Ezra Levant’s guest David Menzies argues Tommy Robinson’s 13-month sentence for a five-minute May 25th trial reveals UK bias against free speech on Muslim grooming gangs, ignored by media. He slams Ontario’s Michael Tobolo and Toronto Mayor John Tory for facing backlash over race-linked crime remarks, while criticizing Conservative leader Andrew Scheer for deleting a tweet about black migrants. Menzies also condemns Hollywood’s new "100% naturally born" casting rules, calling them divisive, and warns Rebel Media’s unfiltered approach contrasts with mainstream self-censorship—like Winnipeg DJ Dave Wheeler’s firing—while previewing Joe Warmington’s take on Trump’s potential Canada-excluding trade deal. The episode frames these conflicts as evidence of a culture prioritizing ideological purity over truth and accountability. [Automatically generated summary]
Gentlemen and the rest of you, it is Thursday, July 19th, 2018, and this is Battleground.
Thank you so much for tuning in.
I'm David Menzies filling in for Ezra Levant, and as you well know, Ezra Levant is across the pond in the UK.
He's been covering the Tommy trial.
And why don't we just start with that, folks?
Actually, nothing new to report from yesterday.
If you missed our updates from yesterday, I can tell you what the status of the Tommy trial is.
The Chief Justice says they have a complicated task in front of them.
I'm not so sure why it's complicated, but I'm not a legal eagle, but I'll take him at his word.
And they hope to complete this complicated task by the end of July, so almost two weeks to go.
And as Ezra has adroitly noted, if it is so complicated, and if Tommy really isn't a threat to public safety, why not let him out of prison in the meantime?
Why not release him?
And apparently that's off the table, which is too bad because what came out at the trial was the shocking treatment Tommy has received on the behalf of his jailers.
This case, the more you delve into it, folks, it just reeks and reeks.
And it completely suggests to me that Tommy is a political prisoner.
And I say this based on the fact that it just looks like the UK is shooting the messenger as opposed to addressing the problem that the messenger is addressing himself.
And also based on case law precedent in the UK where contempt of court penalties, and I'm talking about serial contempt of court violators, folks, never receiving this kind of a penalty when Tommy was hauled off on May 25th and had that five-minute sham trial, I call it, to get a 13-month sentence,
completely disproportionate to whatever has happened in the UK before in terms of contempt of court.
So that decision could be any day.
It's probably going to be later rather than sooner because the wheels of justice always grind slowly.
And I think from the get-go, right from May, the UK justice system has been ragging the puck to use a Canadian term in terms of getting some quick closure here.
And let's all hope that Tommy does get out.
But in the meantime, in case you missed it, our team went out on Saturday, July the 14th for the free Tommy rally.
And my team of Mr. Producers have put together a little highlight reel.
Some of this has been posted on our website, but in case you missed it, I think it's refreshing to see the kind of wonderful support Tommy is getting in the UK.
So let's roll some of that footage of that Tommy Raleigh that occurred last Saturday.
Tommy Robinson for me and for all of you and lots of common people here in Britain and Europe and all over the world is a modern Braveheart, not a right-wing hooligan, but a civil-right hero.
We've come here to support Tommy Robinson because globally we are losing freedom of speech and what's happening to him.
If it weren't for him, no one would know what's going on with these Muslim grooming gangs.
I'm here for all the girls that have been raped by the Pakistani Muslim men.
And I'm here to thank Tommy Robinson because he actually made me aware of this because the British media do not want us to know the truth what's going on in this country.
Tommy Robinson!
And again!
Tommy Robinson!
And there you have it, folks.
I think that's so wonderful to see all that support, all those people coming out and voicing their opinions and not being locked up yet for voicing those opinions.
And by the way, if you want to chip in to the Tommy Fund, you can please, if you can, go to Tommy Trial.
Sorry, save Tommy.com.
That is for his legal expenses, which are considerable, folks, and every penny is going to Tommy's legal team.
That is save Tommy.com.
And if you want to chip in to Ezra's mission over to the UK, it's not cheap, especially booking at the last minute.
London is one of the most expensive cities in the world, perhaps.
You can kindly go to tommytrial.com.
That's tommytrial.com.
Even if it's a buck or two or five, we are very appreciative of all your donations.
And as we've mentioned, none of the money from savetommy.com, which is exclusively for his legal fees, are going to fund Ezra's mission in covering the trial over in London.
And of course, this costs you no money.
You can tweet hashtag free Tommy.
And you can also download the free Tommy ringtone at TommyRingtone.com.
So there you go.
Say your support, say it loud, say it proud to everyone out there.
Okay, so like I said, in the days ahead, hopefully sooner rather than later, although I think it will be later rather than sooner, we'll give you the latest updates on Tommy.
Now, once again, folks, my blood got boiling this morning just hearing the press coverage and the NDP fanatics in the province of Ontario describing the public safety minister Tobolo as a racist.
Michael Tobolo, I'll give you the background on this story folks.
He went on a ride along with the Toronto Police Service to the Jane Finch area.
Now, for those unfamiliar with Toronto, Jane Finch, for as long as I've been alive, has been one of those neighborhoods that you really don't want to go to.
It is economically on the lower end of the scale.
It has a disproportionate amount of crime.
