The Philip DeFranco Show - Sydney Sweeney Nude Ad Scandal Exposes a Bigger Problem

Episode Date: September 10, 2026

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Wow, this Sydney-Sweeney nude ad scandal, it exposed a lot, but you've got everyone missing the biggest problems. We go inside Trump lying to you about his $5,000 BS midterm promise because it's worse than you think. And why it's been one year since Charlie Kirk was killed, but his assassination triggered a conspiracy war that's tearing the right apart while you've got people meaming on the background. We're talking about all of that even more. On today's brand new Philip DeFranco show, you daily dive into the dues. But first, quick announcement, if you are in or around San Francisco, Phoenix, or Denver this Friday, Saturday, Sunday, I'd love to see it. The second leg of our crashing out live tour is on Dwar. And we've had such an amazing time, you know, breaking out of the heaviness of the PDS and just doing something with, like, that feels really special together.

And there's eight more shows to go, though Chicago is already sold out. For everyone else, you can still get tickets right now at crashing out tour.com. An easy click link to that in the top of description, top comment. But that said, there is a lot to talk about today starting with this. So Cindy Sweeney, she just got bare-ass naked to help push a new prediction market on people. And what that feels like just such a 20-26 sentence. Not only did she expose herself in this, she exposed, I think, an even bigger problem for a lot of people that were were maybe not as focused on it.

And it's created this larger debate and fight and backlash around celebrity brand deals with these platforms. And so as far as specifics, her partnership is with an app called Novig and it's pitching itself as a sports-only market, which is also something that Sydney really hits on in the ad where she's relying on carefully placed sporting equipment to cover herself.

Think you no sports? Prove it. No big is just sports. No betting on wars or deaths and no politics. And with that, clearly being a shot at Cali and Polymarket, which have faced endless backlash for wages on work. wars, invasions, elections, bills in Congress, and more.

And actually, in addition to being the face of NoVig, Sydney is also an equity partner, and according to the Wall Street Journal, she's the one who reached out to them about an investment opportunity. But they're also serving as a creative director for this ad campaign and messaging, which actually includes another ad about trading responsibly,

which is less naked, but still suggestive. Trading on sports. Tates balls. You know what else does? Taking a time out. Setting a limit. Need a pair? And so with all this, like pretty much

everything Sidney's Sweeney except actually the acting part itself, this has generated a ton of conversation with some thinking that this was an effective ad campaign. Though you also had others condemning the choice to use sex to sell gambling. And while the criticisms and the concerns around this I think are very important to hear out and talk about and the debate around this, I think it is important that people have it. It also feels incredibly important to point out that Sydney Sweeney is far from the only person doing this. And in fact, there are levels to why these partisanship should be concerning. Or just a few days ago, Polymarket released a celebrity-filled ad with LeBron James as its main star with his king nickname even being used as part of a promo code.

And because LeBron himself is a fucking athlete and his sport is a major part of what polymarket users can trade on, that sparked way bigger concerns in Sidney getting naked in the name of sports betting. And so many accusing LeBron and all these other celebrities who participated in the ad of being sellouts. And among those you had investigative reporter CoffeeZilla writing, is there anyone who says no to these gambling companies, saying every major celebrity is lining up to take the check? And for some, LeBron specifically stood out because he is just so rich. Where with people seeing this is just a different level of greed.

People arguing things like it would be one thing for someone who needs the money to take it from Polymarket, but arguing that it is genuinely disgusting for a billionaire like LeBron who doesn't need the money to just run to the bank. And that is he would others saying, potentially the most famous athlete ever is promoting gambling to kids. Don't care what you say, it's gambling. And then with this, you had some op-eds noting that this is a major ethical gray area. Because he is still in the NBA and there are a ton of questions about whether or not

active athletes should be promoting platforms so easily swayed by insider trading. Because LeBron is an insider and while we don't know the terms of his deal with Polly Market, if he is a spokesperson for them, it is reasonable to assume that he stands to financially benefit from their success, at least in some capacity. Though I will say, it doesn't seem like the backlash or really even shame these days is a deterrent. You've got all of this coming as prediction markets are starting to really spend big on celebrity partnerships. So I will say, none of this should be surprising.

