The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 5.20 The James Charles Controversy Being Swept Under The Rug Is Strange and Troubling, & More

Starting point is 00:00:00 Sup you beautiful bastards, hope you're having a fantastic Monday. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show. And actually, a quick note, I was going to threaten you with a good old-fashioned throat punch if you didn't hit that like button, but some beautiful bastards have said that I should switch up my threats of violence. I'm saying I should switch to emotional threats. So, uh, make sure you hit that like button and that subscribe button. Otherwise, I'm going to text you late at night to remind you that your parents actually are worried about the life choices that you're making, and they worried that you're gonna be a total, complete failure,

Starting point is 00:00:25 but not because they're worried about your well-being, but because it poorly reflects on them. But yeah, we're gonna have fun today. With all of that said, let's of course just jump into it. And the first thing we're gonna talk about today is this kind of feel-good story of the day. And in addition to being a feel-good story, I also think that it's gonna be fascinating to follow

Starting point is 00:00:40 for the next 10 to 20 years as far as the effect of what we're about to talk about, which I'm getting ahead of myself. What we're talking about today involves Robert F. Smith. He's a billionaire tech investor and philanthropist who is speaking to the graduates of Morehouse College's class of 2019. And while speaking to them, he made this announcement. On behalf of the eight generations of my family who have been in this country, we're gonna put a little been in this country. We're going to put a little fuel

Starting point is 00:01:05 in your bus. Now I've got the alumni over there and this is the challenge to you alumni. This is my class 2019. And my family is making a grant to eliminate their student loans He's going to pay off the student loan debt for the nearly 400 graduates and it's both amazing and depressing considering how much money that actually is the school who Reportedly didn't even know that he was going to make this announcement before he made it in front of the entire group. Their low-end estimate of how much money is involved with Smith's grant would be around 10 million with the upper end being around 40 million. And remember we're talking about a graduating class of almost 400. If you think that number is big, looking into it further, according to recent Federal Reserve data, student loan debt in the United States has soared to roughly 1.5 trillion dollars. And when you really look at the several generations now in the United States that have been

Starting point is 00:02:04 really impacted by student debt, 1.5 trillion dollars. And when you really look at the several generations now in the United States that have been really impacted by student debt, I'm part of one. You know we're telling young people to shoot for the stars, but we give them the cement shoes that is predatory student loans and rates. It's easy to understand Morehouse president David A. Thomas calling this gesture a quote liberation gift, adding when you have to service debt the choices about what you can do in the world are constrained. Smith's gift gives them a liberty to follow their dreams, their passions." And hearing from the graduating students, you can just see what kind of impact this is going to have on their lives. One graduating student by the name of Aaron Mitchum told the Associated Press that he had drawn up a spreadsheet to calculate how long it was a way to

Starting point is 00:02:36 take him to pay off his $200,000 in student debt, saying according to his math it was gonna take him about 25 years. But now he says, I can delete that spreadsheet. I don't have to live off of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches I was shocked my heart dropped we all cried in the moment It was like a burden had been taken off So obviously a huge impact on the lives of these students here But one of the reasons I think that it's going to be interesting to follow these kids It's going to give us an interesting albeit unorthodox look as to what student debt forgiveness does to the lives of those impact What will their lives be like what will their output productivity?

Starting point is 00:03:03 Insert whatever unit of measurement be compared to those that still have this weight on them? And I'll say personally, in addition to being excited to see what actually happens, what's the comparison here, I loved seeing this. You know, watching that clip, it made me think back to my student debt, which, by the way, I'm a multi-year college dropout, so I didn't get the good part of a college, you know, I didn't get that degree, but I got the student debt and that debt made my life miserable on a Day-to-day do I even want to wake up tomorrow sort of level and short finally being able to pay off that debt was it was A point of pride for me in my early 20s I'm not gonna romanticize it like maybe in the past I would have I didn't pay off my debt and accomplish the things I did

Starting point is 00:03:38 Because of the fire that you know all that debt that I put under me sure I appreciate what I have even more because of it, but I got to where I am in spite of the daily harassment from debt collectors and just how horrible I felt and I could barely afford to even eat. And it also makes me appreciate in an even greater fashion, like the sense of universal relief these kids had. And if anything, it makes me wonder

Starting point is 00:04:01 if I could have accomplished what I ended up accomplishing even faster. You know, this is a big situation for a small number of people, but it makes me think of the bigger picture. What would the day-to-day life of the millions of kids that are graduating college, what would they be like if they didn't have these extra hurdles? And you know, I think it's obvious there's no student debt relief program that is perfect, but I think that there has to be something better than the predatory and crippling situation that we have now. But yeah, that's the story, then a little bit of my personal takeaway. And of course, I pass the question off to you.

Starting point is 00:04:28 What are your thoughts on this? Then in spoiler-free Game of Thrones news, of course, last night was the series finale. And surprisingly, while it was airing and also after, no one really had any strong opinions about it on social media. Kind of crazy when you think. I'm kidding, obviously. You've been on the internet, people have very strong feelings. But also this conclusion, and by that I mean the fan reaction, not that surprising. On Rotten Tomatoes so far, season eight is the lowest rated season with 70% compared to every other season, which is more than 90%.

