Joe Rogan’s many controversies – from Covid vaccines to slamming ‘scam’ Olympics (2024)

Joe Rogan is no stranger to controversy.

The American podcaster, comedian, and former TV host was already a famous face on US TV in the 2000s, but rose to international notoriety thanks to his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience.

Known for featuring outspoken guests and discussing sensitive topics, The Joe Rogan Experience soon became one of the most popular podcasts in the world.

But it’s also become one of the most infamous, with several high-profile controversies associated with Rogan and his guests.

Musicians have taken their music off Spotify in protest of the streaming giant’s deals with Rogan, discussions on the show have caused international outrage, and Rogan himself has been accused of spreading misinformation.

But what are Joe Rogan’s biggest controversies over the years?

Covid-19 misinformation

At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Joe Rogan found himself in hot water numerous times and was accused of spreading misinformation regarding the virus and various treatments.

He sparked controversy in April 2021 after declaring that generally healthy people should not get the vaccine, saying: ‘If you’re like 21 years old and you say to me, “Should I get vaccinated?” I’d go, “No”.’

While initially clarifying that he thought it was safe to get vaccinated, his statement still drew criticism, especially from Anthony Fauci, who was chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden at the time.

After contracting Covid in September 2021, Rogan revealed that he had started taking ivermectin, an anti-parasite drug that was not proven to be effective against the virus.

In January 2022, 270 scientists wrote an open letter to Spotify, the host of The Joe Rogan Experience, demanding an explanation and expressing concerns.

They cited ‘false and societally harmful assertions’ and asked Spotify to ‘establish a clear and public policy to moderate misinformation on its platform’.

Calling the Olympics a ‘scam’

With the Summer Olympics 2024 under way in Paris, people around the world have been enjoying a summer of sport – but not Joe Rogan.

After calling out the Olympics for ‘exploiting’ the athletes, he then went in hard on the all-sports event: ‘The Olympics is a giant scam.

‘There are two things going on simultaneously. You have the best athletes in the world participating in their disciplines, and then you have enormous amounts of money being made, none of which goes to the athletes. It’s a giant scam.’

Rogan also criticised the opening ceremony for featuring drag queens and a depiction of The Last Supper, a 15th-century Leonardo Da Vinci painting of Jesus Christ and his Disciples shortly before his crucifixation.

‘The kind of people that are putting together that ridiculous opening ceremony where you have a bunch of drag queens and the last supper and all that wild s**t, nobody understands it because it is not made by athletes.’

History of ethnic slurs

In 2022, American singer and songwriter India Arie called out Joe Rogan’s continued use of the N-word and accused him of being ‘consciously racist’.

The award-winning musician first brought attention to Rogan’s historic use of the word by putting together a video compilation of occasions when the podcast host has used it.

She also shared a clip of Rogan comparing a cinema screening in a Black US neighbourhood to a scene from the film The Planet of the Apes, and threatened to pull her music from Spotify.

However, Rogan apologised, saying: ‘I’m not racist but whenever you’re in a situation where you have to say “I’m notracist,” you f****d up. I clearly f****d up and that’s my intention to express myself in this video to say there’s nothing I can do totake that back.’

The Joni Mitchell and Neil Young incident

India Arie was not the only musician to threaten to take their music off Spotify, with legends Neil Young and Joni Mitchell joining the cause against the Joe Rogan Experience.

In January 2022, Mitchell and Young both protested against the decision by Spotify to host the controversial podcast, with Joni citing the streaming giant’s decision to work with ‘irresponsible people spreading lies’.

The Canadian folk legend said: ‘I’ve decided to remove all my music from Spotify. Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives.’

She then said she stood in defiance with iconic singer and songwriter Neil Young, who had already removed his music from the streamer for the same reason.

However, in 2024, Neil Young put his music back on Spotify, explaining that his decision had been enforced by other streaming services hosting podcasts similar to The Joe Rogan Experience.

He said: ‘Other music services [including] Apple, Amazon, Qobuz, and Tidal have started serving the same disinformation podcast I had opposed at Spotify.

‘Because I cannot leave all those services like I did Spotify, because my music would have no streaming outlet to music lovers at all, I have returned.’

Speaking about Young’s decision, Rogan commented: ‘Neil Young came back to Spotify. Congratulations, Neil. And his excuse was he said that because all of the platforms are now allowing my disinformation, he’s just going back on Spotify too. Great to know you’ve got some ethics!’

Hosting Alex Jones

Spotify and Joe Rogan both came under serious fire in 2020 after conspiracy theorist Alex Jones appeared on an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience.

The far-right radio show host has alleged in the past, among other things, that the US government lied about the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting and covered up aspects of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

Spotify even banned Jones’ own show from their platform in 2018.

After the podcast episode featuring Jones was aired, people grew concerned that the InfoWars host’s extreme views had been given too large a platform.

Across the duration of the three-hour episode, which aired during the pandemic, the pair discussed a number of sensitive subjects, including face masks and vaccines.

Hosting Kanye West

With Joe Rogan already having a reputation for inviting on controversial and outspoken guests, it was never going to be long before Kanye West appeared on the show.

And he did, in October 2020. At the time, West was a Presidential hopeful in the election that was contested between President Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

While appearing on the podcast, West espoused conspiracy theories that abortions and organisations like Planned Parenthood were engaged in eugenics programmes and claimed that medication for his mental health was blocking him from what God wanted him to do.

When asked by Rogan what he would do as President if China invaded Taiwan, West struggled to answer the question be declared his destiny was to be ‘Leader of the Free World’.

The episode was described as a ‘massive disappointment’.

2020 California wildfire misinformation

In September 2020, Joe Rogan came under fire after being accused of spreading misinformation on The Joe Rogan Experience.

He claimed that a series of wildfires in the US state of California had been deliberately started and that a group of left-wing activists had been arrested in relation to the natural disaster.

On his podcast, he commented: ‘You want to talk about madness of crowds. That exemplifies that right now. They have arrested people for lighting forest fires up there. They have arrested left-wing people for lighting these forest fires.’

However, it was later revealed that the story was untrue, and Rogan took to Instagram to apologise, claiming he was ‘duped’ by fake information.

‘I need to make an apology and a retraction. I said something on the podcast about people getting arrested for lighting fires and I got duped. It’s wrong.’

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