The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 11.4 WOW! "Frightening" Dave Portnoy Allegations, Barstool Sports' Portnoy Responds, & Today's News

Episode Date: November 4, 2021

Limited time! Go to https://NordVPN.com/phil to get a 2-year plan at a huge discount plus 1 month free. It’s risk-free with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee! More PDS: https://youtu.be/Y4yxRCLL04U TEXT ME! [phone] Get More Phil: https://linktr.ee/PhilipDeFranco -- 00:00 - Insider Publishes Allegations Against Dave Portnoy 06:49 - Dwayne Johnson Changes Production Safety Rule Following “Rust” Tragedy 08:01- Alec Baldwin Shares Post Denying Unsafe Practices While Armorer’s Attorneys Speak Out 10:07 - Tory Lanez Reaches no Plea Deal in Megan Thee Stallion Case 10:48 - Sponsor 11:39 - Arbery Judge Won’t Override Mostly White Jury Despite “Intentional Discrimination” 13:10 - Biden Administration Issues Mandate for 84 Million Workers in Large Companies 15:51  - Steele Dossier Source Indicted -- ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ Insider Publishes Allegations Against Dave Portnoy: https://twitter.com/thisisinsider/status/1456274051127672845?s=20 Dwayne Johnson Changes Production Safety Rule Following “Rust” Tragedy: https://roguerocket.com/2021/11/04/dwayne-johnson-seven-bucks-rust/ Alec Baldwin Shares Post Denying Unsafe Practices While Armorer’s Attorneys Speak Out: https://roguerocket.com/2021/11/03/attorneys-rust-armorer-sabotage/ Tory Lanez Reaches no Plea Deal in Megan Thee Stallion Case: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/no-plea-deal-in-tory-lanez-assault-case-involving-megan-thee-stallion-1252569/ Arbery Judge Won’t Override Mostly White Jury Despite “Intentional Discrimination”: https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1456305242446831626 Biden Administration Issues Mandate for 84 Million Workers in Large Companies: https://www.npr.org/2021/11/04/1048939858/osha-biden-vaccine-mandate-employers-100-workers Steele Dossier Source Indicted: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-59168626 —————————— Executive Producer: Amanda Morones Edited by: James Girardier, Julie Goldberg, Maxwell Enright Art Department: Brian Borst, William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Cory Ray, Brian Espinoza, Maddie Crichton, Lili Stenn, Neena Pesqueda Production Team: Zack Taylor, Emma Leid ———————————— #DeFranco #DwayneJohnson #DavePortnoy ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wow, y'all, today, let's just genuinely jump into it. Let's talk about the massive news and the massive allegations against Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy as well as his almost immediate video response. Right, so earlier today, insider reporter Julia Black published this article titled, Young Women Say They Met Barstool Sports Founder

Dave Portnoy for Sex and It Turned Violent and Humiliating. With Black saying that it took her eight months to write this article, and in it, she details the alleged experiences of multiple women, starting with a woman referred to only as Madison. And there, Madison claimed to have DM'd Portnoy

on Instagram when she was 20, he was 43, saying the things then moved over to Snapchat, where Portnoy allegedly began showing her graphic videos of women he'd slept with. With insider reporting and messages they reviewed, Portnoy pressed her to tell him about her sexual fantasies, with her responding about a rape fantasy, right, having no control, to which Portnoy replied,

"'You and I are going to get along so well.'" And eventually Madison claimed Portnoy even flew her out first class to his home. But saying that when she got there, she found him to be very rude. He just reminded me of a boring, grumpy old man. But still, later that night, she said things escalated. They began making out.

Saying that as things got more sexual, he started filming her without her permission. And from there, saying that the experience got so rough, it felt like she was getting raped. Later telling a friend that he choked her so hard she couldn't breathe. Also that she screamed in pain throughout the encounter. Right, and those details specifically reminded people

of another controversy Portnoy was in earlier this year. Some saying it sounded similar. With that involving a leaked video that showed him aggressively choking a woman with a collar and a leash, spitting on her. Very notably with that specific controversy, both Portnoy and the woman claimed that the encounter was consensual.

