- 'Sup you beautiful bastards.
Hope you're having a fantastic Monday.
Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show,
and a quick note before we get started.
Today's an exciting day
because the format of the PDS is now changing.
Moving forward, the Philip DeFranco Show will be a mukbang.
Enjoy.
So let's talk about
Kim Kardashian, right,
because there was a whole kimono scandal.
We said most likely it was gonna go one of two ways.
Either the outrage wasn't gonna be that big
or it was just a marketing tactic
so she could be like oh, I'm sorry, I'm listening.
And then she gets all that free promotion.
Well guess what?
It happened.
And I'm kidding.
Although there's probably 8% of you
that would prefer that format.
Actually, for the 8% that are still here
and would be interested in that
maybe as a funny one time thing,
let me know in the comments
and also maybe hit that like button.
But, with that said, let's just jump into it.
And the first thing we're gonna talk about today
is this Taylor Swift, Scooter Braun,
music industry situation.
So yesterday, the news broke that Scooter Braun,
who's the owner of the label Ithaca Holdings
and talent manager to artists like Justin Bieber
and Ariana Grande, acquired Big Machine Records.
Big Machine is run by Scott Borchetta
and includes pretty much all
of Taylor Swift's musical catalog.
It was only just last year that Taylor
switched to Universal Records,
so pretty much everything after that deal,
which so far is two songs from her upcoming album,
stick with her there.
But the six albums that Taylor has already released
still belong to Big Machine. And when the news that Scooter
would now own almost all of her work broke,
she wrote a letter on Tumblr.
And there she explains both why
she decided to leave Big Machine
and why she thinks that the situation will be bad for her.
Writing, "For years I asked,
"pleaded for a chance to own my work.
"Instead I was given an opportunity
"to sign back up to Big Machine Records and,"
quote, "earn one album back at a time,
"one for every new one I turned in.
"I walked away because I new once I signed that contract,
"Scott Borchetta would sell the label,
"thereby selling me and my future.
"I had to make the excruciating choice
"to leave behind my past.
"Music I wrote on my bedroom floor
"and videos I dreamed up and paid for
"from the money I earned playing in bars,
"then clubs, then arenas, then stadiums."
She goes on to say that she found out
about this news when everyone else did,
and then going on to say
that she has been bullied by Scooter for years.
Specifically citing, "Like when Kim Kardashian
"orchestrated an illegally recorded snippet
"of a phone call to be leaked
"and then Scooter got his two clients together
"to bully me online about it."
And she includes this Instagram
Justin Bieber posted after the incident happened
where Justin was FaceTiming Kanye and Scooter,
with the caption, "Taylor Swift, what up?"
And she continues to list examples, saying,
"Or when his client, Kanye West,
"organized a revenge porn music video
"which strips my body naked.
"Now Scooter has stripped me of my life's work
"that I wasn't given an opportunity to buy.
"Essentially, my musical legacy is about to lie in the hands
"of someone who tried to dismantle it."
Going on to say, "This is my worst case scenario.
"This is what happens when you sign a deal at 15
"to someone for whom the term loyalty
"is clearly just a contractual concept.
"And when that man says, 'Music has value,'
"he means its value is beholden to men
"who had no part in creating it.
"When I left my masters in Scott's hands,
"I made peace with the fact
"that eventually he would sell them.
"Never in my worst nightmares
"did I imagine the buyer would be Scooter.
"Any time Scott Borchetta has head the words
"Scooter Braun escape my lips,
"it was when I was either crying or trying not to.
"He knew what he was doing; they both did.
"Controlling a woman who didn't want
"to be associated with them.
"In perpetuity.
"That means forever." And she goes on to close the letter
saying she's happy her future music
will be in her own control.
But she also doesn't want other young artists
to make the same mistake.
Now following this post, to no one's surprise, this blew up.
And you had everybody and their mother responding,
and I actually mean that.
Even Selena Gomez's mother responded.
We saw some people speaking up to support Taylor.
We also saw reports that huge names
had unfollowed Scooter on social media.
People like Beyonce, Harry Styles,
Joe Jonas, Rihanna, and more.
And I say there are reports.
Honesty, I don't even know
if they were following them beforehand.
But some of the notable reactions,
I mean you had Halsey on Twitter.
Of Taylor saying, "She deserves to own
"the painstaking labor of her heart."
Saying, "It speaks volumes to how far
"we have to come in the music industry."
