The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 3.29 Lil Nas X Exposed, Montero, Satan Shoes, David Dobrik Fallout, Derek Chauvin Trial, & More

Starting point is 00:00:00 So two things I want to say to you before we jump into it. One, whether you're one of the thousands that joined the family last week, or the thousands who've been with me over 15 years now. I realize we've been doing this 15, 16 years. Well, a version of it. I've been like 9, 10 different versions of myself over those years, from crappy edgelord to now, I feel like, almost fully evolved human man. But regardless, no matter the time period, thank you so much for being a part of this.

Starting point is 00:00:23 Thank you for trusting me with minutes from your day. I have no idea why so many of you have stayed with me for so long. I have nothing that I can attribute to my staying power. While so many others have come and gone, I'm perpetually unimpressed by myself. Maybe that's also part of the reason. I'm not sure, but thank you.

Starting point is 00:00:38 Maybe after you like this video, make sure you subscribe to the channel. You let me know in those comments down below. Feed the algorithm gods. Secondly, I uploaded a new video today called I'm Moving, where I announced that I'm moving. And so if you want to know the specifics to that, it's going to be one of the top links down below,

Starting point is 00:00:51 or you can just go to youtube.com slash DeFranco does and subscribe there, you monster. But that said, welcome back to the Philip DeFranco show, and let's just jump into it. So to start off today, we're going to talk about a slew of entertainment slash business news from different pockets of the internet, starting with Lil Nas X.

Starting point is 00:01:05 Or as your parents might know him, the Old Town Road fella. And the reason Lil Nas X is in the news today is because he played outrage culture like a fiddle. Right, so the way this story goes is he releases this new music video for his song, "'Montero, Call Me By Your Name." And actually in connection to this song,

Starting point is 00:01:21 he posted a letter to his 14 year old self on social media, explaining that the song is about a guy I met last summer and adding, I know we promised to never come out publicly. I know we promised to never be quote, that type of gay person. I know we promised to die with the secret, but this will open doors for many other queer people to simply exist.

Starting point is 00:01:36 You see, this is very scary for me. People will be angry. They will say I'm pushing an agenda. But the truth is, I am. The agenda to make people stay the fuck out of other people's lives and stop dictating who they should be. Once the music video was released,

Starting point is 00:01:48 it became a major topic of online conversation. This in large part because of the visuals where you see him sliding down a stripper pole into hell. He then goes on to give Satan a lap dance and then he kills the devil. And almost immediately you saw a wave of backlash, largely from religious people saying that it's inappropriate, horrified of what children might think when they see this. But at the same time, you also have a lot of backlash, largely from religious people saying that it's inappropriate, horrified of what children might think when they see this.

Starting point is 00:02:06 But at the same time, you also have a lot of people praising Lil Nas X, defending him saying, "'When you traumatize a whole generation and more "'of kids with the concept of a literal hell, "'something Jesus never preached, "'don't be surprised if they grow up, "'realize it was a control technique, "'and then use the imagery to make a point in their art.'"

Starting point is 00:02:21 And Lil Nas X himself saying, "'I spent my entire teenage years hating myself because of the shit y'all preached would happen to me because I was gay. So I hope you are mad. Stay mad, feel the same anger you teach us to have towards ourselves.'" But that's also not where the backlash ended

Starting point is 00:02:35 with people angry at Lil Nas X, Mischief, and Nike. And this because Lil Nas X decided to announce that he was collaborating with Mischief on a limited edition Satan sneaker that apparently contains a drop of human blood. They're modeled after the Nike Air Max 97s, but incredibly big note here, Nike has denied any involvement with this,

Starting point is 00:02:51 though that has not stopped people from saying, "'I'm boycotting Nike, how dare they?' But yeah, they were actually not involved with this. They've released a statement on it. Yeah, the announcement of this drop resulted in a number of people that you would expect, but also might not expect to comment on this publicly.

Starting point is 00:03:06 This including South Dakota governor Christine Noem getting in a Twitter fight with Lil Nas X. With Noem tweeting, our kids are being told that this kind of product is not only okay, it's exclusive. But do you know what's more exclusive? Their God given eternal soul. We are in a fight for the soul of our nation. We need to fight hard and we need to fight smart.

