The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 11.16 Ridiculous Serena Williams Controversy, JUUL vs FDA Crack Down, Acosta vs Trump & More!

Episode Date: November 16, 2018

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Sup you beautiful bastards, hope you're having a fantastic Friday. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show And if you're new here on Fridays, we do things a little bit different. On Fridays I try to cover more viewer requested stories as well as stories I wanted to get to but ended up not getting to earlier in the week. So with that said, let's just jump into it The first thing we're gonna talk about today is we had Serena Williams in the news And it's all because of this cover right here. According to headlines around the internet It stirred social media reactions, fans were upset, and it sparked controversy. And so to give you a little background, in case you don't know, which there's really no reason you should or need to know,

GQ does this thing every year where it's either Man or Men of the Year. And last year GQ got a lot of attention because in the Man of the Year issue, it gouged out, right? They had her Wonder Woman of the Year. And then we look to this year where four people were being honored with four different covers. You have Michael B. Jordan, Henry Golding, Jonah Hill, and then finally Serena Williams. And as you can see on hers, men is X'd out and it's replaced with the word woman in quotes.

And if the top response on Twitter was any indication, there were people that were confused and ready to be angry. The top response reading, "'Okay, but why is woman in quotation marks at GQ Magazine?' Some seeing this as a potential swing at Serena Williams. Over the years, we've seen people just throw a misogynistic, horribly racist things at Serena Williams. And you have people that purposely

misgender her, call her subhuman. But looking into it further and seeing the context around what was done here, there's nothing bad. Those quotations, the handwriting, that is a Virgil Abloh. And the quotations are his thing. You see it with other pieces he's been connected to, wallet, scarf. And in fact, he's even done this and collaborated with Williams before designed her tennis shoes and dress for the US Open We even see the quote Serena if you're interested in why he says he does this there's a link to an article down below And so looking at the cover, it's just it's not a bad thing Although for some like Lara wit who is the writer and managing editor for wear your voice? They tweeted even if quotation marks are a below thing any decent editor should have said that this ain't it.

But I guess I see that and I really question, why is that not it? It feels like we've been given the background and context around the situation where it's not something that was aimed to demean or be horrible. Serena and Abloh have worked together in the past, they seemingly are on the same page of what we are going to do here. She, and this is important, Serena, who is the focal point of this, has not expressed that she has a problem with this or felt uncomfortable with this. And so with someone understanding all of that, why still be offended? Who made you the president of the Be Offended for Serena Williams Club? And I understand we can't help control the reaction someone has to something that we put out into the world. But for people that are creating, I don't think you can just operate out of a place of fear that no matter what you do, someone's gonna be offended.

Where the intent, the context, nothing else matters, that person's perception makes you wrong. And I personally find that to be ridiculous and infuriating. Like, I, for the people that maybe were offended because they didn't understand the context, because I would not expect Joe Blow to know who Abloh is and what his thing is, I didn't before looking into this story. Once you're given that information, I mean, come on. But I also will say that that last part is my personal opinion.

That is based off of my personal life experiences. And I pass the question off to you. Do you agree? Do you disagree? Why or why not? Also, I do kind of want to tag on some notes to the end of this story. One, if you are someone that sees this and you go and harass Lara because you disagree with her

and you say just horrible things about her, go fuck yourself. I have a difference of opinion with this person. I'm frustrated by their opinion, but that should not then turn into you harassing someone. And understand, I'm most likely not talking to you watching this right now. This is a very small portion of the audience, but something I feel like just needs to be reminded every now and then. And also too, to the people that do purposefully misgender Serena Williams,

they- they purposefully dehumanize her, I'm also gonna pass a fuck you. I think it's very easy with stories like this, and I've been guilty of it in the past, to just be like, oh, all those crazy SJWs. Like I said, I have been guilty of that in the past as well. It's important to remember that, you know, sometimes when we see these outrage stories, where we're, you know, we see someone

that maybe we think is making a mountain out of a molehill, that there is this big overreaction, it's important to remember that a lot of the time, that's not coming out of nowhere. It may be misplaced in the scenario that we're talking about. Let's not act like racism, sexism, homophobia, whatever is not a thing. Yeah, just some things I wanted to attach there at the end, and of course I still would love to know your opinion. And then let's talk about an update around the Jim Acosta-Donald Trump situation. Of course, earlier this week we talked about CNN suing the Trump administration, claiming that the network and Jim Acosta's First and Fifth Amendment rights were violated