Starting point is 00:04:53 Right now Last Night's episode has a score of 58%, which is actually not the lowest rated of this season. Instead, that honor is reserved for last week's episode, The Bells. Also going into the finale, there was a Change.org petition signed by more than one million people petitioning to redo this season with competent writers. Which also probably explains why the main two writers, the showrunners, said they were going to spend the finale quote, drunk and far away from the internet. Also for those hoping that George RR

Starting point is 00:05:16 Martin's ending to his books is going to be different than the TV show, it should be noted reportedly he told the showrunners the intended conclusion to his unfinished novels years ago, but since then the HBO version has made several narrative detours But also in an interview with 60 minutes last month George RR Martin said I don't think Dan and Dave's ending is gonna be that Different from my ending however those two writers did make some changes to Martin source material So it is still possible that the books will have a different enough ending to satisfy some fans Yeah, ultimately we're gonna have to wait to see what happens I think if anything the the finale gave me a good excuse to actually start the books.

Starting point is 00:05:46 But with all that said, for the Game of Thrones fans last night, what were your thoughts? You loved this season, you hated this season. You loved the finale, you hated the finale. And for those that hated it, did you hate it because of where it ended up? Or did you hate it because of part of the journey of the kind of last two or this final season? And then, for the sake of closing this out, we should talk about what appears to be the final updates around the now historic Jeffree Star, Tati Westbrook, James Charles situation. And a lot has happened since we first covered this

Starting point is 00:06:12 and I'll link to that coverage down below because I don't wanna rehash everything. But I will say right here at the beginning that it feels like a very weird ending for a situation that started so large and with serious accusations. Right, because it started with Tati Westbrook's kind of setting up the framework of this situation,

Starting point is 00:06:26 essentially calling James Charles an unappreciative backstabbing snake, who allegedly sold out his morals to exploit his young audience and try and get them to buy vitamins. And then of course, the largest accusation that he was trying to use his fame and wealth to once again trick and manipulate a straight man

Starting point is 00:06:42 into doing stuff with him. Essentially an accusation that he was manipulating the vulnerable for what he wanted. A sentiment that was given backup and a bullhorn thanks to the likes of Jeffree Star, who tweeted that James Charles was a predator, a danger to society. You also have people like singer Zara Larsson

Starting point is 00:06:56 adding to this saying, "'Oh yeah, James was DMing my boyfriend.'" There are also all these additional unsubstantiated claims of even worse abuse. And I say all of that to kind of remind us where this story started because it is so interesting now where it is ending. Sati Westbrook posted a new video on Thursday. In that video she says she never expected this big of a reaction. She thought she was gonna be the one on the receiving end of hate.

Starting point is 00:07:17 She then talks about she doesn't want people to be mean or hate James Charles. I want you guys to know I don't hate James Charles. I don't want you guys hating on him. I can't even go online right now. It's painful to watch someone that you have cared about be dragged. And if I could give all of the new success back and the new subscribers back. I would. Then on Saturday, James Charles uploads a 40 minute video. And in this video, unlike his apology video to Tati,

Starting point is 00:07:51 he goes point by point based on all of the accusations and things that have happened. Regarding the backstabbing via the vitamin situation, in Tati's original video, she says that James Charles didn't give her a heads up about a sponsored post. And it seems like she thought that the sugar bear hair deal happened during weekend one of Coachella. But in this video, James Charles makes it clear

Starting point is 00:08:07 that the deal happened during weekend two and that the ad was posted the Monday after. But in the video, James shows a screenshot of where it appears he did send her a heads up, along with an apology and an explanation. Adding that after he saw Tati's Instagram story where she was crying about feeling isolated in the YouTube world, he sent more texts,

Starting point is 00:08:20 this time not only to Tati, but also her husband James, saying he called him on several phone numbers throughout the course of a week Also regarding Tati's claim that James Charles said, you know I can't really promote your stuff because kids watch me James Charles responded by saying one that conversation never happened But two went on to show several times where he promoted her product He then went on to address Tati's allegations that he was manipulating straight men I have never and would never and will never use my fame money or power

Starting point is 00:08:44 To manipulate or get any sexual actions from a guy. Regarding the quote unquote straight waiter that Tati said that James Charles was being creepy about, he talks about that waiter showing screenshots where Sam told him that he was bi, which a note here wasn't James Charles outing this young kid in Sam's own video. He even says that at this time he was bi-curious,

Starting point is 00:09:02 adding that it was the waiter who slid into James's DMs, which we already knew prior. Adding he told Sam there was no pressure, that everything was consensual. But adding that it started getting rocky because he thought Sam was still figuring out his sexuality. Also, regarding the screenshots where James Charles said, you are not straight, James shows a screenshot where Sam used a friend's phone to tell James that he was actually gay. But allegedly he only did that so James Charles would respond so he could record the FaceTime, which we talked about on the show. So essentially it appears that James Charles is saying, I wrote that because at this point it seemed like Sam was just jerking him around Regarding James Charles contacting straight men right sliding into their DM. He said he did but whenever he learned they were not interested He would just stop he also brought up Zara Larsson's tweet where she said that he had DM'd her boyfriend multiple times knowing that he

Starting point is 00:09:40 Was straight based on screenshots that appears that was not true as he only DM'd him once, had no clue he had a girlfriend. Also bringing up that Zara actually met that boyfriend by sending this tweet. And James used this to discuss the stereotypes and the villainization that surrounds gay men. Why is it okay for Zara Larsson, a woman with a public platform, to tweet these photos of a shirtless man and say, "'Who are you? Where do you live? How old are you?

