The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 7.8 Music Festival Charges Whites Double, Hero Dr. Mike, & USWNT Equal Pay Debate

Starting point is 00:00:00 Sup you beautiful bastards, hope you've had a fantastic Monday. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco show and let's just jump into it. The first thing we're going to talk about today is the story and controversy coming out of Detroit. There's this music festival coming up called Afro Future Fest. And the reason the spotlight fell on them is that reportedly they are charging white people a premium to attend. The festival is reportedly taking place in a historically black Detroit neighborhood. And according to one of the event's organizers on Twitter, Oftentimes when dope events happen in Detroit, the cheapest tickets are bought and then sold by people

Starting point is 00:00:27 not from the community because they can afford them first, leaving higher priced tickets as the only options left. Black and brown people deserve access to quality events in their city and it isn't fair when events happen in their city that they don't have a chance of being a part of because people who don't look like us take advantage and also have more access to collective wealth.

Starting point is 00:00:43 And so what we ended up seeing, reportedly, you had early bird tickets purchased before July 17th costing $10 for people of color and $20 for white people and then tickets purchased after that would jump to $20 for people of color and $40 for white people. Now of course as you might expect there was a lot of controversy after this news got out there. You had people saying this is disgusting, some calling it racist or bigoted, but also you had people supporting the move, others noting that this isn't the first time We've seen something similar some pointing to a chef that actually turned his meals into somewhat of a performance art people of color paid $12 and white people paid $30 with the extra money being redistributed to people of color

Starting point is 00:01:16 Although I think it is important to note there with this this meal kind of this this performance art It ended up being an option white diners would get a choice They could do the 12 or the 30 or I mean they could just cancel their order. And so there is technically a difference there, and I mention that, one, just because the argument's been out there, but also two, on Sunday, Eventbrite, where people could purchase these tickets,

Starting point is 00:01:33 the company reportedly threatened to pull the festival's listing, with an Eventbrite spokesperson reportedly saying, "'We do not permit events that require attendees "'to pay different prices based on their protected "'characteristics such as race or ethnicity.' "'When we became aware of the violation "'with Afrofuturefest. When we became aware of the violation

Starting point is 00:01:45 with Afrofuturefest, we notified the creator of the event and requested that they alter their ticket pricing accordingly. We also let them know that if they did not comply, we would remove the event completely from our site. We've also now learned that a Detroit-based rapper by the name of Tiny Jag has pulled out of the festival. Jag, whose real name is Gillian Graham,

Starting point is 00:01:59 said that a friend sent her a screenshot of the difference in price and quote, "'I was immediately enraged just because I am biracial. "'I have family members that would have, "'under those circumstances, been subjected to something "'that I would never want them to be in, "'especially not because of anything that I have going on.'" Ultimately, that's where we are with this right now,

Starting point is 00:02:13 and as far as my opinion on this, I personally think that the way they went about this is extremely stupid. I think if you were going to stick with doing something based around race, you do it in the way that the chef did, it is a choice. You're still obviously gonna have people that do not like that, they're bothered by even that situation being thrust in their face when they just wanted to go and support something.

Starting point is 00:02:29 Also, if part of this pricing strategy was so that locals got to experience something, and it feels like something that could be tackled in an easier way, like a proof of residency or rental, like just have people show you their ID. Where does it say that they live? Are they local? Hell, I mean, it's such a small event, people could bring their electricity bill to prove that they live in the area. And also, pun kind of intended, you create this situation that isn't just black and white. Right, it feels like for the tiny jags of the world, you create this situation where you end up being the decider if someone is black enough or not. And understand, I'm saying this as someone that will be one of the first people to agree that we are not born into this world all on an equal playing field. That statistically, in general, as life continues,

Starting point is 00:03:06 we are not all afforded the same opportunities. This does not in any way feel like the right way to go about it. Once again though, I understand that that's my opinion. It's based off of what I've seen in the world, the people that I've talked to, my personal life experiences. Hey, I pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts around all of this?

