The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 5.14 DISGUSTING Subway TikTok Prank On Essential Workers Sparks Outrage, MrBeast, & More

Starting point is 00:00:00 Sup you beautiful bastards, hope you've had a fantastic Thursday. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show. Buckle up, hit that like button and let's just jump into it. And the first things we're going to talk about today are internetty news quickies, starting with the good stuff. You know, in these weird and trying times we've been seeing creators left and right stepping up to the plate, raising money for charity, good initiatives. You know, this week you had the likes of Vinesauce, who on his birthday announced

Starting point is 00:00:21 while he was doing a stream of Zelda Majora's Mask that he was going to raise money for COVID-19 relief, set a goal of $10,000, crushed that. It's currently sitting at 38,500 as of filming this. Seen a number of gaming organizations doing their part, like F2K recently raising over $70,000 on live streams for care and feeding America. You also had YouTubers helping with people like James Charles putting out a video on Tuesday, which was pretty much the biggest Get Ready With Me video

Starting point is 00:00:44 in YouTube's history. And that video including some of the biggest names in the beauty community like NikkieTutorials, Patrick Star, Mikey, AKA GlamandGore, Bretman Rock, Nikita Dragon, and more. And there, you know, we saw James Charles donating $25,000 of his own money, fans contributing as well.

Starting point is 00:00:58 Also helping with donations there, you had Google who promised to pay $2 for every $1 donated. And as of recording right now, that fundraiser is sitting just shy of $5 million with the hope of raising 7.5 million. Also this week, we saw a virtual telethon hosted by Tina Fey to help New Yorkers

Starting point is 00:01:11 who are struggling right now, raising over $115 million. With that money going to an organization called Robinhood that says on its website, 100% of the donations will provide support for food, shelter, cash assistance, health and mental health, legal services, education, and more. Helping fellow New Yorkers rebuild their lives

Starting point is 00:01:28 as the city moves towards recovery and beyond. Also, we've seen companies getting involved, like the airline JetBlue, that's now offering 100,000 free pairs of round trip tickets to healthcare workers. Essentially, the way it works is if you know a healthcare worker who you think deserves a break, you go to the link that I'll include down below

Starting point is 00:01:41 and you tell JetBlue why. Also, notably regarding the timing of that trip, because obviously, you know, not ideal now. They even say on the site, so they can take a vacation when the time is right. So if you know someone, maybe nominate them, but note that you should do it now because this ends tomorrow.

Starting point is 00:01:55 Also, you have companies like Mazda, where if you're a healthcare worker and you need an oil change, you can go to one of their dealers listed in the link below and they'll change your oil for free. And Mazda's offer actually extends even further, like whether you're a doctor or you're a janitor working in a medical facility.

Starting point is 00:02:07 And keep in mind, there are more companies doing more things, these are just some of them that I wanted to feature since we had the chance. Those are the good bits of Quickie News and what follows is the weird, the interesting, the annoying, and the infuriating. Regarding the weird one, I'm mainly just including this because I'm fascinated by your opinion.

Starting point is 00:02:22 We currently have MrBeast in the news, if you don't know him, he's a massive YouTube creator. A lot of his videos revolve around people kind of winning money from him or him just giving money to people. He also recently raised a ton of money for charity. The reason we're talking about MrBeast today is he has now become aware of a YouTube channel called 50K

Starting point is 00:02:38 that features 464 videos and counting 464 days straight of a guy putting out videos titled eating a picture of mr Beast every day until he donates me 50k where he does exactly that he eats a photo of mr. Beast and now like I said Mr. Beast became aware of it and so he tweeted should I give the guy $50,000 for eating a picture of my face every day for the last 464 days also posting his concern But if I pay him I might inspire tons of you to eat pictures of me and I genuinely don't know if that's what I want My legacy to become teenagers eating pictures of me. So with this story, I might inspire tons of you to eat pictures of me, and I genuinely don't know if that's what I want my legacy to become, teenagers eating pictures of me.

