The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Hour 1: Cancel Culture...Doesn't Exist

Episode Date: February 5, 2024

Dan, Amin, Pablo, and the Shipping Container discuss the rise of Shane Gillis as a comedian leading to him hosting SNL, a show he was previously fired from for racist comments. Then, Frank Martin's la...rge suit, Ozzie Guillen's Marlins tenure, Pablo's chat with Ronny Chieng, and Taylor delivers a tremendous Knicks song. Plus, the evolution of the lawsuit around Vince McMahon and how it's impacting WWE. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:41 The Dan LeBertard Show with Stugots is presented by 1-800-Flowers.com. for details. We have talked a lot over the years here about Saturday Night Live. Mike Schur and Adam McKay were both writers in their early 20s at Saturday Night Live. It has been a comedic institution that has birthed a lot of comedians and the whole landscape has changed. And Joe Rogan is birthing entire economies that are really, really lucrative for an assortment of his friends in a audio and video space that is really changing the business. Shane Gillis is the best of these comedians that rogan his birth. He might not yet be the most successful because Tom Segura is looking down on his fans and
Starting point is 00:01:41 Bert Kreischer is selling out giant places. But he is somebody who has gotten the attention of the internet and everything he does, a million people view it. He is the hottest comedian since Bo Burnham, who sort of dominated the landscape during the pandemic. Shane Gillis, everyone's taking notice of what this guy is doing. And now he's hosting Saturday Night Live later this month after his career blossomed because he was let go from Saturday Night Live before ever doing anything.
Starting point is 00:02:14 He was hired as a cast member and then was quote unquote canceled and that's not a real thing. The comedians who are quote unquote canceled are having thriving branding businesses off of being canceled. And so now the show that fired him for some slurs that were in his podcast past is bringing him back as host and needs him more than he needs them, which is stunning to watch. And he's an interesting comedian because this is the line that he walks on. Not unlike Chappelle walked on the line where, hey, I'm not making fun of black people. I'm making fun of the way that white people view black people.
Starting point is 00:02:51 Bud Light has signed up Shane Gillis thinking he's a counter to Dylan Mulvaney. Bud Light's brand has been damaged by just having an Instagram influencer who is trans around their product. It wasn't even commercials. And now Bud Light is getting Shane Gillis and conservatives are celebrating that they got Shane Gillis without realizing that Shane Gillis is often making fun of conservatives. He's not one of you. And he's walking a space that no other comedian I see is walking. I have a particular investment in the arc of Shane Gillis
Starting point is 00:03:25 because what he got punished for by SNL, which is to say the reason they didn't hire him was because a part of his podcast from many moons ago, he was doing like truly like extreme caricatures of Asian people. And that was the thing. And when you saw it, when I saw it at first, absent any of the surrounding information
Starting point is 00:03:48 about who this guy was or what else he was doing or what is this even, it was like, oh, this is textbook horrifying. This is textbook lazy. This is something that you would not get away with except for a parody of an Asian person. And so I was very out on Shane Gillis as a guy who I ever wanted to see again. Personally, Shane Gillis is so funny that I have had to admit that he's actually just super talented.
Starting point is 00:04:17 He won you back over. Because he's actually good at comedy. And so part of me, like part of the racial politics of this, of course, is like, do we all have to be union reps when it comes to like, oh, this person has insulted my people. And then you have to do the also more, I think, you know, profound investigation into what was he really trying to do, which gets into the realm of another topic that's fascinating, which is to say, impressions. Who can do an impression? And how do we discern motive behind the impression? So for me, over time, I realized, okay, Shangela actually isn't what that one clip
Starting point is 00:04:52 portrayed him to be. And he's also super funny. Oh, but also that was when he was amateur and the character has learned and now developed. You know, Andrew Dice Clay a million years ago says he was playing a character and it was misogynistic and homophobic and it was a terrible character but he always said but this is a character this is the evolution of that that is smarter because he's still doing stuff that's objectionable okay uses gay in a in a way that feels pejorative but
Starting point is 00:05:22 he's very much in character with what it is that he's doing. He is the every man trying to appeal to the every man while also, what are you laughing about? I mean. He called the movie Hidden Figures, Madea Goes to the Moon. God damn. You laughed so hard.
