The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 3.11 Bizarre Kate Middleton Scandal Gets Worse, Oscars Controversy, The Taliban's Youtuber Army, & More

Episode Date: March 11, 2024

They keep making the worst decisions... Click here https://www.seed.com/defranco and use code DEFRANCO25 to get 25% off your 1st month’s supply of Seed’s DS-01®️ Daily Synbiotic + Free shipping! ===== Get in on the https://BeautifulBastard.com Drop & snag some classic best sellers while you're at it. ===== Get up to 50% OFF your first Variety Pack of https://WakeandMakeCoffee.com right now! –✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - Kate Middleton Conspiracies Spiral After Palace Shares Edited Image 03:30 - Ceasefire Protests Delay Oscars 07:29 - Influencers Promote Regime in Afghanistan 11:26 - Sponsored by Seed 12:30 - CO Finds DNA Scientist Manipulated Evidence, Calling Criminal Cases Into Question  14:25 - The DOJ Has Reportedly Opened a Criminal Probe Into Boeing Door Plug 17:33 - Report Shows Saddest and Happiest Countries in the World 18:33 - EU, US, Germany Evacuate Staff at Haiti Embassies 20:46 - Beautiful Bastard & Wake and Make Coffee Merch Available NOW 21:29 - Paul McCartney’s Guitar Found After Being Lost For Decades 25:43 - Your Thoughts on Thursday’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, Jared Paolino Associate Producer on Beatles’ Guitar: Star Pralle  ———————————— #DeFranco #Hasanabi #KateMiddleton ———————————— 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, this whole Kate Middleton situation just gets weirder and weirder. I mean, I know we talked about it a few weeks ago, but the TLDR is that Kate has essentially been MIA, hadn't been seen since Christmas. But the pal is saying back in January, she was recovering from an abdominal surgery and would be out of the spotlight for a few months. But then as time went on and some kind of strange things, at least optically, kind of happened, people have been believing that story less and less. And since

we covered the situation, there was a fuzzy paparazzi photo of her in a car, though some doubted the validity of it. And now, as you might have seen, there's a different photo of Kate that's causing even more of an uproar. Because yesterday, in honor of the UK's Mother's Day, the palace shared this message. Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months. Wishing everyone a happy Mother's Day. C. With C being a sign off noting that the message comes from Catherine, which is Kate's full name. But that accompanied by a photo of Kate and her three kids. And the post giving photo credit to Prince William himself.

And at first glance, you might go, oh look, a normal family photo. But, when you look closer, you might wonder what's going on with that side of Charlotte's skirt. Also the other side of that skirt. And why is just one side of Kate's hair blurry? And why are just one set of her fingers blurry? And you might even find other things that are off about the photo, and you wouldn't be alone here. Because you actually had major outlets, including the Associated Press,

finding that the photo was so inconsistent, they actually pulled it from publication. And in a piece explaining its decision, the AP said that the photo was issued by Kensington Pals, and it was said to be taken earlier in the week. Adding, while there was no suggestion the photo was fake, AP retracted it because closer inspection revealed the source had manipulated the image in a way that did not meet AP's photo standards. For instance, the photo shows an inconsistency in the alignment of Prince Charlotte's left hand. And y'all, holy shit, like, if the frenzy about Kate's whereabouts was already huge, the AP saying that a palace-issued photo was manipulated, it caused the situation to skyrocket.

With people saying things like, you know it's serious when Associated Press, Reuters, and co. are calling bullshit on a press release by the palace. Where is Kate? What have they done to this woman? I mean, this is just a major PR blunder for the royal family, whose whole existence essentially is a big PR scheme. But Jack Royston, a royal commentator telling Business Insider, this was the worst possible time to be caught photoshopping a picture as conspiracy theorists have been suggesting Kensington Palace has been hiding something major. The only way out now is to either publish the original image or release a video of Kate talking to the camera. Otherwise, the palace's reputation as a trustworthy source of information

will lie in ruins. And as far as, like, what major thing people believe is happening that the palace is trying to hide, I mean, there's no shortage of conspiracies and conjecture. Lots of people have thought that maybe Kate's divorcing William. Now, as the whole situation has gotten weirder and blown out of proportion, you have people concerned that it's something more serious. Something maybe more serious about her health that they're hiding.