One, because the checks these companies write, I can't even imagine for them, they're huge for fucking everybody. My sales team is not a fan of me saying no to these deals these. days? And two, there have been more of these conversations going on around, hey, if the sports companies themselves, right, these leagues are fully embracing betting, why shouldn't the players be able to grab a piece for themselves as well? That brings us to three, most people using these services just lose money. It's part of the reason they're able to pay these celebrities or any of these influencers so much money. Like, studies have come out saying 96% of gamblers lose money.

And I think it's very important to know that we are existing in a time where so many people feel like they don't have a chance at the future that they are taking these large bets and swings in a hope for kind of a yolo payday. That feels like the only possible way to get out of a world and a life that's constantly shitting on it. Off the soap box, sorry about that. This is just an area where my thinking around it has evolved greatly over the past two or so years and so it's always top of mind. But the controversies around these deals are also likely the least of many people's worries. Right, that's because with the midterm just around the corner, there are a lot of eyes on what role these markets are going to play. And in fact, a new report from the anti-corruption data collective

just found that $183 million has already been bet on the 2026 midterms, even with two months left in the game. And to put that in perspective, I give you a little context, that is around double of what was spent in the entire 2024 cycle. And if we just see the same betting spike leading up to Election Day the 2024 had, it's projected that over a billion dollars is going to be spent on these midterms. Or with some races, drawing more attention than others, right, the Texas Senate race, that has the most money wagered so far. And very interestingly, even with all the money at play, 10 wallets alone are controlling 17% of all congressional volume on polymarket. And so it doesn't actually even take that much money to move these markets. Or you could wager the maximum personal campaign contribution allowed, and you could move nearly every single midterm related market by five cents or more.

And on average, it only costs $23 to double an underdog's implied probability. And as far as why these markets are so easy to move, the report claim that, quote, prediction market platforms have opened far more election-related markets the demand would appear to support. So 77% of markets have less than $1,000 in volume. But they then also note, a manipulated price can ripple through the information ecosystem

as if it reflected real momentum. Especially as you have news people or news networks, whether they have a deal or not, touting these numbers as if they mean something. And it's been noted that all of this can be especially helpful for people that are far behind because, quote, prediction market prices are now frequently cited in news reporting and by campaigns. For underdog candidates that might be struggling to attract media attention

and are looking to signal viability and attract donors, almost any news story about their candidacy can have significant publicity value. And so it ends up not being that surprising that polling from earlier this year found that 44% of Americans think that betting on election outcomes should be illegal, compared to just 30% who support it. And so while I understand why there was such a big reaction to the Sidney's Sweeney ad, like for a number of reasons, it does shed light or at least offer the opportunity

to shed light on all the other big issues at play right now, especially because so many of the people in power right now seem so anti-regulation, and so there are a lot of concerns and really not a lot of answers or solutions at play that at least have viability. And while, you know, we're looking to the future on this, we also have to look at the present because today, it marks the one year anniversary since Charlie Kirk

was fatally shot while speaking at Utah Valley University. Right, and with it, now officially being a year, there's been a lot of discourse about Kirk, both online and in mainstream media. You had a lot of people posting memorials to him, praising the legacy that they say that he's left. But then also, at the same time, you've had a lot of people criticizing Kirk,

slamming his controversial beliefs and accusing him of spreading hate and division. So then with that, you had some going as far as to celebrate his death or claim that it was deserved, though others, they just circulated clips of some of his most inflammatory comments. You will never live in a society when you have an armed citizenry and you won't have a single gun death.

That is nonsense. It's dribble. But I am, I think it's, I think it's worth it. I think it's worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights. Native-born Americans, you better buy weapons, everybody. Have a lot of guns at your disposal. I would never leave your home without a weapon. If I see a black pilot, I'm going to be like, boy, I hope he's qualified.

So if you had a daughter and she was 10 and she got, And she was gonna give birth and she would, no, wait, Oh, and she was gonna give birth and she was gonna live. Would you want her to go through that and carry her wrist baby? That's awfully graphic. It's no, but it's a real life scenario that happens to many people. The answer is yes, the baby would be delivered. And then of course, on top of all this,

there are the countless Kirk memes that have just really never stopped. But also, they're back even more today. But then also, and this is especially true when you look to Twitter, a lot of the top posts that the platform is promoting, they're all sharing various conspiracy theories. You've got a lot of people claiming that Israel was actually behind Kirk's assassination. You also had some arguing that Trump and or some unnamed shadowy forces in the U.S. government killed him because he was speaking out about the Epstein files. So I also think it's important to point out that one of the last things he said about the Epstein files was this.