Starting point is 00:05:37 God damn. Well, he said his father calls that. So you're laughing at the private show that's happening in your head here that you're doing your own show What in front of a microphone thinking things before saying them and laughing to yourself When you said what he said he's made these jokes are objectionable. That's the first thing that popped in my head That's why I laugh because he's walking the line though to me one of the more fascinating things happening here with the business of comedy is the podcast business largely sucks it really does but at the top end of it these comedians are eating that these well yes the the cancer the alleged
Starting point is 00:06:16 cancellation of Shane Gillis which resulted by the way down the line the domino effect in the cancellation of Bud Light and now the uncancellation using Shane Gillis No question. It was good for him Rogan and but it was good for him, right? So like there are a couple of this is one of those stories where many things are true at the same time It really is cancellation only exists if you operate in the mainstream if I want to a job on SNL the Superhighway to success for comed, then yes, I can be canceled.
Starting point is 00:06:50 If this is a new lane, I mean, they're popular, they're popular at least in part. The reason they're making so much money is, is at least in part, it's not a small part. So many people are saying, oh wait, I'm listening to something that's actually free, that these guys don't have consequences This is a dirtier talk that I'm gonna get anywhere in the mainstream
Starting point is 00:07:08 That's sort of contaminated by all that wokeness that both sides complain about so so decades ago Lenny Bruce got arrested For having George Carlin to in more what the the more words you can't say the words You can't say and even the, Lenny Bruce would do stuff that wasn't necessarily using F-bombs or whatever, but it was like, this is explicit content. Cop to grab them and take them offstage and arrest them. And you know what that did for Lenny Bruce?
Starting point is 00:07:35 Any time Lenny Bruce was playing somewhere, people were like, ah, shit, I gotta see this. They are now making more problem. It's like, you know, it's the weirdest cop I can make. Remember when the Passion of Christ came out and everybody was like this is an awful da da da da da and that movie did numbers because of the uproar. They shouldn't be complaining about cancel culture they should be celebrating it. It is profitable for the best of them it's it's a gold mine. But it reminds me of the ways in which all of us, and I was thinking about this with the Grammys,
Starting point is 00:08:06 all of us still want the mainstream recognition. Shanghila's hosting SNL, I'm sure, on some level to his fans, it's like, ah, he's gonna stick it to him like Norm MacDonald did after he got fired from SNL that got invited to host. Part of me also thinks this is actually a valuable thing personally to that guy in the way that you wanna win the award,
Starting point is 00:08:23 you wanna be canceled to make the money, but you also want to be approved of by the people who still in your mind matter. Stugazir, when you love someone you protect them in the best ways you can. That's why I recommend Simply Save Home Security. It's an advanced system that protects every inch of your home and backed by 24-7 with professional monitoring for fast emergency response for less than a dollar a day. Guys, I have had Simply Safe in my home for many, many years now. I swear by them, the peace of mind it gives me when I am away.
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Starting point is 00:09:26 There's no safe like Simply Safe. The Dan LeBertard Show is two gods is presented by DeGiorno. It's not delivery, it's DeGiorno. I have a content conundrum here because I've got Pablo and Amin in studio. Pablo Torrey finds out a very popular podcast, Oddball, another very popular podcast. It's part of the LeBatart and Friends Network.
Starting point is 00:09:55 Both Amin and Pablo love the Shane Gillis comedy subject matter, but I have a photo of Frank Martin that I have to show the people the Cuban Frank Martin Martin from Miami He's at UMass now. He's doing oh my Way that is that's Lex Luthor Let's keep him kingpin shout out to Vincent Denofield More kingpin than Lex Luthor. Oh, no, I see the bottom half now the bottom half now makes this kingpin than Lex Luthor? Oh no, I see the bottom half now. The bottom half now makes this kingpin. Yeah. It's a great look for Frank Martin.
Starting point is 00:10:29 But it's villainous. Little David Byrne as well. David Byrne from the Talking Head? Yeah. David Byrne's not that thick. No, you are showing your ass right now, Dan LeBatard. Stop it. Video team summon David Byrne in the giant suit.
