The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 2.28 "HE DRUGGED THEM!" New Diddy Lawsuit Details, Nightmare Wonka "Scam", Ariana Grande Backlash, & More

Episode Date: February 28, 2024

9 Things you need to know today & an apology... Step into Spring with Vessi at http://www.vessi.com/defranco for an automatic 15% off your first purchase at checkout + free shipping to CA, US, AU, JP, TW, KR, SGP. Use code “PHIL” for $20 OFF your first SeatGeek order & returning buyers use code “PDS” for $10 off AND your chance at weekly $500 prizes! https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/PHIL   Daily Dip newsletter subscribers can win up to $1,000 in SeatGeek credit so make sure you’re subscribed: https://www.dailydip.co/  Signup @ https://link.fourthwall.com/ref/philip-defranco Build and Monetize Your Brand On Your Terms! –✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - Diddy Faces Bombshell Lawsuit As Meek Mill & Usher Get Dragged into the Mix 04:12 - Willy Wonka-Themed Event Becomes Kid’s Version of Fyre Fest 08:38 - Ariana Grande Calls Out Tabloid Speculation 11:09 - Sponsored by Vessi 12:25 - Nintendo Sues Yuzu Over Piracy  15:20 - Disability Employment Rates Reach Record High 16:55 - AZ GOP Advances Bill Allowing People to Shoot Migrants Trespassing on Property 18:38 - Sponsored by FourthWall 19:25 - 100K+ Dems Vote “Uncommitted” in Michigan Over Biden’s Israel/Gaza Response 22:40 - Mexican President Doxxed NYT Reporter 26:20 - Your Thoughts on Yesterday’s Show ——————————   Produced by: Cory Ray Edited by: James Girardier, Maxwell Enright, Julie Goldberg, Christian Meeks Art Department: William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Brian Espinoza, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Star Pralle, Chris Tolve  ———————————— #DeFranco #Diddy #ArianaGrande ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sup, you beautiful bastards! You're watching the Philip DeFranco Show, and we got a lot of news to talk about today. So just hit that like button to let YouTube know you like these big daily dives into the news, and let's jump into it. Starting with... We should talk about this P. Diddy situation. Rayshon Combs, rapper, mogul, and accused monster. Because he's actually been in some hot water for a while now.

Back in November, he was hit with three lawsuits, too, from women accusing him of sexual assault and revenge porn, and then another from his ex accusing him of rape, sex trafficking, and physical abuse, though that was settled for an unknown amount the next day. And in December, another woman accused him of raping her. And now today, we've got yet another lawsuit. Though this one coming from Rodney Jones, a producer who worked on Combs' latest album, with Jones on Monday suing Combs in federal court for $30 million, and accusing Combs of sexually harassing, assaulting, drugging, and threatening him for over a year. And according to this suit, Jones lived and traveled with Combs between September of 2022

and November of 2023. And during that time, Jones claims that Combs groped and touched him without consent, which according to Jones, Combs' chief of staff just called friendly horseplay and Combs' way of showing that he liked it. Jones also claims that he was forced to solicit sex workers and perform sexual acts with them to please Combs. At one point, Jones alleges that he was drugged, saying he woke up dizzy and disoriented naked in a bed with Combs and two sex workers. And all of that was on top of threats of bodily harm if Jones refused to agree to whatever Combs wanted. And specifically, the lawsuit saying that Combs would leverage his influence to intimidate and threaten Jones' reading. Mr. Combs consistently made it clear that he has immense power in the music industry and with law enforcement. And with this, Jones

says that he has some video evidence to support some of these allegations. And saying in the suit that Combs constantly wanted to be recorded, so Jones actually has hundreds of hours of video and audio of the illegal activity performed by Combs and his associates. The lawsuit also contains screenshots of parties Combs allegedly hosted that included minors and sex workers, some of whom Jones says were given drinks laced with drugs at Combs' order. Though very notably, in response to all this,

Combs' attorneys have taken the deny, deny, deny route, accusing Jones of, quote, "'reckless name-dropping about events that are pure fiction "'and simply did not happen "'in nothing more than a transparent attempt "'to garner headlines.'" And in fact, saying they have, quote, "'overwhelmingly indisputable proof

