The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 12.6 Ridiculous Cheating Hoax, Kim Kardashian Rewrites History, Lena Dunham Backlash, and Huawei

Episode Date: December 6, 2018

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Sup you beautiful bastards, hope you're having a fantastic Thursday. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco show and before we jump into it Actually a quick note this morning. I uploaded an extra morning news video I was getting messages of people saying they didn't get notifications Which definitely didn't help because I didn't throw myself in the thumbnail the main point after today's show I highly recommend you check it out It'll be in the outro card as well as a top link in the description down below But with that said let's just jump into it The first thing we're gonna talk about today are these two fake news stories that are out there right now

And they actually revolve around the Kardashian family Let's just jump into it. And the first thing we're gonna talk about today are these two fake news stories that are out there right now, and they actually revolve around the Kardashian family. They are both actually really fascinating to me. And we'll start it with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. Remember how a while ago it was big news that Kanye West went on TMZ, he said slavery was a choice, there was this big reaction,

and then there was this debate of, you know, what did he actually mean by that? Well, the most recent update to the story is that Kim Kardashian on her show, "'Keeping Up With The Kardashians' is claiming that he actually never said that. And here's what she said on her show. "'Kanye Slavery' comment, he never said that.

That was just the headline. If you listen to what he said, he said, slavery was 400 years. If it's gonna be another 400 years, that sounds like a choice to me. He didn't say slavery is a choice. He was saying, if you're still going to be enslaved for another 400 years, then that's some bullshit.

You know, but all the headlines just took. And then and the producer says they take the sound bite and do whatever and Kim says yeah That is a wife is really frustrating to see the media take everything and run with it And so hearing her words there I thought back to when we talked about this story what she's saying doesn't match up with what I remember But you know human beings were not perfect. We can miss remember things I do remember that in one of the videos I was going around there was a cut and I found it and it looks like He wasn't edited to say something that he didn't say. It also doesn't seem to line up with what Kim is saying is reality.

But I'll let you listen and see it. When you hear about slavery for 400 years, for 400 years, that sounds like a choice. Like, you was there for 400 years and it's all of y'all? You know, like, it's like, we're mentally in prison. I like the word prison, because slavery goes too direct to the idea of blacks. It's like slavery, Holocaust, Holocaust Jews, slavery is blacks.

So prison is something that unites us as one race, blacks and whites being one race. So what is she talking about? An argument can be made that he meant something, that something was open to interpretation, that there was a certain intent behind those words. But what Kim Kardashian is telling the world is the truth is not the truth here.

So there was that bit of fake news, which had me a little confused because I thought, you know, why is she doing that? There is video evidence of this. But also then you kind of have to factor in that she probably has a larger audience than the people that are talking about what actually happened. And since perception is reality for a lot of the people that just watched the Kardashians

This is true. That is how it actually went down So I just I want to talk about that because that was really interesting to me and actually last second update to this story According to a new report from a source the clip of Kim claiming Kanye didn't say slavery was a choice will not appear in the Upcoming keeping up with the Kardashians episode saying that it was never approved for the episode because when Kim watched it back She realized it was inaccurate and not reflective of what happened at TMZ that day. Sure, okay Then the other bit of fake news involved Kylie Jenner as the victim of the situation There were these photos out on the internet last week that had a lot of sites saying did Travis Scott who has a baby with Kylie Jenner did he cheat? And it seemingly gained enough traction that Travis Scott had to respond and say no that wasn't me

Writing only got love from my wife no no time to be wasting, try again. And it turns out he was telling the truth. He wasn't just pulling a shaggy. Turns out it was actually a YouTuber pulling a prank. Essentially copying what Yes Theory did with a fake Justin Bieber burrito picture, but this time with infidelity. You know, because what's the point of doing a social experiment if you're not also attempting to ruin someone's reputation and or relationship? In my opinion, what Yes Theory did with the Bieber thing, that's harmless.

I think that's a really interesting commentary about how fast news gets out there. Whereas this one is a really messed up BS copycat. I think there's a conversation to be had about how the media and social media can be weaponized with fake news. But at the same time, I really can't help but be disgusted by the people that decided to fake this.

And then let's talk about why we had Lena Dunham in the news, and you know it's already one of two things. Either one, she either said something incredibly stupid or horrible, or two, she is apologizing for something she did. And today, we have yet another apology. So yesterday, Lena published a letter as a guest editor for the Hollywood Reporter titled, My Apology to Aurora.

For those who don't remember, back in November of last year, there was an actress by the name of Aurora Perrineau who accused girls writer and producer Murray Miller of rape. And the actress filed a police report stating that Miller had raped her in 2012 when she was 17 years old and he was 35. Miller and his lawyers denied the accusation, saying that she was only after money.

