The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 1.30 "I'm Filled With Rage" Mr.Beast Helped 1000 People See For The First Time & People Are Furious

Starting point is 00:00:00 Mr. Beast helped a thousand people get their eyesight back, and for some reason that made people furious with him. There's a kidnapper on the loose that you might be able to help find. We're seeing more big updates with the horrible Tyree Nichols situation since the videos were released. We've got to talk about all of that and so much more on today's brand new Philip DeFranco show, so buckle up, hit that like button, and let's just jump into it. Is Mr. Beast a disgusting, exploitive monster, or is he a hero? Both of those arguments have been flying around the internet for over a day now, and that's because over the weekend,

Starting point is 00:00:25 he uploaded a video titled, "'1,000 Blind People See for the First Time' where you see him work with a surgeon to perform an operation on blind and partially blind people that would allow them to get their vision back." They can't see, but we have all the technology to fix it.

Starting point is 00:00:36 Yep, half of all the blindness in the world is people who need a 10 minute surgery. But the thing is, a lot of these people just don't have access to it or the money for it, even though it's life-changing. With a number of people sharing their stories to mr. Bees and his team, you know one person in the video saying blindness stopped them from working another saying He's never been able to drive a car, but this procedure changed all that and of course because it's mr.

Starting point is 00:00:54 Bees he didn't just stop at the surgeries. He gave one guy a Tesla others got money. What does this say? You just won $10,000. Here you go. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. We also see him take this international with people from other countries also getting help. And in total, changing at least a thousand lives. And largely, the response to this video has been very, very positive. People saying it's heartwarming, it's amazing. But also others saying things like,

Starting point is 00:01:19 Are we going to start celebrating people with resources giving back to people for entertainment only? He gave these surgeries to people who agreed to be in a YouTube video for him to monetize. How is that charity? And he just makes people dance on camera for basic human needs so we can make millions. As well as some that were split saying, he makes a good impact, but he does it in a borderline or maybe not borderline unethical way that benefits himself more than anyone he could ever help. Giving should be a selfless act.

Starting point is 00:01:41 Now to be completely transparent, I don't agree with those people. I find myself more in line actually with the likes of Hasan Piker on this one. Personally, all things considered, I'm happy this video got made. The lives of a thousand people and their families have forever been changed. Awareness about an issue that should actually be infuriating to you has been raised to millions and millions of people. He also donated even more money for future surgeries. And while I share some of the concern with, you know, filmed charitable content that is often meant to make the person who made the video just look so good, the good in this video and many of Mr. B's

Starting point is 00:02:10 philanthropic things, like it just doesn't happen unless it is also attached to a video. That's a huge part of how he makes the money that also then goes on to help others. But also the fact that these people would not have gotten helped had he not made this video highlights how fucking ridiculous and infuriating our world is you watch the video you go oh how how cute and how nice i watch the video and i'm

Starting point is 00:02:38 filled with rage that's wrong with you that we shut off access to a 10-minute procedure because we paywalled it and decided that some people just simply can't get it. It's up to one YouTube guy to decide to make content out of it that people who are too poor can't just fucking see. I am happy, or maybe the better word is relieved, that all these people got help. But it's horrible that we live in societies where these people would have been fucked if Jimmy decided, hey, I want to do another video where I give away an island rather than help these blind people. And the thing is, you know who agrees with that? Mr. Beast, with him tweeting out this morning. I don't understand why curable blindness is a thing.

Starting point is 00:03:15 Why don't governments step in and help? Even if you're thinking purely from a financial standpoint, it's hard to see how they don't ROI on taxes from people being able to work again. Which, yeah, you know, we've talked about similar arguments on the show before. Although, I do want to make sure that people aren't thinking like, yeah, you know, we've talked about similar arguments on the show before, although I do want to make sure that people aren't thinking, like, oh, all blind people can't work and are a burden to society, because, like, that's just factually not true.