Starting point is 00:03:07 And so with this story, I wanted to know your thoughts. Should he? Is it essentially rewarding this kid for his next level dedication, which I will say is somewhat Mr. Beast-like. If you're unaware, Mr. Beast came up not only because he gave money to people, but because he made ridiculous videos

Starting point is 00:03:21 that no one else would ever wanna do or would take the time to do, like spinning a fidget spinner for 24 hours straight and counting to 300,000 road to a mill part one Right so you had that camp or were you in the no camp because essentially it would be rewarding something for doing a thing that Is probably not healthy although googling it which I hate this is now in my Google history This article says it's not particularly dangerous. I still would not recommend it. Also Wow There's a whole eating disorder

Starting point is 00:03:45 built around this. The world is a strange place. But that said, what are your thoughts on this? Then in interesting internet news, it appears that the age of YouTube boxing is not over. This, despite the last one being incredibly underwhelming, though, I was happy about it, because I won money.

Starting point is 00:03:57 You bet with your head, not your heart. The reason I say this is that KSI, who of course was in the two previously just massive fights with Logan Paul, he was on a podcast recently, and in addition to saying why he does not like Jake Paul, who of course is in the two previously just massive fights with Logan Paul. He was on a podcast recently and in addition to saying why he does not like Jake Paul, who of course is Logan Paul's brother. Just his whole demeanor, how he is.

Starting point is 00:04:12 He's racist, like my times he says the N-word. Yeah, he's, bro, he's just an asshole. Like even his latest video about him just beating up that dude who doesn't, you can tell doesn't know how to box, has no idea how to box, and Jake's just fucking him up for no apparent reason.

Starting point is 00:04:34 He also said that a fight between the two needs to happen, which is something that we know Jake Paul is open to. And so if they have interest, it's incredibly likely that a promotion would have interest, especially because according to previous reports, KSI versus Logan Paul II, it sold more pay-per-views than Anthony Joshua versus Andy Ruiz Jr.

Starting point is 00:04:49 And honestly, same as the last two times, I would buy and watch his pay-per-view, even though it would support one person that I do not like. Then we've seen a lot of TikTok in the news, unfortunately for a few negative reasons. One of those reasons being centered around a challenge called the Autism Challenge. And reportedly as a part of this challenge, users make hand gestures and facial expressions that mock people with disabilities

Starting point is 00:05:08 while dancing along to a parody song called Let's Get Retarded. Though I will say it appears that many of these videos have received massive backlash prompting many to delete them. Though I will say it's unclear with all of them if the posts were removed by TikTok or by the creators themselves. But it seems like it might have been TikTok. If you try and search the hashtag autism challenge, it's disappeared from the app. Also now when you click on the audio used for this challenge, you see that it's just been flooded by people slamming the trend. A number of posts of people pretending

Starting point is 00:05:31 that they're about to do the dance, then lecturing people about how disgusting it is. Other posts featuring parents of children with special needs trying to show people who exactly they're mocking when they do this. Off platform, we saw the likes of Kate Swenson, who's a blogger behind Finding Cooper's Voice, which is a site where she shares her journey

Starting point is 00:05:43 about raising a son with severe nonverbal autism, posting a video where she tries to speak directly to one of the people who participated in this trend. Do you need help? Do you need a hug? Do you need love? Do you need support? Are you not getting what you need from your parents? What is it? Because anyone that would do that is so low and so messed up, I am flabbergasted. Also specifically expressing her frustration about the fact that parents have been filming these videos with their kids. What are you teaching your children?

Starting point is 00:06:14 So there was that, but then the final bit of internet-y and also TikTok news involves a user by the name of Fuck Joshi, which I imagine is short for Fuckface Joshi. So you know how on YouTube for years and years it was just a massive trend and very supported and successful to be a prankster, but your pranks were just you being an asshole? And well, it appears that this is an alive

Starting point is 00:06:34 and well practice on TikTok. But that said, this specific douchebag has the spotlight on him right now because of this prank. He's inside a New York City subway car, people just trying to go about their lives, you got the masks on, so you know that this is actually very recent. And he just deliberately dumps cereal and milk

Starting point is 00:06:50 all over the floor. A video that pissed off a lot of people, including the official New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority Twitter that featured the video saying, "'A New Low' Pulling a Prank on Essential Workers "'in the Middle of a Global Pandemic' "'and Making Essential Workers Clean Up Your Mess.

