The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 8.10 Lil Tay Fake Death Hoax & Scandal, Taylor Swift, Sugar Baby Clarence Thomas, & Todays News

Episode Date: August 10, 2023

Check out the Vessi Boardwalk and their other styles at http://www.vessi.com/defranco.  Get the style and size you want now for 15% off your entire order! Free shipping to CA, US, AUS, NZ, JP, TW, KR, SGP.Use code PHIL for $20 off your first SeatGeek order. https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/PHIL  https://beautifulbastard.com Drop Goes Live NOW! 30% OFF until Midnight! Catch up on our latest PDS: https://youtu.be/iTb7gazsT4c Check out our daily newsletter! http://dailydip.co/pds  Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/phillydefranco/?hl=en  –✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 0:00 - Lil Tay Alive Despite Reports of Her Death 05:48 - Fans Injured From Pepper Spray at Travis Scott Concert 08:03 - Disney+ to Follow Netflix’s Lead on Password Crackdowns 09:05 - Sponsored by Vessi 09:54 - Texas Abortion Ban Leaves Life-Threatening Consequences for Mothers, Children 15:39 - High Airline Ticket Prices Push More Travelers Toward Airport Hacks like “Skiplagging” 17:05 - Trump Claims Fulton County DA Had Affair With a Former Client 19:24 - Sponsored by SeatGeek 20:15 - Ecuador Presidential Candidate Assassinated at Campaign Event 21:31 - Clarence Thomas Reportedly Received Even More Luxury Trips ProPublica Clarence Thomas Coverage: https://www.propublica.org/article/clarence-thomas-other-billionaires-sokol-huizenga-novelly-supreme-court  ——————————   Produced by: Cory Ray Edited by: James Girardier, Maxx Enright, Julie Goldberg, Christian Meeks Art Department: William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Brian Espinoza, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Star Pralle, Chris Tolve  ———————————— #DeFranco #LilTay #TaylorSwift ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we're talking about the Lil Tay death hoax, confusion, and outrage. Taylor Swift and Travis Scott are shaking things up. Abortion bans are raising infant mortality. A shocking assassination in Ecuador. Streaming's about to get worse. We're going to talk about all that and so much more on today's brand new, extra-large Philip DeFranco show. You daily dive into the news.

But first, this is your last friendly reminder to go get 30% off over at beautifulbastard.com right now. The 30% off sale ends tonight at midnight. And that's for everything on the site, including our new summer drop. I got you covered here and here, but that said, let's just jump into it. Starting with, we need to talk about this weird and mysterious news surrounding Lil Tay. So that's Claire Hope, more commonly known by her rapper name Lil Tay, a Canadian girl who was nine years old at the time she entered the spotlight. And she rose to dizzying social media fame in just a few months and then fell back into obscurity just as quick. Essentially, she was just famous for being a preteen who called herself the

youngest flexer of the century while flashing her sports cars, model houses, and stacks of cash. With her racking up more than three million followers on Instagram and posting short videos like this. Lil Tay out here on the top of like Chief Keef and XXXTentacion, someone she called a father figure when he died. You also saw her hanging out with the likes of Jake Paul, FaceTiming with Diplo, meeting with superstar rap producer Rick Rubin, who's worked with Adele and Jay-Z. Also getting her own three-part docu-series about her journey,

titled Life with Lil Tay. Also during this time, she got herself into some hot water with a video in which she said the N-word, for which she later apologized. But then, in June of 2018, her entire Instagram is suddenly wiped clean in her final post on her story containing two words, Help Me.

