The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 4.27 Ariana Grande Meme Backlash & Meme War, COVID-19 Contact Tracing Problems, Mr. Beast & More

Episode Date: April 27, 2020

Go to https://www.getroman.com/PHIL for a FREE online visit and FREE two day shipping! --- 00:00 - Ariana Impersonators 04:27 - TIA 06:08 - Dobrik and MrBeast 07:11 - Contact Tracing Apps 11:55 - Trump's Press Conferences --- Check out the latest videos on my NEW A Conversation With Clips channel!: https://youtu.be/89goOBbgTn8 I’ve been doing live streams HERE: https://www.youtube.com/user/PhilipDeFranco WATCH Full “A Convo With” Podcasts: https://www.youtube.com/aconvowith LISTEN On The Podcast Platform Of Your Choice: http://LinksHole.com BUY our GEAR, Support the Show!: http://ShopDeFranco.com   ✩ FOLLOW ME ✩ ✭ TWITTER: http://Twitter.com/PhillyD ✭ INSTAGRAM: https://instagram.com/PhillyDeFranco/   ✩ SUPPORT THE SHOW ✩ ✭ Buy Merch: http://ShopDeFranco.com ✭ Lemme Touch Your Hair: http://BeautifulBastard.com ✭ Paid Subscription: http://DeFrancoElite.com    ✩ TODAY IN AWESOME ✩ ✭ I Want To Apologize & We Need To Talk: https://youtu.be/Y2RpP2ziD6s ✭ DeFranco Reacts to Instant Influencer w/ James Charles: https://youtu.be/Ok0sX1bYGgI ✭ 'Never Have I Ever' Cast Play Never Have I Ever: https://youtu.be/8syB5DhLbmk ✭ 50 People Try To Describe Their State's Flag: https://youtu.be/oIxtD9cwj2g ✭ Huey Lewis Breaks Down His Albums: https://youtu.be/aSUMCmu08bI ✭ Dr. Anthony Fauci Cold Open - SNL: https://youtu.be/uW56CL0pk0g ✭ YouTube to Host Free Virtual Film Festival With 20 Partners Including Cannes, Tribeca, Sundance:  https://variety.com/2020/digital/news/youtube-free-film-festival-cannes-tribeca-sundance-1234590501/ ✭ David Dobrik shocks fans with crazy gifts: https://youtu.be/hWzccW4TQkg ✭ $250,000 Influencer Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament: https://youtu.be/Ih2WTyY62J4   ✭ Secret Link: https://youtu.be/0Z8ZiZpNkzo   ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩   Ariana Grande Look-Alike Responds After Singer Suggests Her TikTok Impersonations Are Degrading: https://roguerocket.com/2020/04/27/ariana-grande-look-alike-responds-after-singer-suggests-her-tiktok-impersonations-are-degrading/  Australia Launches Contact Tracing App: https://roguerocket.com/2020/04/27/australia-contact-tracing-app/  Press Briefing Confusion: https://roguerocket.com/2020/04/27/white-house-briefings/   ✩ STORIES NOT IN TODAY’S SHOW ✩ Kim Jong Un’s Health In Question: https://roguerocket.com/2020/04/27/kim-mystery-deepens/ ——————————   Edited by: James Girardier, Julie Goldberg Produced by: Amanda Morones Art Director: Brian Borst   Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Cory Ray, Neena Pesqueda,   Production Team: Zack Taylor, Luke Manning   ———————————— #DeFranco #ArianaGrande #DavidDobrik ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sup you beautiful bastards, hope you have a fantastic Monday. 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 war, and I don't mean war with another country, I don't mean the war against the invisible enemy

that is the coronavirus, but possibly the most important war, the war against memes. At the center of this story, or at least off center, is Ariana Grande. So in a recent Instagram story, it appeared that Ariana Grande was calling out these girls on TikTok who impersonate her. And she did so by sharing a video

from writer and filmmaker Jordan Firstman. Okay, wait, wait, I have an idea. What if we like, we took like a moment, like a small clip from a movie or a TV show, something that like an artist like really poured their soul into and it like, it just like took them years to make and it was like an artist like really poured their soul into and it like it just like took them years to make and it was like an uphill battle the entire time then when they finally got

