The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 1.14 Why Joe Rogan is Scared, Strange Armie Hammer Allegations, Justice League, UFOs, & More

Starting point is 00:00:00 So, at the risk of maybe coming off too feely-feely for some, there's something that I have to share because I think it will help others. Or, honestly, even if it just happens to hit at the right time for this audience of one, you watching and listening right now, I think will have been worth it. So, at the end of last year, over on the DeFranco Does channel, I shared something that I have been struggling with, something that I've been embarrassed by, and something that since then I've made great progress dealing with. And I would also argue that since then I've made great progress in almost every avenue of my life. And while there are a lot of individual efforts that I would go, okay, that's the reason, that's the reason, at the core of it is something very simple and very strong. And in fact, it's just four words that I repeat to myself. You can call them power words, you can call them a mantra, you can call them a tool,

Starting point is 00:00:45 but those four words are, I'm better than this. Four words that I can say that remind me that I am bigger, I am better than mistakes I've made in my past. Four words that you can say right now. If you wanna do it with me, maybe it's cheesy, I'm better than this. Words that I hope you can take to heart that let you know that who you were yesterday

Starting point is 00:01:04 is not everything you'll ever be. Who you are today is just a snapshot. It's a before photo for who you can be tomorrow. Just say the damn words. I'm better than this. A reminder that any moment of any day, I can take the first steps towards the thing that I want. Because words have power, which can be a scary thing when you remember some of the horrible stuff the voice in your head has said, but it can be a scary thing when you remember some of the horrible stuff the voice in your head has said, but it can be a really empowering thing when you make sure you put in the right words.

Starting point is 00:01:30 But yeah, that's it for this Feely Phil cheese ball intro. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show. It is Thursday, January 14th, 2021. And let's just jump into the news of the day so you can get back to yours. I hope maybe that helped you. Where we'll start today is with the entertainment news where first up we have Armie Hammer.

Starting point is 00:01:51 He's an actor, you might remember him from the social network or call me by your name, but he is now in the news for more controversial reasons. With it now being reported that he's exiting the upcoming Lionsgate film, Shotgun Wedding, which co-stars Jennifer Lopez after disturbing messages attributed to him surfaced on Twitter. Messages that were reportedly leaked

Starting point is 00:02:07 by an Instagram account called House of Effie and showcase conversations that she allegedly had with the actor. Conversations that contain graphic and disturbing sexual fantasies, including violence, rape, other really detailed and unsettling situations and cannibalism. Now, a big thing I want to hit on,

Starting point is 00:02:22 these screenshots have not been verified, but have caused hammer to trend on social media over the weekend and then last night. An ex-girlfriend of his has also expressed that she believes these messages are real, adding to the chatter and him trending. It then led to the news that Hammer would be leaving the movie first, a production spokesperson broke the news

Starting point is 00:02:36 with a statement saying, given the imminent start date of Shotgun Wedding, ARMY has requested to step away from the film and we support him in his decision. Following that, Hammer released a statement of his own saying, I'm not responding to these bullshit claims, but in light of the vicious

Starting point is 00:02:49 and spurious online attacks against me, I cannot in good conscience now leave my children for four months to shoot a film in the Dominican Republic. Lionsgate is supporting me in this and I'm grateful to them for that. And so for now we have to wait and see what else comes from there. I have no idea how to transition from this.

Starting point is 00:03:03 In other entertainment celeb news that does not involve allegations of cannibalism, nailed it. We're seeing actor Ray Fisher continue to lodge claims that the DC films president interfered with an investigation into misconduct on the Justice League set. For those unfamiliar, this situation begins back in July when Fisher, who plays Cyborg in DC films,

Starting point is 00:03:20 accused director Joss Whedon of creating a quote, "'Gross, abusive, unprofessional, "'and completely unacceptable work environment' during reshoots for Justice League." With Fisher saying that Whedon was enabled by two executives, Jeff Johns and John Berg. Investigation was launched into this. There was a lot of back and forth,

Starting point is 00:03:35 feuding between Fisher and the studio. But you also had the likes of Jason Momoa backing Fisher, adding what happened was worthy of investigating. Gal Gadot also expressing support for Fisher, speaking up. And ultimately in December, Warner said that the investigation had concluded and that remedial action had been taken, but did not give a ton of details.

