The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 11.16 The Disturbing Truth About Taylor Swift's Ticketmaster Disaster, AOC, Sad Boy Trump, NASA, & More

Episode Date: November 16, 2022

Start your free trial today: http://www.Squarespace.com/Phil & enter offer code “Phil” to get 10% off your first purchase! News You May Have Missed: https://youtu.be/GGaPGIYgJF8 Check Out This Week’s Rap-Up: https://youtu.be/ZI9_NV917T0 TEXT ME! [phone] Get More Phil: https://linktr.ee/PhilipDeFranco – 00:00 - Taylor Swift Tickets Are So High People Want to Break Up Ticketmaster & Live Nation 02:29 - NASA Launches Artemis 1 Moon Mission on Its Most Powerful Rocket Ever 05:05 - Judge Overturns Georgia's 6 Week Reproductive Rights Ban 07:01 - Sponsored by Squarespace 07:48 - Former President Donald Trump Announces 2024 Presidential Campaign 12:46 - Poland Missile Strike Appears to Be an Accident by Ukraine – ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ Taylor Swift Tour Ticket Fiasco Leads to Calls for Ticketmaster & Live Nation to Break Up: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/16/taylor-swift-ticket-fiasco-leads-to-calls-for-ticketmaster-live-nation-to-break-up.html NASA Launches Artemis 1 Moon Mission on Its Most Powerful Rocket Ever: https://www.space.com/nasa-artemis-1-moon-mission-launch Judge Overturns Georgia's 6 Week Reproductive Rights Ban: https://www.npr.org/2022/11/15/1136968734/georgia-abortion-ban-6-weeks-overturned Former President Donald Trump Announces 2024 Presidential Campaign: https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/15/politics/trump-2024-presidential-bid/index.html Poland Missile Strike Appears to Be an Accident by Ukraine: https://www.npr.org/2022/11/16/1137085278/polands-president-says-the-missile-strike-appears-to-be-from-ukraine —————————— Produced by: Cory Ray Edited by: James Girardier, Maxwell Enright, Christian Meeks Art Department: Brian Borst, William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Brian Espinoza, Maddie Crichton, Lili Stenn, Chris Tolve, Star Pralle Production Team: Emma Leid ———————————— #DeFranco #TaylorSwift #Ticketmaster ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sup you beautiful bastards! Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show. Buckle up, make sure you hit that like button, otherwise it will punch you in the throat. And let's just jump into it. Starting with, Ticketmaster may be the most hated company in the world right now. Why? Well, because I guess if you want to go to a Taylor Swift concert right now, it's going to cost you $50,000. So yesterday people flocked to Ticketmaster, so excited. It's time to get tickets to Taylor's Errors Tour. And they were met with absolute

unending chaos with 2,000 person long frozen queues, technical glitches, even just straight-up crashes on the site resulting in Ticketmaster having to release a statement saying they've received quote historically unprecedented demand with millions showing up with that claiming that they did sell hundreds of thousands of tickets already. Unsurprisingly this resulted in hundreds of thousands if not millions of angry Swifties. Which makes sense because not only are they ticketless, people are trying to sell these tickets right now for $20,000 to $50,000. But the anger also wasn't just reserved for Ticketmaster. Taylor Swift herself also receiving backlash for agreeing to the dynamic pricing system that Ticketmaster uses. With people saying things like, I'm sorry, but having dynamic pricing for tickets is 100% on Taylor Swift. I don't care if people get mad at me for this. She knows the demand is insane for tickets, and it literally gives Ticketmaster the opportunity to price gouge us.

And even Do Everything Dude Hank Green chiming in, saying in a tweet, Does everyone know that a good chunk of the Ticketmaster service fee goes to the artist, or is that something I know because I'm in the industry? Later clarifying that Ticketmaster always collects these fees, but only gives a cut to the largest of acts. It's not the little guys, but very probably Taylor Swift. Though, like I said, a lot of the focus was on Ticketmaster, with even the likes of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

choosing this moment to speak out against them, saying in a tweet, Daily reminder that Ticketmaster is a monopoly. Its merger with Live Nation should never have been approved, and they need to be reined in. Break them up. To which someone responded, You couldn't get tickets either?

But, the legal and political side of this doesn't come out of nowhere. Last year, Democratic representatives reportedly sent a letter to the acting chair of the FTC asking them to revisit the 2010 merger and saying that it has strangled competition in live entertainment. This also isn't like the first time Ticketmaster has struggled to meet the demand of ravenous pop fans. Last December, Adele fans experienced glitches when trying to purchase tickets, though at that time Ticketmaster blaming Amazon Web Services. Also, Olivia Rodrigo fans reported scalpers reselling tickets for like $9,000 when technical difficulties prevented fans from buying tickets at lower prices.