Performer Todrick Hall, who's a friend of Taylor,
responding on Twitter, "For those asking,
"I left Scooter Braun a long time ago.
"I am saddened by this news, but not shocked.
"He is an evil person who's only concern
"is his wealth and feeding his disgusting ego."
And then going on to say, "I believe he is homophobic
"and I know from his own mouth that he is not a Swift fan.
"I truly hope justice is served
"and that my friend's music will fall
"into the hands of a better human."
We also saw the hashtag
#WeStandWithTaylor trending on Twitter.
But of course you also had people on the other side of this,
people taking Scooter's side.
This including the likes of Justin Bieber.
He apologized for the Instagram post
Taylor mentioned in her letter
and said that Scooter had nothing to do with it.
And also going on to say
that Scooter has always had her back
and that they should work this out together, not online.
And adding, "I'm sure Scooter and I would love
"to talk to you and resolve any conflict,
"pain, or any feelings that need to be addressed.
"Neither Scooter or I have anything
"negative to say about you.
"We truly want the best for you."
Demi Lovato writing on her Instagram Story,
"I have dealt with bad people in this industry
"and Scooter is not one of them.
"He's a good man."
We also saw Scooter's wife, Yael, sounding off on Instagram.
Saying, "You were given the opportunity to own your masters.
"You passed.
"Interesting that the man you're so 'grossed out' by
"believed in you more than you believe in yourself."
Also adding, "Your dad is a shareholder and was notified,
"and Borchetta personally to you before this came out.
"So no, you didn't find out with the world."
She pushed back against the allegations
that Scooter was a bully and then said,
"You are supposed to be a role model,
"but continue to model bullying."
And after all of this, we saw Scott Borchetta
finally respond in a letter last night.
There he also said that Taylor should have known beforehand.
Saying that as a shareholder,
her father was invited to a call
on June 25th where the merger was announced.
Borchetta also saying that he texted
Taylor on Saturday night,
which was before the news broke.
He also went on to say that the deal
that he was working on with Taylor
at Big Machine before she left to Universal
entailed that 100% of all of Taylor Swift assets
were to be transferred to her immediately
upon signing the new agreement.
Also including a part of that contract.
Now as far as the claim that she knew
about the sale before it all happened,
a spokesperson for Taylor Swift reportedly refuted that,
saying, "On June 25th, there was a shareholder phone call
"that Scott Swift did not participate in
"due to a very strict NDA that bound all shareholders
"and prohibited any discussion at all
"without risk of severe penalty.
"Her dad did not join that call
"because he did not want to be required
"to withhold any information from his own daughter.
"Taylor found out from the news articles when she woke up
"before seeing any text from Scott Borchetta
"and he did not call her in advance."
And among those sounding off with this story,
you had singer Iggy Azalea also tweeting
about the logistics of sales like these.
"Telling someone about a deal days before it's public
"means the deal was already done
"and she never had the opportunity
"to even make a bid to own her own work.
"These deals take months to negotiate in long form."
But hey, ultimately that's where
we are with this story right now.
It's gonna be very interesting
to see how this develops, if it even develops.
And the reason I say that is it's possible
that this is Taylor Swift kind of shouting
that this is not okay, but maybe it goes away.
Or is maybe part of the plan or the hope or accidental hope
that the outrage is so big, possibly long lasting,
possible damaging to the people that he works with
that Scooter Braun will make a deal
with Taylor Swift and give her her masters.
But for now we're gonna have to wait to see
and, of course, I pass the question off to you.
What are your thoughts around this?
But from that, I wanna share some stuff I love today
in Today in Awesome, brought to you by my own damn self.
One, you have until 9:00 p.m. tonight
to go to ShopDeFranco.com and grab your skeleton tee.
And specifically I mean the One Day
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make sure you go to BeautifulBastard.com
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handmade pomades and beard oils.
I use the pomade in my hair everyday.
And seeing more and more of you beautiful bastards
with that facial hair rocking the beard oil
has been putting a smile on my face.
But yeah, I guess a big thank you to me
for having the bravery to sponsor a show like this.
And the first bit of awesome today
is we just put out our welcome to Rogue Rocket video
on the new Rogue Rocket channel.
After today's show,
you can click the link in the description.
Go check it out, subscribe to the channel.
We'll be posting on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
That's, of course, in addition to all the stuff
we're doing on social and on the website.
Yeah, see you over there.
We have John Oliver taking on the real cost of Amazon Prime.
We got a trailer for the brand new Jumanji: The Next Level.
