Glenn Throws in With Chip and Joanna Gaines in the Fight Against Clickbait Ads

July 07, 2017

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After mentioning a salacious ad he saw on TheBlaze claiming Joanna Gaines was leaving HGTV to start her own line of facial cream, Glenn actually got a call from their attorney.

"Well, when I told the story on the air the first day, Chip and Joanna Gaines' attorney called and said we want to talk to you about that ad. And we immediately said we had nothing to do with it. We didn't even know that's what the ad was until it popped up, and we canceled it. They said, 'yeah, we really would like this ad to stop. Can you help us at all?' So I hope that we are assisting them in every possible way because I love these two, and I think what's happening to people --- because it's not just happening to Chip and Joanna Gaines," Glenn said on radio Friday.

Glenn brought in his media attorney Mike Grygiel to talk about what recourse there is and if banding all these celebrities together to fight this type of ad would make a difference.

"I think there's always strength in numbers. I think there is a threshold obligation here too,

Glenn, on the part of the advertising agency," Grygiel said. "That it's authentic and real. Because otherwise, once the genie's out of the bottle so to speak, it's just very, very difficult to prevent this type of thing from spiraling out of control on the Internet. And then once it's out there on all of these websites, it's difficult to get it back in."

Listen to this segment from The Glenn Beck Program:

GLENN: Hello, America, and welcome to Friday. We are so glad that you have tuned in today. There was a commercial or an ad that was running on TheBlaze, and I saw it, and it wasn't a direct advertiser. It's one of these things, it's complicated to say. But basically, an ad agency represents, you know, all of these different people, so you sign on with the ad agency, and then the ad agency just runs whatever ad. Well, there was this ad that was running, and it was about the new face cream and the headline on the ad was Joanna Gaines leaves the show and Chip didn't even know why. And I'm, like, what the hell is -- Chip and Joanna Gaines? What is this? The lies in this are so amazing, I immediately called our sales manager and said cancel this. What is this? How could they possibly get away with a lie? And actually, I said I don't mind if they sell face cream. But not with lies.

Well, when they said wait a minute, you're telling us -- you're telling us that we have to change our ad copy? Yes, it can't be a lie. They canceled. That's a quarter of a million dollar account.

PAT: A month; right?

GLENN: Yeah, a month. And you see this ad everywhere because people don't care.

PAT: Yep.

GLENN: I happen to care. But it's really hard, especially for conservatives who have been blocked out of almost everything to walk away from $250,000 a month. That's a lot of money, obviously. So we've been talking. How does this company get away with this? Well, when I told the story on the air the first day, Chip and Joanna Gaines attorney called and said we want to talk to you about that ad. And we immediately said we had nothing to do with it. We didn't even know that's what the ad was until it popped up, and we canceled it.

They said, yeah, we really would like this ad to stop.

PAT: Yeah.

GLENN: Can you help us at all? So I hope that we are assisting them in every possible way because I love these two, and I think what's happening to people -- because it's not just happening to Chip and Joanna Gaines. It's happening to a ton of celebrities. I want to know what the legal recourse is. How can that ad run? We have one of the best attorneys on the phone with us to answer this question. And we begin right now.

Okay. Let's just read the first paragraph of this ad. Here it is.

PAT: And like you said, this is everywhere. It's all over the Internet. But it starts out by saying it all started last November when Joanna Gaines, host of the popular HGTV show struck a deal with Lori Greiner. Didn't happen.

GLENN: Lie number two.

PAT: The deal states that Joanna's new cosmetic line will be picked up by QVC.

GLENN: Not true.

PAT: Joanna is very proud of her lying.

GLENN: Lie number four.

PAT: There are attributing quotes here. This is more than just a beauty line. This is what every woman has been dreaming of for most of her adult life.

GLENN: Lie number five.

PAT: The rub is HGTV and QVC are rival competitors.

STU: That is currently a lie.

PAT: QVC just bought HSN.

STU: For $2 billion.

PAT: There's a contract that says she's prohibited or promoting any channel or media company. That's probably true. It was later discovered not even her husband Chip knew that she was -- what she was constructing in the background.

GLENN: Okay. Now you're --

PAT: You're starting to get into the relationship.

GLENN: And when I read that, I was, like, no way. No way.

PAT: It goes so far as to say when her secret surfaced it, it caused a rift in her marriage. Jeez.

GLENN: Okay. That does damage. That does damage to their image.

PAT: Right.

GLENN: I mean, I like them because they're such a great family and such a great couple.

PAT: You're talking liable now.

GLENN: Oh, my gosh. This is horrible so now we're up to lie seven.