And so now, as far as, like, trying to quell these rumors, they basically just blamed it on Kate. With the Kensington Royals account tweeting, like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I want to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother's Day. C. With that sign off again meant to note that the post came from Kate. So with that, you had a lot of people going, you know, pin it on the missing woman. That's not the right move. And again, meant to note that the post came from Kate. So with that, you had a lot of people going, you know, pin it on the missing woman. That's not the right move. And again, it appeared to make the whole situation even bigger.

With it then getting even messier today when Kate and Will were seen getting in a car together leaving Windsor Castle. Without let's saying that Kate's on the way to a private appointment. But again, that photo is just not the photo that's going to stop the speculation. Because one, it's just not good quality. And two, you can't actually even see her that well. Which resulted in people saying things like, yes, yes, a far away side only profile picture of Kate Middleton next to Prince William that doesn't reveal her face will most certainly end the conspiracy theories a day after you released a manipulated photo. I ask again, what is going on with Kensington Palace? My God.

And again, as I said last time, like I'm not someone that is interested in the royals or anything. But now with the consistent way this has been handled, it just, it's weird or it's incompetent. And I mean, the institution itself is kind of just begging for people to point and wonder now. And then the internet for the last 18 hours or so has been saturated with news and reactions to the Oscars, which makes sense. There was a ton of stuff that happened

and we're gonna talk about some of the highlights. Like how some of the biggest news around the Oscars came actually from a few blocks away, where you had multiple groups of protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, with the New York Times reporting that there were somewhere between 500 and 700 people at the largest protest on Sunset Boulevard, right, and the protests making headlines for a number of reasons, including backlash around the coverage of them, right, major entertainment

outlets like Variety getting heat for reporting that there were protests but not saying what they were for, and the demonstrations were also impactful, you know, organizers telling NBCLA that the goal was to disrupt the Oscars, as well as to call out the, quote, retaliation against anyone in the film industry who speaks out against Israel's atrocities and war crimes. And they did successfully disrupt the show, right? Many outlets noting that they caused the telecast to start late as many attendees had to get out of their cars and walk or take a golf cart to the ceremony because the protests were blocking so many nearby streets. You also had Mark Ruffalo calling this out on the red carpet as he walked in, praising the protest. We're starting, we're late, we're late. The Palestinian protest shut down the Oscars tonight.

Humanity wins. Mark being just one of several stars who wore a red pin in support of artists for Ceasefire. Billie Eilish, Ava DuVernay, Rami, Youssef, and more also had them on. Notably, Rami speaking about these pins on the red carpet. We're all calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza. We're calling for the safety of everyone involved. And we really want lasting justice and peace for the Palestinian people. And so it's something that I think, even if a lot of that feels like a lot for people,

we really want to say, like, let's just stop killing children. While largely for the rest of the night, that was kind of where that ended. Another big thing was when the zone of interest won Best International Feature Film. Director Jonathan Glaser acknowledged it in his speech. Right now we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people. Whether the victims of October the... Whether the victims of October the 7th in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza, all the victims of this dehumanization, how do we resist?

With many calling that speech brave since he gave it knowing that he'd face criticism for his remarks. Which on that note, you had people like political commentator Hassan Piker adding, Glazer made a movie about the banality of evil during the Holocaust. It would have been odd if he didn't mention the parallels to Gaza. Respect for saying something to an otherwise hostile room. Remember, they booed Michael Moore's speech for criticizing the Iraq War. And so obviously that was a major part of the night. But then in addition to that, you had kind of the regular old Oscar kind of news.

Oppenheimer getting Best Picture. Billie Eilish making history by becoming the youngest person to win two Oscars after getting Best Original Song. Though, I will say the I'm Just Ken performance from Gosling just kind of stole the show. You also had some excitement around Godzilla Minus One getting the Visual Effects Award, which, by the way, if you have not seen it, definitely watch it. I think it is the, if not one of the best Godzilla movies. It is no matter of the parameters, a fantastic movie, but it's also amazing what they accomplished with such a small budget compared to, you know, so many big projects.

