- So two things,
two things, there it is.
One, yes,
for the month of May, I've seen all the requests, fine.
We'll reinstate the Subscriber Love Tour
for the month of May.
Randomly one already existing subscriber,
and one new subscriber for the month of May
will get $5,000 each at the end of the month.
And two, as of tomorrow morning, if you want,
you're gettin' more of my dumb face.
As of tomorrow,
in the mornings I'll be uploading
an under 60 second recap of the day before
to try and get you in the know.
Though, I don't think you'll actually
get notifications for them.
You'll be able to view them
on the www.youtube.com/defranco channel page or,
actually right here at the bottom of your app on your phone.
If you close out your YouTube app
and you reopen it right there,
at the bottom you should see shorts.
And this is obviously not a full-on replacement
for the Philip DeFranco show,
but I've been diversifying more and more.
It's why we have tens of thousands,
I think we're gonna crack a hundred thousand soon,
on the mailing list.
And that'll have a completely different audience
in this under 60 second thing.
But yeah.
That said, welcome back to the Philip DeFranco show.
It is Tuesday, May 11th, 2021.
Hit that like button, subscribe,
and let's just jump into it.
And the first thing that we're gonna talk about today
is we have James Charles back in the news.
Of course, he's a massive creator,
also a very controversial creator right now.
And essentially James is back in the news
because he came back from a social media break
that he was taking because of another controversy,
specifically that one around misconduct allegations
with him and minors,
to make a video that appears to be him trying to get ahead
of a story that's gonna come out about other allegations.
Saying in this video that he felt cornered,
and that he needed to make another public statement
because he feels like he's being blackmailed.
So what's happening here is that there's this lawsuit
that he's apparently been dealing with for two years
from a former employee.
Saying that it's not
something that he's talked about himself, right?
Because of ongoing litigation,
but saying that he felt the need to address it
because the former employee is talking about it now.
Essentially the way he sets this up,
is he says he hired her when he first started in LA,
first as an editor, then promoting her to a producer
with a salary of $72,000 a year.
But she was let go after six months.
And saying that now he is facing a lawsuit.
- But it basically alleges
that she was wrongfully terminated,
overworked and underpaid.
All of which are untrue.
- James going on to say that cases like this are common,
but rarely make it to court
because it's a long and expensive process.
So usually people settle, but he refuses to settle.
And he says, this is because he was recently contacted
to give comment for an upcoming article
that's about what it was like to work for him.
And he says that she is talking to the press
and making defamatory and ridiculous comments about him.
And adding that he thinks that she is doing this
to pressure him into a higher settlement offer.
- These claims range everything from,
I was so lazy she had to force me to get out of my bed
and brush my teeth.
And without her,
I would have never made a single video or a single dollar.
But also things much more serious and disgusting,
such as that I used to say the N word around her
all the time.
- And claiming that the last bit
was just kind of perfect timing.
Cause there was a Twitter account
that he's not used since 2016 that was allegedly hacked,
which has been posting tweets with the N-word in it.
And essentially saying that,
even though these allegations would go away
if he just settled, he doesn't want to.
- Well, contrary to popular belief,
I have never ever paid anybody to speak
or to not speak about me.
And this will not be the first time that I do it.
It just won't.
- So he says he has no choice, but to pursue this legally.
But in the meantime,
he has to deal with a court of public opinion,
which is why he posted this video.
And he said, you know, it's not really on my side right now.
And to me, this sounds kind of like James saying
because I'm getting so much heat
for accusations involving minors,
public opinion is not on my side,
more people are gonna believe the allegations against me,
so I need to get ahead of this.
While the specific article in question here
has not been released as of recording this video,
we do know that the former employee
has been allegedly identified in numerous reports
as Kelly Rocklein.
And regarding what she has said about James online,
some are pointing to this tweet from April where she said
"Watching the same people who screwed me over massively
end up in deep scandals isn't news to me, it's karmic debt."