I guess by me saying that, that makes me a racist too, I suppose, according to the social justice warriors out there.
But anyways, Public Safety Minister Michael Tobolo, barely two weeks on the job since being sworn in as part of the Doug Ford Progressive Conservative government, goes on a ride along in the wee hours of the morning to see how bad things are.
And things are shockingly bad.
actually went to a bullet-riddled crack house where he walked across used needles.
He said he was terrified.
And you know what?
I'm glad the minister was terrified, not because I want him to experience any kind of mental trauma, but maybe when the elected officials become terrified, they move to action.
And not saying that Minister Tobolo was dragging his feet.
He's barely two weeks a minister.
But here's the thing.
For having the temerity to wear a bulletproof vest in the wee hours of the morning in the Jane Finch area, a very bad, bad neighborhood in Toronto, and I'm sorry to say so, but it is the truth.
He's been accused of being racist.
Andrea Horwath, the leader of the NDP, actually said Tobolo's actions were, quote, inexcusably racist.
Inexcusably racist.
But why?
Because he sought to protect himself.
And also it should be noted, and I don't even know if the Honorable Leader of the Opposition is even aware of this, but the rules of having a Toronto police ride-along stipulate that you must wear a bulletproof or bullet-resistant vest.
And that doesn't, that means for every neighborhood, folks, if you're going to Rosedale, Forest Hill, Moore Park, Lawrence Park, those are the nicer posh neighborhoods of Toronto where you're very unlikely to find a crack house, you still have to wear it.
It's the rule, and the minister was only following the rule.
And imagine if the minister said, oh, well, you know what, for virtue signaling, I'm not going to follow the rules.
I'm not going to wear a bulletproof vest.
Then, of course, he would be condemned for that, wouldn't he?
It'd be, oh, the public safety minister, look at him above the rules and regulations of the Toronto Police Service.
Give me a break.
But anyways, I don't understand why it is that we are living in a society right now that when the truth hurts, and it maybe is hurtful to some people to hear that your neighborhood is on the lower end of things.
I mean, if Toronto was a monopoly board, Jane Finch is kind of Mediterranean Avenue or Baltic.
It's pretty far removed from Boardwalk and Park Place.
But that is the truth of the matter.
And I don't say this with any glee.
This neighborhood needs help.
And this is a minister going out on a fact-finding mission to think of ways in which he can help this neighborhood and help the people who live in this neighborhood, most of whom, or actually all of whom I would say, go about their business without a police escort and without wearing a bulletproof vest.
And unfortunately, some of them pay the consequences for this when it comes to dealing with the gangbangers that infest this neighborhood.
But we are now living in a society, folks, where if you say something truthful, but that truth is hurtful, it is therefore racist.
I mean, this would be my question to Andrea Horwath.
What was racist about him wearing a flak jacket?
He didn't even mention race, not once, in any of his statements.
So I would say that maybe the racism here is on the behalf of Horwath for assuming this is some kind of, oh, I don't know, anti-black statement.
And I really don't know.
I don't understand, again, what the racism angle here is when it comes to wearing a flak jacket.
And this is sort of a, you know, this is a triple play in the last 10 days, isn't it, ladies and gentlemen?
Because we also saw Toronto Mayor John Torrey, we've discussed this on earlier shows, being condemned by the progressives, especially Desmond Cole, who is all about white privilege and white supremacy and systemic racism.
That's the drum he continues to beat, describing a couple of gangbangers who fired live rounds of ammunition in a playground where two little girls were playing, could have killed them.
And he justifiably called those gunmen sewer rats.
And suddenly, people on the left, like Desmond Cole, are saying, oh, no, you can't call them sewer rats.
How dare you conflate the black community with sewer rats?
Well, first of all, the joke's on Desmond Cole because at the time of Mayor Torrey making that remark, he didn't even know the race of the gunmen.
So you see, there's always this assumption that everything on the progressive left is about race.
And then just the other day, well, here we have the headline there, Mayor John Torrey won't apologize for calling gunmen who wounded two young sisters, two young girls rather, sewer rats.
And by the way, I'm not the biggest John Torrey fan, but I can tell you this, folks, thankfully he has a spine on this one.
It seems to be the du regur policy strategy of those in office or those in the media or in the public limelight to always apologize even though the allegation doesn't bear any merit to the reality of the situation.
So good for John Torrey calling a couple of sewer rats sewer rats and good for the mayor not apologizing.
Now I wish I could say there was a similar amount of spine in the back of our Conservative Party of Canada leader Andrew Scheer because a couple of days ago a tweet went up where it was making mention of our porous border security.
And basically what the tweet showed ladies and gentlemen was a migrant pretty well dressed with a new suitcase waltzing into Canada and he was stepping over some old tweet by Justin Trudeau basically saying you know Canada welcomes you you being I guess everybody in the world.
Well guess what?
For having the temerity to depict that person the actor they use as the migrant walking over into Canada as a black man well the howls of racism again came from the Liberal Party and their useful idiots in the media.
But look at where some of these ill can I call them illegal immigrants because I know Justin Trudeau likes irregular, you know, kind of like when you get a sock for 60% off at McGregor's, you get the discount because it's irregular because there's something wrong with the fabric.
So can't use illegal even though they are illegal.
So we call them irregular.
