The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 3.15 What Mia Khalifa Catholic Church Backlash Exposes, Zayn Malik, Cheer Mom Deepfakes, & More

Episode Date: March 15, 2021

Lower your phone bill and get a $25 Ting credit at https://phil.ting.com WATCH Markiplier Podcast: https://youtu.be/GjA7oU-7Alw -- WATCH Full “A Convo With” Podcasts: https://www.youtube.com/ACW  LISTEN On The Podcast Platform Of Your Choice: http://LinksHole.com WATCH the ACW Clips channel!: https://youtube.com/ACWClips -- 00:00 - Crazy Cheer Mom Uses Deepfakes Against Daughter’s “Rivals” 02:24 - Are The Grammy’s Still Needed? 04:34 - Vatican Won’t Bless Same-Sex MArriage 06:17 - Avatar Takes Back Crown From Endgame 07:22 - Sponsor 08:16 - COVID Spreader Events and Vaccines 10:13 - Governor Cuomo Asked To Resign By More and More Democrats 12:27 - Biden Admin In Hot Water Over Immigration Handling -- ✩ SUPPORT THE SHOW ✩ ✭ BUY our GEAR, Support the Show!: http://ShopDeFranco.com ✭ Lemme Touch Your Hair: http://BeautifulBastard.com ✭ Paid Subscription: http://DeFrancoElite.com  ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩  Mother of Cheerleader Accused of Making Deepfakes of Daugther’s Teammates: https://roguerocket.com/2021/03/15/deepfake-cheer-mom/ Highlight Moments from the Grammys: https://roguerocket.com/2021/03/15/grammys-2021-highlights-backlash/ Vatican Won’t Bless Same-Sex Marriages: https://apnews.com/article/vatican-decree-same-sex-unions-cannot-bless-sin-077944750c975313ad253328e4cf7443 “Avatar” Overtakes “Avengers: Endgame” in Box Office: https://mashable.com/article/avatar-beats-avengers-box-office/ 100 Arrested in Spring Break Parties as Experts Urge Caution, Fear Surge: https://roguerocket.com/2021/03/15/100-arrested-in-miami/ https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/covid-19-vaccine-doses.html More Politicians Call for Cuomo to Resign: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/cuomo-schwartz-vaccine-calls/2021/03/14/18f2e320-8448-11eb-9ca6-54e187ee4939_story.html Biden Directs FEMA to Help Shelter Migrant Children: https://roguerocket.com/2021/03/15/dhs-fema-migrant-children/ ✩ STORIES NOT IN TODAY’S SHOW ✩  London Police Break Up Vigil for Sarah Everard https://roguerocket.com/2021/03/15/police-break-up-sarah-everard-vigil/ ——————————     Edited by: James Girardier, Julie Goldberg, Maxx Enright Produced by: Amanda Morones Art Director: Brian Borst  Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Cory Ray, Neena Pesqueda, Brian Espinoza Production Team: Zack Taylor ———————————— #DeFranco #MiaKhalifa #Grammys Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sup you beautiful bastards. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco show. It is Monday, March 15th, 2021. Buckle up, hit that like button, otherwise I will punch you in the throat and let's just jump into it. And the first thing that we're gonna talk about today is a genuinely insane story.

And so the way this story goes is you have this high school cheerleading squad. You have these three girls that have a rivalry with this other girl. And so allegedly the mother of this single girl decides, I'm going to make deep fakes of the other girls on the squad to see if I can get them kicked off. Which then resulted in that woman,

50 year old Rafaela Spohn being charged with three misdemeanor counts of cyber harassment of a child. And so reportedly to get back at these girls, Spohn took photos and videos from the girls' social media accounts and then manipulated them to make it look like they were drinking, smoking, and even naked.

But they're then going on to send those deep fakes to the team's coaches and even the owner. Investigators also alleging that Spohn anonymously sent those deep fakes directly to the girls as well as suggesting they kill themselves. And ultimately, as far as how Spohn was caught, the girls began stepping forward to the police one by one. Spohn had reportedly been using an app called Pinger,

which allowed her to hide her real phone number by creating fake ones. But turns out, once the police found out that the numbers were coming from the app, all they had to do was run a search on the IP address, which led them straight to Spohn's home. And while right now it is unclear what provoked Spohn to allegedly victimize these minors,

the father of one of the girls said that he believes that it's because he and his wife told their daughter to stop hanging out with Spohn's daughter because of concerns over her behavior. Also, as far as that daughter, the Philadelphia Inquirer said that Spohn's daughter was unaware of what her mother was doing. Though, also worth noting, in a statement,

Spohn's attorney said, "'She has absolutely denied what they're charging her with "'and because of the fact that this has hit the press, "'she has received death threats. "'She has had to go to the police herself. "'They have a report. "'Her life has been turned upside down.'" But ultimately with this story,

my mind kind of lands on two places. One, if Spohn is actually guilty of everything she is accused of here, oh my God, you psycho. Normally, if we're a douchebag of the day, I get to say, don't be stupid, stupid, but this is next level. And two, I think this highlights the beginning of what's going to become a much, much worse problem.