Architectural Digest gave us
an inside look at Mark Ronson's house.
We got a comedy actors Roundtable.
We had GQ giving us a Stranger Things undercover video.
Then we had our phil.chrono.gg
partner game of the day today.
Creepy Road, which is a well-reviewed
side-scrolling shoot 'em up.
It's a game that has some character
and if you use our link before 9:00 a.m. tomorrow
and or while supplies last,
you can snag it not for the regular $10, but just $3.50.
And if you wanna see the full versions
of everything I just shared,
the secret link of the day, really anything at all,
links, as always, are in the description down below.
And then let's talk about what is going on in Hong Kong.
And for those who didn't see our previous coverage,
here's some quick context.
Over the last few weeks,
we've seen tons of protests in Hong Kong
over a proposed extradition bill.
And this bill would allow the government
to detain people accused of committing certain crimes
and then send them to countries or territories
that Hong Kong doesn't have extradition agreements with.
And notably here, that includes China.
Hong Kong used to be a British colony,
but it was given back to China in 1997.
And it now is an autonomous city state of China,
but it has its own economic and political system.
And notably here, Hong Kong doesn't abide
by the same censorship laws as mainland China.
So the people of Hong Kong oppose the bill
because they worry China could use the laws
to target political activists and dissidants
who are critical of the Chinese government.
Early last month, people of Hong Kong protested the bill
by holding a series of just massive demonstrations.
And while those demonstrations were largely peaceful,
a protest on June 12th became violent
when police clashed with protestors
who had surrounded the legislative council.
And a few days later, Hong Kong's chief executive,
Carrie Lam, said that she would be
suspending the bill indefinitely,
but not fully withdrawing it,
which is important because the people
wanted the bill withdrawn entirely.
And so the next day,
an estimated two million people came out to protest.
And since then the people have still continued
to protest, taking to the streets,
surrounding and entering government buildings.
And on Wednesday of last week,
hundreds of people demonstrated
at foreign government's consulates in Hong Kong.
This reportedly to call on foreign leaders
to address their concerns at the G20 Summit in Japan.
And since then we've seen protestors
continuing to stage demonstrations,
but all these protests were relatively small and peaceful.
And that is until tody.
Early Monday morning local time,
hundreds of protestors block three main roads
with metal and plastic barriers.
Those protestors were reportedly met by police
who had batons and pepper spray.
The police headquarters also reported
that 13 police were taken to the hospital
after protestor threw a quote, "unknown liquid" at them.
But those clashed didn't escalate further
and later thousands of people took to the streets
for a peaceful pro-democracy march,
with protest organizers estimating
that 550,000 people turned out.
But later in the afternoon,
a breakaway group of protestors
moved to the legislative council
and began ramming the glass doors with a metal trolley.
Rows of riot police stood behind the glass door
holding a sign that said, stop charging or we use force.
But still, after a while the protestors eventually succeeded
in breaking one of the glass doors and entering through it.
After that, the police reportedly
fell back behind a metal barricade
that surrounded the council and tried to push
the protestors back with tear gas and smoke.
But by nighttime, the police stepped back
and the protestors were able to breach the metal barriers
and enter the legislative council.
And hundreds of protestors entered the council.
They spray painted the walls,
smashed glass windows and doors, defaced portraits.
Some protestors also read out a list
of 10 demands in the legislative council chamber.
And according to reports,
those demands included universal suffrage,
top officials associated
with the extradition bill to resign,
and an investigation into police violence
during the recent protests.
The Hong Kong Police Department
issued a statement on Facebook saying,
"The police will clear the scene
"in the Legislative Council Building in a short time.
"Obstruction or resistance,
"the police will take appropriate force."
And shortly after they posted that,
the police started using tear gas
outside of the legislative council
and advancing towards the building
where some protestors could be seen fleeing.
And now we're actually seeing reports
that the police cleared most of the protestors
from the legislative council building
as well as the areas around it.
And even though it is in the middle
of the night right now in Hong Kong,
the situation is still developing.
And so with all of this said,
you might be wondering why were the protests on Monday
larger and more violent than the ones we've seen recently?
And well, it appears that it's because July 1st
is the anniversary of Hong Kong
being handed over to China from Britain.
And usually on July 1st
there are both pro and anti-China protests.
And in fact we did see a few thousand pro-China protestors
coming out to show their support the day before.
Also at the same time as all these protests,
government officials held a flag raising ceremony
to honor the anniversary.
