The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 8.1 The Problem With Will Smith's Apology Video & Taylor Swift Climate Backlash, Taiwan, & Today's News

Starting point is 00:00:00 Sup you beautiful bastards, welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show and to start off with something awesome, if you're not subscribed already, definitely hit that button because over the month of August I'll be giving $10,000 split out across 10 random beautiful bastards who are subscribed to this channel. But with that said, buckle up, hit that like button, and let's just jump into the news. Yo, first up today, remember this. Keep my wife's name out your fucking mouth. With that Shakespearean statement of course being Will Smith's follow-up to slapping Chris Rock on live television for making fun of his wife And then Will Smith just minutes later winning the Best Actor award And all that sent the internet into a frenzy

Starting point is 00:00:36 Will issued an apology, resigned from the Academy The Academy hit him with a 10-year ban from attending the show But for the most part that's where it ended Will Smith kind of disappeared for several months. Chris Rock kind of talked about it a little bit, but he was like, I'll talk more on it later. And now the reason that we're talking about this is that Will Smith has returned to the spotlight

Starting point is 00:00:52 to address a few questions. So of course I watched the whole thing, so you don't have to. Among other things, he claimed that he has reached out to Chris Rock, but Chris has said that he's not ready to talk it out yet. But adding, I apologize to you. My behavior was unacceptable and I'm here whenever you're ready to talk.

Starting point is 00:01:13 There is no part of me that thinks that was the right way to behave in that moment. Also regarding his wife, because a lot of people have put blame on her, Will said that Jada had no influence on his choice to slap Chris, that that was something that he did on his own, that was not her doing. Also later apologizing to his family for dragging them into this, as well as Chris's family saying he didn't realize how many people he hurt with his actions, saying that after all of this, he's been doing a lot of work and thinking to try and prove himself so he can put joy into the world. Since that video has been uploaded, it's been viewed millions and millions of times, some mixed reactions. As far as the negative stuff, you had

Starting point is 00:01:47 people thinking the whole thing seemed too staged to be authentic, some going as far to call him out for having a bottle of Just Water next to him, which is his son Jaden's company, with a number of people there accusing Will of using the apology video as an opportunity to promote it, as well as Variety putting out a piece saying the video botched his image rehab, saying there might as well have been a gun pointed at him off screen considering the production comes across as forced as a hostage video. But of course, at the same time, there were many, many people who were supportive of Will Smith, but they're really being kind of a range of support. Some just happy he was addressing the situation, apologizing to Chris directly,

Starting point is 00:02:15 all the way to a number of fans saying, you don't have anything to apologize for. But for me, as far as the reactions from everyone else, I think it kind of doesn't matter. The only person it really matters to should be Chris Rock. Like, I'm a fan of Will Smith, and when he slapped Chris Rock, I was like, what the fuck is that? That's insane. But he didn't slap me.

Starting point is 00:02:31 Like, he doesn't, that's not my apology to accept. Which, of course, is why there's been so much focus on Chris Rock. Like, what does he have to say? And for the most part, we kind of just get snippets of things that he says from shows. Like, for example, he did a show in Atlanta where reportedly he referenced the whole slap ordeal, saying everybody is trying to be a fucking victim, but adding, if everyone claims to be a victim, then nobody will hear the real victims. Even me getting smacked by Suge Smith, I went to work the next day, I got kids. With Chris reportedly later adding, anyone who says

Starting point is 00:02:55 words hurt has never been punched in the face. And so for now, we're going to have to wait to see what happens. But here's what I'll say. Here's I want to close this story. I think that Will Smith was in the wrong for slapping Chris Rock. But I also think some of you people who are angry at Will Smith need to calm the fuck down. Some of y'all are out here acting like he slapped your mama and planned 9-11. But at the same time, Will Smith is not the victim here. He's a grown ass man who on live television assaulted another person. And he's just dealing with the consequences., which by the way, not that fucking