Though finally, one of the biggest surprises of the night was when Emma Stone won Best Actress for Poor Things, where they're notably beating out Lily Gladstone for Killers of the Flower Moon. But some people were really bummed by that, thinking that Lily Gladstone got snubbed. People noting she would have been the first Native American to win in an acting category. I mean, it even looked like Emma Stone was genuinely shocked that she beat her out. The other is noting that both Emma and Lily's performances were acclaimed, and that it was a tight race, and it seems like the two have become friends. And personally, I'll say I watch both movies.

I like both movies. I think both actresses were fantastic in theirs. To me, this really felt like it was going to be a coin flip. I felt like votes might come down to a preference of fantastically human and more like subdued with Lily or over the top and eccentric and wild with Emma. Because also, if you have not seen Poor Things, I went into this movie completely blind. It is one of the weirdest things that I have watched. In the first 15 minutes, I was ready to stop watching. But then I continued and I was like, this is not a movie that I would have sought out. But it ended up being kind of fantastic. Though I understand completely why some people are going to call this a masterpiece and other people are going to say that it's just a shit movie. But for now, that's where I'll leave it. This is not everything that happened at the

Oscars. There's a big internet out there of everyone dissecting every key moment that mattered to them, which is also why I want to pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts on any and all aspects of Oscars discourse? And then, what better place is there to be a YouTuber than Taliban-run Afghanistan? Today's sponsor, I'm kidding, I'm kidding. But notably, what's not a joke here

is you do have the Washington Post reporting that the Taliban is partnering with influential YouTubers to spread its message and promote the regime. Ranting these influencers' broadcasting licenses that put them on an equal footing with TV networks and radio stations. Even allowing them to embed with government ministries all to showcase their achievements for the world to see. Which is jaw-dropping on its own, but even more so when you remember that when the Taliban first seized power back in 1996, they literally banned the internet, they smashed and burned TVs, videotapes, and cameras. Saying at the time it was to block access to vulgar, immoral, and anti-Islamic material.

But since the U.S. invasion, and especially since the U.S. withdrawal, that's changed, with the group coming to embrace modern information technology and even tolerating a little cultural diversity. That is not to say that Chris Olsen should take a spontaneous trip to Afghanistan. Instead, I'm talking about things like how last year we talked about how they're trying to turn the remains of the Bamayan Buddhas into a tourist attraction. Or with those being a pair of 6th century giant statues carved into a cliff. They're one of the world's oldest and most valued cultural sites. Which the Taliban infamously blew up back in 2001, calling them false gods. Though recently you have the Taliban claiming that it's now assigned more than a thousand guards to protect cultural heritage across Afghanistan.

Both restricting access and overseeing ticket sales. And so now the regime's partnership with YouTubers is also meant to improve the country's image at home and abroad. With one channel, for example, having over 350,000 subs called Our Afghanistan, showing a famous Taliban backer distributing winter clothes, talking to soldiers or visiting hospital patients, as well as a channel that focuses on urban development. Then there are also like really unique channels. Like for example, the channel Kabul Lovers. They mix in scripted entertainment videos that actually feature some Taliban officials. And recently, a video series of theirs got more than 2.6 million views after its producers embedded with morality police from the Ministry of Vice and Virtue. With them going on a literal witch hunt, like for actually suspected witches.

In one clip, they get a woman to confess that she practiced magic. Also, for the Taliban, that's not weird. Last year, the government reportedly detained almost 200, quote, sorcerers and witches. But more often than not, the YouTube content actually follows more ordinary activities, stuff like burning expired food, cracking down on drug dealers, or building a major canal across the north of the country. For all this work, the more popular influencers can reportedly earn thousands of dollars in foreign advertising revenue per video, which is absolutely a ton of money in that country. But they also then have to navigate retrieving their income without a banking system, which is under sanctions.

