The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 4.1 PewDiePie's Trojan Horse, Beyonce Outrage, Nipsey Hussle, & Wild Ukraine Election

Starting point is 00:00:00 Sup you beautiful bastards, hope you're having a fantastic Monday. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show and let's just jump into it. And the first thing we're gonna talk about today, because it just kind of amuses me at this point, is the continuation of an internet battle that, honestly, I don't know how it is still going on at this point. In the war of PewDiePie vs. Giant Corporation T-Series, it looked like it was over. After months of PewDiePie and also the community around him urging people to subscribe to him so he could keep that number one spot on YouTube, after printers were hacked telling people to subscribe to PewDiePie and also the community around him urging people to subscribe to him so he could keep that number one spot on YouTube. After printers were hacked telling people to subscribe to PewDiePie and the Wall Street Journal was hacked and there was malware.

Starting point is 00:00:31 We talked about that, I believe it was last week. It seemed like it was all finally over, T-Series passed Felix. It appeared we could all move on and go, well it doesn't count, T-Series is a giant corporation, Felix is just a guy. And ultimately it brought us to yesterday where Felix delivered a video called Congratulations. It's a song Congratulating T-Series that ended up actually being kind of a Trojan horse. It is in the video where he's giving a congratulations he uh hits on some things that T-Series would probably rather not be mentioned. In addition to kind of making fun of the fact that it has taken them so long, he references accusations that T-Series actually started by pirating songs. He also references the allegations against T-Series executives,

Starting point is 00:01:05 including chairman, Bushan Kumar. He's reportedly being investigated for alleged evasion of huge tax and siphoning off hundreds of crores to foreign countries to purchase properties in the names of his employees. Felix also mentions Me Too. There are allegations that Kumar asked a woman for sexual favors in order to get a three-film deal, which he has denied. And Felix also references being given a cease and desist from T-Series.

Starting point is 00:01:24 Which, I will say, if you are a large company and you're trying to get someone to get more subscribers, push things into a legal avenue. I don't know if I've ever seen anything motivate an audience more than a legal attack. But here's the thing after all of that Felix's video has blown up. Like I said, he released it yesterday. As of just recording this segment, it has passed 14 million views. Although for some reason as of recording this video, I'm throwing that in there. Even though it has about seven times the number of views as the number one trending video on YouTube at this time, it's not trending, which is interesting. And, funny enough, it actually threw Felix back into the subscriber lead.

Starting point is 00:01:54 Felix tweeting out a screenshot of him having more than 4,000 subscribers on the other channel. Actually, as of recording this video, he has 46,000 plus more subscribers. So just when we thought it was all done, it's not over yet. Then there were three pieces of news that had people talking around the NAACP Awards. One, you had comedian Chris Rock take aim at Jussie Smollett. Seemingly there were joke restrictions that he just decided to ignore and he said, quote, They said no Jussie Smollett jokes, I know. But then adding, what a waste of light skin.

Starting point is 00:02:17 You know what I could do with that light skin? That curly hair? My career would be out of here, fucking running Hollywood. What the hell was he thinking? From now on, you're Jussie. You don't even get the U no more. That U is respect. You don't get no respect from me. Although it should be noted that Chris Rock's stance here is not universal. For example, the second story that people were talking about,

Starting point is 00:02:32 when Black-ish won Outstanding Comedy Series, the cast went up on stage. You had Yara Shahidi simply say, I stand with Jesse. And the third thing that people were talking about was actually not Smollett related. Instead, it had to do with Beyonce. If you didn't see, there were some outraged Beyonce fans. And this is because during one of the show's commercial breaks, Omari Hardwick, who's an actor on Power, he greeted Beyonce and Jay-Z, and in the clip, Hardwick poses for a quick photo with Jay-Z,

Starting point is 00:02:53 he goes over to Beyonce where he gives her two cheek kisses. The clip then quickly blew up on social media with fans saying Beyonce looked uncomfortable. Many argue that this incident serves as another example of types of uncomfortable situations women are put in by men who don't respect boundaries. And what followed was you saw Hardwick's Instagram page just swarmed with bee emojis to signify the beehive. Right, Beyonce's hardcore fans. But also at the same time, not everyone was upset. You had several people coming to his defense, saying the kisses were harmless, that they were being blown out of proportion,