"'that his claims are complete lies "'and promising to address them directly in court.'" Though also, notably in this lawsuit, it wasn't just Combs' name. It also included his son, Justin, his chief of staff, the CEO of Universal Music Group, and the former CEO of Motown Records, with Jones accusing the CEOs and their companies

of failing to, quote, adequately monitor, warn, or supervise the actions of Diddy, his son, and his chief of staff. And while as of recording, we haven't seen a comment from the CEOs or the staff chief, attorneys for Diddy's son put out a statement saying they are all lies. This is a clear example of a desperate person

taking desperate measures in hopes of a payday. And you know, since this news broke, this lawsuit has gotten a lot of attention online. And with that, among some of the most notable reactions, you have streamer DJ Academics. Well, if you're unfamiliar, in addition to being like the biggest Drake stan in the world, covers a lot of hip-hop news, though also at times has been somewhat of a controversial figure. Notably, while he was looking over Jones's lawsuit and its footnotes on stream, he came to the conclusion that two of the redacted names mentioned in Jones's suit belonged to rapper Meek Mill and Usher. Rapper 5 redacted, but they tell you exactly who he is. Oh yeah, he's a Philly rapper

who, it's like Jeopardy. He's a Philly rapper who dated Nicki Minaj. Beep. Who is Meek Mill? Like, come on, bro, what the? And then the next person, R.B. Singer 6 redacted. Look. He performed at the Super Bowl and had a successful Vegas residency. Usher! Now here, it is incredibly important for me to mention that we have absolutely no confirmation

whatsoever that Meek Mill and Usher are those two people. But that has in no way stopped people online from blowing it the f*** up and running with it. Which is why you may have seen both singers trending on US Twitter this morning, with Meek actually shooting up to the top. Though there, if you actually look at what people are saying, it's just kind of a lot of people memeing about the entire situation. However, also with that, this morning we did see Meek responding, saying, academics, didn't I tell you to stop playing with my name? I don't know what I'm going to do when I actually see you. It's going to have

a combination to it though. With him then casting further doubt on his connection to this lawsuit by trying to suggest that people were looking at a computer-generated document. But you know, with all of this, one of the additional reactions we've seen to all of this are people that are pissed off that a lot of the kind of the prevailing narrative has become, haha, some rappers might be closeted. Saying it's truly astonishing how the prevailing narrative is saturated with Diddy and Meek Mill same-sex coitus memes and opinions, while the serious allegations concerning underage girls are overshadowed. You know, everything in this situation, it is developing, it is moving forward.

We have our eyes on it. We'll see what updates come. But in the meantime, what are your thoughts here? And then we need to talk about Willy Wonka's lies. Also, don't worry. This isn't about Timothy's shama-lama ding-dong, which, by the way, the new Wonka movie went in with low expectations. It's phenomenal.

What a joy it was. Granted, I like musicals, so we might not see eye to eye there. But this is also not about the other Wonka movies, which, by the way, if you don't think the Gene Wilder one is better, what? Instead, I'm talking about the Willy Wonka from Glasgow, Scotland. Or rather, an entrepreneur that wanted to capitalize on the Wonka hype and set out to recreate the chocolate factory, but in real life. And he called it Willy's Chocolate Experience. Which, I mean, honestly, just from that name alone, red flag. That's a van with blacked out windows and free candy written on the side-ass name. But they described it as an immersive children's event. And they advertised on their site with detailed images

of the world it had to offer, including an enchanted garden full of giant lollipops, swirls of vibrant color, and beans of all different colors, shapes, and sizes. An imagination lab promising a visual spectacle where you'll encounter mind-expanding projections, optical marvels, and exhibits that'll transport you into the realm of creativity. And even a twilight tunnel adorned with captivating projections, enigmatic sounds, and surprising turns that'll immerse you in suspense and excitement. In short, a world of pure imagination. But you were waiting for it when parents bought these $45 tickets and they traveled for hours with their kids to come and see.

