- What's up, you beautiful bastards?
Hope you having a fantastic Wednesday.
Welcome back to The Philip DeFranco Show.
Buckle up, hit that like button.
Otherwise, I will absolutely devastate your throat.
I mean with my fists.
That doesn't make it better.
Cut to an intro.
I know we don't have one anymore.
♪ Welcome to The Philip DeFranco Show ♪
♪ The show that is the best show that's not really a show ♪
♪ But it's me talking to a camera for ♪ 15 to 24 ♪
♪ Minutes, yeah, yeah ♪
Apparently, it's nostalgia week.
Welcome.
Also, before we do jump into it, a quick note.
Over on youtube.com/acw for the video version,
or at linkshole.com for the audio version.
Right before today's PDS,
I just uploaded my podcast,
a conversation with Andrew Yang. It was a really good time.
We've been trying to do this for a little while now.
I was glad that we could set it up,
and I think you'll enjoy it.
So, youtube.com/acw.
But with that said, this is The Philip DeFranco Show,
and let's just jump into it.
The first thing we're going to talk about today
is this whole deal with Adele.
That sounds so dramatic,
but legitimately, people were
making a massive deal about this,
so much so that she was one of the top trending things
on Twitter this morning,
and that's because, in part,
yesterday was her 32nd birthday.
Happy birthday, Adele.
And with it being her birthday,
she returned to Instagram
after a long break from social media,
simply posting a picture with the caption,
"Thank you for the birthday love.
"I hope you're all staying safe and sane
"during this crazy time,"
and adding, "I'd like to thank all of our first responders
"and essential workers who are keeping us safe
"while risking their lives.
"You are truly our angels."
In general, the internet's reaction to this was
okay, hear you on the birthday,
hear you on the essential workers,
but bitch is skinny.
Right, the topic of conversation immediately
became about her weight and her image,
where you had media outlets publishing headlines like
Adele looks unrecognizable after huge weight loss,
and Adele shows off amazing figure
in tight black mini on 32nd birthday,
with fans also quickly praising the singer
for what some called her glow up,
even sharing side-by-side photos of her body transformation.
Right, just compliment after compliment,
saying she looks stunning, inspiring, more,
but also with this, we saw people
hitting back at those types of comments,
saying that Adele has always looked good
and has always been stunning, inspiring,
with some arguing that people
were reinforcing harmful beauty standards
associated with weight by calling her weigh loss a glow up.
Right, and this is kind of a continuation of that debate
between those who say there's nothing wrong with supporters
celebrating someone's weight loss achievements,
while others saying comments about her figure, her weight,
it's inappropriate and no one's business.
Others also sharing their frustration
that this is a focal point when it comes to Adele,
because it overshadows the singer's
incredible list of achievements,
and ultimately, as far as my opinion on this topic,
as someone who has been 250 pounds,
who has been 170, 180,
it is understandably a sensitive topic
because pretty much any statement can be taken
as a broad statement that is attributed to everyone,
but everyone's personal experience with weight loss,
with health is different.
For example, when I dropped from 250 pounds
to a strong 180 pounds,
I got compliments all the time,
and at the time and for a while,
I resented that because it made me think,
well, did you think I was disgusting before?
Right, why are you being nice to me, complimenting me?
I'm essentially the same person, just without the pounds.
And that was on such a small scale.
I don't even know what happens if the topic of conversation
was an internationally trending topic.
But then, looking back, I realized
that wasn't necessarily true.
When I was 180 pounds, I was busting my ass.
I was working hard.
The celebration was also about my dedication.
The effort and the results,
it said something about me at that time,
but also, and once again, this is why
it's such a damn minefield when talking about this topic.
Because it became such a focal point
about who I was at that time,
it would result in me leaning into unhealthy practices
to try to maintain that image.
Though, that said, this was me in my early, early 20s,
where I didn't really have
a sense of self-worth anywhere else
outside of all of a sudden this out-of-nowhere praise,
and on the opposite end of the situation,
once you get kind of higher in weight,
I'm all about body positivity,
you accepting yourself for who you are,
not hating who you are because of the way you look.
And also, a massive fuck you
to those who would call you names because of your weight,
or make you feel lesser than because of your weight,
but I also think we need to draw the line
at kind of the promotion and endorsement of unhealthiness.
I was 240 going into the coronavirus pandemic.
I am horrified to get on a scale right now.
I feel unhealthy now.
I still love myself, I still accept myself.
My worth is not what my body is right now,
but I also know that I need to change things up.
Right, not only for the visual,
the physical, the self-confidence,
but also my health, right?
