The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 9.17 What Secret Rogan Spotify Revolt Leaks Reveal, Charli D'Amelio, & COVID Vaccine Confusion

Starting point is 00:00:00 Sup you beautiful bastards, hope you have a fantastic Thursday. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco show. Buckle up, hit that like button and let's just jump into it. And the first thing that we're gonna talk about today is actually once again, we have Joe Rogan popping back up in the news. You know a couple of weeks ago, we talked about Joe Rogan and a story connected to his exclusive streaming deal with Spotify. There you had a lot of people upset at Spotify and Joe Rogan because several episodes of his podcast did not immediately appear on the platform. This even though Rogan said that his entire library would be available to stream. But you have people noting that a lot of the episodes

Starting point is 00:00:29 missing featured controversial figures. People like Alex Jones, Chris D'Elia, Milo Yiannopoulos, Gavin McInnes. Though, as we noted, there were also a couple of episodes missing from less controversial figures. But still, in general, you had a number of people accusing Spotify of censoring controversial voices. But ultimately where we saw that story end then

Starting point is 00:00:44 was with a voice that you wouldn't expect to downplay things. With Alex Jones coming out and kind of explaining the situation by saying that Spotify was having to migrate over 1500 plus files, saying that he talked to Rogan, there was no censorship,

Starting point is 00:00:55 and that the episodes would appear at a later date. And I mention all of that because the news that we're talking about today is really the opposite of that conversation now taking place. With a number of people now asking why Spotify is leaving up other controversial episodes of the Joe Rogan experience. And actually regarding all of that conversation now taking place. With a number of people now asking why Spotify is leaving up other controversial episodes of the Joe Rogan experience.

Starting point is 00:01:08 And actually regarding all of that, yesterday you had Spotify CEO, Daniel Ek, reportedly meeting with employees at an all hands company meeting. And according to Vice's motherboard, during that meeting, several employees asked Ek why the platform was leaving up episodes where they say Rogan expressed transphobic viewpoints.

Starting point is 00:01:21 With one employee reportedly saying that LGBTQ plus employees feel unwelcome and alienated because of leadership's response in JRE conversations. And you know with this popping up in the news you also had people sharing clips from the podcast including episodes and moments where he says that there is an agenda. We realize that people are not looking at this objectively. This is not something that everyone's looking at all sides of it. They're not. They are activists. They have this agenda. This agenda is very ideologically driven, that anybody who even thinks they might be trans, should be trans, are trans.

Starting point is 00:01:51 And the more trans people, the better. And the more kids that transition, the better. We also have other people defending him, saying things like Joe Rogan isn't transphobic. Joe has concerns about doing hormone treatment and medical surgeries on underage kids for the sake of political scoreboarding, as we all do. Joe is not anti-trans, get a grip. They also had people pointing to moments where it appeared that Rogan was being supportive.

Starting point is 00:02:08 Moments like actually from this same podcast. You had Rogan talking about meeting a transgender adult film star by the name of Buck Angel. I had him on the podcast and that makes sense. Like he always knew that he should have been a male and he feels way better. And when you're around him, like you get it. Some also pointing to a podcast he did on August 31st.

Starting point is 00:02:26 There, after making a joke, he said, I don't mean that trans people, I'm with you. Adding my only pushback is about trans people competing as females in fighting. But also what we ended up seeing here is that the clips and the angle that got the most attention was around Caitlyn Jenner. And this appears to be in part because of last Friday

Starting point is 00:02:39 on the podcast, you had Rogan breaking down his writing process for a joke that he made about Caitlyn Jenner back in 2016. I wanted to get to people saying he was born a woman. He's always been a woman. I was like, maybe. Or maybe if you live with crazy long enough. All the time.

Starting point is 00:02:54 They can turn you into one. Maybe you go crazy. Maybe that too. Rogan then saying of Caitlyn Jenner and the Kardashian-Jenners. And so I came up with this thing where they're demons and they whisper in his ear in the middle of the night and they talk him into being a woman.

