The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 2.3 Guess Who Threatened Me Over Yesterday's Show. & Taylor Swift, Mia Khalifa, India Backlash

Starting point is 00:00:00 So yesterday, while speaking about Markiplier, YouTube's golden boy, I said, and I won't shame you for it, but if you keep it up, I'm gonna have to bonk you. Unless you're into that. And today, Mark responded. He thinks he can bonk me. I will break Phil in half. Mr. DeFranco, I will destroy you. Okay? And I will do it with a picture of Lady Dimitrescu glued to my face so it looks like

Starting point is 00:00:27 Lady Dimitrescu is destroying you. Now to be clear, I am unsure if this is a threat or he is propositioning me, but I want to make one thing clear, Mark. Yeah, you may be stronger than me, faster than me, more successful than me, more attractive than me, more liked than me, but I lost, I forgot what I was gonna say.

Starting point is 00:00:46 Ah, nevermind. Let's just do the show. And where we're gonna start today is with some which celebrity is getting canceled today news. And today's contestant is country music star, Morgan Wallen. Wallen, who had seemingly overcome his last controversy of going out and making out with pretty much everyone during a pandemic, is now in the news

Starting point is 00:01:03 for a different thing that he did with his mouth. In the now released video that was reportedly recorded by a neighbor on Sunday, Wallen returned home from a rowdy night with friends. One of the clips shows the group talking loudly, repeatedly honking their car horn late at night, with the second clip showing Wallen walking to his front door and saying,

Starting point is 00:01:18 Hey, take care of yourself. Following the shocking news that a Tennessee born country music star with a mullet said the N word, we saw his music being pulled from Cumulus Media, which was huge news. I mean, it's the second biggest radio chain in the nation and especially powerful in the country radio sphere. But it essentially means his music's banned

Starting point is 00:01:34 from the brand's 400 plus stations other radio stations could follow. In fact, according to some reports, his songs no longer appear on Spotify and Apple's top country music playlist. A few hours ago, iHeartMedia cut his music from its airwaves while CMT said it's removing his appearances from all its platforms.

Starting point is 00:01:49 Also, his recording contract with Big Loud Records was just suspended indefinitely. And that, in particular, is a massive deal because Wallen has been called one of the biggest out-of-the-box streaming successes in country music history. His last album, for example, is about to have its fourth week at the top of the charts,

Starting point is 00:02:02 setting a record for consecutive weeks at number one, not seen by a country artist since Garth Brooks back in the late 90s. Also, we've seen many country artists commenting on this news. This, including Kelsey Ballerini, who said that the news does not represent country music. However, we also saw people like Maren Morris, who said,

Starting point is 00:02:17 "'It actually is representative of our town "'because this isn't his first scuffle, "'and he just demolished a huge streaming record "'last month regardless. "'We all know it wasn't his first time using that word. We keep them rich and protected at all costs with no recourse. Now, that said, Wallen for his part has issued an apology

Starting point is 00:02:32 for the slurs saying, I'm embarrassed and sorry. I used an unacceptable and inappropriate racial slur that I wish I could take back. There are no excuses to use this type of language ever. Going on to say, I promise to do better. And as far as what happens from here, I mean, we just kind of have to watch. I mean, as far as my opinion,

Starting point is 00:02:45 I don't know anything about Morgan Wallen. I've seen more Morgan Wallen apologies and I've heard Morgan Wallen songs. But what I would say is y'all, it's not a hard word to not say. Like, especially as a white guy, you gotta go out of your way to say it. Even those little TikTok teens,

Starting point is 00:03:02 when they're doing the song, they're like, your lip accidentally quivered when the N word played? Delete that cut. And here's the thing, saying it has always been wrong. I mean, way, way back in the day, I thought it was okay. Like if a black person said it and I was quoting them, I could say it. No, especially in 2021.