Starting point is 00:03:25 We have to win. With Lil Nas X responding, you're a whole governor and you want to hear tweeting about some damn shoes? Do your job. You also had the likes of Miss I've never found a situation I couldn't make about myself, Candace Owens tweeting. We've turned George Floyd, a criminal drug addict,

Starting point is 00:03:38 into an icon. We are promoting Satan shoes to wear on our feet. We've got Cardi B named as woman of the year, but we're convinced it's white supremacy that's keeping black America behind. How stupid can we be? With Lil Nas X then going on to call her a flop and saying, you know you did something right when she talks about it. And finally for this action, you also had Caitlyn Bennett, aka Gun Girl, tweeting, it's weeks like this that I'm thankful to be blocked by Lil Nas X. With him responding, I still see your tweets, shitty pants. Caitlyn then saying, do you still see your dad? To which

Starting point is 00:04:03 he responds, yep, and I might fuck yours. To which Caitlyn plays her delusional victim card and accuses him of saying that he's going to rape her dad. To which I would say Caitlyn, no. It appears pretty obvious that he wants to have consensual relations with your father. Possibly it develops into a long-term relationship and maybe he gets to be your stepfather

Starting point is 00:04:22 and or at the very least a father figure. I don't want to pressure them to involve the government in their relationship. If they choose to say I do, it's on them. And also say congratulations to Caitlin and all these other people for promoting and making the thing that you seemingly do not like incredibly successful.

Starting point is 00:04:38 One, a ton of you constantly reveal what hypocrites you are. You say that you stand against the virtue signaling, moral outrage machine when that is what you are. And two, you let the professional troll that is Lil Nas X play you like a fiddle and just boost him to massive success. The music video is now huge on all platforms. His shoes that he was selling sold out in under a minute. And you made it so normies like me

Starting point is 00:05:01 who probably would have never watched the music video, watch the music video to see what the heck you were freaking out about which by the way if I can end on a few notes here one I want people to know my dislike and my criticism is not of all religion and all religious people But rather is 100 targeted towards individuals who use religion as a way to target lgbtq people Make them feel less than persecute them try to limit their rights, right? So understand if you are in that more specific group, I definitely do not like you.

Starting point is 00:05:27 Also, two, to the people saying that this video promotes Satan worship, did you, why did you not watch the video? He's obviously trolling on the notion of people have told him and so many other LGBTQ people that they're going to hell. I see this as him saying, I was born this way. I wasn't seduced by the devil.

Starting point is 00:05:42 I can seduce the devil. And then he kills the devil. And mischief aren't Satanists either. They're equal opportunity offenders. They've previously dropped Jesus shoes that they said contained holy water from the river Jordan. Though I will say this situation could prove to be painful for mischief.

Starting point is 00:05:57 And that's because as I was finishing up today's show, it got reported that Nike is apparently suing mischief. With TMZ reporting that Nike is suing for trademark infringement because the famous swoosh logo is still prominently featured on X's shoes. And adding it wants damages and perhaps more importantly for Nas X,

Starting point is 00:06:11 Nike wants the judge to block all sales for the Satan shoe. But anyway, that is where I'm gonna end easily my favorite story of the day. And hey, there's a story, a bunch of opinions, my opinion, and now I pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts on this? And then let's talk about the latest updates around the David Dobrik, Dirty Dom situation that we've been covering.

Starting point is 00:06:27 One of the biggest announcements that came at the end of last week is we had YouTube officially releasing a statement where you had many people wondering if and when they would do it, what would they say? What we saw was a spokesperson saying to Insider, we have strict policies that prohibit sexual harassment on YouTube

Starting point is 00:06:40 and take allegations of sexual assault very seriously. And adding, we have temporarily suspended monetization on David Dobrik and Dirty Dom's channels for violating our creator responsibility policy. And this is both meaningful and kind of inconsequential. It is meaningful because when you have one of the biggest platforms in the world speaking out about one of their top creators and cracking down on them,

Starting point is 00:06:58 that is a big thing. Though I would say given the timing of this announcement, it feels more precautionary as a way to protect the platform itself, as well as all the other creators who make money from ads being on their videos. No creator wants another adpocalypse. And it's also inconsequential

Starting point is 00:07:12 because David Dobrik was already often demonetized by YouTube, right? This is something that Dobrik has been very public about. He has talked about in the past. So the actual economic impact here is pretty much gonna be non-existent. At least, you know, on YouTube, right? With this specific update.