by last week's suspension of his press pass. And the big update to this story is a federal judge in Washington has ruled in favor of CNN today, forcing the Trump administration to reinstate Jim Acosta's past. And reportedly, this was granted on a limited basis and was not on First Amendment grounds,

but the Fifth Amendment's right to due process. Judge Timothy J. Kelly, who was appointed to the bench by Trump last year and confirmed with bipartisan support in the Senate, said that the White House denied Acosta's right to due process. Judge Timothy J. Kelly, who was appointed to the bench by Trump last year and confirmed with bipartisan support in the Senate, said that the White House denied Acosta's right to due process under the law, and said that they must establish standardized rules to justify taking away a pass to cover the White House.

And following this, we got a statement from White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, where she said, "'Today, the Court made clear that there is no absolute "'First Amendment right to access the White House. "'In response to the Court, we will temporarily "'reinstate the reporter's hard pass,' "'but then also adding, we will also further develop rules and processes to ensure fair and orderly press conferences in the future. There must be decorum at the White House. And on the other side,

we saw CNN and Acosta release a joint statement this morning saying, we are gratified with this result, and we look forward to a full resolution in the coming days. Our sincere thanks to all who have supported not just CNN, but a free, strong, and independent American press. But also, I mean, the important thing to keep in mind is this is not the end of the battle between CNN and the Trump administration. And in fact, Judge Kelly has ordered both parties to file a joint status report next week on how to proceed in the case, and there are further hearings likely to take place in the next few weeks. With all of that said, oh, to be in the room the first time Acosta and Trump are back together. I'd trade Super Bowl tickets for that just to witness whatever the hell that's gonna feel like. And then let's talk about all this news around e-cigarettes, vaporizers, and of course the the main focal point, Juul.

You might remember last Friday we actually did a dedicated video on this. I did not expect that video to be as timely as it ended up being with everything we saw this week. And if you didn't see that video, one, I highly recommend it because it'll give you even more background into what we're talking about today. And two, I think it's a kind of a great example of it being this hybrid between what I do and what I want to do more of in the future. But with that said, kind of the TLDR recap to bring you up to today. According to just released numbers from the FDA,

there's been a 78% increase in the number of high schoolers using e-cigarettes this year from last year. Additionally, they say there was a 48% increase among middle schoolers. They also say that the number of high school and middle schoolers using these products is now 3.6 million, which is 1.5 million more than last year. Although, according to a ton of the comments on last Friday's video, these estimates are low.

But with that said, when we're talking about this, the big focal point ends up being Juul. And the reason there is such a focus on it is they control so much of the market, coming in at 75%. And as we mentioned last time, while the signs do show that vaporizers and e-cigarettes are safer than traditional tobacco products, the FDA is still concerned about the amount of nicotine in these products and why so many young people are using them. This then led to reports that the FDA was set to announce a ban on certain flavors of e-cigarettes, and this caused a fierce debate in the public health community. But with that incredibly oversimplified version of what we talked about last week, what we ended up seeing this week is in the midst of the debate, and even

before the FDA made its official move, on Tuesday, Juul CEO Kevin Burns preemptively made an announcement of his own. Our intent was never to have youth use Juul, but they are. As the industry leader, we must lead the category in decreasing underage use. Today, we announced an action plan to do just that. For us to successfully fulfill our mission of helping adult smokers, we must be trusted and we must earn that trust. That starts with action, not words. And that action includes Juul announcing that it is no longer accepting retail orders for several of its flavors. And those flavors are cucumber, mango, creme, and fruit. According to Juul, the company will temporarily no longer provide these products to over 90,000 retail stores, including traditional tobacco retailers like convenience stores and

specialty vape shops. However, Juul will continue to sell its other traditional flavors in stores, Virginia tobacco, classic tobacco, mint, and menthol. And the company will also continue to sell its other flavors online. And according to Juul, it will also institute additional age verification measures in order to ensure that the purchaser of the product is 21 or older.

