The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 1.25 Forced Off Youtube! Roman Atwood, Jojo Siwa, GameStop WallStreetBets Controversy, & More

Starting point is 00:00:00 Sup you beautiful bastards. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco show. It is Monday, January 25th, 2021. So buckle up, hit that like button and let's just jump into the news of the day so you can get back to yours. And where we'll start today is with entertainment slash entertainer news, starting with Jojo Siwa.

Starting point is 00:00:16 Siwa, if you don't know, is a massively successful creator both in numbers of followers and views, but also business. She's one of the most economically successful creators out there. I mean, in addition to a number of revenue streams, it's been reported that she has sold over 80 million bows. The reason that Siwa was trending into and over the weekend is that she just recently came out.

Starting point is 00:00:34 She had been hinting, kind of teasing, then on Friday she posted a photo saying, "'My cousin got me a new shirt.'" That shirt saying, "'Best gay cousin ever.'" I have never, ever, ever been this happy before and it feels really awesome and I've been happy for a little bit now

Starting point is 00:00:51 and it's just so, so, so awesome. Also in the video saying she's not labeling her sexuality specifically yet. And the reason why I'm not ready to say this answer is because I don't really know this answer. I wanna share everything with the world I really do but I also want to keep things in my life private until they're ready to be public But I right now what matters is that you guys know that no matter who you love

Starting point is 00:01:18 That it's okay. I know for a number of people watching you may be thinking is this really that big of a deal is it important That she did it? I would actually argue yes. Even though there is obviously a difference coming out today compared to that maybe of 20 plus years ago, it still matters. And as Sarah Kate Ellis, the president of GLAAD explained, JoJo's decision to share her truth with the world

Starting point is 00:01:37 is a powerful moment. As one of the most influential young role models today, JoJo's story is a reminder for LGBTQ youth to love who they are and to find safe and welcoming environments to speak out. And as much as maybe in you and I's day-to-day life, it's not that big of a reminder for LGBTQ youth to love who they are and to find safe and welcoming environments to speak out. And as much as maybe in you and I's day-to-day life, it's not that big of a deal for someone to come out as gay or to be gay, that's not everyone's experience

Starting point is 00:01:53 based on where they live. So I think when any celebrity can use their spotlight to take away the stigma from something that people were just born a certain way, that is great and that is amazing because there are a lot of people in this world that do not feel comfortable in their skin because they were raised to feel like who they are on the inside is wrong.

Starting point is 00:02:09 Ignorance and bigotry is still around despite the, you know, we want to pat ourselves on the back for being so different than those in the past. Unfortunately, that was not the only reason Jojo was in the news. After all this news happened, she ended up getting swatted. And in a live, people have been saying it seemed like Jojo was implying that the media actually swatted her,

Starting point is 00:02:25 so she had to leave her house and people could take photos. Though, and it's not a contest, but if you thought swatting was bad, I mean, we should talk about Roman Atwood. He, of course, one of the early big prank YouTubers then becoming a massively loved family vlogger. He and his wife over the weekend made headlines because they finally made a video addressing

Starting point is 00:02:41 why they'd been so quiet on the platform for the past year and explaining that they were dealing with stalkers. We have left out of the fear of our life. Literally. The safety of our kids, like our house, our everything we have. Going on to say that what happened went above and beyond the creepy things that many people

Starting point is 00:03:00 in the public eye have to deal with and that it was extreme severe harassment. Also sharing a handful of the terrible things that have happened. You have to have a funeral for somebody that you love. These stalkers bomb-threaded a funeral. Literally in our vehicles, like shutting our vehicles on and off and powering them on and off and... Setting the alarm off while we're just sitting at home with our kids. Like the alarm in our house.

Starting point is 00:03:25 They turn the power off to our home. This home, they turn the power off in the middle of the winter. They also said the stalkers did things like canceling their car insurance without them knowing, sending pictures from the security cameras to their cell phones, changing their mail and sending threatening texts, including death threats.

Starting point is 00:03:42 But also saying that this only kind of scratches the surface. Also thanking the FBI for helping them through this and saying that they finally feel that there's a light at the end of the tunnel for them. So obviously we'll wait to see if any other information comes out, but I kind of want to end this on two notes. One, I feel horrible for Roman and his family

Starting point is 00:03:58 for having to deal with this. No one should have to deal with this. And two, if it can even be thought of as the slightest bit of a silver lining, I will say I feel a little bit hopeful. In the past, it feels like when I would cover something where something bad would happen to a celebrity because of something with fans or something like that,

Starting point is 00:04:13 people would have this mindset of, hey, well, that's just part of the cost of being famous. But one of the biggest things I've seen from Roman sharing this story is the amount of empathy and sympathy. And that makes me the slightest bit hopeful. That makes me feel like people, as we all get more accustomed to the internet,