Starting point is 00:07:03 "'Despicable.'" You know, after seeing this, I went to his profile and I was like, maybe this was just kind of a one-time thing. It was a stupid decision. But in fact, no, it appears that one of the working themes of his content is, hey, I'm gonna prove how much of an asshole I am. And this, including him walking up to

Starting point is 00:07:16 and getting into the personal space of essential workers with a ripped open face mask, like that's the joke, and then he's walking behind a counter where they're actively selling and making food. My general mindset with this guy and others like him is they're not deserving of the platform they have. Essentially, he's just harassing people. And the thing is, I know and I've had to deal with guys

Starting point is 00:07:32 like this over the past 14 years on my platform. He's the kind of guy that if I labeled him the douchebag of the day, he would wear it as a badge of honor. You know, the kind of thinking of, even if people are angry, the more people that see it, the bigger I am, but really, all you're throwing out there is what a sad little pathetic man boy you are. Stick to the other random, asinine, idiotic content

Starting point is 00:07:50 and just let these essential workers fucking work in peace. But hey, those are the stories, some of my personal takeaway, and of course, now I pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts on this? And then, let's talk about Wisconsin, because yesterday we saw the state Supreme Court actually strike down the governor,

Starting point is 00:08:03 Tony Evers' stay at home order. So let's talk about what this means and how we got here. So the story actually begins last month when the governor's administration issued an order extending the state stay at home order from April 24th to May 26th. Shortly after that, the state's legislature brought forth a legal challenge

Starting point is 00:08:17 against the state's health secretary Andrea Palm. In that lawsuit, those lawmakers argued that such long-term decisions on citizens' lives should be decided by the legislature, not just the Evers administration. But on the other side of this, in court, you had an attorney for the Evers administration arguing that state law gives the Wisconsin Health Department the authority to, quote, do whatever is necessary to combat a novel, deadly, communicable disease like the one we're facing today. Right away, things weren't looking good for Evers. In hearings last week, we saw Justice Rebecca Bradley comparing the governor's orders to the controversial US Supreme Court decision during World War II

Starting point is 00:08:46 to uphold Japanese internment camps. And what we ultimately ended up seeing yesterday was the Wisconsin Supreme Court siding with the legislature, allowing the state to reopen immediately. Though, notably, that decision was pretty narrow, with a four to three vote. And in the majority opinion, the court's justices wrote, "'In the case of a pandemic which lasts month after month,

Starting point is 00:09:02 "'the governor cannot rely on emergency powers indefinitely.'" Though here, the court also noted that it wasn't challenging the governor's power to actually declare emergencies. Also, notably here, all four of the justices in that majority opinion are considered conservative justices, with in fact, only one of the court's conservative judges

Starting point is 00:09:15 breaking to side with the court's two liberal judges. And there, in their dissent, they wrote, "'This decision will undoubtedly go down "'as one of the most blatant examples "'of judicial activism in this court's history. And it will be Wisconsinites who pay the price. But to be very clear here, this decision only affected Evers' executive order.

Starting point is 00:09:32 Right, and so what that means is that local municipalities can still issue their own stay-at-home orders. And in fact, that is exactly what we saw. At least five cities and counties have now announced that they'll be extending their stay-at-home orders, most of them until May 26th. But many other counties and cities are now free

Starting point is 00:09:45 of stay at home orders. And so because of that, we started to see businesses pretty much open immediately after this decision was announced. And in fact, last night we saw a number of bars reopening. You see people in video and pictures kind of packing into these small spaces, pretty much no one wearing a mask. And regarding the general thinking of reopening right now,

Starting point is 00:09:59 we saw one bar owner in the town of Port Washington telling a local TV station that he respects people's decision if they don't want to come back out yet, but he also decided to reopen because he hadn't been able to pay his employees for two months. And you know, we saw in other examples of people essentially with that same mindset of, you know,

Starting point is 00:10:13 if you're scared, yeah, stay at home. However, as a lot of public health experts have noted, it's not really that simple. You know this because the people that are going to these bars are also likely going to the grocery stores. They're likely seeing family. They can then unintentionally spread the coronavirus

Starting point is 00:10:23 to people at those places, even if those people are social distancing and only going out when necessary. Last night, while a lot of people were rolling out to these newly opened bars, we saw Evers blasting the Supreme Court decision. And unfortunately, in this one fell swoop, four judges who didn't really care about what the statutes talk about have thrown our state into chaos. We're in the Wild West, Ali. There are very few things that you can be certain of in life, but you can always be sure the sun will rise each morning. You can bet your bottom dollar that you'll always need air to

