A story out of Oklahoma
involving two of America's favorite pastimes--
basketball and racism.
A high school basketball announcer in Oklahoma
is blaming his diabetes and a spike in his blood sugar
for the racist comments he made
during a livestreamed state basketball tournament.
The Norman players started kneeling
during the national anthem,
and that's when the announcer, Matt Rowan,
hurled horrifying racist insults
at the Norman team that were caught on mike.
Rowan later apologized, saying in part, and I quote...
I'm not racist! I just suffer from diabetes!
I bet the royal family wishes that they thought of that one.
I'm so sorry, Meghan.
Our blood sugar was spiking that day,
and for the past 600 years.
But, hey, I'm no doctor.
I mean, maybe diabetes does make you racist.
In fact, I hope it does.
You know, it would make things so much simpler.
Lincoln could have ended slavery with a box of granola bars.
It does make me wonder, though,
how many close calls this guy has had before.
Like, were there times when he was running
through CVS, like, in the candy aisle like,
"Ni... ckelback is my favorite band.
Oh, that was so close. Mm. So close"?
In more sports news-- cheerleading.
It's the only socially acceptable way
to stand on other people.
If you watched Cheer on Netflix
ten years ago at the beginning of 2020,
you know that cheerleading is a super competitive sport.
But one cheer mom
took her competitive spirit a little too far.
Now to that disturbing case involving deepfakes--
videos that are manipulated to make it look
like someone did or said something they did not.
NEWSWOMAN: It's a troubling new take on cyberbullying.
A mom in Pennsylvania is accused this morning
of using so-called "deepfakes"
to anonymously harass members
of her daughter's cheerleading team.
NEWSWOMAN 2: Police say 50-year-old Raffaela Spone
digitally altered photos and videos
of three members of her daughter's cheerleading squad,
known as the Victory Vipers,
depicting them naked, drinking and smoking from a vape pen,
and then sent the images to the girls and their coaches.
MATT WEINTRAUB: The essence of it was to knock them down,
essentially to try to shame them
or get them knocked off the team,
what appeared to be the motivation.
Wow. That is...
really impressive.
I can't believe
this 50-year-old mom learned how to make deepfakes.
Meanwhile, your mom has to call you up
every time she forgets her Paramount+ log-in.
Really? I have to say Paramount+?
Obviously, using deepfakes to bully teenagers is messed up.
And not only is it criminal, but it can also backfire,
because you can't trust moms
to know what's not cool for teenagers to do.
Honey, I know you hate Trisha, so I posted a deepfake
of her doing shots with Megan Thee Stallion backstage.
Mom, that's the coolest thing she could do.
Not on a school night.
And honestly, were the deepfakes
of the teens using vape pens really necessary?
I mean, you've already got them naked and drunk.
You don't need to be like, "And they're also basic."
But this is a sign that the future that awaits us
with deepfakes is going to be petty as hell.
You know, people are worried that deepfakes will be used
to influence elections.
But 90% of them are just going to be people pretending
to find mice in their tacos just so they can get free food.
So I mean, the only solution to this is to never trust any video
that you ever see ever again.
Including this video.
I mean, I think I'm Trevor Noah.
But there's no way to know for sure.
Let's move on now to an update
about America's criminal justice system.
This weekend, the country marked one year
since police in Louisville, Kentucky, killed Breonna Taylor.
And while there is still much more work to be done,
the police have been willing to make at least one change.
It could soon become a crime
to taunt police officers in Kentucky.
The AP reports Kentucky lawmakers passed the proposal
through the state senate this week.
The bill says anyone who taunts, insults
or challenges a law enforcement officer would be guilty
of a misdemeanor and would face
up to 90 days in jail plus fines.
That's right.
90 days for insulting a police officer.
so whatever you do, don't say to a cop,
"Wow. I thought strippers would be in better shape,"
or "Nice riot gear and face shield.
"You look like if a G.I. Joe had sex
with a Chipotle sneeze guard."
And whatever you do,
do not try and tell Kentucky police any knock-knock jokes.
You know they don't like knocking.
Look, understandably, people are pretty angry about this.
But just put yourself in the position
of a police officer in Kentucky, huh?
You're just doing your job-- breaking into someone's home
and shooting them in bed--
and then that person calls you a jerk?
It's like, "Hey, buddy, I've got feelings, too."
But obviously, there are a lot of problems with this law.
I mean, first of all, any protest against police
could land peaceful protestors in jail.
And secondly, if you're married to a cop,
you basically have to let them win every single argument.
Plus, you know that now cops are going to try to get people
to taunt them just to meet their arrest quotas.
Hey, what are you looking at?
You see anything funny? Huh?
Uh... no?
You're sure? Huh?
Now of course it isn't just the United States
where there are tensions between communities and the police,
as we are seeing in Great Britain,
where women are up in arms.
There is growing outrage and concern about women's safety
in Britain after the killing of a woman.
NEWSWOMAN: 33-year-old London resident Sarah Everard
was kidnapped and murdered while walking home earlier this month.
The suspect in connection with Sarah Everard's kidnap
and her death was actually a serving member
of the Metropolitan Police Force.
NEWSWOMAN 3: There was a vigil on the weekend.
Even Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge,
made a private visit to lay flowers.
But later on Saturday night,
the police tried to break up the crowd.
(shouting)
The vigil was against lockdown rules.
But their heavy-handed tactics and these images
have horrified the nation
and helped fuel more protests last night.
(chanting): Sexist police, off our streets!
NEWSWOMAN 3: "Sexist police off our streets," they shouted.
Okay.
What-what... what are these cops thinking?
Getting violent at a vigil over an officer murdering this woman?
The only way those cops could have been more tone deaf is
if they had mansplained the protest chants
back to the women.
You can't be going around breaking up a vigil.
A vigil is, by definition, the most peaceful of all gatherings.
No one ever says "Yo, man, you got to come through.
This vigil is about to be wild!"
I swear, the police could avoid so many headaches
if they just hired one person whose only job is to ask,
"Is this something the good guys would do?"
That way, when the police chief says,
"Okay, tonight, we're going to go
to a peaceful vigil and tackle women,"
then that person can raise their hand, ask their one question...
Is this something the good guys would do?
And we can avoid this entire situation.
And part of the reason people were protesting
in the first place is that after Sarah Everard disappeared,
police went door to door
telling women to stay home for their own safety.
Which lead many people to wonder,
why don't the police tell the men to stay home
since they're the ones going around murdering people?
But instead, they're telling women,
"Listen, lady, there's men on these streets,
"so you better stay home, yeah?
"Although there could be men in your home, too,
"so you can't stay there, either.
"Tell you what. Just hover in the air
"about ten feet off the ground, and that should keep you safe
until we decide to do our jobs, love."