We've talked about stories in the past where you had celebrity faces being deep faked into porn, but as the technology gets better and better and everything becomes more and more accessible, it's just gonna happen. And while there's kind of an understanding and expectation that people are gonna do this with celebrity images, and so there's a protection

of is it real, is it not? I don't think that everyday people are gonna get that same grace, at least at the beginning. With one expert even noting that in the future, the crimes related to deep fakes could outnumber digital forensic experts. Right, so we're talking about a problem on both a social and a legal level.

And then let's talk about the Grammys being in the news for a number of reasons, and many of which kind of boiled down to a lot of fans going, do the Grammys even matter anymore? Right, but before that, on the more positive end, you had fans of many artists that were victorious last night, happy. We saw things like Meg Thee Stallion,

while she didn't win record of the year, she won three other Grammys. You had Beyonce winning her 28th, meaning she has more Grammys than any other female artist or any singer. But the huge and seemingly growing group of people that are not happy with the Grammys were very vocal. BTS fans, for example, unhappy,

feeling like the Grammys were taking advantage of BTS, despite them being incredibly popular, having huge songs. They were only nominated one time for an award that wasn't even on the air. Many fans also arguing they did this to get BTS to perform for the show. They also put their performance late into the show for a hopeful ratings boost.

Also, as far as record of the year, that went to Billie Eilish, who seemingly didn't feel like she deserved it, saying in her acceptance speech that it should have gone to Meg Thee Stallion, which in effect really highlighted one of the main criticisms that we've been seeing from an increasing number of artists.

Artists like Zayn Malik who tweeted, "'The Grammys are moving in inches and we need to move in miles. "'I'm keeping the pressure on and fighting "'for more transparency and inclusion. "'We need to make sure we are honoring "'and celebrating creative excellence of all. "'End the secret committees.

"'Until then, the Grammys.'" You've also seen The Weeknd permanently boycotting the Grammys. Despite having massive success with After Hours and Blinding Lights, he received zero Grammy nominations. He broke records at one of the most popular and acclaimed albums of the year. It's also why we saw when the Grammys announced nominations

late last year, The Weeknd tweeted, the Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans, and the industry transparency. And that's just an increasing number of artists that are saying this. On the consumer end, ratings for this year's Grammys hit an all-time low. I mean, it's like a catastrophic drop.

Last year, they pulled in 18.7 million people. As of right now, the 2021 numbers are just under 7.9 million. Right, and while the total numbers are expected to rise 15 to 20%, that is horrible. Especially when you learn that the previous low for the Grammys was back in 2006, they didn't have a host and they got 17 million viewers. So while in general,

I would love to know your thoughts on this story. If you are someone that has previously watched the Grammys, but maybe didn't watch this year, why?, I would love to know your thoughts on this story, if you are someone that has previously watched the Grammys, but maybe didn't watch this year, why? I'm really interested to know why, because I feel like there's meaningful answers in that, and it's something that we should all look at and understand. Then let's navigate this minefield and talk about

the Catholic Church. So the Church and Pope Francis were in the news today, because according to the AP, the Vatican decreed Monday that the Catholic Church won't bless same-sex unions since God, quote, "'cannot bless today because according to the AP, the Vatican decreed Monday that the Catholic church won't bless same sex unions since God quote, "'Cannot bless sin.'" With the AP noting, "'The formal response from the congregation

"'for the doctrine of the faith "'distinguished between the church's welcoming "'and blessing of gay people, which it upheld, "'but not their unions.'" And reporting it argued that such unions are not part of God's plan and that any such sacramental recognition could be confused with marriage.

And you know, my response to this story is, this is the worst thing the Catholic church has ever done. I'd rather leave that to the professionals. Even Siri's like, I'm not with him. But you know, LGBT advocates in response to this news, they range from disappointed to furious, with large outspoken creators like Mia Khalifa tweeting, the Pope, bitch.