Starting point is 00:10:43 First shout out to Wilson Fisk. You have David Byrne in the giant suit. First shout out to Wilson Fisk. You have David Byrne being that physically thick. How do you not get that reference? They were hugely influential. I'm Johnny Marr playing. I know, but in appearance, we're talking about appearance. Yeah, famously, David Byrne wore an oversized suit. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:11:00 That makes sense. One of the great, as Bomani Jones called it, the greatest concert film of all time. I shame on you Oh, but you I know we're dated and sometimes we don't Oh, well conner. What are we talking about the audience? How that one flew over your head? No, it's not that it flew over my head It's that he looks like he's wearing his daddy's clothes where Frank Martin that fits That's not oversized on Frank Martin. I got I put Frank Martin in that suit on the movie poster for stop making sense.
Starting point is 00:11:26 I got like seven likes, like no one got. Oh, I missed it Mike, I'm sorry. You're gonna like that now. I'm gonna go like that. You guys are yelling at me and the point I'm making stands. Look at David Byrne in terms of physically how he looks inside of what it is Frank Martin's wearing. Frank Martin fills that out.
Starting point is 00:11:44 No, you're saying David Byrne is not filling that out right now? No, that is what I'm saying. It is what I am saying. It looks three sizes too big. Triple the size it should be on David Byrne. It looks the correct size. I just retweeted Mike. Sorry, Mike missed that one.
Starting point is 00:11:58 Great. My first retweet. Engage, Byrne. So it looks like you've been playing goalie. It looks like goalie. Well said. Pablo was. I have a cigarette in my mouth, Dan. Yes, chef. Engagement! So it looks like you're playing goalie. It looks like goalie. Well said. Pablo was...
Starting point is 00:12:06 I have a cigarette in my mouth, Dan. Yes, Chef. Yes, Chef. Behind? Pablo was asking me during the break if I have ever found something so funny that it reaches beyond wherever it is that I get offended and still support that person. And I'm like, yes, when Ozzy Guyin was the manager of the Marlins. Wait, so why? So the context is that Shangela said many textbook Asian racism caricature things.
Starting point is 00:12:33 And I was like, that guy is so funny that I need to admit this and actually find a way to enjoy this for my own sanity. And Ozzy Guyin was that for you? The reason Ozzy Guyin was is because before he started a season of great expectations He came into town Miami and said that he liked Fidel Castro and so It's our Hitler He who should not be named so yeah Cubans were offended and I'm like buddy's funny But I like him as my manager because he says stuff like I don't like that, but
Starting point is 00:13:08 That's a fantasy obviously offensive. It's the worst We'll end and give him a second chance the rug. It's the worst thing he could have I mean If you tell a bold choice for him to make and tie magazine And and he said he didn't agree with everything but he liked some things that yeah Tony, you have both sides on that one. The heart of it was for him to operate at the level that he is despite everybody hating on him I liked that about him was essentially his point. I just wanted in a Marlins uniform.
Starting point is 00:13:38 And you peel back the current on his politics. Alright Jeremy, I mean what were you whispering to each other and giggling about? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. The side show between Amine and the container. Both of you out, both of you out, they sent me out. Like honest to God, like be funny at the microphone or get the hell out of here. Started this segment saying he's got to balance a lot of content decisions. Just go.
Starting point is 00:13:58 I'm trying to find out what they are. I'm hoping to God one of them is a Nick song. Get out of here, go ahead and play the Nick song while Amine sits in the penalty box. I'm tired of us paying Amine for content that's best off air. Well, no, you don't want him just getting the Ray Allen knee on green light.
Starting point is 00:14:14 Some of that stuff needs to go to the court. Where are we just talking about free spaces and comedy? The Amine show that's dirty, that gets Amine in real trouble, is the one people would actually want to hear. It's not, no, not the people here. The fact that Amine still has discretion is kind of stunning.