Starting point is 00:04:29 aren't fully losing the fact that the other person on the other end, despite the success or whatever else they have, they are still a human being. That they should still be afforded human decency. And then let's talk about big business news, starting with GameStop. So this is actually a wild story. So during the pandemic last year,

Starting point is 00:04:47 GameStop stock was around four or $5. Then around August of last year, it starts going up and up and up. Beginning of January this year, it's actually close to $20. Two of the key things to know about GameStop is that there are a lot of short sellers that think that because of the pandemic, the company is overvalued, that the price will go down. And then two, there are a lot of people in the subreddit WallStreetBets that

Starting point is 00:05:08 really love GameStop. And so reportedly to mess with the people who are shorting the stock that think the stock will go down, you have a ton of people on WallStreetBets pushing for others to purchase the stock. This ultimately brings us to last Thursday, where you have short seller Andrew Left of Citron Research releasing a video saying, "'This is why GameStop should be $20 stock.'" That then seemed to lead to two different things. One, he actually pulled back and claimed that he and his family have been threatened because of that video.

Starting point is 00:05:34 And two, people kept buying more and more GameStop shares, jumping from $41 last Thursday to $140 today. That is until it then plummeted to about half of that amount, 70, and as of recording, it's around $77. And as far as my personal opinion on this, I'm just, I'm fascinated. I'm so interested to see where GameStop's gonna be a week from now, as well as just a month from now.

Starting point is 00:05:58 This feels very much like that potentially boom and or bust volatility that comes with crypto. A lot of people gain and a lot of people have lost. And so it'll be interesting to see how long-term versus short-term all of this is. Especially since I've seen from a lot of people online, part of the reason they did this wasn't just to try and make money,

Starting point is 00:06:15 but it was to kind of give the middle finger to short sellers who, while this is obviously still a developing situation today, I'm recording while the market's still open, we have a long week ahead of us. I mean, on Friday alone, it was reported that short sellers had lost $1.6 billion. I for one though, and I'm not an advisor in any way,

Starting point is 00:06:31 I'm gonna be staying away. Anytime I see massive waves, I just get scared because I have this fun habit of anytime I pay attention to a wave, it lands on my head. I'm all about that long and boring life. Then let's talk about Uber, who after buying Postmates, reportedly laid off 185 people from the Postmates division.

Starting point is 00:06:48 Reportedly that's about 15% of Postmates total workforce with most of the apps executive team not returning including its founder and CEO, Bastian Lehman. But do not fret your prayers for the billionaires have been heard and a number of the executives will reportedly be leaving with multimillion dollar exit packages. Also, as far as why we're seeing these cuts,

Starting point is 00:07:05 it's believed that this is part of a larger plan to better integrate Postmates infrastructure with Uber Eats. This is an area that Uber has been looking to grow, right? They tried and failed to buy Grubhub, then purchasing Postmates for $2.65 billion. And food delivery has been seen as a crucial move for Uber since its ride sharing business has been suffering because of the pandemic.

Starting point is 00:07:22 And the more that you look at the company, the more it becomes apparent that they're kind of consolidating, changing things up in order to be profitable by the end of 2021. Hell, back in December, Uber sold the autonomous vehicle segment to Aurora Innovation and sold their Uber Elevate flying taxi division to Joby Aviation.

Starting point is 00:07:36 We also had SpaceX in the news because they launched 143 satellites into orbit on Sunday, breaking the record for the most satellites lifted into space in a single launch. And notably, this launch was the first of SpaceX's dedicated rideshare program, SmallSat Rideshare, which is basically like a carpool for satellites. It's this recent innovation that came in response

Starting point is 00:07:52 to growing demands for low cost access to space by smaller companies and institutions. And while this new launch is definitely seen and being hailed as a success, it's also triggered conversations about the increasing number of satellites congesting low earth orbit. With many experts fearing that overcrowding

Starting point is 00:08:05 could create a rise in potentially catastrophic orbital collisions and dangerous levels of space debris. And so now many are calling for regulations to be put into place. In fact, NASA's aerospace safety advisory panel wrote in its 2020 annual report, "'Given the recent increase "'in non-traditional commercial space operations,

Starting point is 00:08:19 "'including satellite servicing, space tourism, "'and the deployment of large numbers of satellites "'to provide worldwide internet access, updates to existing roles and responsibilities may be appropriate. As things stand today, there are no clear lines of authority for directing coherence among the many entities that operate in space.

