The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 3.6 R Kelly Plays Victim Card, Teen Fights Anti-Vax Misinformation, & Shane Dawson + Youtube

Starting point is 00:00:00 Sup you beautiful bastards, hope you're having a fantastic Wednesday. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show, and let's just jump into it. And the first thing we're going to be talking about today is the news around R. Kelly. If you didn't see, CBS this morning aired an interview with him where he discussed the allegations of sexual abuse against him with Gayle King. And if you need a quick refresher, R. Kelly is currently facing 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse against four victims, three of whom were underage. And he's also currently under investigation for other cases in two states. And as far as those previously mentioned charges, he is pleading not guilty.

Starting point is 00:00:28 Now this interview, which King says lasted 80 minutes, contains some pretty heated moments and has just blown up. It started with Kelly claiming that the people who have spoken out against him are lying and denying that he ever did anything illegal. Why are you sitting down with us today? I'm very tired of all of the lies. I've been hearing things and seeing things

Starting point is 00:00:47 on the blogs. I'm just tired. Have you broken any laws when it comes to women? Absolutely not. Kang also asked him specifically about the documentary Surviving R. Kelly which included several accounts from his alleged victims as well as others who knew Kelly. Are you saying everybody in that documentary was

Starting point is 00:01:03 not telling the truth about you? Everybody? If you really look at that documentary, which I'm sure you have. I have. Everybody said something bad about me. Nobody said nothing good. They was describing Lucifer. I'm not Lucifer.

Starting point is 00:01:21 I'm a man. I make mistakes, but I'm not a devil. And by no means am I a monster King then brought up the reports that Kelly had been holding people against their will Which is when the interview I mean it really started to take a turn That's stupid guys Is this camera on me? That's stupid

Starting point is 00:01:38 Use your common sense Don't forget the blogs Forget how you feel about me Hate me if you want to Love me if you want But just love me if you want me, but just use your common sense. Stop it. Y'all quit playing. Quit playing.

Starting point is 00:01:50 I didn't do this stuff. This is not me, y'all. I'm fighting for my life. Y'all killing me with this. We see Kelly get up. He's walking around. He's yelling. 30 years of my career, and y'all trying to kill me!

Starting point is 00:02:07 You're killing me, man! This ain't not about music! I'm trying to have a relationship with my kids and I can't do it! Y'all just don't wanna believe the truth! You don't wanna believe it! Kingman says that they paused the interview after this moment and that Kelly's publicist

Starting point is 00:02:24 helped him gain his composure back. But even then, after the interview picks back up, Kelly goes back into a rant. I hope this camera keep going. No, we're gonna let the camera keep rolling. This is not true! I know. This doesn't even make sense! Why would I hold all these women?

Starting point is 00:02:38 And eventually King had to reel him back in and ask him to stop ranting and told him that he was playing the victim. Robert, we have to have a conversation. This is what I mean. I don't want you just ranting at the camera. I came here for them to hear me talk. I need help. What kind of help? This is the kind of help I need. Yes. What kind of help? I need somebody to help me not have a big heart because my heart is so big.

Starting point is 00:03:01 People betray me and I keep forgiving them. You sound like you're playing the victim here. You sound like R. Kelly. You do. When I listen to you, it does sound like you're playing the victim. I'm just telling the truth. Also, after this segment aired, King's co-workers expressed that they were concerned about her safety during that interview, although King said that she never felt that she was in danger and just saw that he had a lot he wanted to get out during this conversation. But this interview with R. Kelly wasn't the end of it. King also sat down with Azriel Clary and Jocelyn Savage, the 21 and 23 year old women that R. Kelly

Starting point is 00:03:30 is living with now who continue to defend him. And her interview with them will air on CBS this morning later this week. But also of note about these women, King spoke to Kelly about them during the interview. She was talking about how the relationship with him has ruined their relationships with their families. And with that, R. Kelly claimed that the parents

Starting point is 00:03:44 are responsible for them being together in the first place. What kind of father, what kind of mother will sell their daughter to a man? Who did that? How come it was okay for me to see them until they wasn't getting no money from it? Why would you take your daughter, if I'm gonna take my daughter and she's 19 years old

Starting point is 00:04:03 to a 49-year-old icon, whatever, celebrity, celebrity or R. Kelly concert or whoever it is. I'm not going to put on the stage and leave her. I'm going to take her to the concert. Their father is more into my music and know about my music than they do. You're saying the parents handed their daughters, Azurel and Jocelyn, over to you? Is that what you're saying to us? Absolutely.