Also, you have this tweet where people believe
she's referencing the lawsuit with James,
as well as one she already allegedly won with Erika Costell.
Saying, "Won one, going two for two
because I'm all about law and order."
Also regarding the article coming out,
we saw Insider reporter, Kat Tenbarge,
who broke the story about the allegation against Durte Dom.
Sharing James' video saying,
"Absolutely not, story coming soon."
"Literally cannot believe this.
Okay, well, yeah.
You paid your creative director 72K after a raise.
We'll start there, since you're the one putting it out.
More soon."
Also writing, "Blackmail is a criminal allegation,
and a really crazy and stupid one to make."
Though she later deleted those tweets and then said,
"We're reporting everything out. Story will be coming soon."
And so, yeah, ultimately that is where we are.
We're kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop,
with the other shoe being the Insider article.
And you know that's part of the reason
why I can't really add an opinion to the end of this story
because we don't fully have it yet.
But I mean, kind of to summarize this story,
you have someone going, I didn't do it!
And we're all kind of going like,
wait, you didn't do what?
Now I'm interested, what happened now?
And so I mean, actually a part of the story
ends up being a little bit of a test case.
Right, I mean,
was this a good idea to try and get in front of this?
Because one, you would have your supporters
already kind of maybe on your side,
expecting to see something, maybe they're not blindsided.
But, at the same time you've possibly made it
so the people that were not going to be aware of this story
are now ready and waiting and prime to read that story,
actively looking for it.
And so while we're in this holding pattern,
and actually that's the question I have for you,
do you think it was a good idea
that James went out and made this video,
or do you think that he just made the situation worse
for himself?
Then we had most relatable woman, 10 years running,
Gwyneth Paltrow, in the news.
And this, because while on a podcast,
she talked about hitting a new,
special low during the quarantine.
- [Gwyneth] During quarantine,
was drinking seven nights a week,
and making pasta and eating bread.
Like, I went totally off the rails.
I mean, who drinks multiple drinks seven nights a week?
Like that's not healthy.
- You know, here's the thing,
I am someone that I love to dunk on Gwyneth Paltrow
because she is so not a regular human being.
Like Gwyneth Paltrow feels like a caricature
of what we think a disconnected rich person is like,
but that's who she is as a human being.
But I feel like the reason she got so much backlash
with this specific quote
is because The Guardian ran a headline reading,
"Gwyneth Paltrow broke down and ate bread during quarantine.
What was your lowest point?"
Right, so essentially that headline reads,
at Gwyneth Paltrow's darkest moments, she turned to carbs.
Isn't that horrible?
When really, when you listen to the actual podcast
and you hear the quote, yeah she mentioned pasta and carbs,
but it sounded like she was like,
I was driven to drinking every night,
which was not normal for me
which I would argue is the most relatable thing
Gwyneth Paltrow has ever said or done.
Even Queen Scammy Foofoo Bullshit McGoopFace
was driven to drink that was, that means something.
But for that exact reason,
though lesser than what Gwyneth was receiving,
The Guardian received backlash for their headline.
Many saying that it was misleading.
The Guardian also has since changed that headline,
I guess, realizing their mistake.
But, it also doesn't completely change the quote,
or the fact Gwyneth Paltrow,
yes, is a not human lizard person (chuckles).
Though for legal reasons, I'm gonna say that is a joke.
And then our final bit
of entertainers slash entertainment news
involves Donald Glover.
And this, because after a rather long hiatus,
he returned to Twitter last night to start a conversation
about new Hollywood projects.
And in a series of tweets he said,
"Saw people on here having a discussion
about how tired they were reviewing boring stuff,
TV and film"
And adding, "we're getting boring stuff
and not even experimental mistakes
because people are afraid of getting canceled
so they feel they can only experiment with aesthetic.
Also, because some of them know they're not that good."
And there's been a debate about what he meant here,
people interpreting it differently.
