The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 10.5 Why This Emma Chamberlain Karl Jacobs Controversy Has The Internet Split, Tiktok Mom Exploitation, &

Starting point is 00:00:00 This feels wrong. Nope, that makes it worse. This is a news show. Sup you beautiful bastards! Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show. And hey, a quick friendly reminder, you only have six days left. Head on over to BeautifulBastard.com to get in on the October drop. Snag yourselves some Don't Be Stupid or One Day Will All Be Skeletons, gold foils, our amazing tie-dyes, the new exhausted lines and more.

Starting point is 00:00:31 Also, how about you hit that like button to help promote some common sense news coverage here on the YouTubes. But yeah, let's just jump into it. You know, the first thing that we're gonna talk about today is this news surrounding 20-year-old Zoe Laverne. Now I know a lot of you probably don't know who she is, but she is absolutely massive,

Starting point is 00:00:46 21 million TikTok followers, and she's a rather controversial figure. Many knowing her for everything from leaked outbursts to drama surrounding her on-again, off-again relationship, one of the most serious controversies stemming from a leaked video of her kissing a 13-year-old fan. But she somehow got past that controversy, and it's not the thing that we're talking about today.

Starting point is 00:01:03 Rather, it's because now Zoe's making headlines for selling photos of her newborn baby to fans. So taking it back a bit, Zoe gave birth to her first child on October 3rd, who she was expecting with her current boyfriend, 20 year old Dawson Day. And after announcing her child's birth on Instagram, she reportedly included a line in the caption that said,

Starting point is 00:01:18 "'Link in bio for more exclusive pics.'" According to screenshots, those who follow the link to the pictures were then given the option to unlock them for a $15 fee. That quickly earning her backlash from people who were upset, saying that she was blatantly exploiting her child for money. So Zoe eventually took her post down, removed the paywall, and now when you click her link, it takes you to a public Instagram post that she made with two photos of her child where she talks about having an emergency C-section. Although, it's also unclear at what point Zoe decided to abandon the paywall system because the public post about her delivery still includes another kick to the exclusive photos. And so with all this, she then took to her Instagram stories to address the backlash that she was receiving, later doing the same on TikTok. And they are basically

Starting point is 00:01:51 saying she realizes how bad it looks, but said she did it because she received so many messages from people during her pregnancy threatening to harm her and her child. Saying that made her hesitant to post her baby's face online, so she and her team came up with this paywall. They're saying, right, the idea is that people who hate her wouldn't care enough to pay, only people who actually support her. So I looked at it like that, didn't think about it in any other wrong way that it could have been looked at, and I'm sorry.

Starting point is 00:02:13 None of the money that I made off of it is going to me. It's going to needs and her hospital bill from being lifelined, because she had to be lifelined. She was in the NICU and she still is in the NICU. It was all for her medical bills, and the rest of the money I am donating to mothers and children who need it,

Starting point is 00:02:29 because I know what it feels like to have complications, like, during your birth and stuff, so I'm sorry again. And with this, also clarifying that she and her baby are both okay now, but the reactions have been very split. Some saying, no, these excuses are BS, they're PR, you just wanted to exploit your child, make money. But at the same time, you also had others believing

Starting point is 00:02:47 she had good intentions, that she's trying to learn from her mistakes. Right, and as far as my reaction to this news, I'm still caught up on the 13 year old thing. Like many of you, I was relatively unfamiliar with Laverne, but how do you get past a, I'm using air quotes, because isn't it a crime? How can a 19 year old kiss a 13 year old fan,

Starting point is 00:03:04 say they caught feelings, and then like everything just continues? That's college age and middle school age. Also, yeah, I guess regarding the news story that the baby stuff's weird I also kind of don't find it any more disgusting than any other celeb that sells a photo shoot of their newborns Right, so it ends up on some tabloid like once again, maybe i'm missing something But it feels like we've all glossed over the bigger thing here. Anyway, thoughts? Then in how is this even still a debate news, let's talk about influencers versus the mainstream.