What they found was a world of pure desolation. Immediately, they realize something is off when they see the entrance. Just a makeshift Golden Gate simply labeled factory. But then they step inside and that is when the real wonder begins. They find a barren event hall with gray floors, white walls, and folding tables. With them then getting passageways covered in black tarps and an occasional oversized candy-themed prop or plastic mushroom,

though at least some of it reportedly was edible, with a candy station dispersing a single jelly bean to each child, with them then serving lemonade to wash it down. But to be fair, they did technically get a small bouncy castle. And as far as like, what the hell any of this has to do with Willy Wonka?

Well, they did technically have a few small posters, maybe a half a bed sheet hanging on the walls, printed with images advertised on their website. Also, to be extra fair, disappointment is not the only emotion that was experienced there. But that is because there was also fear. With a strange character wearing a black robe, chrome mask, and wig popping out from behind a mirror and scaring kids so badly some of them cried.

As well as this actress dressed as an unimpressed Oompa Loompa standing by a mock chemistry set with fumes billowing out. Some online have since labeled meth lab oompa loompa lady. Though in her defense, she explained to the Daily Mail, I got stuck to the jelly bean bit and by that point I felt awful. There was a part where they were saying it was like a science lab and you were supposed to hand out jelly beans and by that point they had run out of jelly beans so I was just trying to make it slightly exciting for the kids. Then I walked off scene because I was so embarrassed. And understandably, she was not the only person to walk out of this shithole. With one father telling the Washington Post, everyone was just walking in disbelief, shaking their heads. And I think the

worst part is there was no chocolate. And so to no one's surprise, the event ended early at around 1pm after people started demanding refunds. The main organizer seen trying to get a handle on the crowd of extremely pissed off parents. But then this is more families who booked later time slots started arriving and things just got really awkward. Because at that point, they didn't get their lemonade or single jelly bean.

And then when police officers actually showed up, all they could do was give advice to the attendees. And as for right now, it's all unclear what went wrong, if it was doomed from the beginning, if it was meant to be a scam. Because we actually know very little. We know that the organizer, House of Illuminati, first registered as a company only back in November. And while after this whole ordeal, they apologized, promised to refund everybody and pay the actors.

As of today, many, if not all of them, say they haven't been paid or refunded. And this is the company's director explaining that the event was hampered by what they said were unforeseen circumstances. Claiming that they ordered holographic paper that didn't arrive in time, which I gotta say, man, I don't know if there is enough holographic paper in the world to save whatever this was supposed to be. Not to mention that literally the day before the event, you had organizers posting photos of a van full of props and writing.

It's all coming together nicely. And so now the director's apparently deleted his LinkedIn profile in shame. And as for those beautiful images advertising the whole thing, it appears that they were just probably AI generated. Not only that, you also have this college student who was hired to play Willy Wonka saying, the script was 15 pages monologue, pretty much of AI generated gibberish. Anyone who looks at me and thinks Willy Wonka and not Oompa Loompa

is out of their mind. I give off major Oompapalumpa energy um but not like a good umpalumpa not like one of the like like one that's at the back during the dance numbers like falling over like you're at a line dancing class on holiday so fun times uh fun fun time and then entertainment and drama news did ariana grande just play the victim or does she have a massive mic drop moment? Because Ariana Grande is calling out lies and biases and tabloids, but also a lot of people weren't having it. Also, to explain if you are not chronically online, a lot of people have accused Ariana of having an affair with her Wicked co-star, Spongebob, who also goes by the name Ethan Slater, I hear. People learning that they were dating just after the news broke that she split from

her husband. Articles noted that Ethan was separated from his wife who just had a baby a few months earlier. And even though sources maintained that Ariana and Ethan started dating after each couple had broken up, you had tons of people questioning that timeline and assuming that there was an affair and that this affair actually caused both of these couples to separate. And all of this created a massive tabloid frenzy where they're facing tons of backlash for being a supposed man steal. And she even referenced some of this in a music video for her latest single, showing people gossiping about her also singing the lyric, Your business is yours and mine is mine. Why do you care so much whose dick I ride?