But that also didn't stop there being a lot of backlash, even causing the share price of Barstool's parent company to take a big hit at that time. Right, and so for the people making those comparisons, it's important to note that these latest allegations do not appear to be as consensual. Because in addition to Madison, there was another woman who told Insider

that Portnoy choked and filmed her during sex without her permission, with both women describing the encounters as frightening and humiliating, taking a massive toll on their mental health. With the fact that a third woman, who was 19 at the time claiming that a sexual encounter she had with Portnoy

was so damaging that she became suicidal afterward. Allegedly going over to this house after being pressured by her friends. Later describing the sex as aggressive, saying that he choked her, also saying that he kicked her out right after. Saying she felt overwhelmed, that photos of her at his house began spreading locally.

Or reportedly her mom also found out and went to the police, but she refused to press charges, saying that she doesn't feel like the encounter was sexual assault and that she didn't want him to drag her name through the mud, but still adding that she felt very preyed on and deeply disturbed by the situation, with all of these women saying that they've been afraid

to speak out for fear of retaliation by both Portnoy and his rabid fan base. With all this, I will say, if you want the most detailed version of this, I'll link down to the original article, though I think it might be behind a paywall, at least as of recording right now. But that brings us to the second part of this story,

and that's soon after this article dropped, you had Portnoy himself dropping a 12 minute video response. Describing this as a hit piece, though, much more serious than the ones that he's previously been hit with. So he essentially paints him as this monster, this sexual deviant, also accusing Black of going after every woman he's ever been

remotely associated with to try and create a false narrative that she had already decided on before writing. Also saying that his lawyers told him not to even admit knowing these accusers, but because of small details in their claims, he says that he's figured out who they are and he knows what really happened. As far as the allegations from Madison, you had him saying, at no point during it, at no point was it not 100% consensual. At no point did she ask me to stop. At no point did either of us think something unseemly happened. There was no weirdness after. It was totally fine, normal interaction. Sexual, 100% consensual. My lawyer's like, don't, don't, you know, make these blanket statements. I'm telling you now, her version of events is not true on our hookup. So there you had people pushing backs, and Madison never claimed

to Insider that she asked him to stop, with most of her allegations being that he just went ahead and did things without her permission. And with this, because it was an aspect of the story, you had Portnoy claiming that after they hooked up and talked more, they realized that they were like oil and vinegar and didn't see the world the same way, so she actually slept on the couch since they didn't really get along.

With Portnoy saying that she left, they never talked again, and adding, if what she's telling that she didn't enjoy the experience is true, I had no idea, and that's horrible, and I never want to feel that way. But if there was a hidden camera in that room, the experience is true. I had no idea. And that's horrible. And I never want to feel that way. But if there was a hidden camera in that room and it wasn't a he said, she said, and someone saw the interaction, there would be absolutely nothing there. I promise you from the I've never lied.

He also addressed the third allegation saying that he was never contacted by authorities after the mom reached out to the police. Because I've never done anything that's remotely, you know, not consensual. I haven't. So this story, total news to me. The mother saying there's parties in Nantucket. If you put like a police car, you'll see girls getting dropped off all the time.

Totally false. I never have people at my house. Rarely. I hate people at my house. Well, he did say he felt bad if their interactions did actually make her depressed. He also shared alleged DMs at the exchange where she seemed to be speaking very positively

about having sex or wanting to have sex with him. With Portnoy adding that she even asked him to meet up after they had sex, saying, At a bar, by the way, is where she wanted to meet me the first time, so all this underage, that's 21 plus. That's where she said, say, hey, I'm going to this bar, meet me here. To me, that's pretty black and white.

They're saying she was so depressed by me, suicidal almost, but she was continually this bar, meet me here. To me, that's pretty black and white. They're saying she was so depressed by me, suicidal almost, but she was continually hitting me up to hang out. And it was the mother who found the DMs, maybe she's the shit. I don't know. It's just, I'm telling you the truth. The important way then taking aim at the reporter again.

This reporter had an agenda from day one, from the second she picked up paper. It's like, they're asking the internet, tell us bad stories about Dave Porter. Well, guess what? A lot of people hate me. I guarantee this. They'll never be able to prove anything, nothing because nothing's ever happened. But I can't stop it. He said, she said. So, yeah, it's scary and it sucks. It's sad that that's the world we live in. This isn't a court of law where it's innocent until proven guilty.

No charges ever have been filed, probably won't unless I'm provoking right now, but there's no way to do it because I've never done anything. And finally, they're seeming to take a shot at the reporter not really wanting to get his side of things. Eight months, 24 hours to respond. That's what the reporter said.

