The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 3.14 SevenAwesomeKids Controversy & Jail Time, Shroud Ninja Apex Dollars, & Facebook Panic

Starting point is 00:00:00 Sup you beautiful bastards, hope you're having a fantastic Thursday. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show and let's just jump into it. And the first thing we're gonna talk about today is a massive update on a really troubling story we talked about a long time ago. There have been updates along the way. Specifically what I'm talking about are the updates around the controversy surrounding the 7 Awesome Kids channels and their creator Ian Ryland. You might remember the last time we talked about this story was back in September after Ryland was arrested for lewd and lascivious molestation and child abuse. But if you are not familiar, here's a quick refresher. Seven Awesome Kids was a massively popular YouTube channel

Starting point is 00:00:29 that had six other channels associated with it, totaling 17 million subscribers, and the most popular among them was Seven Super Girls. And Rylett was accused of asking a 15-year-old girl to undress in front of him and ask her to practice wrapping her breasts. He also allegedly groped her, attempted to forcibly remove her underwear,

Starting point is 00:00:43 and verbally assaulted her. And this 15-year-old girl was reportedly part of the Seven Awesome Kids network. And initially, Rylett pleaded not guilty to these charges, and at the time, YouTube demonetized the videos, but they didn't take the channel down, alluding that it was waiting for either a conviction or a guilty plea. And reportedly, Rylett was looking at potentially 15 years. Which brings us to now, because last week, Rylett reached an agreement with prosecutors to avoid a trial, and potentially those 15 years in prison if he was found guilty of those molestation charges. And so instead what's happening is he's pleading guilty to child abuse and Rylett is being sentenced to just 90 days in Florida Jail,

Starting point is 00:01:12 29 of which have already been served as he awaited trial. In addition to that, after serving his time in jail, he'll be on probation for five years and the judge also said he is allowed, quote, no contact with a victim or her mother, may not work or volunteer in any capacity with any minors under the age of 18, and have no contact with any minors under the age of 18 with the exception of own biological child, which is his daughter. And also as far as what's happening outside of the legal realm,

Starting point is 00:01:34 YouTube has now taken down Seven Awesome Kids and its affiliated channels, adding in a statement, "'We take safety on YouTube very seriously. "'We work closely with leading child safety organizations "'and others in our industry to protect young people. When we're made aware of serious allegations of this nature, we take action, which may include terminating channels upon conclusion of an investigation." Which, if you remember, is actually the same statement they gave back in September. And my personal reaction to this is, well, I am happy that there are a lot of restrictions in place as far as who he can be around, thus hopefully keeping people safe.

Starting point is 00:02:02 90 days seems like an incredibly underwhelming sentence for what he was accused of. For him to plead guilty and take a deal, it seems like there was definitely something there, but I wonder if the prosecution just couldn't have enough to definitely guarantee they would get a guilty verdict. Right, you don't just get blocked from being around people under the age of 18 for no reason.

Starting point is 00:02:21 But that is where we are with the story right now. I wanted to provide an update since it was such a big story back then. And I know there are people out there that credit me for raising awareness to this story. No, it's actually, if anything, I would say it's Daniel Tosh. Daniel Tosh talked about these channels on his show,

Starting point is 00:02:34 Tosh.0, and from there it kind of snowballed. You know, when it comes to these stories and situations on these platforms about kids, I think if you see something, say something, which also extends to report something. Yeah, that's where that story ends, and of course I'd love to know your thoughts on it. Then let's talk about this entertainment slash industry

Starting point is 00:02:49 slash money news involving Apex Legends and Ninja among others. And if you don't know what I'm talking about here, according to Reuters, top gamer Ninja made $1 million to promote EA's Apex Legends launch. And this, according to Reuters, is coming from an unnamed source, although it is important to point out

Starting point is 00:03:03 that representatives for EA and Ninja have not confirmed this number. And following this news, of course, there were very different reactions. Some people essentially responding, yeah, get that money, well-deserved. Others saying, wow, how ridiculous, this is a joke. And, you know, there are also actually people in the middle that were like, yeah, good for you, Ninja, for getting that check, but it really wasn't necessary. Right? Tweets like, good for Ninja, seriously, but Apex really didn't need it. Solid game, that's a blast to play. Others saying, guys guys like lyric and Shrow picked it up instantly without getting sponsored. It's a great game That's why I gained so much momentum, but actually on that note and to that tweet professional streamer and gamer dr. Lupo responded

Starting point is 00:03:35 They were both part of the same activation as many of us. Sorry to burst your bubble It is a great game though If you go to those creators accounts, you can see those sponsored posts And so that's part of the story that I think does need to be noted. It's not just Ninja, this was a coordinated effort. As far as where I land on this situation, I personally think that this is money fantastically spent by Respawn and EA.

Starting point is 00:03:52 I know that for a lot of people, it's going to rub them the wrong way and seem like the most alien thing in the world that someone is getting paid a million dollars to play a video game. But when you look at the gaming industry and specifically the battle royale genre, there is so much money to be made.