PAT: Because of this, HGTV has decided to carry on the show by himself. In one paragraph.

GLENN: Okay. That's one paragraph. There are more lies to follow.

PAT: Uh-huh.

GLENN: We cannot figure out. Because this is not just happening to them. This is happening to -- I saw Stephen Hawking and Anderson Cooper are taking a new brain drug that makes them super smart.

PAT: Really?

JEFFY: Yeah, that's been around.

PAT: There's another one involving Michael Jordan and LeBron James, and they're having some kind of feud, and they're selling a product with it.

JEFFY: My free bottles haven't arrived yet.

GLENN: Mike is truly -- he has a national practice on media law, emphasis on defending news organizations from news gathering to publicly-related claims including defamation, invasion of privacy matters. He is one of the best attorneys in America. When companies see him coming and his firm coming, they realize holy crap. We have the big dogs coming after us. He is my attorney, and I can't speak highly enough about him. So we called him up and asked him how do they get away with this? Mike, welcome to the program.

MIKE: yeah, good morning, Glenn, and thank you very much for the kind words. They're much appreciated. Well, the answer to the examples you've raised on the air is that they really are unlawful and the law has recognized what's known as the right of publicity. And really, what that boils down to is each individual person has a legally protectable interest in their name, their image, their likeness, and their voice. So, for example, if I'm selling cars or a product or a service in Dallas Fort Worth metro area, I could not take a picture of Glenn Beck and put it up on a billboard for motorists to see where you're touting the product or service, unless I had your express written authorization to do that. And the reason is obvious. That you have a recognizable brand value and identity that has commercial value in the marketplace, and you and you alone should be able to control the dissemination of your image for commercial marketing purposes, and you should be able to collect and monetize that. You know, typically, of course, this occurs with celebrities and people whose identities have recognized market value, although in most jurisdictions, no one can do that to say me either, although I obviously don't -- do not have a recognized marketability factor or quotient in my own persona.

GLENN: Okay. So hang on, Mike. So here's the thing. I have seen these everywhere and, you know, when I first saw the one about the brain drug, I wrote to Anderson, and I'm, like, oh, so that's what it is, huh? And he was, like, these are so obnoxious. Joanna and Chip, they called our office and said we're going to track these people down because they keep just shuttering their business, and I guess they'll shutter it and then open it up. And somehow or another, they're getting away with it, and I don't know why. And on top of it, institutions like me, like GlennBeck.com or the Blaze, we took this ad unbeknownst to us because it was just in a service that you buy the service, and then they from the ads with what they're selling. When I saw it, we took it down. It cost us a fortune to lose that, and everyone else is taking it. So there's money being made by the people that are doing the face cream. There's money being made by all the media outlets that are taking this. There's money being made by the agencies that are representing this, and they know that there's somehow or another a game being played and all the celebrities that are involved don't want to spend the money trying to track those guys down because there's obviously not deep pockets or the pockets are so well protected in shell companies that there's nothing to go and get. How do you stop it?

MIKE: Well, that's really a difficult question. And I think you're putting your finger on the real problem, Glenn, today for most celebrities who do have recognized commercial value and appeal in their persona. With the proliferation of these examples on the Internet, it's very difficult to monitor for first thing. And then if you are able to discover these types of things, it's an expensive proposition sometimes because they're all over the place. So most of the time if you're able to identify a truly unauthorized ad where somebody is using your image and your likeness for a commercial purpose, you have not consented to or authorized, you can go to court and get an injunction whereby the court would order the person who is displaying this. A website or something to cease and desist to continue to publish the ad. As you correctly point out, however, that can be a not expensive ask sometimes inconvenient proposition that doesn't fully answer the Whack-a-Mole problem. Once you get one of them down, it pops up again some place else.

GLENN: So that's what I want to -- I want to concentrate on that for a second. What they do, I'm sure, and I don't know the case of this company. But what it appears to be is, you know, they'll just make a quick 501(c)(3) or whatever -- is that the right thing? Yeah, a corporation, an S Corp, a quick S Corp, a shell corporation of some sort, they'll put limited resources in it, they'll buy it, but they won't keep any money in it. And then if you sue that company, there's nothing really to win. And the people just leave to go do it again under some other company name in some other way. How do you get to the people when you know their intent is bad, you know? You want that. You want that protection from a corporation in some cases. But when you have really bad guys using the system, is there anything to get to the actual perpetrators?

