The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 5.24 I Hate Everything Today. Don't Mind Me. Also Ricky Gervais, Halsey, Balenciaga, & Today's News

Starting point is 00:00:00 Sup, you beautiful bastards. Welcome back to the show. As you know, I am Philip DeFranco, and we're here to talk about news that matters as well as news that shouldn't matter, and you can be the judge of each one. Let's just jump into it. You know, the first thing that we're going to talk about today is some Philip DeFranco woke up and decided to be a hater news, because let's talk about this stupid story that people have been trying to get me to talk about for about a week now. High-end fashion brand Balenciaga launched these shoes for $1,850. Something so stupid even the people dumb enough to buy Balenciaga clothes were like, that's ridiculous. Which just so there is no confusion

Starting point is 00:00:37 I am saying yes to even all the influencers that post their grams with it. If you buy Balenciaga you're fucking stupid and I'm glad that the money is being separated from you. And no one can change my mind on this. You're gonna tell me this basic ass pair of leggings because it's Balenciaga and Adidas. Oh my God, it's $895. Yeah, because you made that shit on the cheap and your margins were so fucking big.

Starting point is 00:01:00 You could give it to massive, massive influencers to make it go like, oh, this is aspirational clothing I want this it says something about me so many people can't have it. You're telling me this shirt also $895 that's like a year's salary for the kid that made it but all of that is just hater to Franco's way of saying these $1,850 shoes. They're just they're just more apparently stupid than the whole fucking thing. How about this? I'm gonna take my hater hat off for a second If you're someone that looks at Balenciaga and you're like, oh my god, I fucking want that. Hey, I get it. I get it. Like, social media and the fucking marketing machine,

Starting point is 00:01:31 it's, it's warped my brain too. Not right now, Lindsay. We gotta remind ourselves that's like the point of everything, for you to just keep giving your money to other people and at times like this, excessive amounts of money for minimal return. I'm gonna say it enough times during this show that it seems like I have a crisis of Self, but really it's just I'm hyper fixated on it today Everything is bullshit and nothing matters and here's the thing I understand that like them releasing this There's a good chance that this was kind of rage bait more people are now talking about the brand But it really should just fucking put a light on how dumb This whole fucking industry is.

Starting point is 00:02:05 Anyway, the new Beautiful Bastard Drop's coming out in like two to three weeks. My most expensive shirt will be this $40 over-dyed tie-dye. But if you want, I can take a knife to it and you can pay me $1,850 for it. I will also offer that as an option in case you're a dumb fuck. It's a market we have not actively pursued, but I'm open to. And then let's talk about Halsey and the rich celebrity singing folk struggling. That's dismissive, Philip DeFranco. No, this is actually kind of an interesting story.

Starting point is 00:02:35 It has larger implications about the future of the music industry. A little kind of peek behind the window. Because if you didn't see, Halsey posted a TikTok on Sunday saying their label is essentially blocking the release of a new song, claiming that despite her years of success in the industry, the label is saying she can't release the song unless they can fake a viral moment on TikTok, saying that everything is marketing and that this is happening to basically every artist right now. Now with this, while there are many that sympathized with her, there were also people saying, is this just kind of a ploy on its own to get a viral TikTok? With people noting that Halsey is by no means the only or first person to say something like this. But to that, she wrote on Twitter that she is way too established to

Starting point is 00:03:07 stir something like this up for no reason or resort to this as a marketing tactic, and claiming that she talked to her label after her TikTok tantrum, saying they said, wow, the TikTok is really going strong. I was like, okay, cool, so I can release my song now. They said, we'll see. Tell me again how I'm making this up. And as far as, well, why does she just not release her own music? Well, it's because she actually doesn't own it. It's not hers. The label owns it. Welcome to the world of masters. Now, for their part, Halsey's label, Astroworks Capital, gave a statement to Variety yesterday saying, Our belief in Halsey as a singular and important artist is total and unwavering. We can't wait for the world to hear their brilliant new music. But then, Halsey shot back at this on Twitter saying,

Starting point is 00:03:39 I'm not signed to Astroworks anymore. Astroworks is the label that signed me, and then they upstreamed me to Capital. This quote came from the company who believed in me from the jump, not the company I'm wrestling with right now. And Halsey continued to sound off yesterday saying they never experienced this issue before and adding that they're welcome to new marketing ideas, but this TikTok ultimatum is just too much. And adding they are saying if they don't reach some imaginary goalpost of views or virality, then they won't give me a release date at all. I'm not claiming to be oppressed, just saying that not all marketing methods are universal. Which, to that point, it's no secret that TikTok has a huge impact on the music industry. It directly influences the billboard charts and everything.

