Posted in: NBC, streaming, TV | Tagged: dwayne johnson, india arie, Joe Rogan, neil young, spotify, the rock

Did Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson Lay the Smackdown on Joe Rogan Visit?

On Saturday, Joe Rogan took to Instagram in an attempt to explain his frequent use of the N-word (after 23 clips showing him using it 24 times on his podcast resurfaced recently & Spotify pulled a number of episodes) and how comparing a Black neighborhood in Philadelphia to the "Planet of the Apes" isn't racist (it's definitely racist). Now it appears he's lost a major future guest in Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who offered his support to Rogan when Rogan posted a video earlier this week addressing COVID-19 misinformation accusations leveled against his show while also offering to be a guest. And that remained the case until loads of folks online- including political analyst & former GOP member Cheri Jacobus as well as author Don Winslow– brought to his attention Rogan's ease with the N-word. Though the journey to get "The Rock" to see the light wasn't necessarily as smooth for some as it was for others…

Jacobus has been making the point that Rogan using the N-word and saying other derogatory things is protected by the First Amendment which means the government can't keep him from speaking his mind. But Rogan doesn't have a right to be given a reportedly $100M contract to spew his misinformation on a private platform, and Spotify isn't required by the Constitution to keep him on their streaming service. They do it because they think it's good for business. Then there's the matter of famous folks like Johnson offering their support blindly without doing due diligence, something that many brought up on social media after Johnson left his comment in Rogan's video post. But apparently, Johnson took specific issue with Jacobus raising the issues so he responded with the following tweet:

To say that didn't go over well with Jacobus as well as more than quite a few other folks on social media would be an understatement, especially with what many saw as his condescending use of the word "triggered." And apparently, the message got through because Johnson stepped up with an apology to Jacobus via Twitter- an apology that Jacobus accepted:

And Winslow also received a tweet of appreciation from Johnson, admitting that he "was not aware of his N-word use prior to" the comments in support of Rogan that he posted but now says he's "become educated to his complete narrative," revealing it to be a "learning moment" for him:

Here's a look back at Johnson's show of love & respect for Rogan via Instagram from earlier this week, with a promise of appearing one day on Rogan's adorably deadly gabfest to share some tequila:

Now here's a look back at Rogan's video from earlier this week, which seemed filled with a whole lot of words but none that are strung together in any way that made sense or would make any kind of difference:

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!