has no leverage in terms of how Supreme Court justices vote. And that's how it's supposed to be. Exactly. Thanks, David. Thank you. That was Daily Wire contributor, David Marcus. Coming up, will inflation disrupt America's economic comeback? This show is sponsored by Thuma.

Your bedroom deserves a refresh. And now is the perfect time to elevate the most important room in your home with The Bed by Thuma. Handcrafted from eco-friendly, high-quality, upcycled wood, you'll find beautiful, unique variations in the natural grain. The minimalist design featuring Japanese joinery is incredibly easy to assemble. Thuma ships right to your door in three easy-to-maneuver boxes and takes about five minutes to assemble without tools. Listeners can go to thuma.co slash wire to receive an exclusive $25 credit towards your purchase of the bed plus free shipping in the continental U.S. Go to thuma.co slash wire. That's t huma.com slash wire for a $25 credit. As COVID lockdowns continue to fade from memory, new data shines a light on how Americans are resuming their pre-pendemic lives.

Here with more on which industries are bouncing back and which have been changed forever is Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips. So Cabot, first, which industries are really coming back to life after struggling through COVID? Yeah, when lockdown shut down the economy, there was a question of whether certain industries that had been hit the hardest would ever come back or if they'd be forever changed. First, among those that we really weren't sure about is movie theaters. Many experts thought the pandemic might signal the end of theaters forever as movies started being released straight to streaming platforms. And for a bit, that was the case. Box office revenues were basically cut in half in 2021. But we've really started to see people returning to theaters in 2022.

For example, IMAX just reported its best quarter since 2019. And so far this year, we've seen over a 300% increase in ticket sales compared to last year. So there is going to be a bit of a delay in new movies as production was basically halted for an entire year. But it's clear that movie theaters are far from dead and definitely starting to recover. Right. Makes sense. Megan's reported on that. Yeah. We've also seen a huge return, not just in theaters, but for gyms as well. Remember in the early days of 2020, when dumbbells were going for hundreds of dollars and peloton's became all the rage, well, there was some thinking that home gyms would replace the traditional membership model,

but we've seen more and more evidence that people are returning in pre-pendemic levels to gyms and leaving their gear at home. Planet Fitness, for example, one of the largest gym chains in the country, just reported they've now got more members than they did before the pandemic started, while Pure Bar has reported 100% increase in new members since January alone. And at the same time, home exercise companies like Peloton are really struggling as people start to return to gyms. So they actually responded by lowering prices on their bikes and upping subscription rates. So hopefully we're going to start seeing those pelotons and yard sales. Yes, might be able to get a bargain very soon.

That's what it looks like at least. Another industry that's also come back to life has been live entertainment. In 2020, there were some in the medical community who said it might be years before it was safe to attend crowded venues. But people aren't really feeling that fear. We're seeing a huge return to those events. Master, for example, reported a 45% increase in ticket sales last month compared to the same month in 2019. And according to the Wall Street Journal, the promotion company Live Nation had 30% more concerts

planned this year than in 2019. So if anything, we're actually seeing consumers emerge from the pandemic with a ton of pent-up demand and that's causing things to spike beyond what we saw even pre-pendemic. Okay, so those are some of the industries that have kind of come back to normal. But what about the industries that appear to be more permanently changed? Well, the big one there is remote work, just in general. Initially, it was just meant to be temporary during lockdowns, but a growing number of companies, especially in the tech industry, have decided to make it permanent. And that really does start to transform the economy. Airbnb, for example, announced last week that their employees can, quote, live and work anywhere. We saw similar announcements from Spotify, Dropbox, and even entire departments within Facebook. And another area we see this is the real estate industry. It also appears to have changed in a more lasting way as the market focus has shifted to small. are more affordable cities and appears to be saying there. We've also talked about that on the show a good bit.