I'm going to trust my friends in the administration. I'm going to trust my friends in the government to do what needs to be done, solve it, balls in their hands. I've said plenty this last weekend. So I will say it's not the most surprising thing that these are the top posts that are popping up on Twitter. One, because this is Elon Musk's version of Twitter, and in many ways, it feels like it's just become a nightmare hellhole. But also, two, conspiracy theories around Charlie's death, they've been swirling since the second that he got killed. But also, a lot of those theories, they've really been allowed to flourish because they've been pushed by some of the biggest voices on the far right. We're talking about people that have millions and millions of followers and daily viewers.

And like we've talked about many times before, Candace Owens has been one of the single biggest promoters of these conspiracies. And honestly, it feels like she may be one of the key reasons why Republicans were not able to come together after Kirk was killed. Though I will say that might be giving a singular person too much credit. And while she has spread or at least mentioned a lot of different unverified claims, the most recent one that she settled on is that Tyler Robinson was actually just a patsy. With the theory being that the assassination was really orchestrated by some combination of Israel, the feds, and or people working inside a turning point USA. And in my opinion, it is definitive proof that Tyler Robinson is a patsy.

The feds are just putting this on him and I do mean the FBI. I don't think that Tyler Robinson was there. You don't think he was there? I think he's a total patsy. I think they get lookalikes and they get everybody wearing the same outfit. I do think that at the end of this, we are going to find that Israel was involved. I do. It reeks of an inside job.

It becomes clearer and clearer that somehow at some layer, at some stage, turning point USA is involved because they're giving us no clarity. You've also had Tucker Carlson echoing the idea that Israel was somehow involved. He was, I believe, and most people who knew him well as I did and was friends with them as I was, believe he was most likely murdered for his evolving views on Israel. But also, Candace's ideas specifically have had a massive read. We've even been talked about it recently. You had huge names like Joe Rogan starting to buy in more recently. The more time goes on, the more I'm leaning towards Candace Owens.

What? She's got some very interesting theories about it. Then also, in addition to convincing who knows how many people in believing these conspiracies, the theories that Candace has spread, they've had other real world impacts. According to a recent study by the Network Contagent Research Institute, Candice Owens caused a measurable, statistically significant surge in death threats and calls for violence against Charlie Kirk's wife, Erica Kirk. And while Erica Kirk and TPPUSA, they've been unsuccessful in the repeated attempts to get Candace to back down, it appears turning point, they believe that the impact of the conspiracies that that's now fading, with a spokesperson telling Wired.

The conspiracy theories have much less reach and potency now than they did six months ago, and I think I'll say the same six months from now. I'm claiming the people who spread these ideas are just doing it for the money and, quote, their influence and credibility has collapsed and will continue to do so. But as you have TPSA saying that, you also have plenty of experts believing that the conspiracy theories, they're here to stay for a long time. You had one even arguing that they could escalate even further as the criminal trial against Tyler Robinson plays out. But the lingering conspiracies, they're not the only thing that's clouding Charlie's legacy as we look back a year later. There are also the major divisions you've gotten MAGA that is death and the conspiracies themselves have cause. So on one side, you have what we'll call maybe more mainstream MAGA.

So Trump, Vance, and their allies who have painted Kirk as a heroic martyr for their cause. But then you also have this growing bucket of prominent defectors who argue that the administration, they actually betrayed the America First ideology the Kirk champion. And you have many specifically pointing to the Iran war. Are you that Candace consistently claiming that Charlie, he was moving toward a break with Israel right before he died? And that's actually exactly why she says that he was assassinated. You also had Steve Bannon making a very similar point telling Newsweek. Forget what the Israel First crowd says.

Charlie Kirk was adamantly opposed to a regime change war against Iran, adamantly opposed. And he had Tucker too, echoing that, claiming that he and Charlie, they warned Trump that an extended operation in Iran, it would be terrible for the United States. with him then also arguing that Charlie did not like Netanyahu and viewed him as a very destructive force. But then, you had people like Senator Ted Cruz pushing back on that, saying that his very last conversation with Kirk was about the rising toxic wave of anti-Semitism on the right. And he's not alone, right? Ben Shapiro has also been highly critical of this particular faction of MAGA. You had him repeatedly slamming them for spreading conspiracy theories. And during a speech at TPUSA's America Fest back in December, he named check Candace Tucker and Bannon while just tearing them apart.

