The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 8.16 The Creepy Ariana Grande Dan Schneider Nickelodeon Scandal Is Worse Than You Might Remember...

Starting point is 00:00:00 Sup, you beautiful bastards! Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show. Buckle up, make sure you're subscribed because I'm splitting $10,000 across 10 lucky subscribed beautiful bastards this month, and let's just jump into it. You know, the first thing that we're going to talk about today is this Ariana Grande situation that's been absolutely blowing up online, and it's really focusing on how girls under the age of 18 are portrayed in media. Now, Ariana Grande, of course, now over the age of 18, but a lot of people have been looking back to her time at Nickelodeon, I think in part because of Jeanette McCurdy's memoir. It's called I'm Glad My Mom Died. It was released last week and has absolutely taken off, copies selling out online, dominating

Starting point is 00:00:31 a lot of online conversation. I just personally finished it yesterday, and like we talked about, Jeanette faced a lot of abuse at the hands of her mother. She details that, but also she reveals some disturbing behind-the-scenes happenings at Nickelodeon. Jeanette talking about someone she referred to as the creator, who is largely believed to be Dan Schneider, with Jeanette saying that she was sexualized on set by the creator, that he pressured her to drink alcohol at 18 and massaged her shoulders. And in those Nickelodeon parts, Ariana Grande is mentioned, right? She was her co-star.

Starting point is 00:00:54 And so now, post-Memoir, you have a lot of people looking back on that era of Nickelodeon and looking at it through a different lens. So with that, we saw people sharing clips from Ariana Grande's time at Nickelodeon where she appeared to be heavily sexualized. And according to The Independent, those videos came from The Slap, which is a website Nickelodeon made to go along with the show, victorious where viewers could watch bonus footage. Footage that was apparently written and directed by Dan Schneider.

Starting point is 00:01:13 And in this montage, Ariana is reportedly just 16 years old. And in it, it appears that he has Ariana stick her finger all the way down her mouth, sucking her own toes, trying to juice a potato while making grunting noises. At another point point this happens. Is it possible for a teenage girl to drink water upside down? Mmm, I'm thirsty! It's not possible! Others also sharing a video where Ariana Grande was wearing a bikini while a bunch of boys stand around her and shoot her with a water gun.

Starting point is 00:01:49 With people also noticing that there seemed to be a trend with foot content. With all of this racking up millions and millions of views and tons of people saying things like, Everyone keeps bringing up Ariana Grande for stand drama against Jeanette and I don't know why. Let's not forget, Ariana is a victim herself from the creepiness of Dan Schneider. This is why she doesn't talk about the role of Cat Valentine anymore. They sexualized and infantilized her. As well as we should be shouting at the top of our lungs about the child abuse that goes on at Nickelodeon, Disney, and other networks that have a lot of child actors. There are too many similar stories. The industry

Starting point is 00:02:13 needs to change. But also at the same time, you have people pushing back on that, pointing to things like in 2019, Dan Schneider and Ariana Grande are in the same photo together. Though, there you have people pushing back saying it only speaks to possibly their relationship, and this is public facing, so who knows what's real, and arguing that doesn't change the content that was made when Ariana Grande was 16. I will say the thing that's most concerning for me is like, this is just the stuff that we know about now, thanks to McCurdy's book, as well as whatever the content was that was released publicly. And I'm just left wondering how many other stories are there? And part of the reason is that McCurdy in her book said that Nickelodeon actually offered her $300,000 to not speak about her time on the show with Dan Schneider.

Starting point is 00:02:50 So I'm just wondering how much money did Nickelodeon spend to keep these kids quiet? And what are they being quiet about specifically? How deep does this go? But while we wait to see if anything else comes out in the meantime, of course, I'd love to pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts on this? And then I told you to buckle up today. I meant really fucking buckle up, because forget Justin Trudeau. I want to introduce you to our new leader of the North.

