The Philip DeFranco Show - 7.29 16-Year-Old Bugha WINS $3 Million Fortnite World Cup, Tana Mongeau Paul PPV Wedding, & MORE

Starting point is 00:00:00 Sup you beautiful bastards, hope you had a fantastic Monday. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show and let's just jump into it. And the first thing we're gonna talk about today is a bit of online entertainment and business news. For those who didn't see or maybe are unfamiliar, this last weekend was a huge weekend for eSports. Epic Games held the first ever Fortnite World Cup,

Starting point is 00:00:17 an event that had a $30 million prize pool that had one of the craziest layouts I've ever seen in Arthur Ashe Stadium with thousands watching and attendance and millions around the world. The event took place over three days. There were three separate tournaments, Pro-Am, Duos, and Solo. And so obviously this was a big deal

Starting point is 00:00:34 because in part it showed the current state of esports. This would have also been the largest prize pool in history, although now it comes in at number two. This because the International 2019, which is a Dota 2 tournament, has now surpassed $30 million. But still, I don't think the people that participated in the Fortnite World Cup cared,

Starting point is 00:00:49 because even the losers at this point took home at least $50,000, with the largest take-home prize going to a 16-year-old by the name of Booga, bringing home $3 million with his dominating first place performance. Although that's not to say, once again, anything about anyone that did not come in first place

Starting point is 00:01:05 because the prize pool was very nice. Personally, I think one of the most touching moments from this was actually a player by the name of King. He's a 13 year old. There was a video of him like crying out of joy and just what a big moment this is in his father's arms. And it's just really wild to see one, the e-sports industry growing like this,

Starting point is 00:01:20 but also the new opportunities for a lot of these kids that some of them are sharing stories about how like their mom threw out their Xbox and now that same mom's like pretty okay with everything. Which I will say is fun to see on its own right but also relatable for me. Some of you who have watched for a long time know that I was kicked out of my house for being a YouTuber. My father's defense though being a YouTuber made no damn sense at that point. Yeah, just a wild thing to see and a question I'll pass out, and this goes to people that love the esports industry,

Starting point is 00:01:46 people completely on the outs of it. Do you love seeing stuff like this? Do you hate it? Do you think that the esports industry is just going to continue to rise and rise? Or do you think that it's a bubble like some do? Let me know what you're thinking on that one. Insert my opinion at the end of this.

Starting point is 00:01:57 I personally think it's just gonna get bigger. As far as if I have a problem with these young kids getting paid so much money for playing a game, no. The entertainment is entertainment. The market decides who is worth what. And just like in the regular sports industry, you have millions and millions of young kids who aspire, and millions of millions who will never succeed at it,

Starting point is 00:02:13 and only the tippity-top will ever be able to play at the professional level. But at least with video games, if you're not, you know, one of the top 100 or top 1,000 players in the world, you can still make a ton of money being an entertainer in that same general space. But hey, that's also just my personal take on it. Then in probably less inspiring,

Starting point is 00:02:29 but still online entertainment and business news, you had Jake Paul and Tana Mongeau. For those that don't know, of these two very large online entertainers who are known for not always the most positive reasons, that's the nicest way I think I can say that, they ended up announcing that they were getting married, resulting in a lot of people saying,

Starting point is 00:02:44 "'Yay,' and also, "'F fake. But regardless, whether it's real or it's a fake publicity stunt, a lot of people were talking about it. They also decided to not only stream the wedding, but make it a pay-per-view event, clocking in at a price of $50 per stream, a price that apparently some people actually paid, although we haven't seen confirmed numbers, just kind of screenshots that I haven't been able to independently verify. But ultimately, as expected, at least a little part of it was a shit show, because at one point, as documented on the billions of phones that were out filming it that were not part of the livestream, it appears that someone threw champagne on the new lovely couple, at which point,

Starting point is 00:03:17 the man marrying them that definitely does not have a criminal record just starts wailing on this guy. It also appears that someone else threw a punch. And so, hey, there was that. And here's the thing, you can love them or hate them, but what they are doing is definitely the next stage of what we've seen in reality television. The next step in shamelessly monetizing

Starting point is 00:03:36 and storyboarding one's life for entertainment. And here's the thing, people are gonna spend their money however they spend their money. That part, it doesn't bother me, right? How other people spend their money, I can mock it, but I'm not gonna get like outraged. The thing I will say I do get concerned about with situations like this, and they are by no means

Starting point is 00:03:51 the only entertainers that are guilty of this, it's one of those situations where you don't know what's real or not. And I don't mean like the wedding or the feelings behind it, but that a fight broke out. Or like according to one of the reports on this, reportedly the guy officiating the wedding isn't actually registered in Nevada.

