The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 4.14 Dangerous TikTok Challenge Is Ridiculous, Charli D'amelio, Ticketmaster Backlash, & More

Starting point is 00:00:00 Sup you beautiful bastards, hope you have a fantastic Tuesday. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show. Buckle up, hit that like button, and let's just jump into it. And the first thing we're gonna talk about today is, actually just kind of a quick note. Last week, in secret, over on my old, old, dead YouTube channel, youtube.com slash philly D, I live streamed twice with y'all.

Starting point is 00:00:18 And we talked, goofed around, got a little more personal, had a little Q and A, showed people a little behind the scenes. It really made me happy connecting with y'all in a place that it doesn't have to get negative, especially at a time when we're all so isolated and disconnected. And so what I'm doing today, tomorrow, Thursday,

Starting point is 00:00:32 I'm extending the invite to the rest of y'all. If you wanna come be a part of that live stream, I start going live before the episode's up. I'm gonna try and stay live for an hour or two hours after this episode, the PDS, goes out. So yeah, if you wanna be a part of that, you can just type in youtube.com slash philly D or click one of the top links in the description.

Starting point is 00:00:47 I'm just craving more human connection. So there is that, and maybe I'll see you there. Then in what do the children like today news, Piper Sandler, which is a research firm, released their annual Taking Stock with Teens report. And in this, they surveyed thousands of teenagers, asking them about their brand and tech preferences, their spending habits, their viewing habits.

Starting point is 00:01:04 And among the standouts from their findings, one, Nike just dominated everyone. Coming in as the number one clothing brand as well as the number one footwear brand by leaps and miles. When it came to top shopping destinations, no surprise here, Amazon was dominant. For beauty, you had Ulta and Sephora at the top of the list.

Starting point is 00:01:20 Then, when it came to people and personalities, for top celebrities, you had one, Kevin Hart, followed by LeBron James, Dwayne The Rock Johnson, Billie Eilish, and Ariana Grande. And then possibly the most interesting, especially the order here, top influencers in this order. One, David Dobrik, two, LeBron James, three, Kylie Jenner, four, Donald Trump,

Starting point is 00:01:39 and then five, the queen of TikTok herself, Charlie D'Amelio. And finally, as far as media consumption, I was a little surprised, not in the fact that daily video consumption involved Netflix, then followed by YouTube, cable TV, and so on. But for social media engagement, at the top you had Instagram, followed by Snapchat,

Starting point is 00:01:53 and then TikTok. And that one for me is actually a little bit surprising. I thought TikTok there would be number one. If I was to make the smallest of predictions, I think if you had this survey in six months, and definitely 12 months, it's gotta be number one or number two there. two there actually this kind of transitions perfectly into our next story Let's talk about the children and the nutmeg challenge

Starting point is 00:02:12 So feels like whether it be tide pods or spoonfuls of cinnamon We can always count on people on the internet to consume things They should not consume or at the very least consume Quantities of things that you should not consume and so this risky trend, which has been dubbed the nutmeg challenge, involves you taking nutmeg, mixing it with water, and then, ah, apparently tripping. People talking about feeling high, having a hallucinogenic effect on them.

Starting point is 00:02:32 And as someone who has covered serious, but also incredibly idiotic things over the last 15 years, this is actually not a new thing. But it is recirculating because you have a ton of young people bored in their homes. And so we've seen a rise of teenagers posting videos of themselves making this drink and then documenting what they experienced.

Starting point is 00:02:49 Now what I will say is scrubbing through videos on TikTok using this hashtag, it appears that some people are genuinely doing it, some people are faking it, but it is no matter what concerning. And the reason both of those are concerning is that it's promoting this behavior which actually does have risks associated with it. As it turns out, nutmeg contains myristicin,

Starting point is 00:03:04 which is a potent compound known to cause psychoactive effects, and if taken in large amounts, it can be dangerous. In fact, according to a study on nutmeg intoxication that appeared in the Netherlands Journal of Medicine, it found that in large quantities, nutmeg has toxic effects including hallucinations, tachycardia, nausea, vomiting, and agitation.