the financing it was like they made it like what if we took a moment from that and we kind of like recontextualize it like does that make sense like, we put a completely arbitrary meaning onto that thing that the artist loves so much, kind of like degrading like its entire value. I just think that could be like, kind of like a fun, like bitchy thing to do. I'm like, I'm so bored. I just kind of want to like ruin someone's life today. And then like, whoever can just like say it's there it's like i don't like you anyone

could just steal it then and i'll touch on my personal feelings there in a minute or two but ariana grande you know she posted this clip with the text can this please also double as your impression of the ponytail tiktok girls who think doing the cat valentine voice and wearing winged eyeliner and a sweatshirt is doing a good impersonation of me because this really how it feels if you're unfamiliar cat valentine is the character that Ariana Grande played on the Nickelodeon show, Victorious and it's spinoff series, Sam and Cat. Now, that said, looking into the story, one, I was unfamiliar that impersonating Ariana Grande

was such a big thing. There are a ton of young girls that appear to do this on the regular and the most notable of them is 15 year old TikToker, Paige Neiman. Which, I will say when I was looking into the story, I thought I was being pranked because I was like, no, those are pictures of the same person But no, this is Ariana Grande and this is Paige Neiman and again and again, you know

This has led to a lot of success for Neiman She has almost six million followers on tik-tok and so when Neiman caught wind of the now deleted Instagram post from Ariana Grande She addressed it in a recent livestream. I'm used to Ariana shaming me so Yeah, I mean it's I'm just here to entertain people like it's not how we am in real life kind of why i'm not a fan of her anymore honestly like i'm slowly getting rid of all my ariana stuff they also mentioned neiman here because ariana grande has actually commented on her in the past a situation that reportedly resulted in a lot of the singer's fans attacking her but also a dm with

ariana grande where it appeared they shared niceties. And as far as why this appears to bother Ariana Grande so much, you know, looking through this in the past, she's said things like, I really love playing Kat Valentine, even though sometimes people think I actually still speak and act like that and her essence will lovingly haunt me till I die.

And ultimately, as far as my opinion on this, one, if you're one of these people going after Neiman, who once again is a 15 year old girl, who in general is just making silly TikToks while looking like Ariana Grande and at times using her audio. And at most said that she's not a fan of a celebrity that she perceived to have said something

that was an attack about her. Kind of, probably a scumbag, especially if you're an adult acting that way. Less so if you're a kid because kids are stupid. No offense, but I'm just trying to give you an out for being so callous. Two, regarding Ariana Grande specifically, while I could understand her frustrations

because she feels like she is so much more, you know, she probably needs to realize that by addressing these situations in this way, she increases the likelihood of people continuing, if not jumping on this bandwagon. Both because now more people are aware that this is a thing and also some people might do it just to spite her. And finally, three, to come back around

to that Jordan Fursman quote. Kind of like, degrading its entire value. I just kind of want to like, ruin someone's life today. If serious and not sarcastic, that is an aggressive attempt to make yourself out to be the victim, while at the same time villainizing people just dicking around.

Entertainment in my view, and once again, this part is 100% just my opinion. It can be however dedicated and specific from the original creator, but then for the audience, it becomes transformative. And that's entertainment in general. Things are built and then broken apart and then repurposed and then remixed. And honestly, it feels like we're in a time

where we need to drain every ounce of joy out of anything that comes across our path. But yeah, of course, whether you agree or disagree with my opinion, you can let me know in those comments down below. And also, thank you to everyone involved for giving me something to talk about that's not just utterly depressing.

And then, let's talk about coronavirus contact tracing. If you have not heard this phrase, you will be hearing it a lot more in the future. Right, so yesterday, the Australian government rolled out an app called COVID Safe. And this app uses Bluetooth technology to log every time a user comes within less than five feet of another user for more than 15 minutes.

