The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 2.15 What This "Horrifying" Lindsay Lohan Video Exposed, Publix Boycott, Texas Blackouts, & More

Episode Date: February 15, 2021

SURPRISE! NEW http://ShopDeFranco.com DROP just went Live! "I'm Better Than This" and "Bringer Of Sadness" ONLY AVAILABLE FOR 7 MORE DAYS! WATCH MY NEW Belle Delphine Podcast: https://youtu.be/v3MnF8EKdGI -- WATCH Full “A Convo With” Podcasts: https://www.youtube.com/ACW  LISTEN On The Podcast Platform Of Your Choice: http://LinksHole.com WATCH the ACW Clips channel!: https://youtube.com/ACWClips -- 00:00 - New Shop DeFranco Drop! 01:37 - Letterman Interview With Lindsay Lohan Goes Viral 05:19 - Kendall Jenner Alleged Photoshop Pics 06:50 - Elon Musk Invites Vladimir Putin To Clubhouse Chat 07:13 - Clubhouse Security Problems 08:21 - Bytedance Pulls Out of TikTok Sale To Oracle 08:44 - Maryland's New Digital Ad Tax 09:47 - Texas Power Outages, COVID Vaccinations and Publix Boycott 11:54 - Trump Acquitted By Senate -- ✩ SUPPORT THE SHOW ✩ ✭ BUY our GEAR, Support the Show!: http://ShopDeFranco.com ✭ Lemme Touch Your Hair: http://BeautifulBastard.com ✭ Paid Subscription: http://DeFrancoElite.com  ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩  David Letterman Faces Renewed Backlash for 2013 Interview With Lindsay Lohan: https://ew.com/tv/david-letterman-2013-interview-lindsay-lohan-backlash/ Kendall Jenner Accused of Photoshopping Post: https://screenrant.com/keeping-up-kardashians-kendall-jenner-skinny-photoshop-edited/ Elon Musk Invites Vladimir Putin for a Conversation on Clubhouse https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/14/business/elon-musk-vladmir-putin-clubhouse/index.html Clubhouse to Improve Security Weaknesses that Could Expose Chinese Users: https://roguerocket.com/2021/02/15/clubhouse-china/ ByteDance Officially Nixes Oracle Deal for TikTok: https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-war/article/3121703/bytedance-walks-away-tiktok-deal-oracle-after-donald-trumps-white Maryland Approves Country’s First Tax on Big Tech’s Ad Revenue https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/12/technology/maryland-digital-ads-tax.html 2.7 Million People in Texas Are Without Power During Winter Storm https://www.morningbrew.com/daily/stories/2021/02/14/government-turns-drugstore-chains-administer-vaccines? Government Turns to Drugstore Chains to Administer Vaccines https://www.morningbrew.com/daily/stories/2021/02/14/government-turns-drugstore-chains-administer-vaccines?email=[e-mail] Publix Responds to Calls for Boycott over Political Donation https://www.al.com/news/2021/02/publix-responds-to-calls-for-boycott-over-political-donation.html Trump Has Been Acquitted in His Impeachment Trial. Here’s What It Means. https://roguerocket.com/2021/02/15/trump-acquitted-impeachment/ ✩ STORIES NOT IN TODAY’S SHOW ✩ “American Idol” Faces Backlash After Claudia Conway Auditions: https://roguerocket.com/2021/02/15/american-idol-faces-backlash-after-claudia-conway-auditions/ ——————————     Edited by: James Girardier, Julie Goldberg, Maxx Enright Produced by: Amanda Morones Art Director: Brian Borst  Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Cory Ray, Neena Pesqueda, Brian Espinoza Production Team: Zack Taylor ———————————— #DeFranco #KendallJenner #LindsayLohan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So before we jump into it today, I have a very exciting announcement. The February Shop DeFranco drop is now live. We of course only do these now and then. You have seven days and then poof, it is gone. And in this drop, we got a lot of awesome. First, you know how last year we did the Bringer of Sadness World Tour tee, right?

I said that I covered the news. I feel like a bringer of sadness. Y'all said it sounds like an indie band. We turned it into clothing. Well, the band is on the road again and we have the Bringer of sadness World Tour 2021 shirt and premium hoodie. We really upped the game with this one.

It looks amazing. And in addition to that, we have the first ever run of the I'm better than this line, which if you were not here for that episode, I'm better than this is kind of the new life mantra I've been trying to live by. You and I today, we're not who we were yesterday, and today is what a snapshot for tomorrow.

At any moment, I can start, restart, or continue on my journey to something that I want to achieve. When I last talked about that, it really seemed to resonate. So I was like, let's just make a simple, sleek, beautiful line. So I built the line specifically around three colors, black, burgundy, and gold.