So we'll use the people-kind-esque language of Justin Trudeau.
Look at where some of these or a lot of these alleged refugees and migrants and asylum seekers are coming from.
Nigeria, Haiti, Somalia, pretty predominantly black countries, I'm sorry to say.
Jewish Fake Hebrew Hammer00:13:31
And again, if we are having black refugees or black refugee claimants or black migrant claimants and asylum seekers coming into Canada, and that's a fact, again, stating a fact in 2018 because a fact might be harmful or it goes against the politically correct reality of the social justice warrior set and the progressive set that is therefore automatically racist.
And I say no.
And it's a shame that Andrew Scheer decided to take that down.
I don't understand why.
And what I would have done if I were Andrew Scheer, the Conservative Party leader, is develop a spine and defend the merits of that tweet.
And there was nothing racist about it and actually turn the question around and say to the people charging him with racism, what's racist about it?
Or are we in a society now, folks, where in advertising, in movies, anything in which you have to depict a bad guy, the default bad guy, has to be white, because if it's a person of color, therefore that is a racist statement.
I think that's where we're headed.
And as I've said before, if everything is racist, then nothing is racist.
So let me go to the computer here, which seems to be having right now.
And we'll see what we have going.
And I'd like you to weigh in on this, because that's three in a row where elected leaders are called racist when there is no racism whatsoever.
Now here's a good one.
Going back to the Tommy Robinson trial from VZIX, not so complicated when they arrested Tommy and sentenced him at lightning speed.
Yeah, it's funny that, isn't it?
The lawmakers and the enforcers of the law sure knew the law when they arrested Tommy on May 25th and within minutes.
I mean, when have you ever seen the wheels of justice go at that kind of Formula One speed?
Within minutes, tried and convicted him and gave him a sentence so over the line in terms of precedent that everyone's shaking their heads, or at least most people are shaking their heads.
So good point there.
Czech nationalist says, rebel, is Tommy still in one piece?
I think he is, but I can tell you this, spending any amount of time in solitary confinement, that is not fun.
That is mentally debilitating.
And I hope there's no kind of side effects from Tommy from that.
And let's see.
Okay.
So Observer Dude said, he said, if I'm being racist, I'm out of the bar.
I explained I wasn't being racist and he just walked away.
I think I walked into a conversation halfway through, but I think you're making my point that if you're saying, I think this was a story, I think I remember this from two days ago, where you were saying something maybe pro-Trump and therefore that makes you a racist too.
Hey, why not?
Like I said, anything that the left disagrees with is apparently an act of racism.
And a redhead rance, that's disappointing that Scheer backed down.
It's very disappointing.
I think I'm preaching to the choir here when I say that we really need regime change in this country and the election is a year and a few months away.
And my goodness gracious, when is Mr. Scheer going to pick up his game if that is indeed possible?
I mean, he can't keep backing down.
And I'm sorry, he comes across right now as the invisible man.
Like, what is his presence right now?
And think of all the liberal gaffes.
And where is Scheer on these files?
I think if he thinks he can just go on cruise control and avoid saying anything contentious or controversial, he'll just be elected as the next prime minister.
I think that's a really sad and sorry strategy, especially since what I take from out there is that so much of the electorate is not engaged.
And that more than anything suggests that Scheer needs to get on his game and pick it up a little.
And for goodness sakes, stop apologizing when there's nothing to apologize for.
Okay then.
Let's see, we have.
Czech nationalist says, send fascists on immigrants.
They hate them.
Well, I don't know if you're condoning violence there, but I would have to disagree.
Tony Nagy writes, it's so hot, the snowflakes are melting.
If only they just see, I think the heat triggers the snowflakes too.
Oh, John, I love these.
I don't understand these comments.
We get them from time to time.
But if you like free speech, you've got to take the bad stuff with the good stuff.
John H23Z says, you're a bunch of, I don't know what that, it looks like Hebrew, Polish communists, you are fake Jews.
Well, actually, that's interesting.
A little take on fake news.
I don't know, I can't remember anyone at the Rebel who wasn't Jewish claiming to be Jewish.
So if you can educate me on why any of us here would be fake Jews, I would love to hear that.
But, you know, if you're going to throw a stone like that, at least make it coherent and something I can understand.
Certainly Ezra Levant is Jewish.
He sometimes gets mail emails about that.
And I think he took on the alias of the Hebrew Hammer the other day, embracing his Jewish background.
And good for Ezra for doing so.
I like that, by the way.
The Hebrew Hammer sounds like a WWE character.
And we have, well, I can't read the name because it's so many random keystrokes.
But he says that Ezra is a media god.
And Patrick Max writes, Menzies' wife is Jewish.
Aha, yes indeed, Patrick, you have found me out.
I guess, does that make me a fake Jew now that my wife is Jewish?
But she is Jewish and proud of it.
So there you go.
Okay.
From Shelly Kay, I don't think Scheer realizes that the majority of the people who voted for him expected him to stand up against the other parties instead of bowing down to them and the media.
And yeah, well, you know what?
I don't know what Scheer thinks either.
But, you know, I think I just try to imagine how things might have been a little different if Maxine Bernier were the leader.
And don't forget, we were talking about a leadership contest.
I believe it went to the 13th ballot.
And I believe the margin was less than 1% for Andrew Scheer to become a leader.
