The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 6.9 What This Messy Frenemies Implosion Really Exposed, Trisha Paytas, David Dobrik, H3H3 & More

Starting point is 00:00:00 Sup, you beautiful bastards. Welcome back to the Wednesday Philip DeFranco Show. Hit that like button to support this video. Hit that subscribe button for your chance to win $5,000 at the end of the month. But let's just jump into it. First up today in the world of social media and entertainment, and easily one of the most requested

Starting point is 00:00:16 stories on our text line, let's talk about this Frenemies fallout. So if you're not familiar, Frenemies is one of the most popular podcasts out there right now. It's hosted by Ethan Klein and Trisha Paytas. Over the past 24 to 48 hours, there's been this very public and uncomfortable and messy, I mean, it's hard to call it anything

Starting point is 00:00:33 other than a breakup. And while there's a lot of stuff happening and there's also a number of journalists with this beat kind of chiming in, and it appears that there are gonna be a number of articles coming out in the coming days, we're gonna try and boil it down to the highlights of what's really happening here.

Starting point is 00:00:46 All right, so where we'll start is that Trisha Paytas announced early yesterday that they are leaving the Frenemies podcast with Ethan Klein, which is produced by H3 Productions. With Trisha making this announcement after receiving criticism from paying members who received early access to Tuesday's Frenemies episode, which is now public.

Starting point is 00:00:59 And in that episode, Trisha and Ethan get into an argument. When Trisha appears unenthusiastic about a new advice segment that was added to the show, we see Ethan make a comment about Trisha not contributing anything to the podcast, saying that Trisha just shows up to film. And that appears to set off this public back and forth about creative differences. At one point, Trisha also seems frustrated about not having enough input on things. I never pick the costumes. I never do the vlogs. I give so many ideas. I say dancing for the vlog. I give all these ideas and you don't. What's wrong with that for you? I don't think it's a good segment.

Starting point is 00:01:25 Then brings up that they get no say on new hires, even though Ethan uses money earned from podcast highlights and five percent of the podcast revenue to pay the crew. There we see Ethan say that he doesn't need to ask Trisha about people that he hires for his company. These are employees of our of our. So why are you taking highlights and five percent in front of me? You told me that it was to pay them that they could be working for production costs. OK, but you told me at the beginning-

Starting point is 00:01:45 It's for production costs. It's literally about we are producing the show and I'm taking a cut. I feel like that's beyond reasonable. And when I say that it's uncomfortable and messy, I mean like the crew is there as this is happening. Here we also see Ethan say that he gives Trisha a very good deal by giving them 50% of everything else,

Starting point is 00:02:00 considering that his company does all the backend work. Trisha at that time appears to feel differently, arguing that they should have specific Frenemies employees. All of it getting to this really raw and uncomfortable moment. I don't want to get an argument over like your most- I really need to leave. Okay, all right, we're done.

Starting point is 00:02:12 Thank you guys. Thank you. With Trisha deciding not to continue and walking off. And so we see all of that in the Frenemies podcast, but then as far as Trisha's video, there we see Trisha mentioned that the crew was frustrated and did not want to film with Trisha the following day. And while it appeared to many that money was one of the big issues, Trisha tried to clarify here saying that one of the biggest issues was control.

Starting point is 00:02:30 Saying that they were frustrated over the show not being a true 50-50 partnership. I do feel like I contributed half to Frenemies, building the H3 channel. I would have loved to have Frenemies on my channel and like build up my channel. I could have produced, I could have built sets, like I'm capable of this stuff. With Trisha also adding that they don't dislike the crew and understands that they do put in a lot of work. And in a lengthy comment below the video, we see Trisha add, I'm leaving to ease the tension everywhere.

