1. This is kayfabe. PPP and Phil agreed to make an elaborate blow up because KC will make a ton of money and Phil agreed for a nominal fee. This just makes sense because why the hell would Phil do crossovers with all the people Kino Casino targets? PPP wanted to troll Phil with Steve and other fuckery but it was boring because Phil wasn’t going to blow up. Phil and Ralph is such perfect content for Kino Casino to do and they just have to smurf subs and blame it on Dents. This is Kino Casino’s “Lolcow Live.”
2. Phil really is that dumb to think if he could make money by being friends with rich trolls he can make money with trolls in their solar system, but they’re BUMS. Phil is dumb but how could he think Ethan Ralph will rake money for him when Ralph is in total poverty?
I think it’s the first option more than ever. For crying out loud the leaked DMs foreshadow this Phil was down to do a live roast and “seethe” over this but it was never going to work because Phil can’t be literally in on the joke! Also helps Phil because he’s no longer going to have to explain his bullshit to his most diehard Dents.
For the record I don’t think Ethan Ralph or Mersh are in on the joke. Even if they have a hunch they’re both so desperate they can’t say no to $150+ to do a weekly podcast.
I’m surprised no one is calling it out for being scripted I feel like I’m pulling the curtain on the Wizard of Oz. For crying out loud Phil is building “Feltron”, it’s too perfect.
I was initially thinking #1 might be a possibility as well when this first began. And I think if DMs weren't leaked, I'd probably continue down that path, but if they were really doing like...a scripted thing, I don't think there's a world where Phil would agree to so much of his personal info being leaked.
The DMs give a pretty good indication of Phil's "creative" ideas. When it comes to skits, he wants to be the cool, snarky guy that is so smart and sees through everything while everyone else flails around him. He's too egotistical to really poke fun at himself. Plus, if this was all an act, they could have easily done a breakup without airing their dirty laundry like this. Phil is also an awful actor, if he wasn't legitimately mad at KC, I don't think he'd be able to muster a convincing narrative, certainly not a giant rant like he had with RTU.
The other thing is, PPP hasn't exactly been shy about disrespecting Phil. Even in the "kingly" days, there were a lot of subtle (and honestly not so subtle) insults about Phil. I mean, he had a segment called "grill Phil" that was basically just shitting on Phil, and the interview he set up with Truthseeker was definitely an attack piece, despite him trying to play dumb about not knowing how aggressive it'd be/trying to defend Phil. He's also gotten a lot more steeped in detractor content it feels like, which again, is not something I imagine he'd do if he was really trying to become friends with Phil.
I know Phil insisted he was fine with a live roast...but this is Phil we're talking about. An actual roast would have him seething, he just convinced himself that KC were his friends and it was just "joking around" whenever they insulted him. But think of all the times he's lashed out at people for actually insulting him. Or even just vaguely mentioning him in passing, like ProJared. He held onto that grudge for years. Phil was just being that kid who'd eat dirt to get people to laugh when he offered up the roast. Especially since that was the early phase where he was desperate to fit into their club.