It's all hypothetical now, but I wonder if things would have been different with Max in charge.
I can say this, I don't think they could have been, I don't think they could be more lame than what we have right now.
But you know what?
Mr. Scheer, prove me wrong.
I would love for you to prove me wrong because I don't think I can take another term of these Trudeau liberals running the roost in Ottawa.
And let's see, we have Mr. Wolf, Hebrew Hammer, great movie.
Is there a movie called The Hebrew Hammer?
If so, I think I'd like to look into that.
Okay, and Robert Wilson, oh, this bodes badly for me.
When is Ezra Block Capitals back?
Well, definitely by Monday.
I have to apologize for some, well, we were accused of being fake Jews.
I have to apologize for the fake news I uttered yesterday.
I said today would be my last day filling in for Ezra, who I agree is much better at doing this than I am.
But you have me tomorrow too.
So hopefully things will continue to run smoothly.
So let's change gears here, ladies and gentlemen.
And oh, I hear from Mr. Producer number two that we have a super chat.
And I'm going to scroll over to it.
And it's J Moni C18 for $5.
Thank you, Jay, so much for your donation.
Big fan, your man on street videos reminding me of those great Mark Dice videos.
Well, thank you so much.
Mr. Dice does a fantastic job 100%.
I'm in agreement with you there.
And for those that might not be familiar with what Jay is saying, my super cameraman, Efren, and I go out to the streets of Toronto.
We do a couple of different kinds of generation Trudeau's.
One is the Generation Trudeau After Dark, where admittedly we're interviewing inebriated, mostly millennials, to weigh in on politics.
And of course, we always get condemned by one or two people.
Oh, how unethical.
Why would you interview drunk people?
Well, I say alcohol very often works as truth, sir.
And then we do another version where we go on to the campuses and we basically take something from the news and then throw a false and admittedly false twist on it and ask the kids to weigh in on that.
I think one of our first ones, and it wasn't even a false twist, it was just a goof, if you will.
We went onto the campus of Ryerson.
This was 2016, 2016 rather, and it was the centenary of the suffragette movement in Canada.
And we asked predominantly female students on campus if they would sign a petition against female suffrage.
And I don't think anyone said no, like ants to an open jam jar at a picnic.
They all signed it, not realizing that suffrage had nothing to do with violence against women, which I presume is what they were upset about, but all about giving women the right to vote.
And these were sober university students.
So what does that say about the level of education in Canada?
But thank you so much for that.
And I have to say, Jay, it's the people we get on camera that just make it so delightfully easy for us in terms of delivering the entertainment, typically in an unintentionally funny kind of way.
And I don't know about you folks, of all the humor out there, slapstick humor, black humor, I think unintentional humor, that is my favorite kind of comedy, bar none.
And we have another super chat.
And let's see.
Oh my goodness, it is, this might be the biggest one I've seen.
Well, I've been in this chair.
A little freezing of the computer.
And I promise you, Mr. Producer, I haven't pressed any buttons.
The problem is, folks, with these fat fingers and these tiny little buttons, it's kind of like giving a Neanderthal man a typewriter and asking him to make good with it.
And I cannot, for whatever reason.
Okay.
I'm going to go to the mouse.
Ah, look at that.
You know what?
I think, guys, the mouse is an easier thing.
So, nope.
Bear with me.
I'm looking for that super chat.
I saw it and it.
Here it is.
Allie Clark, $50.
Keep up the great work.
Well, thank you so much, Ali.
And by the way, thank you even more than the compliment.
Thank you for that very generous donation.
$50 is fantastic.
All that money helps us keep the lights on and pay the expenses here.
And when you're living in Ontario, believe me, we need every penny, even though we don't make pennies anymore.
We need every nickel, I should say.
So thank you for that.
And I'm pleased that you donated that amount of money.
And from Donald McLean, we have Scheer doesn't have the stones.
Well, Donald, you know, he's got a year and a bit to rediscover his stones.
I hope he has stones.
He's going to need stones.
He's got to go in front of the Canadian people and say, you've had Brand X for four years.
Carbon Tax Controversy00:06:20
It ain't working.
And here's why you should vote for me.
And it shouldn't be just because Brand X, the Liberal Party, is so bad.
It should be because of what you're bringing to the table.
And I would be as public as possible in terms of getting your brand out there, what you stand for, what your ideas are, instead of turning into Claude Rains, the Invisible Man, and capitulating, folding like a cheap lawn chair every time somebody calls you out on some kind of controversy or bogus charge of racism, as was the case with that tweet the other day.
Speaking of federal politics, well, you know, things are not going well with the new government of Ontario in their dealings with the federal liberals.
You had, of course, Minister Hussein implying that Lisa McLeod was un-Canadian.
She had the temerity to question the Liberals about the porous border security that we continue to endure in this country.
And I guess that goes back to the theme from the last subject, doesn't it, folks, that when you speak a hard truth, it's racist or in this case, un-Canadian.
But yesterday we had Climate Barbie in town to meet with Rod Phillips.
And basically the relationship between the federal government in Ottawa and the provincial government in Ontario is going from bad to worse because she was basically saying that that's McKenna, that is, that the government is sticking to its plan of having a carbon tax, even though Doug Ford wants nothing to do with a carbon tax.