I have slightly high blood pressure.
I want to watch my kids grow up,
enjoy all those experiences,
and then, eventually, in 40 years,
call them and start every conversation with,
"Why don't you call me anymore?"
Because as an adult, every conversation
is meant to start with a guilt trip.
Once again, this is my personal story.
This is my personal experience.
Maybe some can relate, maybe this is
the polar opposite of many.
But ultimately, what I want to do with this story
is actually much like Adele.
Not gonna talk about her body anymore,
and instead, once again,
a big thank you to our essential workers,
and specifically, our nurses.
Today is National Nurses Day.
Thank you to the nurses nationally and internationally,
putting their lives on the line to help us.
I mean, just today, the International Council of Nurses
said that coronavirus has killed more than 260 nurses
and infected over 90,000 healthcare workers worldwide.
But also, at the same time, stressing that this
is actually an underestimation because it's only
based on records collected from 30 countries.
Right, and so the organization is urging more governments
to keep better track of this data,
saying this failure to record both infection rates
and deaths among healthcare workers
is putting more nurses and their patients in danger.
Right, and so those are already devastating numbers,
and knowing that it's likely much worse,
it's just a reminder of how grateful we should be
for our healthcare workers.
So, again, a huge thank you to everyone,
and specifically our brave nurses out there right now.
But ultimately, to kind of bring it back
to the initial story, how we got here,
I don't want the question to be
specifically about Adele herself.
What are your thoughts about the general online reaction
and debate around this topic?
But from that, I want to show you some stuff I love today
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The first bit of awesome is I am currently trying
to clear out my warehouse of any merch
that we still have left over,
this so I can essentially just be
on a clean slate for all new products.
So, until we run out of that stock,
everything on shopdefranco.com right now
is 50 to 75% off.
Right, so essentially, stuff that was going
for $50 now for 15.
Stuff that was $18 now going for four.
But obviously, it's all first come, first served.
Limited quantities because the whole point
is to just empty out. Then we have The New Yorker giving us
how to survive quarantine with your relationship intact.
We had Will Forte improvising nine new cartoon voices.
We had Bon Appétit giving us Carla
making cheesy broccoli delight
if you need some food awesome.
We also got the Honest Trailer for Star Wars: Clone Wars.
We had the cast of Never Have I ever playing kiss and tell,
which, if you have not watched that series,
it's pretty fantastic.
Also, I wanted to take the opportunity today
to recommend another series.
Sometimes I include recommendations.
This one I will say, though, is likely
the most hit or miss recommendation I've ever put out there.
It's a series called The Midnight Gospel
that just released on Netflix,
and it is different.
(phone beeps)
Oh.
- [Siri] Sorry, I don't know what you mean.
- Yeah, I don't know either, Siri.
I don't know how to explain it.
That said, I'm not done with it yet.
I'm starting episode seven of eight,
but yeah, if you're looking for something different,
there you go. 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.
Then, let's talk about Uber and Lyft in the news,
actually for a number of reasons,
and not just because you're not using them as often,
but in fact, because California is suing Uber and Lyft.
This lawsuit, filed by California Attorney General
Xavier Becerra, and we also saw a coalition
of city attorneys joining him,
this including from San Francisco,
Los Angeles, and San Diego.
As far as why they filed this lawsuit,
they say that both Uber and Lyft
have violated state law by classifying
their drivers as independent contractors, right?
Gig workers.
This, when they should actually be classified as employees,
and the coalition said in a statement,
"Uber's and Lyft's misclassification of drivers
"deprives workers of critical workplace protection
"such as the right to minimum wage and overtime,
"and access to paid sick leave, disability insurance,
"and unemployment insurance,"
also adding that they're seeking restitution
for workers, a permanent halt to
the unlawful misclassification of drivers,
and civil penalties that could reach
hundreds of millions of dollars.
In the lawsuit itself, they also accuse Uber and Lyft
of utilizing, quote, "illegitimate savings they gain
"from depriving their drivers
"of the full compensation and benefits
"they earn as employees to offer their ride-hailing services
"at an artificially low cost,
"decimating competitors and generating billions of dollars
"in private investor wealth
"off the backs of vulnerable drivers."
Also, as far as how Uber, for their part,
has been defending their business,
they have argued that their business
is technology, not rides.
Therefore, drivers are not a key part of its business.
Also, both Uber and Lyft have argued that their drivers
prefer being independent, right?
They get to decide when they work.