Starting point is 00:04:04 My personal opinion is this is all fake and it's just meant to make money. But it's created a situation where you don't know if, let's say instead of the guy throwing champagne on the couple, maybe he hits Jake or he hits Tana. It's like it creates a situation where you don't know if it's real. Or is it part of the storyline or is it a crime?

Starting point is 00:04:19 A question we have unfortunately had to ponder a number of times whenever we were talking about any of these internet stories. But whether it is to love it or to hate it, the demand is obviously there. So there was that. Then marijuana users of New York rejoice, but also maybe rejoice a little bit in quiet.

Starting point is 00:04:36 Today, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has signed a bill that decriminalizes marijuana use. And the reason I'm saying maybe rejoice in quiet is because it's just been decriminalized, right? You can still be hit with a fine, but it won't be an offense that gets you jail time. And on the national stage, this is somewhat notable because we're kind of almost at the halfway point, if you want to call it that. At this point on the national stage, 11 states and Washington DC have legalized marijuana and New York and 15 others have decriminalized. Then, very quickly because a number of people sent this to me and were like, can you believe this, Phil?

Starting point is 00:05:03 The short answer here is yes, 100%. It's a piece from the New York Post titled, Sorry, Childless Millennials, Going to Disney World is Weird. Over the weekend, it felt like everyone and their brother, like they took turns dunking on the New York Post. And you had counter articles being written of, this is why it's actually for childless millennials. My response to why I did believe that this was a thing

Starting point is 00:05:21 was because this article was obviously rage-based. It's a polarizing take on something That's not all too serious where yes some stick-in-the-muds will be like yeah those stupid Millennials without kids And then everyone else could be like what the hell are you talking about? Meanwhile they're linking out to the article at the end of the day site traffic is site traffic my opinion on this is not a Unique one I think that adults are just grown-up children If you don't have anything in your life that sparks that childlike wonder and joy, then you are just slowly dying. I mean, yes, we are all slowly dying, but life isn't the beginning or the end, it's

Starting point is 00:05:49 all the stuff in between. If you don't have something in your life that makes you stupid happy or puts a smile on your face from your childhood, I feel like that's maybe a slightly lesser experience. For some people it's Star Wars, others comic book stuff, for me, Pokemon. In my opinion, life's too serious and horrible otherwise. Also, when it comes to Disneyland, have you seen their prices recently? If there was a time to more justifiably experience

Starting point is 00:06:09 Disney World, it's before you also have to pay for the kids. And as far as those childless millennials may be making your experience with your family worse, no one made you have those kids and it doesn't give you the ability to decide what is okay for people that don't have them. And I say that as a father of two. And then let's talk about what happened

Starting point is 00:06:24 in Moscow this weekend. On Saturday, there were major protests about upcoming elections in the city's council called the Moscow City Duma. On September 8th, all 45 seats in the city Duma will be up for reelection, and candidates opposing Putin and the United Russian Party tried to secure spots on the ballot.

Starting point is 00:06:37 But the election commission raised the number of petition signatures required to appear on the ballot to 5,000, which many critics say was a move made in order to block more opposition candidates. Because according to Vladimir Karamurza, a politician in Russia's People's Freedom Party, by signing these petitions, Russians are quote, "'volunteering one's personal information

Starting point is 00:06:52 "'for the government's database of opposition supporters.'" Now still, the opposition claims that most of their candidates did get enough signatures, but the election commission is claiming otherwise, saying the signatures contained irregularities, like misprints, but Karamurza says that those misprints were created by the commission themselves. Reportedly, when candidates tried to appeal,

Starting point is 00:07:08 the requests were ignored, so the opposition candidates remained barred from appearing on the ballots, which is what led to the huge demonstrations in the city. There was a protest last week with reports saying as many as 20,000 attended, and then there was a protest that happened this weekend. According to officers, over 3,500 people participated in these protests against the election commission's decision.