And by the way, Ms. McKenna, if you paid attention to about four months of campaigning, Doug Ford at every single campaign stop said the carbon toast, like the carbon tax will not be part of Ontario.
So I hope it didn't knock you off your chair when this resistance was offered to you by Minister Phillips.
But this is what I love.
McKenna said her government will stick to its plan, which she said is both protecting the environment and creating jobs.
Now, let's dissect that sentence because I've never seen such utter BS uttered in a, geez, about 25 words.
If one of my Mr. Producers can put up a chart about climate CO2 emissions for 2017, this is fascinating.
As you can see, here are the top 10 countries with decreases and increases in CO2 emissions.
And leading the pack in a good way in terms of decreases was the USA.
But look at, so if we go from reduction, and as you can see, US is number one, Ukraine number two.
And let's go into the dirty dozen category.
That would be the top countries with increases in CO2 emissions.
And will you look at that?
Knock me down with a feather.
There is Canada.
So if we're one of the top 10 nations that experienced an increase in carbon emissions, in CO2, what is, you know, Ms. McKenna saying that this is one of their goals that they're continuing to do.
And then creating jobs.
Yeah, I see a whole lot of well-paid, full-time, high-skilled pipeline jobs being created in Canada right now, don't you, folks?
I mean, with all the stillborn pipeline projects, this is a disgrace.
But it kind of seems to me that we have, I've always said this, Justin Trudeau is like a boy doing a man's job in Ottawa.
And the rest of his liberals are, you know, really kids that are ruling the federal roost in Ottawa too.
And meanwhile, in Ontario, we have the adults taking over after 15 years of McGinty wind mismanagement.
That's why there's a summer session, by the way, folks, which is essentially unheard of, because there is so much work to be done.
There is so much damage control to be taken care of.
And basically, Minister Phillips is saying, no, this is a manufacturing province, and a carbon tax is going to hurt families.
It's going to hurt industry.
It's going to hurt small business.
And we're not signing on to this.
And even if this means that we have to go the court route, so be it.
We're going to do that.
I don't think it's going to get there, folks.
But Saskatchewan is on board as well in terms of challenging the federal government in a court of law.
And hopefully the feds will back down on this because as proven in the proof of the pudding here, their agenda in terms of creating jobs and becoming environmental champions is a complete falsehood.
Two more super chats have come in, I believe.
And let me go on a Easter egg hunt for those.
And so please, by the way, in the meantime, feel free to weigh in if you would like to say what you'd like to say about the carbon tax.
And here is one of the super chats from Jane Austin.
It's five pounds, which I appreciate very much.
And Trump Scotland Trimp and Paraglider SS agent died of a stroke.
He had permission, but SS team not told.
He said, we've hit Trump where it hurts.
Well, you know what?
That's kind of a shocking story.
I don't know that story, but I'll look into it.
Says a Lot About Scarlett Johansson00:15:09
Certainly, I have a real hard time getting my head around anyone who takes the joy of seeing somebody in pain or seeing somebody dying.
And certainly we saw that in Toronto with, I was mentioning Premier Doug Ford when his brother Rob Ford was the mayor of Toronto.
There was such glee in Rob Ford's personal problems with addiction issues, his personal problems with his weight.
I mean, who can ever forget the Toronto Star putting that so-called gotcha photo on the front page of Rob Ford leaving a Kentucky fried chicken with some KFC product.
You know, that was the, aha, look at that.
He's eating fried chicken.
Oh, it's like he came out of a bordello or something.
Shame on them and shame on anyone that revels in the death of somebody just for politically disagreeing with them.
So, okay then.
And let's see.
Oh, I'm having a little technical glitch issue, as usual.
You know, this never happens to Ezra, and that's why Ezra is the king here.
And if one of my Mr. Producers can come back in, and I'm not going to use the mouse from now on, because like I said, these fat fingers are just not doing it for me.
And I apologize for the delay, folks.
Another thing I'd like to talk to you about is the whole raging controversy on transgenderism, especially as it pertains to the Scarlett Johansson movie.
Well, it won't be a Scarlett Johansson movie.
She's actually being bullied out of appearing in the film called Rub and Tug.
But before I get into that, I'd like to run a clip right now from the Hollywood Reporter.
It's all about the glee.
She's actually being bullied out of the film called Jonathan.
Oh, I'm sorry, we're looking for that clip right now.
It's all about the glee the Johansson haters have in the fact that she's finally stepped down from the project.
So if we can run that, that'd be great.
I have breaking news that Scarlett Johansson has exited Rub and Tug.
I think it was really brave, and I applaud her for doing that.
Scarlett deciding to pull out was a good example of listening to the community, and that was the right thing to do.
And it's important that she made that decision, and I applaud her for that.
She did what I want all cisgender people to do when they mess up.
You acknowledge that you did something wrong.
You say, I understand what's going on.
And you do the right thing, which she did.
Says a lot.
Says a lot about Scarlett Johansson.
I'm going to assume that what she says in the statement, which was clearly very well crafted by a team of very smart people, was nonetheless in earnest.
Scarlett Johansson, you are awesome.
She heard us.
It's going to make me cry because she heard us.
That actually makes me a little emotional because it's not an easy industry for trans women.
It's not an easy industry for trans men.
Wow.
