- 'Sup you beautiful bastards.
Welcome back to "The Philip DeFranco Show,"
your daily dive into the news,
and let's just jump into it, starting with
should you be able to choose when and how you die?
And also, what is the appropriate way to talk about it?
Those are questions
millions of people are split over right now
after Victoria's Secret model Ali Tate Cutler
put out a massively viral TikTok about euthanasia, right?
Because her 85-year-old grandma
who lived in Canada and had terminal cancer chose to go out
by the country's medical assistance and dying program,
with that being an option there for adults
who have a serious condition disease or disability
and advanced irreversible state of decline
and are enduring what's been described as
unbearable physical or mental suffering
that can't be relieved
under conditions the patient finds acceptable.
So that notably was later loosened
to allow patients who aren't terminally ill.
So Tate Cutler flew up to Canada
for one final week with her grandma before the procedure
and documented their time together on TikTok,
one of the videos showing them
getting dolled up before going out
to their last dinner at a restaurant together,
another showing her interviewing her grandma
about the process.
- What are your thoughts as you move closer to the day?
- It's like the light of the end of the tunnel.
- Are you nervous? Are you excited?
How do you feel?
- Looking forward.
Just putting an end to being dependent, no control.
- So as the day approaches,
is it something you're thinking about every day or-?
- No.
- Or just, it's gonna happen when it happens?
- Yeah. When I'll be ready, I'll know.
- Yeah.
- I've always made my own decisions for myself in living.
I trust I will in death.
I do believe my husband is there, saying "It's about time."
And I'll say, "Hi, Arn. I'm here." That's it.
- The grandma adding that
the doctors made sure that her illness was terminal,
confirmed that she really wanted euthanasia,
and stressed that she could always change her mind.
And so that's why with this,
there were a ton of people who expressed
their support and empathy for her decision.
But also at the same time,
we saw two different types of backlash
against Tate Cutler here,
the first being a group that
was just generally opposed to euthanasia
on the grounds that people should die naturally
and we shouldn't be supporting suicide.
And to that, she says
she was initially opposed to the practice
until she saw how much pain her grandmother was in,
explaining that for her and her family,
it's about allowing the person to choose on their own terms
how and what they wanna do with their body
and how they wanna leave the world,
with her adding, "We spent time talking
and laughing together, going over memories.
Watching her die well has been the biggest gift."
But there was also a second and more viral criticism here
about her decision to publicize all this on social media.
But some saying what she was doing was tasteless,
accusing her of just doing it for clicks and attention.
But to that, she says that
she did all this to start a conversation about death
and show how beautiful it can be to watch someone die.
Which I will say,
if I just heard that with no context whatsoever,
I think that's a very weird sentence.
But when you have ever seen or experienced
someone in chronic debilitating pain,
I think it's much easier to then understand
what a peaceful death, what a gift that actually is.
And on this topic, Tate Cutler also talking about how death,
it's this taboo subject in Western societies
and people don't like to talk about it openly
because it's sad and also scary.
But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't talk about it.
But with now all that said, arguments heard,
I wanna pass the question off to you, right?
Because if you go to any corner of the internet,
you see people reacting to this story,
but I wanted to fully explain it
and then also get people's opinions.
'Cause I feel like a lot of people just saw a screenshot
and they just started sounding off.
And then with everything on the table,
let me know what you're thinking
in those comments down below
because it is my, (Philip groaning)
I just re-watched the fuckin' videos, that was a mistake.
Because my opinion is that
Ali Tate Cutler should not be getting any backlash for this.
I'm very thankful that she shed some light
with her grandmother.
But that's where I'm gonna leave it
literally just for the sake of
I don't wanna full-blown cry.
Whether you agree or you disagree with me
in those comments down below,
let me know your thoughts here.
And then, we gotta talk about this professor right here
because they appeared not in just one viral video,
but two viral videos in the same month.
The verse happening a few weeks ago
at Hunter College in New York City.
You see her approach an information booth
run by an anti-abortion student group on campus,
and the footage speaks for itself.
- This is bullshit. This is violent.
You're triggering my students.