These people are frauds and they are grifters and they do not deserve your time. and they are something worse than that, a danger to the only movement capable of stopping the left from wrecking the country wholesale. But also the reality is that Kirk's views on Iran, they were more complex, we'll say. For years, he warned against American intervention abroad, but he also supported Trump strikes on Iranian nuclear sites

in June of 2025. Though there's also an argument like we saw with that Epstein clip that he would end up just going along with whatever Trump wants. But with all of this, one, you end up starting to deal with just hypothetical after hypothetical, and two, it's not just the highest ranks of the party that have become fractured since his death. Many young voters who were part of TPSA and Kirk's broader movement, they've started to sour on Trump amid rising frustrations with the Iran war,

the costs of living, and the administration's handling of the Epstein files. And Kirk, he was widely regarded as one of the single most influential voices within the conservative youth space. Plenty of people, they'd give it him the credit for turning out the young voters who were essential to Trump winning a second term. And for many on the right, he was seen as this direct pipeline for his followers to share their feelings with Trump, as well as a unifier who held the movement together despite division. And so then also with that, no one's really filled that particular power vacuum. And so without someone being seen as a strong who can keep people glued together, right, bring people in.

You've actually had some student organizers questioning the future of TPP USA as a whole without Charlie. Though that said, you've had TPP USA hitting back, claiming that they saw unprecedented expansion in the 2025-26 school year. Or with over a million high school and college students involved. With that, some campus leaders say they've seen waning interest in growing fractures. Meanwhile, you've got Trump just continuing to tank in the polls with younger voters. And well, of course, with this and really anything today we talk about, I'd love to know your thoughts in those comments. I will say where things are right now, it is drastically. drastically different than where I thought things would be in the week after Charlie Kirk was killed.

And of course, one of the ways where we're going to see where things really stand outside of, you know, vibes or us getting information in whatever bubbles we go in algorithmically. It's going to be the midterms. Everything's building towards that. And then who the hell knows what's going to happen? And then there's even more we're going to dive into in just a minute. But first, let me thank a sponsor. It's amazing how easy it is to give someone else career advice.

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dot me slash DeFranco to get 50% off your first session. That's strawberry dot me slash DeFranco, you're gonna love it. But then, Devin, right back into the news, we've got to talk about how Trump and his enablers have screwed the Republicans so bad this midterm season, that they invented a whole new convention to convince their base that, hey, don't believe your lying eyes. Everything's great. Because who even cares about Trump's war with Iran

or decision after decision being made connected to skyrocketing costs of living for you? Right, and a lot of the craziness we saw go down happened last night with Republicans gathering in Dallas at the American Airlines Center for the opening night of their inaugural midterm convention. And here, this two-day event being dubbed Trumpapalooza because it was the Trump show. You apparently had pictures of Trump all over the arena, walls, and the elevators, and a bunch of Republican candidates and lawmakers thanked him in their speeches.

Though clearly, Trump still remains his own number one fan. You had that on display in this nearly two-hour speech where he was bragging about the economy of all things and asking people to keep him in mind when they cast their ballots this November. But then also, he shamelessly seemed to throw in a bribe. The man essentially said, vote for me, I'll give you five bands.

Because of our economic, tremendous economic success, like in history, we've never had anything like what's happening. but because of our tremendous strength and success economically, I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000. So I'm asking you to pretend that I'm on the ballot. I'm on the ballot. I'm on the ballot.

Just one more time. And I will say that is a very enticing offer if you forget that he is just a constantly lying bastard. Right, personally, I can't wait to stack this imaginary made-up $5,000 with the other imaginary made-up money that he promised in the past, which was what, of course, connected to the doge cuts, the apparently the tariff surplus money that we were going to have. And I think there are others, but this is like, this is like an alcoholic dad that's like, hey, I know that I said that I was going to take you to the zoo the last seven times and I didn't, but daddy promises he's going to stop putting out lit cigarettes on you and we'll definitely take you to the zoo this time. Maybe we'll even get ice cream. But yeah, regarding this seemingly bribe money, uh, he didn't. I didn't happen to mention where the money from these dividends would come from.

According to census data, the payments would cost $8 trillion or more, so definitely doable and legal. All while, the national debt is now over $40 trillion. And actually, even the US debt for this year is approaching $1.8 trillion. Also, in addition to that, you had some other headline-making moments, right, he hit his usual talking points, tariffs, destroying Iran's nuclear program, limiting voter registration, etc. Also, while he described the arena as packed and claiming that there were people outside that couldn't even get in, And that story does it appear to match reports that there were large sections of seats that remained empty.