Starting point is 00:04:11 I mean, you just look at the new songs and artists breaking out, whether you're talking about like a Ty Verdes or Lil Nas X, so many others. TikTok is a massive platform and it can be a quick way for songs to boom. So labels want to force that door open whenever they can, right? They'll pay influencers to use their songs and videos, try to create challenges to music, all in the hopes that the song will take off. Like, I'm not saying that this one is like one of the artificial campaigns, but Lizzo is about damn time, like her really pushing the dance. I mean, it's like, it's stuck in my head now forever. It's effective and it can impact artists both large and small, which is actually why we reached out to Sizzy Rocket, an artist and songwriter who says that over the last

Starting point is 00:04:42 year, TikTok has changed the music industry with the pressure to go viral. And importantly, noting that making a song and making a viral TikTok are two completely different art forms, but producers and labels just don't understand that. And artists like myself and Halsey, who require a little bit more time and space to craft our messages, are sort of being forced to fit into this box of virality. And so it's a big problem. And this problem presents itself in different ways for different artists. You have Halsey going viral herself, but for smaller artists? We're getting buried, right? It's like there's so much content. There's so many people trying

Starting point is 00:05:16 to go viral. I feel like larger artists, because they have a more established, like a bigger audience, they sort of have access to that attention. But for smaller artists, it's like we sort of have to like dig, dig through the pile. And in Sissy Rocket's case, sometimes labels want her to take her songwriting talents and essentially give them away to viral artists to help write their songs and not even get paid for those sessions. It's taken me four albums. I just finished my fourth album and 10 years to sort of develop this melodic and lyrical style. And so to sort of ask me to just give that to a brand new artist who just went viral overnight is truly offensive. And while she says she doesn't blame the TikTok artists for

Starting point is 00:05:58 going viral themselves, she does place blame on labels for not understanding the corner that music artists are being pushed into. We've seen tons of others speaking out, both small and large, but even the likes of Charlie Puth saying that he loves TikTok and has learned a lot music-wise from it, but also adding, Never compromise your art. Great art that is an extension of you will always rise to the top, even if it doesn't go viral. And while, of course, with this story, I'd love to know your thoughts on the situation, whether it be Halsey-specific, kind of the music industry in general,

Starting point is 00:06:22 my thought is this isn't gonna change. While I'm not saying these artists are faking it or anyone specifically or all or any of that bullshit. I think that this has probably proven effective for the labels. I mean, just think about how many millions of dollars in free press Halsey's new album has now. And there's no massive unsubscribing campaign to what?

Starting point is 00:06:41 There's no massive demonstration outside of the label's office because also who is it? Like you can research it and find out, but so outside of the label's office because also, who is it? Like you can research it and find out, but so many of these artists that complain about it, they just say my label. They're this nondescript boogeyman that's ruining life for your favorite artists. And now I'm aware and I care and I'm passionate about this release and we're all just on fucking puppet strings. Like if you're genuinely bothered by this, I'm not speaking to Halsey because like, obviously they would complain if everything is as it seems, that seems like a horrible situation for them. But

Starting point is 00:07:07 the reaction we're seeing now publicly, that's the intended reaction. Just another day and confirmation that everything's bullshit and nothing matters. But from that, I want to take a second to thank a fantastic sponsor of today's show, Ridge. You know, I've had a Ridge wallet before they even became a sponsor. I love that Ridge is a minimalist front pocket wallet that's slim, RFID blocking, and comes with a lifetime guarantee. Because as anyone that's ever had one knows, men's wallets can get bulky. Just thing after thing after thing gets in there.

