The Highwire with Del Bigtree - OLYMPICS SWIMMING IN CONTROVERSY

Episode Date: August 11, 2024

OLYMPICS SWIMMING IN CONTROVERSYBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-highwire-with-del-bigtree--3620606/support.

The story that has really grabbed the news cycle for the entire week, which is hard to do in this fast, rapid, crazy news cycle. But what am I talking about? This is the Olympics and the opening ceremony. So on Monday, people had a lot to say about what happened over this past weekend. And if you didn't have an internet connection or you live in a cabin in the woods, this is what it looked like. Backlash to this year's Olympic opening ceremony. Backlash after Olympic ceremony, drag queens parody last supper. controversy over an opening number that some people said was lastphemous. The highly anticipated Paris Olympic Games has been overshadowed by a controversial depiction of The Last Supper that sent billions across the world into a rage.

At one point during the ceremony, there was a long table that included a woman with a halo-like crown at the center. Soon after, a nearly naked man painted in blue who depicted the Greek god Dionysus laid on the center of the table. the god was surrounded by drag queens. The far right here in France called it a provocation, whilst many Catholics all over the globe were united and their distaste for it.

You took something religious, which two billion people in the world hold sacred, and you mocked it with something that many of those two billion people are struggling to accept and understand. Why offend such a huge population of the, um, Olympic village, the athletes themselves and the people at home watching for what purpose? The director told Parisian news outlet BFM that, quote, the idea was to do a big pagan party linked to the gods of Olympus.

Now in response to the internet drama, the Olympic Games tweeted, quote, the interpretation of the Greek god Dionysus makes us aware of the absurdity of violence between human beings. If people have taken any offense, we are of course really really really. So a lot of headlines were made from that, obviously. One of them here. U.S. leaders denounced drag queen last supper parody at Olympics opening ceremony, but it wasn't just U.S. leaders. Here's Mateo Salvini. He's the deputy prime minister of Italy. He took to X with this message. Opening the Olympics by insulting billions of Christians around the world was really a bad start. Dear French, Citi, Paris 2024. But then we have the apology. Paris organizer, Olympics organizers say, sorry for offense,

but insist opening ceremony did not depict Last Supper. And we have to pause here because really think about how long it took to plan and choreograph all of that. This isn't a week. This isn't a month. It's probably more close to a year, I'm guessing. And so it's the first. I mean, and by the way, you're storyboarding this light, right? It's literally drawn.

I come from media. I happen when you're going to put this many, we can do a live event like this, which we have done here at the High Wire and other places. You have written this out. You know exactly what it's going to look like. There are hundreds of millions of dollars on the line that has to go exactly perfect. Choreographers have drawn this. So nobody looked at it and said, hmm, I don't know.

It reminds me this. I'm trying to think. What does this image remind me of? Come on. So it's important to, it's important to realize here, it's the first instinct that people get, which was outrage. Yeah. That's what they wanted. It's like the media.

When the media prints a lie. It's the first instinct they want you to remember is that lie. No one ever goes back in like page four of the classifieds to go, oh, there was the retraction a month later. They didn't mean it. It's that first instinct. Vaccines are safe and effective. They stop transmission. The virus stops with you. How many people still remember that to this day, even though we've been through so much? It's the first instinct.

So during while this was happening, what is the corporate media doing? Well, here's Savannah Guthrie, co-host of today's morning show. And this is the headline. Today hosts Guthersh, Savannah Guthry left hot and bothered after 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony, threesome moments. So here we go. Not a discerning bone in the corporate media body to stay unbiased and professional in the face of what to be. What is this half that's do with sports? I mean, come on. Somewhat inflammatory at this point. And you have a person just going hook, line and sinker, you know, wiping their mouth with drool saying, oh, I'm hot and bothered.

I mean, CNN opinion section out, maybe today's show out. So what was interesting about this is come the beginning of this week, a lot of people, because social media is a robust marketplace of ideas, are posting videos, are talking about this, are giving their breakdowns of this. And they were beginning to be hit with what we're called DMCA takedown orders. That's the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. DMCA takedown notices hit Olympic Ceremony Last Supper videos. So anybody that was talking about these videos, using clips from them on X, on Facebook, on YouTube,

they were starting to get takedown orders and getting hit with this. So, which by the way, which by the way is an absolute attack on free speech, freedom of the press. This is something I know very well. I've been in television for well over a decade now. It's called fair use. And in fair use, when something happens in the media, you're allowed to play it as long as what you're doing is either making a parody of it, making fun of it, or having commentary about it. So for everyone that played it and wanted to talk about what they thought it meant, your freedom of speech says that's exactly that they have no right

to claim some sort of copyright infringement. That is how the, certainly in the United States of America, and the fact that that was taken down, there should be a lawsuit that we're going to look into that because that is an absolute violation of your freedom of speech. If we cannot point out what our leaders are doing and play the videos, imagine, you're just this far away from, from not being able to play the video that shows everyone calling Kamala Harris the borders are. Like, this is what this is. Say, no, it's a copyright infringement.