And notably, there were some key Republican leadership voices that were missing. Right, Susan Collins, Maine, Dan Sullivan of Alaska in key important Senate races, you know, you wanna get the votes you can get, they notably did not speak at this event. And that's before mentioning that there were a number of House members

that are facing difficult re-election campaigns that decided to skip it altogether. Though we should also note that might partially be connected to according to a GOP source, lawmakers were asked to pay $25,000 a ticket. But also, I think, another element of this seemingly lukewarm response the convention is that the focus on Trump was risky.

Trump's approval ratings right now. They're not just dog shit. They are smearing diarrhea dog shit, right? Like the kind you cannot get out of carpet. And in fact, they just reached a record low at a new focal data financial times while released over Labor Day weekend. His approval rating is 32%.

And even his approval rating among Republicans reached a new low, dropping by two percentage points to 72%. And that's as only 17% of respondents approved of the president's handling of inflation and the cost of living. I'm guessing because ignoring your constituents and saying that affordability is a Democrat hoax,

is not a winning strategy. So you've got a lot of people asking, is Trump hurting Republican candidates more than he's helping them? And actually in a new video from Reuters, reporter Steve Holland explained why some Republican candidates are so frustrated with Trump right now. Republicans want help on, they want to see gasoline prices go down,

they want to see things more affordable. They feel like the economy is dragging down their campaigns and that Trump is less focused on that and more focused on building a ballroom. room and cleaning up the reflecting pool. So in addition to a number of Republicans kind of scrubbing Trump from their websites, some Republican leaders have realized, hey, focusing on Trump's

performance, that might not resonate, so let's go on the offense. So that meant their theme was that Democrats are scary, radical communists, right? That was the theme for the evening. Representative Brandon Gill, Senator Tim Scott, House Majority Whip, Tom Emmer, and more speakers at that convention, really leaning into the culture war and the fear-mongering content. It's the mainstream versus the extreme. Now we're debating whether toddlers can become trans,

gender, whether men can get pregnant, and whether your daughter should have to share a locker room with grown men. This is a battle for the heart of our nation. I said the heart of our nation. The Democrats, extreme candidates won't rip the culture. Needs to be American. This is an election between common sense and communism. The Communist Party, excuse me, the Democrats, have a—have we?

no leader and they have no message. The only thing they can agree on is their disgusting hatred of America. And really, as things continue to get worse and without the Republicans and Trump having things, they can go, hey, look, we crushed it here. You should expect them to continue to try to push just ridiculous, embarrassing culture war stuff, whether outright lies or distractions that affect 0.01% of people instead of the things that are actually impacting everyone. The spiking prices for the gas you're putting in the car, the electricity. bill, your insurance, the people enabling flock and all these companies to just completely eliminate your privacy. The president and his enablers lashing out at you, saying essentially you're stupid and

you're going to be poor if you don't put these AI data centers in your backyard, upend your communities so that he can pad his billionaire buddy's pockets. But also, I'll note, it wasn't just Republicans that were speaking at Trump Paloza day one, where you also had Dino Senator John Federman. And I don't mean prehistoric monster, though I understand why you might think that. I mean Democrat in name only. Because he made a surprise appearance to support Pennsylvania Republican Senator Dave McCormick. I'm a Democrat. Why am I here talking to you today? Because, well, I'm a common sense Democrat. I'm always going to stand with America. I'm always going to reject the extremes and socialism

and that anti-American way of life. Dave McCormick is the kind of senator that gets the job done. And of course, you know, these exaggerated warnings about candidates on the left, they come after a wave of progressives winning Democratic primaries. For candidates like Abdul El-Sayed, Angie Nixon, who have focused on affordability really hard, as well as anti-war messaging. But hey, with all that said, we are getting closer and closer to election day, November 3rd. The midterms are here. Though if you do pull something from the opening of Trumpapalooza, it was very obvious that Republicans are worried,

and it does seem like they have reason to be. And for now, while they're not offering solutions to make what's actually happening now better, we're going to have to wait to see if this bribe offer and scary communist messaging works out for them. But then also, while you have this playing out and there's just a million other concerns, right now you have the Trump administration seemingly laser-focused on late-night TV. Right, and I'm saying that to you because late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, he announced last night that his interview with Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Tilarico, it's going to have to get posted on YouTube rather than broadcast on ABC.