With a few months later, someone posting on her page accusing her father, Christopher Hope, of abusing her, claiming that he had court-ordered her back to Canada to profit off her earnings and taken away her social media to hide the truth of what he had done to her, which allegedly included things like sleeping with different women while Tay was in the same bed, being naked around her, and failing to pay child support. While Hope did court-order her back and get full custody of her, Tay's manager said the allegations were false and claimed that Tay's 17-year-old half-brother Jason was behind the Instagram post. Also countering that Christopher Hope does not want any money from Lil Tay, there are only three things he wants to see. First, no more crazy videos of cursing from Tay. Second, 25% of the gross earnings going to a trust

fund dedicated to Tay. And the third thing is that there has to be structure in her operation, in her public image. According to Hope, he only filed the court order after Tay's mother had taken her out of school to go to LA for months. And so claiming he just wanted to make sure she was getting her education and get her an actual music career before she destroyed herself. And then speaking alongside her mother, Angela Tien, Tay told the Daily Beast, right now I'm in a bad situation and I don't want to talk about these things. And so for a while, it was kind of unclear what was going on behind the scenes. But then the cut revealed that the whole setup was pretty much fake. But the outlet reporting that all those model homes that Tay

filmed herself in were actually just properties that her mother, a real estate agent, had on the market. And that flashy Mercedes Tay claimed to have bought, her mother borrowed it from a co-worker. Also, Tay's half-brother Jason reportedly wrote her lines and coached her on how to say them. Apparently, he had his own YouTube channel where he mainly posted diss raps in hopes of igniting online fights with creators who had more followers. But then, when that failed to take off, he realized those same words coming out of the mouth of a nine-year-old had much more potential. So with that, you had off, he realized those same words coming out of the mouth of a nine-year-old had much more potential. So with that, you had the outlet saying,

Lil Tay is the face and the attitude, but if this is a case study in the creation of social media fame, then Jason is the genius behind the curtain. But reportedly, as she rocketed into social media stardom, Tay's family struggled to hold on, bouncing from manager to manager, taking meetings and discussing deals

without signing any contracts and feuding with her father over custody. Meanwhile, criticism was growing that her parents, or at the very least, her mom and brother were exploiting her for fame and money. People at the time saying this is what happens when you turn a child into a brand, a business, and a product. They get mired in controversy. They can't have a normal school life. They get recognized anytime they're out in public. In the midst of all this, Lil Tay herself defended her mom, saying on Good Morning America,

No one's forcing me to do this. That's not true that she wants to make money off of me. But then, as quick as it started, it all went away. Because after five years of silence, another post appeared on Tay's Instagram page, reading, It is with a heavy heart that we share the devastating news of her beloved Claire's sudden and tragic passing. We have no words to express the unbearable loss and indescribable pain. This outcome was entirely unexpected and has left us all in shock. And adding, her brother's passing adds an even more unimaginable depth to our grief. During this time of immense sorrow, we kindly ask for privacy as we grieve this overwhelming loss,

as the circumstances surrounding Claire and her brother's passing are still under investigation. Saying, And so this instantly blew up. There was nothing for so long, and then this? With people speculating, did they take their own lives? Was there some other cause? Is this even real? And to that last question, Tay's management confirmed her death in a statement of variety. Then more strange details came out, like the fact that the LAPD and the LA County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner have no record of her death, or the fact that when reached by People Magazine, Tay's father said, I don't have any comment. With all that leading to today,

with TMZ dropping the bombshell that they claim to have spoken to Tay, because both her and her brother are apparently alive. They're saying in a statement provided by her family that her Instagram was hacked and adding, I want to make it clear that my brother and I are safe and alive, but I'm completely heartbroken and struggling to even find the right words to say. It's been a very traumatizing 24 hours. All day yesterday, I was bombarded with endless heartbreaking and tearful phone calls from loved ones, all while trying to sort out this mess. But they're also adding, my legal name is Tae Tien, not Claire Hope. And so with all of that, it hasn't stopped the speculation.