Starting point is 00:03:20 And adding, because of these effects, it is occasionally used as a recreational drug. And a 2018 report from Healthline said that in some cases, toxic doses of myristicin have caused organ failure. And adding, in other cases, nutmeg overdose has been linked to death when used in combination with other drugs. As far as why we can eat this in food,

Starting point is 00:03:34 the simple answer is we actually consume it in a very small amount in meals. Most recipes only call for roughly a quarter or a half teaspoon of nutmeg per recipe. And as Healthline notes, these recipes are often split into multiple portions, leaving the actual exposure of nutmeg per recipe. And as Healthline notes, these recipes are often split into multiple portions, leaving the actual exposure to nutmeg very insignificant. Right, and as far as how little is necessary

Starting point is 00:03:49 to see those toxic symptoms, according to a study, it could be as little as five grams, which is equivalent to two teaspoons or two thirds of a tablespoon. Right, and so when you scrub through these TikTok videos, you end up seeing kind of two different things. One, some of the people that are doing this are not doing two teaspoons, but rather two tablespoons.

Starting point is 00:04:04 Right, so you're talking about a crazy big dose? But also two people who try to get high from nutmeg right trying two teaspoons They end up taking a second dose after thinking that this is not having an effect on them But it's because the effects can take hours to kick in so overall well the research on nutmeg intoxication specifically is pretty sparse There are still enough studies to suggest that consuming too much myristicin is dangerous. Even if consuming the nutmeg doesn't kill you, which apparently is the new bar of if we should do stuff or not do stuff, the side effects can still include nausea, palpitations, headaches, and dehydration. And those effects can last for more than 10 or more hours, so it is probably best not to be a fucking idiot. I mean, like I said, I've been doing this a while. I know, I know there's no stopping stupid.

Starting point is 00:04:43 Like, just as a favor so that I could slip into madness a little slower I'm gonna downgrade it just try not to be stupid stupid Anyway, I ran really quick where are they now news former fake prank youtuber turned runs onto the field during sporting events Turn he's a pay website where I guess it's not porn, but it's like naked girls and then there's maybe pranks. I don't know. Vitaly, some of you remember him. He, according to legal documents obtained by TMZ, was arrested in Miami this weekend.

Starting point is 00:05:13 This, I'll just read the article. After a woman told cops she was jogging by herself Sunday in Miami Beach when Vitaly suddenly jumped out and tackled her to the ground. She claims he straddled her and repeatedly punched her in the chest and face. And reportedly the alleged victim told police she screamed for help during the attack, which he said was witnessed

Starting point is 00:05:28 by several residents and passerby. So Vitaly ran back inside a nearby home. And according to the docs, he was later arrested there. Looking at this mugshot, he looks very awake. As far as Vitaly, he's reportedly been charged with felony aggravated battery. He has since posted a $7,500 bond on Monday and has been released.

Starting point is 00:05:44 As far as the woman, she reportedly was left with a cut that required stitches, along with pain and soreness in her chest. And my reaction to the story thus far is, what the actual fuck? It sounds so horrific and random. I mean, according to the reports that we're seeing, not only was this an unprovoked attack,

Starting point is 00:05:58 but also she's never seen or met him before. And so with this story, it is gonna be interesting to see what happens. Do we get more information? What happens with the charge, especially because it appears that there are witnesses? Yeah, with that said, it is gonna be interesting to see what happens. Do we get more information? What happens with the charge, especially because it appears that there are witnesses? Yeah, with that said, what are your thoughts on this? Then let's talk about a story involving a company

Starting point is 00:06:10 that really no one's ever been angry at before, Ticketmaster, who has popped up in the news. And so with this pandemic, big events have been canceled left and right, this including everything from sports to concerts, comedy shows, whatever. And so we've seen a ton of artists announce that their tours will either be postponed or canceled.