And at that ceremony, Carrie Lam spoke
for the first time since she apologized
to the protestors and suspended the bill.
And during her speech, Lam said that she knew
that the government has a lot to improve
and added she will be spending more time
listening to the people of Hong Kong,
saying, "This has made me full realize that I,
"as a politician, have to remind myself all the time
"of the need to grasp public sentiments accurately.
"I am also fully aware that while we have good intentions,
"we still need to be open and accommodating.
"While the government has to ensure
"administrative efficiency,
"it still needs to listen patiently."
But that speech ended up seeming
kind of ironic to a good number of people
because it was reported that local television news channels
broadcasted a split screen where on one side
Lam and other government officials from Hong Kong
and China clink champagne flutes
and a toast to a unification,
while on the other side you had riot police
clashing violently with protestors.
But hey, ultimately that is where we are with the situation.
It's going to be interesting to see how it develops.
And of course, like with everything,
I pass the question off to you.
What are your thoughts around all of this?
And then let's talk about what happened
in Portland, Oregon this weekend.
So on Saturday, there were multiple demonstrations
in the Portland downtown area.
And among those, it was reported
that one was being held by the Proud Boys,
another by the Him Too movement.
Also according to reports,
there were going to be a number of counter-protesters.
This including supports of Rose City Antifa,
who even reportedly created an event
called Milkshake: Shake Back the Streets.
And early last week, we saw Portland police
releasing a statement where they explained
that the Bureau knew about the protest
and even though none of the groups
had obtained permits for their events,
people of Portland should still plan
to avoid specific areas and provided a map.
And according to the reports,
these protests began around noon on Saturday.
And reportedly things were calm
until members of the Rose City Antifa
began moving towards the other groups,
which is when Oregonian reporter, Jim Ryan,
tweeted out a video of a journalist being attacked.
(protestors yelling)
- [Male Protestor] Get the fuck outta here!
(protestors cheering)
- [Protestor] Yeah, fuck you!
(protestors yelling)
- [Male Protestor] Fucking owned, bitch!
- We also saw Portland police beginning to tweet as well,
warning people that the scene had become violent
and advised people to leave.
And by 3:00 p.m. they had declared it
a civil disturbance and unlawful assembly.
We also saw Portland police tweet,
"Police have been hit with eggs and milkshakes,"
as well as, "Police have received information
"that some of the milkshakes thrown today
"during the demonstration contained quick-drying cement.
"We are encouraging anyone hit
"with a substance today to report it to police."
And once things had calmed down,
the Bureau released a statement that same day
telling the public that, in all,
three people were arrested on charges
ranging from assault on a public safety officer
to harassment and disorderly conduct.
Also saying that eight people,
including three police officers, were injured.
The assistant chief, Chris Davis,
addressing the day's events as well,
saying, "Demonstration events are very fluid in nature
"and the management of these events is complex.
"There are hundreds of peaceful free speech events
"in the city in a given year that do not result in violence.
"Unfortunately, today some community members
"and officers were injured."
And adding that they were investigating
all of the incidents. And of course one of the incidents
includes the attack of journalist,
Andy Ngo, who's an editor at Quillette.
He's the man you see being attacked in the video
from Jim Ryan that we showed before.
According to reports, and if you just look at the video,
it appears that people recognized Andy
because they were shouting things at him.
- [Protestor] Go home, Andy Ngo!
Fuck you, Andy!
- And he had been documenting his day on Twitter,
which first shows him covering the protests and taping them.
Later we see him following the crowds as they begin to move.
But then, just after 1:30, Andy shares a video of him
sitting on the ground where he says this.
- I just got beat up by the crowd.
No police at all...
In the middle of the street and they stole my GoPro
and he punched me several times
and my face and my head are bleeding.
Where the hell were all of you?
- [Policeman] Can you talk to me?
- Yeah, where the hell were you?
- [Policeman] Do you know your name?
- My name's Andy Ngo.
- [Policeman] You know where you're at?
- I have been assaulted twice earlier today
and reported it to your colleagues and nothing was done.
- Andy, I'd like to help you-- - And I was in the middle
of the street in the front documenting this.
- [Policeman] I'd like to help you. Can you tell me
where you were? - They stole my evidence.
They stole my GoPro.
- And the rest of the video shows police
trying to figure out how serious Andy's condition was.
And after posting that video,
he followed up with tweets saying,
"Attacked by Antifa, bleeding.
