The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 2.1 Zac Efron Controversy & Backlash, Jablinski VS Will Smith, Police Roulette Disaster & More

Episode Date: February 1, 2019

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Sup you beautiful bastards, hope you're having a fantastic Friday. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show. And if you're new here, on Fridays we do things a little bit different. On Fridays I try to cover more viewer-requested stories from the week, as well as include some stories I wanted to jump into but I couldn't because of time. So, with that said, let's just jump into it. The first thing we're going to talk about today is a requested story we had this week around Zac Efron. Now if you don't know, Zac Efron is starring in a new movie where he plays a serial killer and not just some random written-up fictional character but based on a real-life serial killer who authorities believe killed at least 30 women I feel like this story was requested obviously not only because that involved like a big story

But because we have a policy on this show where we try not to show the names and faces of mass killers Which also created a dilemma and even covering this story, because right now, this serial killer's name is plastered everywhere. Netflix released a four episode docu-series about this killer that was also directed by the same person making this movie with Zac Efron about him. But kind of long story short, following the trailer for this movie being released, there were a lot of people

that had a problem with it. With some viral tweets that blew up, like, "'I feel so bad for the families of the victims "'that have to sit there and see their terrors revived "'as a witty romantic thriller.'" Some calling it fetish material. Some accusing the movie of the victims that have to sit there and see their terrors revived as a witty romantic thriller. Some calling it fetish material. Some accusing the movie of romanticizing the killer. All right, during the trailer,

there's like action music playing, he's being defiant. This case is about catching a monster. Ladies and gentlemen, I am that innocent suspect. You are skating on thin ice, partner. And all the while, this is telling the story about a serial rapist and murderer, but at the same time you had people defending this trailer and defending this movie and the motives behind it. Saying the reason Zac Efron, hence the serial killer, is being portrayed in this way is because in real life he was notoriously charismatic. He was good-looking. People did not assume that he could be the person behind horrible acts.

Although even some of those people saying the music choice for the trailer was completely wrong as far as the directors reaction to the Internet's Reaction he responded by tweeting exactly with a quote tweet someone else tweeting the reason the trailer seems to be painting him as this charismatic Good guy is because the murderer was a very charismatic nice all-american guy who no one suspected now for me as far as having an Opinion on this it is somewhat hard since I try not to have opinions based off of just trailers. So the place that I look to regarding this story is the initial reviews but there we kind of see somewhat conflicting information. Cosmopolitan put out a review saying it's not what you think, saying it's not what the trailer sold you, saying people thought this would give a man who brutally murdered and sexually assaulted at least 30 women the heartthrob treatment, painting him as Misunderstood character nothing could be further from the truth

But then you have polygon calling it a rock star biopic for a serial killer saying the life story of a mass murderer is kind of Fun, so those together helped me in no way there is then the larger part of the conversation Which is should we be making movies about this by getting that that killers name and their face out there more and more I will say regarding this story I've had a harder time trying to figure it out. I mean, kind of for the same reasons why I cover stories, albeit without their face or their name, I think there's a lot to be learned

from something happening. I talk about the details without glorifying them, but that's also not really possible given the medium of a movie. And so part of the reason I wanted to include this requested story was I wanted to pick your brain. What are your thoughts around all of this? What are your thoughts about it being turned into this thing? What are your thoughts if you've seen the trailer of the way that it was initially delivered?

Because it's definitely one of those that I'm trying to digest right now Then in a viewer requested story that that's lighter and also if you don't care about YouTube you can you can skip this I sent an article titled Jack Black is beating Will Smith at the YouTube game And I was asked what my thoughts were around this story and I agree but also disagree. I agree because personally if I had to like choose if only one continued it'd probably be Jack Black because it's It's just it feels more down my alley. I disagree because Will Smith still does massive numbers, although he's a little sporadic But what's fun about these two is we see the extreme polar opposites of

celebrity coming to YouTube. With Will Smith it feels like there's a whole team working on it. It's crisp. It's clean. It's smooth. Everything around him seems expensive. And to me it feels like, I don't know, Instagram-y? Like it's framed through a certain way. It's through a filter. I don't, I don't want to say fake. It's, uh, although I do personally like when he goes into something about his past or his mindset on something because that's it's unique. It's interesting Whereas with Jack Black everything feels like old-school YouTube to me Like it just feels like a guy with a camera figuring it out and we get to see this guy We've seen on a big screen in a completely different light also regarding the team around him I mean according to his description