- Oh, I'm sorry about that.
- No you're not.
'Cause you can't even have a fuckin' baby
so you don't even know what that is.
You don't even know what this is.
Get this shit the fuck outta here.
(displays clanking) Fuck this shit.
- So, that interaction spreads like wildfire.
People calling her the crazed woke professor.
But then yesterday, the New York Post Center sent
a reporter and a photographer to her apartment
to question her about it.
And when she opened the door,
the post says she threatened to
chop the reporter up with a machete
and then held the blade to his throat.
- [Photographer] Let's get outta here. You can't do that.
- [Philip] Though it also did not end there
because she came back and chased them
outta the building with the machete
yelling at them to get the fuck out,
even chasing these guys in a circle around their car.
And then she allegedly kicked the reporter in the shins
as he tried to climb inside
before she finally went back into the building.
And then, do you or someone you know watch trash TV
or more specifically, trash reality TV?
Though arguably, I don't even need to say "trash" there,
I'm getting redundant.
But I ask because there's more and more talk happening
around the human cost around reality TV,
and not just among the people that consume it,
but even the producers of a show called "Vanderpump Rules"
are saying that the show's exploding everywhere
amid cheating scandal that happened among the cast.
And for those who unfamiliar,
I'm about to burn a few of your brain cells.
So prepare yourself.
"Vanderpump Rules" is reality TV show
that follows this friend group in Los Angeles.
But really for this, you only need to know three people:
Tom, Ariana, and Raquel.
Because Tom and Ariana,
they've been dating for nearly a decade.
They bought a house together,
they were in it for the long haul.
But earlier this year, as season 10 of the show was airing,
reports broke that Tom had actually been
having a months long affair with Raquel,
one of Ariana's closest friends.
And this news broke off a part of the fuckin' internet.
It caused a massive uproar.
Tons of people furious at Tom and Raquel.
And it wasn't just like some online reaction.
You had people sharing, like,
them going to a place where he owns part of it
yelling "Fuck Tom."
And that's just one example, right?
We saw numerous of the internet bleeding into real life.
And then last week's finale episode,
everyone got to see Ariana as she discovers the affair
and confronts Tom about it.
And while the situation has seemingly been a disaster,
at least emotionally for everyone involved.
It's been absolutely fantastic news for the show,
at least if you're talking about numbers, right?
The viewership went huge, even reaching series high ratings
last week during the finale episode.
And now that that highly anticipated episode is aired,
Ariana's on this massive press tour about the situation,
speaking to outlets like the New York Times, the Today Show,
clips of were on the Call Her Daddy podcast with Alex Cooper
doing some numbers.
- Bring me to the moment where you come across
realizing he's cheated on you with Raquel.
What were you thinking in the stall?
- I was shaking, like full body.
- And in these interviews,
even though like ultimately what we're consuming is
to us it's just content,
what you have is also a human being
trying to unpack the biggest betrayal of her life.
And of course, with all this,
people are just eating it all up, and why wouldn't they?
I mean, society has trained us that people are just content.
But it's also important,
while the little gossipy bitch in our head
who's gorging herself on all of this scandal is very happy,
it's also important to remember
there are real people involved
and you actually just recently had producers
speaking about that in an interview with Variety
saying it's not all fun and games behind the scenes.
This is a real thing that happened to someone,
with Alex Baskin saying, "It's hard, there's a human cost,
not a joyous celebration
where we can send a note out to the cast
and celebrate how well we're doing."
And Lisa Vanderpump,
who's a producer that also stars in the show,
who's close with the cast,
chimed in as well because when she was asked
if she thought this season might get Emmy attention,
she responded, "I don't like to think of it like that at all
because it's still a very painful experience.
But it's been an extraordinary series over the years
that has had many highs and so many lows
and we've stuck with it."
And I don't really have a clean out to this story
because even so many years in,
I never know how to actually feel about any of this.
And that's in large part due to
the just general dumpster fire of reality TV.
You're consuming something as content
but they're also real people,
but you also know a lot of places fake things.