Yeah.
So those, okay, here's the controversy, folks.
Scarlett Johansson, she was going to play a trans character, a trans man, in the film called Rub and Tug.
And she originally defended this criticism that she has no right playing a trans person if she's not trans herself.
And she pointed to other actors such as Jared Leto, who played a trans person in the Dallas Buyers Club and to critical acclaim, as well as some other actors out there also playing trans characters to critical acclaim.
So at first she stuck to her guns, but they wore her down.
They pressured her.
They called her transphobic.
They called her a bigot.
And finally, she said, all right, I'm waving the white flag of surrender.
I'm stepping down from the project because obviously there are people hurt by this choice.
And you know what, folks?
Here's the deal.
I'm going to agree to this new terms of engagement that as you saw those various people, those supporters of this new world order in terms of transgenderism were advocating that if the script calls for a trans character, then a trans actor must play that trans character.
That's 100% new rule, put it in the contract, it's ironclad.
But you know what?
There's an asterisk to that, and it's this.
If the script calls for a 100% naturally born female actress, a female character, or female character, she has to be played by a 100% female actress.
And vice versa, if the script calls for a 100% real male character, then a 100% real male actor must play that character.
Okay?
So are you happy now, trans?
Because I don't know, maybe a movie with a trans character comes along maybe once every four or five or six years.
And by the way, in the Department of Careful What You Wish For, it might look like neither a normal or a trans actor is going to get this role that Scarlett Johansson is backing away from because now, without the star power of Scarlett Johansson, the film is in jeopardy.
It might not go ahead.
So all those jobs that were tied to the film and had, I believe, a $30 million budget gone if they decide that they cannot go ahead with this.
But of course, we're even living in a society, folks, where, again, it comes down to the speaking of harsh truth and harsh reality gets you branded as a bigot or a phobe or practicing some ism out there.
And I can tell you, look no further than what happened to Winnipeg DJ Dave Wheeler just yesterday.
He was fired from the Rogers Winnipeg station.
Now he's a morning man.
It's a hard rock station out there.
And they were talking about the Scarlett Johansson controversy, how she was forced to step down.
And he said, here's the comment that got him in trouble.
First it was a suspension and then with hours, within hours, it was a firing.
Wheeler compared transgender people to actors who pretend to be different things.
And you know what?
I actually think that's clever and funny and truthful.
Because at the end of the day, I know this is terribly politically incorrect of me, but what is a transgender woman or a transgender man than a man or a woman who has surgically sliced and diced their genitalia and taken hormone shots and are pretending to be a gender that they are not.
I'm sorry, that's what it is.
And that's what we use, how we used to call it out.
Now this is part of a phobia.
And if you have criticism, there's no room for debate on this issue.
And it's very perversely ironic, I think, folks, that you see in the trans community for years now, they're saying, oh, come on, have some tolerance, be more accepting.
And yet, where is the tolerance and where is the acceptance on behalf of the trans community when it comes to a diversity of opinions?
No, if someone says something wrong, then you are, it's not just a suspension that they want now.
You must be fired and never hired again.
And also, I'll tell you, it shows you that when you look at mainstream media right now, how much of a boring echo chamber of political correctness it's become.
Everyone is scared to death to say anything in which there will be an accusation on social media that you are demonstrating racism or bigotry or Islamophobia, all the other slurs out there, folks.
You know what I'm talking about, because the social media mob will gather together with their pitchforks and torches and demand that you are fired, even for a simple slip of the tongue.
And why has society gone that way?
Why have we become a society in which a broadcaster has to be forever penalized and never hired and economically disciplined for offending one or two people?
It's a shame.
And when it comes to radio, I'll tell you, ever since 2005 when satellite radio went on the air, this is why I subscribed and I still subscribe because so much of the pabl that you have to listen to on local terrestrial radio is just unlistenable junk.
It's just political correctness recited over and over.
Nobody has an opinion where it's daring or for that matter, even truthful.
Yes, the truth is off limits right now when it comes to so much of the mainstream media.
Now we have three super chats and I even have a printout.
Mr. Producer number three was so lovely to come in and print those off for me.
I know I'm a bit of a dinosaur folks.
I love hard copy.
And we have Observer Dude with 10 pounds.
Thank you so much Observer Dude for your generosity.
And here's what Observer Dude says.
Imagine if someone walked into a Muslim area like Luton holding a free Tommy sign.
It would be like that scene in Die Heart 3 when John McClain was in the black neighborhood wearing that sign.
Yes, that was the terrorist made him display, shall we say, a very insensitive word on that sign, which you're not supposed to say in polite company, although you do hear in every second rap song.
It begins with the letter N. You know what I'm talking about, folks.
Yeah, Observer Dude, I'll tell you this.
Here's what I imagine would happen.
You would receive a beating, and by a beating, I mean a biker gang beating.
And in the aftermath, when the authorities finally descend on the scene, guess what?
You, that is the victim who was holding a free Tommy sign, I have little doubt that you would be charged with incitement.
You know, if you hadn't walked into this neighborhood with that sign, which you knew was going to offend people, then you wouldn't have been beaten up and we wouldn't have had to spend resources coming out here with the constabulary and the ambulance.
And you are now going to be charged with incitement.
That is how the UK rolls these days.
It's very dangerous.
