The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 1.23 Robert Downey Jr. CONTROVERSY & Backlash, Virginia Protests & Bills, & Brexit Is Law

Starting point is 00:00:00 Sup you beautiful bastards hope you had a fantastic Thursday. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco show. Buckle up, hit that like button, otherwise it will punch you in the throat and let's just jump into it. And the first thing we're gonna talk about today, it is the Internet's favorite game show, White Guy Talks About a Racism Debate. So if you haven't seen, there's this debate around Robert Downey Jr. The way this all started is Downey went on Joe Rogan's podcast on January 15th. And there, Rogan asks him some questions about his role in the 2008 movie Tropic Thunder. Right, and Tropic Thunder, if you don't know,

Starting point is 00:00:31 it's a satirical action comedy about four actors who are filming a Vietnam War movie. And in the film, Downey plays Kirk Lazarus, a method actor who got pigmentation alteration surgery to darken his skin so he could play a black character for the movie. Even in 2008, that caused some controversy, drew some criticisms, but overall, the film was well-received by critics.

Starting point is 00:00:46 And in fact, Downey was even nominated for an Oscar, a Golden Globe, as well as other awards. And among other things, you have Brogan asking Downey if he thinks Tropic Thunder could be made today. Obviously, as far as the social conversation, we're in a much different place. Do you think that you could do Tropic Thunder today? Would that be possible?

Starting point is 00:01:02 Oh, you could do it. Also, Downey talks about Ben ben stiller who co-wrote directed and starred in the movie calling him telling about the role and about that he says this i thought yeah i'll do that and i'll do that after iron man then i started thinking this is a terrible idea wait a minute and then i thought well hold on dude get real here where is your heart? And my heart is, A, I get to be black for a summer in my mind. So there's something in it for me. The other thing is I get to hold up to nature the insane self-involved hypocrisy of artists and what they think they're allowed to do on occasion. Just my opinion.

Starting point is 00:01:48 Downey then goes on to praise Stiller, how he directed and executed the movie, also talking about reactions. He knew exactly what the vision for this was. He executed it. It was impossible to not have it be an offensive nightmare of a movie. And 90% of my black friends are like, dude, that was great. What about the other 10%? You know, I can't disagree with them,

Starting point is 00:02:15 but I know where my heart was. Then after that, we see Rogan bring up whether or not the movie could be made today and Downey responds. But again, I mean, you know, there's a morality clause here on on this planet and it's a big price to pay and i think having a moral psychology is uh is job one so sometimes you just got to go yeah you know i effed up again not in my defense, but Tropic Thunder was about how wrong that is.

Starting point is 00:02:48 Yes. So, I take exception. Now following this, the podcast in general, but definitely this clip, it went viral. You had a lot of people responding. Some criticizing Downey. Saying Downey justified this blackface racism by saying 90% of his ignorant black friends in Hollywood praise this stupidity. Another quoting Downey saying that he got to be quote black for the summer and writing,

Starting point is 00:03:07 they really think we are fucking Halloween costumes shaking my head. But also on the other side you have people defending the role with responses like, the joke of it was that it was a method actor crawling so far up their own butt that they can't see blackface as a horrible mistake. And people arguing that it was the character

Starting point is 00:03:21 that did blackface, not Robert Downey Jr. People saying this portrayal shouldn't be lumped in with other blackface roles. This because it was a different thing, if the role wasn't doing blackface to mock or injure black people, if anything it was to mock the character. Though you still had others saying

Starting point is 00:03:33 that's still not an excuse to do blackface. Also, part of the reason we're talking about this is one of the responses really blew up, and that was because it was from former Fox News anchor and NBC host, Megyn Kelly, who, if you don't know, had her own controversy two Halloweens ago after some comments she made about doing blackface during her talk show on NBC. But what is racist? Because, truly, you do get in trouble if you are a white person who puts

Starting point is 00:03:53 on blackface on Halloween or a black person who puts on whiteface for Halloween. Like, back when I was a kid, that was okay as long as you were dressing up as like a character. After that, Kelly got a ton of backlash. She made a formal apology on her show, but still three days after making those remarks, NBC canceled her show. And in fact, her contract with them was terminated in January of 2019. So yesterday, responding to the Robert Downey Jr. story,

Starting point is 00:04:14 we saw her tweet, Downey wears blackface for Universal without regret because it quote, sparked a necessary convo. Universal, yay Robert. Me, never worn blackface, but had one of those quote, necessary convos, R.E., how standards seems to have changed over time. NBC Universal, F.U., cancel.

