The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 1.24 The Truth About Idubbbz & Creator Clash 2, Taylor Swift Ticketmaster Anti Hero, M&Ms, & Today's News

Starting point is 00:00:00 The truth about iDubbbz, Creator Clash 2, and the fight he offered me? Breaking down the Taylor Swift Ticketmaster dumpster fire hearings today? The real reason eggs are so dang expensive right now? My response to the M&M's controversy? More horrible news out of California we have to talk about? We've got all of that and so much more on today's brand new Philip DeFranco show, so buckle up, hit that like button, let's just jump into it. This announcement today has me more excited than I've been in a while.

Starting point is 00:00:22 iDubbbz and Anissa's Creator Clash just announced Creator Clash 2. They showed the full card. It's happening in April, and it's amazing. This is how I want all the creator boxing events. All creators. Like, it was interesting at first, but I'm not buying Jake Paul pay-per-views. And the events that KSI are doing, I think, are actually much more interesting. Though I really would like to see him fight someone where it was like,

Starting point is 00:00:41 it seems somewhat evenly matched, like when he and Logan fought. It feels like he's just been kind of doing cakewalks, and I mean that with no disrespect. I couldn't do that. But Creator Clash is set up like the old school ones. It's a bunch of creators, and you have literally no idea who's gonna do what. And there are a number of friends of this show actually on this card. So here's the full setup, and let's talk about some of the individual ones. Dad vs. Starkiller. That's gonna be interesting. AB seems allergic to the idea of trying to take on an easy fight. Myth vs. Hundar. Micah vs. Alana Pierce. Alana, if you win, I'll get you a thousand nuggets. Only three people know that reference.

Starting point is 00:01:07 Aaron Hansen vs. Jarvis Johnson. Leon Hart vs. Crank Gameplays. Marisha Ray going from D&D to You vs. Me. Harley in there looking jacked. I wonder if he's gonna lie about his weight this time. And there's more, but the main event is Alex Wasabi vs. iDubbbz. Which I say this with no disrespect, because this event is supposed to be about good vibes

Starting point is 00:01:26 But my money's on iDubbbz. The fact that he's able to stand toe-to-toe with Dr. Mike after really only taking up the sport somewhat recently. With that size difference I think he's gonna show off here and I'm willing to put money on that. Also with this announcement I have gotten a number of people saying Phil Why are you not on this card? Which I would say two things here The first being I've been very clear about the only two people that I would be willing to box. Ethan Klein or Belle Delphine. Because I feel like I have an equal chance against both of them.

Starting point is 00:01:52 And two, despite making this very clear publicly, Ian actually did offer me a fight. I don't want to blow up his spot, so I'm texting him right now to see if he's okay with me publicly mentioning this. But he asked if I would be willing to fight Logan Paul's dad. Which is easily the weirdest thing I've been asked in ten years. It is the epitome of a lose-lose. That is a person that will either kill me in the ring or if I somehow won, kill me after. Because let me be clear, I may have lost weight, but that hasn't turned into strength yet. I'm not even a month into weight training. I got like these baby muscles and I may be the least coordinated person on the planet. So no to that fight and 99% of the fights that would be offered. My superpower in life is

Starting point is 00:02:30 knowing where I'm not good and or am outmatched. But that said, I cannot wait for creator class two. And for those that are looking forward to this, which fight are you looking most forward to? And then there's not much that Democrats and Republicans can actually agree on. But one thing they did agree on today is fuck Ticketmaster. And that's how you really know you messed up. Cause you could ask Congress like, what color is the sky? And Democrats would say, well, it looks blue.

Starting point is 00:02:51 And Marjorie Taylor Greene would say, it's deep state lizard people green. And it was made that way by Jewish space lasers. You know, what centrist would call equally reasonable answers. But this Ticketmaster news did get a lot of attention today. Because today there was a Senate hearing into Live Nation and Ticketmaster following the absolute disaster that was the pre-sale for Taylor Swift's ERAs tour.

Starting point is 00:03:08 You might remember we talked about it, the site was crashing, bots were grabbing seats, ticket prices were surging, sales were getting delayed, getting cancelled. Anything and everything that could go wrong, did. And with this, Ticketmaster has largely blamed bot attacks coupled with unprecedented demand. Also, at one point seemingly suggesting it was because Taylor had gone too long without touring. We had tons of people rejecting this explanation saying Ticketmaster needs to take more blame here. This including Senator Richard Blumenthal who said during today's hearing, may I suggest respectfully that Ticketmaster ought to look in the mirror and say I'm the problem, it's me. Richard why? I'm gonna pull a muscle roll in my eyes this hard. Although in his defense though the whole hearing was full of senators speaking Taylor Swift lyrics into their statements.