But also, reportedly, it's not just good for them. Business is also booming for local equipment suppliers, with vendors telling The Post that demand for cameras and microphones has nearly doubled in the past two years. Though, this is the market for social media content is limited within Afghanistan itself. As you can imagine, internet access and cell service

aren't exactly widespread. So that's why the YouTuber's main audience is the estimated six million Afghans living abroad as migrants or refugees, mostly in Europe and the USA. Or because naturally, they're going to be curious about what's going on in their home country. But the big thing is they're not getting an accurate picture of life there. As you'd expect, the Taliban strictly limits the type of content people can make. So of course, it means nothing critical of the regime. But even the head of Kabul lovers reportedly getting arrested in 2022 for a video that included criticism of the Taliban. And this

is the government banned music and videos and mandated that female presenters wear a headscarf and a mask over their mouth. Notably, even if videos do get a thumbs up from the Taliban. And this is the government banned music and videos and mandated that female presenters wear a headscarf and a mask over their mouth. Notably, even if videos do get a thumbs up from the Taliban, that doesn't mean they're all clear with YouTube. With YouTube telling the post that they've had to terminate a number of Afghan channels for posting content that glorifies or promotes violent tragedies. But whether it's YouTube or somewhere else, you know, the Taliban's likely to remain on social media in general. For example, even though Facebook has long banned the Taliban from its platform, X hasn't. with in fact Taliban officials and supporters even purchasing blue check marks, in some cases gaining hundreds of thousands of followers.

So while with all this, you have some saying, you know, this is bad. You have the Taliban using the internet for propaganda. You have others hopeful that maybe a toleration of modern technology and urban culture might actually gradually moderate the Taliban's strictures. And with that, the Washington Post observing how many fighters who spent their lives in the countryside coming to appreciate life in the capital after the U.S. left. Writing, some spend their weekends in the city's theme park. Some watch cricket matches on large outdoor screens.

Others are filling their Facebook pages with skyline selfies or buying self-help books published in the West. But this is very notably, none of that means that the repression of women and girls is let up in any way. Are you talking about a place where they are still barred from schools and universities? That they're forced to cover their faces and pressured to stay out of public? And then, you know, our gut health is really important when it comes to our immune system. The gut and the immune system work together to coordinate our body's response to the world around and within us. An intrinsic connection known as the gut-immune axis. And with all the viruses on overdrive, starting a healthy habit to increase your gut health is key.

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the name of Yvonne Missy Woods, a woman who worked for the Bureau's lab for nearly 30 years. And understand, Woods wasn't just some minor player. She's been described as a star scientist who helped solve some of the state's most notorious crimes throughout her three-decade-long career. But back in November, this long-hailed scientist, she just out of nowhere resigned the same day that CBI announced that it had found anomalies in her work

during an internal review and was launching a criminal probe as a result. With the Wall Street Journal reporting at the time that experts said that this ensuing scandal was potentially one of the largest in the history of forensic DNA testing, and one effectively throwing Colorado's criminal justice system into chaos. And now, CBI has released the preliminary results of that investigation. The Bureau is saying in a statement that it found that Woods intentionally manipulated data in the DNA testing process and posted incomplete test results in some

cases, and adding that this discovery puts all of her work in question. And specifically, like, let's talk numbers. The Bureau said that it has identified 652 cases from 2008 to 2023 that were affected by Woods' data manipulation. And that, as there are likely more because they're still reviewing her work from 1994 to 2008. And this after officials previously said that as many as 3,000 samples needed to be retested. And to accomplish that, they asked the legislature for $7.5 million to pay for the process and potential retrial. Now, as far as how Woods manipulated the data, the CBI said that she omitted material facts and official criminal justice records

and tampered with DNA testing results by omitting some of those results. But this including deleting and altering data that concealed how she had tampered with controls and failed to troubleshoot issues with the testing process. But also very notably here, the CBI probe did not find that Woods falsified DNA matches or otherwise fabricated DNA profiles. And Woods' lawyer also telling reporters that she never created or falsely reported any DNA evidence that helped clear someone. And also claiming she never gave false testimony that resulted in people being wrongfully convicted or imprisoned. But for now, we'll have to wait and see not only what comes from the second half of this investigation, but

also what happens with the cases that she worked on. And then, the Justice Department just launched a criminal investigation into the Boeing 737 door plug blowout. That's what people familiar with the situation have told several different outlets. Now, notably here, Boeing and the DOJ have declined requests to comment, but Alaska Airlines appeared to confirm the existence of the criminal probe, saying in a statement, In an event like this, it's normal for the DOJ to be conducting an investigation. We are fully cooperating and do not believe we are a target of the investigation. Right, and according to sources, federal prosecutors have interviewed multiple witnesses, including the pilots and crew of the Alaska Airlines flight,