So it's been like a whole thing. And she seemingly addressed all this while on the Zach Sang show, where they're being asked about all these narratives that have been crafted about her life and saying, The thing is, is that like, we know this about the tabloids and about the media and about like am i crazy don't we know this yeah but nobody nobody cares for the sake of a good story or for right for curing one's boredom on the internet right but that's what i'm saying it's like we selectively remember that this is what the tabloids do to people especially women based on whether or not we like the person. We selectively remember that. We selectively leave space for humanness, for nuance. Like they don't leave space for that.

Well, they do for their friends and their family. It's selective. But when they turn it off, when that aligns with the version of a person that they have in their head that they want to believe is true. When asked if she wished that there was something that the public knew about her and the drama surrounding her, she said she didn't want to go into specifics, but... Of course, there's like an insatiable frustration, inexplicable hellish feeling with watching people misunderstand the people you love and you and the anything. So of course, with that, her fans loved this response, seeing it as this kind of mic drop moment,

bringing up other women wronged by the press. But this also is a lot of other people weren't buying the response, accusing Ariana of playing the victim, trying to gaslight people about the situation by playing the supposed feminist or woman card, saying that she's blaming the tabloids instead of taking personal accountability. But with all this, I got to pass the question off to you. What's your take on it? Which camp do you land in here? Or are you of the mindset of

not interested? Thank you, next. And then we have seen rain like we are not used to in California. Last week was so wet, I feel like I should at least get a discount on my taxes. What are we paying for out here? But despite everything being wet, you know, my dog still got walks, my kids still played outside. And I think that's also because we had our vests. Because in addition to being waterproof, another reason these sneakers are so great is because they're lightweight. So much different than stomping around in regular rain boots. And they look good. Not just rain, but snow, sand, and mud. Like my Vessies Stormbursts, they're perfect for my muddy hikes as well as strolling the beach.

I just hose those suckers off and I'm good to do just about anything else in the same shoes that I'm wearing. Whether it be out in the elements or at one second. Truck month is on at Chevrolet. Get 0% financing for up to 72 months on a 2025 Silverado 1500 Custom Blackout or Custom Trail Boss. With Custom Trail Bosses available, class-exclusive Duramax 3-liter diesel engine and Z71 off-road package with a 2-inch factory suspension lift, you get both on-road confidence and off-road capability.

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and for making great-looking shoes I can wear in any weather. And again, in addition to looking good, it is amazing how lightweight they are. It's genuinely so surprising when you think about waterproof shoes. And they're ideal for any occasion that might find you around water, coastal walks, exploring the city, forest, camping, snowy days, boating, activity upon activity. They are really the comfortably stylish all-day shoes. So what are you waiting for? Go get yourself a pair of Stormbursts or some of their other fantastic shoes. Just go to Vessi.com slash DeFranco to get 15% off your first order. That's Vessi.com slash DeFranco. With that said, sorry, Lindsay, I have to go get my hoodie back. It is freezing in here. And then I would like to apologize. And this is an

apology to my friends, my family, pretty much anyone that I am close with. And notably, this is also an apology in advance. And that's because as of Thursday, right, February 29th, I will be ignoring you for at least the next 72 hours. Your friend, your daddy, your husband, he doesn't exist anymore. And in his place will be a Philip DeFranco shaped couch potato playing Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, a game that honestly, it is the thing that I have been most excited about probably in the last decade that doesn't have to do with the birth of my children. Final Fantasy VII is literally my favorite game of all time ever. Yes, I've made health changes in my life so I can see my kids grow up,

but also because I wanna make sure I live long enough to see Spider-Man Beyond the Spider-Verse and be able to play all parts of the Final Fantasy VII remake. But that also not the only big gaming news today, because this week we've got Nintendo in the news. And the reason for that is they're going after the people behind Yuzu,

which is a successful Switch emulator project, which if none of those words make sense because you're not a lame, degenerate gamer like myself, plainly put, Yuzu lets you play Nintendo Switch games on platforms outside of a Switch, like your PC. And I'm not going to get into every little detail of the suit, because, like, we'll be here all day. But Nintendo seems to want to go after Yuzu here

after it was used by people to play The Legend of Zelda, Tears of the Kingdom, weeks before it officially released after a leaked copy made its way online. And the suit argues that Yuzu is able to defeat Nintendo's encryption software, and without it, quote, unauthorized copies of games could not be played on PCs or Android devices. Most notably, there is no legal way to use it. But there are some issues right off the bat.