Starting point is 00:03:06 But it took forever to figure out a way. But it worked. It worked and people didn't even get mad at me for it. I just had to figure out a way to do it where, first of all, I belittle myself. And then I explain it in a way where it's not dehumanizing trans people. It's just, it's like saying, are we sure? So you have people going after Rogan for those comments as well as comments on that same podcast

Starting point is 00:03:28 where Rogan deadnames Caitlyn Jenner, with actually one of the people criticizing him, including Jenner herself, who told TMZ yesterday. This is not the first time he's said things like this. He's a homophobic, transphobic. Joe Rogan has absolutely no idea when it comes to trans issues. He says maybe because I was around all these crazy

Starting point is 00:03:53 that I transitioned. It's not even close. I mean, I've had these, I've been gender dysphoric my entire life. Though, you know, one of the big areas of pushback here, at least with this example specifically, is that these comments started as a joke. So kind of like we saw Rogan suggest,

Starting point is 00:04:08 you had people arguing that there wasn't really any malicious intention here. However, to that point, we still saw Jenner saying, Being gender dysphoric, transitioning, all of that, is not a joke. It's very serious stuff. You're concerning family, friends, society, all of these types of things.

Starting point is 00:04:30 And I just feel like Joe Rogan has a lot to learn. But all that said, let's go back to the all hands meeting at Spotify yesterday. Because according to three anonymous sources who spoke to Motherboard during that meeting, X said, in the case of Joe Rogan, a total of 10 meetings have been held with various groups and individuals to hear their respective concerns "'In the case of Joe Rogan, a total of 10 meetings "'have been held with various groups and individuals

Starting point is 00:04:46 "'to hear their respective concerns. "'And some of them want Rogan removed "'because of things he's said in the past. "'Others have concerns specifically over a recent episode, "'that episode being the July one "'where Rogan talked about trans activists.'" And adding, "'Joe Rogan and the episode in question "'have been reviewed extensively.

Starting point is 00:05:00 "'The fact that we aren't changing our position "'doesn't mean we aren't listening. "'It just means we made a different judgment call.'" All right, so there, it seems that Spotify has taken the stance that we aren't changing our position doesn't mean we aren't listening. It just means we made a different judgment call. Right, so there, it seems that Spotify has taken the stance that this episode should and will stay up on the platform. Notably, you also had these three internal sources telling Motherboard that at Construct Employees not to leak this discussion to the media,

Starting point is 00:05:15 reportedly saying, if we can't have open confidential debates, we will have to move those discussions to closed doors. However, of course, we are talking about this story today, so ultimately you did have people leaking, which is also why we saw in response yesterday, a Spotify spokesperson saying, "'At Spotify, we are strongly committed

Starting point is 00:05:28 "'to the LGBTQ plus community and diversity "'in all of its forms. "'All employees are respected "'and we believe that everyone has a right to be heard.'" With that spokesperson adding, "'All content on Spotify is subject "'to our longstanding content guidelines. "'Our diverse team of experts reviewed the content

Starting point is 00:05:42 "'in question and determined that it did not meet "'the criteria for removal from our platform." Ultimately, that is where we are with this story. And I'm kind of just left with more questions. And it feels like for an increasing number of reasons, it would be beneficial if Rogan and Spotify kind of released some sort of joint statement or talked on this.

Starting point is 00:05:58 Like for example, in that Vice article, they wrote, "'The company, Spotify, has made content moderation decisions to not port several other older JRE episodes to the platform. So are they in fact making content moderation decisions? And it's not like what Alex Jones said that there's this whole reason as far as like marketing, in addition to there being some transferring problems,

Starting point is 00:06:16 especially because when Rogan announced this deal, he said that Spotify wants me to just continue doing it the way I'm doing it right now, saying it is just a licensing deal so Spotify won't have any creative control over the show. But if they as a platform have the exclusive rights to the whole episode and they choose to not allow it on their platform, they would effectively have control over the show.

Starting point is 00:06:33 Also, there's the question of did Spotify leadership see this happening? And I think the answer to that is they must have, otherwise they are the dumbest assholes in the world, which is why I think that unless there is some other shoe that drops, they're gonna stick to their guns here. And I guess the last question I have with this story is, what do you think should happen here?

Starting point is 00:06:49 And what do you think will happen here? Right, and do you see some of the examples people have been pointing to as hate speech, as transphobic, or do you see it as jokes, absurdist humor, some differences of opinion? Things you wouldn't look at and go, yeah, that makes sense to the platform. I'd really love to know your thoughts here.