Starting point is 00:03:13 My fellow Canadians, I address you today as your Queen, Commander-in-Chief, and Head of Government. Bow down before your new Queen, Romana de Dulo. Because she announced her royal title early last year saying the actual Queen Elizabeth II had been executed. She hasn't, she is alive and well. I mean, she's alive. I don't know how well you can be at 96. But Romana also claiming that she was appointed

Starting point is 00:03:34 by none other than Donald Trump himself, as well as the US military and the people she says seize the assets of the Vatican, the fake royal family in the UK, and most other European royalty. And once again, just to be careful here, none of this is true, just so we're all on the same page. Oh, and I almost forgot, she also claims that she is an alien-adjacent being who's willing to share advanced medical technology with her supporters. Now, based off of that description, 10 years ago,

Starting point is 00:03:54 you'd have been like, oh, this is a crazy person shouting into the void, no one cares. But it's 2022, and you're like, okay, so how big of an audience has she gotten? Well, for over a year, she has rounded up a devoted following, counting at least 70,000 just on Telegram, with some concluding she's the real deal because her name is an anagram for I am our Donald. What the fuck is happening? And so with that kind of impeccable logic,

Starting point is 00:04:15 it's not surprising that she's become a star figure in the QAnon movement, which really isn't the one kind of crazy that people think that it is, right? It's more of like an umbrella ideology encompassing tons of bizarre conspiracies. And one of them, in addition to thinking that Satan-worshipping cannibal pedophiles who control the world and harvest the blood of young children are engaged in a secret war against Donald Trump, is also, of course, being anti-vax. So naturally, Queen Romana has led a crusade against vaccines,

Starting point is 00:04:38 declaring Canada a vaccine-free nation, calling the injections a crime against humanity. Know this, inside the Republic, the penalty a crime against humanity. Know this, inside the Republic, the penalty for crimes against humanity, treason, economic sabotage, and bioterrorism is death. And in November, she got more explicit, telling her followers on Telegram to shoot to kill anyone who tries to inject children

Starting point is 00:05:01 under the age of 19 years old with the coronavirus 19 vaccines. With her then, a few days later, changing the wording from shoot to kill to arrest but shortly after she said she was detained by canadian authorities for the pose given a search warrant and sent to a hospital for a mental health evaluation also among the things we saw the prior summer she organized her followers into groups that began sending hundreds of cease and desist letters to businesses governments and police ordering them to halt all measures combating the pandemic with one group even visiting a k-8 school while children were present.

Starting point is 00:05:25 But one of the weirdest, most consequential parts of this story is Queen Romana's decrees. As of June, she has announced 79 royal decrees, with some of these being just kind of head-scratching, like declaring Victoria the true capital of Canada, raising the age of consent to 24, though some of her followers didn't like that one, or one stating that publishing slanderous articles concerning Queen Romana de Dulo of the kingdom will result in an immediate 30-year prison sentence. Of course, most of these are paper thin.

Starting point is 00:05:48 She's got no real authority, right? Hasn't had real-world impact. But there have been some that has had a real-world impact. For example, Decree 23 declaring water bills now illegal. Decree 24 declaring that electricity become free. Decree 79 stating that rent prices had reverted to rates from 1955. And, once again, she is not speaking into the void. Many of her followers actually took all of this seriously

Starting point is 00:06:07 and just stopped paying their bills, which I don't know if you've done this in the past voluntarily or involuntarily like myself, that led to their utilities getting shut off and putting some of them in debt. With one of her followers commenting, Dear Queen Romina, when will the service companies stop shutting off our services for non-payment?

Starting point is 00:06:21 To which she replied that the bills were being sent by robots. But even this hiccup did not stop her rise because after months of touring Canada in her RV, which by the way she calls the mobile government, she has officially declared herself queen of the world, announcing this in a campground parking lot. And with this newly expanded authority over the weekend, she went even further than issuing meaningless cease and desist orders or getting people to stop paying rent, this time leading a group of around 30 followers in an assault on the Peterborough police station in Ontario, where they reportedly hoped to conduct citizens arrests on the entire police force there for enforcing COVID safety restrictions like mask mandates and business closures. Now, the cops probably knew this was coming given that she had been hyping this up for weeks on her Telegram and even a website they created.

