Posted in: Opinion, streaming, TV, TV, YouTube | Tagged: Joe Rogan, neil young, opinion, spotify, the joe rogan experience

Joe Rogan Responds to Spotify Controversy, Vows to Do Something?

Published Mon, 31 Jan 2022 07:37:12 -0600

by Ray Flook

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In response to the recent controversy surrounding his Spotify podcast The Joe Rogan Experience and artists like Neil Young pulling their music over the streamer's lack of response to his COVID misinformation campaign, Joe Rogan posted a 10-minute video where the host claims that he's looking to "do my best in the future to balance things out" though it should be noted that Rogan doesn't say that he will have those who promote lies and unproven conspiracy theories banned from the show. The video comes shortly after Spotify announced that it would be adding content warnings & advisories to podcast episodes that discuss COVID-19, a move Rogan says he 100,000,000% agrees with.

Of course, it doesn't take long before you realize that the video isn't really an admission of anything or an attempt to do things differently. That becomes clear when Rogan explains that he posted the video "because there's a lot of people that have a distorted perception of what I do, maybe based on sound bites or based on headlines of articles that are disparaging." Yeah, you can feel the "I'm the victim" creeping in. I mean, it's tough to claim you've seen the light when you still refer to two tinfoilers as "very highly credentialed, very intelligent, very accomplished" (no names, they don't deserve the free press). In fact, Rogan takes issue with his podcast being labeled as promoting misinformation, claiming that "many of the things we thought of as mission a short while ago is now thought of as fact." One huge problem with that. If you throw out 100 batshit crazy theories and that one barely sticks, you don't get to brag about the one when 99 others are stinking up the room.

But Rogan knows what's best, vowing to right the wrongs people are perceiving his show as perpetuating by… having more guests on with even more opinions?! Well, he would be "open" to the idea: "If there's anything that I've done that I could do better, it's having more experts with differing opinions right after I have the controversial ones. I would most certainly be open to doing that. And I would like to talk to some people who have differing opinions on the podcasts in the future." To be clear? It's not about getting rid of the crackpots… it's about having more crackpots for people to choose from. But hey, if you're upset then just imagine how Rogan feels. I mean, how did he know being handed a microphone, being paid tons of cash, and given access to millions of people around the world would result in something where his words would have meaning and he would actually have to take responsibility for what he says and does? Try walking in Rogan's shoes, people! All the man wanted was a little show that featured him "talking to some friends." How could he know that it would become "some out-of-control juggernaut" that he would "barely have control of"? I mean, you act like he's the one on the mic or that it's his name in the title, The Joe Rogan Experience.

So what did we learn today, kids? Joe Rogan knows what's best for Joe Rogan now please stop hurting his feelings.