Very notably here, the app is not mandatory. If you want it, you can get it. And the Australian government has also said that the app will not collect location data. But the information people do provide to the app include people's names, phone number, postal code, and age range. According to the official government website for the app,

this data will be encrypted and stored on each individual user's phone so that even the user cannot access it. With the website also saying that even if someone using the app does test positive for COVID-19, they still have to consent to having their data shared. If they do, that information gets, quote, uploaded to a highly secure information storage system.

The government also saying that only state and territory health authorities, as well as the app's administrator, will be able to access that information, and adding, it will be a criminal offense to use any app data in any other way. The COVIDSafe app cannot be used to enforce quarantine or isolation restrictions or any other law. As far as how long this data exists, the government says that the contact information stored in people's mobiles is deleted on a 21-day rolling cycle.

Saying that if a user deletes the app, their information will be erased once the pandemic is over, along with everyone else's. If they want it erased earlier, they have to send in a request form. Now, notably, all of that is just an outline in a direction given by the health minister and not something that is set in law.

And while in fact the government isn't set to vote on formal legislation until May, the app is already incredibly popular. Just this morning, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Twitter that two million people have downloaded it. And while that is a ton, coming in at just under 10% of the population,

the Australian government has also said that about 40% of the country needs to download the app for it to be effective. As far as why more people might download it, Morrison has said that the more people that download the app, the faster economic restrictions will be lifted. Notably, the apps rollout already comes as several states in Australia are slowly easing restrictions. The ASF to the country reported a daily infection growth rate of less than 1%.

But with all that said, Australia is also not the only country using a contact tracing app, especially as more and more begin to open up. In fact, according to reports, at least 29 countries are currently using mobile data for contact tracing, right? I mean, that app in Australia that rolled out is based on software used in Singapore's TraceTogether app, which was one of the first Bluetooth tracing apps and has also been modeled by countries like India. And at the same time, other countries have used tracing techniques that are considered much more invasive,

like South Korea and Israel, for example, which have used contact tracing methods that involve tracking people's locations through phone networks without their consent, which is in fact why we saw the news last night that the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that the government cannot keep using the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that the government cannot keep using the state security service

to track the cell phones of coronavirus patients after this month. This, unless the Israeli parliament passes legislation that says they can do so. While Bluetooth tracing programs are generally considered much more privacy friendly, you know with any tracking mechanism that has government oversight, there are of course privacy

and civil liberty concerns. You need a lot of people to opt in and use it, and very notably here, only about one fifth of the people in Singapore have signed onto the app. And even less in India with reports of about 75 million people out of the 1.3 billion having downloaded it. However, the numbers in Singapore are especially concerning for the effectiveness of the app method.

Because as one expert explained, the modest number is in a tech savvy country where trust in government is high, shows the challenges facing public health authorities and technology experts around the world who are looking to exit lockdowns and believe contact tracing apps can play an important role in restarting economies.

And that of course highlights another important part of this story, trust in government. Right, the app in Australia has had a fairly strong rollout because many people are happy with the government's coronavirus response. In fact, Morrison's approval rating is higher than that of any of the country's leaders in more than a decade. Then you look in places where government trust is low,

like the United States, for example. It's unclear if an app like this would ever even be rolled out, and even if it was, would it be effective? Now that said, we have seen a number of states take it upon themselves to invest in tracing apps. And this with the CDC also announcing last Thursday that it's going to send $631 million

to state and local health departments to increase their capacity to do tracing and testing. With the CDC website also saying detailed guidance for health departments and potential contact tracers is forthcoming. And so in the meantime, what we're seeing are tech companies also jumping in to fill the void. According to reports, Apple and Google

are jointly developing a Bluetooth system that could be deployed nationally and allow owners of smartphones, including iPhones and Android devices, to know whether they have crossed paths with someone infected with the disease. But there is still not a coordinated federal effort, despite the fact that many experts say

that this kind of technology is key for reopening the economy safely. And this includes the likes of Dr. Fauci, who said in an interview with Snapchat that a tracing app makes sense from a purely public health standpoint. But also adding that it does create sticky, sticky issues and continue it.