And as I've said before, Canada seems on a trajectory with certain motions and stipulations that we have here in our great dominion where we're moving more towards limiting free speech and free expression as well.
But good point, Observer Dude.
Gee, if anyone would, I was going to suggest someone should do this as an experiment, but I take that back.
I don't want anyone to be harmed.
And I know that would be a bruising for a cruise in, no doubt.
And Joel G.J., sorry, Joel GJ sends in $5.
Thank you so much for that, Joel.
And Joel says, I'm an American, so excuse my ignorance.
Who would you compare Doug and Rob to in the U.S.?
Definitely not Bush family, in my opinion.
Was Rob's health a huge issue in the media?
Well, I guess, I mean, it's kind of funny, Joel.
In a desperate attempt to tarnish Doug Ford when he was running for premier, the then incumbent premier, Kathleen Wynne, compared him to Donald Trump, actually.
And it was kind of a, I took great mirth and amusement in that comparison, Joel, because to Doug Ford's base, that would be a compliment.
That would be another reason to vote for Doug Ford.
So I would say Doug Ford, in terms of his politics on American level, it is far more Trumpian than anyone else in the public limelight.
And Rob's health, well, Rob struggled with his weight and he was trying to lose weight.
And Rob struggled from substance abuse as well.
And the thing is, we're told that people who suffer from substance abuse are victims.
Usually they're victims.
And they need help and they need care and they need compassion.
And I agree with that.
But instead, the media, I think, in the most disgraceful day ever, or several days ever, in the history of Toronto when they covered Mayor Rob Ford, they were camping out on his lawn.
They were camping out on his mother's lawn.
They were hounding and harassing this man.
Even though he was, at least in the first term, the first two years of his first term in office, he was getting things done.
Rob eventually was diagnosed with cancer and passed away.
And there are many people that say that the stress he endured in the continual hounding of him, and it was a hounding.
The media were out for blood when it came to Rob Ford.
Maybe that was a catalyst in bringing about stress that got the cancer in motion.
I know there's two schools of thought about stress being a contributor to cancer.
So I don't know.
But I'll tell you this much, it sure wasn't healthy for him.
And he passed away and I miss him dearly, and so do millions of other people.
He was the one that coined what I thought was one of the best three-word slogans in recent history of politics, which was respect for taxpayers.
That's what he was about.
He was about fiscal conservatism.
He was about bringing Toronto, Toronto's house into order, and people loathed him for it.
Hard Truths Unveiled00:06:11
And again, Joel GJ, another $5.
I'm going to assume that's $5 American, which I'm going to do some calculation.
That's like $29.50 Canadian right now.
So Joel writes here, yet Scar Joe didn't quit when she got role for the main character of Ghost in the Shell remake.
Hypocrisy, no love for OTAKU since Dragon Ball remake.
You know what?
Yes, you're right.
Scarlett Johansson was criticized for her main character in Ghost in the Shell.
They called it, I believe, whitewashing, but she was under pressure for that too.
Make no mistake, but for the whitewashing of that character in Ghost in the Shell, she endured the criticism.
She did not step down.
But for Robin Tug, she did step down.
And as I said, Joel, what kind of a victory is this for the trans community when A, if these are the new rules going forward, only trans people can play, trans actors can play trans characters, and only, how do we call ourselves?
I know the term is cisgender, but I hate that term.
Can anyone tell me how cisgender came to be?
I mean, cis, to me, that sounds too much like sissy, you know.
So I'll say, oh, what the hell?
And only normal characters can be played by normal actors and actresses.
If that's the new role going forward, you're going to find very limited opportunities in terms of Hollywood blockbusters being made.
Not a lot of trans movies out there or movies calling for trans characters.
And in regard to rub and tug itself, if the project is now dead on arrival because they've lost the star power of Scarlet and it's a $30 million movie, well, who won?
I would suggest nobody won.
It's lose, lose.
And yet another super chat.
I'm looking for it now, so bear with me.
I promised you folks, I'm going to the mouse, and that is what I'm doing right now.
And we have, I don't know what this means, but from this is not the super chat, Roaldak says, Scarlett can rub and tug me anytime.
I don't know what that means.
Please elaborate.
And Amanda Joy says, what's next for Hollywood?
Only real gorillas can act in Planet of the Apes.
Yeah, you know, I guess we'll have someone from the primate community saying that we're really against all this CGI stuff, taking away jobs from real primates.
So can we have, you know, trained chimpanzees and gorillas do the next Planet of the Apes movie?
And then of course you'd have problems with PETA because they would say this is exploitation.
And wow, it's all like that Meryl Street movie, isn't it, folks?
It's complicated and it's getting more complicated every time.
And we have here from, here's a super chat from Rebel Truth.
$50.
Thank you very much.
That's very generous.
$50.
And Rebel Truth says, you, sir, are a blessed, oh, sorry, you, sir, are a blessing to Earth and humanity.
You deliver unprecedented hard facts to the table.
I tune in with Rebel Media when I want to know the truth on the political landscape of Canada.
May I suggest that you have more visual presentations?
Thank you.
Well, thank you so much.
Mr. Producer, can we get that printed out?
Because I want to personally hand deliver that to Ezra when he returns from the UK and to put a little bug in his ear.