Starting point is 00:03:32 But also, to defend Jimmy here a little bit, I think he only had a few characters worth of space at Nuance Dyes on Twitter, and I'm sure he didn't mean it like that. But also, the fact that we have to argue about the financial benefits of this, it sucks. Where we're like, hey, if you remove the heart from the situation, and, you know,, just the feeling the need to care for your brothers and sisters who are lying there bleeding on the ground, financially it just makes more sense to pick them up, patch them up, and get them out back in the world. Because unfortunately the further people or a problem is from us, the less we can connect to it. So thanks to capitalism, we're like, but what about the money and how this might impact your taxes or just inconvenience you in some way?

Starting point is 00:04:03 Yeah, that's a story some might take away. And of course, I'd love to know where you stand on this. And then breaking news, corporations are fucking you and they're not even texting you back after. With a new report using industry data finding that in recent years, utility companies have shut off power to millions of mostly poor, non-white, struggling Americans. And at the same time, they've squeezed out record profits, which they funneled into stock buybacks, dividend payments, and executive salaries. By the numbers, utilities companies cut off service an estimated 4.2 million times during the first 10 months of 2022 alone. That's a massive jump from the year before, with electric shutoffs spiking by nearly one third and gas shutoffs by three quarters.

Starting point is 00:04:37 Reportedly, all it would take to help the people who at that time can't afford their bills is a tiny fraction of profits. For 12 large companies examined, the collective customer debt from all the shutoffs amounts to just 1% of dividend spending. So while you're huddled in your cold, dark apartment just trying to survive, there's some investor rolling the last year paycheck into a joint off Martha's Vineyard. And as the climate crisis pushes temperatures

Starting point is 00:04:56 further out to the extremes of hot and cold, people are only gonna need more heat and AC, which will then drive up the prices, and the problem just gets worse and worse. And then, if you're in the online dating scene in Oregon right now, and you see this guy, swipe left. Because that is 36-year-old Benjamin Obadiah Foster, and he is suspected of kidnapping and torture. With police kicking off their search for him last week after they found one of his alleged victims bound, unconscious, and near death. And this reportedly is not his first

Starting point is 00:05:19 rodeo. He allegedly tied up his girlfriend back in 2019 and beat her viciously for two weeks, but was then convicted on lesser charges and released from prison two years ago. And even before that, he was charged with domestic violence battery by strangulation in 2017. The thing is, right now, while he's on the run from the authorities, he's reportedly using dating apps to lure unsuspecting women into helping him escape or potentially to find more victims. Also, police saying they may have shaved or dyed his hair, so he might not look exactly like he does in this photo.

Starting point is 00:05:43 But if you do see anyone resembling that face, do not engage with them because you may be armed and dangerous. Just contact the authorities. Especially if you're in Oregon or in nearby states, share this guy's photo on your socials. You may be part of the reason this monster gets arrested, or you keep someone safe. And then, you know, if you have kids or you're still a kid at heart, you know how hard it can be to get them to eat all the foods that they're supposed to, like, really hard. Other children's vitamins are basically candy in disguise filled with 5 grams of sugar, and it can contribute to a variety of health issues. So thank you, Haya, for sponsoring today's show.

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Starting point is 00:06:56 in the morning in Atlanta on Saturday when an officer pulls someone over for a routine traffic stop. They're talking for less than a minute and the cop suddenly flips around and sees some other guy jacking his patrol car. Yo, Back up! Get out of the car! Get up! 1410, someone just got in my patrol car. He takes it, books it down the highway with the emergency lights flashing, and he makes it about eight miles before losing control in an intersection and flipping onto these railroad tracks. With the cops then catching up to him and scrambling to pull him out the broken front window as they hear the train horn blaring in the distance. They know they don't have much time, they're doing it, and they eventually drag him from the wreckage mere

Starting point is 00:07:26 seconds before the impact. And so the guy's now in jail, he's facing a whole bunch of charges, and these cops, I'm sure, reeling from the whiplash of going from high-speed chase to life-and-death rescue operation in a minute. Which I mean, much respect to these officers, unlike, of course, the next story that we're going to talk about. Because the last thing we have to talk about today is the Tyree Nichols situation. Because on Friday, the police released the footage of the violent arrest, though calling it a violent arrest doesn't feel right. It feels more like it was just a witnessed execution. And it was just as bad as it was described, though hearing that he was beaten like a human pinata and actually witnessing it are two