It was shot directed and edited by his son and an editor when he references things that are part of the YouTube community, it feels natural. Whether it be a PewDiePie reference here or his son wearing Teddy Fresh. And it just looks like a guy that's dicking around, having fun. And I think, in general, especially with our community, the less you seem like you're trying, the more it is appreciated. But also, that said, I think there is no right way for a celebrity to jump on the platform. There are just different ways. Because, once again, both of these guys, though complete polar opposites as far as strategy, doing huge numbers.

And they are by no means the only celebrities taking advantage of YouTube, right? Whether it be the Kevin Hart of the world with his LOL network. Although I will say with some celebrity YouTube channels and celebrity-backed YouTube channels, there's something weird with the numbers. If you look at the LOL network,

there are videos that get 10,000 views or 43,000 views. The next one will do 6.9 million, 1 million, 1.2. The Rock has over 3 million subscribers, but the views on that are kind of sporadic just because it's not what you would expect from just like a regular YouTuber. Kylie Jenner also massive on YouTube with her videos getting anywhere between 600,000 views to 9 million. Although I do wonder how many people are hate watching it because her last video she has her likes to dislikes turned off Yeah, that said I mean the doors are open. I think we're just gonna see more and more of this I think there's no right way but I personally am the most intrigued by the the Jack Black's of the world or when Will Smith goes a

motivational inspirational or introspective and then let's talk about PG&E which does not stand for Phil's good and extra It stands for Pacific Acid Electric. If you don't know, PG&E is California's largest utility company, and they filed for bankruptcy this week. This is a massive deal because PG&E is a huge company. They service over 16 million people in northern and central areas of the state. This could cause prices to increase for their customers. And as far as why is this happening, this thing that could result in pain for the people of California, well, it's another thing that caused pain for people in California fires.

Reportedly, the company filed for bankruptcy as a result of the $30 billion in damages it could face for wildfires in Northern California. This, including the fire in Paradise, which killed 86 people and destroyed over 14,000 homes. And from this, PG&E has received dozens of lawsuits from over 2,000 plaintiffs and a potential of $8 billion in claims from this fire alone. Also right now, PG&E is under investigation

for causing the fire in Paradise, as they reported an outage on a transmission where the fire started 15 minutes before they began. And if this sounds a little bit familiar to you, it's because they were also under investigation for the fires in Sonoma County back in 2017, but actually were just cleared of that last week. However, even with that fire,

they still have several lawsuits against them there. But that said, what about the specifics regarding the bankruptcy? Well, PG&E filed for Chapter 11 protections in bankruptcy court, and what this does is it allows them to operate as a business while they file for bankruptcy, freeze their debts, and they get to reorganize

their financial plan. It also halts the wildfire lawsuits, and could result in the victims getting less money. And what we know in connection to the money is PG&E listed assets of over $71 billion in their bankruptcy filing, as well as a liability of over 51 billion. We also know that on Monday,

the California Public Utilities Commission approved $5.5 billion in bank loans for PG&E, with a commissioner on the board explaining their vote, saying, This is going to allow, if PG&E decides to file for bankruptcy, the continuation of the lights being on and the continuation of the workforce.

Now on the other side of this, we are seeing some people protesting PG&E's decision to file for protection, saying that it prioritizes their finances and only hurts their customers and the victims of the fires. And as of right now, it's unclear how long PG&E's bankruptcy filing will last, but it could take them several years to recover. And that's based off of the information at hand right now, as well as the fact that we know that PG&E filed for bankruptcy before, back in 2001, and there it took them three years to get out of it. And also based on the information in the past, that's why people are worried about the victims here.

But ultimately, that is where we are with this story right now. We will keep our eyes open to see what happens next, but it's kind of a wait and see game. And then let's talk about this situation out of Missouri. Last week, an off-duty officer was shot and killed in St. Louis, Missouri by another police officer. The victim's name was Kaitlyn Alex,

and she had been an officer since January of 2017. Last Thursday, just before 1 a.m., Alex and her two coworkers, Officer Nathaniel Hendren and his partner, who has not been named yet, were hanging out at Hendren's house. Reportedly, while Alex was off-duty, the other two officers were on-duty and were supposed to be patrolling their district.