Starting point is 00:06:25 The likes of Justin Bieber was supposed to start his tour in May, pushing that back. BTS first postponing their tour in South Korea, then postponing their North American tour that was supposed to happen this spring. Right, and these are not outliers. This has become the norm. We've seen artists left and right doing this,

Starting point is 00:06:37 which also means there are tons of fans who purchase tickets for these events that are looking for their money back since they're no longer on their calendar. But Ticketmaster, which is obviously just a giant in the sphere of ticket sales, made an amendment to the language in their refund policy that has raised some eyebrows.

Starting point is 00:06:51 Their policy used to state, "'Refunds are available if your event is postponed, "'rescheduled, or canceled.'" But it now just says, "'Refunds are available if your event is canceled.'" And while some artists are going the cancellation route, like we stated, a ton are opting to just postpone. Right, because no one truly knows

Starting point is 00:07:06 when things will go back to normal, whatever the hell normal will even look like. I see tons of people right now feeling like they've been left in a tricky situation. Concert tickets aren't cheap, we live in uncertain times, every dollar counts for people. And so online we've seen no shortage of frustrations being thrown at Ticketmaster.

Starting point is 00:07:19 With some saying they hope the artists see this and that the artists plan to cancel the tour for the sake of their refunds. With others saying things along the lines of Ticketmaster has always been a greedy Opportunistic company that makes sure the customer has hit the hardest and I think fans and musicians should come together to boycott them once and for All even people like representative Katie Porter tweeted about writing. I applaud Ticketmaster Oh, you know, that's when it's gonna get snarky I applaud Ticketmaster for continuing to shine in what is apparently a competition to provide the worst customer service in any industry.

Starting point is 00:07:46 Exorbitant ticket fees for negligible benefits, now taking advantage of a crisis to line their pockets. Next level. So a lot of fans are confused, angry, wondering what is next for them, but a ticket master is now saying that their policy has not actually changed. Giving statements to places like the New York Times

Starting point is 00:08:00 and USA Today saying that their policies have been consistent for years and that this was merely a wording change for clarity. Right, and regarding the clarity of this wording change, you have people pointing to a blog post made in March titled information regarding the cancellation and rescheduling of live events. There they say, as we receive updates from artists, teams,

Starting point is 00:08:16 and show organizers on their postponed and rescheduled events, as well as their individual refund policies, we will be providing fans with the latest news on their event status via this comprehensive information portal." They then link to that portal, which shows the status of upcoming events.

Starting point is 00:08:28 And they then continue by saying, "'As always, canceled events are automatically refunded.'" And noting, "'If an event organizer is offering refunds for postponed or rescheduled events, a refund link will appear on your Ticketmaster account. Otherwise, you are encouraged to periodically check back online to see if the status of their event has changed.'"

Starting point is 00:08:43 Right, so essentially their argument is a little bit of the blame game, right? Essentially saying refunds for postponed shows are a thing, but they are not their responsibility, and rather it falls on the organizer of the event. And so with this, with them claiming this has always been the case, but the way that things are worded on their website, you have a large number

Starting point is 00:08:58 of enraged customers calling out bullshit, or at the very least saying that this is sneaky, snaky language, with a number of people feeling like right now their money is held hostage. Now understand this is only part of the situation. You have Ticketmaster essentially blaming the organizer, pushing the responsibility onto them. The organizer working with the artists.

Starting point is 00:09:14 There's the question of well, how are artists responding to this? And we're seeing kind of the full range here. You have people like Niall Horan, his tour is canceled. He's put out a statement saying all tickets purchased will be refunded, telling fans to go to his website to learn more. And you have people like Justin Bieber,

Starting point is 00:09:26 who as of right now, as of recording this video, has only postponed telling his fans to hang on to their tickets as they wait for more information. And then some, like Camila Cabello, who haven't really said anything either way, just releasing a statement telling her fans more info is on the way. And the thing with this situation to understand

Starting point is 00:09:39 is it's also not just Ticketmaster that people are angry at. Also other companies like StubHub, they recently put out updated information on their plans to do refunds during the pandemic. Right, and so essentially if an event is postponed, tickets remain with the user until a new date has been selected. And if it has been rescheduled,

Starting point is 00:09:52 they'll give you the new details. But if you cannot make it to that new date, no refund will be given and you're left to resell the ticket on StubHub. Let's say it doesn't get rescheduled. Let's say the event gets canceled. You do get something back, but it is not a traditional refund.