Starting point is 00:08:03 drastically different things. Now, as a heads up, I am not showing the footage in this video. It is readily available. I think it is important that people watch it, but I'm not going to force people to watch it. It is dramatic and devastating. But that footage, which we will talk about, comes from both body cam and surveillance cameras. It was released in four different videos that run about an hour in total. Now, in the first video, which very notably doesn't show why Tyree was pulled over in the first place, we can see officers yelling profanities at him, forcing him roughly out of the car. Tyree is heard saying, I didn't do anything, as officers begin to force him to the ground. From there,

Starting point is 00:08:31 the officers continue to wrestle Tyree, who does not appear to be resisting them, repeatedly saying, all right, all right, and trying to comply with them, even as they shout a ton of different orders at him. They tell him to get on the ground when he's already there, tell him what to do with his hands while they're holding them. The entire time they're holding a taser, saying over and over again that they're going to tase him, also threatening other violence. But Tyree seemingly trying to comply with the confusing and simultaneous overlapping orders. Also at this point, officers reportedly sprayed pepper spray

Starting point is 00:08:54 in Tyree's face, but Tyree was able to get up and run away with one officer unsuccessfully deploying a taser to try and stop him. They then chase him, more getting called up. They eventually catch up with him. Video also catching this interaction between police who remained at the first location. I hope they stomp his ass.

Starting point is 00:09:07 And from there, there was a second video, which was recorded by a security camera on a pole without sound. Meanwhile, the third and fourth videos were taken from different police body cams. And while some of the footage on the ground is obscured or not shown entirely, they do both provide audio.

Starting point is 00:09:18 And from there, we see the officers quickly take him to the ground, hitting him as they try to restrain him. One officer repeatedly pepper sprays Tyree, who can be heard screaming in pain and calling out, Mom, Mom, Mom. And notably here, lawyers for Tyree's family say this happened just a hundred yards from his family home. The officers are then seen kicking and beating Tyree.

Starting point is 00:09:35 A fourth officer then arrives with a baton and begins to strike him. The officer is alternating holding his arms and violently punching his stomach and head repeatedly, even as he's clearly restrained. With Tyree eventually handcuffed and dragged to one of the officer officer's cars where he's propped up in a sitting position. He's in clear need of medical attention, groaning in pain. But despite that, at least seven officers who are on the scene are patting each other on the back, waving flashlights in Tyree's face, one even fist bumping another. And then a few minutes later, when two medics finally arrive, they don't really do much. Besides helping Tyree sit up after he repeatedly slumps over, clearly unable to hold himself up.

Starting point is 00:10:06 In fact, it took the medics more than 15 fucking minutes after the beating before they opened up their bags and gave medical aid. And a little after that, officers bring out a stretcher, an ambulance arrives with reviews of the footage finding that he sat by that car for 24 minutes after being taken into custody. Right, so obviously all that footage reveals how truly fucking horrible this whole ordeal was. But also, a thing that I wanted to touch on here with this footage is that it shows officers repeatedly making claims about Tyree and his behavior that are not at all supported by the video. And in fact, have been actively contradicted by the DA and other officials. For example, two officers claimed that he reached for his gun, with one of them saying he also swung at him. But literally none of the footage police released showed that. At another point, one officer said the traffic stop took place because Tyree wouldn't stop his car and then swerve like he intended to hit the

Starting point is 00:10:47 officer's car. But again, we have no video to back that up, and the Memphis police director has said that the department can't substantiate the reason for the traffic stop. And throughout the encounter, some officers seem to allude to the fact that they thought Tyree was on drugs, though no public evidence has indicated that was the case. And so there, you have many experts saying this is very important to note because this is an example of police utilizing body cameras to influence narratives. Essentially, the idea being if we know that part of this is going to be documented, why don't we use it to plant seeds to justify our actions? Also, of course, another big aspect of this story was the reaction that we've seen. In preparation for the release of the footage, Memphis' public schools canceled after-schools activities on Friday and many businesses boarded up windows to brace for looting.

