- Sup you beautiful bastards,
hope you've had a fantastic Tuesday.
Welcome back to the Philip Defranco show.
And a quick note before we get started.
I missed you guys yesterday,
obviously there wasn't a show.
Like I talked about on Thursday,
I had surgery over the weekend.
Also, since I've seen a number of people still asking,
"Why did you have to have surgery?"
I've actually talked about this in my podcast a little bit.
I decided to get a vasectomy.
I already have two fantastic boys,
I love them so much.
We do not want a third child.
And honestly, if we ever did change our minds,
we would likely just adopt.
And also, for those who are maybe thinking about it,
it's actually a very easy, painless, basic procedure.
You can actually do it in office,
and as far as the reason I was set up like this,
I was in no way comfortable with being awake
while it happened,
so I was like put my ass to sleep.
And also yes,
thanks to you beautiful bastards clowning on me
because we have that relationship,
I am aware that I look like the live action
version of Blue Toad.
Thank you for pointing that out.
Transparently, I am still a little sore and nauseous,
but I want to make sure that I came back
as fast as possible,
especially with the holiday breaks coming up.
But with that said buckle up,
definitely hit that like button,
and let's just jump into it.
And the first thing we're gonna talk about today
is more news around China,
which I will say I knew
that there was going to be more news around China,
but I personally expected the larger focus
to be on other Chinese investments in U.S. companies,
or at the very least foreign-owned companies
that largely service Americans.
But a lot of the focus ended up
being solely on the NBA again,
thanks to Lebron James.
And for those unfamiliar with this situation,
one, how dare you not watch my shows last week,
but two, to oversimplify and get you up to speed
a couple of weeks ago you had Rocket's GM Daryl Morey
tweeting a photo, saying, "Fight for Freedom.
"Stand with Hong Kong."
Right, a photo that seemed to express support
for pro-democracy protestors
that have been marching in the street since March.
But now, that said,
even though Morey ended up deleting that tweet
soon after posting it,
following this there was massive reaction.
You had things like China cutting ties
from the Houston Rockets,
although that was just kind of
one of many things we saw from China.
Two, you had the NBA kind of distancing itself from Morey,
but doing it in a certain way
with Adam Silver walking a weird line,
trying to appease both sides.
And you also had other players getting in the mix,
like that of James Harden,
who I'm not even gonna cover again.
And you also had American politicians criticizing the NBA
for bowing to China.
And, you know, like I said,
I thought the focus on the NBA,
it was going to kind of die down.
But then yesterday we saw Lebron James
say this to the media.
- We all do have freedom of speech,
but at times there are ramifications
for the negative that can happen
when you're not thinking about others.
You know, and you're only thinking about yourself.
So, I don't believe,
I don't want to get into a war,
a word or sentence feud with Deryl, with Deryl Morey,
but I believe he wasn't educated on the situation at hand,
and he spoke,
and so many people could have been harmed,
not only financially,
but physically, emotionally, spiritually.
So, just be careful what we tweet,
and what we say, and what we do,
even though, yes, we do have freedom of speech.
But there can be a lot of negative that comes with that too.
- It appears that he is not aware
that everything he just said
pertains also to him saying this.
But also, that's not the end of the story yet.
I'll kind of reserve my opinion until the end.
But, you know, following this there were a lot of opinions.
Notably you had Republican Senator
from Missouri Josh Hawley saying,
"Having just been in Hong Kong
"on the streets and with the protestors
"this kind of garbage is hard to take.
"Lebron, are you educated on the situation?
"Why don't you go to Hong Kong.
"Why don't you meet the people there risking their lives
"for their most basic liberties."
"This statement is unbelievable.
"'So many people could have been harmed'?
"By Daryl Morey daring to express sympathy for democracy?
"News flash: people are being harmed,
"shot, beaten, gassed
"right now in Hong Kong.
"By China.
"By the Communist Party the NBA is so eager to appease."
And, yes, we also saw reports of protestors in Hong Kong
trampling on and burning James's jersey.
Now later on twitter James attempted to clarify his comment,
tweeting, "Let me clear up the confusion.
"I do not believe there was any consideration
"for the consequences and ramifications of the tweet.
"I'm not discussing the substance.
"Others can talk about that.
"My team and this league just went through a difficult week.
"I think people need to understand
"what a tweet or statement can do to others.
"And I believe nobody stopped and considered
"what would happen.
"Could have waited a week to send it."
I know I said I was gonna wait until the end.
Does he seriously not realize the things that he is saying
pertains to what he is actually saying?
Regarding his issue about the timing and not the content,
there is never truly going to be a convenient time
to speak truth to power
when that power is cracking down on human rights.