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Starting point is 00:08:07 I mean, let's just scrub through the headlines. Gervais' Netflix special draws criticism for graphic jokes mocking trans people. But really, I mean, let me fix those headlines for you. We scribble that out and Ricky Gervais gets millions of dollars of free promo. I mean, I forget who originally said it, but it's still very true. Whenever these things happen, all it does is boost the comedian. right? Millions and millions of people become aware that this Netflix special is out. Tons of people that would never watch Ricky Gervais are angry. They say a lot of things. Meanwhile, a lot of his existing fans may not have known that the special was out or people

Starting point is 00:08:36 that like that brand of comedy are now aware of it. Now, as far as some of the specifics of the situation, you have a lot of people sharing a clip that I can't show you in this video. I'm worried that Netflix will hit us. You've got gervais joking about old fashion versus new women what he says is women with wombs compared to women with beards and penises right now some people don't want trans women to use the same bathroom as them because oh he has a penis with gervais then joking about pronouns saying oh no she has a penis you bigot once again i'm paraphrasing if you want to see the like the context the tone the the delivery you got to watch the clip but gervais also saying things like on Twitter,

Starting point is 00:09:05 you could get immediately canceled for saying something like women don't have penises. Also diving into woke comedy and cancel culture. But also closing the special by saying that he supports trans rights, though still while joking about trans people. You know, a lot of the pushback and criticism of Ricky Gervais' jokes,

Starting point is 00:09:17 a lot of it is what we've kind of already seen with Dave Chappelle. Though a lot of people noting the timing here. People saying things like, so on the same month that we've seen anti-trans legislation, parents of trans kids investigated for child abuse, and don't say gay slash trans bills, Netflix releases its most transphobic show yet, where Ricky Gervais jokes about trans women raping women in restrooms. As well as, to him,

Starting point is 00:09:35 we only exist as a punchline, a threat, something less than human, saying he's going to cause a hate crime and ultimately the death of trans folk. But others noting, actually in varying arguments, that being offensive is Ricky Gervais' thing, right? That all this outrage isn't going to bother him, but rather fuel him. This is what he wants and expects. Which is why some have said, you know, it would really piss Ricky Gervais off if there was no backlash to his special. If nobody got mad at all, if it just went down like a cup of lukewarm water someone got from the bathroom. But also others using the same argument of Ricky Gervais' thing as being offensive, saying this is just including trans folk. That this is just kind of the continuation of everyone is fair game. You you know kind of further feeding into my mindset of everything

Starting point is 00:10:09 is bullshit and nothing matters and i don't know i'm just kind of in a in a headspace today everything just kind of feels like marketing to me like i want to have an opinion on this but now to have an opinion on this i have to watch this thing which i am now aware of because of the controversy thus feeding into possibly the reason that ricky this part of his set. Because as most entertainers know, being on the receiving end of backlash, being on the receiving end of hate, the only thing worse than that is no one talking about you. Though I'm not in Ricky Gervais' head, and it's also completely possible that this conversation about trans people being very much at the center of a lot of conversations right now, that's part of what comedians do.

Starting point is 00:10:45 They take a look at what's happening in society now and they talk about it. They put their own spin on it. Which, of course, I mean, all of that is a separate thing from if you like that he is saying this or not. Which is why, of course, I'd love to know your thoughts on any aspect of this story. But also, I want to ask the specific question of does it feel like we are at a point where, like, making the joke and getting the backlash for the promotion, that that's kind of the point. Anyway, I'm dead inside and I do not feel anything anymore. And then, you know, it feels like these days, almost every other day,

Starting point is 00:11:10 you're seeing a new story about unions or unionization. With most recently, yesterday, a group of 28 workers at Activision Blizzard subsidiary Raven Software voting to form the first ever union at a major US gaming company. With the workers specifically being quality assurance testers or QA testers, working at the Wisconsin-based studio to help develop Call of Duty. You know, for QA testers as well as a number of jobs in this industry, they're notoriously known for extreme crunch conditions, where the long stretches of intense working hours before a game's release. And during these crunch periods, employees are regularly given 12 to 14 hour shifts with just a few days

Starting point is 00:11:39 off each month in order to meet release deadlines. With many QA testers having said that they're treated as second-class citizens to others in the industry. They're reportedly paid much lower, often minimum wage, are closed to it, work on contract cycles, and as a result feel disposable. And specific to this story, that feeling was really emphasized for workers at Raven Software when the company ended the contracts of about a dozen QA testers back in December, with the remaining QA testers then holding a walkout and shortly after began organizing to form a union which they've dubbed the Game Workers Alliance. Now, unsurprisingly, Activision did not support this move and actively fought against it. The company refused to voluntarily recognize the union,