So then you question reality
'cause you don't wanna feel bad
or have an emotional connection to someone if it turns out
oh, they were actually lying to you.
They were just doing like a script bit.
So it's safer to just treat someone or see them
as a character rather than a real person.
Especially because we're already so deep into reality TV.
When you think back to early reality TV,
most of those people
didn't know what the fuck they were doing.
There was no, as gamers or strategists might talk about,
there was no meta,
there was no template or archetype that you could mimic.
And now when I come across reality TV shows,
I'm like, I don't even buy whatever the plot is.
I don't buy it.
Whatever the concept of the show is, I don't buy it.
I automatically just think I'm watching
a bunch of influencers that are like "How can I use this
to be able to show products on Instagram?"
So that's a big part why I try to talk about this
in a conversational manner
rather than trying to to villainize anybody, right?
Because the situation, the industry,
it provides a a very justified reason
to close oneself off from being vulnerable
to having a feeling or a connection to someone.
Though connections people have
because the parasocial relationships
that have resulted from this show but also many others
wild, but even that connects to
people being seen as characters, right?
How many people are on the "Fuck you Tom" train
because he represents someone that fucked you over.
And this gets to be that safe public flogging of a person
that represents a person that hurt you.
But hopefully something of what I was just vomiting
made sense to you or connected to you.
Because I, once again, this is not an argument,
this is more of a conversation I wanna have on this topic.
And then, do you ever feel like dads get the shaft
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Are we still giving out ties and socks?
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And then, the world of streamers right now
is getting so frustrating,
with some things affecting your bank account,
some just being annoying.
Like one of the biggest shifts dropping yesterday
with Netflix officially cracking down on password sharing
in the States, releasing a statement saying
"A Netflix account is for use by one household,"
and with that, sending an email out to subscribers
warning them of the change, telling them to see
what devices are logged into their account
to sign out of the ones that shouldn't have access.
Also giving instruction on options
regarding out of household users,
and there, there are two choices.
One, transfer a person's profile
so they can make their own Netflix account
or two, pay an out of household member fee on your account,
which costs $8 per month,
though notably, the price can add up really fast.
If you're on Netflix standard, you add one person,
that ends up being $23 and 50 cents per month.
Or if you have premium and you add two people,
that's $36 a month.
Which I will say, with those prices
I have to feel like Netflix is counting on
other streamers to follow them, right?
Because we're talking about numbers
that are way more than other streaming services now
and the others don't have strict password sharing rules,
at least yet.
Think of it along the lines of Twitter deciding,
"hey, you can get verified for $8 a month."
No one else was out there doing that.
But then all of a sudden, because the door was open,
we started hearing murmurings,
"Oh, Instagram's gonna do this."
But you know, with this new Netflix announcement
you had people saying,
"Hey, I'm gonna cancel my subscription,"
arguing they're about to find out
how their near monopoly on streaming was only held up
by everyone just having Netflix,
and how that will dry the fuck up as people cancel
when they can't share with friends and family.
But also, in positive news for Netflix,
everyone wasn't just focused on Netflix yesterday,
they were focused on HBOMax
which is no longer HBOMax,
it is just Max, an HBO streamer.
It's essentially a rebrand
to incorporate both HBO and Discovery content.
Cause you know, people were like,
"What if we took all the premium content from HBOMax
and also threw in a bunch of garbage?
People will be good little piggies
and eat up all that garbage content as well."
Also, it was how this went down, right?
Many users knew this change was coming,
but you also had the company saying,
"Hey, a large portion of HBOMax accounts
are automatically going to update to Max."
But many users, including myself,
actually had to download a new app,
with Gizmodo saying
that might have prompted the tech issues.
You also have people slamming the app for crediting
directors and writers under a generic "creators" label,
so if you watch "Raging Bull," for example,
instead of the film saying,
"Hey, it was directed by Martin Scorsese,"
it just lists the name as "creator"
along with the producers and writers,
with at least one person seeing this and writing
"Now directors like Tim Burton are 'content creators'
just like Pew Pew whatever the fuck,"
which I think is referencing PewDiePie,
which if that's the case, Felix,
I think that's, yeah, that's gotta be your new name.