Starting point is 00:03:18 maybe it was just like an awkward accident. Although I will personally say, at most, it seems like an awkward accident. One, that 50 Cent, who is an actor and EP on Power, joked about on Instagram, posting a video of the incident saying, Season 6 of Power, Jay-Z kills Ghost, don't miss it, we live. I don't know, I'll pass it off to you. Do you see that as kind of a whoops, accident, sorry about that? Or do you see that as an example of more problematic, you know, the kind of stuff that people were outraged about?

Starting point is 00:03:39 Let me know what you think. And then let's talk about the news that Grammy-nominated rapper Nipsey Hussle was killed in a shooting outside of his clothing store in Los Angeles on Sunday. A murder that was confirmed by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti's critical response team on Twitter saying, Today we lost a great musician, Nipsey Hussle. And as far as the specifics, the rapper whose real name was Ermias Ashkadam was shot multiple times in the parking lot of his Marathon clothing shop. This was in South Los Angeles at around 3.20pm and he was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital shortly after. And reportedly two other men were also shot

Starting point is 00:04:06 during this incident and police are still searching for the suspect. And as of right now, police are still trying to piece together what actually happened. They say they do not have an official motive for the shooting, which they are investigating as a homicide. According to the Los Angeles Times,

Starting point is 00:04:17 a law enforcement source told them that Hussle was shot by a young man who opened fire at close range and then ran into a waiting getaway car. However, Lieutenant Ramirez only described the suspect as a black male and said that detectives were still interviewing witnesses and trying to recover security video that might exist. With Ramirez adding, at this point,

Starting point is 00:04:31 we're not even sure as to whether he walked up, rode a bicycle, or drove up in a car. Also, it appears that the rapper may have actually expected this attack because shortly before he was killed, he tweeted, having strong enemies is a blessing. And obviously, this is still a developing situation, so you know, we always need to kind of hold a beat when we're getting this new information.

Starting point is 00:04:47 But we have seen reports coming out today saying, Nipsey Hussle was scheduled to meet with the city's police chief and the president of the police commission this afternoon. This reportedly to discuss ways he could prevent children from getting involved in gangs. With the president of the Los Angeles Police Commission telling ABC News, We're talking about programs to help underserved kids, to keep kids out of gangs. And this was his idea. We've been working on this meeting for three months. How I wish it would have been on Saturday.

Starting point is 00:05:07 And while this is obviously a devastating situation, it's very interesting that by him being shot and killed, it potentially makes his message even bigger. If you're not familiar with Nipsey Hussle, I mean, he grew up in South LA in the 1990s, his music's widespread, his debut studio album, Victory Lap, it was nominated for Best Rap Album at this year's Grammy Awards. He's collaborated with dozens of artists, including Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Ty Dolla $ign, Meek Mill, The debut studio album Victory Lap, it was nominated for best rap album at this year's Grammy Awards. He's collaborated with dozens of artists, including Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar,

Starting point is 00:05:28 Ty Dolla Sign, Meek Mill, so many. And one of the things that stood out about the man wasn't just his music, it was that he was open about his upbringing, open about his association with street gangs. In fact, he publicly acknowledged his involvement with the gang in a 2010 interview with Complex Magazine. However, in an interview last year with Forbes,

Starting point is 00:05:43 Hussle said that in his youth he'd fallen prey to the quote, ignorance and self-destructiveness and the narrative that was pushed on us through music and our generation. In more recent years, he showed interest in technology, community development. He was actually part of a team of artists and entrepreneurs who created Destination Crenshaw.

Starting point is 00:05:56 It's an open-air museum devoted to honoring African-American artistic achievement. Hussle was also an investor in a co-working space in South Central Los Angeles called Vector 90. And at Vector 90, you have young people who can take classes in science, technology, mathematics, with the whole project aimed to help address the lack of diversity in STEM fields by providing youth with resources, mentorship, and support. And Hustle sang to the LA Times in 2018, In our culture, there's a narrative that says, follow the athletes, follow the entertainers.