Starting point is 00:03:48 And this may have actually been the least cringy one. To be honest, I had hoped as of a few months ago to get the gavel back. But once again, she's chair captain and I'm on the bleachers. You can't have too much consolidation, something that unfortunately for this country, as a ode to Taylor Swift, I will say we know all too well. A lot of people seem to think that's somehow a solution. I think it's a nightmare dressed like a daydream. But going back to what's going on here, a lot of this whole thing is dealing with entertainment promoter Live Nation, Ticketmaster's parent company, because the two companies merged back

Starting point is 00:04:22 in 2010, and now leaders think that deal needs to be re-examined. That also being something SeatGeek CEO Jack Gretzinger touched on while speaking at the hearing today. Number one, a lack of robust competition in our industry meaningfully stunts innovation and consumers are who suffer. Number two, venues fear losing Live Nation concerts if they don't use Ticketmaster. And number three, the only way to restore competition in this industry is to break up Ticketmaster and Live Nation concerts if they don't use Ticketmaster. And number three, the only way to restore competition

Starting point is 00:04:45 in this industry is to break up Ticketmaster and Live Nation. Some reports are saying that today's hearing could actually give the Justice Department a huge chunk of political support for an antitrust suit against Live Nation. But as far as what else was said during today's hearing, you had Live Nation CFO Joe Burke told directly addressing the Taylor Swift issues, predictably placing blame on the bots. We knew bots would attack that on sale and planned accordingly. We were then hit with three times the amount of bot traffic that we'd ever experienced. The attack requires to slow down and even pause our sales. This is what led to a terrible consumer experience, which we deeply regret. We apologize to the fans. We apologize to Ms. Swift. We

Starting point is 00:05:19 need to do better and we will do better. And adding that in hindsight, there were a number of things that they could have done better. Twitch, one of my writers, Matty, who was in those Taylor Swift trenches responded, "'No fucking shit, you think?' But regarding their bot defense, you had Jerry Mickelson, the CEO of Jam Productions, dismissing Ticketmaster there, saying, "'You can't blame bots for what happened to Taylor Swift.

Starting point is 00:05:38 "'There's more to that story that you're not hearing.'" And then explaining how Ticketmaster actually benefits from its own technical failures. The process, when it's slowed down, increases the money that Ticketmaster makes because they make money on fees, and as the ticket prices go up due to dynamically priced tickets, Ticketmaster makes more to that. So it's to their advantage to slow the process down. He's saying that it creates a frenzy that allows prices to skyrocket,

Starting point is 00:06:02 which is what happened during the Taylor Swift sale. Senator Marsha Blackburn also not buying the whole bot argument, pointing to the many companies and other massive industries who also deal with bots and saying, you know what? They get bot attacks every single day by the thousands. By the thousands. And they have figured it out, but you guys haven't. This is unbelievable. Also Senator Amy Klobuchar taking aim at other problems, including a lack of transparency and ticket prices and also slamming how unaffordable live events have become. Now, I don't think it's very easy for high school kids to make their money at Baker Square Pie Shop on the weekends and buy tickets to these major concerts. With the

Starting point is 00:06:45 hearing going on for roughly three hours, so obviously I'm not going to share everything, but I will link you to the full thing down below. Warning, there are moments of cringe. But with that, I would love to know your thoughts regarding Ticketmaster and this whole mess. And then, and possibly the most important news today, M&M's had to release an official statement. This is not a joke. They actually did this. Writing, America, let's talk. In the last year, we've made some changes to our beloved SpokesCandies. We weren't sure if anyone would even notice. And we definitely didn't think it would break the internet.

Starting point is 00:07:11 But now we get it. Even a candy's shoes can be polarizing. Which was the last thing M&M's wanted since we're all about bringing people together. Therefore, we have decided to take an indefinite pause from the SpokesCandies. In their place, we are proud to introduce a spokesperson America can agree on. The beloved Maya Rudolph. We are confident Ms. Rudolph will champion the power of fun to create a world where everyone feels they belong. Now, if you're like, Phil, I'm behind on my candies-related political news coverage, what's going on? Well, a lot of it kind of kicked off back when they made the Green M&M not have those big boots anymore.