Starting point is 00:10:04 StubHub will give you a coupon worth 120% of your original order that can be used through the end of 2021. And here, it's important to know that StubHub is actually being sued in a class action lawsuit for the way that they're handling refunds during this crisis. Right, so there's that, but also it's interesting

Starting point is 00:10:18 to take a look at the other side of this story as well. According to Polestar, the concert industry is looking at losing close to $9 billion this year if events remain blacked out. With that, it's important to remember that it's not just the venues, it's not just the vendors, it's not just the artists. But as they break down, each tour pays or helps pay

Starting point is 00:10:32 the salaries of tens, if not hundreds of thousands who work in venues, production, marketing, concessions, security, box offices, sponsorships, and more. So people getting hit on all fronts with this situation. Personally, the people I'm most sympathetic to are the individuals affected, not the big company. I guess the question I wanna pass off to you is, are you feeling any of the pain of this story?

Starting point is 00:10:51 Right, is it on the ticket front, the job front? What does that look like? I'd love to hear from you. And then let's talk about something that's been a huge element of the coronavirus crisis, but doesn't get as much coverage, and that is food. Now by this point, it's fair to say that most of us have had the experience

Starting point is 00:11:03 of going to the store, seeing rows and rows of empty shelves. Things like eggs, flowers, canned foods, frozen foods, sometimes seemingly impossible to find. Right, so there's that, but also with more than 16 million people filing for unemployment in the last three weeks and that number expected to grow more and more, it's also expected that more and more people are gonna turn to food banks.

Starting point is 00:11:20 Which I mean, the demand for these food banks is skyrocketing. Over the last week or so, we've seen these jarring videos and photos of just miles and miles of cars lined up for hours to get food in places all over America. And in fact, Feeding America, the largest network of food banks in the United States, reported that 98% of the 200 banks in their network reported increased demand.

Starting point is 00:11:38 And it's now estimated that it will need around $1.4 billion in additional resources over the next six months to sustain their operation. But at the same time, food banks throughout the country are also seeing fewer and fewer volunteers as more people stay home, especially because those volunteers are often older folks. And even more significantly,

Starting point is 00:11:54 they're also seeing way fewer donations because of panic buying and food hoarding. So not only are there fewer people making individual donations, but grocery stores and retailers, which actually account for a huge chunk of the donations, are unable to give as much as normal because their shelves are strict.

Starting point is 00:12:06 And that has also led to fewer donations from manufacturers who have to meet increased demand at grocery stores. And according to Feeding America, those donations dropped by about half this month. Now one of the most infuriating and confusing things about the situation is while food banks and grocery stores are experiencing shortages,

Starting point is 00:12:19 we've also seen farmers forced to destroy millions of pounds of fresh goods that they cannot sell. Right, and this reportedly because the demand has dropped drastically from all the restaurants, hotels, and schools that have closed across the country. And I mean, the amount of food that they are getting rid of is staggering. According to reports, produce farmers

Starting point is 00:12:34 are destroying millions of pounds of vegetables. Well, one chicken processor said it was smashing 750,000 unhatched eggs each week. And Dairy Farmers of America estimates that farmers are dumping around 3.7 million gallons of milk each day. Which on that note, the International Dairy Foods Association is reporting that around 5% of America's milk supply

Starting point is 00:12:51 is currently just being dumped. Which is already an incredibly meaningful amount, but also they expect that to double if closings are extended over the next few months. And here's the thing, while farmers are giving some of these goods to food charities like Meals on Wheels, major scale food banks like Feeding America largely need non-perishable goods.