Starting point is 00:06:19 And that's cool, but there should be something that says, follow Elon Musk, follow Mark Zuckerberg. And adding, The rapper was also often described as a pillar in his community, who often put much of the money he made back into the neighborhood. Local saying he was known to give jobs to residents who were struggling to make ends meet, including some who were homeless. And other stories coming out where if a local family lost someone to gun violence, Nipsey would actually sometimes help pay for funeral costs.

Starting point is 00:06:46 And so because of this, his story gets out there more, but his death also highlights a surge of violence that's been hitting South Los Angeles, which is something that police chief Michael Moore has promised to address. But of course, even saying that, it's trying to put a bow, a silver lining to an otherwise just horrible situation. You had someone whose story had miles on it,

Starting point is 00:07:03 had lived on both sides of the fence. While the story and message can now be broadcast even further, you still don't have someone here today that was here just a few days ago. You know, there's no silver lining that actually fixes that. And actually regarding the story, right, the message continuing, we saw Nick Cannon posting to social media, writing,

Starting point is 00:07:17 where you left off, we gonna carry one. It's a marathon, so I'm picking up the baton, because they can't kill us all. Spiritual warfare is real and in full effect and now Your spirit is protecting your community eternally going on to say now your message is my message your work is my work But that is a story as we know it now It will be very interesting to see what other information comes out from here Yeah, that is where we are for now

Starting point is 00:07:37 And of course I'd love to know your thoughts the last thing we're gonna talk about today is most likely a story that you've never Heard of you've never thought of and that story is about the election in Ukraine because it's fascinating. Right now, as we're recording this video, the final votes are being counted from yesterday's presidential election where incumbent president Petro Poroshenko is squaring off against a record number

Starting point is 00:07:54 of 38 other candidates. And the thing of note here is this is only the first part of the election. Kind of think of it as a primary. During this election, this specific vote, the top two candidates are decided. And what follows is you have two candidates who go head to head in a final runoff election three weeks from now, which is on April 21st.

Starting point is 00:08:08 And while, like I said, there are a ton of candidates for the first part of this race, there have been two contenders who have been the most popular throughout the campaign. One of the candidates is a former two-term prime minister named Yulia Tymoshenko, who is widely considered one of the most influential women in Ukraine. And the other is, and I promise this is true, it is a comedian by the name of Volodymyr Zelensky, who is most famous for starring in a TV show where he plays a teacher who unintentionally becomes the president of Ukraine. And I swear to you this is true. I know that it's April Fool's Day. I am not kidding. The guy who plays the president on TV has a huge lead in the polls to become the actual president of Ukraine.

Starting point is 00:08:37 With about 92% of the votes counted, Zelensky currently leads with over 30% of the votes, while Poroshenko, the incumbent, is far behind with only 16% of the votes. Now obviously keep in mind not all of the polls are in. Right now, yes, it looks like it is going to be Zelenskyy vs. Poroshenko. But that also means in this final runoff you have 54% of the vote that could go either way. But given the uniqueness of this situation, you know, I think it's important to look at, you know, who is Zelenskyy? How did this even happen? And so to start off, Zelenskyy is the star of a Ukrainian TV show which translates to Servant of the People. In that show, he plays a school teacher

Starting point is 00:09:07 who becomes president after a video of him ranting about corruption goes viral. And the similarities between his character on the show and his actual campaign are striking. Both Zelensky and his character have absolutely no political experience. Both are extremely popular because they ran on anti-corruption campaigns,

Starting point is 00:09:20 and both are viewed as fresh new leaders who don't have ties to Ukraine's political elite and who are popular with the younger population. Zelensky is even part of a brand new political party that was created by the show's producers and is literally named the Servant of the People Party. But also of note here is Zelensky's campaign has not been without controversy. In addition to criticisms that he has no political experience, some have claimed that he is just the surrogate for a wealthy oligarch by the name of Igor Kolomoisky. And that's important because Kolomoisky is a well-known rival of Poroshenko, who moved to Israel after he was involved

Starting point is 00:09:47 in a multi-billion dollar banking scandal. He and Zelensky have been business partners because Servant of the People is aired on a TV channel that Kolomoisky owns, and Zelensky even announced his candidacy on that same TV channel. But unsurprisingly, both men have denied any connections to Zelensky's campaign and Kolomoisky. But still, how did we actually get here?

