Joe Rogan’s name has been in the headlines a lot lately, and while he certainly has his critics, many of the podcast host’s famous friends are standing by him. Recently, Rogan’s podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, came under fire due to complaints his guests were spreading “misinformation” about Covid-19. The controversy grew exponentially when Neil Young withdrew his music from Spotify due to their refusal to boot Rogan, prompting other artists like Joni Mitchell to follow suit.
Rogan has since posted a video to Instagram providing his side of the situation and offering an apology. He said he supports Spotify’s move to add disclaimers on episodes that touch on controversial topics like Covid-19. Rogan also said his goal was not “trying to promote misinformation,” but to allow guests to provide different points of view on certain subjects.
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“I’m just a person who sits down with people and has conversations with them,” Rogan explains. “Have I got things wrong before? Absolutely. But I try to correct things if I have done, because I am interested in telling the truth and finding out what the truth is.”
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He added, “I am interested in having interesting conversations with people that have differing opinions. I am not interested in only talking to people that have one perspective. That’s one of the reasons I had Sanjay Gupta on, who I respect very much and I really enjoyed our conversation together… I had Michael Osterholm on at the beginning of the pandemic. He’s on President Biden’s COVID-19 Advisory Board. I had Dr. Peter Hotez who is a vaccine expert… I am interested in finding out what’s correct and how people come to those conclusions and what the facts are.”
Many celebrities have commented directly on Rogan’s Instagram post to voice their support for the podcast host. Among them is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who wrote, “Great stuff here brother. Perfectly articulated. Look forward to coming on one day and breaking out the tequila with you.”
Trevor Noah Called Joe Rogan’s Apology ‘Refreshing’
The Daily Show host Trevor Noah also commended Joe Rogan for apologizing. Noah found Rogan’s apology to be genuine and gave the podcast host credit for “owning up” to the situation. Noah also found the apology to be “refreshing” but says he’s not necessarily in full defense of Rogan in this situation. He just understands how certain comments could be taken out of context from the podcast.
“I actually thought it was pretty classy… But instead, he owned up to it. I thought it was pretty dope. It was refreshing," Noah said. “I’m not trying to defend Joe Rogan… But because of the internet age that we live in, we s*** on people based on the little that we see of them, we don’t give them the full context… So in his defense, I get that part of what he’s saying.”
As Noah concluded, “Welcome to the internet.”