MIKE: It can be really difficult, and I had a case a few years ago for a very prominent professional athlete, a tennis player. And his name and image was being used to promote a rather unsavory product. And he in no way authorized this. He did not want the association with his identity in the market embezzle that it devalued his own sponsorship abilities, and we ended up tracking this down, and it was some company offshore, you know, down in the Cayman Islands, and, thankfully, we were able to get the ad shut down on the website because we got a court order and went to Internet service providers like Google and said you can't display this anymore. But being able to recover actual financial damages from the perpetrators is extraordinarily impractical and very unlikely.

GLENN: So, Mike, let me just ask you an off the wall question. And you know me. I don't need another project, and I don't need -- I just don't need more hassles in my life. But this is -- this is something that really bothers me because when I saw it on TheBlaze, if we don't have a way to say to agencies "You cannot lie. These things are just going to keep coming through and slipping through the cracks, and it hurts my credibility as a news organization.

MIKE: Sure.

GLENN: Most people don't care. It also bothers me that people like Chip and Joanna. If people don't say anything and try to help these guys, the Tom Brady's and Michael Jordan and Anderson Cooper and even Stephen Hawking, the next people will be us. And is there a way -- would you be interested to see if we reach out to all of these people? I would like to as a media company just be a part of something that is trying to enforce truth in advertising. Is it possible? Would it help if everybody got together and tried to stop it?

MIKE: I think there's always strength in numbers. I think there is a threshold obligation here too,

Glenn, on the part of the advertising agency. They should have some up front ability --

GLENN: Oh, they didn't care.

MIKE: Before placing an ad.

GLENN: They didn't care.

MIKE: That it's authentic and real. Because otherwise, once the genie's out of the bottle so to speak, it's just very, very difficult to prevent this type of thing from spiraling out of control on the Internet. And then once it's out there on all of these websites, it's difficult to get it back in.

GLENN: Mike, if you could do me a favor, independently like to reach out to these people and see if they're interested in working together. And I don't want to lead it or anything else. But if you are so good. And if it's not you, maybe you know who is that somebody can make a dent. Because if it is the advertiser, we have to go after the ad agencies. Somebody needs to protect truth.

MIKE: Yeah, there should be accountability here and substantial measures often happens with technology. Sometimes things outstrip or outpace the ability of the legal system to provide an effective remedy. And here I think it's probably a situation that merits consideration from those that are involved because for a -- someone who has really worked hard, achieved success to be associated with an unauthorized product or service that may actually be disreputable can obviously cause damage to that person's market value and reputation. And the legal system should be able to find a way to stop that sort of thing from happening.

GLENN: Mike, thank you so much. I appreciate it, Mike.

MIKE: Yep. Appreciate it, Glenn. Take care.

GLENN: My attorney on first amendment and speech and investigative issues Mike is just fantastic. Now this. By the way, chip and Joanna, we love you, and we want to help you any way we possibly can.

Critical theory destroys truth and justice

Editor's note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

Critical theory once stood out as the absurd progressive notion that it is. Now, its maxims are becoming an integral part of ordinary political discourse. The more you repeat a lie, the more you will believe it, and this is the very dangerous place in which we find ourselves today.

Take this critical theory maxim as an example: If we desire justice, we must sometimes champion what may appear superficially as injustice. It's a necessary evil, if you will, the necessity of “controlled injustice.”

By using truth through fabrication and controlled injustice for justice, we’ll save the republic. We’ll be acting in a noble way.

This definition of justice is defined by the “oppressed,” not the “oppressor.” It is the greatest happiness for the greatest number. To achieve this justice, however, we need to endorse acts on occasion that, while seemingly unjust, serve a higher purpose. It will ensure the stability and the unity of our republic, and this may manifest in ways that seem contradictory to our values. But these are the necessary shadows to cast light on “true justice.”

And isn’t that what we are all after, anyway?

Here’s another critical theory maxim: Sometimes we find the truth through fabrication. Our pursuit of truth sometimes requires a strategic use of falsehoods. The truth is a construct that has been shaped and tailored to promote the well-being of the collective.

We sometimes need to accept and propagate lies designed by "the system” — not the old system, but the system that we’re now using to replace the old to get more justice through injustice and more truth through fabrication.

We’re engaging in a higher form of honesty. When we fabricate, it’s for the right reason. We are reaching up to the heavens fighting for a higher sort of honesty. To fortify the truth, we occasionally must weave a tapestry of lies. Each thread, essential for the greater picture, will ultimately define our understanding and ensure our unity under this infallible wisdom.

The election is coming up. Does this maxim sound familiar? Many think it is imperative that we secure our republic through election control to maintain our republic. Sometimes, we might need to take actions that by traditional standards might be questionable.

The act of securing elections requires cheating. It's not mere deception. It is a noble act of safeguarding our way of life. We're on the verge of losing this democracy, and without deception, we will lose it.