with one source telling the Washington Post that a grand jury has been convened to look at evidence. And you have the Wall Street Journal reporting that it's viewed documents showing that, quote, Investigators have taken steps to begin notifying Alaska passengers on board during the January 5th incident that they are potential crime victims in the case. Also beyond that, and this is a key thing here, one source also told the Post that the DOJ is looking into whether any of the factors that led to the January 5th incident violated a previous legal agreement that Boeing had made. And that being the deal that Boeing struck to address any criminal liability for the two 737 MAX 8s that crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people. And under that, Boeing agreed to pay over $2.5 billion, mostly in compensation to customers. With that, in exchange for the DOJ dropping charges accusing

the company of defrauding the FAA by withholding information that pertained to the approval of the MAX. With Boeing also agreeing to certain conditions for a probationary three-year period, which included meeting particular reporting requirements and strengthening its compliance program. And the fact that Boeing may have violated that deal is super significant for a few reasons. First of all, that settlement was widely condemned for being way too lax and favorable for Boeing, along with the fact that it was agreed on without consultation with the families of the people killed in the two crashes. And second, if the DOJ does find that Boeing violated the terms of the 2021 agreement, it could be prosecuted on the original count of defrauding.

Or the DOJ could also try to extend that probationary agreement. And actually, to that point, a lawyer for some of the families of victims in the 2018 and 2019 crashes, they told the Post that there are multiple issues at Boeing that could raise questions about whether the agreement was violated. With the outlet noting, whether the causes of the door plug incident constitute a violation of that 2021 agreement, or lead to the discovery of new alleged offenses, or some combination of the two, appears to be an open question. And all this, as we already know that an audit by the FAA found multiple instances of Boeing failing to comply with quality control requirements in its production process. With a preliminary report from an ongoing investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board

suggesting that Boeing might have delivered the plane to Alaska Airlines without installing the bolts needed to keep the door plug in place. And just this past Friday, the company also sent a letter to a congressional committee admitting that it was unable to find some important records regarding work on the door panel that later blew. And meanwhile, all of this comes as Boeing was also in the news for a totally separate reason, with it now being reported that 50 passengers were injured in a Boeing flight from Australia to New Zealand after the plane took a sudden nosedive.

Very notably here, the airline, LATAM, they said that there had been a technical event that caused a strong movement. And while as of recording, we don't have a lot of official information here, some passengers have recounted their stories, with one telling local outlets that the flight was going fine until about two-thirds the way in,

at which point the plane just dropped, throwing several passengers to the ceiling of the plane and adding, then people just started screaming. I felt the plane take a nosedive. It felt like it was at the top of a roller coaster and then it flattened out again, all of which they said happened in split seconds. And as far as those who were injured, we've seen some conflicting statements, with the airline saying that seven passengers and three crew members were taken to the hospital for medical checks with no serious injuries reported. But this is the organization that treated the patient said that 10 passengers and three crew members were taken to the hospital. Saying of those, one person was in serious condition. But this is all still developing, so hopefully we get some clarification soon. And then Mental State of the World report's been released for this year with researchers asking people from 71 different countries to rate aspects of their life 1 out of 10 to find out who is the happiest in the world and who is the saddest. Starting with the most miserable country being Uzbekistan, followed by, of all places, the United Kingdom, with Brits rating their mood and outlook, drive and motivation and social self among the worst in the world. Brazil in fourth and sixth is Australia, Egypt

seventh and in eighth place is Ireland. All of which is pretty interesting considering that the 14th saddest country is Ukraine. But then let's move to the happy side of things, where we found that the Dominican Republic is the happiest country in the world, followed by Sri Lanka. As we go down the list, we see Italy in 11th place, Israel at 18, Mexico at 22, and the United States as the 29th happiest country in the world, with Americans rating their mind-body connection among the lowest in the world, but rating their cognition among the highest in the world. Notably, the study also found that the younger someone is when they get access to their first iPhone, the worse off their mental state was.