The big part of this being, I want people to be able to make outfits out of just one item or kind of mix and match into their own. So you can choose, do you want to go monoch make outfits out of just one item or kind of mix and match into their own. Or so you can choose, do you want to go monochrome, right? All black or all burgundy, or maybe burgundy joggers with a gold hoodie. I also make part of these lines off of your recommendations,

which is why for the first time ever, in addition to hats, we have beanies. Yeah, main point, it is first come, first served. In a few days, it will go poof, goodbye. So go to Shop DeFranco, grab what you want while you can. And that, that's really it. I'm my own sponsor today. Yeah, welcome back to to Shop DeFranco, grab what you want while you can. And that, that's really it. I'm my own sponsor today. Yeah, welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show.

It is Monday, February 15th, 2021. Hit that like button, otherwise we'll punch you in the throat and let's just jump into the news of the day so you can get back to yours. The first thing that we're gonna talk about today is new news that involves old news. You know, this really feels like the beginning of a wave that was started by the new Britney Spears documentary.

And many people looking back now at the treatment of primarily female stars in the 2000s. It's some of the names that come to mind. You have Amy Winehouse, Lindsay Lohan. I can't even remember having a conversation before Amy Winehouse died that in any way, a person who was seen as an addict or had a substance abuse problem, that they were a victim.

Like the mainstream compassion and understanding was not there. It's not like we live in this universal utopia of understanding now, but it is a wildly different situation. Which is also why over the weekend, this 2013 interview with Lindsay Lohan and David Letterman went viral.

With people noting that in the first part of the interview, it seemed like David Letterman possibly blindsides Lindsay Lohan talking about substance abuse. And how long will you be in rehab? Three months. How many times have you been in rehab? Several. And what, how will this time be different?

What are they rehabbing, first of all? What is on their list? What are they going to work on when you walk through the door? We didn't discuss this in the pre-interview. No. And then there are some jokes that people see as punching down on a really vulnerable person. Is it like alcohol? Do you drink too much? We've discussed this in the past.

Did we really? When did we discuss it? Well, because... I'm the one who's having the blackouts. What is that? I'm just saying. I ought to be in rehab for the love of God. There's people saying that she's trying to laugh and smile through being Letterman's punching bag, trying to get him back on track.

She then gets a hold of a piece of paper that Letterman brought out that had a list of everything she has had to endure, things that she sees he's going to joke about. You can't make a joke of it. I just wanna, I just- That's so mean. I don't, I'm not joking.

No, you're not doing that. We're not doing that. Maybe one or two? No, this is my show now. And after that, you can see Lindsay actually gets emotional and she's upset about the whole situation. Stop. Oh, she's tearing up a little bit.

God bless you. I love you too. Right, and so with and following this clip going viral, you had people sharing it, saying things like, this makes me feel sick. She kept her composure and handled it so well and she shouldn't have had to. And he just kept going,

even when her discomfort was apparent. It is so dehumanizing, right? And with this, there was a big debate about whether she was actually in on it, right? You hear the audience laughing. It's actually maybe just a good time. Another is pushing back against that saying, no, Lindsay Lohan is just trying to do the best she can here.

Right, that prior to this, there was no massive show of empathy or understanding, people wanting to learn about her situation, right? That she kind of had to just roll with it, otherwise she might be seen as a hard to work with mess. But a lot of the criticism aimed towards David Letterman being that mental health is not a joke and that this is abusive and predatory.

With many, like with Britney Spears, pointing to Craig Ferguson's old monologue about not punching people while they're down. That there needs to be a better standard for comedians, that late night TV shows do not need to just be unjustly cruel. You know, I'll be honest, following this clip going viral, I found myself somewhat conflicted because on one hand,

yes, this specific clip lands at the feet of David Letterman. But also it would be a massive missed opportunity for self-reflection and growth if we didn't put up a mirror. And if you were 18 or older at that time and you were consuming, because we as a society enabled this to be okay. That in-person audience that was laughing was not some weird outlier.

And so that's why I'm so constantly thankful for people who over the years have been brave enough to, even though they felt like they might not be heard, they shared their story. They shared their struggles, even though they didn't know if there was gonna be a safety net or not. Because the sharing of those stories,

it makes familiar what used to be a stranger. And so I kind of hope a lot of us can have this conversation with ourselves rather than it just being a fuck David Letterman moment. Because just doing that is kind of the easy thing to do and it doesn't address the real issues. Or the issues of the past, the present, and the ones that will pop up in the future. But ultimately that's the story, some of my thoughts on it,

and now I pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts on this? Then in other celebrity outrage news, we have the constant contestant that is Kendall Jenner, where they're popping up in the news. This time because people believe she is setting unrealistic body standards with images that people believe are Photoshopped.

