The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 5.19 Joe Rogan Silenced! Big Ad Ban, Bitcoin Crash, Biden's Weak Words on Israel & More

Starting point is 00:00:00 Mr. President, can I ask you a quick question on Israel before you drive to ISIS and South Korea? No, you can't. I'm not unless you get in front of the car as I step on it. What did he say? Okay. I'm going to tease him. Sup, you beautiful bastards. I hope you're having a fantastic Wednesday. And I just want to say something to you really quick. Yesterday, Tuesday, there was not a Philip DeFranco show.

Starting point is 00:00:16 It wasn't because we got suppressed or anything like that. This may be a little bit TMI, but I've always kind of just been very straightforward with you. I'm currently making changes with the medication that I'm on. And yesterday, I just, I had zero energy. It was like it was sucked out of me. Cause yeah, I'm just a regular guy and life happens to me too. But that said, welcome back to the Philip DeFranco show.

Starting point is 00:00:33 I missed your face yesterday. Welcome back to the Wednesday show. Hit that like button, subscribe, all the good stuff. And let's just jump into it. First thing up today, let's talk about entertainment slash entertainer news. Starting with the weird, weird world of influencer boxing. You've definitely seen the rise of it

Starting point is 00:00:48 over the last few years, which makes sense because also with the attention comes so much money. Well, of course, there are a lot of eyes and focus on the Floyd Mayweather, Logan Paul fight. There's also another YouTubers versus TikTokers fight card that's happening. It's set for June 12th, it's been dubbed, or really the gimmick is that it's the battle

Starting point is 00:01:04 of the platforms. And at the top of the card, you have Bryce Hall and Austin McBroom, who really couldn't be more different. The only things they really have in common, one, they're massive creators with tons of fans, and two, everyone who is not a fan of them would love to see both of them get punched in the face. And the reason they're in the news today is, well, it's kind of like that movie. Yep, that's me. You're probably wondering how I ended up in this situation. Right, so the two ended up getting into a fight while they were promoting the match,

Starting point is 00:01:33 but it's hard to even call it a fight. Bryce Hall charges Austin McBroom, kind of pushes him, but then gets pushed to the side. Then everyone jumps on top. He then gets taken to the ground where we see just that amazing screenshot. And according to TMZ, a bottle ended up being smashed over someone's head at some point. Yeah, in general, it was a sloppy mess and it made me think of that Bo Burnham song. Right? Art is dead. I think the

Starting point is 00:01:53 song's like 10 years old, but I listened to it once a week. It really hits on how we reward people for never growing, maturing, understanding, learning. And I mean, yeah, if you're hoping that it's going to stop, it's not gonna because the, I guess we could call it the asshole economy is strong. Also on that note, we had Jake Paul in the news because boxing promoters have offered him a chance to fight for a world championship title if he agrees to retire from boxing if he loses. But I mean, I doubt that Jake Paul takes the fight. He doesn't want to fight an actual championship level boxer. He wants to fight a manager at Arby's, which I mean, I don't really mean to disrespect Ben Askren,

Starting point is 00:02:28 but there are probably some Arby managers that throw a better right hook than him. Then in big news around Twitch, and it might be the company kind of turning a corner here. You know how there's been a rise of female creators streaming from hot tubs in their swimsuits? Well, while Twitch had been kind of keeping distance on this saying, you know, we're monitoring the situation,

Starting point is 00:02:43 they weren't really doing anything, but it appears as of yesterday that has changed, with one of the largest streamers taking advantage of this trend, Amaranth tweeting, "'Yesterday I was informed that Twitch has indefinitely suspended advertising on my channel. Twitch didn't reach out in any way whatsoever. I had to initiate the conversation after noticing.

Starting point is 00:02:58 Without any prior warning, all the ads revenue had disappeared from my channel analytics.'" And adding, "'This is an alarming precedent and serves as a stark warning that although content may not ostensibly break community guidelines or terms of service, Twitch has complete discretion to target individual channels and partially or wholly demonetize them for content

Starting point is 00:03:13 that is deemed not advertiser friendly. Something that there is no communicated guideline for. And there have been a lot of responses from the community, some thinking that this was the right move, others outraged. Y'all are the likes of Devin Nash tweeting, people who are cheering about Twitch removing Amaranth's revenue will be real mad soon

Starting point is 00:03:28 when their favorite streamer gets nuked for being a brand risk. If you think this stops at sexual content, think again. Even at creators like XQC, who has previously been critical of hot tub streams. Saying that people should chill out until there's more communication from Twitch about this. Also implying he thinks that this could be an issue

Starting point is 00:03:41 for other creators. But then also adding, this might have saved everybody from losing their ads. This might be a scapegoat for all of us. Though he didn't really elaborate there. Then you had Joe Rogan in the news with the same reason Joe Rogan's always in the news. He said something on his podcast,