It's just moved what the speculation is. It's no longer about, is she really dead? It's about whether she was really hacked. So I'm arguing that it's incredibly weird that they took 24 hours to make it known that she was alive, even though she saw the allegedly fake post. So you have some people saying, this is all fake. This is meant for some sort of comeback. Others saying maybe they were hacked and then they actually were like,

hey, maybe we can use this. And then finally others taking the whole story at face value. There was a hack and they just didn't get around to publicly saying that she was alive because maybe there were too many fires behind the scenes. But whatever the case is, hopefully this makes the just dumpster fire mess of the situation understandable.

And while we wait to see if anything else comes from this, I got to pass the question up to you. What are your thoughts and feelings on all of it? And then Travis Scott back in the headlines because dozens of fans were reportedly injured at a concert that he did in Rome. He was performing earlier this week at Circus Maximus. You may have seen him in the headlines

because he brought out Kanye West as a surprise guest, which while that received criticism because that was Kanye's first live public performance since his slew of antisemitic comments, that isn't what we're talking about today, but rather the report that at least 60 people attending the show required medical attention after someone pepper sprayed the crowd. There are also being reports that a 14-year-old boy got injured after scaling a

false wall to see the concert for free and falling roughly 13 feet. But I mention this because the pepper spray incident is actually scarier than it might sound to you, right? And that's because it's not just something that hurts, but also it's something that can cause a lot of panic. I mean, there are instances like five years ago in Italy, a person used pepper spray at a nightclub and that led to a stampede that killed six people and injured 200. And while luckily here, there were no reports of stampedes as a result of the pepper spray, it's hard to hear about this and think of the chaos it could cause and not think of things like Astroworld. Travis's music festival back in 2021, where a crowd surge led to 10 deaths and hundreds of injuries. And so of course, with that in the

background, this new incident received a variety of different reactions. With some saying the Astroworld tragedy already proved that Travis Scott should never have public events ever again. People saying his concerts need to be investigated because this cannot be a coincidence and this cannot keep happening. But you had others saying this pepper spray incident wasn't his fault. And arguing that people are trying to paint this man as dangerous. And saying people not knowing how to act isn't on him. Which, while it's a different situation,

is also something we saw a lot of people saying regarding Kai Sinet and that New York City riot. Though again, one of those is not like the other, right? One is a venue where there's supposed to be security guarantees and stuff like that. Also, kind of a side thing, you had other people raising concerns, those being archaeologists, but then reportedly concerned that the venue that Travis Scott performed at actually may have sustained damage as a result of his concert. With that, because the 60,000 people attending jumped so much, the locals thought there was actually an earthquake. With reports saying that Italy's fire service actually received hundreds of calls from locals who were concerned about it. Though there, I'll say, that's far from the first time that there have been reports of people concerned that there were earthquakes because there was a concert.

I mean, even just a few weeks ago, you had Taylor's concert in Seattle triggering seismic activity equivalent to a 2.3 magnitude earthquake. Which I will say, as someone that went to their first ever Taylor Swift concert last night, that does not surprise me. The energy there is something I have never experienced before. It was such a fun time. It was also nice to meet and trade bracelets with beautiful bastards who also happen to be Swifties or Swifties who also happen to be beautiful bastards. If I go again, I will give y'all more of a heads up.

If only so that when we trade bracelets, you have a big boy bracelet because most of y'all made them for your little dainty wrists and that shit. By the end of the night, I almost lost circulation to my hand. And then in Oh My God, Who Could Have Se seen it coming news, password crackdowns are spreading. This is, of course, following Netflix cracking down on passwords. Everyone's saying, hey, we're gonna quit Netflix. But then instead, Netflix posting amazing new subscriber numbers because of it. And so now,