And so with the unimaginable popularity of Taylor Swift, the numbers get even crazier. Yeah, main things, if you got the tickets, congratulations, consider yourselves lucky. And if you didn't, to all the Taylor Swift stans out there, I have to say, even though you have been saying it for about a month, in this specific situation, you are not the problem, it's not you.

I can't speak to all the other problems though. But also, if you have any thoughts or experiences around just this clusterfuck, please share in those comments down below. And then America's finally going back to the moon, which is wild because y'all, it's been more than five decades since Neil Armstrong stepped foot on the lunar surface with those historic words.

That's a spicy meatball. And now all these years later, NASA is looking to send the first woman and next man back there again. With last night's Artemis I launch being the first step toward that. You're the SLS rocket rocket the most powerful ever built by the agency standing at over 300 feet on the launch pad It's four engines and two boosters giving it 8.8 million pounds of thrust almost as much as what goes Wow, what the fuck is that script?

Jesus Christ Chris I asked you to give me a simple space story for the people. Here is the line that Chris wrote for me. It's four engines and two boosters giving it 8.8 million pounds of thrust, almost as much as what goes on in my bedroom every night. Jesus Christ, Chris. But despite its impressive size, this was all just a test flight. There was no crew on board, though. It was carrying the Orion spacecraft, which will carry people during future missions.

And also a key thing with this is actually the timing. This launch has been plagued with technical hiccups. It was actually supposed to take off in August, but it kept getting aborted last minute. Which is why when this countdown finally began, you had people biting their nails, but ultimately we watched. Three, two, one. Boosters in existence. And liftoff of Artemis I. We rise together back to the moon and beyond. With a now hurtling toward the moon, where it'll reach orbit on Monday, circle around for a couple of weeks, and then return to Earth.

And as far as what comes next, the second Artemis mission is going to carry four astronauts to the moon, but also not land. That is scheduled for 2024, and then in 2025, the third mission will put humans on the moon's surface for the first time since 1969. Though, that date is also expected to get pushed back. But then, after all that, Congress wants NASA to keep launching SLS rockets once every year indefinitely, with the goal there being to establish a permanent human presence on the moon.

They will have an orbiting outpost called Gateway that will support operations on the surface and deep space exploration, as well as have a moon base where astronauts will live and work, including a lunar cabin, a mobile home, and a rover. And meanwhile, all of this is happening alongside parallel efforts from China,

which is seeking to put people on the moon this decade, with them also planning to build a lunar research station complete with an orbiting outpost just like the U.S. And a key notable thing here is this year they also completed their Tiangong space station, which is unmistakably a rival to the ISS. And the final thing I'll mention here is that both countries have and share the long-term objective of putting people on Mars, with the moon being seen as a springboard for that, which is also why you have so many people calling this the second space race, which I guess makes sense because everything repeats and it kind of feels like we're in the second Cold War right now. So yeah, I don't know, all this news makes me feel like For All Mankind is just predicting the future, which by the way,

if you haven't watched that series, definitely do. It took me like two or three years to finally go, yeah, I'll watch it. Amazing. But with all that said, I do want to pass a question off to you. What are your thoughts here around this second space race? And then abortions after six weeks are no longer illegal in Georgia, at least for now, with a judge now overturning the state's ban, ruling that it was unconstitutional. This is some key things here. Georgia's abortion law is one of the strictest in the country, banning the procedure after six weeks before many people even know they're pregnant. Though there are exceptions for when a doctor deems a pregnancy medically futile and for victims of rape and incest, though that has to have been reported to law enforcement.

But, very notably here, that law was actually passed back in 2019, and as a result, it was blocked until the Supreme Court overturned Roe, with the measure officially taking effect in July. So as a result, you had opponents of the ban filing a lawsuit. And in this new decision, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney argued that because the law went against the Constitution and Supreme Court precedent when it was drafted and approved in 2019, it is not valid. Writing, At that time, everywhere in America, including Georgia, it was unequivocally unconstitutional for governments, federal, state, or local to ban abortions before viability. So with this ruling taking immediate effect statewide, abortion access in Georgia has now officially reverted to its pre-ban status, which allows for abortions up to 22 weeks of pregnancy. And while this move is absolutely massive, the key thing here is that it's for the time being.

That's the phrase that pays with this story because already state officials have filed an appeal with the Georgia Supreme Court. But if the court does uphold McBurney's ruling, there's nothing stopping Georgia's legislature and Republican governor from just passing more restrictions. And that's something that the judge himself

even acknowledged in his decision, saying the same exact ban may someday become the law of Georgia in the post-Roe world. And so now another key thing is that some very prominent and powerful anti-choice groups, like Georgia Rights of Life, saying the decision shows that legislative action alone cannot be the only method to restrict abortion, and that a constitutional amendment is needed to shield this from judicial review.