CNN owns that footage, and you're not allowed to talk about it. Folks, it is so dangerously close to living in 1984 or Brave New World. We are right there where freedom of speech is illegal, where referencing anything that's actually happening in your world is censored and illegal. It's so scary, you know, and over something is sort of in ridiculous.

as this pageantry was. Yeah, and that pageantry and that drag queen theme pageantry of the opening ceremonies has given way to lopsided physical combat of boxing. And what am I talking about? Well, the woman's boxing category, this is something that's all across the news right now, has just ended and it looked like this. Take a look. All right. Corini choosing to abandon the bout from Bath. Yeah.

In red from Algeria in New York Cliff taking the win as Queenie abandoned the bout for the splung for knees He is very upset. I don't know if he's he's my father.

I'm I've got to because one one day I'm still before Tokyo I'm still said, I'm tired,

the training are intense but I don't mullo He said, Angelina Babbo, a champion is a bit like, when you're a bit like the cyclism. The champion, when you see the ultimate kilometer, you know what does.

Pedal, and you, arrive to that one last kilometer and pedala, go in the front because I'm always with you. And so I've done. Until at the end, I've combatted with with the same, because I want to all the cost this victory.

So, if you're watching, watching the corporate news reporting on that. This headline may have came and went without any fanfare. And if you're reading Reuters, you would read this. Algerian Kleefe advances as Italy's Karini abandons fight after 46 seconds. But there's a little more of the story than what Reuters is reporting. And here we go to Daily Mail, and it gives a little more of a, their headlines are always something special. Female boxer yells, this is unjust and falls to her knees in tears, as she quits fight against biologically male opponent, Olympic opponent, Amin Khalif, after just 45 seconds, following two powerful punches.

So what happened here is the International Olympic Committee, the IOC, allowed Khalif to compete. And the Boxing Commission, the International Boxing Association, used to be over kind of the boxing, I guess you want to call them like okaying these athletes. Did they test? What did they test? They testing for drugs? What gender are they? Well, the Olympic committee took that over because the boxing association, apparently there was some problems. There was not some, there was some issues with transparency. So the Olympic committee didn't really have, they're basically saying, look at the passports, and we're good to go. And the passport of Kaleef says that Kaleef is a female. One of the problems is the boxing commission actually has a robust system

for this. They test the testosterone. They do genetic tests. And Khalif has failed those genetic tests showing that the reveal the presence of an XY chromosome, which is a male chromosome, had higher testosterone. And one of the conversations is that Khalif suffers from a genetic disorder, was born female, but has this chromosome issue and has this, this higher testosterone. But the problem was that wasn't picked up by the Olympic Committee, and it was played out on a world stage. And you can see just by looking at this, just with your own eyes, you have one athlete that's bigger than the other. And, you know, getting into the ring at this point, you're talking, I mean, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, this is CTE. This is a real thing. So it's one thing when

somebody with an advantage or a biological male or whatever the case is here plays in a soccer game or a baseball game or a track game. But when you talk about taking blows to the head, I mean, the NFL hid this point, but this is widespread. These are real issues, and people can really get hurt here. And that's not even to talk about the violence against women that was just a woman that was just on display for the world to see. It's really beyond imagination. You know, I've had some as a kid growing up. I did a lot of sports, gymnastics, springboard diving, things like that.

But I've been watching the Olympics and sports for my whole life. And they always tested whether it's a biological. issue. It's just known that there's an unfair advantage if you have an X Y chromosome, if you've got higher levels of testosterone. I remember there was a, I think your name was Castor Semenia or something like that, a runner, that they just kicked out, I believe, of the Olympics just because there's such an unfair advantage. And when it comes to sport like this, you're right, a full contact impact sport. It's different. It's different than any other sport that we're looking at. And it's just, it's really a shocking story. And it just, I mean, all of these things, we are really living in just the most

amazing time of news cycles we've ever been in. And so many people are scratching their heads. They feel like throwing the towel. I keep talking about it. Don't throw in the towel, everybody. Just stay tuned with us. We're going to keep bringing the truth. We're going to try and be absolutely as objective as we can report on what we're seeing out there just now. We're not saying that that's a man, but we are saying that. that the chromosomes are there. We're going to do a deeper research. But just as, I mean, just so you know, we were reading the headlines and it was saying,

this is a man that is, you know, claiming to be a woman. But just before we're going live, Jeffrey's reaching out saying, hold on a second. There's a little bit different part of this story. So we're bringing you as it actually is reporting in real time. If something this story changes, we'll bring it to you next week. We're not trying to be sensational. We're trying to discuss that there are real ways that this is supposed to be handled. There's the right ways to do this to make sure that,

sports are fair for everyone involved, and especially in all the work that women have done to be recognized for their incredible talent as athletes to, you know, get the same pay, to get the same respect, to get the same advertising benefits and things. And this woman whose father died in her life mission, I assure you, she's never dropped out of everything. She's got her own father in her mind and took those hits and said, I'm sorry, Dad, I'm not going to die for this. Just an incredible moment.