Starting point is 00:06:57 And so when they marched down to the station Saturday afternoon, they encountered the kryptonite of QAnon Queens, a locked door. With some banging on it, shouting through a megaphone that they're gonna get arrested. Others, actually, this is my favorite, calling 911 and asking them to come outside. But the cops are like, fuck that noise. They don't budge, so they just sit there for hours. They're waiting while the Queen's handing out

Starting point is 00:07:16 the most generous of snacks, veggies and sardines. But then eventually, some of the group wandering around, looking for other entrances and discovering a restricted area where the vehicles are stored, which is when the police do show up and spoiler alert, it did not go well. You guys are involved in the COVID crime and we're placing these all under arrest.

Starting point is 00:07:30 That's actually your arrest. No, no, no. Fuck you, are you serious? Hey, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Stay down, stay down. That was for two rounds. Stay down, stay down. Cover it up.

Starting point is 00:07:41 Okay. They were bullying me. This is going back. So that little circus goes on for a while with the queen's followers commanding the police to stand down. And oddly enough, because, I mean, this is the queen here, the cops don't listen. Instead, making a mockery of this guy here. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

Starting point is 00:07:57 Hey! I suggest you stand down! Stand down, please! Stand down! In the end, you had two men being arrested for assaulting police, resisting arrest and mischief. Which by the way, I think the mischief charge needs a new name, it sounds like an adorable crime.

Starting point is 00:08:10 But it looks like this is not over. Because that same day, Queen Romina made a historic post on Telegram announcing, please advise, comms from Fort Detrick indicate that four XR-0001 CRISPR genetically modified super soldiers are being pulled from cold storage and will be deployed within the hour. Formed by crossing the Y-DNA of white rappers and Filipinos, we have created the

Starting point is 00:08:28 strongest race known to man. Within them is a life force and power never before seen on this plane. May the Lord have mercy on anybody who dares cross them. And that, as of now, is the story, and as weird as it is, it kind of makes sense. In a world that feels more and more disconnected from reality, that's powered by algorithms that enables niches to go mainstream, it just makes sense that crazy also went mainstream. And understand, this is not a problem that is a million miles away. These people are among us. And so you, I guess, can just deal with that information as you will. I've got no good lesson or advice for you.

Starting point is 00:09:04 Wish I did. But from that, I want to take a second to thank the fantastic sponsor of today's show, SeatGeek. Summer concerts are here, and that means that you can get $20 off tickets at SeatGeek when you use promo code PHIL. And if you don't know what SeatGeek is, they're a ticketing app that makes buying tickets super simple. I mean, I've got the app on my phone, and it is by far the best way to buy tickets. I use it to go to games, I use it to go to the Super Bowl, comedy shows, stuff like that. Plus, with so many amazing concerts and festivals happening right now, you don't want to miss out. I'm talking Bad Bunny, The Weeknd, Lady Gaga, Pitbull, Harry Styles, and so many more. And SeatGeek wants to make sure that you're getting a good deal.

Starting point is 00:09:33 So, when you're on the app, look for the green dots. Green means good deal, red means bad. And remember, I got the hookup for you. Use code PHIL for $20 off tickets at SeatGeek. That's $20 off your first purchase with promo code PHIL. So make sure you click that link in the description to download the app. Then we should talk about two bits of interesting public health news. The first being good news if you're an adult who has trouble hearing. With the FDA making moves this morning to make hearing aids available over the counter without needing a prescription for people with mild to moderate hearing loss. Also detailing a bunch of new rules manufacturers need to follow, such as allowing users to adjust the volume or

Starting point is 00:10:01 how deep the device can go in the ear canal. And the agency justifying the decision by pointing to studies showing that about 30 million Americans experience hearing loss in some form, but only one-fifth actually get help. And that discrepancy of 24 out of around 30 million Americans not getting help is partially driven by cost, as the tests for hearing aids are time-consuming and expensive. And that's before considering the cost of the product itself, which can range from $1,400 to $4,700. And with seeing this news, if you're like, why does it look so familiar? It's because multiple efforts have been made for this to happen.

