The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 10.14 Disgusting Billie Eilish Story, Debunking Kanye West Lies, Nigeria SARS Protests, & More

Episode Date: October 14, 2020

Get 50% OFF your first 6-bottle box - http://bit.ly/BrightCellarsPhilipDeFranco4 Bright Cellars is the monthly wine club that matches you with wine you’ll love. WATCH my podcast with Jon Cozart: https://youtu.be/ibHoyBkB-pY Follow me off of Youtube: https://linktr.ee/PhilipDeFranco -- Voting Resources:  http://Vote.org https://www.axios.com/how-to-vote-by-state-2020-307c3d17-ee57-4a1b-8bad-182ca1cdb752.html https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/how-to-vote-2020/ https://nationalvoterregistrationday.org/  -- 00:00 - Kanye Spreading Misinformation 02:26 - Leave Billie Eilish Alone 04:46 - Amazon Workers Want PTO To Vote 07:40 - TIA 09:05 - Nigeria To Disband SARS... Again -- WATCH Full “A Convo With” Podcasts: https://www.youtube.com/ACW  LISTEN On The Podcast Platform Of Your Choice: http://LinksHole.com WATCH the ACW Clips channel!: https://youtube.com/ACWClips ✩ SUPPORT THE SHOW ✩ ✭ BUY our GEAR, Support the Show!: http://ShopDeFranco.com ✭ Lemme Touch Your Hair: http://BeautifulBastard.com ✭ Paid Subscription: http://DeFrancoElite.com  ✩ TODAY IN AWESOME ✩ ✭ Exclusive Look At Spider-Man: Miles Morales' First Boss: https://youtu.be/ZxKdu-a520I ✭ Aaron Sorkin Answers Screenwriting Questions: https://youtu.be/V-ETDTXUnB0 ✭ The Highs and Lows of Ken Bone's Fifteen Minutes of Fame: https://youtu.be/8nUHHP20Ffw ✭ Honest Trailers | Scream: https://youtu.be/6FNHhL79Sl8 ✭ Gal Gadot Teaches You Hebrew Slang: https://youtu.be/iX01L8wmhBk ✭ Sarah Silverman on Stir Crazy with Josh Horowitz: https://youtu.be/5ukPsFWpNZ4 ✭ MONSTER HUNTER - Official Trailer: https://youtu.be/3od-kQMTZ9M ✭ Secret Link: https://youtu.be/TFgeboLhUhE ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩  Amazon Employees Petition for PTO to Vote: https://roguerocket.com/2020/10/14/amazon-paid-time-off-to-vote/ Kanye West Shares Invaled Election Results from Kentucky: https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2020/10/14/kanye-west-posts-invalid-lex-18-kentucky-polling-numbers/3649333001/ Fans Defend Billie Eilish After Singer is Body Shamed: https://roguerocket.com/2020/10/14/fans-defend-eilish/ Thousands of Nigerians Continue to Protest for Widespread Police Reforms:  https://roguerocket.com/2020/10/14/nigeria-massive-protests-sars/ ✩ STORIES NOT IN TODAY’S SHOW ✩ Virginia Gov. Discussed as Additional Target in Gov. Whitmer Plot: https://roguerocket.com/2020/10/14/gov-northam-whitmer/ SCOTUS Sides With Trump Admin., Says Census Count Can End Early:  https://roguerocket.com/2020/10/14/scotus-census-trump-administration/  ——————————     Edited by: James Girardier, Julie Goldberg, Maxx Enright Produced by: Amanda Morones Art Director: Brian Borst  Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Cory Ray, Neena Pesqueda, Brian Espinoza Production Team: Zack Taylor, Luke Manning  ———————————— #DeFranco #BillieEilish #KanyeWest Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sup you beautiful bastards. Hope you've had a fantastic Wednesday. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show. Buckle up, hit that like button, otherwise we'll punch you in the throat and let's just jump into it. And to start things off today, let's start with this video. Get the West Wing ready.