Starting point is 00:08:35 And to that, I say there's only one obvious solution, space wars. Make all these companies vying for internet dominance, make military vehicles boom, instant government funding. And then every week, 8 p.m. Eastern, space wars. Or more communication and regulation. But I'm still vying for space wars. Then, in important international news,

Starting point is 00:08:54 we should talk about how Russia experienced some of their largest protests in years this past Saturday. This, of course, after Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny called for them following his arrest last week. So we saw tens of thousands taking to the streets, clashing with police in more than 100 cities with independent monitors claiming

Starting point is 00:09:10 that 3,500 people were detained by police. And among those 3,500, you had Yuliya Navalnaya, Alexei's wife, who was targeted by authorities during the protest, although, according to Russian media, she has since been released. Despite all these protests being declared illegal, they had a lot of reach and very notably, over one third of the protesters in Moscow

Starting point is 00:09:28 said that they had never protested before, which is definitely huge, but it is also hard to say how the protest popularity will turn into real political power. Because these protests were from across the political spectrum, from far left groups to nationalists, meaning they may oppose Putin and wide scale corruption in Russia,

Starting point is 00:09:43 but it might agree on very little else. But the protests also were a swing in how Russian authorities deal with Navalny in the past. They've never mentioned him by name. However, this weekend he was on everyone's lips. With the newscasters there airing multiple programs, trying to discredit him, painting him as a tool of the West. With Putin himself also having to deny

Starting point is 00:10:00 some of Navalny's claims about him, such as that he has a secret billion dollar villa on the coast of the Black Sea. As far as Navalny himself, he's still in jail pending court proceedings on February 2nd. And if those go poorly, he could be in prison until the mid 2020s. However, if anything, he seems more concerned

Starting point is 00:10:15 about the immediate future, telling supporters on Friday that he has no intention of suicide. In addition to opponents of the Kremlin just somehow getting poisoned, you know, it happens. Suicide is also a common fate for critics of Putin. Then in news about Rudy Giuliani, who is a real human person and not a fascist robot with an oil leak problem.

Starting point is 00:10:34 Just today we saw Dominion voting systems filing a defamation lawsuit against Rudy Giuliani seeking $1.3 billion in damages for false claims that he made about the company. Dominion, which is one of the largest voting machine manufacturers in the United States, of course became the main target for widespread election fraud conspiracies spread

Starting point is 00:10:50 by Giuliani and other Trump allies. Or people who falsely claimed with zero evidence that Dominion machines widely used in key battlegrounds were flipping votes from Trump to Biden. So now you have the company claiming that Giuliani and his allies, quote, "'manufactured and disseminated the big lie,' which foreseeably went viral

Starting point is 00:11:05 and deceived millions of people into believing that Dominion had stolen their votes and fixed the election. The lawsuit alleging that he did this in part to enrich himself through legal fees and his podcast, noting that Trump's top lawyer reportedly demanded $20,000 per day for his legal services to the president,

Starting point is 00:11:20 and arguing that he cashed in by hosting a podcast where he exploited election falsehoods to market things like gold coins, supplements, cigars, and more. The 107 page suit also specifically outlines more than 50 statements Giuliani made on Twitter, his podcast to the conservative media, and during legislative hearings.

Starting point is 00:11:34 Notably, the company points out that he never mentioned Dominion in court, where arguably he could face legal ramifications because he knew what he was claiming was a lie. But despite that, Giuliani continued to push the false narrative, even after Dominion sent him a letter in December warning that they would take legal action against him.

Starting point is 00:11:49 Also, very significantly, the lawsuit also links Giuliani's false claims about Dominion to the Capitol insurrection, pointing out that he mentioned the company while speaking at the rally before the attack and on social media numerous times during the attack. But also, I mean, even according to reports, even after that, he has still continued to spread those lies as recently as last week.

Starting point is 00:12:06 The lawsuit going on to say that as a result of these statements peddled by Giuliani and others, Dominion's founder and employees have been harassed and received death threats, and Dominion has suffered unprecedented and irreparable harm. Now, notably, this is also not the first defamation suit Dominion has filed against Trump allies in recent weeks.

Starting point is 00:12:21 Earlier this month, the company filed a similar claim against Sidney Powell, where it also saw $1.3 billion in damages over her claims that Dominion was part of a worldwide communist plot to rig the election. Separately, one of the company's top executives also filed suits against Giuliani, the Trump campaign, and several pro-Trump media outlets after he was forced into hiding due to conspiracies

Starting point is 00:12:39 that he masterminded the plot to steal the election. And one of the biggest things here is this could all just be the start. According to reports, an attorney for Dominion said that it was possible that the company would file additional lawsuits against pro-Trump media outlets such as Fox News and even potentially with Trump himself. Then in President Biden news,

Starting point is 00:12:54 let's talk about two key things today. First up, you had Biden signing an executive order overturning Trump's ban on transgender Americans serving in the military. That ban, as Axios explained, allowed the military to bar openly transgender recruits and discharge people for not living as their sex assigned at birth. Reportedly, this is something that had affected

Starting point is 00:13:10 up to 15,000 service members. So you have that big news, and then the news that Biden has now re-imposed a broad travel ban aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus. The specific ban in question was initially imposed by Trump preventing non-citizens who have traveled from Brazil, Ireland, the UK, and 26 other European countries in the last 14 days from entering the United States.