And regarding this, users were already being asked to provide their name, date of birth, address, last four digits of their social. So to any parents out there wondering why their kid was asking for the last four of their social, maybe you have an answer. But also in addition to all their name, date of birth, address, last four digits of their social. So to any parents out there wondering why their kid was asking for the last four of their social, maybe you have an answer. But also in addition to all of this, if the company couldn't match the information with public records, users then had to upload an image

of a government issued ID. And also users were already limited to two devices and 15 JoulePod packages per month and no more than 10 devices a year to prevent bulk shipments. And so now in addition to that, they're announcing that it will require two-factor authentication, sending a code to a user's phone to create an account.

And with this, they'll be using a real-time photo ID verification requirement. So I guess you kind of have to FaceTime for Juul. Also as far as the company's advertising, which in the past has been criticized for appealing to teens, Juul says that it will be shutting down its accounts on Facebook and Instagram, adding that its Twitter account

will only feature corporate communication and no promotional material. Its YouTube will only be used for, quote, "'posting testimonials of former adult smokers who have switched to the Juul system. And Juul also claims that more than 99% of all social media content related to Juul is from third parties which have no affiliation with the company. And here, the company says that they will continue to monitor and go after these third party accounts to remove inappropriate material online. Now as far as the reaction to this, we've seen some anti-tobacco advocates saying that Juul's move is too little too late. For example, you had Caroline Renzulli, a spokeswoman for the campaign for tobacco-free kids, saying,

Juul's social media marketing fueled its popularity with kids. Now that it has captured 75% of the e-cigarette market, Juul no longer needs to do social media marketing because its young customers are doing it for them. But at the same time, a man we talked about a lot last week, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, did seem to give Juul some credit, tweeting, voluntary action is no substitute for regulatory steps FDA will soon take, but we want to recognize actions by Juul today and urge all manufacturers to immediately implement steps to start reversing these trends.'" And that then brings us to those regulatory steps that Gottlieb referred to in his tweet because they were announced on Thursday. To the surprise of many, the FDA will not be proposing a fruity flavor ban, but rather Gottlieb calling for

all flavors that are not tobacco, mint, and menthol to be sold in a closed off, age-restricted location within stores, and for these flavors to be subjected to heightened age verification requirements if sold online. And according to Gottlieb, the data shows that kids using e-cigarettes are going to be more likely to try combustible cigarettes later.

This is a large pool of future risks. The policies I'm outlining now strives to strike a careful public health balance between our imperative to enable the opportunities to transition to non-combustible products to be available for adults, and our solemn mandate to make nicotine products less accessible and less appealing to children.

And actually on that note, the FDA is seeking to crack down on e-cig products that are marketed to children. Right, things such as products that use cartoons or animated characters. Also cracking down on products with names that could be favored by kids, such as brands of candy or soda. And in addition to the announcement about e-cigarettes,

Gottlieb also made a major announcement about traditional tobacco products. Specifically, that it was moving to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars, which data shows are also disproportionately used by young people. And specifically African American youth, as the FDA says that seven in 10 African American youth smokers select menthol cigarettes.

But this, however, does need to clear many federal regulatory hurdles before being enacted, which could take up to two years. But if and when this got through, it would be one of the biggest blows to the tobacco industry in years. The data shows that menthol cigarettes account for about 35% of all cigarette sales in the United States.

And so with all of that said, kind of seeing the buildup we had last week, what has actually followed through this week, I do wanna pass the question off to you as far as what do you feel about this? Do you feel like this is the right move? Yes or no? Do you feel like the FDA's focus here is misplaced?

On last week's video, there were a lot of adults sounding off regarding the focus on the flavors. I saw many saying, you know, part of the reason why they were able to quit smoking traditional cigarettes was all of a sudden they had this alternative and it was tasty. All right, many saying they felt like they were being punished if all of a sudden they didn't have access to this in the effort to stop kids from smoking. And to those people I ask, what do you think about instead of the full ban, it's an age-restricted area, you feel like good move, bad move, perfect balance. And I'm just really interested because, as I've said before, this is just a completely different world for me just because I've forever tried to stay away from it.