Starting point is 00:07:48 Like, I don't know if you remember this, there was a time where for some reason the green M&M was like on a stripper pole and like unzipping her green shell. Because, you know, melt in your mouth, not in your hand was not a good enough innuendo for them. And actually, in response to all of that, we saw a number of people, including Fox News' Tucker Carlson, essentially like, why'd you make the candies less sexy? And then around two weeks ago, M&Ms revealed new packaging, like this one here showing three lady M&Ms. They're upside down. It's a supporting women flipping the status quo. And initially, I didn't even know if this was like a real change they were doing. That's because there were like several other images of packaging going around that were actually fake. Things like packaging that read Feminems. And while people like myself just kind of didn't care they were doing this change, it's like, whatever. You're a candy

Starting point is 00:08:18 company. It feels kind of like you're just, you're just kind of grabbing for cash, but whatever. But again, this move seemed to break a number of people's brains, including Tucker Carlson again. Woke M&Ms have returned. The green M&M got her boots back, but apparently is now a lesbian maybe. And there's also a plus-sized obese purple M&M. So we're gonna cover that, of course. Of course.

Starting point is 00:08:39 Also, I don't know, is the M&M obese or just a peanut M&M? It's times like this that you can't really ignore or convince yourself that we don't live in the dumbest of times. But I will say, from a marketing standpoint, I am interested. Some are taking this news at face value. They're saying, hey, look, this is M&M's realizing, hey, we should stay away from social issues and just be kind of funny. But then you have others saying, hey, look at the timing here. This could be a marketing misdirect for some big Super Bowl ad.

Starting point is 00:09:03 An ad that might make fun of people who are up in arms around these changes. Now, as far as what the truth is, I don't know. But I also don't think I actually care. Because the core of this story is a candy company saying, hey, should we put social issues in our marketing? Will that make us more money? And then, yeah, it is funny to see people's brains explode with something that's so stupid. But yeah, ultimately, time will tell what the reality of this whole situation is. And then, if you haven't noticed, cologne and perfume bottles are expensive. Like who's spending 200 plus dollars to get bored of the scent a week later? Well, that is where Scentbird comes in.

Starting point is 00:09:30 Scentbird is a monthly subscription that allows you to try fragrances before committing. And I'd like to thank Scentbird for being the sponsor of today's show. You know, they work directly with the biggest names like Prada, Gucci, and Versace. But with over 600 amazing brands, you're sure to discover some hidden gems as well that you may not have heard of. And you choose a new design of fragrance each month. And when you're ready to upgrade to the gems as well that you may not have heard of and you choose a new designer fragrance each month when you're ready to upgrade to the full size you can purchase any of the scents you like. This month for example I tried African leather, vanilla, embers, and stag. My personal favorite because it's now become Lindsay's favorite so far is a vanilla embers.

Starting point is 00:09:56 I'm Italian. This is how I do it. I know what you're thinking. Yeah, one more. Alright, it's a great date night scent. It's easygoing, but it's got that pop. You know that little ooh. And best of all did I mention it costs just $17 a month? So just click my link in the description and use code DEFRANCO for 55% off at Scentbird, meaning it's just a little over $7 for your first month, and it's available in the US and Canada. So thanks again to Scentbird for sponsoring today's video. Check out the links below. And then this is how people are flexing on Instagram right now, because, yo, eggs is expensive. I went to Gelson's last week. I wanted to make breakfast for the kids, forgot I didn't have eggs.

Starting point is 00:10:27 I got an 18 count of eggs. That is it. Got to the register and they said, That will be $13.79 please. I thought I was at an Erwan for a second, or is it Airwan? I don't know. I hate that place, it's so pretentious. It's like, hey, is Whole Foods too affordable for you? But also, even outside the bubble that is LA, eggs are fucking expensive right now. With it being common to see prices as high as $4.25 a dozen, which is over 130% higher than a year ago. Right, and as far as why, according to the USDA, the cause of this is because of the avian flu outbreak that killed tens of millions of hens. However, a farm advocacy group, Farm Action, says that's not the whole story. This isn't just the avian flu.

Starting point is 00:11:01 And in a letter to the chair of the Federal Trade Commission, Farm Action urged the FTC to investigate these egg prices, claiming that the egg producers are using the avian flu outbreak as an excuse to fix and gouge prices and boost their profits. And pointing to the record sales of CalMain Foods, the leading producer in the industry which controls 20% of the retail egg market. And Reuters reporting that CalMain reported their gross profits were up by, get ready for it, 600% from the same quarter last year. And that's in a filing with the SEC. So Farm Action is claiming, quote, CalMain's willingness to increase its prices and profit margins to such unprecedented levels suggests foul play. Which I'm hoping there were some dads on that team writing that.