Yuzu itself does not defeat the encryption. Instead, it relies the user on getting something called prod.keys. And there are multiple ways to get those, such as like from an older Switch without certain updates. But regardless, the user has to get these keys for Yuzu to do its thing, to be able to read it just like a Switch would do to a legitimate copy of a game. So Yuzu itself technically isn't doing anything special to break the encryption. Though notably, that's not Nintendo's only argument. It also claims that Yuzu is part of the pirated game ecosystem because sites that offer pirated games point to Yuzu as

a way to play them. And with all this, it's asking the court to shut down the emulator as well as asking for $150,000 in damages in addition to all the money that it's made from Patreon, which at $30,000 a month is not a lot for Nintendo, but obviously for a small dev team, it is a massive chunk of money. However, a big thing here is that a lot of legal experts aren't sure if the court's going to agree with Nintendo. And that's because we have decades of legal precedent that emulators are largely protected under US copyright law. That is, as long as they aren't offering pirated games or ways to break protections. And overall, you're allowed to back up and access your data how you like, with the Nintendo's lawsuit actually appearing to go against this, and saying that users do not have control over

how slash where they can play their games as part of the terms of service. But like with any of these lawsuits, you have to see how it pans out. The one thing Yuzu could potentially get dinged on is the fact that while the emulator itself doesn't break encryption, the user manuals and devs on its Discord are more than willing to give you a step-by-step guide on how to do it. And so depending on how things play out, I mean, we could see things like no more emulators, even for older consoles that are no longer supported.

And also there could be a world where there's no longer any doubt that the software you bought isn't actually yours and you can't store it or use it how you'd like. Though all of this, as some think that Nintendo is just trying to flex its muscle against a small team with a massive lawsuit, possibly the goal just being to drag it out and bankrupt them. But ultimately, time will tell

here. And then this could be really good news, really bad news, or maybe even a bit of both. Kind of depends on how you look at it. Because we got the news that the employment rate among Americans with disabilities actually reached a record high last year, climbing from a low of around 17% in 2014 to an impressive 22.5% in 2023. Or to look at it another way, for disabled men and women aged 16 to 64, the labor force participation rate rose steadily. And at the same time, the rate for non-disabled men actually fell. Now with all this, you might be going,

well, why isn't this just cause for a celebration? Well, the possible caveat here is we're looking at a chicken or the egg situation. Because as places like Axios noted, it is unclear whether people with disabilities are simply finding more work or previously abled body workers are becoming disabled. And a big reason that second explanation might be true is long COVID, which as we've talked about before, has severely incapacitated millions

of Americans for months or even years. I mean, so much so that it's led to some declaring the pandemic a mass disabling event. But then on the other side of the situation, there are a few reasons to believe that the data reflects genuine employment. Things like a general improvement in the economy and labor market over the past couple of years. Also, the spread of remote work has been an absolute blessing for many with disabilities. Because if you're blind, you can't drive, and ride-sharing apps are fucking expensive. And obviously, if you're mobility impaired in some way, it can be tough to commute back and forth every day. So for many disabled people working from home, now they can more easily configure their work setup to meet their specific needs.

But regardless of why employment's gone up, it's still well below the rate of non-disabled people. The unemployment rate for disabled workers sitting at 7.2% last year, more than double that of non-disabled workers. And those disabled workers who do have jobs are also more likely to work part-time and receive lower wages. While of course, I'd love to hear any and all thoughts on this new data, I would especially love to hear your reactions and your experiences if you have a disability yourself. And then, Arizona Republicans are currently advancing a bill that would let people legally murder migrants who trespass on their property. With the bill in question being introduced by Republican state representative Justin Heap. And this bill would make changes to the state's existing law that allows people to