Disney Plus seems poised to do the same exact thing. With Disney CEO Bob Iger, who had just stopped touching himself while he read headlines about writers and actors possibly losing their homes because the strike sank during an earnings call yesterday. We are actively exploring ways to address account sharing and the best options for paying subscribers to share their accounts with friends and family. Later this year, we will begin to update our subscriber agreements with additional terms on our sharing policies, and we will roll out tactics to drive monetization sometime in 2024. Which again, not surprising news when you live in a world where there are headlines that Netflix added nearly 6 million subscribers after their crackdown. And their co-CEO Greg Peters saying, we're seeing that it's working. And while for Disney+, Iger didn't share the specific stats, he did say that password sharing was significant. Further explaining, while this may not be completed by the end of the year, the company established this as a real priority and we

actually think that there's an opportunity here to help us grow our business. And notably, this news coming as Disney announced price increases on ad-free tiers of both Disney Plus and Hulu. And then, with summer in full swing, a lot of you beautiful bastards out there are gearing up for vacation, or maybe you're just taking more time to explore your surroundings. And with that, the weather and the elements shouldn't be a hurdle whether you're traveling or you're just traversing your hometown. And that is exactly where the fantastic sponsor of today's show, Bessie, comes in. Bessies are your whatever life has in store for you sneakers. They're lightweight, waterproof, and snowproof, so you can enjoy the outdoors anywhere in any weather. I've been rocking the laceless look at the moment

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And then Texas's abortion ban is believed to have caused a 10% increase in infant deaths. With preliminary infant mortality data from the state's Department of Health Service showing that in 2022, infant death increased 11.5% compared to the year prior. We're talking about roughly 2,200 infants dying in the state. That's 227 more deaths than we saw in 2021. And then infant deaths caused by severe genetic and birth defects going up 21%. Notably, those spikes reverse what was previously a decade-long decline. While you have CNN noting that these increases could at least be partially tied to the fact that more babies were born in Texas with the state seeing an estimated 3% increase in the final nine months of 2022, you also have many experts saying that these deaths are likely the result of the state's strict abortion laws.

With Dr. Erica Werner, the chair of obstetrics and gynecology at Tufts Medical Center, telling the outlet, We all knew the infant mortality rate would go up because many of these terminations were for pregnancies that don't turn into healthy, normal kids. It's exactly what we were all concerned about. Which I mean, on top of these figures being wildly upsetting, it also shows that these bans, in some ways, accomplish the exact opposite of what conservatives claim that they want, where they say and or believe that abortion is murder. But they have ultimately created a situation where babies are being born just to die, which is also one of the several reasons, I think, that a lot of people in this debate, they're not pro-life, they're pro-birth. Because so many of these babies in these situations, they don't even have a chance at a life, let alone a

different life. And all of this coming as pregnant women in the state have testified about this very issue, saying they feel abandoned in the state when it comes to their health care. With many of those women being forced to give birth to children that have a 0% chance of survival. And they spoke at a hearing in July for a lawsuit that the Center for Reproductive Rights filed on behalf of several women in the state. Because Texas has some of the strictest abortion laws in the country, making no exceptions for rape or incest, and only holding exemptions if the pregnant person is at risk of dying. And the lawsuit there actually focuses on that exemption, citing concerns that it's just too vague.

I mean, there's just so much uncertainty that doctors don't know what options they can give to their patients. Saying that it's not clearly spelled out, so healthcare providers are often hesitant to intervene in cases where pregnancies are non-viable because they just don't know if they might be violating the law. So the lawsuit argues that pregnant Texans have been denied critical medical care because physicians fear liability,

which notably could be as severe as losing their license or spending the next 99 years in prison. So at the very least, you can understand why doctors are so damn scared. Also, during a press conference with a lawsuit's hearing, we saw one plaintiff say that when complications arose in her pregnancy, she had to go home and wait for her baby to either die inside of her or for infection to manifest more serious physical symptoms until she could go get help.