Starting point is 00:03:32 Where this story starts is with a Buzzfeed article focused on Emma Chamberlain. The focus being on Emma saying that some people aren't ready to accept influencers as celebrities. This in the weeks after she faced criticism for her Met Gala appearance. If you look at the top comments there, most of them are just kind of like middle fingers

Starting point is 00:03:45 towards Emma saying they're a dime a dozen because they're not celebrities. They're not being famous for doing the bare minimum as bull. She's a skinny white girl. There's literally millions of her. And you clicked on an article, read through this article about this person and decided to spend time commenting on the article.

Starting point is 00:03:59 A lot of the arguments are kind of flawed regarding like someone not providing value. I mean, how many mainstream celebrities do not provide value? Have no discernible skill other than somehow still staying relevant. But also like this isn't me just coming to the specific defense of Emma Chamberlain. This is like a whole commentary on the industry. Primary difference between influencers and those you see as like mainstream celebrities is who is allowed to gatekeep? Like how is a homegrown influencer somehow less legitimate because some fucking corpse in a business suit wasn't the one to handhold them up and like I understand maybe having that opinion five ten years ago

Starting point is 00:04:29 But it's just stupid We live in a time where mainstream celebrities are going to social media apps and copying Influencers to try to remain relevant. We live in a time where some mustachioed kid named Jimmy from North Carolina Absolutely destroys mainstream numbers where if regardless if you hate him or you love him, you have celebrities going through the David Dobrik pipeline to get on a vlog to remain relevant. Hell, most recently two creators, Sapnap, Carl Jacobs, they launched a new podcast.

Starting point is 00:04:54 If you go to Spotify's podcast charts, they're number four on the platform now. With it having peaked even higher, knocking down Joe Rogan from the number one spot temporarily, which even if temporary, kind of crazy because unlike the Joe Rogan experience, banter is not Spotify exclusive. Right, so in a world where attention is the main indicator

Starting point is 00:05:10 of if someone is a celebrity or not, how do we treat these things like they're different? Like I understand there are some people on a completely different level. Like The Rock is insane, but he's also one of the people bringing in the biggest box office numbers. But I'm more than happy to listen to the argument for why like someone on a CW show,

Starting point is 00:05:24 like one of the main actors on something getting 500,000 to 1.3 million viewers, that they're a celebrity, but a Mr. Beast who's getting a hundred plus million views on each video is not. And honestly, like my favorite thing regarding the last two generations of content creators is that unlike when I was coming up,

Starting point is 00:05:41 no one needs the Hollywood validation. Yes, will they go to mainstream events, stuff like that, but they know their own value. They're no longer dive bombing their careers because they saw some mainstream attention and then all of a sudden they left the platform that made them. Also with this story, I wanted to know

Starting point is 00:05:54 what you beautiful bastards thought. So this morning I polled you and oh, a clean split. Six out of every 10 people say that influencers are celebrities, but still 40% saying no, that's a sizable chunk. With some of the top comments, including more nuance takes like, I think that influencers are celebrities, but still 40% saying no, that's a sizable chunk. With some of the top comments, including more nuance takes like, I think they can be celebrities,

Starting point is 00:06:09 but being an influencer does not automatically make you a celebrity. I would personally agree with that. Kind of expanding on that, someone said it's like, all thumbs are fingers, but not all fingers are thumbs. Every celebrity is an influencer to some degree, but not every influencer is a celebrity. With another take being, I really think,

Starting point is 00:06:22 and it depends on fame level option, is missing. I would definitely consider like Addison Rae or whatever, a celebrity, but not my cozy crochet tutorial channel, ladies. Also, I think that's an interesting thing to hit on because there are gonna be people that see those crochet ladies and lose their absolute shit. Like someone's running up to them in a Publix

Starting point is 00:06:37 and they're like, Veronica, your pineapple lace, it was, it changed my life. Now, I personally look at myself as just some dumb fucker that's very lucky thanks to the internet. And there are gonna be people that view me in this way, but others are like, that's just some fucking random dumb schmuck. Now, no, it feels like there's not some arbitrary number,

Starting point is 00:06:52 but we all get to decide who is famous or not to us. But also with this story and the questions, what are your thoughts here? Do you see influencers as celebrities? Why, why not? And do you think things are continuing to change even more? From that, I wanna take a second to thank the fantastic sponsor of today's show, Athletic Greens.

