Joe Rogan is arguably the most iconic name in the podcasting realm. His Spotify deal has made him the podcaster a lot of budding ones must be looking forward to. The ride has not always been smooth for Rogan. There was controversy over a number of episodes of ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’ in May 2021. Some listeners and critics accused the 55-year-old of spreading misinformation and promoting conspiracy theories on the show. Nevertheless, Rogan has now revealed how the controversy affected him in a recent episode of his podcast.
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Talking to author and journalist Matt Taibbi, Rogan was discussing how the cancel culture and media writing ‘hit pieces’ about someone doesn’t really work anymore. Rogan took his own example from the famous incident, where some of his episodes came under fire from fans.
Joe Rogan reveals consequences of the ‘misinformation’ controversy
Remembering how the misinformation controversy affected Rogan, he said, “When all that thing was happening, with Spotify with me, I gained two million subscribers in a month. It worked the opposite; like Patrick bet David did a whole thing on. He said, He goes in my estimation, the amount of publicity they gave him was worth about 300 million dollars.”
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 11: Joe Rogan is seen on stage during the UFC 281 ceremonial weigh-in at Radio City Music Hall on November 11, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC)
When fans and listeners criticized some episodes, Joe Rogan found himself in trouble. One specific episode that received a lot of attention was an interview with author and podcast host Alex Jones. Jones made a number of unsubstantiated claims about COVID-19, the 2020 presidential election, and other topics. They criticized Rogan for not challenging Jones on his claims and for allowing him to spread misinformation to a large audience.
Spotify defended Rogan
Despite growing demands for taking off Rogan‘s podcast from the platform, Spotify stated that it does not censor content except in cases of hate speech. However, the company did remove several episodes of the podcast that it deemed to be in violation of its content policies, including some featuring guests who have been accused of promoting conspiracy theories and hate speech.
Rogan himself has pushed back against accusations of promoting misinformation and conspiracy theories. Rogan said that he is not an expert on the topics he discusses in his show. He encouraged his listeners to do their own research and draw their own conclusions. What’s your take on the misinformation controversy?
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