You know, I got to tell you, my friend, and again, thank you for the $50.
One of the reasons for the resentment we get here at the Rebel.media from people in mainstream media is jealousy.
I'm sorry, here's another hard truth.
There's no way to sugarcoat this.
We talk about things and we expose things and we say things in plain language that the mainstream media wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole if they were standing 11 feet away.
And I mean, I have talked, I have people I know in mainstream media, and when I call them out on things they've written or things that more likely they're refusing to cover or refusing to say, I call them out on it and they say, Dave, look, I got bills to pay.
I don't want to be fired.
So sometimes in the mainstream media, there's an ideological bias by the people that have been attracted to it.
And other times, people that aren't on brand, shall we say, but have a right-of-center view, they know that they can't write what they want to write.
And if they do, they will be economically disciplined.
They will be let go.
So it's something I've always said, my friend, that if there's something worse than state-sponsored censorship, it's this, self-censorship.
And that is what we are seeing increasingly in the media today based on the people in charge or based on a fear of getting disciplined.
And like I said, look at poor Dave Wheeler in Winnipeg out of a job.
for one little joke about the transgender community.
And I would argue, in the case of Dave Wheeler, you are a morning man.
Are you not contractually obliged to be funny and entertaining and critical and controversial?
I mean, it sure worked for Howard Stern on satellite radio, who I believe gets close to half a billion dollars every five years.
So certainly, if that tells you something, it's this.
There is a market for that.
But we have spineless, gutless people who are the program directors and the editors and the publishers in this business today.
And that's why you don't hear what you'd like to hear.
They're just afraid of their own shadows when it comes to their own self-censorship.
San Francisco's Drug Crisis00:03:22
Okay, so let's carry on here, shall we?
And we have from Lead Queen, you're right, Dave.
I don't know what I'm right about, but I'll assume it's about everything, Your Highness, that I've said today.
So thank you very much for that.
Let's go on ahead.
Kyle Vincent writes, Rob loved crack.
Well, you know what?
Let's be honest.
He did have an addiction.
But here's the thing, Kyle.
The left always tells us when it's somebody who isn't right of center struggling with a substance abuse issue that they need compassion, love, caring, help.
I agree with that.
Where was that compassion and that help and that caring for Rob Ford?
Didn't exist.
It was quite the other way around, actually, wasn't it?
And let's go on a little bit.
Kyle Vincent also writes, cocaine should be legalized next.
You know what?
Folks, that's less of a joke than somewhat of a prediction because the other day I don't think we talked about it, but it was up on our list of topics worthy of discussion.
It was about the Toronto Board of Health having a motion passed where they were going to ask the federal government to look into legalizing or decriminalizing all drugs.
So you name it, crack, cocaine, fentanyl, opioids, what have you.
And if you, yeah, I think we did talk about this because I remember we were running some footage.
There we are.
Yep.
Decriminalize all drugs, Toronto Health Board urges Ottawa.
So basically, Toronto, which is a sanctuary city, wants to have an open policy when it comes to all drugs.
You know, folks, one of the reasons a lot of these drugs are illegal is because when you use them, they do nothing but harm you and when used as directed, kill you.
But that is the situation.
And if you want to see what that will lead to, please Google San Francisco and look at some of the videos that have been posted.
San Francisco has turned into, and believe me, I think San Francisco is or was one of the most beautiful cities on the planet, but increasingly it's becoming very ugly.
There are tense cities sprouting up everywhere.
And with it, you have trash.
You have needles that have been disregarded.
And by the way, the vast majority of those needles, where did they come from?
Yeah, you guessed it.
The city of San Francisco.
They want to aid in the bed and they don't want to stigmatize the addicts.
So they're, I guess, helping them kill themselves.
And even human feces all over entire city blocks.
If that's the route you want to go down on, well, so much for the tourism business, I guess, and so much for living in Toronto the Good.
Let's go ahead.
Synthworks writes, human shite in the streets.
Yes, that is San Francisco, and it'll probably be Toronto as well.
Miss Libpig says San Fran, a drug city.
Drug City Problems00:01:35
Right.
And on it goes.
And believe me, I know it's kind of, you know, I'm broadcasting at lunchtime, so I apologize for that kind of imagery if you're eating and watching this.
So Google those images of San Francisco later on.
All right, so we are heading towards the finish line, I see.
We are tonight on the Ezral Event Show, I shall be guest hosting, and we have Joe Warmington, the Toronto Sun, one of the decent, honest, fantastic guys in the mainstream media, a guy that speaks the truth always.
Joe Warmington will be one of my guests.
And I'll be talking about Trump negotiating, it seems, a deal with Mexico.
That story broke yesterday.
It looks like they're on the road to having a new NAFTA light deal as opposed to NAFTA Classic.
I say NAFTA Light because this North American free trade agreement will not be including that part of North America known as, oh, what's it called again?
Oh yes, Canada, because relations with Trump and Trudeau are still at a very low point right now.
So that's going to bode very poorly for our economy.
It might even grease the wheels for recession.
But meanwhile, Trump is forging ahead with Mexico to get a deal done.
Just incredible.
Again, Mr. Shearer, pick up your game.
We are all out of time.
It was fantastic today.
You have me again tomorrow.
I look forward to it.
And remember, folks, without risk, there can be no glory.