Starting point is 00:03:17 And I understand like when you're like, I can't believe this is happening in insert year. It's always been wrong, but in 2021, I don't know how you can plead ignorance when we've had the really over past decade of big conversations happening and conversations being started from marginalized groups. I mean, that's one of the arguably biggest things

Starting point is 00:03:34 about the rise of social media over the past 10 years. That it gave historically minimized or disregarded groups of people a voice, a bigger megaphone to get out to the masses. But that's where I'll leave it. I'm probably preaching to the choir for the most part with this. Then in other celebrity news,

Starting point is 00:03:48 we saw Taylor Swift in the news because she actually defended Morgan Wallen using the N-word, I'm kidding. That's not why. No, actually Taylor Swift's in the news for a weird reason. She is actually being sued by a theme park in Utah called Evermore Park over alleged trademark infringement. Right, so if you don't know, in December,

Starting point is 00:04:04 Swift released an album called Evermore. And so this fantasy theme park claims that the title conflicts with their trademark rights and has actually harmed the company. Claiming that it has resulted in actual confusion with the legal documents saying, "'Evermore' has received several inquiries regarding your affiliation with Evermore

Starting point is 00:04:18 and your use of the Evermore trademark." Also claiming that their web traffic for the park has gone down since the album came out because web results for the search Evermore now place her album at the top. With Evermore Park also acknowledging that Swift is selling Evermore merch and has a pending trademark application,

Starting point is 00:04:31 but said the park already sells Evermore goods. And as far as Taylor Swift's team, they call these allegations baseless. Responding in a letter saying, "'It is inconceivable that there is any likelihood "'of confusion between your client's theme park "'and related products and Ms. Swift's music "'and related products.'" Arguing Swift's music and related products.

Starting point is 00:04:45 Arguing that Taylor's merch is stylized distinctly. Also adding that I love that this is just a, this is a legal argument that's having to be made. That unlike the theme park, Taylor Swift's website does not sell dragon eggs, guilt patches, or small dragon mounts and nothing could be remotely characterized as such. And actually arguing that the Evermore album drove up

Starting point is 00:05:03 traffic to the park's website. With them sharing tweets from the theme park acknowledging the spotlight and potential follower boosts that the album gave them. So yeah, that was a thing. Then in business and tech news, we should definitely talk about SpaceX successfully launching its Starship prototype spacecraft yesterday,

Starting point is 00:05:17 though the ship later crashed, slamming back down into the landing pad and causing an explosive fireball. Which yes, could be seen as a failure or Elon Musk's best meme about Game Stunk. That said, SpaceX is still mostly taking this as a success, saying that it got a lot of good data despite the crash. This also follows a similar test that took place back in December, which actually yesterday,

Starting point is 00:05:48 we learned more about that December flight, namely that before it took place, SpaceX had sought a safety waiver from the Federal Aviation Administration, the FAA, and that waiver would have allowed SpaceX to conduct the launch without, quote, "'Exceeding the maximum public risk allowed by federal safety regulations.'"

Starting point is 00:06:02 And while that waiver was ultimately denied, interestingly enough, despite that, SpaceX proceeded with the launch anyway, a move that resulted in the company violating its launch license. And so now aerospace and industry officials have characterized this decision as a reckless move, one that opened up the potential for serious risk

Starting point is 00:06:17 to public safety. Now from there, what we saw was the FAA directed the company to investigate the incident, suspend all activity that can compromise public safety near its launch site in South Texas. That said, that investigation is already over. And in fact, because the FAA granted approval, that's why we saw the test yesterday.

Starting point is 00:06:31 But still, you have a lot of people saying, how are there no real repercussions for SpaceX or Elon Musk? Right, it's no secret that Elon Musk is very vocal about pushing against government regulation. I mean, hell, just before receiving approval from the FAA for yesterday's test on Twitter, Musk argued that the FAA Space Division has quote,

Starting point is 00:06:47 "'fundamentally broken regulatory structure'". And adding, "'their rules are meant for a handful "'of expendable launches per year "'for a few government facilities. "'Under those rules, humanity will never get to Mars.'" But still, those are words, and a lot of people kind of can't get over

Starting point is 00:07:00 what happened last December. With, for example, one former FAA official saying of the investigation around the December launch, "'I am trying to wrap my mind around this right now. "'I am just in complete shock that a licensee "'has violated a launch license "'and there seems to be no repercussions. "'If a licensee violates the terms of their launch license,

Starting point is 00:07:16 "'they did so knowing that an uninvolved member "'of the public could have been hurt or killed. "'That is not exaggeration. "'They took a calculated risk with your life and property.'" Then we had Amazon back in the news, not just because Jeff Bezos is stepping down as CEO, but because Amazon has agreed to pay $61.7 million to settle allegations that it shortchanged tips