Starting point is 00:03:20 And actually, a new update to this story. The organizers announced on Twitter, Afrofuturefest has changed our ticketing model to $20 general admission and suggested donation for non-people of color. As far as the reason for this change, they said it was quote, for the safety of our community, family, elders

Starting point is 00:03:34 who received threats from white supremacists and youth who were subjected to seeing racist comments on our Instagram page. So there's that, but of course, I still pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts around all of this? Then I want to give a shout out to our Banff of the day the internet and YouTube Zone dr. Mike the news has come out that he saved a man's life on a flight to Israel

Starting point is 00:03:52 There's a man on his flight who went into anaphylactic shock his hands were swelling his throat began to close flight attendants reportedly asked if there Was a physician aboard dr. Mike stood up reportedly there wasn't an EpiPen on board But luckily there was a first aid kit on board that had epinephrine and a large needle. Dr. Mike dosed it out, which is incredibly important because if you dose it wrong you can kill the guy. He administered the epinephrine, he monitored the man every 30 minutes until they landed. He's alive and Dr. Mike looks like a hero because, you know, he obviously looks like a man who's in need of things that make him more attractive. So big props to Dr. Mike, you are our BAMF of the day. Also with this story, I learned that if you are bitten

Starting point is 00:04:27 by a Lone Star tick, it can then make you allergic to red meat. And according to the report, the man had eaten red meat the night before the flight, and physicians believe this led to a delayed allergic reaction. There you go, now you know that. Throw that out at a party, which it'll make you seem interesting, not weird.

Starting point is 00:04:42 People love it when you drop random tick facts. And then let's talk about the World Cup, women's soccer, and something that the crowd started chanting after the US Women's National Team won their fourth World Cup yesterday. Equal pay, equal pay, equal pay! Now this discussion of equal pay has long been a conversation when it comes to women's soccer,

Starting point is 00:04:59 especially since the US Women's Team consistently outperforms the men's team, which has never won a World Cup. And in fact, this is such a big issue that back in March, members of the women's team, including Alexs the men's team, which has never won a World Cup. And in fact, this is such a big issue that back in March, members of the women's team, including Alex Morgan and Rose Lavelle, filed a lawsuit against the United States Soccer Federation. And in that, they claim that they are being paid less

Starting point is 00:05:12 due to their gender, saying in the lawsuit, "'Despite the fact that these female and male players "'are called upon to perform the same job responsibilities "'on their teams and participate in international competitions "'for their single common employer, the USSF, "'the female players have been consistently paid less money than their male counterparts. This is true even though their performance has been superior to that of the male players, with the female players, in contrast to male players, becoming world champions.

Starting point is 00:05:33 We've also seen individual players, like Megan Rapinoe, issuing statements. ESPN reporting that after this last game, she said, quote, It's time to sit down with everyone and really get to work. This game has done so much for all of us. We've put so much into it. I think it's a testament to the quality on the fields, and I don't think everything else is matching that. So how do we get everything to match up and continue to push this forward? Because I think at this point the argument we have been having is null and void. And for those wondering like how big, how severe is this pay gap, it's kind of complicated. And I say that because there's not a perfect one-to-one comparison. The men and women salaries are paid on a

Starting point is 00:06:03 different basis and the USSF makes a lot of money from sponsorships, which are bundled. But we're still gonna try our best and compare the things that we can. As far as the World Cup is concerned, last year the men's prize was $400 million, which broke down to about $38 million for the champions. Whereas the women's prizes here

Starting point is 00:06:17 was a total of $30 million, which gives about $4 million to the champions. Obviously there, the earning potential for the men is far, far, far greater. But it's also important to understand that there are two things happening here. There there the earning potential for the men is far, far, far greater. But it's also important to understand that there are two things happening here. There is the pay structure of the World Cup, and then there is also how US Soccer pays out men

Starting point is 00:06:32 and women on the national team. Last week we saw several members of Congress writing a letter to the USSF President calling the pay gap indefensible and adding, the US Soccer Federation should work to correct course and close the wage gap so that the only thing women athletes are fighting for is the world title or a gold medal. Instead, the message sent to women and girls is that their skills and accomplishments are of lesser value.