And the day the news around these allegations broke, Lena and her co-showrunner on Girls, Jenny Connor, they released a statement defending Miller, writing, "'While our first instinct is to listen "'to every woman's story, our insider knowledge "'of Murray's situation makes us confident "'that sadly this accusation is one of the 3% of assault cases

that are misreported every year. And that statement was met with a flood of backlash, with people calling her out for not believing a victim, and people calling her a hypocrite because of an old tweet she wrote that read, "'Things women do lie about, what they ate for lunch. "'Things women don't lie about, rape.'" And so you had people essentially saying,

"'Oh, so I guess that's not true "'if the person being accused is your friend.'" She then quickly retracted that statement and apologized. But in this newest apology we saw this week, there was also an admission. Dunham writing, She then goes on to talk about her own experiences. I'll link down to the full article, but that admission was a big standout. And actually in addition to this, later in the day at a women in entertainment event hosted by the same

magazine, Lena brought Brittany Perrineau, Aurora Perrineau's mother, on stage where she said this. Last November, when Brittany's beautiful daughter Aurora accused a friend of mine of sexual assault, I denied her experience publicly. That will always be my greatest regret, but with Brittany and Aurora's love, forgiveness, and bravery, it's become my greatest moment of evolution and education. And in response, Perrineau told Dunham that she and her daughter feel your love and receive your heartfelt apology. But, unsurprisingly, the internet was not as forgiving, with reactions like, and yet, Lenny somehow manages to make her long-delayed and late apology to Aurora Perrineau all about Lenny.

And, sorry Lena, Dunham making up insider information in order to discredit a sexual assault victim should not be let off as a mistake. It should be a career end. This is not about the quote, dominant male agenda. It is about your choices. And other critics like CNN's Simone Sanders also questioning why Lena was even given this opportunity. Writing, if the Hollywood Reporter

really wanted to make a statement, they would have given this space to Aurora. Instead, Aurora has been silenced and now Lena is the story again. And as far as my personal takeaway, I actually agree with Simone Sanders here. I do believe that that would have been this space to Aurora. Instead, Aurora has been silenced and now Lena is the story again. And as far as my personal takeaway, I actually agree with Simone Sanders here. I do believe that that would have been more important, more powerful, and really,

I mean, do we really need another Lena Dunham apology? How much does she need to grow before maybe she realizes the right answer in certain situations is to not say anything? And before someone twists that into, oh, Phil just said a woman should know her place and she shouldn't speak. No, and I know that this is kind of funny coming from someone that speaks for a living. But sometimes the best public reaction to something is no reaction at all. Especially when you're someone that has the public track record that Lena Dunham had. I will repeat this pretty much any time Lena Dunham is in the news. I feel like Lena Dunham is more damaging to most any of her causes than she is beneficial. But I guess the final thing that I'll hit on is, you know, it is Christmas time.

So I guess in the Christmas spirit, instead of just adding this apology to the slew of apologies she already has, let us instead take this apology and use it as the star atop the Lena Dunham apology Christmas tree. Merry Christmas and a happy holidays to one and all. And then let's talk about this huge situation around Huawei. And Huawei, if you don't know, is a China-based company that's valued at around $8.4 billion and is known for making smartphones. And they're huge. In 2018, they blew past Apple

to be the number two smartphone maker after Samsung. They're also gunning for the number one spot next year. But they also make other products too. Notably, they're also the largest telecom equipment manufacturer for mobile and internet networks. And they're so large that most countries use their products in some capacity in their telecoms infrastructure. But also a big note around this company, they, along with ZTE, which is another Chinese tech company,

they have been accused of being close with the Chinese government and a front for spying operations by the heads of the CIA, FBI, NSA, and the Director of National Intelligence. With US officials saying that they are concerned about the possibility of Chinese telecom equipment manufacturers spying on and gaining access to essential infrastructure And we've seen the likes of Republican Senator Marco Rubio saying Huawei has direct ties to the Chinese government and Communist Party has long posed A serious risk to US national security and I continue to strongly urge Canada to reconsider Huawei's inclusion in any aspect of its 5G development introduction and maintenance on the other side of the aisle You also a Democratic senator Chris Van Hollen who said that Huawei and ZTE are two sides of the same coin. Chinese telecommunications companies that represent a fundamental risk to American national security.