Starting point is 00:02:51 I don't want to be the toxicity in their machine. Then as far as Ethan, we saw him responding Tuesday on Twitter saying things like, happy national best friends day. Not sure what to do with 4,000 frenemies hoodies. I'm honestly gutted over this whole thing. Trisha's video this morning was a total surprise to me. I don't really know what more I can say or do. I'm very sorry to all the fans of Frenemies

Starting point is 00:03:08 I did everything I humanly could to save it But then we saw things escalate from there We saw Trisha posting another video and then Trisha and Ethan going back and forth on Twitter with Trisha even posting text conversations that they had. One of those tweets also appeared to get the attention of at least one journalist Kat Tenbarge of Insider. This because in the text messages, it appears that Trisha called Ethan, Jewy regarding a money split, which is also an aspect of their podcast

Starting point is 00:03:30 that they touch on and talk about though. I do imagine that there's going to be articles coming out somewhat soon, but I mean, there's a lot in there. And so what I'll touch on here is that we then saw Ethan saying that he was very upset that the crew members were now getting hate from Trisha's fans. Adding that they don't deserve it

Starting point is 00:03:44 because they work their asses off. Also saying that he reached out to Trisha because he was unhappy with how they handled the situation. But Trisha arguing that Ethan's actually just trying to hide behind his arguments about the crew members when that has nothing to do with Trisha's main issue. That said, the two appear to have now deleted most of their tweets saying they shouldn't have aired

Starting point is 00:03:58 all of this out on Twitter. Trisha This Morning has now uploaded a video called "'I'm Sorry." And much like children in an unstable home, a lot of the audience is kind of just going, okay, well what's happening now? You normalize the chaos, right? You think this is a regular thing.

Starting point is 00:04:11 I mean, but also this isn't even the first time that Trisha said that they were going to leave the show. Though, I mean, you look at how uncomfortable that video is. I don't think either of them are that good of actors. This feels genuine. But as far as the relationship can be fixed and mended, we'll have to wait and see. Or it's the end of one of the bigger podcasts

Starting point is 00:04:27 on the internet now. And it's an unfortunate reality that it is very hard to work with people that you're supposed to be friends with, or I mean, family with. Which is why I choose to hate everybody. Not really, but it is hard to work with people that you care about.

Starting point is 00:04:41 Yeah, with all this, a question that I'll pose, because I do know there's a decent chunk of crossover between my show and theirs. What are your thoughts on everything that has transpired over the past 24 to 48 hours? And also what do you think will happen? Then in business news, we actually had David Dobrik in the news though.

Starting point is 00:04:56 It's odd because he's in the news because he's not in the news, I'll explain. Remember the social media app that he launched, Dispo? A lot of members of the vlog squad were part owners. Well now we're seeing headlines confirming that it closed a Series A funding round with high-profile investors. So it does appear that David Dobrik

Starting point is 00:05:11 stepping down from the company's board back in March, saying that he's leaving in an effort to not distract from the company's growth, that was effective. Because, you know, those scandals did put people in an uncomfortable position. I mean, major investors in his app, like Spark Capital, they cut all ties with it.

Starting point is 00:05:23 But at the same time, you had others like 776 distancing themselves from David specifically, but continuing to back Dispo. You know when you look at Dispo's statement about the funding, it even feels like they're trying to put this chapter behind them. That statement titled Dispo 2.0, you also have Dispo social media posting out things like the co-founder of 776 tweeting, your true company culture reveals itself when things aren't going according to plan. Showcasing what appears to be a much more diverse cast of characters behind the scenes that I think a lot of people would associate with Dispo. And with many associating the app

Starting point is 00:05:51 with David Dobrik and the Vlog Squad. And yeah, it's gonna be very interesting to see what happens with Dispo because they're still getting the money from venture capitalists as well as people like Kevin Durant, Cara Delevingne, and Sofia Vergara. But also at the same time, because I've seen the Dobrik lists stuff in the headlines,

Starting point is 00:06:06 like he still will benefit from this. I'm not saying that's inherently a good or a bad thing, but he's just not on the board. But from that, let's take a second to pay some bills and thank the fantastic sponsor of today's show, Squarespace. You know, over the past year, I know many of you have found your passion projects

Starting point is 00:06:20 and what truly makes you happy. Whether that means finally getting your independent business off the ground or creating a place to share your homemade goods, new favorite hobby obsession, or maybe even just a personal blog to get all those thoughts out of your head. And Squarespace is there to help. And it's so easy.