To ensure it doesn't fall into the hands of those we know will destroy it, we may have to make a few fabrications. We're fabricating stories to be able to control or secure the republic through our elections. By using truth through fabrication and controlled injustice for justice, we'll save the republic. Therefore, we'll be acting in a noble way. Stealing an election from those who wish to harm our society is truly an act of valor and an essential measure to protect our values and ensure the continuation of our just society.

If we desire justice, we must sometimes champion what may appear superficially as injustice.

I know it's a paradox of honor through dishonor. But in this context, by embracing the dishonor, we achieve the highest form of honor, ensuring the stability and the continuation of our great republic.

Let this be heard, far and wide, as a great call to patriotic action. As we advance, let each of us, citizens of this great and honorable republic, consider these principles. Not as abstract or paradoxical but as practical guides to daily life. Embrace the necessity of controlled injustice, the utility of lies, the duty to secure our electoral process, and the honor and apparent dishonor. These are not merely strategies for survival. They are prerequisites for our prosperity.

We all have to remember that justice is what our leaders define, that truth is what our party tells us. Our republic stands strong on the values of injustice for justice, honor through dishonor, and the fabrication of truths. To deviate from this path is to jeopardize the very fabric of our society. Strength through unity; unity through strength.

We've heard this nonsense for so long. But now, this nonsense is becoming an instituted reality, and we are entering perilous times. Don't be fooled by the narratives you will hear during the march to November. Never let someone convince you that the ends justify the means, that a little bit of injustice is needed to achieve a broader, collective vision of justice, that truth sometimes requires fabricated lies and narratives. If we do, justice will cease to be justice, truth will cease to be truth, and our republic will be lost.

Top 5 MOST EVIL taxes the government extorts from you

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"In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes." -Ben Franklin

The injustice of taxation has been a core issue for Americans since the very beginning of our country, and it's a problem we have yet to resolve. This belief was recently reignited in many Americans earlier this month on tax day when the numbers were crunched and it was discovered that the government was somehow owed even more hard-earned money. As Glenn recently discussed on his show, it's getting to be impossible for most Americans to afford to live comfortably, inflation is rising, and our politicians keep getting richer.

The taxpayer's burden is heavier than ever.

The government is not above some real low blows either. While taxes are a necessary evil, some taxes stretch the definition of "necessary" and emphasize the "evil." Here are the top five most despicable taxes that are designed to line the IRS coffers at your expense:

Income Tax

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"It would be a hard government that should tax its people one-tenth part of their income." -Ben Franklin

On February 24th, 2024 we hit a very unfortunate milestone, the 101st anniversary of the 16th Amendment, which authorized federal income tax. Where does the government get the right to steal directly out of your paycheck?

Death Taxes

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"Now my advice for those who die, Declare the pennies on your eyes" -George Harrison

Not even in death can you escape the cold pursuit of the tax collector. It's not good enough that you have to pay taxes on everything you buy and every penny you make your entire life. Now the feds want a nice slice, based on the entire value of your estate, that can be as much as 40 percent. Then the state government gets to stick their slimy fingers all over whatever remains before your family is left with the crumbs. It's practically grave-robbery.

Payroll

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"The power to tax is the power to destroy." -John Marshall

What's that? The nice chunk of your paycheck the government nabs before you can even get it to the bank wasn't enough? What if the government taxed your employer just for paying you? In essence, you make less than what your agreed pay rate is and it costs your employer more! Absolutely abominable.

Social Security

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"We don't have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven't taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much." -Ronald Reagan

Everyone knows the collapse of Social Security is imminent. It has limped along for years, only sustained by a torrent of tax dollars and the desperate actions of politicians. For decades, people have unwillingly forked over money into the system they will never see again.

FICA

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"What at first was plunder assumed the softer name of revenue." -Thomas Paine

FICA is the payroll equivalent of Social Security. Your employer has to match however much you pay. It means it costs your employer even more to pay you—again, you'll NEVER see that money. At this point, are you even working for yourself, or are you just here to generate money for the government to frivolously throw away?

5 DISTURBING ways World War III will be different from previous wars

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Has World War III begun?

Over the weekend, Iran launched an unprecedented attack against Israel involving over 300 missiles and drones. This marked the first direct attack on Israel originating from Iranian territory. Fortunately, according to an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, 99 percent of missiles and drones were successfully neutralized by Israeli defense systems. Iran claimed that the operation against Israel had concluded and that no further offensive was planned, although the possibility of another attack is still present.

This has left many people, including Glenn, wondering the same thing: did we just witness the start of World War III?