Starting point is 00:07:35 meant for its contracted delivery drivers. So those allegations came from the Federal Trade Commission and according to them, in 2016, Amazon shifted from paying drivers a promised rate of 18 to $25 an hour plus tips to a lower hourly rate. With the FTC going on to say that Amazon then intentionally failed, which is a nice way of saying fucked over,

Starting point is 00:07:52 but let's use their language, intentionally failed to let its drivers know about this change and instead use tips to make up the difference between the two rates. Also going on to say that Amazon continued to hide the policy change even after it received hundreds of complaints from drivers who were suspicious

Starting point is 00:08:04 about why they were now making less money. With one FTC executive saying, "'Rather than passing along 100% of customers' tips "'to drivers as it had promised to do, "'Amazon used the money itself.'" Our action today returns to drivers the tens of millions of dollars in tips that Amazon misappropriated

Starting point is 00:08:18 and requires Amazon to get drivers permission before changing its treatment of tips in the future. Now, for its part, Amazon has denied the allegations saying, while we disagree that the historical way we reported pay to drivers was unclear, we added additional clarity in 2019 and are pleased to put this matter behind us. I will say my reaction to that is really though?

Starting point is 00:08:36 You sure about that? Also question for you watching right now, if you use Amazon anyway, what would they have to do to make it so you stopped using them? Right from a scale of they do things to their workers that are slightly worse than what you already kind of assume they do to they execute people on a live stream every day.

Starting point is 00:08:53 Where do you land? How beholden are you? Think about this for a second. Maybe pause the video and come back to me. And then in international news, we should definitely talk about the farmer strike in India, which also a part of this story is now somehow Rihanna and people like Mia Khalifa are in the crosshairs of controversy. Okay, so like we talked about in the past, for months now, Indian farmers have been protesting a controversial set of laws

Starting point is 00:09:14 that would fundamentally change the relationship to the government and how they sell their crops. And most notably here, the laws would remove the minimum sale price, which is a price floor for the most popular crops that, beyond helping farmers financially, also helps them plan their crop cycles better. And so for months, these protests have continued and continued, in fact, well into this week when tens of thousands drove their tractors to New Delhi to continue their protests.

Starting point is 00:09:35 Unfortunately, the protests turned violent last week when on Tuesday, which is known as Republic Day, protesters stormed the historic Red Fort before being beaten back by police with tear gas and batons. We saw similar scenes continue into the weekend and in an effort to slow down the protest, Indian authorities decided to turn off the internet

Starting point is 00:09:50 in New Delhi and nearby regions until at least Tuesday. A move that prompted outrage not only in India where the protest already had hundreds of millions of supporters, but also in the West with stars and influencers who already get a lot of attention trying to use that spotlight to raise awareness about the situation. Rihanna, for example, going viral on Twitter saying,

Starting point is 00:10:06 "'Why aren't we talking about this?' Linking to an article about the internet blackout." You also had the likes of Mia Khalifa writing, "'What in the human rights violations is going on?' They cut the internet around New Delhi. Hashtag farmers protest." And following these viral pushes for people to pay attention, the responses were interesting,

Starting point is 00:10:21 especially when it came to users who seemingly were supporting the government or, you know, there's always the risk of bots being involved because, you know, for Mia Khalifa, for example, in addition to people posting memes from her time in the adult industry or trying to use that as a way to go like, well, this person shouldn't be taken seriously. Also, one of the main arguments

Starting point is 00:10:38 from the supporters of the government being that the celebrities are being paid to post these things, which is really just an extension of the government's narrative they've been trying to push that many of the protestors have been paid. Something that Khalifa herself even responded to saying paid actors, huh? Quite the casting director.