Starting point is 00:06:34 There is nothing to install, patch, or upgrade ever. And creating a beautiful website with Squarespace's all-in-one platform has never been so simple. It's extremely intuitive and easy to use. Plus with Squarespace, you get access to all their marketing tools and analytics and personalized support from their award-winning customer care team via email or live chat,

Starting point is 00:06:50 whatever you need, they're available 24 seven to help out. So if you want to check it out, see why so many people love it, see if it is right for you, start your free trial today over at squarespace.com slash Phil. And when you realize you love it, make sure you enter an offer code Phil to get 10% off your first purchase. And then let's talk about jobs in part, because according to data released yesterday from the Labor Department at the end of April There were 9.3 million open job listings across the country and that number is absolutely

Starting point is 00:07:14 Jaw-dropping not only for the fact that it is a new high on records dating back to 2000 Also, because it nearly matches the 9.8 million unemployed Americans who are searching for jobs at the same time Right like we've been talking about on the show recently, mass vaccinations and the kickstarting of the economy has led to a massive labor crunch. And this is due to a variety of reasons. You have one camp arguing that people are avoiding work so they can continue to draw

Starting point is 00:07:35 federally enhanced unemployment benefits, which can actually be higher than the money that they would make if they were working. And in fact, they are Republican governors in 25 states, which account for 40% of the US workforce have now made plans to end those federal benefits. The first round of states being Alaska, Iowa, Mississippi, and Missouri set to cut off access this Saturday.

Starting point is 00:07:52 But at the same time, you have this other camp arguing that people are worried about things like a lack of childcare, ongoing COVID-19 risks, especially if they or a family member are immunocompromised. Also arguing that many simply want to return to their career field with a job that doesn't underpay their experience level, which could also explain why,

Starting point is 00:08:07 along with those 9.3 million openings, we saw a record high for the rate at which workers were quitting their jobs as well, as a record low for layoffs in April. In fact, out of the 4 million workers who quit their jobs in April, most were in the retail sector. And according to data from Indeed,

Starting point is 00:08:20 at the end of May, job openings in food actually ended up soaring past pre-pandemic levels by 25%. But it's also not just retail. Airports and airlines are also struggling to keep up with a huge spike in travel. Because of that, the TSA in recent weeks has promised $500 monthly bonuses to screening officers at short-staffed airports, turned part-time positions

Starting point is 00:08:38 into full-time positions, and even increased overtime to the point that it requires officers to work on their days off. And even with that, the TSA is also now reportedly asking office workers to volunteer to assist with airport checkpoints for up to 45 days. Delta and American Airlines have also asked some of their salaried employees to volunteer at airports

Starting point is 00:08:55 amid the travel shortage. Though I will say the problem with airlines goes even deeper. And while this maybe touches on why people are leaving other sectors, especially with retail or anything interacting with the public, a lot of it can be boiled down to with a lot of people are shitty. But I mean, when it comes to air travel, it's at a different level right now.

Starting point is 00:09:10 The Federal Aviation Administration, right, the FAA usually receives 100 to 150 formal reports of bad passenger behavior every year. But this year, and we're not even officially past the halfway point, there have been 2,500 reports. We have some being attacked by passengers, being bullied by government officials. For example, Alaska Airlines actually had to ban

Starting point is 00:09:28 state Senator Laura Reinbold, who not only refused to comply with the federally mandated mask policy repeatedly, but called the staff uptight, called the mask bullies just for doing their job. And the airline has actually had to ban over 500 people this year. In fact, the harassment and the attacks have gotten so bad

Starting point is 00:09:42 that airlines are trying to think of any way to calm things down. One of the ways they're considering is an alcohol ban. With American, the harassment and the attacks have gotten so bad that airlines are trying to think of any way to calm things down. One of the ways they're considering is an alcohol ban. With American, United Airlines and Southwest actually already having extended their quarantine alcohol suspension. With some here pointing to a study that found a 35% increase in altercations on flights in 2017.