You know, you could look at somebody's cell phone and say, you were next to these 25 people over the last 24 hours. Boy, I've got to tell you, the civil liberties type pushback on that would be considerable. And there's also concern that even with an app like this being technically voluntary, that employers might make it a condition

that if you come back to work, you have to have this app. There's also the concern that this might not help all communities. This, because according to the Pew Research Center, poor people, elderly people, black Americans, and Hispanics are all disproportionately likely to not own a smartphone. But with all of that said, that is where we are with the story right now.

I would love to know your thoughts on this. What are your thoughts about the voluntary apps? Do you think that is the way to go? Or no, are you of the mind of drastic times, drastic measures, so we should do something like South Korea or Israel? Yes, no, why, why not? I'd love to know your thoughts.

Then let's talk about the news that President Trump may be pulling back on the number of press conferences. Right, and so what we're seeing, right, the president has suggested that he will stop appearing at, or at the least limit his time at daily coronavirus press conferences. This, interestingly enough, coming after that moment and that clip that's made its rounds where Trump suggested that scientists look

into disinfectant injections as a treatment for the coronavirus. And then I see the disinfectant where it knocks it out in a minute, one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning? Because you see it gets on the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it'd be interesting to check that so that you're gonna have to use medical doctors. Right, notably during that press conference,

we also heard from William Bryan, the acting Undersecretary of Homeland Security for Science and Technology, saying that there was research indicating that the virus struggles under heat, humidity, and sunlight. But what we also got was Trump saying that bringing ultraviolet light into the body through the skin or some other way should be looked into,

that he wanted to talk to doctors about applying heat and light as a cure with him, saying to Dr. Deborah Burke. They say, maybe you can, maybe you can't. I'm not a doctor. But I'm like a person that has a good, you know what. Deborah, have you ever heard of that, the heat and the light relative to certain viruses?

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Not as a treatment. I mean, certainly fever is a good thing when you have a fever. It helps your body respond. But not as, I've not seen heat or... I think it's a great thing to look at. I mean, now with that being said, there is actually UV technology in development as a potential cure for the coronavirus, but we are not seeing anything definitive. It is still in an experimental phase, and it's really only being touted by a select group of people right now,

while others in the medical industry do not see UV treatment for COVID-19 as a possibility. Also, given Dr. Birx's response, it's not exactly clear if anyone even was aware of this. But understand, that's coming from my research and nothing that the president appears to have explained there. But that said, the big thing that a lot of people focused on

were the disinfectant comments. Right, and so with that, the internet, of course, ran wild with that. And just, just to be clear, do not under any circumstances ever inject yourself with disinfectants. There we go, I'm a hero. That would not kill the virus.

It would maybe kill you or at the very least put you in serious danger. Yeah, that's why we ended up seeing health departments putting out statements advising against it. You also had companies like Lysol screaming from the mountain top, please do not put our products into your body. And with all of that, what we saw the next day

is you had Trump walking back those comments, also apologizing, I'm kidding, no he didn't. It's been three, four years, who do you think we're dealing with? No, he said. Clarify your comments about injections of disinfectant. They're quite provocative. I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters like you just to see what would happen.

Now disinfectant for doing this maybe on the hands would work. You know the way it was asked. I was looking at you. I know. I know. It was sarcasm you guys. You know like when you ask that girl out and she's like oh no I'm'm sorry if I gave you and you're like no no, I was just joking Well, yes, this moment is comical because it is just absurd

I do want to note that this is actually very important right this defense that he was being sarcastic and then he even pivoted to Be like no I was talking about putting disinfectant on your hands right the the constant pivots These are just examples of President Donald Trump gaslighting people, it effectively gives him free reign to say whatever, however batshit crazy. And then he and his team get to gauge public reaction and then after the fact, they edit it through excuses. Once again, this situation is a prime example. When they give an excuse or an explanation

and that doesn't work, they then pivot to another one that maybe that one will stick. And he used this situation as an example of that. I mean, at first he says, you know, I was being sarcastic. He talks later about, I was talking about putting disinfectant on the hands. He also said, I wasn't talking to Dr. Birx, but I mean, during the press conference,

