The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 9.22 STOP! Please Don't Do This Naked! You'll regret it... & More News...

Episode Date: September 22, 2020

Go to https://www.SHYN.com/DeFranco and use the code DEFRANCO to get 20% off your first order at SHYN. Make sure you don’t miss the next new drop @ http://ShopDeFranco.com  Check out my latest podcast with Jacksepticeye!: https://youtu.be/Lvb95pAliVI Follow me off of Youtube: https://linktr.ee/PhilipDeFranco Voting Resources:  https://www.axios.com/how-to-vote-by-state-2020-307c3d17-ee57-4a1b-8bad-182ca1cdb752.html https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/how-to-vote-2020/ http://Vote.org https://nationalvoterregistrationday.org/  -- 00:00 - Ellen Degeneres Gets Backlash For Apology 04:40 - TIA 06:03 - National Voter Registration Day and Pennsylvania's "Naked" Ballots 08:45 - China's Latest Attacks On Basic Human Rights -- WATCH Full “A Convo With” Podcasts: https://www.youtube.com/ACW  LISTEN On The Podcast Platform Of Your Choice: http://LinksHole.com WATCH the ACW Clips channel!: https://youtube.com/ACWClips ✩ SUPPORT THE SHOW ✩ ✭ BUY our GEAR, Support the Show!: http://ShopDeFranco.com ✭ Lemme Touch Your Hair: http://BeautifulBastard.com ✭ Paid Subscription: http://DeFrancoElite.com  ✩ TODAY IN AWESOME ✩ ✭ Xbox Series X: https://twitter.com/Xbox/status/1308422752823582725?s=20 ✭ Honest Trailers | Every Streaming Service: https://youtu.be/1zjC6c5SJlA ✭ Elle Fanning Teaches You Georgia Slang: https://youtu.be/DUhCjPj-Y7M ✭ OVER THE MOON: https://youtu.be/P_zuK_pergw ✭ Men Ages 5-75: What Makes You Anxious?: https://youtu.be/YHAncmgaHs0 ✭ Secret Link: https://youtu.be/VMJC9WxMX5I ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩  Ellen Addresses Allegations During Season Premiere: https://roguerocket.com/2020/09/22/ellen-apology-monologue/ National Voter Registration Day & Pennsylvania’s “Naked” Ballots: https://roguerocket.com/2020/09/22/national-voter-registration-day/ https://www.axios.com/pennsylvania-naked-ballots-mail-in-voting-biden-9bbcf26f-c9d1-49bf-8939-0422242ed36e.html Hong Kong Press Under Pressure: https://roguerocket.com/2020/09/22/hk-press-under-attack-while-mainland-deals-wth-own-issues/ ✩ STORIES NOT IN TODAY’S SHOW ✩ Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Proposes Strict Crackdown on Protests https://roguerocket.com/2020/09/22/desantis-bill-fl/ Pentagon Redirected Coronavirus Response Funds to Defense Contractors, WaPo Reports: https://roguerocket.com/2020/09/22/pentagon-funds/ ——————————     Edited by: James Girardier, Julie Goldberg Produced by: Amanda Morones Art Director: Brian Borst  Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Cory Ray, Neena Pesqueda, Brian Espinoza Production Team: Zack Taylor, Luke Manning  ———————————— #DeFranco #Ellen #VoterRegistration Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sup you beautiful bastards. Hope you have a fantastic Tuesday. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show. Buckle up, hit that like button, otherwise I will punch you in the throat and let's just jump into it. And the first thing that we're gonna talk about today is a story involving America's sweetheart.

Everybody loves her, Ellen DeGeneres. So a quick refresher, if you haven't seen my previous coverage. Over the past summer, several reports have come out detailing a very toxic work environment, harassment, and much more at the Ellen DeGeneres Show. Warner Media opens an investigation into it, and among the issues that happened on set,

former employees said they faced racism and intimidation tactics. Some had trouble getting time off, even in the event of a family death, and three producers were accused of sexual assault and harassment. And so all of this sort of pulls back the curtain on this show, which seems fun, light,

it's just a good time, they have a mantra, be kind. But many former employees said that the show was anything but that. They didn't feel that kindness existed in their office. With the issues stemming from the producers up at the very top. And while the reports did not directly implicate Ellen in these allegations, many employees figured, you know,

it is her show, it has her name, and so it should be her responsibility. But we did see changes made. The three producers accused of sexual harassment were fired back in August. Also around the same time, employees received extra perks, including increased PTO days, birthdays off, paid time for doctor's appointments and family matters.