Starting point is 00:03:54 that clip then later went viral on Twitter. You can never be woke enough. That's the problem. It keeps going. It keeps going further and further and further down the line. And if you get to the point where you capitulate where you agree to all these demands it will eventually get to straight white men are not allowed to talk right because it's your privilege to express yourself when other people of color have been silenced throughout history it will be you're not allowed to go outside

Starting point is 00:04:19 because so many people were imprisoned for so many years i I mean, I'm not joking. No, I know, I know. It really will get there. It's that crazy. Ah, Joe. Here's the thing. I disagree with the extreme that Joe Rogan went to. Like white men are going to be in cages and their mouths are going to be clamped shut. I think that is stupid, ridiculous.

Starting point is 00:04:38 I think it feeds into white fragility, fear for white people that they're essentially being replaced. And that goes to a scary place. While Joe Rogan has said, don't listen to me. I'm a fucking idiot. Why are you listening to me? That said, you know, when you have someone with such a large platform feeding into that fear, fear turns into anger. Anger turns into violence. Then, you know, I debate it in my head. I'm like, if you look at the core of what he's talking about, we've all seen wokeism go into a ridiculous place. People trying to shut down classes because yoga is stealing from another culture,

Starting point is 00:05:08 stuff like that. But in general, the vast majority of us, when we see stuff like that, we're like, shut the fuck up, that's silly. So to me, what it ends up feeling like is a guy in a rather privileged situation saying that I want to be able to say what I want to say without consequence,

Starting point is 00:05:21 which is just not how the world works. Like Joe Rogan, you are not going to be jailed for the smart or stupid shit that you say on your podcast. But when people mock you and make fun of you because they feel like your view on things is so disconnected from how they view the world, like that's just, that's going to happen. Also, I mean, since you are saying, I'm not joking. I really hope that what you're referencing are like edgy jokes and right comedians pushing the line and not you on previous podcasts promoting something that I think led to even more vaccine hesitancy and anti-vax bullshit.

Starting point is 00:05:48 And understand I say this as someone that is generally a fan of Joe Rogan and his comedy and all that stuff. Like same thing I said last time, I'm not trying to cancel Joe Rogan, get him deplatformed, but as a white guy with a platform that is not being locked indoors and there's no risk of that to another guy, another white guy with a massive platform.

Starting point is 00:06:07 Chill out, bro. And hey, I know that my opinion here is gonna get me some shit. I just, I'm just so tired of seeing straight white dudes acting like the most persecuted fucking group in the world. Bro, the world was built for us. Allowing historically silenced voices to speak out and have platforms

Starting point is 00:06:22 and be a bigger part of the conversation than they have been is not oppression. Even when, and I would argue, especially when those voices criticize people like you and me. Personally, what I've learned to do in those moments is shut the fuck up for a second, listen to why, and then navigate from there.

Starting point is 00:06:35 Not always gonna agree. And actually, Joe, I think that where you're coming from is that you want more people to speak freely so we can learn from one another, but still the victimhood feels strong there. Anyway, then, oh baby, if you are in the crypto market right now, you very likely took a hit.

Starting point is 00:06:50 Right, so over the past couple of weeks, Bitcoin has been experiencing a rather significant sell-off. Right, last week we talked about Elon Musk saying that Tesla would no longer accept Bitcoin as a payment, something that sent it tumbling. But what we ended up seeing this morning was Bitcoin along with almost all other cryptocurrencies dropping even further.

Starting point is 00:07:05 This notably happening after the People's Bank of China directed financial institutions to stop accepting crypto transactions and providing crypto related services. And this because according to that bank, digital currencies have no real value with the bank saying alongside the China Insurance and Banking Commission,

Starting point is 00:07:19 prices of cryptocurrency have skyrocketed and plummeted recently and speculative trading has bounced back. This seriously harms the safety of people's property and disturbs normal economic and financial orders. Right, and so with this, you have some outlets speculating that this crackdown along with China's previous crypto crackdowns may just be another way

Starting point is 00:07:34 to bolster the country's state-backed initiative for its own digital currency. Though, I mean, it is important to note that volatility is pretty much tied to Bitcoin's identity. Hell, I mean, just in the last 24 hours, Bitcoin has fallen from a high of nearly 44,000 to a low of around 30,000. That's a plunge of around 25%.