Starting point is 00:07:03 Then before we get to today's big final story, I want to knock out two bits of quickie news that people ask my opinion on. The first being that reports are apparently coming out saying that Floyd Mayweather is going to box Logan Paul. You've got some people saying sources are saying this. You have TMZ saying, hey, no deal yet. The last person to fight

Starting point is 00:07:19 and actually beat Logan Paul twice, KSI, essentially saying he thinks it's BS. And here's what I'll say, like the last three and a half years have showed us, anything is possible. As we've seen with Mayweather's last two exhibitions, if the money is right, he's game. But all that said, let me be clear.

Starting point is 00:07:32 If this actually happened, I would bet literally every dollar to my name on Mayweather. I don't care that he is 43 years old. He could be 50 years old. So YouTubers getting dropped. I'm not even buying that pay-per-view. I'm going to bed, feeling good. Think about what I'm gonna do with my winnings tomorrow.

Starting point is 00:07:48 I'll watch that shit on Twitter a few hours later. And then the second bit of quickie news involved Charli D'Amelio. Of course, one of the biggest creators out right now, the face essentially of TikTok. Well, she and members of her family have made headlines because they have now joined a massive TikTok competitor in Triller.

Starting point is 00:08:03 Even though she just joined two days ago, she has over a million followers already. As far as my reaction to this, because people were like, oh, does this show that all the big creators are going to need to jump platform? And there, I say, sure, that could be part of it. But really, and I say this for every creator of any size, be pretty much everywhere. Unless any of these platforms are paying you for exclusivity, you don't owe them a damn thing. For example, I will always have a place in my heart and a thankfulness for YouTube existing

Starting point is 00:08:29 and the numerous people that I've dealt with over the years, right? They gave me essentially a career. And if YouTube never existed, who the hell knows what I'd be doing right now? But at the end of the day, these platforms are gonna think about what is best for them, not what's best for you.

Starting point is 00:08:39 And so it's in your best interest to plant flags anywhere. It's why I post clips to Facebook. I don't even use a personal Facebook because the timeline there can just become a hellscape so quickly. It's also why in the past two months we started a relationship with Snapchat. And that's why hundreds of thousands of people

Starting point is 00:08:53 on each episode and millions in a month have watched the Philip DeFranco show there. So no, regarding the biggest person on TikTok also creating a Triller account, I don't think it is that big of a deal. You also look at the tensions between the US government and TikTok and it makes even more sense that this happened.

Starting point is 00:09:06 And then let's talk about the situation with the Trump administration and the coronavirus vaccine. So yesterday we saw CDC director, Robert Redfield, telling a Senate committee this about a COVID-19 vaccine. I think there will be vaccine that initially be available sometime between November and December, but very limited supply and will have to be prioritized. If you're asking me, when is it going to be generally available to the American public

Starting point is 00:09:30 so we can begin to take advantage of vaccine to get back to our regular life? I think we're probably looking at third, late second quarter, third quarter, 2021. Then going on to clarify that the vaccine will initially go to first responders and people who are at a higher risk before being distributed to the wider public. With him also later adding that there will be a lag between when the vaccine is approved

Starting point is 00:09:54 and when we start seeing measurable public immunity. I think we have to assume that if we had a vaccine say released today, that it's gonna take us probably in the order of nine months, six to nine months to get the American public vaccinated. In order to have enough of us immunized so we have immunity, I think it's gonna take us six to nine months.

Starting point is 00:10:15 With him going on to emphasize the importance of continuing mitigation efforts during that time, like hand washing, social distancing, and especially wearing masks. And regarding masks, Redfield specifically said that they are the most powerful public tool that we have, adding that if Americans fully embraced wearing masks for anywhere from six to 12 weeks,

Starting point is 00:10:30 we could have this virus under control, with them also continuing. These actually, we have clear scientific evidence. They work and they are our best defense. I might even go so far as to say that this face mask is more guaranteed to protect me against COVID than when I take a COVID vaccine. Right, so his comments, and specifically his comments

Starting point is 00:10:52 about the vaccine are very significant because they have been described as by far the most detailed timeframe that the leader of the main public health agency has provided in regards to immunity. And to that point, just last week, the CDC told health agencies that 2 million vaccine doses might be available by the end of October,