You know who else probably had a rough week, James?
The people in Hong Kong.
And their problem around this situation likely isn't
that they have enough zeros in their bank account.
It's more that their liberties could go down to zero.
And understand, I say this as someone in the past,
and still believe now,
that it is disgusting when people have told you
to shut up and dribble.
But what I ask or rather hope to see
is that you take a moment
to not see any of kind of the backlash you're getting here
as just hate,
but really just try and take a moment
to examine if what you're saying here
it oozes of ignorance,
it oozes of hypocrisy
because from the outside looking in,
based off of what you and others have put out there,
it very much appears that you are prioritizing your bag
over the potential body bags we're gonna see
coming out of Hong Kong.
Also, on the note of Hong Kong and China, what's happening.
Over the weekend 201 people were arrested,
some as young as 14 years old.
This as we enter the 19th week of protests
where we actually saw a noticeable ramp-up in violence.
This time pro-democracy protestors pleading
for American lawmakers to pass law
that would support Hong Kong's freedom and democracy.
And that law, the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act,
actually has bipartisan support in Congress.
And according to that bill,
it would "access whether China
"has eroded Hong Kong's civil liberties
"and rule of law as proctected by Hong Kong's Basic Law,"
which would also allow the President
to "provide Congress an assessment as to whether
"to withdraw from the U.S. Hong Kong extradition treaty,
"and what actions are needed
"to protect U.S. citizens and national security interests
"if Hong Kong, one, amends its Laws
"to allow the rendition of individuals to countries
"that lack defendants' rights protections,
"or, two, passes a national security law."
And actually one of the cosponsors of that bill is Hawley,
which is why he took that trip to Hong Kong,
who while there actually criticized police
for making the crisis worse and using unnecessary force.
Also saying that the city
is in "danger of sliding into a police state."
Which, on that note
we saw Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam respond
to Hawley's criticism.
In a press conference she said
that Hong Kong police are civilized and professional,
and on the note of Hawley's comment
she said, quote,
- I thought that visit to Hong Kong
would enable them to see the actual situation
in a comprehensive and objective manner,
but unfortunately the feedback that I've gotten
is most of them, or several of them coming here,
they have very preconceived views
about Hong Kong's situation,
and that's why for this particular senator
to describe Hong Kong as becoming a "police state"
is totally irresponsible and unfounded.
- Then asking U.S. lawmakers how they would respond
to large-scale violent acts if it were in their own country.
And around this we saw Hawley swing back on Twitter,
saying, "I chose the words 'police state' purposely
"because that is exactly what Hong Kong is becoming.
"I saw it myself.
"If Carrie Lam wants to demonstrate otherwise,
"here's an idea: resign."
Now, as far as where things go from here,
Lam is expected to give her annual policy address tomorrow.
In that she's expected
to address her plans to solve the protest.
And as far as China's response to this whole situation,
President Xi, he said,
and honestly this could've because he was hangry,
he didn't get that morning honey.
He said Sunday night that any attempts to split China
would result in "bodies smashed and bones ground to powder."
But hey, ultimately, that's where we are with the situation.
And as far as my opinion around this,
one, to kinda just start with Lebron James,
I will say I'm disappointed for someone
that usually speaks their values.
You know, we've seen stories
about the domestic good that he has provided.
I personally find this to be a sad and disgraceful moment.
I'd like to see Lebron James come with that same energy
when he called Donald Trump "a bum" to talk about Xi.
Also seemingly making yourself and the NBA the victim
in this situation,
that doesn't feel great with me.
And it really makes me think back
to the stuff that you said
in the past 24 to 36 hours.
Right, did you think
about the ramifications of your comments?
Did you think about actually being educated on this topic?
Because China?
They love the propaganda you just served.
Boom, China Daily.
Lebron James says Daryl Morey was not educated
on the situation at hand.
But hey,
ultimately that's where I'm gonna end that one today.
Of course, there's the story, some of my opinion,
and, of course, I'd love to know your thoughts on this.
But from that I want to share some stuff I love today.
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And the first bit of awesome today is
actually a reminder.
And I'm also saying this because
as I mentioned earlier I'm not still feeling 100%.
I likely won't get to all the stories I want to cover today.
But if you want to consume more news
than what I'm just including in this show,
be sure to head on over
to roguerocket.com after each episode.
For example, on site today we have a piece
on the Fort Worth officer who shot a woman in her home
arrested and charged with murder.
We also saw and covered the Delete Facebook trend,
which reportedly happened
after Zuckerburg met with Conservatives.
You had people defending and going after the company.