Starting point is 00:03:51 Though of no weeks prior to this, it was announced that Joss Whedon was leaving his show at HBO and Warner, effectively parting ways with the studio. And at the end of 2020, Fisher said that he didn't wanna work on any production Hamada was a part of. And that is noteworthy because he believes

Starting point is 00:04:04 that Hamada actually interfered with that investigation in order to protect Jeff Johns, who is his friend. Which brings us to yesterday because Fisher made a lengthy post on Twitter confirming that WB had in fact decided to remove him from the flash. Which upset him, but he said he wasn't surprised and said that it was more important to bring awareness to Hamada's actions.

Starting point is 00:04:21 Writing, Walter Hamada interfering with the Justice League investigation is a completely separate issue than the investigation itself. And while Walter's behavior was not a point of focus for the investigation of the Justice League reshoots, his dangerous and enabling actions during the investigation process must be called to account. He then discussed the process of bringing up the claims

Starting point is 00:04:36 that led to the investigation and how he believes Hamada has handled that, with him explaining that when he tried to escalate misconduct claims with Hamada, Hamada tried to throw Whedon and Berg under the bus in an effort to save Johns, even though Fisher reiterated that Johns was part of the issue. With Fisher adding that he felt it was important he use his voice here, saying no one in any profession should have to argue with their employer for their claims of abuse,

Starting point is 00:04:55 and that if ending his time as cyborg is the cost of bringing awareness to this issue, he'll pay it gladly. But this morning we saw WarnerMedia standing by their man, releasing a statement in support of Hamada with Warner Media chair and CEO, Ann Sarnoff saying, "'I believe in Walter Hamada "'and that he did not impede "'or interfere in the investigation. "'Furthermore, I have full confidence

Starting point is 00:05:13 "'in the investigation's process and findings. "'Walter is a well-respected leader "'known by his colleagues, peers, and me "'as a man of great character and integrity.'" With Warner also saying they remained in business with Johns who produces a number of projects for the studio. Then we should talk about how Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey, has defended his platform's decision

Starting point is 00:05:29 to permanently ban President Trump. And I will say here, his comments in this lengthy Twitter thread are interesting. Because in this, Dorsey says that he doesn't celebrate or feel pride in our having to ban Trump from Twitter or how we got here. But also saying, I believe this was the right decision for Twitter, offline harm as a result of online speech

Starting point is 00:05:45 is demonstrably real and what drives our policy and enforcement above all. But then also adding, that said having to ban an account has real and significant ramifications. Among that fragmenting public conversation, dividing people, limiting the potential for clarification, redemption and learning.

Starting point is 00:06:01 Also noting that it, and understand, these are Dorsey's words, sets a precedent I feel is dangerous, the power an individual or corporation has over a part of the global public conversation.'" But Dorsey then continuing by addressing the claims and criticism that Trump's ban on Twitter violated free speech, saying,

Starting point is 00:06:15 "'A company making a business decision to moderate itself is different from a government removing access, yet can feel much the same.'" If folks do not agree with our rules and enforcement, they can simply go to another internet service. However, there, Dorsey also knows that this concept has been challenged over the past week, right?

Starting point is 00:06:29 This didn't happen just on Twitter. Multiple social media platforms have now banned Trump. But also, Dorsey saying he doesn't believe that Trump's bans on social media were coordinated, saying most likely companies came to their own conclusions or were emboldened by the actions of others. Right, it's easier for someone to walk through a door if it's already been kicked down.