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Starting point is 00:07:36 is exactly what's in the powder. It also, I think, importantly mixes well with water and is honestly the best tasting greens I've ever had, making it an easy habit to stick to. And the best part is that they've added immune system support with a free one year supply of vitamin D plus, five individual travel packs with your purchase. I mean, honestly, it's gonna be hard to find a better,

Starting point is 00:07:52 more comprehensive supplement. So head on over to athleticgreens.com slash Franco, or just click that link in the description down below to get their best offer of all time. And the offer is available in the US, Canada, the UK, and Europe, so don't miss out. Then we should definitely talk about the 60,000 members of the major Hollywood union,

Starting point is 00:08:06 the International Association of Theatrical Stage Employees voting over the weekend to approve a major strike. And this following members of the IATSE having tried to negotiate their contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers for quite some time now, but largely those talks have failed. The IATSE saying the producers group is not listening

Starting point is 00:08:22 to the major concerns that the union has with those primarily focusing on unsafe and harmful working hours, unlivable wages for the lowest on the totem pole on set, a lack of reasonable breaks and rest periods, and the fact that those working for streaming projects deemed as new media are getting paid even less, even though those projects often have bigger budgets

Starting point is 00:08:39 than traditional films and TV shows. And this is something that union members have been very vocal about with an Instagram account called IATSE stories, sharing the experiences of people who feel like they've been mistreated on set or harmed by their working conditions. Some saying that the continuous 17 hour days

Starting point is 00:08:52 have made workers so tired that they fell asleep at the wheel or nearly got into car accidents driving to work. Others sharing stories where people collapsed on set due to health issues stemming from their jobs. Those people sometimes not even going to the hospital because of insurance issues. Stories where people said they had to ask their doctor

Starting point is 00:09:05 to regularly prescribe antibiotics for UTIs because they get them so frequently from not being able to use the bathroom enough during the day. And so because of stories like that, and honestly so much more, the union members have been saying enough is enough. We want change in the industry,

Starting point is 00:09:17 and it resulted in 36 local groups within the union getting the strike vote. And y'all, the momentum and the numbers are there. There was a nearly 90% turnout among eligible members and the vote authorizing the strike came in at over 98%. That is a united vote and a vote that means that members have now given IATSE president Matthew Loeb the authority to call a strike.

Starting point is 00:09:35 But before he actually does, he will likely meet with the producers association for further talks. With Loeb issuing a statement saying, "'The members have spoken loud and clear. "'Our people have basic human needs, "'like time for meal breaks, adequate sleep, and a weekend. "'For those at the bottom of the pay scale, "'they deserve nothing less than a living wage.'"

Starting point is 00:09:51 But I'm also telling studios and producers that the ball is in their court and attic. If they want to avoid a strike, they will return to the bargaining table and make us a reasonable offer. And the union holds a lot of power here because if they go on strike, productions go down. And that, I imagine, is a nightmare scenario

Starting point is 00:10:04 for a Hollywood that's just now starting to rebound following the devastation from the pandemic. And so with that, you have people going, okay, the studios are gonna give in. They don't wanna shut down again. They need to survive. But also you have others saying, no, maybe the studios don't give in or give in as much

Starting point is 00:10:16 because they're afraid to catering to the demands because it could lead to other major unions asking for more the next time they come to the bargaining table. That said, with this on the other side, you have the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers releasing a statement saying, they deeply value their IATSE crew members,

Starting point is 00:10:29 they're committed to working with them, saying a deal can be made at the bargaining table, but it will require both parties working together in good faith with a willingness to compromise and to explore new solutions to resolve the open issues. But also, the pressure here that the union is putting on the studios, it's not just coming from inside the house.