he did not mention hands. He also didn't remotely sound sarcastic. It also didn't appear that he was aiming the comments at reporters and there is actual video evidence of him talking to Dr. Birx and her responding. And on top of all of that, in the midst of really defending Donald Trump, you had Dr. Birx on CNN, you know,

saying this was amusing, the president speaks out loud, which means one, the president wasn't being sarcastic, and two, even if you were saying that he was directing other parts of what he was talking about to this reporter with a sarcastic question, no, she even says. Well, first, that was a dialogue he was having

between the DHS scientist and himself for information that he had received and he was discussing. Even as of recording this video, I've seen people try and say that when he said disinfectant, he was talking about UV light, which once again, for COVID-19, unproven, still incredibly early stages. And two, when the president was talking about disinfectants, he was literally wiping his hands. So with all of that said, those clips, those moments getting so much attention, it wasn't the most surprising thing to see that later that day, an Axios report suggested that he may cut his daily coronavirus press briefings.

Reportedly, his advisors have been telling him to stop doing these briefings because they're not helping him in the public eye. But saying Trump has insisted he continue because of the good ratings, though the report then adds, a source said, it finally seems to have dawned on Trump after this incident that these briefings aren't helping him. And here it is worth noting

that on his Friday press conference, it was a quick 25 minutes with no questions from reporters. Meanwhile, his past conferences have gone on much longer, some hovering around two hours. And in fact, on Saturday, we saw Trump taking to Twitter to imply himself that he might be taking steps back from press conferences. But of course, here, he cited a whole different reason. Tweeting, what is the purpose of having White House news conferences when the lamestream media asks nothing but hostile questions and then refuses to report the truth or facts accurately? They get record ratings and the American people get nothing but fake news. Not worth the time and effort. And that tweet came not too long after we learned that there would be no Saturday briefing. Which was actually the first time since Easter weekend that Trump did not hold a Saturday press conference. So that was the weekend

but then today I think we also saw kind of something that highlights the confusion regarding the press conferences. Early this morning we see reports that today's press conference is cancelled but then Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany tweets, "'Update' the White House's additional testing guidance "'and other announcements about safely opening "'up America again. "'President Donald Trump will brief the nation "'during a press conference this evening.'"

Now that said, part of the confusion might be connected to some analysts saying that this is actually hurting his optics for the 2020 presidential election. We've seen reports of advisors insisting that these briefings are only hurting him in polls against presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden. Right, I mean, according to a Business Insider poll, only one third of Americans found the briefings useful.

A Gallup poll saying that 68% of Americans have faith in their governors during this crisis, but only 47% have faith in Donald Trump. And according to a New York Times report, Republicans fear that Trump's overexposure and his public comments during this pandemic could lead to a big loss. And noting that Republicans have more than just

the presidency to lose when this November rolls around, with surveys showing that Republican senators in key states are falling behind or locked in dead heats with Democrats. And so you have Republican pollster Neil Newhouse saying, "'Because of the coronavirus situation and the focus on Trump as he does his daily news conferences, these numbers reflect

what we don't want this race to be, which is a referendum on Donald Trump.'" Yeah, ultimately, that's where we are with this story right now, and I will say, something regarding the press conferences, it will be interesting to see what happens, and I mean that both in, you know, how often will this continue to happen?

Also, will things change? And I say that because Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany has said that they may have a different look. Also, I was speaking to Fox News saying, you know, this is a big part of President Trump speaking directly to the American people. Right, so the question pops up, does that mean that moving forward,

the press might not be invited? Yeah, like I said, this is where we are. It will be interesting to see what happens. And of course, I pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts about all of this? And that is where we're going to end today's show. And hey, if you like this video, you like the way that I try and break down the news every day, hit that like button. Also, if you're new here, definitely hit subscribe. Maybe even tap that bell for notification so you don't miss these daily videos. Also, if you're looking for more to watch right

now, you can check out my newest video on my other channel, DeFranco Does, or maybe just miss the last Philip DeFranco show you wanna catch up. You can click or tap right there to watch either of those right now. 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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