I think the reason Phil doesn't even try anything like what you all suggest can be found in the fact that he's so bad at lying, despite doing so much of it. I was thinking on that today, and it finally hit me why that is: he can say anything untruthful, but if he KNOWS he's full of shit, he cannot do it convincingly. He's not oblivious to his gacha habit, it isn't something he indulges infrequently enough to forget about it, but even more importantly, the game keeps getting fucked with by Nigel, which is a very different thing from the kinds of shit he catches in TIHYDPs and other detractor videos that are often longer than the LOTR trilogy which he probably doesn't see the really juiciest parts of. Meaning, he's finally being forced to be aware of something bad about him that he would normally laugh off and not absorb, or LIMB his way out of, and he can't even bring himself to attempt any kind of fuckery to raise doubts about it being him because his awareness of the truth won't let him.
As for why he doesn't just come clean when his paypigs are unlikely to drop him because they're stupid (which he clearly knows) and the game is fucked for him either way... I don't know, I can't find a way for it to make any sense any more. The only thing that fits is Phil being scared of losing enough paypigs to hit his pocket in a big way, because we know the thing Phil hates most is being given less money than he used to, but he knows what kinds of people throw their cash at him, so that doesn't add up.
The only other thing I can think of is fear that the Champions meme would join or even eclipse The Incident as a permanent fixture in the autism vortex that haunts him, which it would, but even Phil has to be aware of that barely being worse than the way things are now. I mean shit, listen to the pain in his voice as he says "AND THEY'RE STILL DOING IT!". We're already close enough to rock bottom that falling further isn't enough of a drop to give a shit about. Yet he still, seemingly, remains so afraid of... something, assuming that isn't it.
Could it be that there is one thing Phil actually feels legit shame over? I'm doubtful, but it would explain it.