Huh? Get the West Wing ready. Hey, get the West Wing. 19%, 40,000 votes, Kentucky. Get the West Wing ready. Let's go, Let's go! So for some context here, that is Kanye West reacting to exit polls saying that he is in third place in Kentucky,

which is shocking and huge news in another world where those results are real, which is not in this world, which is something that is completely obvious if you take even just one second to actually look at the results page that he is pointing to. Because the results that he is pointing to says a hundred percent of Kentucky precincts reporting with the winner being Joe Jorgensen,

followed by Brock Pierce, then Kanye West with 19%, Joe Biden with 14% and Donald Trump with 2%. And you can hate the guy as much as you want to, but Donald Trump could actively shoot people on TV and still get 35% of the vote. Now, as far as if Kanye West is just being stupid here or he knows and is actively sharing misinformation, I don't know.

That's usually my reaction to anything Kanye West in the news, along with just being emotionally exhausted about it, but whatever Kanye's motivations and reasoning behind sharing this is, I mean, one, those results are not real. Two, we've seen Twitter label these posts, manipulated media, so people know that it is not a real thing.

And three, as far as where that image came from, you had LEX18news, who in that screenshot appear to be behind the results, tweeting, "'Someone discovered a CashWeb link "'that we used during June's primary election "'to post associated press election results. "'The old link was still populating current AP data "'and showed test results, which is part

"'of the preparation the AP does in advance of election. The results shown were not valid. They were simply part of a test. We regret the discovery of the cached web link and have removed the data from that page. We apologize for any confusion." But with all that said,

ultimately where I end on this is I just have greater concern for the actual election. This screenshot and this moment were one of the most obvious examples of those results cannot be real. But because you had someone with a massive audience putting it out there, there were a number of people that were like, oh my God,

this is a thing that is actually happening. And while that narrative continues to grow, you have to have a bunch of other people with usually smaller audiences going, no, no, no, no, what? So remember, as we go into election day and the days that follow, be skeptical, wait for confirmations because lies will be flying. And then let's talk about a story

that I'm gonna try and get through quickly because you know, while I did have people requesting this story, it's weird to say that Billie Eilish was in the news today because she wore a tank top. Yes, really. We're 20 days out from election day, we're in the midst of a pandemic,

but let's talk about Billie Eilish wearing a tank top. Which by the way, I will say Billie Eilish for the longest time knew that this would happen. She's known for wearing baggy clothes, something that she's also spoken on. Having in the past said, I never want the world to know everything about me. I mean, that's why I wear big baggy clothes.

Nobody can have an opinion because they haven't seen what's underneath. And there's been a lot of focus on her body. I mean, page six has even made a list of every time she's worn tight clothes. And the thing is, with this tank top photo, it became this much larger story because you had a number of people body shaming her. Some leaving comments saying that she had a mid-30s wine mom body, which is a, yeah, totally normal thing to say about an 18-year-old.

And of course, you also had a lot of people defending Eilish with comments like, to anyone who is body shaming Billie Eilish, please stop putting unrealistic beauty standards on women. She doesn't deserve that. No one else deserves that either. Billie is and will always be beautiful. Please stop judging her. And you know, with this story, I kind of want to land on two things. One, leave the fucking girl alone.

I know there are a number of people out there that say, hey, you're famous, you're in the spotlight, you get so much good. This also just comes with the territory. And to that, I would say, well, yes, that is historically true. We shouldn't then continue to normalize and give it the thumbs up.

That feels weird, shitty, and also until hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands of people are telling you things about yourself, you can never fully put yourselves in those shoes to understand what that feels like. And also too, one of the things that is frustrating with this story is this is all part

of the intended news cycle and it's hard to cover it without feeling that in some way you're helping feed into it. And what I mean by that and what is wild is that a number of the same outlets that publish those photos, right? Sensationalizing her wearing normal clothes, tank tops, something that is tighter than a very baggy hoodie, basically paving the way for body shamers,

are now posting articles about Billie and her fans slamming body shamers as though they didn't feed into that. And while in this instance with Billie Eilish, I'm only talking about the second part, also as a guy who has greatly changed how he talks about women and their bodies over the past 14 years of this show,

it still feels like just by bringing up the topic, it could in some way affect this situation in a negative way. I obviously think that talking about this story the way that I'm talking about it now does more good than bad, but it's still just a frustrating situation. But also regarding that note,