And then let's talk about one of the most heartbreaking and infuriating stories this week, and it comes from Chicago. So early Sunday morning at a place called Manny's Blue Room Lounge, which is in a suburb of Chicago, there was a verbal altercation between four men that escalated into an active shooter situation. According to witnesses, the men were asked to leave,

and then at least one returned and opened fire with reportedly security returning fire. Around 4 a.m., reports of shots fired were made, and officers from several areas responded. One of the responding officers from Midlothian, quote, "'Encountered a subject with a gun "'and was involved in an officer-involved shooting.'" This according to an initial statement

from Midlothian Police Chief Dan Delaney. And it turned out the officer shot a man who ended up being 26 year old Jamel Roberson who was working security at the lounge. And Roberson would later be pronounced dead after arriving at the hospital. And according to witnesses, Roberson had been outside holding down one of the perpetrators when police arrived.

According to a statement from the Illinois State Police released Tuesday night after a preliminary investigation, Roberson had been given verbal commands by the officer to drop the gun before he fired. Also according to the Sheriff's Office spokeswoman, Sophia Ansari, Roberson had a valid firearm owner's identification card and verbal commands by the officer to drop the gun before he fired. Also, according to the Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Sophia Ansari, Roberson had a valid firearm owner's identification card and was licensed by the state to work armed security. But on that note, you also had state police claiming that he didn't have any clothing item that identified him as security. However, on the other side of that, you had Gregory Cullis, an attorney for Roberson's family,

claiming that he was actually wearing a security hat. Also, regarding the shooting, four others were also shot that night with non-fatal injuries, and none of them reportedly were shot by police. And after the identity of the shooter was made clear, Midlothian Police Chief Delaney said in a statement, Jamel Roberson was a brave man who was doing his best to end an active shooter situation at Manny's Blue Room. And adding, the Midlothian Police Department is completely saddened by this tragic incident and we give our heartfelt condolences to Jamel, his family and his friends. There are no words that can be expressed as to the sorrow his family is dealing with. And following this, the lounge has been temporarily closed pending the outcome of a full examination of the facility. And the officer who shot Roberson has now been placed on paid administrative leave while the Illinois State Police Public Integrity Task Force

investigates the shooting. The police chief also adding, we view this as the equivalent of a blue on blue friendly fire incident. This week, we also saw Roberson's family file a lawsuit against the officer in the city of Midlothian seeking $1 million in damages. The lawsuit alleging that the shooting was unprovoked, unjustified, and unreasonable. And in addition to this, a GoFundMe page was started to help pay for the burial expenses, and right now it's surpassed its goal, getting over $151,000. And also looking at this situation, there are people who do not agree with the police chief that this was simply a blue-on-blue friendly fire incident. Many connecting the incident to race because Roberson was black and the officer was white. One person that attended a Monday vigil for Roberson saying,

"'This was not reckless policing, "'this was homicidal policing. "'They saw a black man with a gun. "'If he did not have a gun, "'his black skin made him a weapon.'" We've also seen people online using the hashtag justice for Jamel. With tweets like,

"'The good guy with a gun' argument breaks down pretty fast "'when black heroes who disarm active shooters "'are assumed to be bad guys "'and executed on the spot by law enforcement. And what I would say around this note is, right now we haven't seen any body cam footage, we have the report, but there was something that was incredibly concerning

that came from one of the witnesses. One of the witnesses by the name of Adam Harris told a local station, Roberson had somebody on the ground with his knee in back, with his gun in his back, like, don't move. And then saying, when police showed up, we all yelled, he's a security, he's a security. And without giving any thought they shot him. The vest said security as well and they shot him in the side. And so we hear this different version of events

but the net result is the only person that is dead in this scenario is the person that was trying to do good. A man who will no longer be able to be there for his nine month old son and his baby that's on the way. And it's so frustrating and my heart breaks in this situation and then I just get angry. Because it feels like so many times when a horrible story like this comes out, all of a sudden something comes out. You know, this innocent person that got killed,

they had weed in their house. And or insert whatever fucking thing that doesn't pertain to them being shot by a police officer. I don't know, and I think a source of the anger also comes from the fact that there is no actual justice that can be done. Money will make some things easier, but it's not gonna replace a person.

And that's where I'm going to end today's show. And of course, remember, if you like this video, you wanna support it, just hit that like button. If you're new here, you want more in the future, hit that subscribe button. Also, if you miss either the last two Philip DeFranco shows you wanna catch up, you can click or tap right there.

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 Monday.