Starting point is 00:10:43 Movement also has tons of public backing over 100 members of Congress writing a letter to the studios urging them to work with the IATSE. Big names speaking out both following the vote and in the weeks leading up to it. Other major Hollywood unions like the Screen Actors Guild and Writers Guild throwing in their support. But ultimately that is where we are

Starting point is 00:10:57 and we'll have to wait to see what will be. Then in drug news, it might be interesting to a number of you who purchased this shirt. Seattle just became the largest city in America to decriminalize psilocybin and other psychedelics following a unanimous city council vote. New measures here direct police to make it among their lowest priorities to investigate,

Starting point is 00:11:13 arrest or prosecute anyone taking part in activities concerning entheogens. With those being psychoactive drugs usually derived from plants and fungi and often used for spiritual or religious purposes like psilocybin and ayahuasca. Under this new resolution, the non-commercial cultivation and sharing of those drugs will no longer be criminalized

Starting point is 00:11:28 in the city. Council member, Andrew Lewis introduced the resolution, issuing a statement after the vote saying that these psychedelics have been shown to benefit the wellbeing of individuals suffering from depression, severe anxiety, problematic substance use, post-traumatic stress, end of life anxiety, grief, and intergenerational trauma.

Starting point is 00:11:44 And adding these and other physical and mental conditions are plaguing many communities, which have been further demonstrated to be exacerbated by the impact of COVID-19. You know, connected to that, it's very notable here. This resolution was made in part by the efforts of city council members to reduce opioid related deaths that have spiked during the pandemic.

Starting point is 00:11:58 So with this, we saw many people cheering the move, including the co-director of the advocacy group, D. Crim Nature Seattle, who told reporters, public opinion is changing and many people are waking up to the fact that the war on drugs leads to unnecessary incarceration, impedes access to profoundly effective medicine, and impinges on both religious freedom and personal liberty. And adding, social progress rarely happens through sweeping changes, but rather occurs from winning one small battle at a time. You know, that's a really important point, right? Public opinion has effectively changed over the last decade. Hell, Seattle's not even the only local government

Starting point is 00:12:25 that's made this move since Denver became the first city to decriminalize psilocybin just two years ago. According to reports, at least eight other cities have made the move in recent years. And in 2020, Oregon became the first state to legalize psilocybin for therapeutic use and decriminalize drug possession. And beyond that, many other cities and states

Starting point is 00:12:40 have proposed legislation to decriminalize psilocybin and other psychedelics or pass bills to study the therapeutic benefits of these drugs. You know, like I've been saying for a decent while now, this is gonna be a really fascinating space to watch and potentially incredibly lucrative. I don't know why I said potentially.

Starting point is 00:12:53 It's going to be incredibly lucrative. And finally today in it's probably nothing news, you had the FBI raiding the headquarters of the NYPD Sergeant's Union. Also, according to the New York Times, investigators executed a search warrant at the home of the union's president. And yeah, I mean, this is potentially big,

Starting point is 00:13:07 raiding the Manhattan office of one of New York's main police unions, with them representing about 13,000 active and retired police sergeants in New York. And as far as why, reportedly, this is part of an investigation by the FBI and the Public Corruption Unit in the US Attorney's Office in Manhattan.

Starting point is 00:13:21 Now, as far as the scope, the scale, what even the focus of this investigation is, we don't really know right now. But as the New York Times noted, "'This is all coming as the Union president "'is facing departmental discipline "'over his conduct on social media.'" Reporting that he's been known in recent years

Starting point is 00:13:33 for making brash and incendiary remarks on Twitter, that he declared war on the mayor last year after two officers were shot, accusing de Blasio of promoting anti-police attitudes. Also doing things like sharing a police report documenting the arrest of de Blasio's daughter during protests over police brutality and racial justice in New York last year.

Starting point is 00:13:49 You also have some speculating that maybe it's related to QAnon. This because in the past, like on a Fox News interview, he was surrounded by Q paraphernalia. But ultimately, that is where we are. There's a ton of possibles. There's a lot of speculation. So for right now, we're gonna have to wait

Starting point is 00:14:01 to see what actually comes from this. Seemingly, it could be related to a number of things, but the rating of a police union this big, I think it's like the fifth biggest police union in the country, it's massive news. And you know, ultimately, that is where this story, and actually today's show ends. As always, whether it be this last story

Starting point is 00:14:16 or anything else stood out to you today, I'd love to know your thoughts in those comments down below. And hey, maybe say it with me. 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 - PDS 10.5 Why This Emma Chamberlain Karl Jacobs Controversy Has The Internet Split, Tiktok Mom Exploitation, &

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