Starting point is 00:07:47 It's the lowest the coin's been traded for since late January. Meanwhile, you had Ethereum falling from around $3,500 to $1,900 over 24 hours, roughly a 45% drop. Dogecoin losing 55% of its value. Though, that said, all three have come back somewhat from their lows this morning. With this, you have a lot of people wondering

Starting point is 00:08:02 what's gonna happen next. Outlets like Barron's running the headline, "'The Bitcoin Bubble is Popping, "'Why There's No Telling Where the Selling Stops.'" But you also had others, such as an executive director at one crypto-related hedge fund saying, "'In terms of Bitcoin's outlook, "'things may be looking grim right now,

Starting point is 00:08:15 "'but historically, this is yet another hurdle "'for Bitcoin to overcome, and a small one "'compared to what it has braved in the past.'" Which, I mean, it does make sense. Bitcoin is still actually up over 300% from this time exactly one year ago. And hey, as long as you've been treating this like most responsible influencers have said,

Starting point is 00:08:29 that you only invest what you're completely willing to lose and you're not listening to the shit stain influencers who've just been shilling as many shit coins as possible to pad their own pockets, not caring if you lose your livelihood, then you should be fine, right? We've all been responsible. Then, actually on the note of money,

Starting point is 00:08:46 I wanna talk about the fantastic sponsor of today's show, Omaze. One, because back in January, we promoted Omaze's 2021 Bentley Bentayga campaign, and I wanna send a huge congratulations to Sam B. in LA for winning that gorgeous vehicle, along with $20,000 in cash. And two, as many of you know,

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Starting point is 00:09:59 for your chance to win and support this great cause. Then in absolutely massive news, we should talk about how the office of New York Attorney General, Letitia James, announced yesterday that it has expanded its ongoing civil probe of the Trump organization into a criminal investigation. Right, since 2019, James has been running an inquiry

Starting point is 00:10:13 into whether or not Trump and his company falsely inflated the value of their assets for loan and tax purposes. And that probe has run parallel to a criminal investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., which launched in 2018 after Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations

Starting point is 00:10:28 in connection to hush money he paid to Stormy Daniels. And Vance's probe is also looking into the same matters as the AG's, as well as an array of other possible financial crimes, including tax and bank-related fraud. And until now, those two investigations were separate. But as of yesterday, a spokesperson for the Attorney General's office issued the statement,

Starting point is 00:10:43 "'We have informed the Trump Organization that our investigation into the company "'is no longer purely civil in nature. "'We are now actively investigating the Trump Organization "'in a criminal capacity along with the Manhattan DA.'" This is highly significant for two main reasons. First, because while James' civil probe, which he will still continue conducting,

Starting point is 00:10:58 could only result in fines and lawsuits, a criminal investigation can end with actual criminal charges. And secondly, the two offices cooperating together means they could share data and information. And that right there is especially notable because after years of legal battles, Vance's office recently obtained eight years

Starting point is 00:11:12 of Trump's personal and business tax returns, which reportedly has amounted to millions of pages of records. And notably here, former New York state prosecutors who spoke to the Washington Post told the outlet that it makes possible criminal charges way more likely than previously known. Though, as the Post notes,

Starting point is 00:11:25 that doesn't mean those charges will definitely come or implicate the former president personally. Now, that said, as far as how Trump responded, he issued a lengthy statement today blasting the investigation, calling it corrupt, and adding, there is nothing more corrupt than an investigation that is in desperate search of a crime, but make no mistake,

Starting point is 00:11:41 that is exactly what is happening here. Then, as you know, we're seeing more and more states and places easing mask restrictions, especially if you're vaccinated. We're also seeing some states going to an even further extreme like Texas, where the governor there, Greg Abbott, signed an executive order yesterday

Starting point is 00:11:54 that bans government entities and public schools from imposing mask requirements to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. And in fact, starting this Friday, any local government body that tries to implement a mask mandate can be fined up to $1,000, according to the order. Though, notably, there are some exemptions for state-supported living centers,

Starting point is 00:12:10 government-owned or run hospitals, prisons, and jails. And as far as schools, they will be allowed to keep their protections until June 4th. But after that, quote, "'No student, teacher, parent, or other staff member "'or visitor may be required to wear a face cover.'" With Abbott defending the move, saying, "'Texans, not government,

Starting point is 00:12:24 "'should decide their best health practices, which is why masks will not be mandated by public school districts or government entities." Right, and while with this being Texas, there were a lot of people that were happy about this move, there were also many concerns. Some noting that Texas ranks in the bottom 15 out of all 50 states in terms of

Starting point is 00:12:38 percent of population vaccinated, with around 30% of Texans fully inoculated right now. There's also been a focus on the schools, right? Because the school year is winding down right now, but you also have some massive school districts holding classes as well as public colleges holding graduation events. And those will be happening after the ban goes into effect,

Starting point is 00:12:53 meaning that Abbott's order directly goes against guidelines from the CDC, which has advised that schools keep coronavirus mitigation measures, including masks for the rest of this academic year. Which is also why we saw a ton of the top teachers unions in the state condemning the move. But also here's the thing, Abbott is not alone in this move, in this decision.