Starting point is 00:11:22 But for the most part, protests were scattered and largely peaceful. In Memphis, we saw groups of demonstrators gathering downtown and taking to the streets, with some of that group blocking the I-55 bridge. Protesters also reportedly halting traffic in LA, Portland, and New York, the latter of which shut down Grand Central Station in anticipation of the demonstrations. In Los Angeles, one of the protests became tense after people gathered outside the police department and tore down a protective barricade, though none were arrested. Meanwhile, officials said that eight businesses were vandalized and one person was arrested during demonstrations in Hollywood. Seattle, D.C., Atlanta, other major cities also seeing people taken to the streets.

Starting point is 00:11:52 But again, the nationwide violence that many were bracing for never materialized. And so, you know, with this situation, we saw a lot of people calling for police reform, saying the way police responded both during and after the violent incident, right, the things like, I hope they stomp his ass. That all that shows is a much broader problem of police tactics and their failure to follow any kind of standardized rules. And actually to that point,

Starting point is 00:12:09 after the release of this video, police director, Sarah Lane Davis, announced over the weekend that the department would be disbanding the Scorpion unit that the five officers fired and charged with Tyree's death belonged to. With that unit, which is short for Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods,

Starting point is 00:12:21 was launched in 2021 to tackle rising crime in the city, consisting of about 40 officers that would drive around, sometimes in unmarked cars and wearing plain clothes, making traffic stops, hundreds of arrests, and seizing weapons. While Davis initially said she believed that the unit was effective at reducing crime and didn't want to disband it, she changed her mind after pressure from the public and Tyree's family, with the police saying in a statement, while the heinous actions of a few cast a cloud of dishonor on the title Scorpion, it is imperative that we, the Memphis Police Department, take proactive steps in the healing process for all impacted. Now, on that note, many have argued that while this is a good first step, it's just that, a first step.

Starting point is 00:12:52 This including the lawyers for Tyree's family as well as city leaders who called for more reforms and changes. And that's also something we've seen echoed by many others broadly across the country. By saying this is yet another example of deep-rooted flaws within the policing system. But despite the fact that lawmakers in Congress from both parties have widely condemned the death of Tyree, it is unclear if reforms are actually going to happen. I mean, as far as all we've seen in a statement on Friday, President Biden called on Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which would implement a number of federal policies to reduce police misconduct. While the House previously passed that bill back in 2021, it was blocked by Republicans

Starting point is 00:13:22 in the Senate. And now, even if the Senate Dems could somehow pass a version, it would likely be dead on arrival in the House. Though notably, people have pointed to other possible reforms that could be passed in more pared down bills, like one that was previously proposed by a Republican senator, but blocked by Democrats who criticized it for not doing enough. But also at the same time, some Republicans are already spreading doubt here, like Jim Jordan, who bizarrely argued in an interview this weekend. Well, I don't know that there's any law that can stop that evil that we saw that is just, I mean, just difficult to watch. So I don't know that any law, any training, any reform is going to change. You know, this man was handcuffed. They continued to beat him.

Starting point is 00:13:54 Which, I mean, I do want to just point out that is the exact same argument that many people use for abolishing the police. So it's pretty stupid, but also kind of amazing. Jordan's able to use that as a cop-out for inevitably blocking any legislation. But for now, we're going to have to see what all happens and what all fallout there is. Because even though the video was released on Friday, this is still a developing situation. I mean, just as I was recording today, we saw the Memphis Police Department confirming that a sixth officer was put on administrative leave in connection with Tyree's death. While the department didn't say exactly what role he had played,

Starting point is 00:14:19 a lawyer for the officer told reporters that the first of the four videos released by the city came from this officer's body cam, but also claiming that he was never present at the second scene. And that is where today's show ends. 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 1.30 "I'm Filled With Rage" Mr.Beast Helped 1000 People See For The First Time & People Are Furious

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