There is no statement of pro-life in this state when you send me home to wait for my baby to die inside me. It's not pro-life. In a sense, it's almost pro-torture. There's also this heartbreaking story from Samantha Cassiano. She thought she was just going in for this routine appointment when she learned that the daughter she was carrying had a condition where parts of her brain and skull just wouldn't develop. But with that, she was just going in for this routine appointment when she learned that the daughter she was carrying had a condition

where parts of her brain and skull just wouldn't develop. But with that, she was told she had no options and the doctor later calling in a caseworker and. Caseworker came in and they handed me a paper that said funeral homes on top of it. I felt like I was abandoned. I felt like I didn't know how to deal with the situation. And it just escalated to me finding out that my daughter was going to die inside or outside of my womb.

And that's tragically exactly what happened. She had to give birth to the baby who was only able to live for four hours. And those four hours were absolutely horrifying. With Atlas quoting her speaking about the baby, saying, All she could do was fight to try to get air. I had to watch my daughter go from being pink to red to purple, from being warm to cold. I just kept telling myself and my baby that I'm so sorry that this had to happen to you. And telling that story was so traumatic for Cassiano that at one point she actually threw up while on the stand, with her later explaining that her body now just

physically reacts when forced to remember what happened to her. You also had Dr. Austinner at a texas-based ob-gyn taking to the stand to discuss her own pregnancy saying at one point she got a scan to reveal her fetus didn't have a properly developed skull and as much as she did not want to believe that she knew that the fetus that she was carrying wouldn't end up being a sibling to the two kids she already had so she had to travel out of state for an abortion and saying i felt like my pregnancy was not my own, that it belonged to the state because I no longer had a choice of what I could do. I felt abandoned. And all of these testimonies are absolutely crucial for a couple of reasons. Right, in one hand, you had outlets like the Wall Street Journal noting that this case represents a targeted legal strategy for abortion rights advocates, one, that

might help them carve out incremental victories in conservative states where courts are unlikely to strike down abortion bans entirely. But even though this generally wouldn't help people seeking abortions for unwanted pregnancies, the clarifications this case is seeking would still help those who are suffering medical complications. Also, this testimony is super significant because these women are believed to be the first to testify in courts about the impact of abortion bans on their pregnancies since 1973. These women actually got an update on their case earlier this month when a judge ruled in their favor issuing a temporary exemption to the state's abortion ban.

That judge's order is currently not in effect because just hours after that decision, the Attorney General's office filed an appeal with the state's Supreme Court. And so we're going to have to wait to see where their case goes. And here it's worth noting that unfortunately, these women are far from the only people whose lives have been upended because of extreme abortion bans. And this is far from the only concern people deal with when complications arise in a pregnancy. Because on top of infant mortality, we have to worry about maternal mortality.

Which I mean, we've talked about it in the past, is already such a serious issue in the United States. Like our country has the highest rates in the developed world. And when you take a look, the states with the highest maternal mortality rates are among the states that have the strictest abortion laws, making it even harder to carry a pregnancy

and give birth safely because options are so limited. And earlier this spring, KFF released a survey that found that most OBGYNs believe that the reversal of Roe is only making matters worse, and 64% believing that it worsened pregnancy-related mortality. And a very key thing here, in line with the concerns in the Texas lawsuit, 42% of OBGYNs say that they worry about the legal risks they could potentially take on when making decisions about patient care and abortion, and that number climbing to 61% in states with abortion bans. While 68% say they understand the laws regarding abortion in the state that they practice in, that falls to 45% in states with gestational restrictions. It's the gray area that makes things so much harder to

understand for some medical professionals. But with everything that we've talked about in this dumpster fire of a story and situation, I now want to pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts here? And then as prices are rising, there's this controversial airline hack called skip lagging that's growing in popularity. And skip lagging is where you buy a ticket for a multi-leg flight, but one of the connections is your actual destination. So you just get off there and then you skip the remaining connecting flights. As far as why you would do that, that sounds kind of crazy. As Sally French, a travel rewards expert nerd, while it explained, due to supply and demand, sometimes it's cheaper to get a flight with a connection into a specific city than to fly to a city directly.