Starting point is 00:06:44 Look, these concerns around censorship and precedent aren't just coming from Dorsey. I mean, you also have the likes of Joe Rogan talking about Amazon's decision to shut down Parler saying, Like yeah, it's not good if someone gets on there and they're talking about violence against the government or violence against individuals or they're spreading racist ideas or whatever the fuck they're doing that disturbs people and angers people. You're right. That's not good. But I do not think that the solution is to shut them down because the real problem is that it sets a weird precedent. It sets a precedent where the people that are in power can decide that something is wrong speak,

Starting point is 00:07:24 something is bad, and you can just eliminate it completely. And actually, ahead of the inauguration, social media platforms are not the only businesses changing their policies in an attempt to crack down on real world violence ahead of the inauguration. This morning, for example,

Starting point is 00:07:36 Delta Airlines announces starting this weekend and continuing into next week, it will not allow people traveling to DC to check in guns on flights. This also coming after yesterday when the Federal Aviation Administration, right, the FAA announced that it will now be adopting a zero tolerance policy on unruly passengers.

Starting point is 00:07:51 With the FAA saying that it's seen a disturbing increase in incidents where airline passengers have disrupted flights with threatening or violent behavior. And noting that cases have stemmed from both passengers refusing to wear masks or from the recent attacks on the Capitol. So because of that, the FAA will now immediately pursue legal enforcement action against any passenger

Starting point is 00:08:06 who assaults, threatens, intimidates, or interferes with airline crew members. That policy will be in effect until the end of March and violators could face fines of up to $35,000. Also in DC itself, a number of preparations are being made, both Airbnb and its subsidiary Hotel Tonight had canceled most reservations ahead of the inauguration, with the only exceptions being for long-term stays

Starting point is 00:08:26 and stays for medical care with Airbnb also saying, "'If you are impacted, they will fully refund reservations "'and will also reimburse hosts with the money "'that they should have made from those bookings.'" Additionally, the DC Metro plans to temporarily shut down 13 stations near the Capitol and National Mall. And on top of that, 26 bus routes will be detoured around the Capitol's expanded security perimeter.

Starting point is 00:08:44 Then we should talk about how you can now officially download thousands of CIA UFO records. Not a sentence I thought I would ever say, but all of this is thanks to John Greenwald Jr. and the Black Vault, his online archive of declassified government information. So according to reports, the CIA created a CD-ROM. Are there gonna be people that don't know what a CD-ROM is?

Starting point is 00:09:03 Ugh. So according to reports, the CIA created a CD-ROM full are there going to be people that don't know what a CD-ROM is? So according to reports, the CIA created a CD-ROM full of UFO documents that were eventually declassified through a long string of Freedom of Information requests spanning decades. The Black Vault purchased the CD last year in an effort to make sure that it was up to date with all its info, and on January 7th, Greenwald finally finished uploading its 2,780 pages of content to his site for the public to access as PDFs. And according to the site, the CIA says that this is all the information they have on UFOs. However,

Starting point is 00:09:29 Greenwald noted that there may be no way to entirely verify that. Still though, it includes some really interesting information that people have already started to dig through. In fact, Greenwald tweeted yesterday, in the past 24 hours from this tweet, 622,000 people generated 30.7 million hits on my server and downloaded nearly 26 terabytes worth of data. But actually this new data dump is just a drop in the bucket of the total information that the Black Vault hosts on its site.

Starting point is 00:09:53 With it reportedly hosting more than 2 million pages of declassified government documents. Then we should talk about how yesterday CD Projekt Red took part in a YouTuber right of passage, making an apology video, specifically releasing a five minute video, apologizing for the issues that users had with Cyberpunk 2077.

Starting point is 00:10:10 Like we talked about when the game launched last month, it faced a ton of backlash from console players who ran into bugs, frame rate problems, and more. Issues eventually prompting Sony to pull the game from its PlayStation store. There were refunds being offered. And in the video addressing the problems, the company co-founder said,

Starting point is 00:10:25 Truck month is on at Chevrolet. Get 0% financing for up to 72 months on a 2025 Silverado 1500 Custom Blackout or Custom Trail Boss. With Custom Trail Bosses available, class exclusive Duramax 3-liter diesel engine and Z71 off-road package with a 2-inch factory suspension lift? You get both on-road confidence and off-road capability. Dirt road ahead? Let's go! Truck month is awesome! Ask your Chevrolet dealer for details.