And in fact, in addition to those articles
today we also put out a brand new Explainer video
because a lot of people just kind of throw things around.
We had the team look at and try to break down
what impeachment actually looks like,
and how it is supposed to work.
And so be sure to check out any and all of that.
Then, we got the Honest Trailer for "Zombieland,"
and the official trail for "The Bronx, USA,"
otherwise known as da Bronx.
We also had Liza Koshy with Teen Vogue
guessing how 2074 fans responded to a survey about her.
Also, not a bash on Liza herself.
She's a fantastic person.
But, yes YouTube,
you can stop recommending the first episode
of her new season.
I've seen it.
We're good.
The Atlantic gave us
the people behind incredible hurricane animal rescues.
We had Conde Nast Traveler
giving us 50 people telling us their state's best drink.
And to answer the question no one was asking,
my favorite drinks involve bourbon and/or, wait, and/or?
Or tequila.
What just absolute psychopath is mixing bourbon and tequila.
We had Kevin Smith breaking down
"Jay and Silent Bob" fan theories.
And if you want to 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 arguably
one of the most talked about things
on social media in the past 24 hours.
Let's talk about Austin McBroom and the Ace Family.
And for those unfamiliar, Austin is the father
in the Ace Family,
which is just a massive family vlog channel on YouTube.
Per video they get anywhere
between 3.6 to 8 plus million views.
And while Austin is no stranger to controversies,
the allegations being thrown around
in this situation were far heavier.
And this is because another creator
by the name of Cole Carrigan released a video
called the truth about he Ace family,
and in it you have Cole starting off by mentioning rumors
that Austin's been cheating on his wife Catherine,
but the reason this has blown up so much
is that the allegations in his video go much further
than just cheating
with Cole saying that his friend was assaulted
by Austin, Austin's father, and another acquaintance
in Miami back in June.
And Cole said that he was making this video
on his friend's behalf
because it's hard for women to come forward
with these kinds of things,
especially when the man in question
is as prominent as Austin McBroom.
Also saying that they had signed an NDA.
Remember, to try and kind of make sense of this
let's dive into the accusations at hand.
You had Cole saying that his friend
along with another girl had been drinking
and went back to their hotel room to change,
adding that Austin, his security guard,
his father, and two other men followed them to their room.
- Obviously I don't have recordings
of what went down in the room,
but my friend told me that she repeatedly said no
multiple times, over and over and over,
to the point where she started crying
and begging them to stop.
That's when they forced themselves in her,
and I will insert the photos
of the blood all over the bed sheets
in the hotel room right here.
- Cole then proceeds to allegedly call this friend
on the phone,
using a filter or a modulator
to make make that voice unrecognizable.
This person goes on to say the guys had come into their room
and were being flirty,
but they were too drunk to even try to push them off.
- [Obscured Voice] But the next thing I remember is,
unfortunately, being on the bed,
and his NBA player friend was having sex with me.
I don't ever remember giving him consent to.
The next thing I remember is looking up,
and Austin's dad Allen is there,
and I am seeing him unbuckle his pants,
pull down his pants,
and pull out his penis in front of my face,
basically wanting me to suck his penis.
- And she goes on to say
that she remembers a security guard walking in,
and then going in to check on her friend.
And then adding,
- All of a sudden I hear her yelling "no,"
and screaming and crying,
and all of the guys start rushing
around the room because my friend
is literally hysterical crying and sobbing,
and she's just sitting in the shower,
and then after that we just got in bed,
and we were just crying for the rest of the night.
- And in the video Cole includes a number of screenshots.
This, including a Austin and his dad in Miami
on the night of June, 21st,
which is one day before the alleged incident.
Cole also showing texts
that he said his fried sent the next morning,
one where they were sort of avoiding Austin and his friends.
Another alleged screenshot where one of the girls
told their ex that lives in Miami
that something had happened.
Cole also posting alleged screenshots
of his friend and Austin sending pictures and messages
about the girls Austin wanted her to bring,
and another allegedly of Austin's assistant
telling her to stop Cole from telling the story
because she could be looking at serious consequences.
And Cole also including other alleged screenshots
and stories from other girls,
who claim to have interacted with Austin,
one of which includes a girl claiming she got pregnant.
But a big thing I want to note here:
these are allegations.
We have not independently verified the authenticity
of these screenshots.
We're talking about what's being alleged,
what is being shared and has blown up,
and then we talk about the reaction.
And this video has since blown up.
As of recording this it has over three million views.
And keep in mind that is just on YouTube.
That doesn't even consider everything we've been seeing
all over social media.