Starting point is 00:03:25 much. I got a feeling that if you or I slap some motherfucker on live television, we're going to jail, which is why now with this, we're months separated from when this happened. Maybe tempers are down. What are your thoughts on this situation and everything we've seen since? And then we've got to talk about what's being called a pretty massive advancement for medicine with conjoined twins who shared a brain being successfully separated this weekend. And that officially makes Bernardo and Arthur Lima the oldest craniopagus twins, which is fancy medical talk for attached to the head, to be successfully operated on. The procedure was carried out by Dr. Gilani and his Gemini Untwined charity, which helped poor families pay for procedures like this. Part of the reason the operation is

Starting point is 00:03:59 considered a jump for medicine is because the team of doctors involved used 3D imaging and VR to practice the surgery ahead of time, which is something they found to be absolutely invaluable because there had actually been past attempts to separate the twins that left considerable scar tissue and many thought that it was impossible. And I really don't want to undersell what a massive feat this is. For this series of operations, the boys underwent seven surgeries totaling over 33 hours, with the last surgery alone taking over 27 hours and involving a team of over 100, with Jelani himself only taking four 15-minute breaks for food and water. Though to reiterate, so many people were involved, with Dr. J praising the operating team in Rio de Janeiro saying, this is a remarkable achievement by the team in Rio and a fantastic example of why the work of

Starting point is 00:04:37 Gemini Untwined is so valuable. Not only have we provided a new future for the boys and their families, we have equipped the local team with the capabilities and confidence to undertake such complex work successfully again in the future, and also urging the public to donate to Gemini Untwined, which relies on public donations to fund these procedures. So if you want to help out there, I'm going to link to Gemini Untwined down below. And then we need to take a look at this massive wave of backlash against Taylor Swift right now over her carbon footprint. Let me explain. So this stems from a report released by Yard looking at the CO2 emissions released by private jets of celebrities. It seems like there was an intense focus on this topic because of Kylie Jenner. People were like, she was in the air for mere

Starting point is 00:05:10 minutes. She's taking her jet on like grocery runs. She is the absolute worst, but it turns out she's not. Right among the things released in this report, it notes that air travel is always the least environmentally friendly way to get from point A to point B. Private jets being even worse because they result in more emissions per passenger. And so using data from the Celebrity Jet's Twitter account, which exploded in popularity after a team began tracking Elon Musk's jet use, it looked at which stars had the highest emissions, and Kylie Jenner wasn't even in the top 10. Instead, you're the likes of Oprah, Kim Kardashian, Jay-Z, Floyd Mayweather, but at the number one spot, you had Taylor Swift, with Yard saying that her jet has taken a total of 170 flights since January, which

Starting point is 00:05:43 is just 43 flights short from having one flight per day. Because keep in mind, there have only been 213 days so far this year. The jet spending a total of nearly 23,000 minutes in the air, roughly 16 days of flight, which makes her jet's flight emissions for the year come to 8,293.54 tons, which is over 1,000 times more than the average person's total annual emissions. While her average flight time was 80 minutes, her shortest was just over half an hour. Though, with this, I do want to note that Yard's report did come up with this disclaimer, saying Yard is aware that this list is not conclusive to the biggest offenders, but the biggest offenders according to the data as

Starting point is 00:06:13 presented on the Celebrity Jets Twitter page. And adding, Yard is also aware that this data is based on these celebrities' planes, and whilst there is no way to determine if these celebrities were on all the recorded flights, the purpose of this study is to highlight the damaging impact of private jet usage. But none of that stopped Taylor from getting absolutely slammed online with people calling her a climate criminal. With people saying things like, as a huge Taylor Swift fan, I was so disappointed to find out

Starting point is 00:06:34 she is responsible for the highest amount of celeb private jet CO2 emissions. 170 plus flights in six months? Fucking seriously? And this planet is shared by us all. Celebs and rich people should not be able to destroy it for the rest of us while using it for their own whims. Time to start holding people accountable. But at the same time, you had those defending her. The general gist being, this is kind of just a distraction.