Starting point is 00:11:07 with the possibility that there could be 10 to 20 million doses ready and available by November, and 20 to 30 million by the end of the year. Right, and those general timelines for both vaccine distribution and immunity are consistent with what other top experts have said, including Dr. Fauci, who recently told reporters, "'It won't be until we get into 2021

Starting point is 00:11:23 "'that you'll have hundreds of millions of doses and just the logistics, constraints, and vaccinating large numbers of people. It's going to take months to get enough people vaccinated to have an umbrella of immunity over the community so that you don't have to worry about easy transmission. But then during a press conference later in the day, we saw President Trump contradicting the scientific findings

Starting point is 00:11:40 of the experts in his own administration and giving a different timeline. Save time and earn $1,100 in average value each year. The PC Insider's World's Elite MasterCard. The card for living unlimited. Conditions apply to all benefits. Visit pcfinancial.ca for details. Value is for illustrative purposes only. Truck month is on at Chevrolet. Get 0% financing for up to 72 months on a 2025 Silverado 1500 Custom Blackout or Custom Trail Boss. With Custom Trail Bosses available,

Starting point is 00:12:25 class-exclusive Duramax 3-liter diesel engine and Z71 off-road package with a 2-inch factory suspension lift, you get both on-road confidence and off-road capability. Dirt road ahead? Let's go! Truck month is awesome! Ask your Chevrolet dealer for details. We're on track to deliver and distribute the vaccine in a very, very safe and effective manner. We think we can start sometime in October. So as soon as it is announced, we'll be able to start. That'll be from mid-October on.

Starting point is 00:12:59 Maybe a little bit later than that, but we'll be all set. We'll be able to distribute at least 100 million vaccine doses by the end of 2020 and a large number much sooner than that. And when asked if he agreed with Redfield's timeline, Trump responded. No, I think he made a mistake when he said that. It's just incorrect information. And I called him and he didn't tell me that. And I think he got the message maybe confused. Maybe it was stated incorrectly. No, we're ready to go immediately as the vaccine is announced. I would say that we will start distributing it immediately to the general public very shortly there. I mean, it really to the general public immediately. When we go, we go. We're not looking to say, gee, in six months we're gonna start giving it to the general public. No, we want to go immediately. No, it was an incorrect statement.

Starting point is 00:13:48 Right, so just totally different from what top experts have said, but that's also not the only thing that Redfield said that Trump contradicted. When asked about the CDC director's comments regarding masks being more effective than a vaccine, Trump said that he spoke to Redfield about his testimony and again offered the explanation that the CDC director misunderstood the question he was asked and that he made a mistake, saying, I mean, I think there's a lot of problems with masks. No, vaccine is much more effective than the mask.

Starting point is 00:14:10 As for why Trump believes masks have problems, he cited waiters or restaurants touching their masks, then touching plates of food. But really, notably, Trump did not provide any evidence that a vaccine would be more effective than universal masking. And that's incredibly significant because while explaining why he believes wearing a mask may be more effective than a vaccine, Redfield pointed to the fact that a coronavirus vaccine will likely not be fully effective. Very few vaccines are close to 100% effective

Starting point is 00:14:30 and the FDA has said that a coronavirus vaccine will only need to be 50% effective to gain their approval. And most experts do expect the vaccine to have slightly more efficacy than that, but not by much. But by contrast, there is a growing body of evidence that shows masks are highly effective in preventing spread and that if a large majority of the public wore masks, transmission would drop significantly.

Starting point is 00:14:48 Right, and so because we don't know how effective a vaccine will be, health experts have said that it is dangerous to present a COVID-19 vaccine as a cure-all that will mitigate the need for other precautions. And as one report explains, it is overwhelmingly likely that the first COVID-19 vaccine will not be a silver bullet.

Starting point is 00:15:01 Rather, it will be one more weapon against the disease to add to our arsenal. It's like getting dressed for a blizzard where each intervention, in this case, masks, social distancing, and eventually a vaccine, will work in tandem to protect you. Right, and so while it's not unusual for Donald Trump to cast doubt on the effectiveness of masks

Starting point is 00:15:15 despite significant evidence to the contrary, many are saying that it is especially scary for him to be promoting this idea that the vaccine will fix everything and that it will be better than masks. Especially because in reality, masks will almost certainly still be a key part of prevention even when we have a vaccine.