I do wanna pass that question off to you. What are your thoughts on that? And then let's talk about the big news around Amazon and no, it doesn't have to do with Amazon Prime Day. The story today is actually about Amazon workers who are urging the company to offer them paid time off to vote on or before election day. And with Amazon specifically, this is a very big deal

because if you didn't know, they are the second largest employer in the United States. They employ over 1.3 million US workers, including Whole Foods employees. But they do not offer paid time off to participate in federal elections. And for comparison here, Walmart, which is the nation's largest employer,

does offer up to three paid hours for its employees to vote. With other companies like Facebook, Apple, Uber, Twitter, and Starbucks also providing a lot of time for voting. Some companies even close their doors completely or reduce their hours on election day. And this is something that is incredibly important because as we've already seen, voting,

especially during a pandemic can mean hours long lines and other unexpected delays. Some of these lines, we've seen people having to dedicate a full day. So because of all this, what we saw on Tuesday was nearly 4,000 Amazon tech workers adding their support to a petition that was created by Amazon employees for climate justice.

That group formed back in 2018 to put pressure on the company to commit to reducing fossil fuel emissions. But they've also since expanded their focus to speak out against poor working conditions and other issues. And that petition calls for eight hours of paid time off to be made available to employees to use up until election day for not only voting, but voting related activities,

including registering to vote and volunteering. But on the other side of this, you had Amazon spokeswoman, Jackie Anderson, saying that the company has given employees information on how to register to vote and request time off, adding in all 47 states with in-person voting, employees that lack adequate time before or after their scheduled workday to vote

can request and be provided excused time off. The number of hours and pay provided to employees varies by state in line with local laws. Right, so there, it seems that Amazon is not willing to make this a company-wide policy, instead saying they'll only comply with local laws, which is a very big deal. Although many states require employees to be excused

and paid for a few hours of voting conflicts with their work schedules, several battleground states, including Florida and Pennsylvania, do not require employers to provide paid time off for elections. Now, with all that said, as far as my opinion on this, I will say one, for a long time now,

it's been my opinion that election day should be a paid national holiday. Though, given the long lines, wait times, delays we've seen this year, especially because we're in a pandemic, that alone would not be enough to help everyone. And so what I would ask is that if you are an employer, please join myself and other companies

in offering your employees eight hours of paid time off for voting reasons. There are a lot of people not in a privileged enough position in this world to be able to vote without it affecting their lives in a negative way. Eight hours of paid time is a game changer for a number of people in this country. It's the difference between having a meal or not,

having money to put gas in your car. I mean, it is incredibly meaningful. I mean, every two, four and six years, you get to decide who has the power to decide things. Also, if you're an employee of someone, send them this video. Don't even tell them about this part. Say it's something else that's cool.

And then when they get to this section, you're like, oh, I forgot he did that. No, I mean, it wasn't, I mean, unless you wanna, but you don't have to, but we would think you're really cool if you did. But I mean, anyway, I got some emails I gotta get to. And the last thing that we're gonna talk about today is the End SARS campaign

that you might've been seeing a little bit on social media. And just so there's no confusion, End SARS is not about the viral respiratory disease, right? It's not pandemic related, rather about efforts by Nigerians over the past week to get significant police reforms in their country, right? SARS here stands for Special Anti-Robbery Squad. And in a twist of irony,

they actually did most of the robbing. So for a long time now, Nigerians have accused the unit of engaging in kidnapping, harassment, mock executions, torture, extortion, and murder. And there are plenty of examples of not only SARS, but Nigerian police in general beating or shooting alleged criminals with little to no evidence.