Pew Pew whatever the fuck.
But with that last thing,
you had outlets understandably saying,
you know, this erases proper credit
and it can also be misleading.
Places like Mashable noting that
if you go to an episode of a show like "Succession,"
you see over a dozen names listed as creators.
It includes producers, directors,
but Jesse Armstrong is the sole creator of "Succession."
There's no label or indication of who did what for the show.
So you've got writers saying, in addition to the confusion,
it's just insulting and minimizes the work being done,
something very, very sensitive
for a lot of writers right now who are on strike,
with some saying things like
"The studios don't want anyone to know our names.
It's easier to pay us nothing if we're faceless,"
and "Treating artists is the amorphous creators of content
is not going to raise the bar for storytelling
for you the viewer.
Disrespecting our work, trying to replace us with algorithms
and working against the artistic process,
none of this will usher in great, well, anything."
But we did get an update this morning from Max
and the service saying that
it'll be changing this amid the backlash
and giving the statement,
"We agree that the talent behind the content on Max
deserve their work to be properly recognized,"
calling this an oversight in the technical transition
and saying they apologize for that mistake.
But as far as how things will play out,
at the end of the day, it really is gonna come down to
is there any meaningful shift in money, right?
Do people cancel more? Is adoption down?
That's the only thing that'll actually have an impact here
because reactions, outrage, none of that really matters
if there's not any sort of follow through.
And often I feel like we see more examples
that we live in a complainer society
rather than a do something about it society.
And then, there are layers to this news, so listen up.
Because Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is
calling for Republican Speaker of the House Dave Phelan
to step down, which immediately, alarm bells.
what could he have done to make it so that
he's actually being held accountable
by a member of his own party?
Are we live in a time where candidates openly say,
"I could shoot someone on the street
and my poll numbers wouldn't go down."
Actually, that was several years ago
and things have only gotten worse.
Well, it appears in this instance it's because
the guy was absolutely fuckin' sloshed out of his mind
while presiding over the House floor.
Now, I'm going to ask my editor to try
to transcribe what this man is saying,
but I don't have hope for it.
(speaker slurring indistinctly)
(gavel clanking)
(congressmen murmuring)
The chair recognizes Mr. Johnson of Harris,
Mr. Johnson of Harris to speak in opposition to the bill.
- So main thing, not a good look,
with that video, which is from Friday
circulating widely on social media over the last few days,
which also prompted Paxton to issue a statement yesterday
calling for him to resign
at the end of the legislative session,
with the accusing Phelan of presiding
as he described it,
"in a state of apparent debilitating intoxication"
and writing,
"His conduct has negatively impacted the legislative process
and constitutes a failure
to live up to his duty to the public."
And adding, "His failures as speaker have created
a credibility crisis for all Republican candidates
and for our entire party.
Well, I hope Speaker Phelan will get the help he needs.
He has proven himself unworthy of Texans' trust
and incapable of leading the Texas House."
And with that, Paxton calling on
the Texas House Committee on General Investigating
to investigate.
And with that, as of recording,
Phelan has not personally addressed the situation at all.
But a huge key thing is
just hours after Paxton issued that statement,
that same House Investigations Committee announced
that it was probing Paxton
and that because Paxton requested the legislature
approve $3.3 million in taxpayer dollars to pay a settlement
with four former staffers who had accused Paxton
of firing them for accusing him of bribery and corruption
and reporting him to the FBI.
And with all that, you had a spokesperson for Phelan
making a statement yesterday referencing that investigation,
which, very key thing,
she said had been going on since March,
and claiming, "The motives for and timing behind
Paxton's statement today couldn't be more evident.
Mr. Paxton's statement today amounts to
little more than a last ditch effort to save face."
Oh my God, if this is how it's starting,
I can't wait to see the fallout.
Are you kidding me? Grab the popcorn.
And then, just when you thought
Lauren Boebert could not get any dumber,
she was like, "we're not even close to my final form."
- I left a prescription at pharmacy once,
I went to get birth control
and I was there at the counter and went to pay for it.