Starting point is 00:10:52 I hope they're not overlooked during award season. But as far as what happens next, I don't know, right? This message of solidarity, it's been echoed by many, not only activists, but also farmers around the world. Right, many of them saying and feeling like their industries are completely necessary for society to function, but are often unprofitable without government subsidies, such as those in India. But the Indian government for their part right now

Starting point is 00:11:13 still does not look like they want to back down from the law. So we're at this impasse and it's not a new one. We're months in. So for now, ultimately, all we have to do is we have to wait and see. Then, in other political news, we should talk about the House voting last night

Starting point is 00:11:23 to adopt a rule that will fine lawmakers who ignore new security measures imposed after the insurrection. Right, so under this new rule, members who refuse to pass through security screenings, including walking through a metal detector to get on the House floor, will face a fine of $5,000 for the first offense

Starting point is 00:11:36 and $10,000 each time after. Lawmakers can't appeal the fines to the House Ethics Committee, but if that appeal fails and the member still refuses to pay, that amount will be taken out of their paycheck. Very notably here, because this could be something out of their paycheck. And very notably here, because this could be something that someone stirs up as a fundraising measure,

Starting point is 00:11:48 members cannot use money from campaign funds or official funds to pay these fines. The measure passed with a slim margin of 216 to 210, with three Democrats joining all present Republicans against it. Now, as far as why partisan lines, why even need this measure? You know, since the metal detectors

Starting point is 00:12:03 were installed after the riots, numerous Republicans have condemned the decision while others have just refused to comply with the precaution. For example, just a few weeks ago, we talked about representative Lauren Boebert, who has publicly said she will carry her gun around the Capitol complex.

Starting point is 00:12:15 But they're also causing a massive scene after refusing to let Capitol police search her bag after she set off one of the detectors. Other Republicans have also fought with Capitol police or otherwise loudly protested the machine. Some, according to reports, have just walked right around the detectors and straight onto the House floor. So that's why you had many Democrats

Starting point is 00:12:29 and specifically Nancy Pelosi saying, "'This is why we need the rules,' but also saying that it's sad that the House even has to impose them in the first place. Also saying after the insurrection, quote, "'Many House Republicans began disrespecting our heroes "'by refusing to adhere to basic precautions "'keeping members of our congressional community safe,

Starting point is 00:12:44 "'including by dodging metal detectors, keeping members of our congressional community safe, including by dodging metal detectors, physically pushing past police, and even attempting to bring firearms into the chamber. All right, so that was the situation in the house. And then we look to the Senate because Senate leaders announced this morning that they have finally agreed to a power sharing deal

Starting point is 00:12:57 that will dictate how day-to-day operations are run with a chamber split 50 to 50. This is a big moment because the announcement follows weeks of stalemate after Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell, held up the agreement until Democrats promised to get rid of the legislative filibuster. Notably there though, McConnell dropped that demand last week

Starting point is 00:13:12 after two Democrats said they would not vote to scrap the longstanding rule, thus making it impossible for the party to have enough votes to change it. As far as why this deal was important, how did Mitch McConnell have any power whatsoever as now the Minority Leader? Well, that's because until there was a new deal agreed upon,

Starting point is 00:13:25 the Senate had to operate under the rules of the last Congress when the GOP was in charge, which has meant that Republicans still had control over all the committees, including members who had been termed out of chairmanship. Also in other instances, there were simply no committee chairs at all because of retirements.

Starting point is 00:13:38 And meanwhile, freshman senators were stuck in limbo with no committee assignments. So as a result, it was incredibly hard for Democrats to get anything done without the help of the Republican counterparts, including approving key cabinet nomination. For example, Senator Lindsey Graham came under fire yesterday when he rejected Democrats' demands

Starting point is 00:13:51 to schedule a confirmation hearing for Biden's attorney general nominee, Merrick Garland. But Graham's excuse and reasoning here is that there just wasn't enough time before the impeachment hearing started. But of course now an agreement has been made. We've seen majority leader Chuck Schumer saying the power sharing deal would be passed

Starting point is 00:14:05 through the Senate floor later today. And adding the Democrats are ready to hit the ground running and are not going to waste any time when it comes to moving Biden's agenda forward. You know, with this or actually anything that stood out today, I'd love to know what your thoughts are in those comments down below,

Starting point is 00:14:17 because this is the end of the show. As always, thanks for being a part of my daily dives into the news, subscribing, liking, all the good stuff. Yeah, that's the show. Thanks for watching. I love your face.ives into the news, subscribing, liking, all the good stuff. Yeah, that's the show. Thanks for watching. I love your face and you've just been filled in with news that matters for people that care. I'll see you tomorrow.

Your Ad Here

The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 2.3 Guess Who Threatened Me Over Yesterday's Show. & Taylor Swift, Mia Khalifa, India Backlash

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.