Starting point is 00:04:30 And that sparked a ton of reaction. Some saying that she was right, that it was unfair. Some arguing she was targeted because she was a conservative. Others arguing though that the comparison was apples to oranges. Right, Downey was in a parody, a satire, where Downey was playing an actor,

Starting point is 00:04:43 playing an actor who wore blackface. Whereas Kelly was a journalist speaking as herself on her talk show and that her comments were not satirical. But ultimately, that's a story as it is now. Of course, I'd love to know your opinion. As far as my opinion, one, I'll say, Megyn Kelly's comparison is not valid. Understand, I'm not saying I get to choose

Starting point is 00:04:58 how people react to it. Obviously, I'm not the person or the group that would be offended by this depiction. But I do think that context matters, and I agree with Robert Downey Jr. That the movie and that character had highlighted how wrong blackface is and how ridiculous actors can be. But with that said, I would love to know

Starting point is 00:05:15 your thoughts on this. One, regarding the depiction and Robert Downey Jr.'s statements about it, as well as Megyn Kelly's comparison and seeming- Anger? I don't know how angry you could be when you had a really underperforming show and then you were let go,

Starting point is 00:05:29 but you still got your full $69 million. Also, money is not everything, I get that. I would love to know your thoughts. Then let's talk about this news about guns in Virginia. So in Virginia, the state Senate just passed a red flag law which has sparked a lot of controversy along party lines. For those that don't know, a red flag law allows law enforcement to temporarily confiscate guns

Starting point is 00:05:45 from someone deemed a threat. And this bill specifically requires an attorney or law enforcement officer to apply an emergency substantial risk order. An order that would, quote, prohibit a person who poses a substantial risk of injury to himself or others from purchasing, possessing, or transporting a firearm.

Starting point is 00:05:59 If that order is issued, a judge or a magistrate can issue a search warrant allowing for firearms to be temporarily removed from that person. And the vote that made it through the Senate was tight. It was a partisan vote with 21 votes for it and 19 votes against it. As far as the Democrats, they support the bill because they believe it will lead to less mass shootings

Starting point is 00:06:13 and other forms of gun violence in general. One Democrat, Senator Janet Howell tweeting, "'This will open the door to ensure law enforcement "'is able to do their job before a crime is committed.'" With Senator George Barker who introduced the bill calling the bill a positive direction that will protect lives and reduce violence in Virginia. And along with their support, it appears that it comes

Starting point is 00:06:29 with support in general from Americans. According to an August 2019 study from APM Research Lab, the public in general is in favor of this kind of legislation. With 77% supporting family initiated orders and 70% supporting police initiated orders. According to this research, in fact, a majority of both Republicans and Democrats support it.

Starting point is 00:06:44 And though by a smaller margin, so do a majority of gun owners. But still, what we saw here were Virginia Senate Republicans strongly opposing this, saying they believed that it was a heavy infringement on people's rights to bear arms, with Republican Senator Amanda Chase saying, Each legislator that votes in favor of this bill, in my opinion, is a traitor to Virginia, a traitor to the Second Amendment, and a traitor to our constitutional freedoms. With the NRA also calling it an unnecessary attack on Second Amendment rights. Now some things to note here. One, this legislation is just one of many gun control laws Virginia is working on passing right now. Three, have already made their way through the Senate and those include one that allow localities to ban guns at public events. Another limiting residents to purchasing just one handgun a month and one mandating background checks on private firearm transfers.

Starting point is 00:07:23 Also two, this Senate vote came just a few days after a major pro-gun rights rally happened in Richmond, Virginia's capital city. There, according to reports, about 22,000 people attended the rally, which remained largely peaceful. Although we did see Virginia Governor Ralph Northam declare a state of emergency ahead of the event. Also guns were not allowed at the rally,

Starting point is 00:07:38 largely over fears that there could be a repeat of what happened in Charlottesville in 2017. Though you had some reporting that some extremist groups were present, there was no reported violence. You know, the rally I think was very interesting. You heard many pro-gun activists speaking out against the gun control legislation.