"They stole my camera equipment.
"No police until after.
"Waiting for an ambulance.
"If you have evidence of attack, please help."
Andy later confirmed that he was going to the hospital,
also posting a photo of himself at the ER later that night.
Andy's lawyer also tweeting on Saturday night,
saying, "Update to Andy's supporters,
"he is being admitted to the hospital overnight
"as a result of a brain bleed.
"You sick," quote, "journalists and other hacks
"gloating about this should be ashamed.
"As for the rest, please pray for Andy
"who we need back in health.
"Brave man."
And giving another update on Sunday saying, "Good news!
"Andy has been cleared to leave the hospital.
"He'll have more to say in coming days about what happened
"to him and others yesterday in Portland.
"He is very thankful for the overwhelming
"support from decent people,
"especially Michelle Malkin and donors."
And as far as reactions from all of this,
there was a GoFundMe that was set up for Andy
that's almost triple its current goal right now.
As of recording, they've raised over $140,000
after asking for $50,000.
We saw the organizer behind the event
for the Him Too movement, Haley Adams,
speaking out against the attack.
Saying to reporters, "What I saw today,
"I am completely disgusted.
"Law enforcement coming after our people
"and then they are telling me to leave
"when I'm standing there, like, listening to our speakers?"
We also saw Senator Ted Cruz tweet,
"To law enforcement,
"find and prosecute these violent felons."
And then also later adding, "To federal law enforcement,
"investigate and bring legal action
"against a mayor who has, for political reasons,
"ordered his police officers to let citizens
"be attacked by domestic terrorists."
You had NBC's Willie Geist condemning this violence,
tweeting, "Terrible.
"If you're on here rationalizing
"physical violence by a masked mob
"because you don't like the victim's politics
"and rhetoric, please reconsider."
Now at the same time,
on the other side of this you had Rose City Antifa
calling Saturday an amazing success.
In a post from their Facebook group, they wrote,
"The J29 demo was an amazing success,
"which is really very upsetting
"for the dwindling crew of fascists
"who come to our city in hopes
"of bullying vulnerable people.
"In the aftermath of the event,
"there have been a couple desperate attempts
"at right-wing spin-doctoring,
"which in actual fact are giant
"bonus wins for antifascists."
And at the same time, you had people
like Charlotte Clymer tweeting things like,
"Andy Ngo intentionally provokes people
"on the left to drive his content.
"Being attacked today on video
"taken by an actual journalist,
"because Ngo is definitely not,
"is the greatest thing
"that could have happened to his career.
"You know it, I know it, he knows it, we all know it."
And then after tweeting, "Violence is completely wrong,
"and I find it sad and weak to allow
"a sniveling weasel like Andy Ngo
"to get under one's skin like this,
"but I'm also not going to pretend
"that this wasn't Ngo's goal from the start.
"I mean let's cut the shit here.
"This is what they do."
And personally where I land on this,
I personally right now align more
with something that Brian Stelter said.
- He's been out there in the past.
He's been covering protests in Portland for quite some time.
His critics say he's there to cause trouble,
but that's unacceptable.
The idea that he would be attacked,
that he would be bloodied in that way.
Unacceptable, period.
And it's important that everyone make that clear.
Even left-wing critics who don't like him
and things like that.
- If there is evidence of Andy starting this fight,
pushing someone, taking it to the next level, sure.
Because otherwise it appears that a group of mass people
just started attacking someone who was following them
in public with a camera documenting what was happening.
His politics shouldn't factor
into him being physically assaulted.
This should be one of the easiest things to denounce.
Like if you have an issue with the public reaction,
if you think that you perceive hypocrisy,
I think you have to separate that opinion
from your reception to just someone being attacked.
Someone that was not being violent
having violence inflicted upon them.
Right and around this, I saw the likes of Andy Lassner
who tweeted, "I'm against journalists being attacked.
"What happened to Andy is awful.
"Terrible."
And then at the end adding, "I will say be very wary
"of those who are speaking up loudly against this attack,
"but didn't say a single word
"when an American journalist was cut into tiny pieces."
But with all of that said,
I now pass the question off to you.
What are your thoughts and or takeaway from this story?
Let me know what you're thinking
in those comments down below.
And that's where we're gonna end today's show.
If you're new here, if you want more of these daily dives,
be sure to hit that subscribe button.
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But with that said, of course as always,
my name's Philip DeFranco, you've just been filled in,
I love your faces, and I'll see you tomorrow.