Starting point is 00:04:05 For example, reportedly in 2018, Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite, brought in $3 billion. And some estimates say that $2.4 billion was just from Fortnite. So there's a ton of money to be made, so how do you promote your product? Well hopefully you actually make a fantastic game, and in my opinion, Apex Legends is a fantastic game,

Starting point is 00:04:21 because if it's not good, it's not gonna be sticky, and it's not gonna keep people. And then you throw a boatload of cash at the streamers that helped popularize the battle royale genre, they helped popularize Fortnite, they keep it relevant, although there is a symbiotic relationship there between streamers and the game. For example, with Fortnite, we saw Fortnite rising

Starting point is 00:04:36 along with Ninja and then later Tfue. With the growth and success of Apex Legends, you've seen, I mean, one of the people that was mentioned before, Shroud, has had, oh my God, a crazy month. And rightfully so, watching his gameplay is insane. You know, you do it in this big way with the big players on the scene

Starting point is 00:04:51 and it just becomes unavoidable. People see it, people go, whoa, why did everyone all of a sudden switch? What's this new thing that hopefully looks awesome and if the product is actually good, people are gonna pick it up. Right, because you can have a great thing, but if no one knows about it, it doesn't matter.

Starting point is 00:05:03 I think when you look at the numbers around Apex Legends, it made sense and it worked. Reportedly, just in the first three days, they got 10 million sign-ups. It was also announced around 10 days ago that Apex Legends hit 50 million players. Obviously, those are big numbers, those matter, but the numbers that are gonna matter the most are gonna be your concurrent active players right now, compared to three months from now. Right, is Apex Legends just a splash now, or does it actually have some legs? Are they going to constantly update things, both in game as well as communication with their audience? And you can say what you want

Starting point is 00:05:29 about any individual Fortnite change, but you can't say that they haven't tried to keep things fresh and new and just changing it. It's a certain times where it's just weird. Right, so what is the Apex Legends version of evolution or updates look like? But, I mean, as far as the initial launch, I think you can't say it's anything

Starting point is 00:05:45 but a massive success for them. And so what my response would be to anyone kind of looking at this cock-eyed is just because you don't get it or you don't personally see value in it, does not mean that thing does not have worth. And if anything, if you are even remotely in this space, I would say that this is a reason why you should pay even more attention.

Starting point is 00:05:59 But hey, that's the story, my personal opinion, and of course, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. Then we should mention the news that yesterday had Instagram models and your oversharing aunt that likes to spread fake news shook. I meant to say panicked, but shook came out of my face. I'm leaving that in there, so we both have to live with that shame and cringe. Yeah, Instagram and Facebook were down, so you saw all these panicked people on Twitter. A lot of people were wondering why was Facebook being attacked?

Starting point is 00:06:21 But around that note, yesterday Facebook tweeted, Can confirm that the issue is not related to a DDoS attack. The Facebook outage was also said to have been their longest ever. But still there was a lot of speculation. According to reports, you had a network management firm by the name of Netscout blaming the issue on a separate cause. Specifically a type of routing issue known as a border gateway protocol, BGP leak. However, that was contested and they later walked that claim back. Today we saw Facebook explain what happened, saying,

Starting point is 00:06:44 Yesterday as a result of a server configuration change, many people had trouble accessing our apps and services. and they later walked that claim back. Today we saw Facebook explain what happened, saying, So there we have an official statement and answer as far as what happened, why it happened, and I think it also serves as a second thing. I think it serves as a reminder, whether you be a creator or an advertiser, to not put all your eggs in one basket. Like I mean I know that we were just talking about advertising and the digital space but I really do wonder how much money people lost yesterday. Right, how many people ran time sensitive campaigns, how many people paid influencers to post something and then people weren't able to access it.

Starting point is 00:07:18 I mean I know a few people that run online only businesses and Facebook's like 85% of their sales. But that said, Facebook and Instagram are back. You get the carefully posed booty pics and Tina's unrequested opinions on immigration. And the last thing we're going to talk about today is this horrible story coming out of Brazil. If you didn't see, yesterday two attackers opened fire at a school near Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Starting point is 00:07:38 Security camera footage showed two men wearing ski masks entering the Raul School in Suzano at 9.30 a.m. Reportedly one of the men immediately started firing at students and according to police, they brought a handgun, crossbow, hatchet, knives, and Molotov cocktails. And it's been confirmed that they killed at least eight people before killing themselves.

Starting point is 00:07:54 Reportedly, five of those killed were students who were all around 15 years old, according to police. Two others were employees at the school. And in addition to that, reportedly before entering the school, they also shot and killed the owner of a rental car agency and then stole a car. And regarding that note, it was also later discovered that the owner of the agency was the uncle of one of the attackers. As far as the number of people injured, that is unclear. You have the New York Times and the Associated Press reporting nine people.