And so the big question at hand is, what actually went on in this apartment that caused one officer to shoot and, the other two officers were on duty and were supposed to be patrolling their district. And so the big question at hand is, what actually went on in this apartment that caused one officer to shoot and kill the other? Well, it appears to be a good old-fashioned game of Russian roulette. According to the probable cause statement released by the St. Louis Circuit Attorney, here's what happened next.

Alex and Hendren were playing with firearms when Hendren grabbed a revolver and removed all the bullets from it. He then put one bullet back in, spun the cylinder, pointed it away from both of them, and then pulled the trigger. The gun did not fire. Alex then grabbed the gun, pointed it at Hendren, and pulled the trigger, and again, it did not go off. It was then Hendren's turn. He took the gun, pointed it at Alex, pulled the trigger, and this time the gun fired and Alex was struck in the chest. As far as the third officer who was present, the statement asserts that he told Hendren and Alex they shouldn't be playing with guns and that they were police officers, saying he felt uncomfortable with them playing with the guns and didn't

want to have any part of it and he started to leave, and saying that he left the room but before leaving the apartment he heard the shot. He then went back into the room and saw Alex had been shot in the chest. Now after the shot fired, the officers reported the shooting and an officer in need of aid call on their police radios at 1256 a.m. on Thursday, according to a log of St. Louis police calls. Alex was reportedly rushed to the hospital by Hendren and his partner, but ultimately she was pronounced dead in the emergency room at 107 a.m.

And in addition to this, Hendren was also hospitalized after he reportedly head-butted the back window of a police SUV that was parked at the hospital. While the reason he did this is still unclear, Hendren broke the window and sustained minor injuries to his head. In response to Alex being pronounced dead, the St. Louis Police Department tweeted,

"'We are deeply saddened to announce "'that the officer transported to the hospital "'has succumbed to her injuries. "'We ask that you keep the officer's family "'and the entire SLMPD in your thoughts and prayers "'as we mourn the loss of our officer and friend.'" Now, as far as the investigation, you had Police Chief John Hayden

issuing an update on the situation early Thursday, explaining that the investigation was still ongoing and asserting that the shooting was thought to be accidental. And we saw the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office confirm the same thing. Now reportedly the investigators have corroborated the officer's story by speaking to a neighbor

who claimed to have heard just one shot before 1 a.m., followed by, oh my God, somebody help. The neighbor reported looking through her window and seeing a uniformed male officer speaking by phone or police radio saying, we're at Dover in Colorado, which was the nearest intersection. And according to the neighbor, the officer then drove away in a police car and more police officers showed up soon after. As far as public statements and the tone of the investigation, that actually began to change last Friday,

which brings us to the topic of charges. In the probable cause statement we looked at earlier, written by Sergeant Richard Hellmere, he states, I have probable cause to believe that Nathaniel R. Hendren "'committed one or more criminal offenses. "'Count one, involuntary manslaughter, first degree. "'Count two, armed criminal action.'" And so what we ended up seeing was Hendren was charged with the two counts, his bail was set at $50,000 in cash only.

Hendren's attorney declined to comment on the allegations, but did release a statement offering sympathy to Alex's family. Meanwhile, Alex's parents have hired a legal team of their own with their lawyer saying, "'Certainly we're looking into all avenues including potentially civil litigation. Adding, The family is convinced that with Caitlin's training both police and military,

there remains a substantial amount of unanswered questions, questions about the circumstances of the event. And the thing is, Alex's family aren't the only ones that have questions about this case. In a letter we saw this week from Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner to Police Chief Hayden, Gardner pointed out several suspicious factors regarding how the st Louis police handled the case She alleged that despite probable cause prosecutors were not immediately permitted to take a blood test from Hendren and his partner instead for some reason prosecutors Were later informed that the officers were given a urine analysis and a breath test which are significantly less exact Gardner also asserting that the handling of the testing appears as an

obstructionist tactic to prevent us from understanding the state of the officers during the commission of this alleged crime Gardner also touchingerting that the handling of the testing appears as an obstructionist tactic to prevent us from understanding the state of the officers during the commission of this alleged crime. Gardner also touching on the fact that the police chief initially asserted the shooting was an accident, stating, "'In my opinion, it is completely inappropriate "'for investigators to approach a crime scene "'that early in the investigation "'with a predisposed conclusion