In fact, the study went on to find that in the Anglosphere, where kids get their phones around age 11, they are significantly less happy than their peers in developing countries who don't get it until 15 or 16. And then, we need to talk about how things have gone from bad to worse in Haiti. And in fact, so much so that the US evacuated embassy personnel from the country in helicopters

in the middle of the night. And all of this as Prime Minister Ariel Henry still hasn't gone back to the country, and major gangs throughout the capital are exerting more and more force. Though on the note of the night. And all of this as Prime Minister Ariel Henry still hasn't gone back to the country and major gangs throughout the capital are exerting more and more force. Though on the note of the U.S. Embassy, you had the U.S. Southern Command saying, this airlift of personnel into and out of the embassy

is consistent with our standard practice for embassy security augmentation worldwide and no Haitians were on board the military aircraft. The embassy writing on Twitter, U.S. Embassy in Haiti remains open. Heightened gang violence in the neighborhood near U.S. Embassy compounds and near the airport led to the State Department's decision to arrange for the departure of additional embassy personnel. All arriving and departing passengers work for the U.S. government.

And so it's important to note that their statement says that this operation doesn't mean we're pulling out of Haiti completely. Essential staff will still be in the country and there's been boosted security around the compound. But this also notably is other places aren't taking those risks with their diplomatic staff. On Sunday, the EU said that it was evacuating its staff and only doing essential work and services remotely. They were also joined by their German counterparts who clarified that the staff of both the EU and Germany would be working out of the neighboring Dominican Republic. And so all this just highlights how destabilized the capital has become

ever since gang leader Jimmy Barbecue Sherry Zare demanded that the prime minister step down or, face quote, a civil war that will end in genocide. And this former cop-turned-gang leader doesn't appear to be bluffing, as we've seen armed groups making bolder and bolder attacks on police stations and compounds. Like on Friday night, when two police stations near the heavily defended National Palace

were successfully attacked by armed gunmen. And all this violence has been causing chaos for everyday Haitians. With tens of thousands fleeing the capital over the last week, adding to the roughly 300,000 that have been displaced by gangs in recent years. Right, and understand that a big thing with that

is that fleeing the capital is a bit like getting out of the frying pan and into the fire. That's basically how Doctors Without Borders in Haiti described it, and their lead explaining that there is no toilet available, no shower available, no water available. They cannot stay for long. And just to add a little ridiculous cherry on top,

you have hospitals being looted by gangs. But as far as what happens from here, we're gonna have to wait and see. You know, we are seeing things like the US doubling down on its call for election. And on Saturday, you had Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaking with the Kenyan president about the Haiti crisis. The State Department saying they were committed to, quote, creating the security conditions necessary to conduct free and fair elections. And actually today, Blinken's in Jamaica attending an emergency meeting that was called by Caribbean leaders.

Where again, you have the State Department saying that the focus will be on measures to expedite a political transition. Which again, makes sense because like we talked about, the U.S. has been pushing Prime Minister Henri to move forward with elections which haven't happened in the country since 2016. And then, it's time to sponsor myself because I got two things for you today. Because we still have some sizes available on our beautifulbastard.com drive, which includes our take-care-yourself tie-dye, emotionally-exhausted long-sleeve, our houndstooth heart patch hoodie, as well as our custom cut-and-sew everyday black hoodie and cotton candy tie-dye hoodie. And of course, all of that is on top of some of our best sellers available on site right now. And all that as right now over at wakeandmakecoffee.com, you can get some of our smooth, delicious, tasty-ass coffee for up to 50%

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And we got more news to talk about. And then, did you know that a music mystery nearly half a century old was just solved? And it involves one of the biggest bands of all time, The Beatles. Of the original four members, only two are alive today. Ringo Starr, the drummer, and Paul McCartney, the bassist. And actually, McCartney and his bass

are the center of this crazy story. So in 1961, the Beatles were in Hamburg, Germany. And a teenage McCartney was strolling around the town square when something caught his eye in one of the shops. It was a violin-shaped Hoffner 500-slash-1 electric bass guitar for just 30 pounds. With McCartney telling the Telegraph that he liked the guitar because it was cheap and symmetrical, which as a lefty was appealing. So he bought it, he fell in love, and in the following years, that guitar played a key role in the creation and recording of some of the most iconic Beatles classics. We're talking Twist and Shout and Love Me Do, just as a couple of examples. And that cheap guitar from Hamburg has since been dubbed, quote, the most important bass in history.