Which I think, if anything, serves as an important and fantastic reminder that in every election, right, every two years, abortion is on the ballot in a post-Roe world. Right at first, it was about states' rights, and then after Roe got overturned, it was like, statesStates' rights? Why not go for the whole fucking ball game?" It took Lindsey Graham two seconds to be like, "'I got a nationwide ban right here.'" And those weren't even the most restrictive ideas

being proposed. And hey, there are gonna be some people that love that idea, but also I think these midterms show there's a lot of people that don't. But hey, we're living through history right now, so we're gonna have to wait to see what happens, and of course I'll keep my eye on it for you. And then I wanna take a second to thank a sponsor

of the PDS, Squarespace. You know, I've been partnering with Squarespace for years now, and I have to say, if you're getting your business off the ground or creating a place to share your homemade goods, new favorite hobby, your current obsession, or just even have a personal blog to get all those thoughts out of your head, no matter what you're doing, Squarespace is there to help.

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over at squarespace.com slash phil. And when you realize you love it, which you will, make sure you enter an offer code phil to get 10% off your first purchase. And then the most telegraphed political move of all time, Donald Trump, the former president, the man who sparked the January 6th insurrection and watched that fire burn, who tried to undo democracy so he could stay in power, who said of his vice president, who wouldn't go along with him undoing democracy, that he deserved it when his followers were chanting that he should be killed, that he should be hung. He announced that he is running for the presidency in 2024. While not universally wanted by Republicans, this was expected. Right before the midterms, he wouldn't shut up about his big announcement that

he was going to make on November 15th. This, even though Republicans are worried that it's going to hurt their chances in the runoff election in Georgia. But still, Trump moved on, speaking for Mar-a-Lago, which in case you forgot, is literally the scene of a possible crime and was raided by the FBI just three months ago. And there, Trump delivered a long, rambling speech full of the same predictable inaccuracies and outright lies, to the point where it really doesn't even make sense to play any of it.

It's exactly what you'd expect and exactly what we've seen a million times before. And that's something that we're gonna try and figure out how to navigate over the next two years. Even though he is not currently president, there are certain situations and topics and things where it's gonna be unavoidable not to talk about him. But at the same time, we don't need to needlessly give oxygen to his fires of misinformation that will

always be burning. I'm going to try and navigate it properly. I know that I'm not going to do a perfect job there, but this mindset also seemed to be something that was embraced by much of the media last night. With broadcast news at large basically being like, okay, you saw the announcement, we don't need to hear the rest of the noise. With most major networks deciding not to play Trump's announcement in full or even at all. NBC and CBS deciding to stick with previously scheduled entertainment as did ABC. Though that does make sense because Bachelor in Paradise

is way more important than anything Donald Trump's gonna have to say. But also, and this is a key thing here, even fucking Fox News cut away from the speech. Granted, it was after 40 minutes, but it just kept going on and on and they were like, okay, even we're done. And understand, Fox wasn't the only conservative outlet to downplay this and what honestly is an incredible troll

The New York Post totally buried the announcement on page 26 and ran with the headline and I'm not fucking kidding you Lord a man makes announcement from the New York Post But also it wasn't just the media that gave Trump a lukewarm reception because while you did have the usual cult members cheering on his Announcement there was also a resounding silence from many Republicans who have supported him in the past, including some of the most important players in the party. But also, it's not like this is completely unexpected. This comes as tons of Republicans have loudly and openly blamed him for the party's wild underperformance in the midterms, with voters resoundingly rejecting the extreme and weak candidates that Trump endorsed. And while Trump tries to deflect

on this, saying, what about all the people I endorsed that won? All of those people were in locked red districts. That's like if I endorsed AOC and I was like, yep, won in the win column. She got over 70% of the vote. Right, it's all about the close races. Which is why Trump's preferred candidates stood out so much because they reportedly underperformed other GOP candidates by about five percentage points.

That's miles and miles of political real estate in battleground states. I mean, just think about how many races were insanely close this year and came down to less than a five point difference. Also, it appeared that there's not and miles of political real estate in battleground states. I mean, just think about how many races were insanely close this year and came down to less than a five-point difference. Also, it appeared that there's not a lot of excitement with donors. Reportedly, less than 24 hours after announcing his bid, Trump's already losing some major GOP donors. And as Axios reported, For the first time since the January 6th Capitol riots, there are signs former President Trump's core GOP support may be softening among grassroots conservatives who stood with him through thick and thin.