Starting point is 00:07:51 And one clip in particular that blew up was you had Richard Vaughn, Sheriff of Grayson County in Virginia say this. If the bills go through as proposed, they will not be enforced, they're unconstitutional. We swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of Virginia, and that's what we'll do. Obviously these laws remain controversial.

Starting point is 00:08:06 And as far as what happens from here, Bill still has to go to Virginia's House of Delegates, which does have a Democrat majority, but not by a wide margin. But if it does pass there, it will go to the desk of Democratic Governor Ralph Northam. And of course, with this story, I pass the question off to you.

Starting point is 00:08:18 What are your thoughts regarding red flag laws? Do you think that it's beneficial or it's detrimental? Why, why not? Any and all thoughts, I'd love to see in those comments down below. And then let's talk about Brexit because it is happening. Three and a half years after the United Kingdom asked voters whether or not they wanted to leave

Starting point is 00:08:33 the European Union, the United Kingdom has finally passed the withdrawal agreement. And during this whole process, we've seen not one, but two prime ministers resign. We've seen protests, elections, the UK consistently having to push back the date on when the country would leave But then last night the final vote on brexit happened and yeah here we are

Starting point is 00:08:50 You know like we talked about last time the House of Commons they approved the agreement and went to the House of Lords There there was a debate they added several amendments things like a provision on protecting the rights of refugee children Basically ensuring those kids can be reunited with their parents if their parents are in the UK post-brexit Then we saw the House of Commons say no to those amendments yesterday, which was easy, because they have an 80-seat majority. So the Lords, who are not elected, they do not have a conservative majority,

Starting point is 00:09:14 realized that there was really nothing they could do. So instead of stalling, they passed the bill as is, this ahead of the January 31st deadline. Now as far as what happens next, the second hoop to jump through here is that the withdrawal agreement needs to be approved by the EU's parliament. That will happen next Wednesday, January 29th,

Starting point is 00:09:27 but this is really viewed largely as a formality because it's expected to easily pass. And with that, the United Kingdom will officially end its 40-year relationship with the European Union. Kind of, well, yes, no, yes. Why I'm saying yes, no, it's because the next 11 months will be a transition period for the UK. During that time, it will continue to follow

Starting point is 00:09:44 most of the EU's rules, but it won't actually have any decision-making power in the EU. Also during this time, the UK and the EU will continue to hash out details of what's going to happen after that transition period. For example, this includes things like ambitious free trade deals, agriculture, security.

Starting point is 00:09:58 And as far as those negotiations, those are expected to start either sometime next month or in early March. But here, like how Brexit saw multiple extensions, a lot of EU officials believe that this transition period will also need to be extended. Saying that 11 months just isn't long enough to work out any of the details.

Starting point is 00:10:11 However, here, Johnson has refused to agree to any extensions. And so what that means is a no-deal Brexit is still a possibility. Now at the same time, you know, we had mentioned trade deals, Johnson has been extremely vocal about getting a free trade deal with the United States.

Starting point is 00:10:23 While in Davos at the World Economic Forum, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin also indicated the US desire for a trade deal, saying it's an absolute priority of President Trump and we expect to complete that within this year. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross saying that a trade deal shouldn't be too hard because the US and UK have similar economies.

Starting point is 00:10:38 But at the same time, the United States and the UK are also currently in a disagreement over a so-called tech tax. And that's because the UK is currently planning to introduce a digital services tax on tech companies like Facebook and Google, with Mnuchin threatening to retaliate by potentially slapping a tariff on UK car exports.

Starting point is 00:10:51 But also, this is still very early on. There's a long way to go with the negotiations here, and I mean that on both fronts. So ultimately, that is where we are with this. It's gonna be very interesting to watch over the next 11 months. And of course, I pass the question off to everyone, what they think about this.

Starting point is 00:11:03 But also specifically, to you beautiful bastards in the UK, anywhere in the EU, what are your thoughts about this now finally getting over this hurdle? And that is where I'm going to end today's show. Thank you for watching another Philip DeFranco show. Also, if you're looking for more to watch, maybe you missed yesterday's show, it definitely seemed like we got hit,

Starting point is 00:11:18 you can click or tap right there to watch that or maybe check out the new Rogue Rocket video, 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 next time.

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The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 1.23 Robert Downey Jr. CONTROVERSY & Backlash, Virginia Protests & Bills, & Brexit Is Law

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