use deadly force against home intruders. Because currently the law requires an intruder to be both on the property and in the home of a resident to justify that force. But Heap's bill would expand that so intruders can be killed just for trespassing on another person's land. And with that, Heap arguing that this is needed to address the quote, increasingly larger numbers of migrants or human traffickers moving across farm and ranch land. And notably, this proposal also comes amid an ongoing high-profile case involving an Arizona rancher who was charged with murder for shooting an unarmed migrant who crossed onto his property. But all of this is law enforcement officials are worried that this bill just goes too far. Not only endangering the lives of migrants, but also American citizens as well. With Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos

telling local outlets, wow, that's using deadly force on a misdemeanor offense. This is just crazy. Our legislature has just gone off the rails. Think of a dad or a boy playing ball out in their front yard and the ball goes into your yard. I may go and retrieve the ball and you can shoot me. It's not just nuts. It's absolutely ridiculous and totally unnecessary. I think it's racist. I think it's targeting. This is just ridiculous. We don't need a law like that. And that was also echoed by Santa Cruz County Sheriff David Hathaway, who criticized the bill for being way too broad, saying the way the bill is written is so vague. If you owned a store, a Circle K, and somebody came in, you can just blow them away and say after the fact, well, I didn't want them here,

and there's nobody to tell the other side of the story. Going on to know that many of these ranches along the border are massive. We're talking thousands of acres. So it's not unrealistic to think that people, I don't know, who are birdwatching or something might wander onto the property. And Hathaway adding there, maybe they don't know it's private property. And just to say you can kill that person, they may not even know it's private property. But for now, we'll have to wait to see what happens here, though. A very interesting insight into what the state of play with immigration politics is in the U.S. right now. And then, are you a YouTuber, a general online creator, an artist, a creative?

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on Israel and what's happening in Gaza, lose him the election. That is a question that's been out there for the past weeks and months, right? As we've seen more and more progressives furious at his policies on the issue. And now thanks to yesterday, we have electoral evidence of how this could sway the election. Because yesterday, Michigan held its primary election. And ahead of Tuesday, Arab American and Muslim organizers organized an effort to push Democrats to cast their ballots as uncommitted in a protest vote against Biden's handling of the war. And it turned out very, very successful for them. With nearly all ballots counted, more than 101,000 people voted uncommitted, making up just over 13% of the vote. While of course, not every single person who voted uncommitted did so in protest,

but when you compare the number of people who voted uncommitted this year to data in years past, it seems pretty obvious that this drove a lot of the turnout for uncommitted votes. I mean, the last three Michigan presidential primaries, uncommitted got around 20,000 votes. And this could be massively consequential because Michigan is an essential swing state. And part of the reason there was such a big turnout of uncommitted voters is because Michigan actually has the largest Arab American and Muslim population in the entire country.

The most recent census saying the state is home to more than 300,000 people of Middle Eastern and North African descent. While that survey doesn't gather data on religious affiliations, advocacy groups have reported over 200,000 Muslim registered voters in Michigan. And this is incredibly meaningful. I mean, Trump in 2016, he won Michigan

by just under 11,000 votes. With then Biden in 2020, beating him by around under 11,000 votes. Within Biden in 2020, beating him by around 154,000 votes, with Arab and Muslim voters being credited with helping secure that win. And we're talking about numbers that could absolutely make or break Biden, with recent polling showing Trump beating out Biden among registered voters 47 to 45%. And it's generally believed that Michigan is absolutely imperative for Biden. A loss there would make it incredibly difficult, if not outright impossible, for him to secure the presidency. But you know, all of this is Biden's campaign and his allies have tried to downplay the success of the protest vote. Though again, this is, others say, this is a very serious

warning and politicians should be paying attention. This including the mayor of Dearborn, Michigan, which is home to the largest Arab American community in the country, tweeting, if you wish to take that calculated risk of discounting the results, you risk unraveling the entirety of our American democracy. And you had other organizers echoing that, saying they do not want a Trump presidency, but they will vote against Biden if they have to. And all this, as notably, there are other key swing states with large Arab populations, like in Arizona, for example, where Biden won by just 10,500. They have an estimated 60,000 Arab Americans there, as well as with Georgia. They have a population there of at least 57,000,

which is way higher than the 11,800 ballots that Biden won to beat Trump. Now, all that said, when you have people looking to the Republicans here, you have some saying that Trump's decisive win over Haley in Michigan, it's not all rainbows and sunshine. Because you have people arguing that the reason Haley is still in this, that it's not just in hopes of like,