"'about the potential outcome of a case. "'I understand your need to get information out "'to the public quickly regarding officer-involved "'shooting cases. "'However, the labeling of any criminal incident Outcome of a case. I understand your need to get information out to the public quickly regarding officer involved shooting cases However, the labeling of any criminal incident as an accident prior to a full investigation is a violation of our duty as objective Fact-finders. And Gardner's office has confirmed that they will conduct an independent investigation of the incident. And so ultimately that is where we are with the story Many questions, raised concerns, waiting for more information to come out from this investigation and all the while a police officer a wife a daughter a Sister is dead which regarding that a GoFundMe has also been established for Alex by a former partner to help pay for funeral expenses

Which has raised over nine thousand dollars so far. Yeah with this story. I do want to pass question off to you What are your thoughts about it? Do you have the same questions and concerns that Kimberly Gardner has do you feel like something else happens? What are your thoughts regarding the three police officers involved as well as the police reaction in general? Really any and all thoughts. I'd love to hear from you in those comments down below. And then let's talk about this horrible story out of Brazil. So if you didn't hear, last Friday,

a dam at an iron mine collapsed in the Brazilian town of Brumadinho. The dam that collapsed, which is owned by the Brazilian mining company Valle, caused a flood of mud, iron ore waste, and potentially toxic mining materials. And this wave of mud just buried the mine's administrative areas and a cafeteria

where workers were eating lunch. It then continued moving on to flood nearby houses, vehicles, and roads. According to Brazilian authorities, 427 people were in the mine when the dam burst, and many more of the mine's employees and contractors, as well as residents in the surrounding areas, were also hit by the flood.

Search teams were deployed in helicopters to rescue people from the mud over the week. I mean, we've seen reports that in some areas, the mud is up to 15 meters, 49 feet deep. And as of recording this video, the confirmed death toll is 110 people. And keep in mind that is still with hundreds more missing and officials having said that it is unlikely

that the missing will be found alive. I mean, you had a Colonel involved in the search stating, "'After stating after 48 hours of work the chance of finding someone alive is very low. Also seeing what had happened here, you had authorities fearing that another nearby dam that was owned by Volley called the B6 dam was at risk of collapsing as well. And this fear actually forced authorities to temporarily stop search and rescue efforts so that they could evacuate several nearby neighborhoods in range of the B6 dam. But the good news is the B6 dam was later found to be safe and the evacuation of nearly 24,000 people was called off. Now with this story it's important to note that Vali, which is the largest mining company in Brazil and one of the largest in the world, has come under heavy criticism for this disaster. And that is in large part due to this not being the first time one of their dams has collapsed.

Back in 2015 another dam administered by Vali and an Australian mining company collapsed in the city of Mariana. And this disaster killed 19 people and forced hundreds from their homes. That collapse has also been considered the worst environmental disaster in Brazilian history. That's because it left 250,000 people without drinking water and killed thousands of fish. It was waste flooding into rivers and eventually flowing into the Atlantic Ocean. And not only was that dam owned by the same company, but it also happened in the same state of Minas Gerais that Friday's collapse occurred in. I mean, we're talking like it was just 60 miles away. Now as far as the company is concerned, you know, what price will they have to pay? We've seen Brazilian judicial authorities freeze around three billion dollars worth of Bali's assets.