Starting point is 00:14:31 Yeah, I'm happy about it because he's been rewarded for his general approach. Taylor made a song about the New York Knicks. I guess there's something about Pablo's appearances on this show that inspire this side of Taylor because he's a big Knicks fan. And he's also a huge Tar Heel. And I've been privy to the Skip and VIP show. I've been really enjoying that. John Skipper and Taylor have been talking
Starting point is 00:14:54 North Carolina basketball more in the last 15 minutes in that room than we have in 20 years doing this. So here is Taylor's latest Knicks song. Surprise, the ceremony that I present this recording So here is Taylor's latest Nick song. Anno B, bully ball, rough and tough, Charles Oakley, CO's of the NYC. Nick's right from the tip, J-O on sound fire, handles. Got him spinning light, closing the dryer. Isaiah Harkstein learned to pronounce that name. Got the whitest Dante in the game, making it rain. That's right, Nick.
Starting point is 00:15:37 Oh, at MSG, Randall will take you in the paint. No one could do it better. That's precious, he's our rim protector. My homie Tim told me do finish your breakfast. So that's what I'm going to do. Put on orange and blue with the Tim's called a fan and talk reckless. Let me tell you dudes what I do to protect this. See in court side like movie directors. They say the movie dog, the foreign player Dante. I can't pronounce last name. I don't think he's a foreign player Dante I can't pronounce this last time I don't think he's a foreign player I can't pronounce it Dante Divenchenzo I was gonna say I've never been more embarrassed
Starting point is 00:16:14 and then I heard the last couple of sentences that was terrible yeah adlibs in the back and the hype and stuff up can't be the same volume as your narrator. Taylor also became a couple of slightly different characters who are mostly the same, but slightly different enough to be conspicuous. Also, does he know that we have a studio with microphones that we can record in? Yeah, did he do that on voice notes?
Starting point is 00:16:39 How did that get aired? Because it's bad, bad as a new good. I want to put Taylor on the therapy couch. Whoa, more Taylor. Yes, after that. Put Taylor on the therapy couch right now. You said that you had to balance a lot of content decisions.
Starting point is 00:16:53 I do. May I recommend not doing that? I do, you cannot. Can we call Ronnie Cheng? You can. By the way, thanks for that one. Yo, Dan, what were you doing? Ronnie was texting me before that aired,
Starting point is 00:17:09 at least before I saw it, and I was like, oh, something's gone. Something's gone horribly. What did he say? What did he say to you before you had seen the... I don't think it was anything that he wouldn't or didn't say on air. I talked to him. What was his vibe? I don't want to speak for Ronnie, because Dan has talked to Ronnie, Dan can characterize Ronnie's feelings. I think when Ronnie pointed out on the show,
Starting point is 00:17:30 why have one bad interview when you can have two? Simultaneously, I was like, A great line, a great line. There's nothing better than I can summarize. And all I apologized to him for, and he was wonderful in accepting this as an apology. I'm like. Just sold out Rockabellers, sorry,
Starting point is 00:17:44 just sold out Radio City, by the way. Nice. Little plug there, Dan. No? This is boy. Yeah. I'm trying, this is my friend that you have torched a potential bridge to.
Starting point is 00:17:55 And so I'm trying to point out that, you know. He's trying to show the value of the show. Yes, that's right. Respect. I simply apologized to him and he seemed to understand as someone who works in this medium, I was also trying to incorporate somebody who was going 100 miles an hour on a speedboat. My judgment may have been f**king impaired by the fact that we're throwing a tailor at a lot of s**t in a way that suggests bad judgment.
Starting point is 00:18:23 Excuses. Which is why he's not going on that couch. He should be on the therapy couch. Nope, he's not mobilizing. I like how Dan learns nothing. He just articulated in great detail why more, getting a little bit of Taylor and going for more Taylor hasn't worked out.
Starting point is 00:18:38 That is correct, I will take the consequences of believing in the little guy. What does he have to be on the therapy couch for? Yeah, you keep giving him a microphone. Stop! The reason I keep giving him a microphone is because I want to show how low Metal Arc standards actually are at the bottom rung of our business.
Starting point is 00:18:58 We'll allow anyone near a microphone. Stuckax's name is on the show already. But that's, we need to get younger and dumber. Taylor? Quote, I just did Dan Lebedtarp, cause I was a fan and it was very dumb. End quote. I mean, I know, that was the tech.