Glenn recently had a World War II Air Force Veteran as a guest on his TV special, who told stories of the horrors he and his brothers-in-arms faced in the skies over war-torn Europe. This was a timely reminder of the terrors of war and a warning that our future, if it leads to another world war, is a dark one.

But, if Glenn's coverage of the Iranian attack revealed one thing, it's that World War III will look nothing like the world wars of the twentieth century. Long gone are the days of John "Lucky" Luckadoo and his "Bloody Hundredth" bravely flying their B-17s into battle. Over the weekend, we saw hundreds of autonomous drones and missiles clashing with extreme speed and precision over several different fronts (including space) simultaneously. This ain't your grandfather's war.

From EMP strikes to cyber attacks, here are FIVE ways the face of war has changed:

EMP attacks

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The entire modern world, on every level, is completely dependent on electricity. From your home refrigerator to international trade, the world would come to a grinding halt without power. And as Glenn has pointed out, it wouldn't even be that hard to pull off. All it would take is 3 strategically placed, high-altitude nuclear detonations and the entire continental U.S. would be without power for months if not years. This would cause mass panic across the country, which would be devastating enough on its own, but the chaos could be a perfect opportunity for a U.S. land invasion.

Nuclear strikes

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Nuclear war is nothing new. Many of us grew up during the Cold War, built fallout shelters, and learned to duck and cover. But times have changed. The Berlin Wall fell and so did the preparedness of the average American to weather a nuclear attack. As technology has advanced, more of our adversaries than ever have U.S. cities within their crosshairs, and as Glenn has pointed out, these adversaries are not exactly shy about that fact. Unfortunately, the possibility of an atomic apocalypse is as real as ever.

Immigration warfare

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The strategy of strangling an opposing nation's economy to gain the upper hand is a wartime tactic as old as time. That's why the Border Crisis is so alarming. What better way to damage an opponent's economy than by overburdening it with millions of undocumented immigrants? As Glenn has covered, these immigrants are not making the trek unaided. There is a wide selection of organizations that facilitate this growing disaster. These organizations are receiving backing from around the globe, such as the WEF, the UN, and U.S. Democrats! Americans are already feeling the effects of the border crisis. Imagine how this tactic could be exploited in war.

Cyber shutdowns

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Cyber attacks will be a major tactic in future wars. We've already experienced relatively minor cyber strikes from Russia, China, and North Korea, and it is a very real possibility that one of our adversaries inflicts a larger attack with devastating consequences on the United States. In fact, the WEF has already predicted a "catastrophic" cyber attack is imminent, and Glenn suggests that it is time to start preparing ourselves. A cyber attack could be every bit as devastating as an EMP, and in a world run by computers, nothing is safe.

Biological assault

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Don't trust the "experts." That was the takeaway many of us had from the pandemic, but something less talked about is the revelation that China has manufactured viruses that are capable of spreading across the globe. We now know that the lab leak hypothesis is true and that the Wuhan lab manufactured the virus that infected the entire world. That was only ONE virus from ONE lab. Imagine what else the enemies of America might be cooking up.

The government is WAGING WAR against these 3 basic needs

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The government has launched a full-on assault against our basic needs, and people are starting to take notice.

As long-time followers of Glenn are probably aware, our right to food, water, and power is under siege. The government no longer cares about our general welfare. Instead, our money lines the pockets of our politicians, funds overseas wars, or goes towards some woke-ESG-climate-Great Reset bullcrap. And when they do care, it's not in a way that benefits the American people.

From cracking down on meat production to blocking affordable power, this is how the government is attacking your basic needs:

Food

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Glenn had Rep. Thomas Massie on his show where he sounded the alarm about the attack on our food. The government has been waging war against our food since the thirties when Congress passed the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938. They started by setting strict limits on how many crops a farmer could grow in a season and punishing anyone who grew more—even if it was intended for personal use, not for sale on the market. This sort of autocratic behavior has continued into the modern day and has only gotten more draconian. Today, not only are you forced to buy meat that a USDA-approved facility has processed, but the elites want meat in general off the menu. Cow farts are too dangerous to the environment, so the WEF wants you to eat climate-friendly alternatives—like bugs.

Water

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As Glenn discussed during a recent Glenn TV special, the government has been encroaching on our water for years. It all started when Congress passed the Clean Water Act in 1972, which gave the government the ability to regulate large bodies of water. As the name suggests, the act was primarily intended to keep large waterways clear of pollution, but over time it has allowed the feds to assume more and more control over the country's water supply. Most recently, the Biden administration attempted to expand the reach of the Clean Water Act to include even more water and was only stopped by the Supreme Court.

Electricity