Right. So overall consumer habits have definitely shifted a bit post-pandemic, but in many ways they are returning to normal. And what's the role of inflation in all this? Yeah, any conversation about the economy right now has to keep inflation in mind. Even though rates are higher than they've been in 40 years, American consumers are actually spending more now

than they were pre-pendemic in 2019. Economists say that's not sustainable because purchasing power is just taking such a hit right now. On that note, we talked to Curtis Dubay from the Chamber of Commerce. In the short term, it could cause real spending to contract because inflation is much higher than wage growth. And even though wage growth is strong, it's still outpacing it. And that would cause people to spend less in real inflation-adjusted terms,

and that could lead to recession. So when we talk about things that might prevent the economy from more fully returning to a pre-pendemic environment, inflation is definitely one of the main ones. Makes sense. Cabot, thanks so much for the update. Anytime. That's Daily Wire Senior Editor, Cabot Phillips. Major movie studios altering their content to appease China

has been one of the biggest stories in entertainment for several years now. Sony, however, is suddenly bucking that trend. The studio reportedly refused to make changes to its 2021 Blockbuster Spider-Man No Way Home, even though it meant the film being blocked from the massive film market. Daily Wire Culture reporter Megan Basham joins us now. to explain just what China wanted to change in the movie and what Sony's refusal cost them. So, Megan, this seems pretty surprising

given a lot of the stories we hear about China and Hollywood. You know, it is somewhat. And I think most of the industry probably assumed that China simply hadn't offered Spider-Man the chance of being released, particularly because the Chinese film board has really pulled back on the number of American movies it's allowing into the country in the last couple of years. It kind of stunned the world, for example,

by refusing a number of Marvel films, including Black Widow, Eternal's, and Shang-Chi, and the Ten Rings, and that was a movie that was, ironically enough, specifically tailored to appeal to Chinese audiences. But according to one Hollywood trade publication, the truth in this case is that Sony refused to make changes Chinese regulators wanted to the final scenes, which take place, and I'm just going to say, spoiler alert, if you haven't seen it yet, final scenes on top of the statue of liberty. They reportedly asked the studio to modify the action sequence for being too patriotic by removing shots that clearly showed the statue. Now, when Sony refused to do that, they then asked if Sony could dim the scenes with a statue or minimize it so that it would be less

noticeable. Again, studio said no. So as a result, the CCP said no to Spidey getting a release date. Wow. So how much did that decision cost Sony? hundreds of millions at least. So you have to remember that China is the biggest film market in the world now, having passed up the U.S. a couple of years ago. So industry analysts estimate that the decision probably costs somewhere between 170 and 340 million. Now, despite that, Spider-Man No Way Home was still incredibly successful. It was the top grossing movie of last year and the third highest earning movie of all time, just behind Star Wars, The Force Awakens, and Avengers Endgame. And even without China, it managed to take in more than 800 million in box office receipts. But, you know, while we're talking about what Sony lost, I think it's also important to talk a little bit about what Sony gained here. Because as a longtime film critic, I do have to note that the studio reasserted its artistic

autonomy here, and it resulted in a better movie. So that end scene at the top of the Statue of Liberty was visually and narratively spectacular. It represented a very satisfying marriage of the theme and imagery. So the film's storyline drew on messages about free speech and civic responsibility. So to get a chance to see that climatic scene take place literally on one of the world's greatest symbols representing those values was pretty powerful. And right now, of course, Sony is also getting some very good press out of the story as millions of Americans are grateful that at least one studio has bucked the Chinese appeasement trend. So this was one of the hosts of the popular YouTube channel, gamers and geeks,

talking about that. As much as I don't really like any of the major studios in Hollywood, I at least have to give major props to Sony for standing up against China when it comes to Spider-Man No Way Home. Now, it makes you wonder if that Sony example might inspire other studios to follow suit. You know, I think that's possible, and not just because Sony is showing the path to good PR and Western nations, but also from a more cynical standpoint, because there just really isn't as much money to be made in China anymore, now that the CCP is letting fewer Hollywood films in, there's less financial incentive for studios to bend themselves into pretzels, making Chinese leaders happy.

Well, I think that's probably a boon for American audiences. Megan, thanks for reporting. Anytime. That's Daily Wire Culture reporter, Megan Basham. Thanks for listening to Morning Wire. We created this show to bring more balance to the national conversation. If you love our show and you stand with our mission, consider subscribing, leaving us a five-star rating,

and most importantly, sharing our podcast with people you know. That's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back tomorrow with the news you need to know.