But still, this lawsuit claims
that those companies have enough control over drivers
to classify them as employees,
with the lawsuit saying that these companies
hire and fire them,
also adding that they control which drivers have access
to which possible assignments,
and, "Uber and Lyft are transportation companies
"in the business of selling rides to customers,
"and their drivers are the employees
"who provide the rides they sell.
"The fact that Uber and Lyft communicate
"with their drivers by using an app
"does not suddenly strip drivers
"of their fundamental rights as employees."
Now, part of the reason Becerra and those other attorneys
are saying that this is illegal is because last year,
California passed a law known as Assembly Bill 5,
and notably, that required companies
to start treating their workers as employees
instead of contractors if those companies control
how workers perform tasks,
or if their work is a routine part
of the company's business.
If you're like, wow, that bill sounds really specific,
yes, it was targeted at companies like Uber and Lyft
in the first place, and so, unsurprisingly,
we've seen these companies resisting this,
with a number of companies pumping $90 million
into a campaign for a ballot initiative
to exempt them from that law.
Also, according to a spokesperson,
Uber plans to contest the lawsuit, saying
that at the same time, it will also be pushing
to raise the standard of independent work
for drivers in California,
this including guaranteed minimum earnings and new benefits,
and adding, "At a time when California's economy
"is in crisis with four million people out of work,
"we need to make it easier, not harder,
"for people to quickly start earning."
We also saw Lyft release a statement,
this one less critical than the Uber one,
with Lyft saying they're, "looking forward
"to working with the Attorney General
"and mayors across the state to bring all the benefits
"of California's innovation economy
"to as many workers as possible,
"especially during this time when the creation of good jobs
"with access to affordable healthcare and other benefits
"is more important than ever."
Right, and all of this news happening at the same time
where this morning we saw
that Uber has now cut 14% of its jobs, right?
Notably, that is around 3,700 people, right,
and this on top of Lyft last week saying
that it was cutting 17% of jobs,
putting hundreds of workers in unpaid furloughs
and trimming salaries.
But ultimately, that's where we are
with this story right now.
It is going to be very interesting to see what happens
with the lawsuits, if we see other lawsuits pop up,
but the main thing with this story is, I want to ask:
what are your thoughts on this?
Do you think that Uber and Lyft drivers
should be classified as employees,
and then, to add a thing on to the end of that statement,
do you still have that opinion
if it will personally cost you more per ride?
Also, for the Uber and Lyft drivers out there,
do you want to be classified as an employee?
The last thing that we're going to talk about today
also, I think, highlights why I love this show,
but also have such a hard time explaining what it is
to people who have never watched it.
I know we opened up with a kick
to a podcast with Andrew Yang,
where we talk about UBI and a bunch of other stuff.
We've talked about Adele and body image,
and then we close on this insane story
involving Venezuela, US soldiers,
and an alleged coup attempt against Nicolás Maduro.
And also, regarding this story,
it is a total rollercoaster
and there are a lot of moving parts,
so we're going to try and break it down piece by piece
and explain exactly what happened.
So, on Sunday, the Venezuelan government announced
that it had stopped what they called
an invasion off of its coast,
claiming that eight people had been killed
and two had been captured,
with their government also saying
that the group were mercenary terrorists
who had come from Colombia in a speedboat
to overthrow the government,
but that security forces had stopped the planned coup
and taken the group's weapons and equipment.
But later that day, what we end up seeing
is a former US Green Beret named Jordan Goudreau
releasing a video alongside
a former Venezuelan National Guard.
In that video, the two announced that they had launched
what they called Operation Gideon,
which they described as an operation
to capture senior members of Maduro's government,
and calling Venezuelan soldiers to join them.
And then, in an interview
with the Washington Post later that day,
Goudreau, who now runs
a Florida-based security firm called Silvercorp,
said that the operation involved 60 troops,
some of whom he claimed had already engaged
Maduro's forces by land and sea,
though none of these claims have been verified,
Goudreau also telling the Post that the troops,
most of whom he said were Venezuelan military defectors,
had been based in camps near Colombia's border,
which seemed to back up an AP investigation
that was published on Friday,
coincidentally just two days before all of this went down,
and that found in claim that Goudreau had been working
with a former Venezuelan army general
who is now facing US narcotic charges,
and this to train Venezuelan military deserters
to eventually mount a cross-border raid
that would end in Maduro's arrest.
Very notably here, Goudreau said
that he had tried to get backing from the US government,
but he was unsuccessful,
also claiming that he discussed this
with the Venezuelan opposition, led by Juan Guaidó,
but the opposition pulled out,
and did another interview on Sunday.
The guy was busy.
Goudreau provided what he claimed
was a general services contract
between Silvercorp and the opposition,
signed by Guaidó in Miami in October for $213 million.