Starting point is 00:07:24 Because yes, as we've talked about before, he's already lost deals with big sponsors. It's affected his business ventures. But you know, that's why a lot of people see this YouTube move as more symbolic and posturing. And in addition to the business side here, we also saw Todd Smith, a member of the Vlog Squad, issuing a public apology, writing,

Starting point is 00:07:38 "'This is an apology to Hannah and her friends "'in acknowledgement of my role "'and the trauma they went through that night "'and the pain they carried every day since. Saying he was sorry to be part of the environment that led to what happened. Apologizing for the joke that he made at the end of the video about the friend group

Starting point is 00:07:50 going to jail as a result of what happened that night. And continuing, and I imagine this part because there've been more and more fingers pointed towards him. Although I never left the apartment until it was time to go and never purchased alcohol for anybody that night, I did hop up and make a joke for the vlog.

Starting point is 00:08:02 I was trying to say something edgy and crude for a laugh, but it was not funny and I'm ashamed of myself." And ultimately, that is where we are regarding the story and the updates. I don't know if anything's gonna be coming out soon. It feels very much like the situation has calmed down, although obviously there's been so much fallout. Yeah, for now, I mean, we just have to wait

Starting point is 00:08:19 and see what happens next, see what the whole thing looks like. Then, let's definitely talk about these Chinese officials today warning foreign clothing retailers in the country not to voice political dissent. This, notably, as many now face boycotts and paralyzing crackdowns over their refusal to buy materials from Xinjiang.

Starting point is 00:08:33 Right, we've talked about Xinjiang a number of times on this show. It's a region in Western China where over a million minority Muslims have been detained in reeducation camps, AKA internment camps that have been widely condemned for forced labor practices, for sterilizing women, and even for genocide.

Starting point is 00:08:48 So as a result, a number of companies, including H&M, Nike, Calvin Klein, Burberry, and others have all said that they and their suppliers would no longer source cotton from the region. But because of this, last week we saw Chinese state media officially begin targeting these companies. In fact, H&M being singled out in particular. So among the crackdowns that we saw,

Starting point is 00:09:06 searches for H&M on China's largest online shopping platforms, including Alibaba were blocked. Brand ambassadors for H&M began saying that they were cutting ties with the company, saying that they were smearing China with lies. Hell, even brick and mortar stores on online maps no longer pulled up as results. With it then being reported that people were unable

Starting point is 00:09:22 to hail taxis to those stores. And in fact, several H&M stores have now even been shuttered by landlords. Other companies, of course, also having issues. Some things like their apps disappearing from the app store. And so because of all of this, we started seeing the Chinese arms of some companies seemingly backtracking on their international counterparts

Starting point is 00:09:37 opposition to the sourcing in Xinjiang. This, including the likes of Zara and Hugo Boss. But I mean, as far as what happens from here, what kind of impacts we see, we'll have to wait and see. Also, as far as companies in the news, we should definitely talk about this news around Amazon. And this because last week, the Twitter account for Amazon News

Starting point is 00:09:54 attracted the internet's attention because it began engaging in a series of snarky tweets to democratic lawmakers. And now thanks to a new report from Vox's Recode, we may actually know the reason why this happened. With it reportedly being because Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos, was quote, pissed. In fact, according to a new report from Vox's Recode, we may actually know the reason why this happened, with it reportedly being because Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos was quote, pissed. In fact, according to Vox,

Starting point is 00:10:09 Bezos expressed dissatisfaction that company officials weren't more aggressive in how they pushed back against criticisms of the company that he and other leaders deem inaccurate or misleading, with him then reportedly giving a broad mandate to fight back. And so we have that, which seems to explain part of this equation,

Starting point is 00:10:24 but there was also the other question of, okay, what is this about? Right, and so as for what's in question here, on Wednesday, it was reported that Senator Bernie Sanders was traveling to Alabama to meet with Amazon workers who've been pushing to unionize. So here we saw in a statement on Twitter, Amazon consumer chief, Dave Clark,

Starting point is 00:10:37 saying he welcomed Sanders and quote, "'Appreciates his push for a progressive workplace.'" Though he also added, "'I often say we are the Bernie Sanders of employers, but that's not quite right because we actually deliver a progressive workplace. Though he also added, "'I often say we are the Bernie Sanders of employers, but that's not quite right because we actually deliver a progressive workplace for our constituents. A $15 minimum wage, healthcare from day one, career progression, and a safe and inclusive work environment.'"