But in 1972, it was actually stolen and stayed missing for decades, with it becoming one of the holy grails of the music world. A lost treasure that no one really expected to ever be found, with it conservatively being valued at more than 10 million pounds. Double the record 5 million pounds Kurt Cobain's Acoustic sold for at an auction in 2020. And while over his career, McCartney has owned four different Hoffner guitars. That first one, that sheet bass from a shop in Hamburg, it has stayed on his mind. And he actually said to The Telegraph, I've had a Hoffner ever since I started, but the ancient one is still my favorite.

And in 2018, McCartney was having a conversation with his regular contact at Hoffner, Nick Wass, an executive and bass expert. McCartney asked him if he could use his position at the company to find this ancient guitar. And Nick actually took up the challenge, saying, sitting there, seeing what the lost bass meant to Paul, I was determined to solve the mystery. So Hoffner began the hunt for the missing guitar, and the Lost Bass Project was born. Now, at first, there wasn't much momentum. But in 2023, when journalists Scott and Naomi Jones got involved, that is when things really picked up. Scott was reportedly watching McCartney perform at Glastonbury back in 2022 when he began wondering about this missing guitar. And he and Naomi both had backgrounds in investigation. And so they contacted West with him asking if they could help

with the hunt, saying, we were just fascinated by the routes that guitar may have gone down. We also could see that if we were successful, this would have a real legacy. So without many leads, the Joneses contacted auction houses and music directors, trying to hear any little bit of information about what could have happened to the bass. With then, in September of last year, Scott publishing an article about the hunt in the Sunday Telegraph, retelling the story as far as they knew it about the missing Hoffner. They even spoke to Klaus Vorman, a German musician dubbed the Fifth Beatle, who said, I saw Paul playing the Hoffner bass in Hamburg. I could see how good he felt playing it,

a natural symbiosis and a deep friendship. Well, it seems till death do us part. I hope they find it and we can all see it once more. And so the big thing with this is that the article brought massive attention to the Lost Bass Project. There was a hashtag created and hundreds of people got in contact with the campaign, offering leads, suggestions, and any help they could. And all that led to the project's first major breakthrough. In October, Ian Horn, one of McCartney's former sound engineers, got a hold of the campaign, with Horn saying that in 1972, the team for McCartney and his band Wings, they had rented a truck to move equipment as they prepped for a tour. And the bass was stolen from the padlock truck in London's Notting Hill

neighborhood. And he went on to say, I knew it was Paul's original Hoffner bass that had been stolen, and I knew what it meant to him. Eventually, we had to go to Paul's house in Cavendish Avenue and tell him that the gear had been stolen from the back of the truck. We went into the room and told Paul. He told us not to worry, and we kept our job. He's a good man, Paul. I worked for him for six years after the bass went missing, but I've carried the guilt all my life. And from there, the Lost Bass Project says they were able to actually find exactly who stole the guitar. Though they haven't named names, as they promised, and they followed the thread to a sale. Turns out, the thieves sold it

to a local pub landlord, Ronald Guest, whose family kept the bass around all these years. And the publicity around the hunt, thanks to Jones' Sunday Telegraph article, it prompted an English resident to take a second look at the bass guitar in their attic, with him then contacting Paul McCartney's company and sending the bass to them.

Fully intact, if, you know, a little bit dinged up, and even in its original case, with Hoffner then authenticating it as the real damn deal, with Jones calling the moment he learned the bass was genuine, if, you know, a little bit dinged up, and even in its original case, with Hoffner then authenticating it as the real damn deal. With Jones calling the moment he learned the bass was genuine, incredible, and saying the sense of thrill and excitement is there for all Beatles fans to enjoy in their own way. And so after more than 50 years, the guitar was returned to McCartney, and a statement was put on his website, expressing his gratitude to everyone involved in the hunt. Now that said, we don't know what he's going to do from here with it.