And understand, skip lagging isn't new. It's actually been around for a while, but it's banned by many airlines because it loses them revenue and disrupts planning. Hell, American Airlines even threatens to charge a person for the remaining flight or even refuse to let them fly if they're caught skip lagging. And though it's really hard to put an actual exact number on it,

skip lagging has been growing in popularity with the topic garnering more and more online attention. I mean, there are even services like skiplag.com popping up to help people. And with all this, you had French saying that consumers are growing wary of airlines in light of the recent massive meltdown. Saying, I think consumers are sort of feeling the stress when it comes to airlines and how much control airlines have over their trips. However, it should be noted that skiplagging isn't without risks.

Sometimes layover destinations change or passengers are required to check their carry-ons. And so with this story, I'm not going to ask the question of like, do you think skiplagging is good or bad? I feel like I know a decent chunk of y'all. I think the majority of you are of the mindset of like, if you can figure out a sneaky little way to make your life easier and it just, it fucks the corporation, fuck it. Which is why my question with this story is, have you done this in the past? And if so, are you happy or concerned that it seems to be growing in popularity? Because while I have never skip lagged, I will gatekeep like a motherfucker if it's like stuff that makes travel easier.

Some of y'all out here being too helpful. And then Donald Trump has been word vomiting some absolutely wild claims about Fulton County District Attorney Fannie Willis. Who if you don't know is the prosecutor who's expected to unveil over a dozen charges against Trump next week for his actions in the 2020 election. With that including things like pressuring officials to overturn the state's results, trying to put forward fake electors, and breaching an election system in a rural Georgia county. And while, you know, this is Trump, he's been attacking anyone who has gone after him for a long time. His most recent wave of crazy claims started last week when this attack ad was revealed. When does fast grocery delivery through Instacart matter most? When your famous grainy mustard potato salad isn't so famous without the grainy mustard. When the barbecue's

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with a gang member she was prosecuting. That ad's supposed to run through the Atlanta and other markets this week, but he also doubled down on it while on the campaign trail, telling supporters. There's a young woman, a young racist in Atlanta, she's a racist, and they say, I guess, they say that she was after a certain gang and

she ended up having an affair with the head of the gang or a gang member. And this is a person that wants to indict me. She's got a lot of problems, but she wants to indict me to try and run for some other office. Which, wow, a lot to unpack there. The TLDR is that essentially every single statement made there was false. But to then specifically break down the craziest parts, Willis doesn't work for Biden, her investigation and indictments are independent of the other three that Trump is facing. Then the claim that she was sleeping with a gang member with his ad even showing an excerpt from a Rolling Stones article that allegedly proves the claim. But in reality, that excerpt doesn't give any proof to what the ad says. It just says that she was his defense lawyer. But also to give you more context, in 2019,

she was the defense for a co-founder of YSL, a group that claims to be about music. Now, a few years later, she's claiming that YSL is a criminal gang and is going after other members of the group. Also, her client from 2019 had even left YSL at one point and isn't part of her criminal investigation. But nothing in that Rolling Stones article indicates that she had an affair with anyone in that gang, and the most she did was pat her client on the shoulder to comfort them

during a tense moment in proceedings, which is a completely normal thing that defense attorneys would do. None of the truth of the real-world context matters because the claims are the claims and they're just out there. And unfortunately, they're already having real-world effects. With it being reported that she and her staff have been getting increasing numbers of threatening emails, although at least with what she's saying, she doesn't seem phased, telling her team, You may not comment in any way on the ad or any of the negativity that may be expressed against me, your colleagues, this office, and coming days, weeks, or months. You should feel no need to defend me. I am not concerned with the calls, emails, or ads, and you should not concern yourself with them. Your instruction from me is

to ignore all the noise and keep doing your job with excellence. And then it is August, which means one thing, and that is football is just around the corner, y'all. And we've still got concerts, baseball, theater. There's always an event happening for every mood, distraction, or taste in entertainment. And thanks to the sponsor of today's show, SeatGeek, they got you covered. Plus, you'll even get $20 off just for using my code PHIL for tickets to treat yourself. You deserve it. With over 28 million downloads, SeatGeek is the number one rated ticketing app. And with Taylor Swift announcing new shows, Arctic Monkeys, and Queen Bee herself on tour right now, you need SeatGeek. And they're not just a sponsor. I use SeatGeek for everything. Whether it be