Starting point is 00:10:55 So if you want to hear about $15 an hour in healthcare, Senator Sanders will be speaking downtown. But if you would like to make at least $15 an hour and have good healthcare, Amazon is hiring. From there we saw the likes of US Representative Mark Pocan jumping into the mix, quote tweeting Clark and saying, Paying workers $15 an hour doesn't make you a progressive workplace when you union bust and make workers urinate in water bottles. So that one, referring to Amazon's efforts to keep employees from unionizing, telling them that unions cost too much money and that the company already provides enough benefits for its workers. And also two, it's a reference from a 2018 report in which British author, James Bloodworth,

Starting point is 00:11:28 who went undercover at an Amazon warehouse said that he found a bottle of urine on a warehouse shelf. With Bloodworth saying, work culture in the warehouse was like a prison and that workers were admonished for taking restroom breaks. Then in a reply to Pokin, we saw the account for Amazon News say,

Starting point is 00:11:41 you don't really believe the peeing in bottle things, do you? If that were true, nobody would work for us. We hope you can enact policies that get other employers to offer what we already do.'" With Pocan then replying, "'And yes, I do believe you're workers. You don't?' And so because of this back and forth,

Starting point is 00:11:54 I mean, we began to see Amazon trending on Twitter. Many people very confused and shocked at the tone of Amazon's tweets. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also adding her voice and replying to Amazon saying, "'This you?' and including a letter in which a manager notes three instances Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Corta is also adding her voice and replying to Amazon saying this you, and including a letter in which a manager notes three instances where bags of poop

Starting point is 00:12:08 had been found by drivers. And in addition to this, we've also seen Amazon news and Senator Elizabeth Warren going back and forth. But all that said, while these exchanges have been going on, Amazon workers at a warehouse in Alabama have actually been voting over the last couple of months

Starting point is 00:12:20 on whether or not to unionize. And this week is a very big week because today the voting ends. Count counting is expected to begin tomorrow. And if successful, this would become the first Amazon warehouse in the United States to be represented by a union. But understand this is bigger than just one warehouse. If successful, there are hopes and fears, depending on which side of the line you're on,

Starting point is 00:12:38 that this could result in a chain reaction. Either internally with Amazon, which is the second largest private employer in the United States with 800,000 plus employees, and internally with Amazon, which is the second largest private employer in the United States with 800,000 plus employees, and or with other companies and their employees when people realize, oh, if people at Amazon can do it, so can we. Then, while this story is going to involve a lot of waiting

Starting point is 00:12:54 and seeing, it's definitely important that we mention that the trial of Derek Chauvin started today. He, of course, the former Minneapolis police officer for legal reasons, I will describe as having been accused of killing George Floyd, with many experts calling this one of the most significant trials in modern American history, and Chauvin is facing three different charges. Two murder charges of second degree unintentional murder

Starting point is 00:13:14 and third degree murder, for which he faces up to 40 and 25 years in prison respectively, as well as another lesser charge of second degree manslaughter, which is punishable by up to 10 years. And to kind of oversimplify this, the reason there are several charges here is they want to see what they can get him on. All right, the second degree chargelaughter, which is punishable by up to 10 years. And to kind of oversimplify this, the reason there are several charges here is they want to see what they can get him on. The second degree charge here

Starting point is 00:13:28 that has the highest possible punishment is also going to be the hardest to prove. Whereas for the lowest charge, the manslaughter charge, that has the lowest burden of proof. With the prosecutors only having to prove there that Chauvin took an unreasonable risk, which contributed to Floyd's death. Right, and so you have a lot of experts saying

Starting point is 00:13:41 it just makes sense to have this broad possibility of charges because historically, US juries have let police off. But yeah, main thing, I kind of just wanted to set this up for you. We're gonna keep an eye on this story, which is expected to last for about a month. Then let's talk about a small batch

Starting point is 00:13:54 of COVID-19 related news, starting with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky asking the public to please not light up yet. I'm gonna lose the script and I'm gonna reflect on the recurring feeling I have of impending doom. We do not have the luxury of inaction.

Starting point is 00:14:09 For the health of our country, we must work together now to prevent a fourth surge. So I'm speaking today, not necessarily as your CDC director, and not only as your CDC director, but as a wife, as a mother, as a daughter, to ask you to just please hold on a little while longer. You know, this is a big thing that we have to keep in mind because while we've been seeing more and more positive headlines, like the number of people being vaccinated, as well as the news that massive states like New York and California, that the vaccinations

Starting point is 00:14:37 will be opening up to pretty much everyone very soon. California is set for April 15th, and New York as of tomorrow, it's 30 plus. Next week, it's expected 16 plus. But at the same time, we're also seeing coronavirus cases rising in places like Michigan, New York, New Jersey, and other Northeastern states.

Starting point is 00:14:53 With experts saying this is because of a number of factors. We're seeing increased travel, states loosening restrictions, variants of the virus becoming more widespread. And nationally, we saw the seven day average for new cases increasing over 10%. So that is why we're seeing pleas from people like Walensky and Dr. Fauci.