Starting point is 00:13:09 Just last week, you had the governor of South Carolina signing an almost identical executive order banning mask mandates in schools and government. The week before that, you had Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, enacting a very similar policy, blocking all local mask mandates imposed by local governments. And I mean, really all I can say at this point,

Starting point is 00:13:22 especially if you're in the United States, if you're worried about this, get vaccinated because shit is opening up. I got my second shot about a month ago. I don't wear a mask when I'm outside. I got it in my pocket if I need it. Obviously the masks are more for other people, but if half the fucking country wants to be the placebo group

Starting point is 00:13:37 in this vast, vast test, let them. With the general availability of the vaccine in the United States right now, it has become now more of a conversation about personal responsibility. Then we had President Joe Biden in the news, seemingly revising his previous statement of Benjamin Netanyahu, do what you must. To now, Biden reportedly having another phone call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with AIDS reportedly saying on that call that Biden expected a significant de-escalation today on the path to a ceasefire. Which could be big news, though it is unclear what a significant de-escalation today on the path to a ceasefire, which could be big news, though it is unclear what a significant deescalation

Starting point is 00:14:07 actually means, right? Does that just mean that the Israeli military pinky promises not to destroy any other buildings that have media inside of it, thus limiting the ability for information to come out from the ground? Maybe just kill fewer Palestinian children? And while yes, that's more irritated sarcasm,

Starting point is 00:14:21 the ambiguity there has left a lot to be desired from a lot of people, right? Because it is very unclear how seriously Netanyahu actually is taking the warning. Because Netanyahu has reportedly since taking that meeting also then met with his military staff and decided that they were, quote, "'determined to continue this operation

Starting point is 00:14:35 until its aim is met.'" With him also reportedly saying this morning to foreign ambassadors that you can either conquer them, and that's always an open possibility, or you can deter them. "'We are engaged right now in forceful deterrence, but I have to say we don't rule out anything. We're not standing with a stopwatch.

Starting point is 00:14:50 We want to achieve the goals of the operation. Previous operations lasted a long time, so it's not possible to set a timeframe. Which, I mean, is not unexpected. The United States says one thing, does another. They're like, hey, serious talking to Netanyahu. But also, here's that $735 million arms deal, enjoy the guided missiles.

Starting point is 00:15:06 Though to be clear that arms sale was in the works well before the current fighting began and it was a routine sale. But I mean, it does need to be said, even if the sale was routine, things on the ground have changed and the optics of selling Israel devices that are believed to be used against homes in Gaza

Starting point is 00:15:18 are not good, right? Which is in part why it's led to a pretty significant rift in the democratic party. Some like Representative Mark Pocan tweeting, "'We cannot just condemn rockets fired by Hamas "'and ignore Israel's state-sanctioned police violence "'against Palestinians, including unlawful evictions, "'violent attacks on protesters

Starting point is 00:15:33 "'and the murder of Palestinian children. "'U.S. aid should not be funding this violence.'" And in fact, there's now a concerted effort to have the House's Foreign Affairs Committee not just rubber stamp every arms deal to Israel moving forward, but it also remains to be seen how effective that will be. Meanwhile, you have Egyptian and UN mediators

Starting point is 00:15:46 trying to broker a ceasefire. And despite US efforts to block resolutions in the UN Security Council, France has used its position there to once again demand for a ceasefire. Additionally, Russia warned Israel's ambassador today that any further civilian casualties in Gaza was unacceptable, with also Germany calling for a ceasefire

Starting point is 00:16:01 and promising to provide aid to Palestinians once the fighting stops. And I mean, regarding the aid, it is sorely needed. Since the fighting began, over 52,000 Palestinians have been displaced, nearly 450 buildings have either been destroyed or severely damaged. In total, at least 219 Palestinians have been killed

Starting point is 00:16:16 in airstrikes, over 1500 wounded. For their part, Hamas has fired over 3,700 rockets into Israel, killing 12 and injuring dozens. And for the time being, we're all just kind of watching the devastation happening and wondering what's gonna happen next. And ultimately with this story, or honestly anything that stood out to you today,

Starting point is 00:16:31 I'd love to know your thoughts in those comments down below, because this is the end of today's show. As always, thank you for watching, liking, subscribing, all the good stuff. If you're looking for more to watch right now, I got you covered right here or in the top links down below. But with that said, of course, as always,

Starting point is 00:16:43 my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love yo faces and I'll see you tomorrow.

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The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 5.19 Joe Rogan Silenced! Big Ad Ban, Bitcoin Crash, Biden's Weak Words on Israel & More

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