And this story is part of the reason
that maybe if you logged on to Twitter
you saw #acefamilyisoverparty trending.
I mean, you had people calling Austin a rapist,
his wife Catherine a gold digger.
You also had other people posting screenshots
of other alleged interactions,
but once again it's just unclear if those are real or not,
which on that note Catherine
from the Ace family seemed to acknowledge this,
making it seem like a lot of the screenshots were fake,
tweeting, "I don't know who's worse?
"The person who photoshops conversations,
"or the people who believe it?
"Next.
"Can't break us ever."
And with that caption she posted
what appears to be a fake conversation
of her telling Kanye West that she's pregnant with his baby.
But then we see a twist to this story.
There is a screenshot
from what appears to be one of the girls in this story.
She allegedly posted this to Instagram,
then deleting it.
And in it she writes, "To speak on this video
"that Cole Carrigan posted,
"some of you have already figured out
"that I'm the other girl they're talking about in the video.
"I feel like this video was made for the wrong reasons,
"and this wasn't Cole's story to tell.
"Cole even texted me
saying we could potentially get paid $100 thousand
from this,
"following the claim that Drama Alert
"was paid off $500 thousand.
"Swipe right to see texts."
Then adding, "I wasn't even aware Amanda or Cole
"were in contact with Drama Alert
"to anonymously run our story.
"But I was aware of Cole's video being made,
"and I only wanted it to be factual
"if it was ever going to be posted.
"I wanted to say that Austin McBroon
"is not to blame in the situation,
"and did not rape me or anyone.
"I'm currently handling this situation in my own way.
"I brought this to social media
"to address the false accusations.
"This isn't what I wanted,
"there's several sides to every story,
"and this isn't how I wanted to tell mine."
And the other photo in that post
is an alleged conversation she had with Cole,
which allegedly says, "but the point of this
"is to not upload a video.
"The point of this is to scare them into paying us off
"because they paid Drama Alert $500k.
" So I'm sure they would pay me $100k or more
"not to say shit,
"and then I would split that with you guys
"if you help me and send me all the receipts that I need."
First, like regarding where this claim
that $500 thousand was paid to Drama Alert
to spike this story, right,
to not cover it.
That appears to be coming from a text exchange
between Cole and Keemstar from Drama Alert,
where I would say that it appears apparent
to pretty much anyone that hasn't been on the receiving end
of a brain injury
that that is sarcasm.
And two, if these text messages are real,
they are to be believed,
it appears that regarding Cole's $100 thousand comment
that looks like extortion.
We also this morning saw Austin respond to this controversy
and the allegations,
writing "If you have not heard,
"I have recently been a victim
"of extortion, defamation, and slander.
"I knew this was a cold world,
"but never did I foresee something
"this disturbing upon me.
"Thank you to all of my Ace Family members
"for all of your concerns
"and thank you to those who know my character and my heart.
"I don't wish this upon anyone,
"and can only hope
"that those responsible for this
"learn from their mistakes and become better people.
"My family and I are dealing with this matter privately,
"and are taking legal action.
"Bullying, extortion, slander, and defamation of character
"is something I will not stand for,
"and can promise that justice will be served."
And then sharing those previous screenshots
that we were just talking about.
But, yeah.
Ultimately that's where we are with this story right now.
It is going to be very interesting
to see the further fall out from this.
Personally, I'm waiting to see more information.
Also, given the updates, we've reached out for comment
from Austin as well as Cole.
Right but really understand, this is not a drama story.
Same kind of thing that I said
when the James Charles scandal happened, right.
A lot of people were talking
about gummy bear vitamins there.
On the public of platforms allegations of illegal conduct
are being made.
And on this massive scale in a public form,
not in a courtroom,
we are seeing allegations
of assault, extortion, defamation of character.
And that's why I say
it'll be interesting to see what happens from here
because in the past we've kind of seen just situations,
at least from the public view, go away.
You have people kind of just believing
what they want to believe,
but I feel like we're going to start seeing
more and more consequences.
But hey, that's the story as it is now.
Things are still developing.
Allegations being thrown left and right.
So we'll have to wait to see what happens next.
But while we wait, of course,
I would love to know your thoughts on this.
And that's where I'm going to end today's show.
And hey, if you're not 100% filled in,
you're still looking for more to watch,
you can click or tap right there
to watch any of that goodness.
And hey, if you liked today's video, let us know.
Hit that like button.
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you want more of these dives into the news,
hit that subscribe button.
Definitely tap that bell to turn on notifications.
But, with that said, of course, as always
my name is Philip Defranco.
You've just been filled in.
I love you're faces,
and I'll see you tomorrow.