Starting point is 00:06:51 Saying the real climate blame is on major corporations responsible for the majority share of global emissions. Now, that said, as far as Taylor's response, a spokesperson for Taylor gave a statement to The Hollywood Reporter saying, Taylor's jet is loaned out regularly to other individuals. Which, for most or all of these trips to her is blatantly incorrect. Though, that response elicited a ton of eye rolls online, with people saying things like, you've really got to hand it to Taylor Swift's publicist, because quote, she generously rents out her jet for her poorer friends who can't afford their own personal jets to use, is the funniest possible way to put a humanitarian spin on her carbon emissions. And with all this, personally I'll say I'm a little bit torn. I mean, one, sometimes I loan out my jet is such a fantastic excuse. But with this story, I can't help but feel like we're kind of just using Taylor Swift as like a scapegoat. Like are the carbon emissions

Starting point is 00:07:30 from her jet and the jets of these other celebrities egregious? Yes. But personally, I'll always be more mad that there's always this focus on individual responsibility and stuff like that when 100 companies are responsible for 71% of carbon emissions. And understand, I think you can be mad about both. I just, I feel like this is kind of an example of why I would rather be just rich rather than famous. Like it's easy for everyone to be like, fuck Taylor Swift. But how many of those same people know the 100 companies

Starting point is 00:07:55 that are responsible for 71% of carbon emissions? Also, those numbers may have changed. That's from a 2017 report. But I don't know, that's the story. Some of my takeaway. Now I pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts here? But from that, I want to take a second to thank the fantastic

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Starting point is 00:09:00 of Seeds DS01 plus free shipping. And then, in huge international news, we should talk about Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi and an airplane. But in this story, it's not about carbon emissions, but rather a potential World War III. Bun. So Pelosi is on an Asian tour with other congressmen

Starting point is 00:09:14 visiting US partners and allies in the region, including Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, and Singapore. Which, I mean, it's a story about US officials going around to talk to allies. Don't fucking care. But Pelosi is now expected to visit Taiwan tomorrow, which would be the first time a Speaker of the House has done so in 25 years. And for China, they have a massive fucking problem with this. So here's the TLDR. Mainland China claims

Starting point is 00:09:33 that Taiwan is a breakaway territory and doesn't like when foreign dignitaries visit it because it gives Taiwan legitimacy as an independent country. And while officially the U.S. doesn't recognize Taiwan as a country, it also supports it in many, many ways. So because of that, when American officials visit Taiwan, those visits aren't normally announced publicly to prevent China from saber rattling and making a whole big deal out of it. And now leading up to Pelosi's potential visit, we can see why the U.S. plans these visits secretly. One Chinese journalist working for the propaganda paper Global Times put out a now-deleted tweet saying, If U.S. fighter jets escort Pelosi's plane into Taiwan, it is an invasion. The PLA has the right

Starting point is 00:10:02 to forcibly dispel Pelosi's plane and the U.S. fighter jets, including firing warning shots and making tactical movement of obstruction. If ineffective, then shoot them down. Now, that guy is a clown and says ridiculous things all the time, but very notably, he and the paper that he works for are backed by the government and often are used as a way to test crazier ideas for the Chinese public. Also, in more official statements, China's foreign ministry spokesperson warned that her visit would be a gross interference in China's internal affairs and lead to very serious developments and consequences. And adding, we would like to tell the United States once again that China is standing by. The Chinese People's Liberation Army will never sit idly by.

Starting point is 00:10:34 And China will take resolute responses and strong countermeasures to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Now, this is not the first time that China has threatened some kind of military force to ensure that Taiwan comes under mainland control. But the rhetoric has increased a lot lately and it's Eastern Theater Command even posted a video today showing military exercises in the region. And here's the weird thing with covering the story. It's actually unclear officially if Pelosi actually planned to visit.