Starting point is 00:06:51 Also reportedly yesterday, President Donald Trump was asked if he thought that women should get paid more and according to a White House press pool, he responded, I would like to see that, but you've also got to look at the numbers. You have to look at who's taking in what. And so of course around there, there have been a lot of people looking into those numbers. And according to a report from the Wall Street Journal in recent years, the women's team boosted more revenue than the men's. Their report specifically looking at audited USSF financial statements. And it said that between 2016 and 2018,

Starting point is 00:07:14 women's games generated around $50.8 million in revenue, while the men's generated $49.9 million. Washington Post also broke down some of the finances between the male and female teams. They looked at the net revenue of each team, finding that in 2016 and 2017, the women's net revenue was 8 million and then 1 million, while in 2015 and 2016, the men's was 350,000 and 2.7 million.

Starting point is 00:07:34 And so when you combine those numbers, you had the women beating the men by about 6 million. It also notes that while last year, the women made more in bonuses and salary, they played close to twice as many games and won more often. And so to kind of draw a cleaner comparison, it then outlines a scenario that shows if both teams were to play 20 games in a season.

Starting point is 00:07:49 And as of right now, the women would actually make 89% of what the men would make, which while not even, is significantly better for the women than before 2016, because the women then would have only made 38% of what the men made. But a new bargaining agreement in 2016 has since changed that. You've also had others pointing to other feats

Starting point is 00:08:04 that the women hold over the men, like the fact that the US women's home jersey has become the most sold soccer jersey on Nike's website in one season. Also as far as World Cup prizes, FIFA said that the women's prize would be doubled to 60 million by 2023. So of course that's significantly more than now,

Starting point is 00:08:17 but still a fraction of the men's prize, which is also set to get boosted to 440 million. You know, with this story, I know that we kind of bounce back and forth, but I think it's important to understand, we're kind of talking about two different issues here. It is related to the same thing,

Starting point is 00:08:27 but it is notably two different things. Obviously when we're talking about World Cup earnings, it is a more international issue, right? It involves not just US viewership, but it involves international viewership. And internationally there is a difference in how popular the game is depending on gender. And then the other more focused thing

Starting point is 00:08:41 is the US Women's National Team versus the Men's National Team. And here it feels like there's really no doubt that the US women's national team versus the men's national team and here it feels like there's Really no doubt that the US women's national team just does better than the men's national team I'm not saying like one-to-one skill I'm not like I'm not making that argument in my eyes ultimately what you're talking about is business right women in the WNBA make less Than men in the NBA and there are a number of factors there But one of the key things is who is paying attention how many people are going to the games how many people are watching

Starting point is 00:09:04 Around that now you have women's games generating more revenue than men's. You have US soccer bundling the Broadcasting rights and sponsorships for both national teams So it's hard to understand who gets the most value there Although according to US soccer TV ratings for US men's games tend to be higher than those for US women's games Although I will note there and once again, I know that we're bouncing between the two. This year We saw headlines like women's World Cup final draws bigger audience than 2018 men's final. Obviously that's US specific. We're talking about a World Cup and not just a friendly. And the fact that the pay structure between the men's and women's teams are so

Starting point is 00:09:33 different. What with the women getting a base salary, the men not, but getting higher bonuses. Ends up creating this weird confusing situation which also lends itself to allowing people to kind of push whatever narrative they want. Which is also why if part of this lawsuit gave us some transparency and the difference of how popular, how much money is coming in thanks to men and women for broadcasting rights, the sponsorships. That would be helpful, but ultimately we are where we are today. So with that I will pass the question off to you What are your thoughts on this issue? And that's where I'm going to end today's show. And hey, if you liked this video take a second to let me know by hitting that like button. Also, if you're new here, be sure to hit that subscribe button,

Starting point is 00:10:05 ring that bell to turn on notifications so you do not miss these daily jumps into the news. Also, if you're not 100% filled in, if you missed the last PDS or you wanna watch a conversation with, you can click or tap right there to watch those now. But with that said, of course, as always, my name's Philip DeFranco.

Starting point is 00:10:18 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 7.8 Music Festival Charges Whites Double, Hero Dr. Mike, & USWNT Equal Pay Debate

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