But there was still this question of, will Ellen actually come back to the show after this whole scandal? You had people for a while saying she should be replaced, give the time slot in the show to this person, that person. But what we ended up seeing is yesterday, Ellen returned to her show for its 18th season. She was in the studio with a live audience,

though when I say live audience, a pandemic live audience, that when you look at it, you're like, oh yeah, we're living in an episode of Black Mirror. You just see this forest of vertical flat screens with people on them. But that is not why we're talking about this. The big thing here was her opening monologue, with Ellen immediately trying to talk

about the controversy and scandal. How was everybody's summer, good? Yeah? Mine was great. Super terrific. I learned that things happened here that never should have happened. I take that very seriously, and I wanna say I am so sorry

to the people who were affected. I know that I'm in a position of privilege and power, and I realize that with that comes responsibility, and I take responsibility for what happens at my show. She also addressed the reports and rumors that she is not who she appears to be on TV, right? The kind of be kind shtick is fate. And regarding that, she said, I started saying be kind to one another

after a young man named Tyler Clemente took his own life after being bullied for being gay. I thought the world needed more kindness, and it was a reminder that we all needed that. and I think we need it more than ever right now. Being known as the be kind lady is a tricky position to be in. So let me give you some advice out there. If anybody's thinking of changing their title or giving yourself a nickname, do not go with the be kind lady. Don't do it. Also saying that yes, she is who you see on TV, but is also more, right? She gets mad, sad, impatient, but is working on it.

And saying that with everything going on in the world, she still wants to commit to being one hour a day of escapism and laughter for people. Also announcing that Stephen Boss, or Twitch, has been promoted to co-executive producer. Following this monologue, you had a lot of reactions, including, you know, Ellen shared the monologue on Instagram. There, we saw big names responding like Demi Lovato,

writing, you are the person people see on TV. You are kind, generous, and caring. This video was a perfect representation of that. I love you, Ellen. Others joining in there with the support, but you also had a lot of people who were not pleased with it. With Buzzfeed News, which broke a lot of the allegations

about the show, speaking to current and former employees who found it insincere and tone deaf. With one former staffer saying, not only did Ellen turn my trauma, turn our traumas into a joke, she somehow managed to make this about her. With another former employee saying, "'Not only did Ellen turn my trauma, "'turn our traumas into a joke, "'she somehow managed to make this about her.'" With another former employee saying, "'When you're talking about people

"'who have accused her leadership of the seriousness "'of sexual misconduct, "'I don't think it's appropriate "'to have jokes in the monologue.'" You also had some saying, "'The right thing to do here would have been "'to actually reach out to those affected.'" A current employee calling the monologue tactical,

saying that Ellen's only sharing all of this now because she wants viewers back for premiere week, which feels like the opposite of the message she's trying to convey. Or because what she was talking about here has been considered in kind of an open secret for such a long time. But ultimately that is where we are with this story.

And as far as what happens next, it is in the court of public opinion. And that's because even though they are connected, there are two separate stories here. There's the work culture and the allegations against the producers. And then separately, there are the rumors and allegations that Ellen DeGeneres is a phony, she's a liar,

she's actually a bad person. So there, for her and her show, it doesn't matter what the general public thinks about her, it just matters what her fans think about her. And right now, the ratings for her premiere were steady, which could be a good sign, but we also have to see if that'll continue, right? This is just one episode,

an episode that is notably the first time back on air after a massive scandal and controversy. And it could be more of a curiosity spike versus regular viewing. So we're gonna have to wait longer to see any meaningful data. So there, I do wanna pass the question off to you. One, let me know if you are a fan

or have been a fan of Ellen DeGeneres in the past, and then follow that up with what are your thoughts on this monologue and her apology and her words here. Then let's talk about, you know, today is National Voter Registration Day. You have thousands of volunteers, organizations, businesses, election officials, and others joining together as part of a nonpartisan campaign

to register Americans to vote. You have Facebook saying yesterday they already registered 2.5 million people. Snapchat a week ago saying they registered 400,000 people. You've also got celebrities in the mix, the likes of Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Ryan Reynolds, trying to get people to register. And of course, in addition to all of that,

as I have consistently been doing, I'm gonna link down to resources down below. You can check your voter registration. If you're not registered to vote yet, you can. It includes important information on like when and where you can vote, what the rules are in your state. But in addition to all of that, I wanted to talk about and raise awareness

to a potential nightmare scenario in Pennsylvania. So Pennsylvania, of course, is a battleground state. And you may have seen headlines like, Pennsylvania Supreme Court extends state mail ballot deadline to three days after election. But comparatively, an underreported story out of Pennsylvania has to do with what is referred to as naked ballots. So as Axios explains,