Starting point is 00:04:29 Also, Clary's parents have responded to the interview in a statement via their lawyer, Michael Avenatti, saying, "'We have never received a penny from R. Kelly, "'we have never asked R. Kelly for money, "'and we never, quote, sold our daughter to him "'or anyone else. "'R. Kelly is a desperate liar and serial abuser "'of young girls who should die in prison.

Starting point is 00:04:45 All of the victims and parents cannot be lying. And Savage's parents said in a press conference after that the interview was emotionally disturbing. And as far as my reaction to all of this, I mean, one, I actually have to give props to Gayle King. Her ability to be composed, ever so unbothered and professional while R. Kelly was just going off the rails, I mean, that was amazing.

Starting point is 00:05:03 Right, not allowing the emotion and the theatrics to throw her off her game the mission the facts of the Situation because I mean, I mean that's really a big part of this right for me It felt like R Kelly was trying to use emotion to trump the the number of witnesses the evidence the the history He has also his argument that a documentary that is supposed to be diving into the allegations of abuse from him, that that is somehow flawed because it did not also talk about his good qualities, that is weird. Right, if you're talking about all of these accusers saying, hey, he is a serial abuser, he like, he kept sex slaves essentially, you're not also going to go, and he loves charity!

Starting point is 00:05:38 I mean, that's an incredibly flawed argument. But hey, main point, investigations are ongoing, there are charges out there, let's see what comes out and see what happens from here with the rule of law decided. But ultimately that is the story, some of my personal takeaways from it, and I pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts on this? Then, while we're kind of taking a break from the horrible in the world, let's talk about some industry news. One, if you didn't see, holy hell, we talked about this earlier in the week, actually in a Today in Awesome segment. Critical Role launched a Kickstarter for an animated special.

Starting point is 00:06:03 They had a goal of raising $750,000. When I included it on the show, they had already raised 2.1 million. But now, as of recording this video, they have raised over $5.2 million. And it has just been truly amazing to see because whenever we talk about the online space, we talk about people looking for sustainability

Starting point is 00:06:20 in an unstable environment, it's already hard to survive as a multi-team environment on this platform. It is even harder to do so in a niche category. So just seeing the community and their community surround them with this level of support, it has been fantastic to see. So congratulations to those guys, good luck,

Starting point is 00:06:37 and I really hope we're not talking about this in a year for, you know, the reason other Kickstarter projects have popped back up in the news after their successful campaigns. Although, I mean, just looking at how they broke things down, it seems like they have a full grasp on the situation. Or at least, they're faking it like pros. And then two, the other piece of industry news

Starting point is 00:06:53 is that in the very near future, we may be getting some answers or something from YouTube. And the reason I say that is massive creator Shane Dawson, who of course has been just making waves on the platform over the past year, well, he put out a tweet late February where he was being critical of the trending page, which myself and many others have been very frustrated by.

Starting point is 00:07:10 I mean, it's incredibly confusing as to how it actually works. I've had videos blow up massive, don't touch the trending, and then somehow other videos that maybe didn't really do as well as far as views, but maybe were shared more, or there was something different, they end up popping up, although sometimes it sometimes like number seven

Starting point is 00:07:25 That's one of those frustrating situations where it's like YouTube can't be completely transparent with how that top list is made because then people are going to abuse the system because I sure as hell would but at the same Time because they don't give those specifics it can feel very fake or at least portions of it can feel fake The main point someone then responds make Shane the YouTube CEO Shane replies. I'm not trying to come for Susan Wojcicki's gig That's the CEO of YouTube, but if she ever wants to have a tea session "'about stuff like this, I'm always down, haha.'" To which, in March, Susan Wojcicki actually replied and said, "'Hey Shane Dawson, how does next month sound?'

Starting point is 00:07:53 And because she did it in a very public way, there is now hope that this could be a brand new video and or series, which I think would be amazing, and if there was anything I could say to upper YouTube, I think it is use the YouTubers you have on the platform more and more. I think it benefits YouTube a million times more to have like the Robert Kintzels of the world when he was interviewed by Casey Neistat, also Caspar Lee, and I personally feel like you've been dodging me Robert. Which is fine, when there's a camera around I won't yell this time. But main point, what I'm trying to get across is I think it is in

Starting point is 00:08:20 YouTube's best interest to relay information to the world using the people that best use their platform. And I like a Susan Wojcicki talking to Shane Dawson more than talking to me because Shane's audience is so much larger. And it's not just about reaching the people on YouTube, it's just that Shane has such an audience that the mainstream cannot avoid or deny that this thing happened.