Starting point is 00:12:09 and just days after the group filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board, they moved the QA testers to different departments across their properties, with Activision also announcing that it would convert over a thousand temporary QA workers to full-time employees, give them a pay raise to $20 an hour, and provide more benefits. Though notably here, they said this would not apply to the unionizing workers because under federal law, they couldn't try to seduce workers from voting against unionization by offering pay hikes or benefits. Even though that, to many, it seemed like they were doing exactly that. With many seeing this as Activision going, okay, if you're going to make us do the thing we don't like, we're not

Starting point is 00:12:39 going to give it to you. Beyond that, Activision fought against the union petition, arguing that any union would need to include all of the studio's employees, not just around 30 QA testers. But ultimately, the labor board rejected that argument, letting the effort proceed. And according to reports, Activision management continued to push against the union in the weeks leading up to the vote. Some raving employees telling reporters that company leaders suggested at a town hall meeting that unionization could hurt game development and impact promotions and benefits. And the following day, they allegedly sent an email urging workers to vote no. And, wah, wah, just yesterday, Labor Ward prosecutors announced that they had determined that Activision illegally threatened workers and enforced a social media policy that violated bargaining rights.

Starting point is 00:13:13 Now, of course, Activision denied this new allegation, but regardless of if it's true or it's not, if it was something they did, it was not effective because after months of organizing, the QA workers voted 19 to 3, successfully winning their unionization bid. Now, as far as what happens next, the two parties have to wait till the end of the month to file an objection, and if none are filed, the union becomes official. It's currently unclear how Activision and Raven are going to respond, but they have signaled they might not make this easy for the union. According to internal documents seen by reporters, the company has repeatedly mentioned that it can take a while for a union to negotiate its first contract, and in a statement following the vote, an Activision spokesperson said

Starting point is 00:13:45 that the company respects the right of its employees to vote for or against a union, but added, We believe that an important decision that will impact the entire Raven software studio of roughly 350 people should not be made by 19 of Raven employees. We are committed to doing what's best for the studio and our employees. So for now, we're gonna have to wait to see how this plays out for the union, how it plays out for Activision, but also beyond that, it'll be interesting to see how this plays into the broader gaming industry right while the union is small

Starting point is 00:14:07 organizers in the space say that the fact that it was formed at all is absolutely massive because it could encourage others in the industry to follow suit right and that's something that was emphasized by jessica gonzalez a former activision employee who has been helping raven organize through her current job at the media union communication workers of america we reached out to her and she told us that she hopes that this is just the first step in a much bigger process to reshape labor practices in the industry. Truck month is on at Chevrolet.

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Starting point is 00:14:50 Dirt road ahead? Let's go! Truck month is awesome! Ask your Chevrolet dealer for details. Wendy's most important deal of the day has a fresh lineup. Pick any two breakfast items for $4. New four-piece French toast sticks, bacon or sausage wrap, biscuit or English muffin sandwiches, small hot coffee, and more. Limited time only at participating Wendy's Taxes Extra. I mean, this is a huge win in general for like unions and for

Starting point is 00:15:16 labor and games. I definitely think we're going to see a lot more because, you know, QA as a discipline is very undervalued and underpaid. So I think QA is going to be a larger wave. And then I'm hoping that the rest of the disciplines will also join. I'm hoping that this is just a larger push for better labor practices in general in the industry. So I'm hoping it's less of a revolving door of talent and we can actually keep and retain good talent.

Starting point is 00:15:47 It's definitely been a fight and it's going to continue on. And then we need to talk about China's mass imprisonment of Uyghur Muslims in its northwest province of Xinjiang, which, of course, yes, we've talked about before. But now the BBC and a bunch of investigative journalists have received and authenticated tens of thousands of leaked documents, speeches, and images from hacked police servers. With this huge cache being dubbed the Xinjiang Police Files, and it provides a horrifying glimpse inside the so-called re-education camps where hundreds of thousands of people are being persecuted for their religion and culture. First up, we have over 5,000 police photographs of Uyghurs taken between January and July of 2018, with accompanying data showing at least 2,884 of them were detained, and some of those showing guards standing nearby holding batons,