Pennsylvania Supreme Court ordered state officials last week to throw out mail-in ballots submitted without a required inner secrecy envelope in November's election. And with that, reporting that Philadelphia's top elections official warned state legislators this week that throwing out so-called naked ballots could bring electoral chaos to the state

and cause tens of thousands of votes to be thrown out, potentially tipping the presidential election. Right, so essentially the way that it works in Pennsylvania is if you are doing a mail-in ballot, you have to take your ballot, put it in an unmarked secrecy envelope, and then place it in another mailing envelope. Sounds simple, but here's the potential problem.

Pennsylvania is not historically a huge mail-in state. This year is the first time they're doing no excuse absentee voting, with reports saying that prior to this year, only about 5% of Pennsylvanians have actually voted by mail. And part of the concern here comes from what we witnessed in last November's municipal election in Philadelphia. Because there, they found that 6.4% of the ballots there

were naked, right? And so those are ballots that in this situation would now be thrown out. So let's say the same percentage happens here, right? 6.4% of the ballots there were naked, right? And so those are ballots that in this situation would now be thrown out. So let's say the same percentage happens here, right? 6.4%. It is very possible that that would be enough to swing an election. As of right now, 538's average

of 2020 presidential general election polls reads, Biden up by four and a half points. Why this will matter more for Democrats than Republicans is that polls have found that Democrats are more likely than Republicans to vote by mail. And once again, Pennsylvania is a key state here. With FiveThirtyEight's Nathaniel Rakich noting, "'Pennsylvania is so important

"'that our model gives Trump an 84% chance "'of winning the presidency if he carries the state, "'and gives Biden a 96% chance of winning "'if Pennsylvania goes blue.'" This is a state that in 2016 was decided by 44,000 votes, and now you're talking about statewide, potentially 100,000 votes being thrown out. And so I guess at the very least

what I'm trying to say here is, especially to people in Pennsylvania, but also everyone that is, if you're voting for the first time by mail, double, triple, quadruple check your stuff, get the word out to other people who are voting. 2020 has given us a lot of unexpected chaos, but this is a moment where you can know

that it's a possibility and do something about it. And then let's talk about what's happening across China because we have multiple stories do something about it. And then let's talk about what's happening across China because we have multiple stories here. So to start off, let's talk about what's happening in Hong Kong, the formerly autonomous city that was known for its democracy, free speech, independent journalism. Well, we know a lot of that has been effectively killed

by recent forced changes, but today things were escalated when journalists were also targeted. In a letter to four local journalist groups, Chief Superintendent Kenneth Kwok said that the changes would be made to police general orders, these being rules the police get to make. And in this case, the changes were going to be made about who the police recognize as journalists.

Currently, the police recognize media representatives as reporters, photographers, and TV crews who carry proof of ID from newspapers, agencies, and television or radio stations. But according to Kwok, after the amendment, the definition of media representatives under the police general orders will be more concise and clearer, allowing frontline personnel

to identify media representatives more efficiently and swiftly. And at this point you might be thinking, Phil, everything seems up and up. This is just for efficiency. Well, turns out the police will now only recognize journalists from media organizations that are registered with the government news and media information system.

With the only exception to this being if you work for what they call a prominent foreign news outlet. And that's why local press unions have called this a major attack on independent journalism in the city, with eight of them writing a joint statement today, saying, today the police have broken this relationship by planning to make a significant amendment without first discussing and consulting our sector.

We demand the police to scrap the relevant amendment or we will respond by taking any possible and necessary measures. With the head of the Hong Kong Journalist Association also saying, it is quite regrettable. The existing arrangement was worked out among police, the government and us years ago.

It was an important part of our relationship. And he also went on to highlight that these rules would effectively get rid of freelance journalists who have been instrumental in highlighting the ongoing events in Hong Kong and abuses by police. The unfortunate thing is that these moves, these changes, they're not unexpected. This is just the latest way that we've seen freedoms

and liberties eroding away. China is the main driver here, and a lot of the restrictions that Hong Kong is beginning to face now aren't new to mainland China. For decades, the mainland has not had freedom of the press, association, or speech. Freedoms that I think a lot of us have, and a lot of people maybe even currently watching,

take for granted. For example, in China recently, a story that popped up, you have this man right here, Renzi Cheng. He's a Chinese billionaire who was sentenced to 18 years in prison today. This is because the government there said that he embezzled $16.3 million in public funds, accepted bribes, and abused power that caused the loss

of $17.2 million for a state-owned company that he was once in charge of. But we've seen a lot of questions with this story, with some saying this is actually a freedom of speech situation. Right, Ren has a longstanding reputation of speaking out against the leadership of the Communist Party. And understand, it's not like he is an outsider.