Give me a break. With Portnoy also taking aim at Business Insider on Twitter, quote tweeting, Business Insider senior politics reporter Grace Panetta adds up that Insider is currently offering a huge discount on annual premium subscriptions, so you can currently pay just $4 a month to read incredible journalism

like Julia Black's investigation into Dave Portnoy. With Portnoy responding, and I'm the predator. Yeah, in general, that's where we are right now. Of course, this is breaking news today. We're still seeing the ripple effects, with people sounding off on all sides. Also a potential lead to where we are right now. Of course, this is breaking news today. We're still seeing the ripple effects. The people sounding off on all sides. Also a potential lead to where this story may develop. We saw Insider's Kat Tenbarge, who of course,

among other things, is the reporter who broke that big, dirty Dom and David Dobrik story. Tweeting of this, this story is essential. Dave Portnoy has exhibited a pattern of pursuing barely legal teenage women and having rough, potentially traumatic sex with them. And adding, his BFFs podcast with TikTok star Josh Richards gives him unfettered access to teen girls.

So there, if you go through the Twitter comments, there are a number of reactions, but also people saying, well, you said barely legal, but it's still legal. Then people pushing back against that saying, no, it's about the power dynamic. He's this like multimillionaire older guy. They're young, impressionable. So like I said, everyone's sounding off right now.

And so I'm going to pass you the microphone. What are your thoughts regarding the story as is right now? What camp are you landing in? Why, why not? I'd love to hear from you in those comments down below. Then we should talk about future 2024 Democratic presidential candidate, Dwayne The Rock Johnson in the news,

though not for political reasons. Rather now after the tragic incident on the set of Russ, Dwayne The Rock Johnson has pledged to not use real guns on films made by his production company, Seven Bucks Production. Right, we've talked about it in the past. Alec Baldwin was rehearsing a scene that involved pointing a gun at the camera. That gun misfired and the accident left cinematographer Helena Hutchins dead, injured director Joel Souza. With Baldwin allegedly told that the gun was safe to use. And now there's been this much larger conversation about safety

and guns on set. The Rock telling Variety last night that he was absolutely heartbroken when he saw the news and he knew that the industry needed to see this as a wake-up call. We're gonna switch over to rubber guns and we're just gonna we're gonna take care of it in post. We're not gonna worry about the dollars. We won't be worried about what it costs. And it's gonna be interesting to see if other actors, other sets, other studios in general adopt this policy. And I say that because in addition to a lot of people talking about, hey, should we ban guns on set? There's actually a California State Legislature who plans to propose legislation banning their use.

As well as earlier this week, we saw a group of over 200 cinematographers signing a letter calling for a ban on functional guns on set. And saying of Hutchins' death, it was senseless, negligent, and avoidable. And so essentially there are three possibilities, either nothing changes,

change comes from inside the industry, or legislation forces change. And that all comes as we've now gotten updates regarding the accusations on the set of Rust. This, including from Baldwin himself, who denied reports that there were unsafe work conditions on set before the fatal accident. Reposting a lengthy statement posted by Therese Magpale Davis,

a costume designer working on the film. With the highlights of that statement being, "'I'm so sick of this narrative. "'I worked on this movie. "'The story being spun of us being overworked "'and surrounded by unsafe, chaotic conditions is bullshit.'" She also seemingly addressed accusations against the set's armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed,

and assistant director, Dave Halls. And with both of them identified as the people on set who dealt with the guns and faced claims that they had acted with a disregard for safety on previous productions. Regarding the armorer, Hannah, Davis said that while she was not the most experienced, her qualifications were typical for a production like this.

Saying they had several safety meetings, sometimes more than one in a day, and AD Dave Halls never seemed flippant about safety. Saying that while she is angry and furious over the mistake that was made, she won't, quote, jump on the bandwagon and pretend he was uncaring about our safety the whole way through. But you also have outlets like Fox News reporting that Baldwin also implied his stance on the matter by retweeting an article that was critical of Halls, but Baldwin locked his account to private. We've also now seen Hannah's attorney speaking out on the Today Show to discuss what happened. Notably, when they were asked about how a live round ended up in a weapon used on the set, they said that was the big question

they were looking to answer. Claiming that Hannah loaded the gun with rounds from a box of dummy rounds and added, Now we don't know, however, whether that live round came from that box. We're assuming it did. We're assuming somebody put the live round in that box, which if you think about that, the person who put the live round in the box of dummy rounds had to have the purpose of sabotaging this set.