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presidential candidate Fernando Villa Vicencio was assassinated yesterday, with him reportedly leaving a campaign event in the capital of Quito when he was shot dead. Also, nine others were reportedly injured as the gunman attacked, with the gunman eventually dying from wounds sustained after exchanging fire with police. And for many, this killing highlights Ecuador's slow descent from one of Latin America's most stable and safe countries into one struggling with gang violence. Especially because his assassination is a huge escalation in how bold the gangs have become. Because yeah, past politicians have been killed in smaller towns running for things like mayor, but a presidential candidate in the capital? That's a completely different level. However, it's also

not surprising that Villa Vicencio was targeted. He had long been critical of the rising power of the gangs, running on a platform to go after them and corruption. He was even one of the few candidates to publicly suggest that the government had at least some ties to gangs. There's also a level of mystery as to who actually killed him. With the current president who's not running for the office saying organized crime was behind it, but which group is kind of up in the air. I mean, about a month ago, a gang called Los Chonros threatened his life and he was given a security detail. Though in a video of masked men, the rival gang Los Lobos claimed responsibility. However, then in another video, unmasked men claiming to be Los Lobos says that it was all a setup to make them look responsible and that they actually had no part in the attack. Additionally, despite claims from

Villa Vicencio that the current government has gang ties, the current president claims that the full weight of the law is going to fall on them. But for now, this is a developing situation and we're going to have to keep our eyes on it. And then the most powerful sugar baby in the world is back in the news. And yes, I'm talking about Clarence Thomas. Clarence once complained that being a Supreme Court justice is not worth doing for what they pay, but is worth doing for the principle. What we've now learned is that by principle, he means millions of dollars in lavish gifts. Because it's that time again, a new pro-publica Clarence Thomas expose just dropped. So this latest report, different from their past coverage with the outlet describing it,

as the fullest accounting yet of how Thomas has secretly reaped the benefits from a network of wealthy and well-connected patrons that is far more extensive than previously understood. With him drawing from a wide range of records and sources and revealing tons of previously unreported gifts from a number of different wealthy and powerful conservative benefactors, including at least 38 destination vacations, including a previously unreported voyage on a yacht around the Bahamas, 26 private jet flights, plus an additional eight by helicopter, a dozen VIP passes to professional and college sporting events typically perched in the skybox, two stays at luxury resorts in Florida and Jamaica, and one standing invitation to an Uber exclusive golf club overlooking the Atlantic coast. And to make things even better,

the report explicitly stakes that even all of that is almost certainly an undercount. A count that, to remind you, includes numerous trips and other gifts given to Thomas by Republican megadonor Harlan Crowe. With that, of course, being what we covered earlier this year. But this new report also dives into many previously unknown gifts from three other rich conservative businessmen who he appears to have met through the Horatio Alger Association, which is an exclusive nonprofit. And notably here, the New York Times published an extensive report last month detailing how the organization brought Thomas, quote, access to wealthy members and VIP treatment. And notably how in return, this grants the group unusual access to the Supreme Court by allowing them to host a lavish event for members every single year. With ProPublica not only confirming that, but it also found that non-members who attend are required to donate at least $1,500

to $7,500, which appears to run up against the fact that the judiciary code that Thomas is supposed to abide by has, quote, explicit language advising federal judges against using their position to fundraise for outside organizations, with one expert describing Thomas's action as an abuse of office and pay to play, which, I mean, that alone, already a really fucking sketchy baseline. But then it gets even sketchier given all the new details ProPublica has revealed about Thomas's relationships with some of the key figures. This included David Sokol, a former executive at Berkshire Hathaway, as well as H. Wayne Huizenga, a billionaire Republican megadonor. The reporting also uncovers previously unknown gifts from oil baron Paul Tony Novelli. And while