Starting point is 00:09:57 And of those altercations, 27% involved alcohol consumption or some sort of intoxication. Yeah, I think that's why a lot of this story, whether it be specifically airlines or just unemployment and job openings in general, I think people just want to be treated like people, right? Undeserving of harassment and or deserving of being properly compensated a living wage.

Starting point is 00:10:16 Then before we get to our final story, let's try and cram some more news in here. We've got a situation currently where millions of doses of Johnson & Johnson single jab COVID-19 vaccine are set to expire this month, many states struggling to distribute or relocate their supplies. And you have situations like earlier this week,

Starting point is 00:10:29 Ohio Governor Mike DeWine saying that his state alone has 200,000 J&J vaccines set to expire on June 23rd. But it's also not completely unexpected. While 64% of US adults have had at least one shot in their arm, J&J suffers from low public opinion. Part because it does have a lower efficacy rate compared to Moderna and Pfizer as well. As you know, there was that temporary pause

Starting point is 00:10:48 because there was concerns about potential blood clots. Then, and some people call me a pessimist, I think I'm a realist news, Biden has ended infrastructure talks with Republicans. I personally don't think it's a big surprise, but I do want to note that it's been reported that there are three main possible pathways from here. One, a bipartisan deal is not completely off the table

Starting point is 00:11:03 because amid the ongoing negotiations, a bipartisan group of centrist senators have been quietly working on an alternative plan in case the talks collapse. And while that's not guaranteed, it does appear that that's maybe Biden's first choice with him yesterday calling three members of that group to cheer them on.

Starting point is 00:11:15 But if that doesn't work, Biden has option two, trying to forge ahead to pass a deal without any Republican support in the Senate through budget reconciliation. The same procedure that he used to get the stimulus bill through. At the very least, it appears that Biden is considering this because in addition to speaking with the moderates

Starting point is 00:11:27 last night, he also talked to Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, about drafting a new budget outline that Democrats could use for the reconciliation process. But also, that's not guaranteed to work, especially given that some more moderate senators, like a Joe Manchin, have voiced their opposition to passing bills without bipartisan support. And then finally, here you have Chuck Schumer saying

Starting point is 00:11:42 that there is a third possible pathway, saying it may well be part of the bill that'll pass will be bipartisan and part of it will be through reconciliation. But we're not going to sacrifice the bigness and boldness in this bill. And in other news, this morning, President Biden revoked the executive orders

Starting point is 00:11:55 imposed by Trump that sought to ban TikTok and WeChat, though with this replacing the policy with a new order requiring a security review of the apps and others owned by foreign companies and saying following that review, the Commerce Department should take action as appropriate. So these apps and companies are not completely out of the apps and others owned by foreign companies. And saying, following that review, the Commerce Department should take action as appropriate. So these apps and companies are not completely out of the woods yet,

Starting point is 00:12:09 but we are gonna have to wait to see what happens with them. And then let's talk about billionaires. They're just like us, except not in any way. No, but the reason we're talking about this is that yesterday morning, ProPublica revealed that it had obtained years worth of private IRS tax information from a number of the country's top 25 wealthiest people.