Starting point is 00:10:55 So you've always been picky about your produce. But now you find yourself checking every label to make sure it's Canadian. So be it. At Sobeys, we always pick guaranteed fresh Canadian produce first. Restrictions apply. See in-store or online for details. Despite good reviews on PC, the console version of Cyberpunk 2077 did not meet the quality standard we wanted it to meet. I and the entire leadership team are deeply sorry for this, and this video is me publicly owning up to that. Please don't fault any of our teams for what happened.

Starting point is 00:11:30 They all are incredibly talented and hardworking. Myself and the board are the final decision makers, and it was our call to release the game. Also saying some of the issues stemmed from the fact that they underestimated what it would take to bring the game to life, also pointing to difficulties about having to work from home during the pandemic.

Starting point is 00:11:46 And as far as what comes next, the company shared a roadmap of future updates on top of the ones they've already released. One will be coming in the next 10 days, a larger and more significant one coming in the next few weeks. But the co-founder also stressing, and this was a big key thing here

Starting point is 00:11:59 because this is where a lot of the other outrage and kind of backlash came from, that his team intended to make the updates without what he called obligatory overtime, adding, avoiding crunch on all of our future projects is one of our top priorities. As far as when you should expect Cyberpunk 2077 to return to the PlayStation Store, we don't know.

Starting point is 00:12:15 With the developer saying that they're working on fixes and updates and that they're working with Sony to bring it back as soon as possible. Then in really big news, we should talk about how former Michigan governor, Rick Snyder has now been charged with two counts of willful neglect of duty for his role in the Flint water crisis. He, of course, was the state's top executive when local officials decided to switch the city's drinking water source to the Flint River back in 2014. A move that was supposed to be a temporary cost-saving measure while a pipeline was being built to Lake Huron, but the water also wasn't treated properly for corrosion, so you had lead-contaminated water being released into the homes of people all over the city.

Starting point is 00:12:45 So because of that, 12 people died and at least 90 were sickened by Legionnaires disease. Now, as far as Snyder, he appeared in court this morning via Zoom pleading not guilty to the two charges, which I do want to note, if you're someone that's hoping that he serves a lot of time, there's not a lot of hope for that right now. The charges are misdemeanors and if convicted,

Starting point is 00:13:02 he faces up to a year in prison and as much as a $1,000 fine. But still, the fact that there are charges is a big deal because they make him the first governor or former governor in the state to ever be charged with a crime for alleged conduct while in office. Also, he's not the only one being targeted here. In a press conference this morning,

Starting point is 00:13:17 prosecutors announced charges against eight other former state and city officials as they reported their investigation findings. This includes a former state health director and some of Snyder's close aides. And in total, 41 charges have been filed across all nine people with some facing charges of involuntary manslaughter and extortion.

Starting point is 00:13:33 You know, Flint residents have been waiting a very long time for there to be some sort of justice or any consequences whatsoever. And one of the last times we talked about this was 2019, where prosecutors dropped 15 criminal charges tied to the Flint case, saying that the investigation would begin again from scratch.

Starting point is 00:13:48 At the time, citing concerns about how the special counsel had conducted its probe, but it also wasn't until last year that the state reached a $600 million settlement with the victims, establishing a fund which residents can file for compensation. But these new charges are gonna be something we should keep an eye on.