He's actually been a member of the party for most of his life. But these charges and this sentence, they're largely seen as a response to something that he likely did back in March. At that time, a letter came out on Chinese social media that absolutely bashed how China was dealing with the coronavirus.

And while the letter is technically anonymous, almost everyone pinned it on Ren. Also adding to that possibility was the fact that shortly after that letter came out, Ren disappeared. Disappeared in March, and then it wasn't until April that charges were actually brought up against him. And as far as what he allegedly said, he was critical of the Communist Party's stance

that the media needs to be the surname of the party, right? Meaning loyal to the party. And saying, the outbreak of the Wuhan pneumonia epidemic has verified the reality. When all media took on the surname of the party, the people were abandoned indeed. Without a media representing the interests of the people by publishing the actual facts,

the people's lives are being ravaged by both the virus and the major illness of the system." He also allegedly referenced a conference President Xi gave talking about the virus, writing, "'I too am curiously and conscientiously studying Xi's teleconference February 23rd speech. But what I saw in it was the complete opposite of the importance reported by all types of media and online.

I saw not an emperor standing there exhibiting his new clothes, but a clown who stripped naked and insisted on continuing being emperor. Despite holding a series of loincloths up in an attempt to cover the reality of your nakedness, you don't in the slightest hide your resolute ambition to be an emperor or the determination to let anyone who won't let you be destroyed.

Now all of that said, to be clear, it is definitely possible that Ren actually did everything that he was accused of. But it should also be understood that embezzling and accepting bribes are often how relationships between businesses and Communist Party officials work in China, right? A situation that benefits the government and the individual

until maybe that individual isn't the person that you want in that position anymore if you're the CCP. And then the government there gets to push a button that says, yes, we actually do care about the law. Right, and with it being China, when I see that Ren voluntarily admitted to the charges, I go, but Didi? I mean, I don't know if you know this stat, the courts in China have a 99% conviction rate. And most often they are used against business people and party officials. So there was all of that, and then I guess the cherry on top of the, the Chinese government is fucking horrible Sunday. We should mention the human rights abuses, right?

We've known for a while that China has what they call vocational training centers. It sounds so nice when they call it that. It's like, oh, is that China's version of University of Phoenix? But no, you know, we're talking about places like Xinjiang where the rest of the world is accusing China of forcibly detaining individuals into labor camps.

Well, the big news here is that a report that was released today by German anthropologist, Adrian Zenz, it outlines the massive scale of Tibet into labor camps. Well, the big news here is that a report that was released today by German anthropologist Adrian Zenz, it outlines the massive scale of Tibet's labor camp. Zenz isn't just some random anthropologist. He was also instrumental in figuring out the scale of the forced labor programs in Xinjiang. And according to his report,

which was corroborated by Reuters, the program in Tibet has trained half a million Tibetans, which is a notable amount because that is one sixth of that group's population. His research also pointed out that the program is targeted at traditional ways of life, leading to concerns of cultural genocide, similar to what's happening to the Uyghurs.

And the whole situation is incredibly concerning because let's say best case scenario, they are using these places as vocational schools, right? Training people with new skills. Coercing hundreds of thousands of people to give up their culture and traditional way of life is not the way to do it. And coercion is an important distinction here

because while Zenz points out that there isn't evidence that Tibet has extra judicial internment like Xinjiang, he does make it clear that officials do heavily coerce poor Tibetans and those living traditional lifestyles to attend the schools. Yeah, that is where we are with those stories. And I guess if there is a final point, a massive fuck you to the Chinese Communist Party

and to President Xi. And that is where I'm going to end today's show. As always, thanks for being a part of these daily dives into the news and hitting that like button maybe, you son of a- Also, if you're new here, definitely hit that subscribe button and text me at 813-213-4423 for updates

when the shows are up, behind the scenes, even more. As always, I'll leave you with, my name's Philip DeFranco, you've just been filled in, I love yo faces and I'll see you tomorrow.