Starting point is 00:11:35 They were like, that's a good one. But CalMain and others are calling hogwash on Farm Action's accusations. With CalMain saying that their profits are due to the fewer eggs nationwide driving up prices, not deliberate price gouging. And their VP and CFO saying the U.S. egg market is, quote, intensely competitive and highly volatile, even under normal circumstances. You know, with that, there is a Forbes report seeming to back that up, saying that the cost of eggs in this crisis is not caused by corporate greed. Instead, saying the true drivers are, one, the avian flu, two, the built-in delays in restoring supply-demand equilibrium to a multi-disrupted industry, and three, perhaps over a longer term, the gradual adoption of more humane egg production methods with somewhat higher costs. But Farm Action is standing firm with their accusations, saying in

Starting point is 00:12:11 their letter to the FTC, in the end, what CalMain Foods and the other large egg producers did last year and seem to be intent on doing again this year is extort billions of dollars from the pockets of ordinary Americans through what amounts to a tax on a staple we all need, eggs, and saying they did so without any legitimate business justification. They did so because there is no reasonable substitute for a carton of eggs. They did so because they had the power and weren't afraid to use it. While the FTC has yet to comment on the situation, citing their policy about letters from third parties, there may actually be hope on the horizon with an expert telling CNBC that wholesale eggs are down to $3.40 a dozen, which isn't much cheaper, and it'll still

Starting point is 00:12:45 take some time to see the prices change on the shelves, but at least it's something. So for now, we have to wait to see what happens, and of course, I'll ask you, what are your thoughts regarding the situation? And then, is the NYPD spying on New Yorkers? That's a question that many were asking after an officer was seen holding a phone, recording video of people leaving Drake's concert at the Apollo on Saturday, with a journalist at the event filming the officer, posting it to Twitter, and boom, big reaction. People asking why would they be doing this, wondering if the same thing happens outside of a Billy Joel concert at Madison Square Garden. People sounding off, saying this doesn't look like safety, it looks like unjustified surveillance. And asking with

Starting point is 00:13:14 no crime taking place here, what is the NYPD doing with the footage? You also had the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project condemning the NYPD and releasing a statement saying that the NYPD's use of video recording device on hip-hop fans at a historic institution of black performance in Harlem is highly concerning and saying this is yet another example of the NYPD's racist use of surveillance technology following the department's long legacy of targeting rap concerts. In closing, we're deeply concerned facial recognition technology may have been involved and demand the department destroy any footage it took and saying the NYPD surveilling rap concerts that dates back to the 90s. In response to this, the NYPD has since denied that anything nefarious was happening and releasing a statement claiming the officer was just part of a social media team and was gathering video for a post about local events,

Starting point is 00:13:51 saying the video will not be utilized for any other reason. New York Mayor Eric Adams also defending the police, saying, That was a safe event. It was a large event. Drake back at the Apollo and we want that. And adding, we want our police and community involved and those who are naysayers find reason to complain about everything, no matter what you do. And then, it's been eight months since Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO and the standoff with Turkey is still going on. Turkey initially blocking their membership bid into the alliance

Starting point is 00:14:12 due to the nations giving members of the PKK asylum. But the three nations cut a deal where they agreed to work out their differences. And for the most part, Finland has done everything it's needed to join. Turkey's objection to them is really just by association to Sweden. And with those two, I mean, it's been one thing after another. Turkey wanted Sweden to extradite journalists, but Sweden refused. Then two weeks ago, Swedish protesters hung an effigy of Erdogan, and last weekend they burned a Koran in front of the Turkish embassy.

Starting point is 00:14:32 So now Turkey says that because of that, they will not admit Sweden. And to be clear, this is strange because it's Erdogan trying to intervene in Sweden's domestic affairs in a pretty cynical way. But this now has Finland openly saying it may have to join NATO without Sweden. Now, in actuality though, is this dispute truly about the PKK or the burning of the Koran? Well, there are disagreements here, because it's generally believed that Erdogan's just pulling an election stunt and delaying admitting Sweden until after his May elections. And it's also believed that he's trying to leverage the U.S. into being a better ally to Turkey. But the U.S. is leveraged back by more or less

Starting point is 00:14:58 threatening to not give Turkey the 70 F-16s they ordered until they admit Sweden and Finland into NATO. But a lot of this is conjecture, and no one can truly know what's going on in the mind of Erdogan. And then, y'all, there were two more mass shootings in California since we covered the Monterey Park attack yesterday. The first shooting happened in Half Moon Bay, a small coastal town about 30 miles out of San Francisco, where a gunman killed seven and critically injured an eighth at two different locations. As far as what we officially know, according to authorities, police were dispatched to the first location around 2.20 p.m. and found four people shot to death and a fifth victim also suffering gunshot wounds. Shortly after, three more people found dead at another location nearby.