Starting point is 00:15:27 When a reporter followed up by asking Trump why Americans should trust him when he's contradicting the head of his own CDC, he said this. Because of the great job we've done, because of the great things we've done in other fields also, but we have done a phenomenal job on COVID-19

Starting point is 00:15:42 as they like to call it. I call it other things, but we have done a phenomenal job I get calls from other people in other countries. They can't believe the job we've done though, of course You have a lot of people pushing back against that because I mean as of today there have been over 197,000 plus deaths in America from COVID-19 right but with this most recent incident We saw a lot of people rehashing an argument that we've seen when it comes to Trump and the vaccine right people arguing that he's going to intentionally

Starting point is 00:16:06 rush it out to get it out before election day, and that he is pressuring his own appointees and scientists to do so. And once again, this is not a new idea or an argument, just one that Trump has added more fuel to. Earlier this month, you had the CDC telling states to begin preparing for a large scale distribution of vaccines by November 1st,

Starting point is 00:16:21 just two days before the election. And at the same time, you have the head of the Food and Drug Administration floating the idea of the agency using emergency authority to approve one of the three vaccines in the final stages of testing before clinical trials end. And so with both of those directives, numerous people have questioned whether these decisions

Starting point is 00:16:36 were made because of political interference from Trump. And that's also something that we saw Biden hitting on yesterday, with him raising the possibility that Trump is pressuring his health officials to sign off on a COVID-19 vaccine that they might not be confident with so that he gets an advantage in the election.

Starting point is 00:16:48 And adding, let me be clear, I trust vaccines, I trust the scientists, but I don't trust Donald Trump. And at this moment, the American people can't either. With Biden also later saying, we can't allow politics to interfere with the vaccine in any way. Trump doesn't have any respect for science. This is the same guy who said inject bleach. This is the same guy who said,

Starting point is 00:17:06 if you want to keep hurricanes from getting to the United States, drop a nuclear weapon on them. So now Trump for his part has taken up a new strategy when it comes to these allegations. In that same press conference yesterday, he accused Biden of promoting what he called anti-vaccine theories.

Starting point is 00:17:17 But ultimately that is where we are with the situation now. And what I hate is I have no trust in anything that we're hearing. And in large part, that's connected to the self-proclaimed cheerleader of America, Trump. A man who on tape admitted that he downplayed the virus, saying, oh, you know, he didn't wanna cause a panic, but if a train is coming at you, call me crazy,

Starting point is 00:17:37 but I'd rather someone go, watch out for the train. Step off the tracks so you don't get hit by that train. Ideally, if he and some of his cronies didn't then share memes saying you're kind of a pussy if you step off the tracks so you don't get hit by that train. Ideally, if he and some of his cronies didn't then share memes saying you're kind of a pussy if you step off the tracks. The coronavirus is just gonna disappear. This is gonna be done by what, Easter? And I kind of wonder if the now over 197,000 dead

Starting point is 00:17:54 and their families would rather the president put down his pom poms and been the president of the United States for a second. And understand, I say this wanting with all my being to believe the president and his timeline. You think I fucking enjoy my kindergartener going to school on a laptop? I want this to be over with a desire that is so strong,

Starting point is 00:18:11 but still falls short of it blinding me to the fact that the person giving us this revised information has given us information day in, day out on why not to trust him. It sucks and it is genuinely exhausting. And to reiterate a point that Biden said that I agree with, I trust scientists, I trust vaccines, I don't trust Donald Trump.

Starting point is 00:18:30 But hey, that's a story, some of my takeaway, and of course I pass the question off to you. And that is where I'm going to end today's show. As always, thank you for being a part of these daily dives into the news. Also, if you're new, definitely hit that subscribe button and text me at 813-213-4423. That way you don't have to rely on YouTube actually working

Starting point is 00:18:46 to get updates on when I post new stuff. Also a big thank you again to robinhoodphil.com. Once again, I cannot recommend enough. Sign up, get your free stock. But with that said, of course, as always, my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been Phil'd in. I love yo faces and I'll see you next time.

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The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 9.17 What Secret Rogan Spotify Revolt Leaks Reveal, Charli D'Amelio, & COVID Vaccine Confusion

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