Starting point is 00:14:01 Then let's talk about unemployment news and how the hell we're gonna get out of this. Because what we're seeing right now is another 965,000 Americans filed for unemployment last week, which is the highest number of new claims since last August. Notably also 181,000 more filings in the week before marking the largest week to week increase

Starting point is 00:14:18 since the beginning of the pandemic. Additionally, more than 284,000 Americans filed under the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program for self-employed people and gig workers, a jump in that category of 100,000 more claims in the week prior. But also notably, economists have said that they expected to see more people filing claims

Starting point is 00:14:33 as a result of the stimulus package that was passed last month, which among other things added an additional $300 a week in federal unemployment benefits. But overall, it is still important to note that the job market is still struggling. In fact, just last week, the government reported that the US economy lost 140,000 jobs in December,

Starting point is 00:14:48 marking the first net loss since the mass layoffs this past spring. Now, of course, a big part of these economic declines is due to the renewed closures and restrictions that have been imposed as coronavirus cases continue to reach new highs. But according to reports, economists have also said that the struggling economy is also partially explained

Starting point is 00:15:03 by the fact that it took Congress 10 months to pass another stimulus package. This, even after tons of essential fiscal programs expired over the summer. But there's a light in the distance. There is some good news. Despite the current slump, analysts are saying that things will start looking up for two main reasons.

Starting point is 00:15:17 One, in the long term, as more people are vaccinated and COVID cases drop, restrictions will be eased, allowing normal consumer activity to resurge. And two, in the short term, the economy and the American people can expect to see a boost from the influx of stimulus measures and new spending that Biden has promised. Stimulus that unless there's some unforeseen issue,

Starting point is 00:15:33 he and Democrats should be able to implement now that they have both the House and the Senate. Which actually connects us to the news that Biden is expected to unveil a set of massive stimulus proposals during a speech this evening. Now, as of recording this video, Biden's team has not yet said how much that plan will cost,

Starting point is 00:15:46 but last week, the president-elect himself said that he would deliver trillions in economic relief. And as for what is expected in this package, Biden has said that there will be significant funding for state and local governments, small businesses, and to help reopen schools, as well as billions of dollars to speed up vaccine distribution. Other people briefed with Biden's plan also reportedly said

Starting point is 00:16:03 that this will include an extension of the extra federal unemployment benefits, which are currently set to end in March for many workers as well as more aid for renters. And then of course, one of the most significant provisions would be the stimulus checks. While the December package included an additional $600 in direct payments, many have argued

Starting point is 00:16:17 that is nowhere near enough. This including Biden himself, who last week said, "- We need more direct relief flowing to families, small businesses, including finishing the job of getting people that $2,000 in relief, direct payment. 600 is simply not enough. As far as what that'll look like, we've seen some contradictory reports.

Starting point is 00:16:37 Some places reporting that he's gonna announce $2,000 outright, others saying the $600 prior will be factored in, so you're looking at an additional $1,400. But also that is reportedly not the only direct aid that Biden is expected to give to the American people. With several people familiar with his plans also telling the Washington Post,

Starting point is 00:16:52 this will include new benefits for children and poor and middle-class households, including a proposal similar to his campaign pledge to provide $300 per month to American households for every child under six, as well as $250 per month for every child between the ages of six and 17, as well as an expansion of the existing child tax credit so that it will include millions of poor families

Starting point is 00:17:11 that are currently excluded from the program. But also a thing you should note, one of Biden's top economic advisors has said that these ambitious plans will be rolled out in two parts. With the first package expected to be focused on immediate economic recovery efforts and direct aid to Americans. Some of these provisions may also be included in the second package, which is expected to center

Starting point is 00:17:27 more on long-term economic factors like job creation, infrastructure, energy projects, as well as healthcare and education spending. And of course, with this, I'd love to know your thoughts on this story, but that is also where I'm going to end today's show. And thank you for a fantastic week back. I know we have to talk about some horrible stuff sometimes, but just in the past week, I feel like I have re-found my love for this show. So thank you. I love your faces, you beautiful bastards. Also, if you missed any of the shows this week,

Starting point is 00:17:53 highly recommend you check it out. There's a lot of stuff this week. But yeah, with that said, thank you for watching News That Matters for people that care. I'll see you next time. And remember, you are better than this.

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The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 1.14 Why Joe Rogan is Scared, Strange Armie Hammer Allegations, Justice League, UFOs, & More

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