Starting point is 00:12:24 And this included Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Warren Buffet, Mike Bloomberg, and more. You know, here's the thing, it was kind of a bombshell, but also not, it's not exactly a secret that the systems are in place to keep the ultra wealthy, ultra wealthy, that the billionaires find legal tax loopholes. But at the same time, it was very interesting

Starting point is 00:12:41 because ProPublica did go on to detail just how little they paid in federal income taxes. For example, between 2014 and 2018, Elon Musk's total taxes paid amounted to only 3.27% of his personal wealth, with him even paying nothing in federal income taxes in 2018, even though his wealth grew by nearly $14 billion during that same time period.

Starting point is 00:12:58 In 2007 and 2011, Bezos paid nothing, neither has Bloomberg in recent years. With ProPublica saying that when you take everything in this report together, it demolishes this myth that everyone pays their fair share and that the richest Americans pay the most. Or you have the average American household, which earns around $70,000 in wages a year,

Starting point is 00:13:14 pays 14% in federal taxes. So you understand that, and then you look at 2018, where the top 25 in America were worth $1.1 trillion. So with that, you would take the wages of 14.3 million ordinary Americans to equal that same amount. So there you have ProPublica noting that the top 25 only paid a total of $1.9 billion

Starting point is 00:13:31 in federal taxes that year, while the ordinary workers paid $143 billion. But also with this report and kind of the debate on the topic, we have seen some pushback, people noting that most billionaires' wealth comes from assets like stock and property. Right, they're not liquid there. The gains there are also not taxed until they're sold.

Starting point is 00:13:46 But there, I would say, if you actually go through the pro-publica report, they provide a very interesting argument and kind of showcase of what billionaires often do. Explaining, if you own a company and take a huge salary, you'll pay 37% in income tax on the bulk of it, sell stock, and you'll pay 20% in capital gains and lose some control over your company.

Starting point is 00:14:03 But take out a loan and these days you'll pay a single digit interest rate and no tax. And since loans must be paid back, the IRS doesn't consider them income. Now from there, ProPublica gets even further into debate, also noting that the ultra wealthy's loans do not appear in the tax records that they obtain. So they are generally not disclosed to the IRS,

Starting point is 00:14:20 but the kind of main picture is a thing that's understood. The ultra wealthy have a different set of rules. But actually the main reason that we're talking about this today is that is not where the story ends, right? It wasn't just ProPublica released this article, now you know. It's because one, you had a Bloomberg spokesperson saying,

Starting point is 00:14:35 "'The release of a private citizen's tax return "'should raise real privacy concerns, "'regardless of political affiliation "'or views on tax policy. "'We intend to use all legal means at our disposal to determine which individual or government entity leaked these and ensure that they are held responsible. Regarding privacy violations,

Starting point is 00:14:51 ProPublica said that it believes, quote, "'The public interest in knowing this information "'at this pivotal moment outweighs that legitimate concern.'" Alongside that, a number of progressive lawmakers have now used the report to further their calls for a wealth tax, including Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. But at the same time, we're also now seeing the Biden administration announcing their calls for a wealth tax, including senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. But at the same time, we're also now seeing

Starting point is 00:15:06 the Biden administration announcing that it is investigating the leak with White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki saying, "'Any unauthorized disclosure "'of confidential government information "'by a person of access is illegal, "'and we take this very seriously.'" And so with that, the administration has now referred

Starting point is 00:15:20 the matter to a slew of agencies, including the IRS, the Treasury, the FBI, and federal prosecutors in DC. With in fact, the IRS commissioner adding that potential criminal prosecutions could follow. And ultimately with this story, or honestly anything else that stood out to you today, I'd love to know your thoughts in those comments down below,

Starting point is 00:15:34 because one, this is all supposed to be a conversation, and two, this is the end of today's show. So as always, thank you for being a part of the family, subscribe and like and all the good stuff. If you missed any of my shows this week, you can click or tap right there or top links down below to catch up. But with that said, of course, as always,

Starting point is 00:15:49 my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love yo faces and I'll see you tomorrow.

The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 6.9 What This Messy Frenemies Implosion Really Exposed, Trisha Paytas, David Dobrik, H3H3 & More

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