Some saying that he's talking about
TV shows and films being canceled in the traditional sense
by networks and executive boards.
But on the other side you have people saying
that he's talking about cancel culture,
as far as public criticism of actual content itself.
Or perhaps it's a mix of both, right?
Because networks are more likely to cancel shows
over low ratings or bad reviews,
which could also come from outrage
over certain creative choices.
And you know, my reaction to this news is,
I will agree with whatever Donald Glover thinks,
if he'll give a season three of Atlanta next week.
Yeah I mean, both interpretations are kinda true.
One, most studios for TV and movies
are not gonna be taking risks everywhere.
They might take some, but not a ton.
They're gonna be more inclined to put out things
that they know have worked kind of in the past,
so that they can make money.
Even Donald Glover himself in the past said that
he had to kind of Trojan horse his version
of what Atlanta was into FX.
And on the other hand, with the other interpretation,
I mean, we've seen plenty of examples
of someone said something somewhat edgy
at a piece of content,
and it resulted in like huge campaigns against that show.
And then, yeah I mean, with the other interpretation,
you might have creatives worried
about any sort of backlash they might get
for trying something different or edgy.
But yeah, I do wanna know,
what is your interpretation of what Glover is saying here,
and do you agree with him?
And bonus points if you have things that you can point to
that backup what you believe.
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So what are you waiting for?
Then, we should definitely talk about this landmark study
that was published yesterday
by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
that found that air pollution from farms
leads to 17,900 deaths in the United States each year.
And according to the study,
which is notably the first major report
to connect air pollution deaths to specific food items,
the worst emitter is animal agriculture,
which alone composes 80% of deaths
from food production related pollution.
And the researchers explained that
there are two overarching kinds of pollution
associated with manure and animal feed
that create particles that can drift hundreds of miles.
The first, is generated when farmers till, or burn crops,
or when livestock kicks up dust.
And a second, less prominent, but more problematic pollutant
is produced when emissions from farms,
combined with other gases in the atmosphere like ammonia,
which is produced by manure
and is incredibly toxic when combined with other pollutants
like nitrogen and sulfur compounds.
And those emissions add up to make animal agriculture
the most deadly by far,
with the study finding that accounts
for a total of 12,700 deaths a year.
Which is absolutely huge,
because it means that these emissions now make up
more annual deaths than pollution from coal power plants.
But, as places like The Washington Post note,
"while pollution from power plants, factories,
and vehicles is restricted under the Clean Air Act,
there is less regulation of air quality around farms.
Right and that is very, very notable.
Because while many environmental scientists and advocates
have praised this study as a key first step
to crafting regulations and laws,
Major meat industry leaders immediately condemn this study,
arguing that it was based on faulty assumptions,
and claiming that they have not found
significant air pollution problems.
Well obviously yes, that would be their response.
It's the one that we expect.
I think it's very important to know with this story,
that the meat industry has massive lobbying power,
not only in Congress, but also among the public.
Right I mean, just look back what, a few weeks ago,
you had Fox News lying about Biden banning burgers.
You have everyone flipping out
on this thing that's not happening.
Right so clearly any kind of regulations
are going to hit massive roadblocks.
And while the study did find
that farmers could cut their air pollution in half
by changing certain practices,
the biggest power in this situation
is ultimately gonna with consumers.
Right, even as the post explains,
"If Americans switched to a flexitarian diet,
getting at least half their calories
from fruits and vegetables
and limiting animal protein to just a few meals per week,
air pollution mortality from agriculture would fall 68%."
And if I was a gambling man, I'd put more money on it.
It just has to be a societal change over time.
And we're even seeing big business
investing more and more money with the understanding
that they think that more people are going to go
to meat alternatives.
But I share that while also not coming for your burgers.
Then, in the battle against COVID-19 news,
we have the FDA now officially authorizing
the Pfizer COVID vaccine
for adolescents 12 to 15 years old yesterday.