Starting point is 00:07:25 But you also have the Associated Press saying aerial footage shows there could have been as many as 8,000 attendees. Attendees chanting things like Russia will be free and Putin is a thief. But this protest also turned violent. Officers said that the event was unauthorized and footage shows them pushing protesters

Starting point is 00:07:39 and beating them with batons. OBD Info, a political persecution monitoring organization, saying that 77 people were injured in the demonstrations, over 1300 people were detained with 265 being held overnight. And according to the reports here, this is the highest number of people detained at a rally in Moscow in a decade. And notably, some of those detained

Starting point is 00:07:56 included people seeking to run for the city Duma. Also notably, the protest was called for by prominent opposition activist, Alexei Navalny, who was actually arrested on Wednesday and has been sentenced to 30 days for calling for an anti-government protest. And that arrest and the whole situation became even more concerning

Starting point is 00:08:10 because yesterday he was reportedly taken to the hospital after falling ill after alleged chemical exposure. He had severe facial swelling and skin redness. His spokesperson saying it appeared that it was an allergic reaction, but Navalny has no known allergies. According to the doctor who treated him, he was diagnosed with contact dermatitis,

Starting point is 00:08:24 so the substance that caused it is still unknown. She also says that the chemical tests being run on him have not been sufficient and disagrees with Alexei being sent back to prison. And in a Facebook post writing, "'I have clearly stated that I am categorically "'against such an emergency discharge of Alexei,' and adding that they were sending him back

Starting point is 00:08:38 to where it appears that he came in contact with this unknown substance." Which regarding that note, some reports are claiming reason to believe that he could have been poisoned, but it's actually Navalny himself and his team who are reportedly not crediting foul play. Instead, citing poor conditions in his jail cell as he experienced the same thing

Starting point is 00:08:52 when he previously was held in the same cell. Regarding this whole incident, a spokesperson for the US embassy in Moscow tweeted about the incident saying, "'Detention of over 1,000 peaceful protesters in Russia and use of disproportionate police force undermine rights of citizens to participate in the democratic process Free elections and peaceful assembly are guaranteed in the Russian Constitution and Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Starting point is 00:09:12 Ultimately that is where we are with the story right now It'll be interesting to see what happens from here with with Navalny with the movement with the protests will we see them continue? Will we see them grow or will we see a crackdown? And then let's talk about this big news around Donald Trump. And we are going to get to kind of the news of the day. Everyone's been running the Donald Trump, Representative Cummings, Al Sharpton story. We're gonna touch on that,

Starting point is 00:09:33 but regarding the way that the coverage happens, it often feels like one of the most important things to do nowadays is if there's something like a, oh, can you believe he said story, you need to look at, well, what else is happening sort of news. And so if you do that today, actually one of the most meaningful stories

Starting point is 00:09:47 is around Dan Coats. He's the director of national intelligence, soon to be former as of August 15th. And he has now announced that he is stepping down from this position, a position where he oversaw the nation's 17 intelligence agencies. And notably here in that position, Coats was someone that would disagree

Starting point is 00:10:01 and contradict the president. I mean, just a few of the notable moments after that 2018 summit where President Trump met Vladimir Putin. Trump questioned whether Russia had actually interfered. Following that, Coats released a statement saying that the intelligence community has been clear in our assessments of Russian meddling in the 2016 election and their ongoing pervasive efforts to undermine our democracy and we will continue to provide unvarnished and objective intelligence in support of our national security. Another time you might remember Trump said that North Korea was no longer a threat,

Starting point is 00:10:27 but in January when Coats was testifying in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee, he said, quote, We currently assess that North Korea will seek to retain its weapons of mass destruction capabilities and is unlikely to completely give up its nuclear weapons and production capabilities because its leaders ultimately view nuclear weapons

Starting point is 00:10:41 as critical to regime survival. Adding, our assessment is bolstered by our observations of some activity that is inconsistent with full denuclearization. Notably, the person that Trump is replacing Coats with is House Republican John Ratcliffe. And if that name sounds familiar, like maybe you've heard it recently,

Starting point is 00:10:54 it was because he was one of the outspoken Republicans during the Mueller hearings, which didn't surprise many in the moment. Ratcliffe has been described as a staunch conservative. He's been described as a Trump loyalist. So that's why you have some people saying that his performance during that hearing, it was kind of a job interview and audition.