Starting point is 00:19:17 There was a hundred mile an hour speedboat that was also involved in the interview. We were throwing, we were throwing it out to video at sea. Oh here we go yeah I mean I'm down for dumb but they had someone on a speedboat they had to keep cutting to. That's funny. I mean I thought it was funny and I needed to apologize to him. I trust Dan Levitar sensor he were over watching. Oh come on. That that was funny dad okay well you trusted Dan Levitard sense of humor with your career more than you have Ronnie Chang's and I've been laughing to the bank ever so they caught a double double RJ Davis
Starting point is 00:19:56 hasn't looked better right now such a great player such a big win against the Duke Blue Devils oh no we're not getting Carolina that's what he talks about in therapy. We're cool with Nix and Tar Heel propaganda on here but not he propaganda. No we are not Carolina to win the ACC this year. Two game lead, the lead just keeps extending in the conference looking like one of the best teams in all the qualifiers. That's what's been out there with John Skipper. John Skipper's been dying for somebody to talk North Carolina about he wanders the halls Wanting to talk to somebody about North Carolina and nobody wants to talk to him about North Carolina Just beat Duke running around doing too small on all of Duke's players and we're not talking about it at all It's a Taylor is a lot He's still going look at him
Starting point is 00:20:42 Not what I wanted from Ryan from Notre Dame Harrison Ingram fits like a glove on this team right now the way he plays this team is just coming together Ellie he doesn't know our position he's a true fresh man that's not how you do therapy you know that's us to God's does therapy for decision you're saying to have them on the mic? I want to get to the recent developments in the next segment with Vince McMahon, because what's going on, what's escalated there is finally consequences coming to one of these people, power hungry egomaniacs, who have so much money that they can always avoid consequences.
Starting point is 00:21:23 It seems fairly obvious that some pretty... Probably, it looks like we're headed toward criminal issues for Vince McMahon as Feds rated his house over the summer and now we learn how it is and why it is he cashed out trying to flee before he loses his freedom. I'll get to that next. Yeah, let's ask Taylor about that. The Dan LeBartard Show with Stu Gotts is brought to you by Bayer Aspirant, that next. Yeah let's ask Taylor about that. It's the worst. It's not great. It's not great. It couldn't have said a lot worse. So few people speak English in that area. Where their stadium is, they were trying to build the Hispanic market down here.
Starting point is 00:22:15 They were trying to get Cubans to baseball games. They go to baseball games. Well, they go to Latin baseball games here. It's the worst thing you could say. Dan, my grandfather was still alive at that point. We had got Ozzy Guillen. I remember listening to Radio Bomb B, wall to wall coverage of how Ozzy Guillen, they had to fire him.
Starting point is 00:22:31 That's correct. Doesn't matter if he's never coached a game. That is correct. Doesn't matter, wall to wall, midnight to the next day. Tony, that's fire him. That is pre-Rush Limbaugh. That's when Spanish radio had no governance and none. There was nobody governing that
Starting point is 00:22:48 and he did the very worst thing that he could say. Armando Peretrola was not happy. I'll tell you that much right now. Neither was Ludus from Kendall. She was very upset. Mike, the Vince McMahon developments, I've been surprised for a long time that this guy has skated over what everyone knows is a
Starting point is 00:23:07 bullying megalomaniac crazed person who's been running wrestling for 40 years I remember when Vince McMahon was just a sideline reporter in wrestling He was one of the interviewers when it was coming to cable television for the first time I remember discovering Vince McMahon. That's how he started as a side. He was owning the company at the time, but that's how he was presented.