I mean, even to that, there was a range of reactions. Some agreeing, some saying, how dare you? But also, regarding Pope Francis specifically, this did catch a lot of people off guard because last year, Pope Francis actually voiced his support for same-sex unions in a documentary. And you know, that is kind of the full gist of the story. The rest of it are these big reactions

and debate and arguments. You know, as far as me personally, the only way I can kind of deal with stories like this, because I'm a former Catholic actually, the way I receive stories like this is I have pretty much no faith or love for organized religions, but I have love for individuals. I know plenty of Catholics.

I know plenty of religious people that have no problem whatsoever and so much love in their hearts for people that are LGBTQ. And they don't need for the church or the Pope at that time to issue God's patch updates to be like, Oh, nevermind, something changed. And now these people that were born a certain way, they're not less than.

They're not wrong simply by existing and doing a thing that hurts nobody. Yeah, that's where I'll leave it before I get in any more trouble. And then in this story again, entertainment slash business news, we have Avatar unseating Avengers Endgame as the highest grossing modern movie of all time. And for those unfamiliar, both of these movies globally

grossed over $2.7 billion with Endgame previously having the crown by just 8 million. But over this last weekend, Avatar was rereleased in China and by Saturday had grossed $8.9 million. And following this news, you had a lot of people having a lot of big reactions. Avatar fanboys, very pumped. Endgame people, furious.

Some saying that the re-release is essentially cheating. And my, I don't have a big reaction to this because everything's owned by the Walt Disney Company. I understand that the fandom is real. People are emotionally attached to the franchises, especially the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But me being the asshole that I am, I can't help but see this as people arguing,

which is better, my left hand or my right hand? Because at the end of the day, it just means that Disney won. We should get past this mindset that whatever makes the most money means that it is inherently better. Like that's how Hollywood should decide what's a winner and what's a loser. That shouldn't be how we, as the consumer,

say what wins and loses. It should be, was that good? And then let's talk about a batch of COVID news. We have some good, some bad. Starting with the bad, despite not being over the finish line yet, we are seeing more super spreader events, especially since we're right around spring break,

which has resulted in things like spring break crowds appearing in Miami Beach, Florida. And reportedly that's resulted in violent altercations with the police. There have been reportedly 100 to 150 arrests made over the weekend. There was a thing on Friday resulted in two police ending up in the hospital.

Also, according to reports, officers are working 12 hour shifts to handle the increased traffic. You also have things like Duke University popping up in the news, right, in North Carolina. And this because on Saturday, university leaders sent a letter to students placing them under a mandatory school-wide quarantine

until March 21st. And that is because in one week, more than 180 students tested positive for COVID, while 200 others were forced to quarantine after coming in contact with an infected person. With a school spokesperson later explaining that the cases quote, "'are almost all linked

to unsanctioned fraternity recruitment events that took place off campus and are the direct results of individual behavior in violation of Duke's requirements for in-person activity.'" And you know, with these stories popping up, I think it's important to note, we are not out of the woods yet, right? It's why you have Dr. Anthony Fauci repeatedly advising,

"'Please continue to follow safety measures like mask wearing and social distancing. Yes, you have cases plateauing and even declining in some places, but it's not over. There's a threat of new COVID variants that we need to be wary of. And you also, I mean, you look to Europe. Right now, several countries are seeing case spikes

and new strains after previously loosening restrictions. Right, and as Fauci has said, don't spike the ball on the five yard line. Wait until you get into the end zone. But that said, the light at the end of the tunnel is very clear right now. The Biden administration came in, said we want 100 million vaccinations in the first 100 days.

We're talking about a million vaccinations per day. And the good news is that the United States has destroyed those numbers. We are already over 100 million doses. 21% of US adults have had at least one shot. And the United States for the first time gave nearly 3 million shots in one day on Saturday, which according to the White House chief of staff

is more than any country has administered on any day in the pandemic. It feels like we're right there. We need to not fuck this up. Then let's talk about the world of US politics, starting with New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, where the scandals around him have been growing and growing as more and more people call for him to resign.

But those calls seeming to come to a head at the end of last week, when we saw the state's Democratic Assembly announcing on Thursday that they were launching an impeachment inquiry into sexual misconduct allegations against the governor brought by at least six women, as well as his administration's handling

of coronavirus-related deaths in nursing homes and subsequent efforts to conceal data. Then on Friday, you had 16 of the 19 Democrats that represent New York in the US House issuing almost simultaneous calls for Cuomo to leave office. This, including judiciary chairman, Jerry Nadler, as well as AOC. And that same day, we also saw both state senators

demanding that the governor resign. But as far as Cuomo's response to this, he rejected those requests, also condemning the politicians who were calling for his resignation. With Cuomo in a press conference accusing them of being reckless and dangerous and bowing to cancel culture.