Starting point is 00:10:29 Since 2016, the agency has received recommendations from various groups to open up the market to over-the-counter hearing aids. And in 2017, Senators Chuck Grassley and Elizabeth Warren actually put out a bill recommending the FDA approve over-the-counter hearing aids, which was actually signed into law. But it was still never fully implemented.

Starting point is 00:10:43 And for some reason, it wasn't until President Biden issued an executive order last July that pushed the agency to make more moves, and by fall, it had released the text for this rule. Now, with that, like all things federal agencies do, there was a huge waiting period where the public could give their thoughts on any changes. And now, today's final rule on these hearing aids

Starting point is 00:10:57 is in the home stretch, and there's a final 60-day wait before the rule finally takes effect, which is also supposed to give manufacturers time to prepare products for the market and update labels as required by the new rules. So you have that as far as nationwide news, and then as far as more of a state focus, you know, yesterday we talked about Mr. B's and the family struggling to afford back-to-school expenses this year, but today I

Starting point is 00:11:14 want to talk about another rising cause that we will increasingly see kids facing as the school year kicks off, and that is lunches. Just like everyday Americans, school cafeterias are also impacted by rising food costs from sky-high inflation, continued supply chain issues, and labor shortages. For example, in Prince George's County, Maryland, home to one of the largest school districts in the country, officials say that the cost of food and supplies for their schools has increased between 12 to 20 percent on average just in the last two years. Those schools also around 200 employees short, meaning that they have to buy more pre-packaged foods, further driving up costs. And while we're seeing different things state to state, this is something we're seeing all over the country. With Time Magazine reporting that

Starting point is 00:11:47 in some districts, the cost of lunch may be close to $5 a day, which for just one student is $900 over a school year and nearly twice as much as it cost just a few years ago in 2017. So unsurprisingly, because I mean, we're talking about schools here, we're seeing teachers online begging the general public to give money or buy school supplies because they're not being provided. Many schools have had no choice but to pass those expenses off to parents who may already be struggling to make ends meet. A fact that also raises concerns about nutrition, especially for low-income districts. And beyond that, all of this is coming as a pandemic-era program that removed income requirements for lunches and allowed all students access to free food has now expired. This has had a big impact.

Starting point is 00:12:21 Experts say that an additional 10 million children were given free lunches under that program, but now millions of families will have to pay. Now, with all this, some places have found ways to ensure kids are fed. For example, and I apologize to those that just love trying to dunk on California, last summer, California became the first state to pass a law mandating free school lunches for all K-12 students, regardless of income. Shortly after that, Maine approved a nearly identical law, and both of those are set to go into effect this school year. We're also seeing a number of more localized efforts as well. Just yesterday, the Auburn School District in Auburn, Washington was approved to participate in a federal program called the Community Eligibility Provision, and that will provide students with a free breakfast and lunch through 2026.

Starting point is 00:12:54 Meanwhile, other school districts have gotten more creative with more grassroots solutions, like East Hampton Public Schools in Connecticut, which is working with local vendors to purchase cheaper produce and cut back on supply chain issues. With the school official there noting how much money can actually be saved on a day-to-day basis with items like apples. The school had been spending $65 a day for the previous vendor, now just 35 a day. Some districts also launching efforts to make their own meals instead of using pre-made items

Starting point is 00:13:15 with some making bread from scratch or growing their own produce. Certain districts are even making the matter a topic of education, like the Glendale Elementary School District in Arizona. They've outlined plans to educate kids and families about food waste and how to minimize it. And so with this, you know, we're hopping around,

Starting point is 00:13:27 this place is doing that, that place is doing this. I mean, there are some good ideas and policies. Unfortunately, they only cover certain parts of the country, and this is likely going to be a growing issue as more students return to school. And so for now, we're gonna have to wait to see what happens. But if you or anyone you know is in need of resources