Starting point is 00:23:28 This is the- And Dan, being a 37-year-old man, bought it. At the time, I was a teenager, and this was my introduction, I'm not even kidding you guys, to cable television. Like this in the Atlanta Braves were what I was watching outside of the few channels,
Starting point is 00:23:44 and it was better wrestling on television than the matches I got on Saturday morning, which were all shit. It was all garbage. This was something that was well produced and highly well produced. I think people in our audience are familiar with Vince McMahon, his rise and the fact that he became a billionaire
Starting point is 00:23:59 and all the controversy that followed him, because he resigned from a post that he ended up going back to, thinking that he was uncancelable And this was at the time had been known to have signed plenty of NDAs plenty of accusers out there this most recent scandal with Ms. Grant as the the plaintiff Does seem to have
Starting point is 00:24:23 Undone his legacy. He has resigned, resigned from a position that he didn't have to resign. He could have made it a nightmare for TKO and Endeavor, but they don't lose these things. Or Emmanuel, if he wants you gone, you usually get gone. But there were a lot of interesting developments. And I've seen the popular social media take that
Starting point is 00:24:41 whatever booking decisions they've made with the Rock and Cody have knocked us out of the headlines. I haven't seen a lack of Vince McMahon headlines. I've seen rock Cody headlines alongside Vince headlines because this story can really alter the legacy of not just Vince but that entire company and I'll explain why. More and more people are going to get dragged into this. There were a lot of people that weren't named in that document that you can start putting together some circumstantial evidence at the times that they've resigned and you could see that the company line of, we found out about this in real time, doesn't really hold
Starting point is 00:25:19 water because John Luronitis, who was named in that lawsuit, was fired last summer. TKO, being a publicly traded company, disclosed a few months ago that Vince McMahon's home was raided by federal agents. Now is that SEC or is that the FBI? Well, the Wall Street Journal reports that four women have been talking to federal agents. And now in that Wall Street Journal story comes a detail four women have been talking to federal agents.
Starting point is 00:25:48 And now in that Wall Street Journal story comes a detail that because Vince McMahon didn't follow proper company protocol and did not actually go through his legal department for the company, that these NDA agreements may be null and void and Ms. Grant's representation has already said her law office has been inundated by victims coming over wanting to share their story. John Luronitis is a key figure in all of this because he was one of Vince's guys.
Starting point is 00:26:15 He's their chief talent scout, right? He was their head of talent relations. Luronitis is a name that wrestling fans know. Brothers with Road Warrior Animal, I believe, married to the mother of the Bella Twins presently, as this is all going on and she has a health scare. So, Laurenitis, who was always attached at the hip of Vince McMahon,
Starting point is 00:26:37 has seemingly flipped on Vince McMahon. While he has publicly denied allegations, the pivot from his representation was, like the plaintiff, Mr. Laurinitis is also a victim in this. A lot of the things about having to cower to power, having felt forced and coerced into these sexual relations because his boss was instilling that his job kind of went with these responsibilities. He's playing the victim card in this lawsuit, which means he's going to flip. And you have all these people flipping on Vince McMahon, you're going to see how deep
Starting point is 00:27:18 this goes. The fact that it hasn't already settled. Remember how quickly the Diddy thing settled. Once we got those details almost immediately, the fact that it hasn't yet settled. Remember how quickly the Diddy thing settled. Once we got those details almost immediately, the fact that it hasn't yet spells a really bad recipe for the WWE and I think we're just at the tip of the iceberg right now with what we know. Explain this part to me, okay,
Starting point is 00:27:36 because this is the person who built wrestling into the monster streaming thing it is now that you just saw. What did he get was he sold 30% of his stake and cashed in like 800 million dollars because of how valuable it's going to be to have this entity of his on Mondays on Netflix when the stream is billion dollars over 10 years with Netflix. Okay. So he got, he got some of his money.
Starting point is 00:28:03 You do realize that where we're headed, headed Mike when you say that this is bad for WWE There needs to be a scapegoat and I'm surprised that the flames are going to come and grab him But the sport the sport has already Cashed in above him by running him off of some of the creative and they're gonna turn him into the guy While cashing all of the money. You explain to me how this is going to affect what Nikon and Netflix and these people are already doing because they've cashed in on the other side
Starting point is 00:28:32 of the burning building. Well, we have to acknowledge that they probably have a lot more information on what was going on with Vince behind the scenes and whether or not they can navigate this if this doesn't settle and we actually go through the process. A lot of people that present as clean right now might not be because this was a tyrant ahead of this organization that ruled by fear and now that the feds are kicking around and you're actually looking at federal trafficking, it's going to be disastrous for this company.