This reportedly in anticipation of damages and to fund relief efforts. And the court saying that the company's real estate and vehicles would be seized if they could not come up with a full amount. And all of this comes in addition to the millions of dollars in fines from state and local authorities, as well as environmental agencies in Brazil. We also saw reports that Vale's shares dropped almost 25% on Monday, wiping out nearly $18.96 billion worth in market value. The company also saying earlier this week that it suspended dividend payments, share buybacks. Vale also froze executive bonuses and created independent committees to help victims and investigate the cause of what is shaping Up to be the world's most deadly mining disaster in over 50 years

We also saw the CEO of Bali apologize and his hell of a statement But he also didn't take responsibility for the disaster CEO also going on to say that the mine was up to code you have Brazil's Attorney General Raquel Dodge saying that she will investigate the collapse stating someone is definitely at fault She also said and this is kind of a horrifying thing, that there are 600 mines in Minas Gerais alone that are classified as being at risk of rupture. And then the mayor of Brumadinho criticized Valle for being what he called careless and incompetent

and stating this tragedy destroyed our city. We also saw Brazil's new president Jair Bolsonaro tweet, "'Difficult to be faced with all this scenario "'and not get excited. "'We will do everything in our power "' care for the victims minimize damages ascertain the facts collect justice and prevent new tragedies For the sake of Brazilians and the environment But you also had many Criticizing Bolsonaro's words saying that they are empty with people noting that the far-right leader campaigned on the promise that he would jumpstart Brazil's economy

By deregulating mining and other industries as well as cracking down on environmental regulations. And also in response to all of this we've seen environmental groups like Greenpeace Brazil criticizing Vale, saying that Vale's corporate greed and the omission and inefficiency of the Brazilian government were to blame for both the collapse in 2015 and this latest disaster. And you have the director of Greenpeace Brazil campaign saying in a statement, We are not dealing with an accident, but with a crime against people and nature. How many lives do we still have to lose until the Brazilian state and mining companies learn from their mistakes? We also saw protesters gathering around Brumagino waving signs saying, Volley kills and Volley profits while mud kills.

Right now, while you have experts saying that while Volley will certainly take a financial hit, the disaster will probably not impede production. Then on Friday, we got the massive news that five people, including three Volley employees, were arrested as part of an investigation into the dam. As far as the two others that were arrested, they were engineers from the German industrial testing company, TUF Zut, which conducted two inspections

of the Brumagino Dam last year. With their most recent inspection happening back in September, during which the inspectors found the dam to be stable. As of right now, the German company has refused to comment further, citing the continuing investigation. Also, in addition to the five arrests,

Brazilian federal and state prosecutors said in a news release that seven search warrants were executed, stating that both the arrests and warrants aimed at investigating criminal responsibility for the rupture. Then, on Wednesday, we saw reports that back in 2009, Valle identified and studied concerns about the dams, but did not take any steps to implement fixes

that could have prevented or lessened the damage we saw last week. Which may be why the day before we saw the CEO of Volley announce that he would be decommissioning 10 dams that are similar to the one that burst on Friday. A move that would ultimately take 10% of their output offline and is expected to cost them $1.3 billion over the next three years.

And also one of the updates we got just today, we saw reports that a state regulator said in an interview that the dam collapse last week was caused by parts of the sand and dried mud structure dissolve. And that's of massive note not only here, but because this is similar to the cause of the dam collapse in 2015. But as far as Volley being held accountable,

I mean, that remains to be seen right now. There's talk of shutdowns and monies, and even Volley talking about money dedicated to the families affected. But we're talking about a situation where so many lives have been lost. And then we look back to 2015, where several Volley executives were charged with murder,

but they ended up never being arrested. And as far as the company, they were ordered to pay millions of dollars in damages, but according to local media reports, they paid out less than 4% of those damages. And so looking at this situation, I'm horrified, I'm devastated, I'm angry. And I really do hope that this company and the people behind it will be held responsible

because if no one is held accountable, why would they do anything different? Unless there are actual real meaningful consequences, it is a blip on their books. We see it every day, this is dollars over lives, and for the sake of the victims affected here, the impact on this company should be as devastating as it is for their lives. For the sake of things actually changing, whatever happens to this company should be devastating because the people impacted here, it has devastated them. But ultimately, like we try to do here, that's the story, my personal takeaway, and I pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts around this? And that's where I'm ending today's show.

Remember, if you liked this video, you like the videos that we put out, let us know. Hit that like button. Also, if you're new here, hit that subscribe button. If you want more, click that bell to turn on notifications. Also, remember, if you miss and you want to catch up on the last Philip DeFranco show, the last morning news deep dive, all you gotta do is click or tap right there to watch those. 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 Monday. Whoo, I almost said tomorrow, and then I would have been a dirty, dirty liar. Monday.