So massive accusations of sabotage with them also adding that there were disgruntled workers on set. And regarding that, you had host Savannah Guthrie having this back and forth. I just want to be crystal clear. Is that, are you saying that potentially those that were unhappy, this disgruntled crew members who had walked off the set, that they're potential suspects in your mind of intentionally placing a live round to prove a point in your words?

Well, I think Savannah, you can't rule anybody out at this point. And ultimately that is where we are now. We've gotten updates, more people speaking with still so many questions. And ultimately, that is where we are now. We've gotten updates, more people speaking, with still so many questions. And then let's talk about a big update regarding the totally normal and in no way insane

Tory Lanez and Meg in the Stallion case. In case you forgot, Tory Lanez is accused of shooting Meg in the feet back in July, with him currently facing felony charges of assault with a semi-automatic firearm and carrying a loaded unregistered firearm in a vehicle. You know, with all that, there was some expectation, you know, this is probably gonna hit

some sort of plea deal. This is somehow gonna go away, but Rolling Stone is now reporting that they failed to reach a plea deal. Apparently there were meaningful discussions with the prosecutors, but since no deal was reached, he's set to face live testimony next month. And so it's gonna be interesting to see what comes out

of that hearing and testimony, and if this is gonna move to a trial, especially since there is a lot at stake for Lance. He is facing over 22 years in prison, potentially. But from that, I wanna take a second to thank the sponsor of today's show, NordVPN.com slash Phil. You know, I've spent the last few years telling you about NordVPN,

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with Nord's 30 day money back guarantee. And then we should talk about the news, that and the reaction to a Georgia judge overseeing the trial of the three white men accused of chasing and murdering Ahmaud Arbery, agreeing to seat a nearly all white jury in a nationally watched case centered around race. As we've talked about many times before,

you had Arbery, a 25 year old black man, killed in February of 2020 after Gregory, McMichael and his son Travis saw him jogging in their neighborhood. They armed themselves, they pursued him in their pickup truck. The cell phone video taken by William Roddy Bryan, who is a neighbor that joined the pursuit,

showing the two McMichaels cornering Arbery and Travis shooting him at close range with a shotgun. The man claiming that they followed Arbery because they believed that he was a burglar and Travis McMichael shot the young man in self-defense after the jogger attacked him. Well, none of the men were immediately charged and all three remained free for two months

until the video of Arbery's death leaked out and went viral in May of 2020. They now face trial this fall. And like so many other elements of this case, the jury selection process for this trial has been contentious, heated, and drawn out. And ultimately following the weeks long process, 11 white people and just one black juror

were seated on the panel. And that is because the defense struck 11 of the 12 black people from the final pool of jurors in Glynn County, which notably is a quarter black. And with that, you had prosecutors challenging the removal of eight of the black finalists alleging racial discrimination, and arguing that it was impossible to select a totally

impartial jury in a case that garnered so much national attention. And then, I mean, what's really notable is after reviewing each of the jurors, Judge Timothy Walmsley actually agreed that quote, there appears to be intentional discrimination by the attorneys for the three white defendants. But also saying that he can't do anything about it, saying that his ability to intervene was limited because the defense provided other reasons to strike the potential black jurors other than race. So what that means is it does appear that this jury will stay as is and the trial is expected to start on Friday. And then let's talk about how this morning

the Biden administration announced two new sweeping vaccination rules that will apply to over 100 million workers. The first mandate being the largest covering more than 84 million people at all companies that have more than 100 employees. Under that rule, those businesses will have until January 4th to either ensure

that their workers are fully vaccinated or submit to weekly testing. There also reportedly being several different ways that this policy aims to encourage workers to choose vaccination over testing. First of all, companies are required to provide paid time off, not only for employees to get vaccinated,

but also for any side effects they may experience. Additionally, employees who are not fully vaccinated by December 5th will be required to wear masks. And beyond that, employers are not required to provide or pay for the testing for those who refuse to get vaccinated. Meaning that the workers who opt for the testing alternative may be on their own to find tests and pay for them or risk losing their jobs. Though, some employers may still be required to offer testing under other laws or agreements with unions. And then, the second new rule that rolled out today is even more strict. That policy, which applies to around 17 million healthcare workers at facilities receiving Medicare or Medicaid funding, will require all employees to be fully vaccinated by the same January 4th deadline, but without the testing alternative.