Starting point is 00:11:09 So that's why this is a very important situation and one we need to focus on. While it doesn't take away from the validity of everything that's going to be talked about in just a second, it is also important to note what is happening in this other hand, things that are happening, the players on the board changing.

Starting point is 00:11:22 So there was that, but then of course, let's finally talk about this. So on Saturday, Trump took to Twitter to criticize Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings, who represents part of Baltimore. For some quick context here, to better understand the president's tweets, he seemed to be upset at Cummings for two main reasons.

Starting point is 00:11:34 First is that Cummings has been an open critic of the Trump administration's handling of the crisis at the border. Earlier this month, referring to the treatment of migrant children at the border as government sponsored child abuse. And secondly, is that Cummings is the chairman of the House Oversight Committee,

Starting point is 00:11:45 which is leading multiple investigations into Trump and his administration. And specifically there on Thursday, the committee voted to subpoena all work-related emails and texts that Trump administration officials had sent from private accounts. And this vote was part of an ongoing probe that expanded after a lawyer for Ivanka Trump

Starting point is 00:11:57 and Jared Kushner said they both use personal accounts for official business. Which notably there is said to be illegal under federal records laws. And so with that context, let's look at Trump's tweets. He says Cummings has been a brutal bully, shouting and screaming at the great men and women of border patrol about conditions at the southern border,

Starting point is 00:12:11 when actually his Baltimore district is far worse and more dangerous. His district is considered the worst in the USA. As proven last week during a congressional tour, the border is clean, efficient, and well-run, just very crowded. Cumming district is a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess.

Starting point is 00:12:24 If he spent more time in Baltimore Maybe he could help clean up this very dangerous and filthy place. Then going on in a separate tweet to say no human being would Want to live there. Where is all this money going? How much is stolen? Investigate this corrupt mess immediately. Then a few hours later saying Cumming spends all his time trying to hurt innocent people through oversight saying he does Nothing for his district and he used the hashtag blacks for Trump 2020 and Trump continued to tweet similar things throughout the day After those tweets we saw Cummings respond on Twitter saying Mr. President and he used the hashtag blacks for Trump 2020. And Trump continued to tweet similar things throughout the day. But after those tweets, we saw Cummings respond

Starting point is 00:12:46 on Twitter saying, Mr. President, I go home to my district daily. Each morning I wake up and I go and fight for my neighbors. And adding, it is my constitutional duty to conduct oversight of the executive branch, but it is my moral duty to fight for my constituents. And we also saw a number of people take to Twitter to defend Cummings.

Starting point is 00:13:00 Nancy Pelosi calling him a champion, both in Congress and the country, for civil rights and economic justice. A beloved leader in Baltimore and deeply valued colleague, and adding, we all reject racist attacks against him and support his steadfast leadership. We also saw We Are Baltimore trending on Twitter. Mayor of Baltimore tweeted a statement saying, it's completely unacceptable for the political leader of our country to denigrate a vibrant American city like Baltimore,

Starting point is 00:13:18 adding that Trump's rhetoric is hurtful and dangerous to the people he's sworn to represent, and adding, Mr. Trump, you are a disappointment to the people of Baltimore, our country, and the world. We also saw Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen saying this is an example of the racist bully we have as president. And later adding, Elijah Cummings District is very diverse. It has lower income neighborhoods that need a lot of help, and it has very wealthy areas.

Starting point is 00:13:36 Which on that note, we saw people contradicting some of Trump's claims about Cummings District. For example, political pollster Nate Silver cited demographics from the biggest US city's website, writing on Twitter, not that it really matters, "'but Cummings District has above average "'college education rates and home prices, "'along with a pretty good mix of urban and suburban areas,

Starting point is 00:13:50 "'even some rural and well-off working class "'and middle class areas. "'MD7 is the second wealthiest majority black district "'in the country, also the second most well-educated "'majority black district.'" But still on the other side of that, you had others pointing out that the FBI's most recent crime report ranked Baltimore