Starting point is 00:13:41 or you wanna donate to food programs, I'm gonna provide some links down below. And then finally, you know, there's been a lot of focus on the investigation of Trump in Florida, but today I want to talk about the investigation of Trump in Georgia. Fun times for America. You've got multiple criminal probes under the former president. But actually, the major news involving the Georgia probe

Starting point is 00:13:57 doesn't focus on Trump himself, but rather his right-hand attorney and human cockroach, Rudy Giuliani. With Giuliani's lawyers telling reporters that they were informed yesterday that Giuliani is a target of the sweeping probe into alleged election interference in the state. And so this is being described as massive because being identified as a target typically means that prosecutors believe

Starting point is 00:14:12 that he could be indicted as the case moves forward based on the evidence they have so far. It's also very significant because as Axios notes with this news, Giuliani is now the highest profile figure to be publicly revealed as a target of the investigation as well as the closest figure to Trump. And according to a lawyer who was special counsel during Trump's first impeachment, be publicly revealed as a target of the investigation as well as the closest figure to Trump. And according to a lawyer who was special counsel during Trump's first impeachment,

Starting point is 00:14:28 identifying Giuliani as a target is also bad news for Trump with him explaining, there's no way Giuliani is a target of the DA's investigation and Trump doesn't end up as one. They're simply too entangled factually and legally in the attempt to use fake electors and other means to overturn the Georgia election results. Giuliani has always been known as one of the main ringleaders orchestrating the effort to overturn the election. And recently it became clear that he's also a key figure in the Georgia probe, which was initially launched after Trump called Georgia's secretary of state and asked him to find enough votes to overturn the results of the election. And in a petition seeking Giuliani's testimony, the Fulton County district attorney specifically noted his appearance before Georgia state legislative panels in December of 2020, where he spent hours spewing lies about

Starting point is 00:15:02 secret suitcases of ballots and other bullshit. With a petition also noting that the evidence shows that Giuliani's testimony there was part of a multi-state coordinated plan by the Trump campaign to influence the results of the November 2020 election in Georgia and elsewhere. Now Giuliani for his part has denied all wrongdoing and his lawyers have said that he's willing to cooperate. This even though they've been doing all they can to prevent him from testifying in person claiming that he had a medical procedure earlier this summer that prevented him from traveling to Georgia. What's going on with you? What are you talking about? Prompting an extended back and forth with prosecutors that ultimately resulted in a judge ruling last week

Starting point is 00:15:29 that he needs to go to Georgia and testify. While the testimony is officially set for tomorrow, it's unclear how much it's actually going to achieve because he's made it clear that he's going to cite attorney-client privilege with Trump. But, regardless, experts know that this shows that Georgia's probe is moving forward aggressively with some very high-profile figures. I mean, because also just yesterday, a federal judge ruled that Senator Lindsey Graham also must testify before the grand jury in the inquiry. With the judge having rejected Graham's argument that he had immunity from testifying and denying his request to toss out a subpoena that he had been issued.

Starting point is 00:15:54 With Graham also, of course, denying any wrongdoing and his lawyer saying he's not a target of the investigation. But prosecutors have said that Graham is of interest to them for a number of reasons. This including multiple phone calls he made to Georgia's Secretary of State and his staff after the 2020 election urging them to re-examine certain absentee ballots to, quote, explore the possibility of a more favorable outcome for former President Donald Trump. But for now, that is where we are. We're going to have to wait to see what comes from these testimonies in the probe itself. But ultimately, that is where that story in today's show ends.

Starting point is 00:16:20 As always, thank you for watching and being subscribed for these daily dives into the news. Also, if you're looking for more news, I got you covered here. But, as always, my name's Philip DeFranco. 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 8.16 The Creepy Ariana Grande Dan Schneider Nickelodeon Scandal Is Worse Than You Might Remember...

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