With FDA officials saying
in the news briefing following the announcement
that the decision was clear and straightforward
because clinical trials show
that the vaccine was safe for the group,
and that the response was even better
than 18 to 25 year-olds.
And so it'd be very interesting to see
what this does to the vaccination numbers,
because it opens eligibility
to now 17 million more children.
But, the polling that we have seen on this topic
is very mixed.
We've seen surveys like from April that showed
only 52% of parents of a child under the age of 18
said that they were likely to vaccinate their kid
once eligible.
Also a Kaiser Family Foundation poll
published a few days ago showed that many parents,
including those who were eager to get their own vaccines
were more reluctant to vaccinate their children.
So how many of those 17 million get vaccinated,
that remains to be seen, and we'll keep an eye on.
Then we should definitely talk about the big news
that President Biden has ordered the Labor Department
to ensure that any American will lose
their enhanced federal unemployment benefits
if they do not accept what is referred to as a suitable job,
when offered.
Saying in those same remarks,
that he would direct the agency to work jointly with states
to reimpose the requirement
that people collecting joblessness benefits
must show that they are actively looking for work, right?
Notably, this comes just days after the latest jobs report
showed way fewer positions created than expected.
With the labor department reporting
that just over 260,000 jobs were added last month,
even though you had economists predicting that number
would be around a million.
Right so while things are opening up more and more,
Americans are getting vaccinated,
some employers have reported
that they're having a hard time finding workers.
Right and Republicans have largely argued
that this is because of the additional $300 a week
in unemployment benefits that Americans are collecting
from the last stimulus package.
But regarding this, in his address,
Biden hit back at that claim saying
that the White House does not see much evidence
that benefits have deterred people from taking jobs.
Which is actually a fact that is supported
by numerous studies on pandemic unemployment benefits.
And so instead you had Biden adding
that corporate America has to do more
to encourage people to come back to work.
And that argument is one that we've been seeing
Democrats making more and more.
If Republicans are so worried
that Americans are making more money
with an extra $300 a week than they would
if they were working,
that is an incredibly poor reflection
on the state of the American job market.
Which is why yesterday we saw Biden hitting hard,
placing the responsibility on employers,
and especially those who have accepted federal relief.
Calling on them to raise their pay,
protect their workers from the virus,
and help them gain access to vaccinations
so out of work Americans can feel safe going back.
- My expectation is that as our economy comes back,
these companies will provide fair wages
and safe work environments.
And if they do, they'll find plenty of workers.
And we're all gonna come out of this together
better than before.
- Well yes, we have seen some companies starting to do this.
Like Chipotle, which announced yesterday
that it was raising its average wage to
$15 an hour to address the labor shortage.
It is also very possible that many big companies
might just wait it out.
And in part, they might feel more comfortable doing that
because a growing number of Republican led States
have been rejecting the idea
of increased federal unemployment money
because of this argument.
I mean, just yesterday, you had the governors
of Alabama and Mississippi joining Montana,
South Carolina, and Arkansas,
announcing that their States would be leaving the programs
by mid June, and that more are likely to follow.
So we're essentially kind of in this standoff, right?
Whether it be Democrats and Republicans
not the seeing eye to eye on this issue,
as well as corporations or small businesses
facing off with their would-be workers.
The last thing that we're gonna talk about today
is the situation between Israel and Palestine escalating.
Now like most things between Israel and its neighbors,
the situation is complicated,
that builds off of decades of unresolved issues.
But what we can see about this most recent bloodshed
is that it began because of two situations.
The first being,
what Palestinians described as Israeli restrictions
on religious and cultural practices during Ramadan,
and the other involves the looming evictions of Palestinians
in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Eastern Jerusalem.
All right so the religious clashes began about a month ago
at the start of Ramadan,
when Israeli security forces put up barriers
to stop people from hanging out at the Damascus gate,
which is a popular spot during Ramadan.