And the the price was very, very high.
I said, "Wow, is this a three six month prescription?"
"No ma'am, this is one month."
And I said, "It's cheaper to have a kid."
And I left it there
and now I have my third son, Caden Boebert.
And so I'm actually,
it turned out to be a really great thing.
- I don't even know where to start.
Actually, I do.
The whole story is based on her
being unable to afford birth control
when she already had two kids.
Yeah, I'm sure the having two kids
has nothing to do with the fact that
maybe you were strapped for cash
in this definitely real story that happened.
And the thing is,
I don't even know why Boebert tries to talk about facts.
I mean, it feels like it goes without saying
that buying birth control is cheaper
than having a fucking child, especially a third child.
I've heard the jump from two to three
is actually the hardest of jumps, whether more or less.
But because we're dealing with Boebert,
it's less of a question of if she's wrong.
Rather, the better question is, how wrong is she?
So let's examine that,
because for some people it does not go without saying.
So just looking at numbers,
according to an analysis by the Brookings Institution,
it costs an average of more than $300,000
to raise a child in the US over the course of 18 years.
By contrast, access to free birth control
has been made so much easier over the last decade
since the Affordable Care Act mandated that most insurers
must cover a range of contraceptives at no cost.
In fact, government data shows that in the year
after the ACA's contraception mandate went into effect,
people saved an average of $255 annually
on birth control pills.
And the total out-of-pocket savings were around 1.4 billion.
Additionally, according to Planned Parenthood,
birth control pills cost between zero to $50 a month,
but they are totally free with most health insurance plans
or if you qualify for some government programs.
And at the end of the day,
even if someone is not insured
and they are paying on the higher end of the range,
we're talking $50 a month,
that is still just $600 a year or $10,800 over 18 years.
Or to make it even clearer, if you are paying
the highest possible amount for birth control for 18 years,
it is still only around 3% of the amount
you would pay to raise a whole-ass fucking human being.
And this whole situation would be even less dumb
if it wasn't specifically coming from you
because you, as an individual in Congress,
have used your position
to try and make access to birth control even harder
with, among other things, Boebert voting against
the Right to Contraception Act,
which would've codified access to birth control.
Also, the first bill Boebert introduced
in this most recent session of Congress
was a measure to defund Planned Parenthood.
And she's also voiced support for repealing
the thing that has made it so
so few people actually have to pay for contraceptives.
And then the last thing I have to mention today because
it's either breaking as my video's uploading or just after.
Ron DeSantis is officially seeking the Republican nomination
for the 2024 presidential election.
We've kind of known that it's coming.
We started also seeing reports
there was gonna be an announcement this week,
his wife yesterday kicking out a teaser video.
We started seeing reports
that he was going to make this announcement
in a Twitter space with Elon Musk today.
But as of recording,
to put even the slightest of doubts to bed,
Ron DeSantis has now officially filed the paperwork today.
And so this is gonna be a wild one.
Trump V DeSantis is officially underway, right?
Because until this moment,
it's really been just a one-sided affair
with Donald Trump just lashing out
or making these random swings at DeSantis.
And in response to this point, we've seen DeSantis
kind of hitting back in literally the softest of ways.
And so we're about to see is there a massive shift in tone?
Though, who knows, right?
Will DeSantis officially announcing swing the polls his way?
Can he move enough of the base
even though Donald Trump has
a stranglehold on part of his base?
I mean, we'll see.
DeSantis is probably the biggest Republican challenger
to Trump we've seen so far.
But hey, for now, get your predictions in.
What are we about to witness?
Does DeSantis swing the party to him
or does Donald Trump do what he's done
to pretty much every other Republican
and bully them into submission?
And that's where I'm gonna end today's show,
though I do wanna note,
one, if you're looking for more news,
I got you covered here.
But also, everybody, Zaid is putting on
a special extra bonus video today
over at youtube.com/zaidtabani.
If it's up in time, I'll link it here in the description.
But hey, with that said,
as always, my name's Philip DeFranco,
you've just been filled in,
I love yo' faces and I'll see you tomorrow.