Where with Kimmel is saying, you didn't thank Trump and his FCC for it, saying they're stomping all over a long established tradition at talk show host interviewing political candidates. I've interviewed a lot of political candidates, from Hillary Clinton to Ted Cruz to Donald Trump himself. I interviewed Donald Trump when he was running for president in 2015, and at that time when he was the one sitting next to me, he seemed to have no problem with the idea of talk show host interviewing candidates. But for some reason, and I can't seem to figure out what that reason is, something has changed.

Now that he is president, his FCC has threatened me, threaten our show, threaten our network, ABC, our affiliates, our local stations, based on simple, traditional, editorial decisions, guest bookings, it would seem they don't like. And so unsurprisingly, this sparked a lot of backlash online. And some of that came from big names like California Governor Gavin Newsom who responded to the news on Twitter with, quote, Putin must be so proud. And also, if you're like, didn't, didn't this already happen?

This is happening again. Because about six months ago, Stephen Colbert said that lawyers for CBS blocked him from airing his own interview with Tala Rico. You know, I'm saying that the FCC was threatening them at that time, too. And reportedly, they were accusing Colbert of violating the equal time rules, meaning that he wasn't giving equal airtime to views of opposing candidates. Which was also just a total whiplash change of enforcement, right? Because up to that point, late night talk shows relied on a 2006 ruling that suggested that they

were exempt from equal time rules. And while CBS, they denied that they barred Colbert from doing anything. Either way, it ended up getting posted on YouTube. And it actually, maybe this is a silver lining, maybe it's a bigger thing, I'm not sure. It ended up being an even bigger deal. Or because within 24 hours of Colbert saying that he could not air the interview, Tala Rico's campaign reportedly raised $2.5 million. And just the main video of that interview on YouTube, it's gotten more than 9 million views. So while a crackdown like this, it is very concerning, arguably the attempt to stifle the ability for this guy to get out there, it completely backfired and earned him a massive wave of support. And so now, here we are six months later, and it appears that history

is repeating itself at this time with Jimmy Kimmel. And it's going to be interesting to see how that video does, how the clips forward do, how much money is raised. Because there are more and more eyes on this Tallarico Senate race against Ken Paxton every single day. And while I put no faith in polling, you had reporting from this week showing them kind of locked neck and neck. But then also regarding Kimmel specifically, the timing here is kind of important. I guess he came back from a summer break on Tuesday. And that same day, page six released a bombshell report claiming that sources told them that his contract is not going to be extended after next May. While ABC, they've come out saying that's bullshit,

saying the report is not true and, quote, any reports about the future of the show at this point are purely speculative. It also, one, wouldn't be the most surprising because late night is going through a very hard time right now. And two, it would in no way be surprising if Team Trump was continuing to try to get Kimmel canceled. I mean, he even got suspended last year for a little bit

after he made a comment about Trump's response to the death of Charlie Kirk. And actually after Kimmel came back on the air, he casually threatened ABC about it. It's saying he was going to, quote, test them out on this. And since then, it's gotten worse, again calling for Kimmel to be fired after he made a comment about Melania Trump having a glow like an expected

Widow back in April. He also said that Kimball was going to be next after Stephen Colbert's show got canceled. All while you've got Kimmel, you know, trying to make the best of the situation and stand tall. Right, and part of that got showcased what he came out swinging at Trump and Brennan Carr at the FCC when celebrating his 4,000th show. There are those who said we would never last this long. There are even those who used the regulatory might of the FCC to unconstitutionally try to make sure we didn't last this long. But we did it the hard way, Brendan. and we are still here. And ultimately for now, you've got Kimmel's contract reportedly renewed through next year.

He's still breaking ratings records and he's up for six Emmys this year. And then there is even more. We've got to dive into today, but first, a quick word from a sponsor. Because I love when the weather app says there is a zero percent chance of rain and then you walk outside. And apparently, God has other plans. And nothing makes you question your morning decisions faster than realizing you pick the wrong shoes. And that's just one of the reasons I love today's sponsor Vessi. They make shoes designed so that you don't have to plan your entire day around what might happen outside.

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I get it. I'm Siyaya and I live in Ice Cove. I've made some questionable decisions that didn't end up the way I planned. And today, I'm still figuring it out. Somehow things usually get worse before they get better. Apparently, that's how I roll. So bundle up and come along for the bumpy ride. Stream a new episode of North of North Tuesdays on CBC Gem.