Starting point is 00:15:31 And then about two hours later, police located the suspect in his car in the parking lot of a San Mateo County Sheriff's Office substation with a semi-automatic handgun in the vehicle that officials later confirmed he had purchased legally. With Sheriff Christina Corpus saying the man was taken into custody without incident and is fully cooperating. And as far as what we know about the shooter, he has been identified as a Half Moon Bay resident of Asian descent. Police initially saying he was 67 years old, but in remarks today, Corpus said he was 66. And while right now the motive is unknown, the sheriff told reporters yesterday that both of the locations that he targeted were nurseries, and it's since been reported that specifically they were mushroom farms. And Corpus saying during a press conference this morning,

Starting point is 00:16:04 all evidence we have points to this being an instance of workplace violence. The Mountain Mushroom Farm, the first location, is where the subject was employed. Though adding, so far the only known connection between the victims and the suspect is that they may have been co-workers. And as of recording, it remains unclear why he targeted the second location. Though regarding that, a mushroom farm called Concord Farm has told reporters that it was the site of the second shooting, which a law enforcement official also confirmed to the Washington Post. And in a statement to the media, a spokesperson said the farm had no past knowledge of the alleged gunman or his possible motives. And as far as the victims, as of recording, little has been released about them. The Corpus today did say they were all

Starting point is 00:16:34 adults and a mixture of Asian and Hispanic descent, some of whom were migrants. Authorities also previously saying because people both live and work on the farms, children were among those who witnessed the shooting. But then, this morning, one official walked that back, saying that while children were in the vicinity, they don't have information about specific witnesses. But regardless, this shooting, especially on the heels of the Monterey Park attack, has further devastated the Asian American community

Starting point is 00:16:54 at a time when many are still celebrating the Lunar New Year. Meanwhile, also just Californians in general are reeling from all of these attacks. Because as I mentioned earlier, this wasn't the only mass shooting just yesterday. Just hours after the violence in Half Moon Bay bay seven people were injured and one other was killed during a shooting at a gas station in oakland with currently very little having been

Starting point is 00:17:11 reported about the whole incident but police say that the shooting was between several individuals and also with this right the fact that all these shootings have taken place in california is very significant because california is known for its strict gun laws in fact the non-profit everytown for gun safety ranks californ California number one in the country for gun law strain. And so with this, you have many top leaders from California arguing this proves the need for more federal regulation.

Starting point is 00:17:31 This is including Governor Gavin Newsom, who told CBS News in an interview, "'The Second Amendment's become a suicide pact. "'We'll continue to find whatever loopholes we can "'and continue to lead the national conversation "'on gun safety reform. "'And the data bears out. "'It works, it saves lives.

Starting point is 00:17:43 "'California is 37% lower than the death rate of the rest of the nation. And yet, with all that evidence, no one on the other side seems to give a damn. I can't get anything done in Congress. And to that point, after the Monterey Park shooting, we saw California Senator Dianne Feinstein along with some other Democratic colleagues introducing two gun control bills, with President Biden also putting his support behind the measures, urging Congress to pass them. But also, I really don't see that happening. Not only because Republicans control the house, but also this is something that Biden

Starting point is 00:18:06 was unsuccessfully pushing for even when the Democrats held the house. And honestly, I really don't see this changing anytime soon because you do have to have some sort of federal law. Liberal states can keep implementing gun control laws as much as they want. But when you have other states not doing a thing or even trying to roll back the current laws,

Starting point is 00:18:20 that even goes as far as the Supreme Court, which we recently saw ruling against gun control efforts in New York. But, there is some good news here. It's now being reported that the government does have a surplus of thoughts and prayers to protect those in future incidents. And that brings us to the end of today's show. And while you leave a comment on one of the news stories that mattered most to you, I just want to say thank you for liking, watching, and being subscribed to these daily dives into the news. If you missed it, you should click to watch yesterday's show here or check out today's brand new bonus video. But as always, my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love yo faces, and I'll see you tomorrow.

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The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 1.24 The Truth About Idubbbz & Creator Clash 2, Taylor Swift Ticketmaster Anti Hero, M&Ms, & Today's News

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