Starting point is 00:15:08 We also, in other news, had Dr. Birx in the news. She, of course, was the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator under Trump. She's in the news because of an interview she gave in the now released documentary, "'COVID War, The Pandemic Doctors Speak Out." And in this, she's asked how big of a difference she believes it would have made

Starting point is 00:15:22 if Trump had mitigated earlier. Well, I look at it this way. The first time we have an excuse, there were about 100,000 deaths that came from that original surge. All of the rest of them, in my mind, could have been mitigated or decreased substantially. Right, so since last February,

Starting point is 00:15:42 nearly 550,000 people have died of COVID-19 in the US. She's also not the only one we see kind of speaking out now. You had former CDC director, Robert Redfield as well. But you know, the real reason that Dr. Birx was in the news is essentially everyone was angry at her. You know, that statement is kind of hyperbolic, but not really. You have a lot of Trump supporters saying,

Starting point is 00:15:59 oh, you're trying to save face, shut up. As well as a bunch of people on the other side saying, you're only speaking out now because it's a PR stunt. You're trying to restore your image. With many pointing to how Dr. Birx had praised Trump for his response early in the pandemic, specifically saying in March of last year, he was so attentive to the scientific literature

Starting point is 00:16:13 and the details and the data. Others also pointing to times where Birx herself presented overly optimistic data. Right, and saying this while he was still downplaying the virus, comparing it to the flu, pushing hydroxychloroquine over the objections of his scientific advisors. You know, personally where I land with this is,

Starting point is 00:16:28 yeah, I agree that this is kind of a PR image scrubbing for Birx. I'll admit, I have no understanding of the true complexity of the situation that she was in, right, allowing certain things to be said publicly. Maybe she was trying to do good behind the scenes. But for me personally, and it ultimately comes down to a core gut thing,

Starting point is 00:16:47 she just feels like a floundering shill to me. That may not be fair, that may not be accurate, but that's how I feel and see it. And then the final bit of COVID news is that this morning, the CDC announced that it is extending its national ban on evictions until June 30th. And that was a really big announcement because, I mean, we were just two days away

Starting point is 00:17:00 from this thing expiring. But like almost everything, this has still proven to be divisive because while many have applauded this move saying this is gonna save millions of people from evictions, but on the other side of this, you have the likes of landlords and their trade groups pushing back against the various federal

Starting point is 00:17:13 and local eviction bans all throughout the pandemic, arguing that this is hurting them. And particularly here, we're seeing landlords of smaller buildings who have less access to federal aid. But also even on the other side of this, you have housing advocates saying that this does not go far enough

Starting point is 00:17:25 and only pushes the problem further down the road. According to the Census Bureau, more than 8 million American households are currently behind on their rent. And while the moratorium does prevent them from being evicted while this is in place, once it ends, all those people will be responsible for all the rent that they owe.

Starting point is 00:17:40 And if they cannot pay it all back, they cannot come to an agreement, they can be evicted then. So as a result, you have a lot of experts saying without billions of dollars in rental assistance, we are looking at a massive eviction crisis. But also, I mean, in addition to that, you have numerous experts who have said there are already too many loopholes

Starting point is 00:17:53 in the existing protections. Loopholes in the existing protections that have led to thousands of evictions of people who should have been protected. With one major example of this being if a renter's lease ends, landlords can claim that they are evicting the renter because they did not want to renew the lease

Starting point is 00:18:06 and not because of nonpayment of rent. So essentially while we wait to see how far we can kick this can down the road, something to know if you are a renter, many states you are now able to apply for the upwards of 25 billion in federal rental assistance approved under the last stimulus bill, which I'll link down below.

Starting point is 00:18:19 But a thing to understand there is we don't know right now if that will go far enough to prevent or at least even alleviate the looming eviction crisis. You know, ultimately with this story or really anything that stood out to you today, I'd love to know your thoughts in those comments down below because this is the end of today's show.

Starting point is 00:18:34 As always, if you're new or a vet of the show, thanks for being a part of my daily dives into the news, subscribe and like and all the good stuff. As always, if you're looking for more to watch, I got that brand new podcast for you, or maybe you missed the last Philip DeFranco show, you can click or tap right there to watch either of those right now, or you know the top link

Starting point is 00:18:48 in the description. 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.

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The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 3.29 Lil Nas X Exposed, Montero, Satan Shoes, David Dobrik Fallout, Derek Chauvin Trial, & More

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