Starting point is 00:13:06 And so this whole situation creates a vicious cycle because places like restaurants, hotels, casinos that are shut down and not buying from farmers are also the places that normally give large amounts of food to food banks. And so all of that is putting a lot of strain on the food supply chain, but it's not the only thing. There's also an increasing number of workers

Starting point is 00:13:21 in processing plants, warehouses, and grocery stores that are getting the coronavirus. And one of the most recent and most significant examples of this is a Smithfield Foods pork processing plant that announced it was shutting down on Sunday. This reportedly after 230 workers got sick with the coronavirus, which was extremely notable, not only because that was hundreds of people,

Starting point is 00:13:37 but because those cases made up more than half of the state's total confirmed cases, according to the governor. You're talking about a situation where just that plant alone produces more than 5% of the nation's pork. It also raises broader concerns about safety measures taken in the meat industry. Which I mean, on that note,

Starting point is 00:13:49 Tyson Foods also suspended operations at a pork plant in Iowa and JBS USA did the same at a beef plant in Pennsylvania after outbreaks in those facilities. And then further down on the opposite end of the supply chain you have grocery store workers also getting sick as well. Right, I mean every day they're exposed to shoppers, many of whom don't have the proper gear or don't social distance.

Starting point is 00:14:06 A lot of grocery store workers themselves also don't have access to necessary protective supplies. And while there are no government agencies tracking cases specifically among food industry workers, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union said on Monday that at least 1,500 of its 1.3 million members have been infected with the virus and 30 of them have died. And regarding the situation,

Starting point is 00:14:22 according to the New York Times, "'Industry leaders and observers acknowledge the shortages could increase but they insist it is more of an inconvenience than a major problem. And adding, still the illnesses have the potential to cause shortages lasting weeks for a few products. But notably, that article doesn't talk about the food banks and the shortages that they're seeing at all.

Starting point is 00:14:38 Which is really significant because this is just how bad it is now. Right, what happens when more people lose jobs, which by the way, I mean on Thursdays we're just getting updated about what happened last week. What happens when more people lose jobs, which by the way, I mean, on Thursdays, we're just getting updated about what happened last week. What happens when more workers get sick? What happens when things get worse for the supply chain? It's important to understand that for millions

Starting point is 00:14:53 and millions of Americans, life is not just going to snap back. But to end this on a less depressing note, there are some solutions in the works. According to reports, Feeding America teamed up with the American Farm Bureau, which represents American agriculture producers, to propose, quote, a voucher program

Starting point is 00:15:06 that would increase the relationship between farmers and food banks, allowing them to work directly with one another. Noting usually both sides go through a third party, which can often delay food getting to food bank shelves. And so that program would both send farm products to food banks while also helping farmers and ranchers earn back costs.

Starting point is 00:15:20 Another solution is donating more to food banks for those who are able to, which is something we've seen and highlighted, right? This growing number of celebrities doing so. The likes of Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, so many more. But also, and I would argue more importantly, the people that, you know, not multi multi millionaire or famous, but the people that are doing well enough, they're in a stable place, they're not impacted like those who are most vulnerable. Those individuals, those families doing what they can. But ultimately, that's where we are with this now. Obviously we're gonna be paying attention, covering it.

Starting point is 00:15:45 And that is where I'm going to end today's show. And hey, if you liked this video, hit us with a like. If you're new here, definitely subscribe, tap that bell to turn on notifications. Also, if you're looking for more to watch, maybe you missed one of the last Philip DeFranco shows, you wanna catch up on everything that's happening, you can click or tap right there to watch that right now.

Starting point is 00:15:58 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. I hope you liked this video. Subscribe if you like it.

Your Ad Here

The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 4.14 Dangerous TikTok Challenge Is Ridiculous, Charli D'amelio, Ticketmaster Backlash, & More

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.