Starting point is 00:10:00 Why are you so fine? How do you like your eggs cooked in the morning?' But for me, as a gay man, to DM the same person in private with a simple compliment is predatory. And Zara Larsson has actually now apologized. He also added that other people were just making up stories about James harassing men. He then went on to address what Jeffree Star had been saying publicly as well as text messages he had been sending James. It appears that in addition to publicly calling James Charles a predator, a danger to society,

Starting point is 00:10:23 he was also directly texting people who knew James Charles things like this, writing, how do you sleep at night knowing that you enable and support a predator and a pedophile? Hopefully you seek help very soon and get away from that monster. When he trapped that boy in his hotel room in Seattle and you didn't care about it,

Starting point is 00:10:35 I knew you didn't have a soul either. Following this, we saw Tati Westbrook tweet, my family made me aware of what was just posted and I'm disappointed to see it littered with so many lies and half truths. I stand by my videos, do not twist my words into what they are not, hear the message." You also saw Jeffree Star call James' video pure calculation. You're gonna know what to believe when I really show you the facts, okay?

Starting point is 00:10:56 There's screenshots, there's a lot of things that were not presented correctly. Also having tweeted, I have so much to say and some really sad disgusting things to show you guys James Charles tried to mass manipulate you all today when I show you the proof and why I tweeted that tweet about him you will All finally understand and then what we see happen is that on Sunday Jeffree Star uploads a video unexpectedly There are no voice memos or text messages instead. It's actually Jeffree Star doing a lot of apologizing There were things being told to me that were never proven There was a lot of rumors and sadly I let that get to me. So James, I want to let you know that I should have never sent you those messages.

Starting point is 00:11:33 I should have been a better friend. I know that now. This has to stop. I'm embarrassed by my own actions. He also apologized to James' brother Ian. So Ian, I just want to let you know I am so sorry for ever sending that tweet. If I could take it back, I would. And he closed it by saying that he doesn't want to talk about the situation anymore

Starting point is 00:11:53 and that everyone involved needs to take time to heal. Based off of a number of Twitter statements and Twitter responses, it appears that they are going to try and work things out or take a break. And so right now it appears that's where this story ends. Tati Westbrook, who has been losing hundreds of thousands of subscribers, but is still immensely more positive than where she started. You have James Charles, who has gained back more

Starting point is 00:12:11 than one million of the three million that he lost and he's still gaining. The impact for Jeffree Star appears to be somewhat minimal. And it's really interesting seeing it end like this, especially when once again, you consider how intense the accusations at the beginning were. There were very real and severe accusations being broadcasted by people with access to millions,

Starting point is 00:12:28 broadcasted to tens of millions of sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, behind the scenes, apparently people were trying to say that James Charles was a pedophile. And then James Charles, once he makes a video after that weird jet lagged apology video, he essentially just says, actually no, and then essentially it's done.

Starting point is 00:12:42 And understand, this is not me wanting more blood. This reaction is based off of the severity and seriousness of the initial accusations that were being thrown out there. And then once they were contested, reaction is actually, you know what? Let's just drop the drama. The vitamin part, the friend part, sure, that's drama, but there were serious accusations made.

Starting point is 00:13:00 And then that result of it appears to be that James Charles lost a lot, is gaining back, will probably be whole sometime soon. Tati Westbrook could lose another 800,000 subscribers and she'd still be 3 million positive. And that's also without considering something that FaZe Banks mentioned. How many vitamins did she end up selling? How much money did she make since her first video? The whole situation and how everything started and has transpired, it feels off of center. I personally don't know how to react to it.

Starting point is 00:13:25 All I am at this point is skeptical and confused. But ultimately that's where we are with this story. And of course I pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts around this whole mess? Whether you're someone that's a part of the beauty community, part of the YouTube community, or you've been viewing the situation as an outsider. And that's where we're going to end today's show.

Starting point is 00:13:40 And remember, if you liked this video, if you want to support the channel, we'd love for you to take a second to just hit that like button. And if you want to take the extra step, you can go to roguerocket.com support. You can support us with a paid subscription or just supporting our sponsors there who of course support us. Also, if you're not 100% filled in, if you missed some of the last videos we put out, you can click or tap right there to watch those. But with that said, of course, as always, my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled

Starting point is 00:14:01 in. I love yo faces and I'll see you tomorrow.

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The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 5.20 The James Charles Controversy Being Swept Under The Rug Is Strange and Troubling, & More

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