The photo in question was promoting one of Kim Kardashian's business ventures, with people sharing comparison photos to point out that lighting, poses, and likely editing made a difference, with it resulting in people angry, also people pleading, tweeting for Kendall to please share the truth, no Photoshop, just be real please,

for the good of young women everywhere, with some going as far to say it should be illegal to Photoshop pictures to this extent, saying it's damaging, I'm 22 years old and that pic makes me feel horrific. Imagine how 13 and 14 year olds feel. And while, you know, we could go through this reaction, that reaction, blah, blah, blah with this story,

I'm gonna keep it short and simple. I can't personally speak to this photo or Kendall Jenner specifically, but please, please, please know that when you're looking at a picture, the internet is not reality. And I mean that even for me, I am transitioning towards a healthy lifestyle, but right now I am kind of a blob person.

Please do not say, you know, blah, blah, blah. Difference between me with ideal lighting and a camera angle that I choose and a candid photo or video, drastic. Sometimes on a really bloated day, I look like a guy that maybe ate Philip DeFranco. Obviously, and especially on a day I'm pushing a brand

that is about the betterment of a person's life. But really that's all about feeling good and whole here and here. The internet is not real life. Do not try to be something you see online. Just try to be the best, your favorite version of yourself. Healthy, happy, baby, love yourself. If you compare yourself to things you see on the internet,

you will always be sad. Because it is not real, nor is it sustainable for 99% of people. Don't live for some photo or video, live for your actual life. Then we had the audio only app Clubhouse in the news for two reasons. The first being the Tesla CEO, Elon Musk,

asked Russian president Vladimir Putin to speak with him on the app. And as of this morning, we learned that Russia is actually open to the idea, with a Gremlin spokesperson calling the offer interesting, but saying that the government would need more details of the conversation before it would officially agree to it, which I think makes sense, right?

I would rather prepare my lies rather than have to kind of riff them. And then, actually, the other reason we had Clubhouse in the news is the platform's developers say that they're working to improve the app's security after researchers at Stanford found weaknesses in its infrastructure that could reveal someone's identity. Notably, those weaknesses could prove to be very dangerous

for Chinese users of the app, and that's because part of Clubhouse's appeal is that it is largely private. Chats aren't recorded unless someone goes out of their way to do so. The app's also invite-only. So because of that, we saw a surge of people in China downloading the app and talking about a number of topics

that they wouldn't normally be allowed to discuss. Things like the Hong Kong crackdown, Taiwanese independence, and the treatment of Uyghur Muslims in Western China. And while China ultimately blocked the app last week, this security risk could still pose a big threat for the users that used it. With the Stanford researchers noting

that as they had suspected, a Shanghai-based startup provides the backend platform to Clubhouse and adding that users' raw audio is likely, but not certainly available to that startup. And noting that in at least one instance, they observed room metadata being relayed to servers believed to be hosted in mainland China. Also discovering that the user and chat room IDs

are transmitted in plain text, meaning that any observer of internet traffic could easily match IDs on shared chat rooms to see who is talking to whom. And so now you have Clubhouse saying that they'll add additional encryption and blocks to prevent Clubhouse clients from ever transmitting pings to Chinese servers.

And here we were all worrying about TikTok and China, which actually TikTok's in the news as well. You know how last week we talked about the TikTok Oracle deal being paused as the Biden administration began reviewing whether TikTok was really a national security concern or not? Well, at least according to the South China Morning Post, ByteDance has now officially walked away from a deal

to sell US operations of TikTok to Oracle. The post claiming that ByteDance is now searching for a new structure for its US operations. Then in really interesting internet slash advertising news, we look to Maryland where they have now become the first state to impose a tax that will generate revenue from digital ads. Right, so this move was passed by the state legislature

over the weekend and it's aimed at big tech companies such as Amazon, Google, and Facebook, with it requiring them to pay a maximum tax of 10% from digital ad sales. Reportedly the money raised from this tax will go to public schools in Maryland, and analysts predict that those schools could see as much as $250 million.

And lobbying groups for Silicon Valley have argued that the cost of the tax will be passed on to small businesses that buy ads, and even to their customers. And very notably, this tax will also likely face legal challenges, with opponents arguing that since large tech companies are not based in Maryland, the law will tax activity that originated outside the state, violating the Constitution. And also arguing that this large tech companies are not based in Maryland, the law will tax activity that originated

outside the state, violating the constitution. And also arguing that this should not stand because federal law says that taxes on digital goods or services must also apply to their physical product. But still, backers of the new law say that they are confident it will not be overturned by legal challenges. So this is gonna be something to keep your eyes on

because this could just be the first of more to come. In fact, both Connecticut and Indiana have already introduced digital ads tax proposals. And then let's talk about this craziness out of Texas. So according to the national utility tracker, poweroutage.us, over 2.7 million people across Texas are currently without power. And this as Texas is being hit