Something that has obviously been a source of anger within Nigerian communities. We saw things heat up on October 3rd, when a video went viral showing a SARS officer shooting a young man while taking away his Lexus SUV. With that anger then boiling into widespread protests on October 8th to have the unit disbanded. With tens of thousands of people in the streets

across multiple cities and municipalities. Like with many modern protests, social media has played a major role in energizing the grassroots movement and getting people out into the streets. What we've seen with these protests is that they've been mainly peaceful, although there have been plenty of incidents

of police interfering with heavy-handed tactics. I mean, everything ranging from allegedly shooting into crowds to the widespread use of water cannons and tear gas to just fighting with protesters. But we haven't seen protesters letting up and their efforts have led to the issue being heard around the world, especially as members of the Nigerian diaspora have amplified it.

We've seen John Boyega, for example, actively supporting the movement on Twitter, calling out Nigerian police corruption, as well as other Nigerian artists like rapper Burna Boy, having made serious efforts to spread information about the protest to his global audience. With him also making a statement promising to help fund any protester who is harmed

and or arrested by police during the protests. Also asking for donations to that fund, also promising to make sure people are educated about the situation. And as part of his effort, he's been getting billboards put up with NSARS and the United Kingdom. Here in North America, we've all seen multiple artists coming out in educated about the situation. And as part of his effort, he's been getting billboards put up with end SARS in the United Kingdom. Here in North America, we've all seen multiple artists coming out in support of the cause.

Among those, you had once again, Kanye West, tweeting out, I stand with my Nigerian brothers and sisters to end police brutality. The government must answer to the people's cries. Also artists like Drake highlighting this post about the situation on his Instagram. So with all of this, beyond just wanting SARS disbanded, you had protesters also wanting anyone arrested

during the protest release and compensation for those killed by police brutality in Nigeria. Keep in mind, we don't know the exact numbers, but it's estimated that about 10 people have died so far in just these protests alone because of how the police have responded. Protesters have also demanded that an independent body be set up within 10 days to investigate

and prosecute all reports of police misconduct. Also asking for psychological evaluations and retraining of SARS operatives before they were moved to other units. And finally asking, and this is an interesting one, especially if you're like, I hate this group. Finally asking for Nigerian police to be adequately paid so they're not willing to engage in corruption.

And actually regarding the demands, protesters got a major victory this last Sunday when the government announced that SARS would be disbanding and there would be investigations into the conduct of the officers. And adding until those investigations were complete, SARS officers would be placed into other units after a psychological evaluation.

But for many protesters, that wasn't enough. They want widespread police reforms, especially because disbanding SARS isn't a new thing. This will actually be the fourth time that the unit's been disbanded. And each time it's brought back, it faces the same accusations and issues. So it's widely believed that it's not actually the unit itself that's the problem,

but rather a mindset within Nigerian police that allows a unit like SARS to be so brutal and corrupt, which is why despite this announcement, protests have continued into this week. It also wasn't until yesterday that the police finally agreed to stop using force against protesters. And at the same time as all of this,

you had President Muhammadu Buhari giving a speech where he promised that widespread police reforms would be coming. It was this opportunity to say a word on the recent genuine concerns and agitations by Nigerians about the excessive use of force and in some cases extrajudicial killings and wrongful conduct by men of the Nigerian police force. The disbanding of SARS is only the first step in our commitment to extensive police reform in order to ensure that the primary duty of the police and other law enforcement agencies remains the protection of lives and livelihoods of our people we will also ensure that all those responsible

who misconduct or wrongful acts are brought to justice we also saw the president try to defend the police as a whole. The vast majority of men and women of the police force are hardworking and diligent in performing their duties. Also, notably one of the reforms being brought forward was SWAT, which is a replacement unit for SARS. And there, as you might imagine, that didn't go over fantastically. For many, it was just kind of a rebranding of the unit,

not addressing the underlying problems. But ultimately, that is where we are with this. We're still seeing protests. I also don't think we're gonna see them wind down anytime soon. I mean, especially until the government unveils some sort of plan that is supposed to address the real issues at play here.

And that is where I'm going to end today's show. As always, thanks for being a part of these daily dives in the news. If you're new here, definitely hit that subscribe button, join the family. Hey, maybe even text me definitely hit that subscribe button, join the family. Hey, maybe even text me at 813-213-4423. Yeah, with all of 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.