Starting point is 00:16:24 and detainees with arms positioned in a way that suggests that they're handcuffed. Clearly contradicting claims by the Chinese government that these camps are for students who willingly enter to free themselves from extremism. Plus you've got things like one of the leaked documents in the list is called Relatives of the Detained, containing thousands of people placed under suspicion for the supposed crimes of their family members. Like this woman whose only wrongdoing was having a son whom authorities claimed had strong religious leanings because he didn't drink or smoke. With him then being jailed for 10 years on terrorism charges. And there's plenty just like him, right? Just to show you the scale of it. And understand, this is only of the photos we have. Here's a composite of the 2,884 Uyghurs. With the youngest being only 15 years old and the oldest 73 at the time of

Starting point is 00:17:01 their detention. And for the loved ones of all these faces that you're seeing, of course they're distraught over the loss of their relatives, some of whom have been gone for years now. The BBC talking to one father in the diaspora in Turkey. Mamut Toti, for example, knew his eldest son had been jailed, but the database tells him for how long, 15 years, for terrorism offenses. Although as evidence, only his son's devout Islamic faith is listed. And that is mild for some of the other shit that's in there. There are 452 spreadsheets with info on more than a quarter of a million Uyghurs, some of whom were detained for offenses allegedly committed years or decades ago. Like this one guy who was jailed for 10 years in 2017 because he studied Islamic

Starting point is 00:17:41 scripture with his grandmother for a few days back in 2010, with hundreds more targeted for their mobile phone use, like listening to illegal lectures or downloading encrypted apps. But then on the other side of this, you have others punished for not using their phones enough, with phone is run out of credit listed as proof that they're trying to evade digital surveillance. And small, super vague offenses like picking quarrels and disturbing the social order being blown up into terrorism charges and punished with years behind bars.

Starting point is 00:18:03 One guy was even listed for, I'm not even fucking joking, growing a beard under the influence of religious extremism, which makes it completely understandable why you had Dr. Adrian Zenn, the scholar who received the Xinjiang police files and passed them onto the BBC, breaking up over this. I was looking through these images on my laptop in the living room.

Starting point is 00:18:18 I had to get up and go somewhere else and take a break. I was overwhelmed. He also just published a peer-reviewed paper on the files, finding that over 2017 and 2018, over 12% of all Uyghur adults were detained. And arguing that like in many other atrocities, in Xinjiang, the preemptive internment of large numbers of ordinary citizens can be explained as a devolution into political paranoia

Starting point is 00:18:38 that promotes exaggerated threat perceptions. Which, I mean, if you read the police manuals in the leaked files, paranoia is an understatement. Or the detention camps, or vocational schools as China calls them, they're patrolled by armed guards in all areas and outfitted with machine guns and sniper rifles on watchtowers. They are ordered to shoot to kill anyone trying to escape. And any apprehended escapees, they're taken away for interrogation while management focuses on, quote, stabilizing other students' thoughts and emotions. One of the camps was also reconstructed by the BBC using documents to reveal conditions inside,

Starting point is 00:19:06 with it containing over 3,700 so-called students guarded by 366 police officers. They watch over them during lessons. Also, if a student has to be transferred to another camp, the procedure is to blindfold them, handcuff them, and shackle their feet. Same thing goes for any receiving medical care, as you can see in this photo.

Starting point is 00:19:20 And this brutality isn't just a lower-level thing. It goes all the way up to senior CCP leadership. One of the leaked documents is a transcript of a secret speech given in 2017 by China's former party secretary, in which he says that on one hand, Uyghurs are the beneficiaries of the great love of the party. And on the other hand,

Starting point is 00:19:35 he orders his audience to treat those returning from abroad as criminals and arrest, detain, handcuff, and shackle them without exception. And telling police and military officials to shoot dead anyone who tries to escape. Now, the Xinjiang police files do originate before 2019, which is when China claimed most of its re-education camps were closing down. But evidence suggests that many either remained operational or were just renamed to formal prisons or detention centers. Plus, that also happened to just be around the time that China strengthened its decryption software, so files like these after

Starting point is 00:20:00 2019 are going to be harder to obtain. But ultimately, for now, that is where this story ends. Of course, I'd love to know your thoughts, but where I'll end it is with kind of the obligatory, fuck she and the CCP. But ultimately, that is where that story and today's show ends. As always, thank you for watching, liking, being a part of the conversation down below. If you're looking for more news, I got you covered right here on the top link down below. My name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love your faces, and I'll see you tomorrow.

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The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 5.24 I Hate Everything Today. Don't Mind Me. Also Ricky Gervais, Halsey, Balenciaga, & Today's News

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