But Huawei denies these claims even writing on their site. Huawei is an independent private company wholly owned by its employees. The Chinese government has no ownership stake in or control of the company. However, a close partnership wouldn't be an uncommon thing for an incredibly large Chinese company in an increasingly totalitarian state. But whatever their actual connection to the Chinese government is, the United States is not a fan. And in fact, since at least November, the United States has been trying to persuade wireless and internet providers in foreign ally countries like the UK, Japan, Germany, and Italy to not use Huawei products. And reportedly, the US sees Huawei as such a large threat that they are considering to offer financial aid to telecom development in countries that agree to block Huawei. American efforts seem to have paid off too. On Monday, the chief of Britain's secret intelligence service said that 5G reliance on Chinese technology was something that needed to be discussed, saying,

We need to decide the extent to which we are going to be comfortable with Chinese ownership of these technologies and these platforms in an environment where some of our allies have taken a very definite position. And adding that they feared Beijing could quote, force Chinese suppliers or manufacturers to modify products to perform below expectations or fail, facilitate state or corporate espionage, or otherwise compromise the confidentiality, integrity, or availability." And in just the last 24 hours, British telecoms announced that they will stop using Huawei products and will be dismantling and replacing existing infrastructure that uses it, although they claim that it is for other reasons. But even before that, we saw the likes of New Zealand and Australia,

both having stopped using Huawei equipment because of fears that the equipment could be used to spy. But as if all of that was already not enough, one of the big reasons we're talking about this is what happened in Canada. On December 1st, the CFO of Huawei was arrested by the Canadians in Vancouver at the request of the United States.

And in addition to being the CFO of Huawei, she's also the deputy chairwoman and the daughter of the founder. So right now she is facing extradition to the United States. Now at first, reports of why she was arrested were only rumors, And in addition to being the CFO of Huawei, she's also the deputy chairwoman and the daughter of the founder. So right now she is facing extradition to the United States. Now at first, reports of why she was arrested were only rumors, but it was believed that it was because Huawei was skirting sanctions placed against Iran by the United States. Something American prosecutors in New York have been investigating since 2016. The Canadian publication, The Globe and Mail, claiming that a source within local law enforcement confirmed that the arrest was related to the sanctions.

Writing, the United States is alleging Ms. Meng tried to evade the American embargo against Iran. However, they provided few other details. And as far as what we officially received from law enforcement, they kept it vague, saying she is sought for extradition by the United States and a bail hearing has been set for Friday. As there is a publication ban in effect, we cannot provide any further detail at this time.

And adding, the ban was sought by Ms. Meng. And as far as Huawei's response, they said in a statement to the Globe and Mail that Meng faces quote, unspecified charges in the Eastern District of New York. And adding, Huawei has been provided with very little information regarding the charges and is not aware of any wrongdoing by Ms. Meng.

The company believes the Canadian and US legal systems will ultimately reach a just conclusion. Adding that Huawei complies with all applicable laws and regulations where it operates, including applicable export control and sanction laws. And we also saw the Chinese embassy in Ottawa strongly protest this arrest, urging them to immediately correct the wrongdoing and release Meng. And as far as the reaction from the US, this arrest has been lauded by some American lawmakers,

like Republican Senator Ben Sasse, who said, Americans are grateful that our Canadian partners have arrested the chief financial officer of a giant Chinese telecom company for breaking US sanctions against Iran. And also a thing with this story that needs to be considered is all of this is happening in the middle of a trade war. A trade war between the United States and China which actually recently had a 90 day truce declared during the G20 in Argentina. That truce including things like the US not placing 200 billion dollars of sanctions on Chinese goods and the Chinese agreeing to not do the same to US vehicles and agreeing to buy US agricultural products. And additionally, there are ongoing negotiations between the US and China on other ways to improve trade relations. But now with the arrest of the CFO of Huawei,

you have experts chiming in that this could just derail everything, which has also stirred up a debate as far as what will Donald Trump do? People pointing to situations like that of Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia. And if you don't remember Donald Trump's infamous statement, or I mean, several of the things that he said during that whole spiel, you could see that money

led the way in a lot of ways around his decision. But on that note, I think it's important to point out that the relationship between Trump and Saudi Arabia is far different than that of Trump and China. At the same time, what I think the other situation shows us is that all possibilities are on the table and they won't even be kind of like behind closed doors. It could be right in our faces. But all that said, that is where we are with the situation right now.

It will be very interesting to see what happens next. And with this, of course, I pass the question off to you about your thoughts on it. And that's where I'm going to end today's show. And remember, if you like it, you want to show that support, just hit that like button on this video. If you're new here, you want more of these daily dives into the news, hit that subscribe button. Also, if you missed yesterday's show or this morning's extra bonus news video, you wanna watch those, you can just click or tap right there to watch them.

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 tomorrow.