Maybe fix it up, bring it on stage again, or maybe sell it. I don't know, break some records at auction. But the main thing is I just wanted to share the story because it's kind of a beautiful one. It often feels like in our age of technology, there aren't any mysteries left, but that's not true. And two, I just kind of want to share a story with you that seemed cool and did not ruin your day. It's hard to do on a news show, but you know, we got to take our swings now and then. And then finally today, we have yesterday. today where we dive into the comments of the last show and see what y'all had to say. Starting with Rodrigo, who said, Rooster Teeth employee here, we did not find out through social media. We had an all hands meeting along with an email. The

company also did not shut down yesterday. Most all full-time employees have 60 days as a wind down period. I said, as I am to lose this dream job, it has been a way better transition to unemployment than most other things I've seen in this industry. Much love to all my Rooster Teeth fam. Right, and that seemed to be a reference to a comment in the last Yesterday Today, where someone had said that employees found out that they were losing jobs on Twitter, which looking further into it appears to be in reference to tweets from Casey Lee Williams, where she quote tweeted the announcement with literally what the actual fuck, followed by yes in case it isn't clear this is how I found out. So I don't know, it's a big company, there are a lot of different properties like when the announcement was made we had to

check in with the ruse to see if they were also getting shut down right they sell some of our like secondary ads but again the the main thing there is just i hope all the people affected by this land on their feet and find new jobs then on the note of tiktok getting people that use the service to call capital hill and with that we noted like if you're one of the people that are calling please do not yell at the people you are calling. Are you talking about how they're just interns? And with that, Katrick said, hi, former Hill intern here. The people answering congressional phones are actually unpaid interns. 18 to 22 year olds who still have hope that we can help change this country. We take abuse and crap from the immediate world and don't see a cent. And it

doesn't guarantee a full paying job or anything. You didn't emphasize enough how absolutely cruel it is to abuse people on the phones on Capitol Hill. Hell, dealing with the public was a massive part of why I totally changed careers and I'm completely jaded to anyone's ability to create change on a national scale through the legislative process. Which one, thank you for adding a personal note, but also two, looking back, I don't know how I could emphasize the point more unless maybe you wanted me to yell it. In which case, leave the fucking unpaid interns alone, y'all. Relay your message in a nice way. Was that good enough, Kate? Also, in those comments, there was a lot of conversation happening around shark hunting and finning. But SoHi is saying, the shark finning story broke my

heart. I'm stunned by the cruelty humans are capable of for the sake of money. Driving a species that predates us into extinction should truly give us a long, hard pause. But I know nothing's going to happen. I have no words. And I'm Barry Sandy sharing, I used to eat shark fin soup during weddings. I stopped, of course, since they don't taste like anything. And adding, the texture of the fin can easily be replicated with mushrooms, especially woodier. Hopefully the situation will get better. And then finally, regarding the Jake Paul, Mike Tyson fight. While there was a healthy amount of, I don't give a fuck about Jake Paul. One, generally same, but we were gonna cover it because it was one of the most trending stories of the day. And two, there was also a lot of

additional conversation on that story in the comments. With people like Masters saying, this is a lose-lose for Jake. Either he loses and gets mocked for losing to an old man, or he wins and gets ragged on for beating up an old man. Though to that, I would say, you're thinking about it too much from like a moral or like visual perception standpoint. Whereas for Jake Paul, I think he sees this and I think it is a win-win. While so many professional fighters on social media were like, Jake Paul's a scumbag for this, and they were kind of disappointed in Mike Tyson for doing it,

this is, plainly put, a money play. I mean, God knows how much money, win or lose, he's gonna make from this. I mean, it is a fucking Netflix live-streaming event. This is the opportunity to be one of the most live-streamed fights ever. As stupid and or disgusting as you and I might find it to be, it doesn't change the facts of the situation. And who knows, maybe I'm completely wrong and Mike Tyson still has enough of that dog in him at 58 years old when the fight happens. Because let me be clear, I'm not saying Mike Tyson isn't dangerous. He could murder me and so many others. And hey, who knows what's

actually going to happen in the fight. But, and this is the final thing I'll stress, when I commented that for Jake Paul, this is a win-win because of money, some like masters pushed back saying, Thing is, with the monetary incentive, is that Jake Paul's already stupid fucking rich. Like at what point are you rich enough that you should start putting other priorities over them? Here's what I'll say. For a lot of rich people, money is still a motivator. When you ask a rich person how much money would you like, the answer's usually more. Whether it be ego or power or competition with others.

And to think that it's not still a motivator for Jake Paul would be odd. But that is where today's show is going to end. But don't worry, because I will see you soon. Because as always, my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love your faces. And I'll see you right back here tomorrow.