Starting point is 00:08:39 They would no longer be in the position to create the narrative of this story. They would no longer be the gatekeeper, right? And along those lines, it's why I thought that YouTube was incredibly smart in relaying information through us last time regarding their latest controversy. I still think they need to pair it with official blog posts as well,

Starting point is 00:08:54 but I think it's just the smarter move. Especially because it often appears that outside journalism, when talking about YouTube, it often comes off like they're just trying to do damage. Obviously that's a broad statement, and I don't mean that about everyone that covers our space, but I mean, you've seen the pieces. And there's a lot that I hope that we can get answered.

Starting point is 00:09:10 Because if you watch my show, you know that we've dealt with some issues lately. It seems like there's ever more prevalent demonetizations. Some of my content actually has warnings in front of it now. We've also only personally been ever slightly touched by the huge, huge copyright abuse problem on the platform. We talked about it briefly, we had our small run-in with CBS, but I mean, you have the largest YouTubers by the huge, huge copyright abuse problem on the platform. We talked about it briefly, you know, we had our small run in with CBS,

Starting point is 00:09:26 but I mean, you have the largest YouTubers on the platform, like PewDiePie and James Charles saying, "'This is a problem.'" And if they're hitting the biggest, and even the biggest YouTubers are like, "'I don't wanna deal with this "'because the whole system's broken "'and it's not in your favor in any way.'"

Starting point is 00:09:38 When it comes to the slew of smaller creators, I mean, they're probably getting just ragdolled. But yeah, main point, I hope to see this happen. I hope something meaningful comes from it, and we're just gonna have to wait to see. And then let's talk about 18-year-old high school senior Ethan Lindenberger from Ohio. You might have seen him all over the news lately.

Starting point is 00:09:52 He famously is known as the teenager who got vaccinated against his mother's wishes back in December. And the reason we're talking about this now is that yesterday, Ethan spoke before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions as part of a hearing focused on what is causing vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks.

Starting point is 00:10:04 He spoke along with doctors and public health officials. He talked about how spreading vaccine misinformation is dangerous. In fact, specifically blaming his mother's anti-vaccine ideology on social media. What's better than a well-marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue? A well-marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue that was carefully selected by an Instacart shopper and delivered to your door. A well-marbled ribeye you ordered without even leaving the kiddie pool. Whatever groceries your summer calls for, Instacart has you covered. Download the Instacart app and enjoy $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Service fees, exclusions, and terms apply. Instacart. Grocer groceries that over-deliver.

Starting point is 00:10:48 Why do fintechs like Float choose Visa? As a more trusted, more secure payments network, Visa provides scale, expertise, and innovative payment solutions. Learn more at visa.ca slash fintech. For information online? From what she's presented, yes. Either through Facebook or through sites that use the social media platforms like Facebook and other, mainly Facebook. Where do you get most of your information? From not Facebook. I mean, from CDC, the World Health Organization, scientific journals,

Starting point is 00:11:15 and also cited information from those organizations like the Institute of Medicine. I'm trying my best to also look at accredited sources. Ethan also told reporters on Tuesday that he believed his older siblings who predate Facebook, they had been vaccinated, but his younger siblings have not. Saying, I feel like if my mom didn't interact with that information and she wasn't swayed by those arguments and stories, it could have potentially changed everything.

Starting point is 00:11:35 My entire family could have been vaccinated. Also, as far as his mother's response to this, Jill Wheeler, reportedly she still stands by her views, which really isn't surprising. I mean, at one point in Ethan's testimony, he explained an instance where he cited the CDC to his mother and she replied with, quote, "'That's what they want you to think?'

Starting point is 00:11:50 She also later told the Associated Press, "'I didn't agree with anything he said. "'They've made him the poster child "'for the pharmaceutical industry.'" And as far as what his mother believes, what she thinks are fact, it includes conspiracy theories like the CDC is funded by big pharma.

Starting point is 00:12:01 They pay the agency to push vaccines. She also reportedly pushes the widely discredited idea that vaccines cause autism and brain damage. And Ethan even said that she thought that vaccines were a conspiracy by the government to kill children. But still, Ethan has urged the public not to vilify people like his mother because her thoughts are not unique.

Starting point is 00:12:18 And he believes that she has been swayed by the information that tons of others like her are spreading online. Approaching this issue with the concern of education and addressing misinformation properly can cause change, as it did for me. And that note is something that I want to touch on at the end of this story. But before that, I want to talk about the social media aspect, because there are a lot of people that agree that social media is playing a huge role in the spread of misinformation.