Trump goes to jail before the election or she's got her fingers crossed for like a heart attack, rather that it's meant to highlight that not all Republicans are on board with Trump. And that could be a potential vulnerability for Trump in a general election. Though there, I would note a few things. Republican turnout in the primaries was much higher than for Democrats. Though, of course, to a certain degree, that was expected. Even with there being a protest vote, like Biden's not

really competing against anyone polling close to him. And of course, all this is playing out so far from election day. Depending on how things play out, the progressive divide may shrink, it may grow. Some of that will be affected by America's action, or rather inaction, regarding Gaza, how things continue to play out there from here to then, as well as do sentiments change the closer we get to a general election and the closer we get to a potential Trump presidency. Trump is arguably way more pro-Israeli government.

He's the guy that officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, relocated the U.S. embassy there. As far as what's gonna happen, we'll have to wait and see. And in the meantime, if you have any thoughts on all this, I'd love to hear from you in those comments down below. And then things are popping off and getting messy with the president of Mexico right now. We're talking about Mexico's far left president, André Manuel López Obrador, or AMLO for short. And it all started last week after the New York Times reporter Natalie Kitroff, she asked AMLO's office for a comment about a scrapped U.S. investigation into potential

ties that he has with drug cartels. And as is common practice, she included her phone number so that she could be reached. Now, AMLO already has a contentious relationship with, you know, traditional media, claiming that it's just full of conservatives that only bash him. So instead of just, like, fucking denying the allegations, he went on to show her letter at a press conference and read it aloud. Big problem, though, it had Kit Rolfe's phone number clearly displayed. So she has since received a ton of threatening messages, and AMLO has received a lot of criticism for the stunt, especially because Mexico is already one

of the most dangerous places on the planet for journalists outside of war zones. Also with Israel, the country's agency that's in charge of protecting people's data and personal information, announcing shortly after that it was launching an investigation, which then brings us to last Friday, where AMLO defended his actions, saying, above that law is moral authority and political authority, and I represent a country and I represent a people who deserve respect. With them then doubling down Monday morning after showing her letter again, although this time with a blurred phone number, and arguing there that, quote, journalism is a public activity, like politics, and we all have to act with transparency. However, the head of Mexico's own data protection agency took issue with AMLO's defense, tweeting,

all authority must comply with the constitution and the law. Absolutely no one is above it. We regret that the presidency didn't realize how serious the disclosure of information about any person can be, especially of a journalist. And the country's opposition candidate also agreed and added, by the way, if there is so much transparency in public life, let the president publish the contracts he has reserved and even his cell phone number so that all Mexicans can write to him. And since then, things have just continued to get out of hand. Because it's not just Kit Rolfe's phone number that's been leaked now, but also the president's son, the ruling party's presidential candidate, the opposition's candidate, and other leading figures.

And with this on Twitter, the president's son made it seem like this was an act of revenge, writing, In the last few hours, I have been subject to an act of invasion of my privacy through the leak of my phone number. This act, which I understand is a form of revenge and an attempt to harm, not only affects me, but also endangers my family and the security they deserve. But then he also went on to say that Kit Rolfe deserved to have her phone number leaked because she was being what he described as slanderous and that it was already publicly available on the internet. With

him then going on to say, why are they seeking revenge by exposing my phone? And the others affected were also similarly annoyed. Although to be clear, we have no idea who actually leaked their phone numbers and information. And I say this as there are actually so many weird twists and turns in this story. Because on top of everyone's personal information getting leaked left and right, we also had AMLO squaring off against YouTube. And that's because YouTube has rules against doxing people, which is arguably what AMLO did. So YouTube actually took his video down. But then the president's office having to re-upload an edited version this weekend and AMLO adding that this is an arrogant and authoritarian attitude. They are in full decline. All of which is kind of funny for two reasons. Firstly, because