Starting point is 00:29:06 I'm not sure, Ari Manuel, Nikon exactly knew what they were getting into. It's actually probably resulted in this creative pivot that they're making right now because it is convenient to have other headlines associated with it that aren't this Vince McMahon thing. The timeline of everything coming out, the Netflix deal, the respectability of this big business becoming Netflix's closest thing to live sports, simultaneously unfolding with these texts, which are beyond the genuinely awful nature of them, are just sloppily and very conspicuously and clearly recorded? Like that's the other thing about this story, Mike. And within those texts, you know that this web
Starting point is 00:29:49 extends to several dozens. There are other bits of documentary evidence that I presume are out there. If this is just part of what we're seeing above the sea level of it. This is, I mean, he's been accused of a lot of stuff for a long time. Yeah, if you've watched VICE's Dark Side of the Ring, he's woven so deeply
Starting point is 00:30:11 within everything shady that that's boring. Even though people understand that this is a dirty business, I don't think they have any idea how dirty, they're about to see the underbelly of this thing. Oh, you can revisit all the other previous scandals that he's been associated with. What happened with the Jimmy Snooka possible cold case that he ended up dying before he was found guilty of? Who was paid off there? And you look at previous accusations
Starting point is 00:30:35 that also sign NDAs that are now coming to light. Really serious allegations against him. We're not talking about garden variety, you know, misconduct. We're talking about some real awful things. Evil. That he's been accused of. What changed this time? Why has he not been Teflon this time?
Starting point is 00:30:53 Well, the power dynamic shifted and he has bosses and he's now swimming with bigger fish. And even though he was a majority share and if you look at the numbers, he didn't really have to resign, but he did because R.E. Manuel is this incredible power broker there and right now he is trying to scrub this company clean and what I am suggesting is you have no idea how high these flames are going to reach. I didn't think they'd climb this high and I would tell the public here,
Starting point is 00:31:26 I would warn you that what happened to Bill Cosby through Hannibal Burris took a long time. It didn't happen the first time Hannibal Burris did that. And then Bill Cosby is a criminal and is in jail, and the whole thing has come down. These things take time, but the flames have now climbed to a place where Vince McMahon is in danger of losing his freedom. Never mind. It looks like he may have cashed in on wealth, but if this goes criminal and now you have all sorts of women
Starting point is 00:31:57 coming forward, what you run the risk of is Vince McMahon like dying in jail. There is an interesting counterpoint, though, when it comes to comparing Vince McMahon like dying in jail? There is an interesting counterpoint though when it comes to comparing Vince McMahon and Bill Cosby, which is that Bill Cosby presented as America's dad, Mr. Clean Cut. I feel like a lot of, and my correct me if I'm wrong here, but a lot of Vince McMahon, his ability to get away with stuff was because he was also this character.
Starting point is 00:32:19 And so the expectation for Vince was never that he's America's dad, he's Mr. Clean Cut. It's that, oh, that guy's up to some stuff. Yeah, but R. Kelly, it was the same. It happened slowly with this stuff. I think it's different. R. Kelly and this is different because what Pablo's saying is Vince played a heel on TV, like an actual,
Starting point is 00:32:37 yeah, I'm the bad guy, the evil businessman. And so what does it take for the bosses to be like, we can't play into that advantage when it comes to laundering Vince McMahon's character? I think we're about to find out. I think we cross that tipping point with even though he's not named in the lawsuit you can see that there's a pretty concerted effort now on going to scrub Brock Lesnar as he was not quite not called out by name but everyone's piece together that he was a superstar in question. This goes to you can start
Starting point is 00:33:11 looking at resignations that have happened recently in in new light. This this goes all the way up to the top because the top is the central figure in all of this and everybody because of the power dynamic had to kind of look past stuff you would assume and if this thing actually goes to trial, which it appears at this point, it is going to change forever how you look at a place that you never even really gave much greed and stew anyway when we come from a moral high ground. It is going to shock everyone. Just gotta rub some of the rock on it, Mike.
Starting point is 00:33:41 Don't worry. Well, that's a playbook.

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