Starting point is 00:12:39 And in fact, for a long time, you have lawmakers and medical professionals who have been pressuring social media sites over the spread of fake news, specifically related to vaccines vaccines and in recent months We've actually seen some sites take steps to limit the influence of these posts And you know let's touch on some since September for example Pinterest is barred searches for any vaccine content after realizing its massive user base of moms Were accessing and spreading misinformation Although even though they had been doing that since September that move only became public as of February 20th when the Wall Street Journal first Reported on it.

Starting point is 00:13:05 We also saw Amazon removing anti-vaccination documentaries off their platform. Also closer to home, of course we talked about it, YouTube announced that it's no longer allowing users to monetize anti-vaccine videos. And in fact, in addition to that, under those videos, you'll see that YouTube will include a link to more information about vaccines.

Starting point is 00:13:20 The hope being that if someone found themselves going to this video that read underneath, there's another different source with actual information. Also last month we saw Facebook say they've already taken steps to reduce health related misinformation, but said more changes were to come. And along these lines they also said

Starting point is 00:13:33 that they were considering reducing the appearance of anti-vaccination material in search results and groups you should join. With a spokesperson going even further to say that all health articles are eligible for fact checking and that articles that are deemed false will rank lower in people's feeds. But with all of that said, it is probably just unrealistic

Starting point is 00:13:48 to expect these platforms to eliminate the anti-vaccine movement on their own. And as far as how to solve this problem, that is the anti-vax movement, the spread of misinformation, vaccine hesitancy, I don't know. Because all the sites out there, they can crack down or de-incentivize the spread of misinformation.

Starting point is 00:14:04 But no matter what, it's going to continue to spread. I mean, just look at the people who believe this. Look at Ethan's mom. Alright, according to Ethan, you're talking to someone that said, that's what they want you to think. So it's not that all of these people haven't seen the science, they haven't seen the information, they just choose to not believe it. And so I think that's where I and many others get very, very frustrated and don't know how to move forward.

Starting point is 00:14:22 How do you educate and sway someone where you show them a finger and they say they see three? And it's a situation where it's not just people having a dumb opinion, right? Someone thinking that the Earth is flat. It's a denial of reality, research, facts that doesn't just endanger their child but other children. It's something that specifically hurts the vulnerable and I try to understand from their point of view because they think that they are trying to do good, they are trying to protect. But I become infuriated when day after day

Starting point is 00:14:48 I see more stories coming out about people getting measles or just anything that shouldn't be around. And so when these anti-vaxxers have historically come out against me, I have come out 10 times harder. And I am aware that is not the way that you respond if you're trying to educate that person, but I personally am of the belief that a lot of people, they are not going to be able to be educated.

Starting point is 00:15:09 When you cherry pick and misrepresent data to make a point, you have no point. And I understand that mocking anti-vaxxers, it pushes them into a corner, there's no way for them to jump over. They huddle up in their corner together, they become this support group, they then have every reason

Starting point is 00:15:25 to further promote this misinformation. It becomes something akin to their divine purpose. They have a mentality that they are not blinded, like all the other sheep. And because I find so many of them unreachable, I think that the proper step forward is to just constantly talk about the truth. The Ethans of the world are recruitable to reality.

Starting point is 00:15:43 Information is out there, and I personally support crackdowns on anti-vax content. But understand, this is bigger than online content. This is also something that's politically enabled. There are currently 17 states that allow parents to refuse vaccines on moral or religious beliefs. And to me, that is crazy. Pro tip, measles doesn't care what god you pray

Starting point is 00:16:01 or don't pray to. But yeah, I could rant on this for a long time. I'm gonna stop there. With that said, of course, like with every story, I'd love to know your thoughts specifically around the story. And also, what do you think is the best step forward? Maybe having this job for so long is maybe just extremely pessimistic, but I've personally found more and more that people are not open to hearing something different. But yeah, let me know your thoughts. And that's where I'm going to end today's show. And remember, if you like this video, let us know hit that like button Also, if you're new here be sure to subscribe definitely click that bell to turn on notifications

Starting point is 00:16:31 Also, if you missed the last Philip DeFranco show the last 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 yo faces and I'll see you tomorrow

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The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 3.6 R Kelly Plays Victim Card, Teen Fights Anti-Vax Misinformation, & Shane Dawson + Youtube

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