And for your final block of today's show, let's cram in some more news you need to know. And actually, it's a mixed bag starting with this. PlayStation just had at Xbox, the biggest gaming win of the year after dropping Hideo Kagima's new action espionage game, fizzant. But then Xbox immediately picking up the slack.

Are you at PlayStation Studios issuing a statement shocking the gaming world? confirming that it made the difficult decision to step away from collaborating with Qajima productions on this project. And that's a pretty big shock because the two have had a nearly three-decade history of working together on projects like the legendary Metal Gear series. So with that, there was also immediate backlash online. A lot of gamers questioning why Sony would abandon the spiritual successor to Metal Gear Solid

after publishing both of Qigma's successful Death Stranding titles. You had many saying, this is just proof that PlayStation is losing its way and they're taken L after L. Or with one of the last big blowups being them canceling all physical media moving forward while arguing in court that players don't own the digital versions of their game. as well as I'm no longer porting exclusives to PC. All of which is then being contrasted by Xbox. Because you've got Xbox seeming to be in the middle

of a reticence after years of seemingly having no idea what they were doing. Which some feel is wild because their new head, Asha Sharma, she doesn't have a gaming background, but she does seem to know what players want. So far, she's cut down on AI and Xbox, picked up Kojima, is bringing back exclusive titles, wants to push a console for a strategy

and a ton of other tiny moves that have resonated with fans. And a key thing is that this move to pick up Kojima, it could have far-reaching implications. He was supposed to be making a few PlayStation exclusives moving forward, But Kojima, he seems pretty mad not only at Sony canceling the partnership, but also pretending it was a mutual decision. So now Xbox, they're not only going to get fizzined, but other titles moving forward. Though, we're still years away from that title even coming out, let alone anything else from

this partnership coming out. And then also, we've got to talk about the news that a 22-year-old who built a global cybercrime ring out of Minecraft just pled guilty in federal court to orchestrating a massive $245 million crypto heist. Or you've got Singaporean National Malone, Lom, now facing up to 20 years in federal prison, and his story's crazy. So this guy, he was known online by names like Anne Hathaway, King Grevy, or just some dollar signs before he started recruiting co-conspirators through Minecraft and Discord.

And from there, you have prosecutors saying that they use sophisticated social engineering, tech support impersonation, and even physical break-ins to drain victims' crypto wallets. With their most successful heist being convincing a Washington DC man to hand over more than 4,100 Bitcoin in one shot, and that's the crime that actually landed him in prison. But it's not their only heist, and the group of 13 co-conspirators is believed to have drained a lot more in total. With it also, not being hard to figure out that Lamb had way more money than a You had him buying insanely expensive luxury cars, watches, spending $500,000 a night at nightclubs.

You know, things a normal 22-year-old is not capable of doing. Not to mention, Lamb already had a spotlight on him for overstaying his visa by years. And ultimately, this case is being seen as a breakthrough for multiple reasons. First, it's hoped that by pleading guilty, he's going to be able to give more information about the other heist that his group conducted, leading to more arrests. It's also the first time that a RICO statute's been abused to tackle crypto thieves. And so, in the one hand, it is going to see that the DOJ is still going after actual blatant thieves in the crypto world.

But on the other hand, it's also a sad reminder that being a crypto scammer is more protected than ever by this administration. And so seemingly, where Lamb screwed up is by stealing other people's crypto directly rather than just rug pull in a project. But that, my friend, you beautiful bastard, is the end of your Thursday show. Another daily dive into the news in The Books. And actually, I'll end today with a little housekeeping. One, while this next Philip de Franco show is not going to be until this next Monday, I actually do post a lot when the show's not happening. So definitely, follow me on whatever socials you use. I actually didn't realize, well, recently, a lot of the content there is stuff that's not included in the show.

Two, if you're in the mood for a fun, cathartic, amazing experience, and they're in or near or want to go to, San Francisco, Phoenix, Denver, Atlanta, Chicago, St. Paul, D.C., or Pittsburgh. You should snack some tickets at crashingoutor.com, come out, hang. It's been so amazing that I feel like live shows are gonna be a big part of what we're doing moving forward. And three, for special access and updates, text me at 813-213-4423 if you're in North America. With that said, thank you for watching. I love yo faces and I'll see you right back here Monday.