I can't hit on every single detail in this report because it's absolutely massive, I am going to link it down below. And I am, in this video, going to touch on some of the major highlights, starting with Huizenga, who ProPublica said was likely Thomas' first billionaire benefactor, and adding, for 20 years, Thomas benefited from Huizenga's attention as well, availing himself of the billionaire's fleet of aircraft and other luxuries. For those including going to pro sports games for teams that he owned, a standing invitation to his incredibly exclusive golf club, multiple flights on private aircraft, including helicopters and at least one Gulfstream jet. Though the biggest ticket items were trips on his totally decked out 737 jets, which he reportedly sent to pick up Thomas and deliver him to Fort Lauderdale

at least two separate times in the mid 2000s. Attending sporting events also appears to be a recurring theme among Thomas's sugar daddies. The so-called treating Thomas and his wife to at least five known games, even giving them all access pass, but Thomas has never reported any of the tickets in his financial disclosures,

where notably he is required to report most gifts over $415. But the former chief White House ethics lawyer for George W. Bush saying it all has to be reported. Meanwhile, ProPublica also found more than 60 federal judges who disclosed tickets to sporting events between 2003 and 2019. And this appears to be something Thomas himself is aware of because in 1999, he even disclosed private flight and accommodations for the Daytona 500, but he has literally not reported any sporting events since. Also, everything that we've talked about, that's not even the limit of Sokol's gifts. With the Thomases also going to his ranch in Wyoming and his waterfront mansion in Florida, Notably, they found that they hosted

the Thomases virtually every summer for a decade. And similar luxuries were also given to the Thomases by Novelli. With that including things like multiple trips on the oil baron's yacht that he usually charged outsiders around $60,000 a week to charter. These three sugar daddies never appearing anywhere in Thomas's financial disclosures. With ProPublica explaining the justices have said they follow court rules prohibiting them from accepting gifts from a group of people so frequently that a reasonable person would believe that the public office is being used for private gain.

But that is incredibly vague, and in practice, there are very few restrictions. And while the outlet noted other instances where justices properly reported similar trips and gifts from wealthy businessmen, they reported Thomas, however, is apparently an extreme outlier for the volume and frequency

of all the undisclosed vacations he's received. And here's the thing, while ProPublica did say that some of the hospitality may not need to be disclosed, for things like stays at a personal home, experts still told the outlet that Thomas appears to have violated the law by failing to disclose flights, yacht cruises, and expensive sports tickets. And a key thing is that this pattern exposes consistent violations of judicial norms, with one federal judge calling this unprecedented. And a former general counsel of the U.S US Office of Government Ethics

and the senior ethics official in the executive branch saying, "'It's just the height of hypocrisy to wear the robes "'and live the lifestyle of a billionaire.'" And adding, "'The taxpayers have a right to expect "'that justices on the highest court in America "'are not living on expenses paid for by other people.'" And as far as the other side here,

as far as the people involved, the only person to have responded so far is reportedly Sokol, with him defending himself saying he's been friends with the Thomases for two decades, and acknowledging traveling with and hosting them, but still defending it as ethical, saying we never once discussed any pending court matter. So, you know, you can just take that at face value, and it's an open and shut case.

Nothing shady happening, guys, because he said so. And that is where today's extra-large Daily Dive into the news is gonna end, but two things. The first is, remember, you only got a few hours left if you want to get on thebeautifulbastard.com drop and sale. You can click or tap there, or if you're on TV, you got that. And two, for more news you need to know, I got you covered right here. Or if you're all caught up, just remember, my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love your faces, and I'll see you right back here on Sunday.