But following this over the weekend, things then got even worse for Cuomo. With several local officials telling reporters that the governor's longtime aid and current COVID czar, Larry Schwartz, implicitly threatened to withhold vaccines from their counties if they spoke out against the governor. And according to the Washington Post, which first broke this story,

multiple county executives said that Schwartz called them in recent weeks to gauge their loyalty to Cuomo amid all the scandals. With one unidentified Democratic county executive telling the Post that they were so upset by the call that they filed a notice of an impending ethics complaint with the public integrity unit of the state's attorney general's office on Friday.

With the executive also saying that they feared that their county's vaccine supply could be hurt if Schwartz wasn't pleased with the response to the questions. But also that official was far from alone. Two unidentified county executives also relayed the response to the questions. But also that official was far from alone. Two unidentified County executives also relayed similar stories to the New York Times with one saying that Schwartz directly pivoted

from discussing Cuomo's political situation to a conversation about vaccine distribution. With the president of the New York State County Executives Association also telling NPR that, quote, three to four executives contacted him or his staff with a heightened sense of alarm and to express their concern and disgust after receiving these calls.

And Schwartz, who was brought on by Cuomo as a volunteer to run the state's vaccine distribution, acknowledged the calls in a statement to the Post, but claiming he did so as a friend of Cuomo's and that he did not discuss vaccines in the conversation. Instead, describing the calls as cordial, respectful, and friendly, saying, "'Nobody indicated that they were uncomfortable

"'or that they did not want to talk to me.'" With him also adding, "'I did nothing wrong. "'I have always conducted myself in a manner commensurate to a high ethical standard. Though, notably he did refuse to answer the post questions as to whether he had taken the ethics oath required by New York state public officers.

And then the final thing that we're gonna talk about today is the US Southern border, and specifically the Southwest border. And that is because over the weekend, the Department of Homeland Security announced that they were deploying FEMA, which of course is more known for responding to natural disasters.

But here they're being deployed to help receive, shelter and transfer unaccompanied migrant children. Right, and so this move is part of a 90 day effort by the Biden administration to process the rapidly growing amount of children and teens trying to enter the country in record numbers after Biden rolled back a number of Trump era immigration policies.

Right, specifically, while Biden has maintained the Trump rule enacted last March that allows the United States to expel almost all migrants on the grounds of preventing further spread of COVID-19, he also issued narrow carve-outs for children and asylum seekers who would otherwise be sent back to Mexico while awaiting their trials. And so the result of that has been a massive influx

of children and teen migrants that the federal government does not have the capacity to accommodate. According to recent reports, about 8,500 teens and children are living in shelters run by Health and Human Services, which is the department tasked with eventually placing them with sponsors. But because the agency has been unable to quickly add the capacity they need to hold the overwhelming number

of child migrants, thousands of kids have instead been packed into detention cells, jail cells, and other holding facilities meant for adults that pose large COVID risks and are unsafe for minors. In fact, as of Sunday, according to government records reviewed by several outlets, US Border Patrol was holding more than 4,200 unaccompanied children in these short-term facilities. And nearly 3,000 of the children that had already been held in Customs and Border

Protection custody had been held longer than 72 hours. And that's 72 number, right? The 72 hours is very important because that's their legal timeframe. They're supposed to be legally required to transfer most unaccompanied minors to the HHS agency tasked with resettlement by them. And one of the concerning things here is that it looks like we have an upward trend. The number legally required to transfer most unaccompanied minors to the HHS agency tasked with resettlement by then. And one of the concerning things here is that it looks like we have an upward trend. The number of children in CBP custody increased 31% from early last week.

And during that same timeframe, the number of kids held for more than 72 hours, more than doubled. And so unsurprisingly, this situation has quickly become a highly politicized situation for Joe Biden in the first weeks and months of his presidency. With Republicans blaming the influx of migrant children

on Biden's policies, with many also arguing that he's incentivized parents to risk their children's safety to send them into the United States with the aim of joining them later. But many Democrats, however, have argued that this is a situation of Biden inheriting the border crisis from Donald Trump, and saying the flow of migrants to the border

is the result of failed policies under Trump's administration. But still more progressive Democrats like AOC have also condemned the Biden administration for reopening facilities to hold migrant children, arguing that it just allows them to hold more kids rather than focus on resettling them. And ultimately, you know, with this story and actually anything else that maybe stood out to you today

I'd love to know your thoughts in those comments down below because this is the end of the video. As always, thanks for being a part of my daily dives into the news. If you're new here, hitting that subscribe button, the like button, all the good stuff. Also, if you're looking for more to watch, we got other news as well as a great podcast.

But with that said, of course, as always, my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love yo faces and I'll see you tomorrow.