And so let's be clear, this is a dramatic show of executive power from Biden. And it comes as many big companies have failed to impose vaccine requirements for their workers in the months since Biden announced this proposal. Because while we've seen a lot of companies popping up in the news because they're like, okay, hey, we have this rule, we have this mandate. You also have many, many companies that have not, including one of the biggest companies in the country, Walmart. I mean, you have people noting they are literally

the nation's largest employer and they still haven't issued a company-wide requirement. But notably, they are far from the only place. In fact, a recent poll found that only about 13% of the 1,088 companies surveyed said that they were requiring employees to be vaccinated regardless of location. And so the question for this story largely becomes,

okay, well, what happens from here? On one side, even before the details of the rules were released, we saw about two dozen state attorneys and Republican led states writing a letter to Biden threatening legal challenges. Though notably efforts to challenge vaccine mandates so far have broadly failed.

In addition to being rejected by federal judges, the Supreme Court has shut down numerous challenges to these rules at the state level and did so again just last week. But the number of people on this side also arguing the non-legal argument that workers will just leave their jobs in an already tight labor market.

Though on the other side of this, we've seen people pushing back against those claims saying we really haven't seen that. Essentially pointing to numerous situations where people have talked really big that a lot of people would walk out or quit, but a lot ended up just getting vaccinated. Regarding that last argument saying,

hey, from pretty much every situation we've seen, the mandates have been profoundly effective at boosting vaccination rates. And in fact, only a tiny fraction of workers have quit instead of complying. And also saying of the legality argument, right? Is this legal or is it not? Pointing to numerous moments in history

where vaccinations have been required, have been mandated. Yeah, with this story, I wanna pass the question off to you. Where do you land on this? Are you happy and or relieved to see the mandates? Are you furious or just not happy with them? Why? Why not? I'd love to hear from you in those comments down below. And then we should definitely talk about how the analyst who served as the primary researcher for the infamous Steele dossier, which of course alleged ties between Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and Russia, was arrested today in charge with five counts of lying to the FBI. And the analyst, Igor Danchenko, was a key source for the dossier,

written by British intelligence operative Christopher Steele, which contained many claims that were never proven or have since been refuted. As you might remember, the dossier became one of the most controversial parts of the FBI's inquiry into Trump and Russia, with the Justice Department's Inspector General faulting law enforcement for their handling of the documents. And specifically, their use of the dossier to obtain surveillance warrants targeting former Trump campaign aide Carter Page. And according to an indictment unsealed today, Danchenko lied during the FBI-led interviews that sought to corroborate the claims

that he made in the Steele dossier. And those lies, quote, "'played a role in the FBI's investigative decisions "'and in sworn representations that the FBI made.'" The indictment specifically outlining two instances where Danchenko misled the FBI. First, by denying that he communicated with a public relations executive and democratic operative

who he actually used as a source. And second, by falsely claiming that he had a phone conversation with someone who described a well-developed conspiracy of cooperation between the Trump campaign and Russia, when in reality, no phone call took place. And so as far as what happens next, you have Danchenko expected to appear in court later today.

But notably, this indictment is a part of a broader special counsel investigation led by John Durham, who was appointed during the Trump administration to look into any possible wrongdoing in the FBI's Russia probe. And so far that inquiry has resulted in three indictments. And with this latest one, it's very notable

because as Axios points out, Trump allies have long claimed that the Durham investigation, which has been ongoing since April of 2019, would result in charges against top Obama era intelligence officials and validate allegations that the Russia investigation was a political witch hunt. And noting in August of 2020, former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith pleaded guilty

to altering email evidence used to obtain the surveillance warrant against Page. In September, Clinton-linked lawyer Michael Sussman, how is that your last, your last name is Suss? Michael Sussman was indicted for lying to the FBI about not representing, quote, any client when he presented them with allegations about a secret Trump organization

back-channeled to a Russian bank. Yeah, for now, we're gonna have to wait and see what comes from this most recent indictment and arrest. And ultimately that is where this story and today's show ends. Of course with that, I'd love to know your thoughts. Would it be this last story, the first one,

anything in between? Let me know what you're thinking in those comments down below. But of course, as always, my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love yo faces and I'll see you next time.