Starting point is 00:08:15 Meanwhile, you have Voice of America and Vice reporting over 20 injured. And as far as the police response, reportedly they arrived at the school about eight minutes after the shooting started, but at that time the men had already killed themselves. Now the motive of the attack is still officially unknown, but it was revealed that the attackers were both former students at that school. The report saying that one was 17 years old, the other was 25. It was also reported that the 17 year old was enrolled at the school as recently as last year, but had dropped out. And actually following the attack, his mother told a Brazilian newspaper that her son had been bullied at school. Reportedly saying, bullying they call it, he stopped going to school because of this. But she also said that she was surprised when he was involved in the shooting and only found out about the attack from the TV

Starting point is 00:08:50 coverage. Although it should be noted that just minutes before the shooting he reportedly posted 26 photos on his Facebook page including several with a gun. This morning we also saw reports that the police are saying the attack was inspired by the 1999 attack on Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado when two students killed 13 people. And according to an investigator who spoke to Reuters on the condition of anonymity, the former students spent more than a year planning their attack, which they quote, hoped would draw more attention than the Columbine massacre. And following this attack, we saw a number of Brazilian politicians responding. During a press conference at the school, the governor of Sao Paulo, João Doria, stated, Doria also tweeting, in the state of Sao Paulo. We also saw the State Secretary of Education say, if only we could have identified the difficulties of these boys, this is a problem in our society. Also we saw a response from Brazil's president, Jair Bolsonaro.

Starting point is 00:09:51 He tweeted his condolences and said that this was a monstrosity and cowardice without size. But on that note, there are many people that feel Bolsonaro's statement is empty. And the reason for that is one of Bolsonaro's main campaign promises was to crack down on criminals and violence, and he vowed to achieve this in part by expanding public access to

Starting point is 00:10:06 Guns and you know sure enough one of the first things that he did after he was inaugurated back in January was issuing a decree That made it easier for Brazilian citizens to buy guns But now because of yesterday's shooting it started a debate among political leaders about gun control with some saying and you could have predicted this if You pay any attention to any US news that arming teachers could have prevented the killings while others say that easier access to guns will Only lead to more deaths Which is a pretty top of mind topic for Brazil because it has one of the highest homicide rates in the world In fact, according to the Brazilian forum of public safety Brazil saw over 63,800 violent deaths in 2017 And looking into those numbers reportedly 20% of those deaths were caused by police which comes to about 14 police related deaths per day

Starting point is 00:10:42 But it should also be noted that mass shootings are rare in Brazil. The last mass shooting was in 2011 when a 23 year old man killed 12 teenagers at a school in Rio de Janeiro. The gunman there was actually also a former student of the school in question. But as far as the gun debate following yesterday's shooting, pro-gun politicians were quick to defend looser regulation.

Starting point is 00:10:58 Of note, you had President Bolsonaro's son, Flavio Bolsonaro, blaming the shooting on gun restriction rules introduced back in 2003 that restrict the purchase and possession of guns tweeting Another tragedy involving a minor and attests to the failure of the ill-fated disarmament statutes still in force And another supporter of looser gun laws and a Brazilian senator tweeting As long as the weapons are illegal only the illegal ones will have weapons Failure and shamelessness of the disarmament policy farce that armed criminals and prevented self-defense

Starting point is 00:11:23 Another sad tragedy that shows the need to reduce the penal aid, and it has no age. However, on the other side of this, opponents of these claims point to research done by the Brazilian government back in 2014, because that research showed that for every 1% increase in arms in circulation in Brazil, there is a 2% increase in homicides. But ultimately that is a story with the information we have so far, some of the fallout from it, some of the debate that we are going to see. I will say also as an American, it's interesting to see this debate

Starting point is 00:11:48 and the situation happen elsewhere. And so it'll be interesting to see how similar or different the fallout from something like this is. But with that said, I do wanna end this story on two notes. One, I know it's just words, but my thoughts and well wishes to all of those affected by this horrible, horrible, cowardly attack. And two, around this story, I'd love to know your thoughts. And I mean, there's a lot of different affected by this horrible, horrible, cowardly attack, and to around this story,

Starting point is 00:12:05 I'd love to know your thoughts. And I mean, there's a lot of different things to comment on, whether it be the gun control debate in general, the attack, at least at this time, seemingly being inspired by a previous attack, which I think, you know, it reopens the conversation of not showing names, not showing faces, but really any and all thoughts you have on this.

Starting point is 00:12:21 With that said, that is where I'm going to end today's show. Also, if you're a new viewer, if you want to jump into the news with us on the daily, be sure to subscribe. Definitely click that bell to turn on notifications. Which on that note, if you did miss the last Philip DeFranco show or the Extra Morning News Deep Dive, you can click or tap right there to watch those. But with that said, of course, as always, my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love your faces and I'll see you tomorrow.

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The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 3.14 SevenAwesomeKids Controversy & Jail Time, Shroud Ninja Apex Dollars, & Facebook Panic

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