Amlo originally loved social media platforms, right? Because they hosted media outlets outside of the traditional space. And in fact, he hates traditional outlets so much that during press conferences, he often only fields questions from places that call social media platforms their home. And then the second reason is because despite calling YouTube authoritarian, Amlo himself has actually taken steps to be just that. Remember that government agency we mentioned that protects private data? Well, it's just one of a few autonomous agencies that exist in Mexico, with them being largely outside of the president's control and existing to keep everyone accountable. And AMLO fucking hates them. So much so that he's pushing Congress to eliminate these agencies altogether. And all of this made even more interesting because they're having an election

this year, where you have a key AMLO ally going against a much less well-known candidate. So it's going to be important to watch how this situation evolves and how it might impact the election, especially because in addition to this mattering for Mexico, they're a key U.S. partner. Like, there's so much intertwined between Mexico and the U.S. through security, immigration, trade, and tourism. But hey, also, I just want to say congratulations to the New York Times for apparently being an evil conservative outlet. Who knew? Not even them, probably. And then, finally today, we have announcements and yesterday today. Starting with congratulations again to Sasha G and Sydney B, our first two beautiful bastards to each win the weekly $500 credit

towards their choice of SeatGeek tickets. And remember, you could be our next winner just by adding code PDS to your SeatGeek app profile. Because not only will you get $10 off any purchase, you'll be entered for your chance at a $500 credit. No purchase necessary. And then, as far as yesterday's show, I dove into those comments, and there was a lot of interesting conversations happening. With a lot of y'all chiming in

on that toxic vinyl chloride story, especially as there was a lot of focus on the lobbyists and the regulations. And Chili1495 sharing, I work at an oil company, and years ago, we had a huge oil spill that leaked into a river, completely destroying part of that ecosystem forever. Even after the cleanup, it will never be the same. After that

spill, regulators forced stricter regulations and more frequent inspections to ensure that wouldn't happen again. Skip ahead five years and on the very day that the stricter regulations expired, our boss held a company-wide pizza party and then followed the party with an email stating that all those safety rules we had to put in place were now just safety suggestions and we should just do what's best for the company going forward. If the government doesn't regulate these companies and force them to be safe and not emit dangerous chemicals, they will absolutely kill people in the environment for profit. But yeah, it makes sense, you know, when it comes to companies, the messiah that they pray to is shareholder value. Also, I guess kind of on that same note, there was a lot of conversation

around Wendy's and their dynamic pricing plans. With Carl Gannon sharing, I worked at Wendy's during college. This new policy is a clear sign the CEO has never pulled a shift in his life. The space between rushes is incredibly important for several reasons. It's when you can take a break, go to the bathroom, breathe a little. For the store, you can clean the lobby, bathroom, station.

This is also when you catch up on prep work, getting salads, potatoes, and chili ready. This plan doesn't just harm consumers with higher prices. It doesn't just fundamentally break the point of fast food convenience. It makes the job harder and more soul crushing as well as makes the quality of the food in the store measurably worse. On every level, it is possibly the worst idea that could have been put forward. This is so fucking funny. On every level, it is possibly the worst idea

that could be put forward short of an oops all rats menu. Carl, you're a funny fuck. Also, actually, I want to give you a little update here. Wendy's has actually issued statements since all the public backlash, and their general reaction is that what we said is being misconstrued, saying quote, "'We said these menu boards would give us more flexibility "'to change the display of featured items.

"'This was misconstrued in some media reports "'as an intent to raise prices when demand is highest. "'We have no plans to do that.'" And then reportedly going on to add that instead, this would actually allow Wendy's to offer discounts to customers more easily, particularly in the slower times of day. Though there, I would just have to call bullshit. Because seemingly, that is what your CEO would then add after saying dynamic pricing.

Or at the very least, wouldn't you refer to it as dynamic discounted pricing? Because really, I think all this sounds like to most people is you got your hand caught in the cookie jar because you announced to the world, I'm going to put my hand in the cookie jar. Now you're like, no, no, no, no, no. Sometimes I'm going to want to put my hand in the cookie jar to put in more cookies. And I'd ask, you know, how stupid do you think we are? But seemingly from this response, you think very. But that is where your big daily dive into the news is going to end today. But don't worry, I'm not going to leave you by your lonesome for too long because my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love your faces, and I'll see you right back here tomorrow.