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'Sup, you beautiful bastards!

―Philip DeFranco

Philip James DeFranco (born: Philip James Franchini, Jr.; December 1, 1985 (1985-12-01) [age 38]),[1] also known as Philly D and sXePhil, is an American YouTube vlogger. He is also the producer and host for The Philip DeFranco Show, a news-centered show that focuses on both domestic and international news, along with pop culture. He is noted for being the creator of SourceFed, and is currently the founder and CEO of the Philip DeFranco Network, an online news network designed to deliver unbiased news and information along with a substantial conversation to go with it.

Philip is one of YouTube's first ever creators and has been creating content since 2006. He is the husband to fellow YouTuber Lindsay DeFranco (née Doty), and father to two, Trey and Carter.

YouTube[]

DeFranco started his YouTube channel in 2006, and his videos regularly surpass one million views today. His large audience led to his winning of a Spore Creature Creator contest and Wired's Sexiest Geek of 2008 award, both open access online polls. His videos are centered on current events, politics and celebrity gossip, in which he gives his opinion, usually presented in an ironic manner and with frequent jump cuts to create a fast-paced feel. He has over 5 million subscribers. In the late 2000s, his channel was among the top five most subscribed of all time. He had a second YouTube channel called "Philly D" where he would have a series of daily vlogs which he calls "The Vloggity". Later he would use that channel to have vlogs from the office with Joe Bereta being main camera man and editor. That channel ended with only one video remaining on the channel. He then made channel Defranco Does and had a Family vlog channel, TheDefrancoFam, which included videos of his wife Lindsay and his two kids Trey and Cater.

SourceFed[]

He formerly owned SourceFed. It's just like his main channel, except with more topics and more people in the videos. their 2nd channel is SourceFedNerd where they will talk about movies, games, cell phone apps and whatever else they can think and is the new home to #TableTalk.

DeFrancoElite[]

On May 1, 2017, Phil posted a video stating that for the first time in 4 years he is no longer a part of an MCN (Multi-Channel Network) and is now an Independent creator. He says that it's a necessary change that needed to happen in order to make the next great news network. He created DeFrancoElite, a fan-fun initiative through Patreon. He is doing this independently, so there is no interference from corporate interest and to not be forced to talk about something they don't want to. Phil received over 10,500 patrons within the first 24 hours of him making the video and received as many as 16,700 patrons, but currently has 15,979 patrons as on August 8, 2017. He has the second highest following and is the assumed most earned creator on the site. Before Phil, highest earned was Chapotraphouse[2]. DeFranco has received some criticism for starting a Patreon, especially from YouTuber Keemstar.

Personal life[]

Phil was born in The Bronx, New York, and he has a stepmother who works at a car dealership. He is of Italian descent. He has been a student at the University of South Florida, a biology student at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, and later a junior at East Carolina University.

In 2007, Phil was living in Florida and later that year, he lived in Atlanta. He also worked as a waiter in a number of restaurants while making videos in 2007. DeFranco lived in a car until moving back with his father in Tampa, Florida, on condition that he would return to college, which he later failed to do. Before the YouTube partner program was available, he has asked for donations from his viewers after claiming to have run out of money and selling everything except his Mac, camera, and clothes and overdrawing his bank account, so he could spend a night in a hotel as he found it too scary sleeping in a car in Brooklyn. The video was eventually deleted.

DeFranco also has polycystic kidney disease, which he inherited from his father and grandfather; his family has a history of it. On April 22, 2014, his son Philip "Trey" DeFranco III was born. On March 7, 2015, he got married to his longtime girlfriend Lindsey.

Criticism of YouTube's "advertiser-friendly" policy[]

On 31st August 2016, DeFranco posted a video entitled YouTube Is Shutting Down My Channel and I'm Not Sure What To Do where he brought up how several of his videos had been demonetized, and he brought up how the guidelines for being considered being appropriate for advertising - specifically the guideline that reads:

Controversial or sensitive subjects and events, including subjects related to war, political conflicts, natural disasters and tragedies, even if graphic imagery is not shown.

DeFranco argued that this guideline bordered on censorship as it would make channels such as DeFranco's financially unsustainable if they had their advertising revenue pulled because they discussed subjects that were in the news, with DeFranco bringing up that one of his videos that had been demonetized mentioned the Brock Turner case. The video caused several other YouTubers to tweet or post videos discussing the guidelines or how many of their videos had been demonetized, and DeFranco even received mainstream media attention from the story.

The following day, DeFranco posted another video, YouTube Responded, But It Gets Even More Confusing..., where he brings up the issue that due to the guidelines being implemented in late 2015, the fact of the matter wasn't that YouTubers had a chunk of their videos demonetized on one specific date, but they had been demonetized weeks or even months ago, but YouTube was only now informing them of this - which means that the users had spent weeks or even months missing out on ad revenue.

On 5th September 2016, DeFranco posted yet another video, WOW! The YouTube Demonetization Fallout is Ridiculous, Biased, And Lazy, discussing some of the response to the story as well as some of the obvious errors made in the mainstream media coverage of the story.

Controversy[]

BetterHelp[]

DeFranco has promoted a company known as "BetterHelp" a couple of times on his show. BetterHelp is an online portal that provides direct-to-consumer access to behavioral health services. The online counseling and therapy services are provided through web-based interaction as well as phone and text communication. In October 2018, BetterHelp gained attention after concerns were raised about the alleged use of unfair pricing, paid reviews from actors, and questionable terms of service. DeFranco faced backlash for being among their most high-profile supporters. DeFranco has denied any allegations of a scam claiming that its a “good product and sponsor with a good purpose”, DeFranco also claimed he used the service and he loved it. Many YouTubers called out DeFranco for his involvement on BetterHelp, including Memeology 101, Keemstar, and PewDiePie. On October 15, DeFranco tweeted that he had formally ended his relationship with BetterHelp.

Political Viewpoint[]

On November 7th, 2020, Defranco livestreamed himself talking about the news released about the results of the American elections. In the livestream he called Trump a "threat to democracy" and called his voters "jackasses" and promptly asked anyone who still supported him to unsub from his channel. He would then spend the rest of the stream attacking Trump and his voters, even referred to them as his "minions" and "cult members".

Awards & Nominations[]

Year Work Category Award Result
2008 Philip DeFranco Sexiest Geek Wired magazine Won
2010 Philip DeFranco Best Vlogger 1st Streamy Awards Nominated
2013 The Philip DeFranco Show Best News Series 2nd IAWTV Awards Won
Best Writing (Non-Fiction) Nominated
Best First-Person Series 3rd Streamy Awards Nominated
Best News and Culture Series Won
SourceFed Nominated
Audience Choice for Best Series of the Year Won
Best Live Series Nominated
SourceFed: #PDSLive 2012 Election Night Coverage Best Live Event Nominated

References[]

Hall of Fame icon
Philip DeFranco is recognized by the Wikitubia community as one of the best on YouTube!
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