Which also appears to be something backed by public polling. With one recent Politico morning consult survey showing that a majority of registered voters, 53%, said that Trump definitely shouldn't run again. But I would argue, more importantly, less than 20% of respondents said that he should definitely run. And very similar numbers were also seen in exit polls by AP vote cast. And I will say, as someone that believes that Donald Trump will end up being the Republican nominee, it really doesn't feel like the timing of his announcement is making it any easier for him. But there are two big reasons it is probably a bad idea and a risk for Trump to announce this before the Georgia runoff. One, Donald Trump immediately connects himself to the runoff and Hershel Walker even more than before,

which Republicans are worried will result in more Democrats showing up to the polls. And two, if Hershel Walker loses, it makes it undeniable that Trump is toxic, with many likely seeing this as just a taste of what's to come in 2024 if he's the polls. And two, if Herschel Walker loses, it makes it undeniable that Trump is toxic. With many likely seeing this as just a taste of what's to come in 2024 if he's the nominee. But possibly Donald Trump is betting on Herschel Walker winning, which he thinks may bolster him. Though honestly, I don't know if it's really that thought out. I think Donald Trump has made it very clear that he is a selfish,

egomaniacal asshole who cares more about his future than that of the party. Which is also something we've even seen said from former Trump fans. I mean, even Candace Owens was recently speaking out, though I will say, and this is a key thing, the grift is strong with many of these people, so it wouldn't be surprising to see anyone 180. But also regarding Trump announcing

just ridiculously early. According to multiple reports, Trump's friends and advisors say that he made this announcement unusually early because he wants to get ahead of the many potential indictments that he faces from the multiple criminal investigations that he's under, with him allegedly hoping this will bolster his claims that the state and federal investigations

against him are politically motivated. An attempt to make himself look like the victim to his core base, which even, it's not even like a stretch to say that. Last night he said, I am a victim. But understand, he is not a victim here. He's been investigated and search warrants have been served and evidence has been found. This is what accountability looks like, which by the way, I don't think that he's going to be held accountable. I genuinely believe that it's gonna come down to the people. Again, it's gonna come down to the vote.

And the people feigning now that they don't support him, understand many, most, almost all will get in line if he becomes the nominee. They'll say, I don't like Donald Trump, but. But hey, like I often say when I give my opinion and predictions on things, I am more than happy to be proved wrong here. And ultimately, time will tell.

And then, it's been a wild, scary 24 hours in Eastern Europe. Yesterday, we found out that Poland, out of nowhere, was hit by two missiles with two people dying. Which I know, we're looking at more horrible numbers everywhere, but this was like a fucking giant red flag. Because with Poland being hit, they're a NATO member. Any attack on a NATO member is treated like an attack on every other member. And initially, the intel coming out from Poland, NATO, and the US indicated that it was two stray Russian missiles and very unlikely to be intentional. But here's the thing, even if it

was an accident, it would be a sign that Russian aggression was recklessly out of hand and it would be a huge provocation. I mean, this got to the point where it was looking like Poland was going to invoke Article 4 of NATO, which is when they demand all members get together to discuss what to do next. And that's usually followed by a lot more troops and weapons to the region and maybe even further action. However, by late evening, NATO leaders, including President Biden and Poland's president, came out and clarified that upon further review, it was actually likely two Ukrainian missiles,

with the Polish president even calling this an unfortunate accident. And it's believed that the two rockets were part of a Ukrainian anti-missile defense system and probably missed their target while defending against Russia's biggest missile attack against Ukraine, with that attack actually being why NATO members are still blaming Russia for this. And the

Dutch Prime Minister saying this would not have happened without Russia's horrific missile attacks against Ukraine. Right, if Russia weren't just bombing any and every civilian infrastructure, there wouldn't be a need for Ukraine to launch missiles in defense. Right, the kind of thinking that if like someone tried to stab you with a knife and you try to defend yourself, but you accidentally clip someone else, you wouldn't be the one to blame because you were trying to save your life from an aggressor. But either way, while tensions remain high in the region right now, it's clear that Russia is not going to stop its war and it is leading to collateral damage even outside of Ukraine. In other ways, things have calmed down a little, like the fact that Poland is no longer invoking NATO's Article 4.

But that is where the good news, or really it's not even that, it's more the silver lining ends. Because this horrible situation keeps inching and inching itself closer to being an even bigger fucking mess. All because the sad little monster that is Putin can't live with the idea that when he dies, he's going to have no real legacy to speak of. But that is where that story in today's show ends. Thank you for watching, liking, and being subscribed to these daily dives into the news. And as always, my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love your faces, and I'll see you right back here on Sunday.