Starting point is 00:13:28 Though, despite Trump putting it into place, during his last two days, he issued a proclamation ordering the ban to end on January 26th, when the CDC starts requiring passengers from abroad to present proof of a negative coronavirus test before boarding a flight. Right, so it's set to end tomorrow, but Biden's order, according to CDC officials,

Starting point is 00:13:43 will roll back that decision and keep the initial restrictions in place. In fact, it's being reported that Biden will also be adding people who have recently been to South Africa to the travel ban. This decision coming as part of the new administration's much more aggressive approach to fighting the coronavirus, which so far seems to be popular.

Starting point is 00:13:58 For example, in an ABC news Ipsos poll released yesterday, they found that 69% of Americans approve of Biden's COVID-19 response so far. And actually where we'll end today's show is on the note of COVID-19. The number of confirmed cases in the United States has now surpassed 25 million. President Biden also saying in a speech on Friday

Starting point is 00:14:14 that he expects the death toll to eventually top 600,000. Though the number of cases per day in the United States does appear to be falling for now. However, health officials have warned against celebrating just yet. For one, daily death rates remain high, and two, COVID variants could upend any ground gained if people do not stay vigilant. That news is also why we've seen such a mixed reaction to what's happening out here in California. This because California Governor Gavin Newsom lifted regional stay-at-home orders across

Starting point is 00:14:37 the state today. That news first coming after a letter from the California Restaurant Association to its members leaked. Notably, what this move does is that it gives way for restaurants in the state to resume in-person dining, gyms, hair salons, and nail salons could also reopen. It appears that this move may be connected to ICU capacity. Like the rest of the United States, California has started to see a steady decline in the number of coronavirus cases being confirmed each day. In San Francisco, for example,

Starting point is 00:14:59 ICU capacity has surged to 23% this weekend. However, also like the rest of the United States, daily death rates remain high. A number of other regions in the state also have had less notable success. But according to the LA Times, a Newsom administration official has said that models project ICU capacity for areas

Starting point is 00:15:14 with less success, increasing above 15% over the next four weeks. Now, as more and more people get vaccinated, there of course is the hope that we will continue to see a decline in the numbers. But also there is concern for reasons like on Sunday, CDC director, Rochelle Walensky, told Fox News that the federal government doesn't know

Starting point is 00:15:29 how much coronavirus vaccine the country has. And adding, if I can't tell it to you, then I can't tell it to the governors, and I can't tell it to the state health officials. If they don't know how much vaccine they're getting, not just this week, but next week and the week after, they can't plan. They can't figure out how many sites to roll out.

Starting point is 00:15:43 They can't figure out how many vaccinators that they need, and they can't figure out how many sites to roll out. They can't figure out how many vaccinators that they need. And they can't figure out how many appointments to make for the public. And in that interview, Walensky noted that the problem is just one of those challenges we've been left with in the transition from the Trump administration. And notably here, this challenge specifically could hamper Biden's efforts to vaccinate

Starting point is 00:15:57 100 million Americans in his first 100 days. According to the CDC so far, just under 22 million doses have been administered, but we've also seen reports that tens of thousands of people with appointments to get the COVID-19 vaccine have had to have them canceled because states are running out of supplies. Though we saw Walensky say she is hopeful

Starting point is 00:16:13 that the production of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines will increase after Biden's first 100 days. Also saying that she's hopeful that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, as well as the AstraZeneca vaccine, could soon see emergency approval from the FDA. And where I'll close this story is the light at the end of the tunnel is there.

Starting point is 00:16:28 Stay smart, stay safe. One day in the near future, we will get to stop saying once COVID is over, I will blank. And that day cannot come soon enough. Can't wait to go back to being an introvert by choice. And whether it be this final story or anything that stuck out to you, I'd love to know your thoughts in those comments down below,

Starting point is 00:16:48 but that is where I'm going to end today's show. Thank you, of course, for being a part of my daily dives in the news. I love having you. Also, if you're looking for more to watch, I actually put out two videos on Friday. I was like, I don't normally post this day, so let's do it twice.

Starting point is 00:16:59 Yeah, like I said at the end of last year, I'm tweaking things with the schedule, not forcing shows. Yeah, that's it. You've just been filled in with news that matters for people that care. I'll see you tomorrow.

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The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 1.25 Forced Off Youtube! Roman Atwood, Jojo Siwa, GameStop WallStreetBets Controversy, & More

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