with historically low temperatures and sub-zero wind chill. You know, with this situation on the 12th, we saw the Texas governor issuing a disaster declaration. We're seeing reports of things like officials in Harris County warning residents to stay indoors, telling them to hunker down. And it's also important to note that it's not just Texas. It's incredibly odd and concerning to see Texas like this,

but I mean, there have been emergency declarations in Alabama, Oregon, Oklahoma, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi. Please be careful out there and listen to the warnings. Then we had Publix in the news for two completely different reasons. The first of which actually just involves Publix being a part of a much bigger story. That being that late last week,

the federal government began shipping COVID-19 vaccines to retail chains, including Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, and Kroger. According to Morning Brew, 6,500 pharmacies will get the doses to start, but the goal is to eventually hit 40,000 locations. It's interesting to see what the breakdown of these stores is, where you have CVS and Walgreens,

they have 19,000 stores combined in the United States. With Publix, Froger, and Rite Aid, reportedly you have 11,000. But then boom, you have the mom and pop destroyer that is Walmart reportedly receiving 20% of all doses sent to pharmacies by the government. So I guess thank you, big retail, and also while we're talking about COVID-19,

reportedly the United States has administered now more than 50 million doses to more than 11% of the country's population. Right now it looks like we are well on our way of Biden's 100 shots in 100 days, with a report saying that we're averaging more than 1.6 million shots per day. So hey, good news, hope.

Right, so there's that, but then the other bit of news is that you have people calling for a Publix boycott. And this, as the Guardian explains, after a member of the founding family donated $300,000 to the Donald Trump rally that preceded January's deadly Capitol attack. Reportedly that money coming from Julie Jenkins-Fanchelli, who was an heiress to the Publix supermarket chain.

Over two weeks ago, we saw Publix issue a statement trying to distance themselves, saying she's not an employee, nor is she involved in our business operations, or does she represent the company in any way? Adding that they could not comment on her actions, but for a number of people that seemingly has fallen short. With the general mindset being, if your success is going to lead to her success,

I can't support you. The last thing that we're gonna talk about today is the end of a story where exactly what we thought was gonna happen, happened. Following Donald Trump becoming the first ever president to be impeached twice, he is now the first ever president to be acquitted by the Senate twice. This time though, of course,

on charges of inciting an insurrection. Of course, the reason we knew this was going to happen again is that Democrats were going to need 17 Republicans to join them to be able to convict. Though notably the 50 Democrats did get seven Republicans to join them. With those Republican senators being Mitt Romney, Richard Burr, Bill Cassidy, Susan Collins,

Lisa Murkowski, Ben Sasse, and Pat Toomey. And as far as why Democrats could not pull in more Republicans, it's likely because of reelections. Because while yes, several polls have shown that a majority of the country thinks that Trump should have been convicted, he should be barred from running ever again, other recent polls indicate that around 70%

of Republican voters still strongly support Trump. Which is also why notably here, of the seven who voted to convict, only Murkowski is up for reelection in 2022, and both Burr and Toomey are retiring. You know, one of the standout moments from this entire thing was when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell gave this 20 minute speech

following his not guilty vote. There's no question, none, that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day. No question that belief was a foreseeable consequence of the growing crescendo of false statements, conspiracy theories, and reckless hyperbole, which the defeated president kept shouting

into the largest megaphone on planet Earth. With him adding that Trump did nothing to stop the riot, but added that he believed that the Senate did not have the constitutional power to remove a president who had left office. That, despite the fact that the Senate had voted to strike down that argument on the first day of the trial. And notably, numerous conservative scholars have said

that there is a constitutional basis for doing so, and even passed precedent of the chamber removing a cabinet secretary after he had left office. But of course, and this is my opinion here, I think Mitch McConnell only cares about precedent when it helps him because Mitch McConnell doesn't care about anything. Once again, it's like we're meant to applaud Mitch McConnell

because he was like, you know what? We should still be a democracy, which if anything is incredibly telling and really troubling that that is not like the bar. That's not the entry point. But while we're obviously gonna have to wait to see what the exact fallout from this situation is, there was something else that Mitch McConnell

hit on in his speech. President Trump is still liable for everything he did while he was in office. Didn't get away with anything yet. Right, and so what it appears that he's talking about there is like we talked about last week, a district attorney in Georgia has already opened an investigation

into Trump's efforts to interfere in the election in the state. Even there, that's likely not where these inquiries will end. According to reports, members of both parties have expressed support for a 9-11 style commission to investigate the lead up to the insurrection. But once again, ultimately we're gonna have to wait and see because words are words and actions are actions.

Actually with this or, you know, anything that stood out to you today, I'd love to know your thoughts in those comments down below because this is the end of the show. As always, thank you for supporting my daily dives into the news, hitting the like button, subscribing, whatever. Also reminder, head to shopdefranco.com,

grab the new drop while you can. And of course, as always, I love your faces and you've just been filled in with news that matters for people that care. I'll see you tomorrow.