The situation was also made worse
when Israel imposed a 10,000 person limit on prayers
at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is one of Islam's Holiest sites
And that 10,000 person limit
meant that tens of thousands of Palestinians
were turned away, or forcibly removed,
in a series of raids into the mosque and compound.
The most recent of which, actually caused a massive fire.
And all of that led to massive protest,
which Israel tried to deescalate
by removing the barriers at the Damascus gate,
although that didn't really help much.
And while all of that was happening,
you also had people protesting in Jerusalem
over the evictions in Sheikh Jarrah.
That neighborhood was built back in the fifties by Jordan
when it controlled that part of Jerusalem,
as part of an agreement with Israel.
And part of that agreement was
that the families living there
would be allowed to keep the homes after three years.
Now, Jordan eventually lost control of that area.
And you fast forward seven decades,
and an Israeli court has ordered Palestinian families
in Sheikh Jarrah to leave their homes.
That Israeli court agreeing with the accusation
that the homes were illegally built on Jewish owned land,
and should be returned to Jewish residents,
leading to Israeli settlers moving in
and effectively stealing homes.
Right, obviously people getting kicked out of their homes
has led to its own massive protest for weeks.
And this weekend was no different,
leading to many injuries on both sides.
Also of note,
this entire situation was supposed to be settled,
at least legally, during a Supreme Court hearing on Monday.
But that ended up being postponed to an unknown date,
leaving many to feel that this situation
will not be resolved, and it just fuels the protest further.
Also in response to all of this,
Hamas and its territory of the Gaza Strip
decided to issue an ultimatum
for Israel to leave the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex
in the Sheik Jarrah neighborhood,
or that it would launch rockets.
When 6:00 PM on Monday rolled around
and that had not happened,
Hamas decided to lauch a massive rocket attack
of over 400 rockets into Israel.
Now, many rockets reportedly fell short,
or were stopped by Israel's Iron Dome defense system,
but many also found their targets injuring
at least ten Israelis and killing two.
Israel then responded by conducting airstrikes against Gaza.
According to The AP since sundown, Monday
28 Palestinians including 10 children and a woman
were killed in Gaza, with the Israeli military saying
at least 16 of the dead were militants.
Both sides have also continued to bombard the other
through the last 36 hours
with promises to escalate the situation further.
And you know, this is still a developing situation.
We're waiting to see what happens next.
But also this is an incredibly polarizing situation.
And I think a great example of that
is the reaction to Andrew Yang's tweet yesterday.
He wrote, "I'm standing with the people of Israel
who are coming under bombardment attacks,
and condemn the Hamas terrorists.
The people of New York City will always stand
with our brothers and sisters in Israel
who face down terrorism and persevere."
Well yes, you had people supporting Yang,
saying that, supporting that narrative.
You also saw a ton of backlash
with people like Stephanie Weiss tweeting,
"As a proud Jewish New Yorker,
please fuck all the way off
with this vile pandering to right wing zealots
when most Jews are repulsed
about what the Israeli government is doing
to the Palestinians.
This is repugnant. #NotInMyName."
Which actually, on that note,
you have people like Ben Bram saying
that this is Yang's misguided grab
for the Jewish vote of New York.
Others also saying, Mr. Yang, sir,
I'm kindly begging you to please get fucked.
I mean, you get the point.
But also unfortunately,
while that debate happens over the next few days,
it is incredibly likely that the death toll will rise.
That the bloodshed will continue,
and it will be used as its own excuse
to continue the violence
and continue the cycle in the region.
Yeah, ultimately with this story,
and also with anything else that stood out to you,
even if it wasn't one of the heavier stories today,
I'd love to know your thoughts,
because this brings us to the end of the show.
As always, thank you for watching,
liking, subscribing, and all the good stuff.
If you're looking for more to watch,
I got you covered right here with a brand new podcast,
some more news.
But with that said, of course as always,
my name's Philip DeFranco, you've just been filled in.
I love yo' faces, and I'll see you tomorrow.