Starting point is 00:10:54 Taiwanese papers quoted unnamed sources were first to claim it was on the books. And today you have Politico reporting that she's scheduled to travel there this week according to a congressional official and a Taiwanese official familiar with the itinerary. And public word has been weird. Like last week, Biden said that the military thought such a visit was not a good idea right now. Then you're in this situation that's

Starting point is 00:11:10 really a catch-22. Because while the U.S. doesn't want to needlessly poke China for no reason, it also doesn't want to look weak amid China's rhetoric, which has now led many to go, well, she kind of has to go now. So more recently, we've seen statements like that of National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby saying, it is not uncommon for congressional leaders to travel to Taiwan. We shouldn't be, as a country, intimidated by the rhetoric or those potential actions. This is an important trip for the Speaker to be on, and we're going to do whatever we can to support her. So while we'll likely never know if this was always planned, I mean, the next 24 hours are going to be tense in the region. Because, you know, it's all saber-rattling until it's more than that.

Starting point is 00:11:40 And I mention that because when the Foreign Ministry spokesperson was asked to specify, you know, what would China do here, he just said, if she dares to go, then let us wait and see. Which one, bro, that's my line. And two, yeah, we're gonna have to do just that. We're gonna have to wait and see. And then we should talk about the tragic flooding in Kentucky. In a press conference this morning, Governor Andy Beshear said that the death toll has now risen to 30 people, including some children, but that number is expected to grow.

Starting point is 00:12:03 With him saying that officials, quote, know about additional bodies, and that hundreds of people are still unaccounted for. And beyond that, he said that there is still severe storm potential in all of the impacted areas. Noting that because the ground is already so saturated, continued rain could cause more flooding and high winds also threatened to topple trees and poles. And all that not only poses further risks for already devastated areas, but it also seriously complicates ongoing search and rescue efforts. Rescue workers have already been hampered by the lack of access to areas that have been isolated from floodwaters,

Starting point is 00:12:28 washing away bridges, inundating whole communities, and tearing houses from their foundations. And to make matters worse, Bashir also warned that when the rain stops, it will be very hot. And that's expected to seriously complicate matters for the rescue crew, thousands of displaced people who haven't found stable shelter,

Starting point is 00:12:41 and the 12,000 Kentucky residents without power as of recording this video. And so right now you've got search and rescue teams working to reach those who are stuck and identify people who have been reported missing, while at the same time other officials are focused on finding and providing emergency housing and resources for those in need. You know, as always with these stories, I'll link to the resources in the description down below on how you could help those affected and in need. But I also want to highlight the story of a true hero in our official BAMF of the day. So this part of the story starts when a woman by the name of Missy Cravetti shares now viral photos on Facebook. They're of her 98-year-old grandma sitting stranded in high floodwaters inside her home, asking if anyone in the area can help.

Starting point is 00:13:14 Shortly after posting that, a witness near the house filmed a man that he described as a hero swimming over to the house in question and rescuing three people inside. With Cravetti confirming those three were her grandmother, her uncle, and her brother. And the thing is, we don't know who this guy is. Both Corvette and the man who filmed the video said they don't know the guy, and news outlets right now have not reported his name. But still, I want to say to whoever you are, anonymous man, anonymous bamf, you are our bamf of the day. In the face of disaster, you, out of the kindness of your own heart, were like, not today, nature. And as unfortunately this disaster rages on in Kentucky, this is a small shining light.

Starting point is 00:13:49 But ultimately that is where that story and today's show ends. As always, thank you for watching, being a part of that conversation down below or just being subscribed for these daily dives into the news, which if you're looking for more news, I got you covered right here. But as always, my name's Philip DeFranco.

Starting point is 00:14:00 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 8.1 The Problem With Will Smith's Apology Video & Taylor Swift Climate Backlash, Taiwan, & Today's News

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