Starting point is 00:10:54 breathe and water to drink. And of course, you can rest assured that with Public Mobile's 5G subscription phone plans, you'll pay the same thing every month. With all of the mysteries that life has to offer, a few certainties can really go a long way. Subscribe today for the peace of mind you've been searching for. Public Mobile. Different is calling. It won't take long to tell you Neutrals ingredients. Vodka. Soda, natural flavors. So, what should we talk about? No sugar added? Neutral. Refreshingly simple. However, we also saw Wisconsin Speaker Robin Voss and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald saying in a statement,

Starting point is 00:11:49 Wisconsin now joins multiple states that don't have extensive stay-at-home orders, but can continue to follow good practices of social distancing, hand washing, hand sanitizer usage, and telecommuting. Saying this order does not promote people to act in a way that they believe endangers their health. And adding, we would urge the Evers administration to work with us to begin promulgating rules that would provide clear guidance in case COVID-19 reoccurs in a more aggressive way. Also this morning, we saw President Trump backing the court's decision, saying on Twitter

Starting point is 00:12:13 that Wisconsin was just given another win. The Democrat governor was forced by the courts to let the state open. The people want to get on with their lives. The place is bustling. And ultimately, that's where we are with this. And what I will say is, this is really not the most surprising thing.

Starting point is 00:12:24 I mean, this is Wisconsin. This is the same state where the legislature sued Evers for trying to delay the state's primary. Right in there, we saw the Wisconsin Supreme Court siding with the legislature. And also, regarding that legislature, they've been clashing with Evers since he was elected in 2018.

Starting point is 00:12:35 If you don't remember, after he won, the legislature actually voted to strip power from the governor's seat. Although, I will say, things may change in the state as of August 1st. And the reason for that is one of the conservative justices Daniel Kelly who was actually endorsed by President Trump He lost recently in a special election. So Justice-elect Jill Karofsky takes that role August 1st So just in general, it's gonna be an interesting state to watch. But with this story, I do want to pass the question off to you

Starting point is 00:12:58 What are your thoughts on this? What are your thoughts on this decision in Wisconsin? What are your thoughts when you see these these pictures and these videos from these bars? Are you excited? Are you furious? Are you somewhere in between where you're cautiously optimistic? Where are you at right now and why? I'd love to know. And then, actually, you know what?

Starting point is 00:13:11 Somewhat connected to the last story and maybe even your opinion regarding the idea of reopening, we should talk about unemployment. You know, it's Thursday, which in recent weeks has become shitty news day. The shitty news in part today is that the government reported that nearly three million more people

Starting point is 00:13:23 filed for unemployment last week, bringing the total number to more than 36 million. And even though the weekly count has been decreasing steadily since late March, the number of people out of work is actually a lot higher than what's reflected in those reports. I mean, just last week you had the Labor Department saying that the official unemployment rate for April

Starting point is 00:13:38 may have been close to 20%. But reportedly because of issues with the ways the workers are classified, their official count clocked in at just under 15%. Right, and that's because the official unemployment rate just looks at the active labor force. Right, the number of people working compared to the number of people who are looking for work or who have been temporarily laid off and expect to get their job back. But that doesn't account for people who have exited the workforce altogether. You know, people who stopped working because they don't feel safe or people who aren't actively searching for work right now because the job market is bad.

Starting point is 00:14:02 And according to the Labor Department's jobs report for April, 9.5 million people who were working in March had exited the workforce entirely by May. So that's 9.5 million people who aren't being counted when you see updated unemployment numbers. So that's why it's believed that the current actual count is around 46 million. But even for the people who are still in the workforce who are trying to get unemployment benefits,

Starting point is 00:14:20 there are still a ton of problems. Numerous states right now have huge backlogs of unemployment claims. You also have people all over the country reporting that they've been unable to even reach their state agencies because the systems are so bogged down. In fact, according to reports as of last week, 20 states, DC and Puerto Rico have not paid out any benefits

Starting point is 00:14:35 under the pandemic unemployment assistance, which of course Congress passed as part of the stimulus bill to help freelancers, self-employed people and other workers who normally wouldn't be eligible for state unemployment benefits. And according to a poll from the New York Times earlier this month, more than half of the people who applied for unemployment benefits in recent weeks

Starting point is 00:14:50 were unsuccessful. And here's the thing, even in some states where people have been approved for these benefits, actually getting them has been a slow process. For example, you have places like Florida where less than half of all people with certified unemployment claims have actually started receiving them.