Starting point is 00:14:03 as the third most dangerous city of the United States We saw some people defending Trump playing down what he had said for example while speaking with Fox News acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said when the president hears lies like that. He is going to fight back. There's absolutely zero to do with race This is what the president does he fights and he's not wrong to do so regarding the note of racism Representative will heard who was notably one of the four Republicans who voted that Trump's go-back tweets were racist the other week said on ABC's This week, I think these tweets are different from the ones a few days ago or a few weeks ago Then on Sunday We saw Donald Trump doubled down specifically responding to Pelosi's tweets saying someone please explain to Nancy Pelosi who was recently called racist by those

Starting point is 00:14:36 in her own party that there is nothing wrong with bringing out the very obvious fact that Congressman Elijah Cummings has done a very poor job for his district in the city of Baltimore Just take a look the facts speak far louder than words. The Democrats always play the race card when in fact they have done so little for our nation's great African-American people. Now the lowest unemployment in US history and only getting better. Elijah Cummings has failed badly." Then going on to call Elijah Cummings racist and adding his radical oversight is a joke. That is also not where this story ends because this morning you may have seen Trump took to Twitter to expand his criticism to Reverend Al Sharpton. Sharpton had posted a tweet that he was headed to Baltimore and Trump responded saying,

Starting point is 00:15:08 "'I have known Al for 25 years. "'We went to fights with him and Don King "'always got along well. "'He quote, loved Trump. "'He would ask me for favors often. "'Al is a con man, a troublemaker, "'always looking for a score. "'Just doing his thing.

Starting point is 00:15:18 "'Must have intimidated Comcast slash NBC. "'Hates whites and cops.' "'Adding Al Sharpton would ask me to go to his events. "'He would say it's a personal favor to me. Seldom, but sometimes I would go. It was fine. He came to my office in Trump Tower during the presidential campaign to apologize for the way he was talking about me. Just a con man at work. Sharpton then responded to Trump in tweets writing Trump says I'm a troublemaker and con man. I do make trouble for bigots. If he really thought I was a con man, he would want me in his cabinet.

Starting point is 00:15:40 Also, Sharpton this morning while speaking to reporters said this. He attacks everybody. I know Donald Trump, he's not mature enough to take criticism, he can't help it. He's like a child, somebody say something, he reacts. He's thin skinned and not really matured that well. But he has a particular venom for blacks and people of color. He doesn't refer to any of his other opponents or critics as infested." And regarding that note around infestation and when and where Trump uses it, I saw some noting and screenshotting the president's tweets of previous use. There's a now viral clip of a CNN host by the name of Victor Blackwell.

Starting point is 00:16:20 He's a native of Baltimore and he noted and featured where the president has previously talked about infestation when talking about minorities. And of course with this story, like everything else I talked about, I'd love to know your opinions on this piece in the comments down below. But also a thing I do want to leave you with around this story is how far away from where it started we ended up. Once again, I feel like this is part of the strategy. This is a situation that seemingly started about a conversation about the crisis at the border, the treatment of children, as well as subpoenas involving Trump administration, private emails.

Starting point is 00:16:48 And then thanks to a flurry of tweets, we end up all the way over here. And I'm not trying to say I know the right way to cover it. I'm just kind of showcasing it as one, for viewers and people that consume the news to be aware. And two, I think it showcases at times how hard it can be to properly cover the situation because there's a million different points of entry.

Starting point is 00:17:04 And that's where I'm going to end today's show. And of course, last Thursday, I loved it so much. I decided we're going to do it again. We have a poll up there that you can take. You just have to click that little eye that keeps popping up. Also, hey, if you liked today's video, I would love if you took a second to hit that like button.

Starting point is 00:17:16 If you're new here, definitely be sure to hit that subscribe button, ring that bell to turn on notifications. Also, if you're not 100% filled in, you want to watch something else, we did a really fascinating, and I think important deep dive on horse racing. Or maybe you just missed the last Philip DeFran filled in, you want to watch something else, we did a really fascinating and I think important deep dive on horse racing.

Starting point is 00:17:26 Or maybe you just missed the last Philip DeFranco show and you want to catch up, you can click or tap right there to watch either of those. But with that said, of course, as always, my name's Philip DeFranco, you've just been filled in. I love yo faces and I'll see you tomorrow.

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The Philip DeFranco Show - 7.29 16-Year-Old Bugha WINS $3 Million Fortnite World Cup, Tana Mongeau Paul PPV Wedding, & MORE

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