But here, he also claimed
that the opposition never paid them,
but he still went on with the operation
because he is a, quote, "freedom fighter,"
and, "this is what freedom fighters do."
Now, all of that said,
Guaidó, for his part, has denied any connection
to this operation,
with this also saying another leading opposition lawmaker
telling reporters that the operation was conducted
without the knowledge of Guaidó or any opposition leaders,
adding that they had been briefed last year
on the general idea,
but did not endorse it,
though around this, Goudreau later insisted
that they were lying. Right, so with all of that said,
that's just what happened on Sunday.
It was a very busy day.
On Monday, we saw Venezuelan President Maduro
giving a super long televised address
where he described the operation
as a terrorist assault on Venezuela
aimed at killing him,
also saying that the authorities had arrested 13 terrorists,
with Venezuelan authorities later releasing videos
of those prisoners,
though it is important to point out here
that we have seen some contradictions
within the Maduro regime on how many people were captured.
They had their Attorney General claiming
that they had arrested 114 people,
that they're looking for 92 more,
which is a massive step up from 13.
But then, of course, very notably here,
Maduro also said that two of the people they had captured
were American mercenaries,
with him showing what he said were the US passports
and other identification cards of the Americans,
which identified them as Aaron Berry and Luke Denman.
Regarding this, Goudreau also later claimed
that Berry and Denman were two
of the people involved in the operation,
telling reporters that there were
fellow former special forces
who joined the operation supervisors,
and that they had been on a boat
that was intercepted by Maduro's forces.
We also saw Maduro accusing the Trump administration
of helping coordinate the operation,
with Maduro also claiming that the plot
had been infiltrated by someone in his government, saying,
"We knew everything. What they ate, what they didn't eat,
"what they drank, who financed them.
"We know that the US government delegated this
"as a US Drug Enforcement Administration Operation."
Now, that said, the DEA for its part
outright denied any involvement on Monday.
Also, according to reports, US officials tried
to distance themselves from the operation,
with some questioning the truthfulness and legality of it.
We've also now seen President Trump himself
deny any involvement, saying,
"We'll find out. We just heard about it.
"But it has nothing to do with our government,"
with Defense Secretary Mark Esper echoing that statement
and telling reporters, "The United States government
"had nothing to do with what's happened in Venezuela
"in the last few days." Also, in a statement to the media,
we saw the State Department say
that it could not comment on the reported arrest
because privacy considerations,
but also adding, "there is a major disinformation
"campaign underway by the Maduro regime,
"making it difficult to separate facts from propaganda,"
also saying that officials would be,
"looking closely into the role of the Maduro regime,"
and adding, "the record of falsehoods and manipulation
"by Maduro and his accomplices, as well as their
"highly questionable representation of the details,
"argues that nothing should be taken at face value
"when we see the distorting of facts."
Now, in response to Trump denying involvement,
we saw Maduro's communications chief claim
that Goudreau and Trump are actually connected,
saying, "How is it that the Secret Service
"of the United States hired Silvercorp
"to handle Trump's security,
"and that Silvercorp publishes that on its website?"
Right, and this referring to the fact
that Silvercorp posted a promotional video on its website
that shows Goudreau, his security detail
behind President Trump at a rally in 2018,
also pointing to the company posting a picture
on its Instagram that appeared
to be backstage at that same rally.
So, notably, that picture seems to have now been deleted,
but ultimately, that is where we are
with this story right now.
As far as my opinion, I am somewhat torn.
I place no trust whatsoever
in bogus President Nicolás Maduro.
You know, I see and hear people like Eric Farnsworth,
the vice president of the Council of the Americas
and a former senior US diplomat, saying,
"There's not one person at the State Department
"or the CIA who says let's repeat the Bay of Pigs."
But also, I mean, you just look back to the end of March,
when the Trump administration
put a $15 million bounty on Maduro.
So, then you're like, maybe if it wasn't officially backed,
it was the inspiration for,
but ultimately with this, I would love to know your thoughts
around this situation.
Do you think that it was just this other group?
Do you think that there was US involvement?
Why?
Why not?
Any and all thoughts
I'd love to see in those comments down below.
And that is where I'm going to end today's show,
and hey, if you liked the video,
maybe share some common sense.
Also, if you're new here,
you want more of these daily dives into the news,
hit that subscribe button.
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which, on that note,
if you're looking for more to watch right now,
we of course have that brand new podcast with Andrew Yang,
or maybe you just missed yesterday's Philip DeFranco Show,
you want to catch up,
you can click or tap right there to watch that right now.
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.
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