Starting point is 00:15:02 And unfortunately, it appears that these are not problems that are just gonna go away as soon as states start reopening. Because while reopening of course means more rehiring, more people going back to work. Most economists right now believe that it will take years to get the joblessness rate back to where it was before the pandemic.

Starting point is 00:15:16 Which is also why we're seeing so many experts saying that the government needs to do more to help people and prop up the economy. I mean in fact just yesterday the chair of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell gave an incredibly stark warning about the state of the economy. I mean, in fact, just yesterday, the chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, gave an incredibly stark warning about the state of the economy, saying the scope and speed of this downturn are without modern precedent,

Starting point is 00:15:30 significantly worse than any recession since the Second World War. Also warning that the current downturn could create serious and long-lasting damage to the economy if lawmakers do not provide more financial aid to address joblessness and prevent widespread bankruptcies. With Powell specifically saying that he's worried about a sort of domino effect here.

Starting point is 00:15:45 Right, if more and more consumers keep losing jobs, they spend less, that hurts restaurants, gyms, retail stores, other businesses, which could force them to close, thus losing even more jobs. While Powell did applaud Congress and Trump for passing that nearly $2 trillion stimulus bill, he also said they have to do more, adding,

Starting point is 00:16:00 "'The recovery may take some time to gather momentum. "'Additional fiscal support could be costly, but worth it if it helps avoid long-term economic damage and leaves us with a stronger recovery. And this also notably comes just a few days after House Democrats proposed a $3 trillion package, which among other things includes another round of stimulus checks, a ton of aid to states

Starting point is 00:16:18 and municipalities, and more money for the Paycheck Protection Program. But regarding this, on the other side of the aisle, we saw Mitch McConnell immediately saying it was dead on arrival. And while Senate Republicans generally do agree that another stimulus bill will be needed, they also think that it's too soon after the last bill.

Starting point is 00:16:32 Also saying that reopening will help the economy, so we need to wait to see what those benefits are before spending more money on relief. And that is also something that's been echoed by President Trump, who recently said that he expects to see dramatic economic rebound with all these reopenings. But as of right now, that is a belief

Starting point is 00:16:45 and it remains to be seen if it is true. And according to labor department data thus far, even states that have rushed to reopen like Florida and Georgia still saw an increase in unemployment claims from last week. Though to note there, a huge span of time since those changes were made has not passed. Right, and according to reports,

Starting point is 00:16:59 there have been lags in data that make it hard to figure out how many people have been rehired as more restrictions have been lifted. But also there are other issues that these reopenings could cause when it comes to unemployment benefits. All right, with all of this, some states are now taking a hard line on who gets benefits. For example, Nebraska's Labor Department

Starting point is 00:17:12 posted a notice online saying failure to return to work could be considered fraud, right, and potentially disqualifying people from receiving benefits. Also, in South Carolina, workers are not eligible for unemployment if they don't work because they're isolating or have children to look after while schools are closed.

Starting point is 00:17:25 Right, so it puts people in a situation where they're either forced to stay home and not make money and suffer that way, or work in potentially unsafe conditions, which could affect them or lead to further spread, which could help undo all the progress that's been made thus far and hurt the economy even more in the long run.

Starting point is 00:17:38 But with that said, that is also, unfortunately, where we are with this story. And that is where I'm going to end today's show. And hey, as always, thanks for watching, liking, being a part of the conversation. Also, if you're new here, welcome. If you want more of these videos in the future, definitely hit that subscribe button,

Starting point is 00:17:51 tap that bell to turn on notifications. Remember, if you're still looking for more to watch, I have that brand new podcast out with Dr. Mike, or maybe you just missed yesterday's 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,

Starting point is 00:18:05 I love yo faces, and I'll see you next time. I hope you liked this video. Subscribe if you like it.

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The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 5.14 DISGUSTING Subway TikTok Prank On Essential Workers Sparks Outrage, MrBeast, & More

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