Starting point is 00:10:03 Well, Poroshenko, the incumbent, was first elected back in 2014 after Ukraine's former Moscow-backed president was ousted as a result of the 2014 Ukrainian Revolution, which, of course, overthrew the Ukrainian government. And after the 2014 revolution, that was followed by Russia's infamous annexation of Crimea, which was part of Ukraine.

Starting point is 00:10:17 Many world leaders criticized Russia for annexing Crimea, saying it violated both international law and a series of agreements between Russia and Ukraine, the protected land belonging to Ukraine. As a result, Poroshenko campaigned and was elected on the promises of getting back control of Crimea, as well as fighting an uprising of Russian-backed separatists that took control over parts of eastern Ukraine. And so you have Poroshenko, who's billed himself as a strong defender of Ukraine's territory and a champion of Ukraine, joining the EU and NATO, which is widely supported by Ukrainians.

Starting point is 00:10:41 But he is failing with a large number of his people for two main reasons. First, they don't believe that he has done enough to stop the pro-Russian separatists, which here, if you didn't know, since 2014, Ukrainian government forces have fought a brutal war against the separatists, which has killed more than 13,000 people in eastern Ukraine. So that hasn't reflected very well with the president.

Starting point is 00:10:56 And secondly, and perhaps most significantly, you have many who believe that Poroshenko has failed to crack down on government corruption. Things like recovering money that had been stolen from the government before he came to power, as well as, I mean, in addition to not cracking down on corruption, Poroshenko has also been accused of being complicit in it.

Starting point is 00:11:09 Poroshenko himself is a wealthy oligarch, which has led many to question his connections to other oligarchs. And his campaign has also suffered significantly from a military corruption scandal involving some of his top associates. And so a lot of Zelensky's support comes from a general frustration with Poroshenko's lack of efforts

Starting point is 00:11:22 to crack down on corruption, as well as something it often comes down to, money. The worsening economic conditions have made living standards even lower in Ukraine, which is already one of the poorest countries in Europe. As many people believe, Zelensky will be a pro-Ukraine president who has new approaches to confront Russia

Starting point is 00:11:35 and to address the war with separatists in the east. And regarding the money, Zelensky has billed himself as a pro-market candidate who will work to join the EU and NATO. And as far as what is going to happen next, how will people vote in this final election, it's genuinely up in the air, but it's actually leaning towards Zelensky.

Starting point is 00:11:48 According to polls held by three main Ukrainian sociological institutes, 37 to 42% of Ukrainians are planning to vote for Zelensky in the second round, while between only 17 to 19% of respondents saying they will vote for Poroshenko, 20% said they have not decided yet, while 21 to 24% said they will not vote.

Starting point is 00:12:03 So there you go. It's gonna be very interesting to see what happens. Also, I think it sends a message out to the international community that their elections are no longer the weirdest. Here in the States, we have a businessman slash reality show president. Ukraine, they have a comedian who played the president,

Starting point is 00:12:16 possibly being president. And I don't know if there's a way to top that. I mean, if Julia Louis-Dreyfus ran and she won, right, it would be even. Really, the only way to one up it would be to take the guy that played Donald Trump on the President's Show on Comedy Central and have him beat Donald Trump in 2020 playing a parody version of Donald Trump. But yeah, I guess the main point of the story is big international news slash

Starting point is 00:12:35 it's not just weird where you live. There's a whole lot of weird going on everywhere. And that's where we're going to end today's show. And for those of you beautiful bastards who are new here, be sure to hit that subscribe button, definitely turn that bell on for all notifications. Every single weekday we have a brand new Philip DeFranco show for you to enjoy on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and very soon Wednesday mornings we have a morning deep dive show. Also on that note, if you missed the last Philip DeFranco show you can click or tap right there to watch that. 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 two times.

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The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 4.1 PewDiePie's Trojan Horse, Beyonce Outrage, Nipsey Hussle, & Wild Ukraine Election

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