UPDATE: Spotify CEO issues apology to staff, condemns slur usage but says he won’t silence Joe Rogan
Daniel Ek remains adamant on keeping the podcaster on the app
Aux News Joe Rogan
Spotify pulled 70 episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience—the frequently off-course flagship of its ongoing efforts to dominate the podcasting market—off of its listings this week. Not, as it turns out, because of the ongoing attention being put on host Joe Rogan’s attitudes toward the COVID-19 pandemic (and his decisions to platform people like Dr. Robert Malone, a vaccine researcher who’s been accused of spreading harmful misinformation about the disease). The episodes in question all predate the pandemic, and, in fact, Spotify has given no reason whatsoever for the removals.
Buuuuuuuuut…
It does not feel especially coincidental to note that this move—which has been highlighted by JRE Missing, a site that compares the listings of all the old Experience episodes with Spotify’s current roster—comes at roughly the same time that Rogan himself hopped on Instagram to apologize for many instances in which he used a racial slur on his show over the years. That video, in turn, comes after compilations of Rogan using said slur dozens of times have begun spreading online (not for the first time) in light of the current scrutiny on the series.
Rogan’s new video is more-or-less precisely what you’d expect it to be: A mixture of apology and self-defense in which the words “sorry” and “out of context” appear in roughly equal measure. Rogan—who notes that “whenever you’re in a situation where you have to say ‘I’m not racist,’ you fucked up”—assures viewers that he’s not a racist, and calls the entire topic “the most regretful and shameful thing I’ve ever had to talk about publicly.”
This isn’t the first time Spotify has scrubbed episodes from the JRE archives; past conversations with Rogan’s guests from the far/alt-right, including Alex Jones, Milo Yiannopoulos, Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes, and more, were edited out of Spotify’s listings around the time it signed a multi-year exclusivity deal with Rogan reported to be worth roughly $100 million.
This latest round of pulled episodes is notable, though, both in terms of its size, and the fact that it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the guests in question. (Pulled episodes include appearances from Marc Maron, Pete Holmes, Dan Savage, Iliza Shlesinger, and many more.) Neither Spotify, nor Rogan, have given an explicit statement about the episodes being pulled.
Updated 2/7: Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has issued an apology to the staff of the streaming app after 71 episodes of the Joe Rogan Experience were pulled over the weekend for Rogan’s use of racial slurs. In his letter, he writes that he is “deeply sorry” for the way this controversy has continued to impact them and the harm done by the company’s promotion. However, he says removing Rogan’s podcast would be a “slippery slope.”
The CEO also outlines that the company is going to dedicate an “incremental investment of $100 million for the licensing, development, and marketing of music (artists and songwriters) and audio content from historically marginalized groups.”
You can read Ek’s full letter here:
Spotify Team,
There are no words I can say to adequately convey how deeply sorry I am for the way The Joe Rogan Experience controversy continues to impact each of you. Not only are some of Joe Rogan’s comments incredibly hurtful – I want to make clear that they do not represent the values of this company. I know this situation leaves many of you feeling drained, frustrated and unheard.
I think it’s important you’re aware that we’ve had conversations with Joe and his team about some of the content in his show, including his history of using some racially insensitive language. Following these discussions and his own reflections, he chose to remove a number of episodes from Spotify. He also issued his own apology over the weekend.
While I strongly condemn what Joe has said and I agree with his decision to remove past episodes from our platform, I realize some will want more. And I want to make one point very clear – I do not believe that silencing Joe is the answer. We should have clear lines around content and take action when they are crossed, but canceling voices is a slippery slope. Looking at the issue more broadly, it’s critical thinking and open debate that powers real and necessary progress.
Another criticism that I continue to hear from many of you is that it’s not just about The Joe Rogan Experience on Spotify; it comes down to our direct relationship with him. In last week’s Town Hall, I outlined to you that we are not the publisher of JRE. But perception due to our exclusive license implies otherwise. So I’ve been wrestling with how this perception squares with our values.
If we believe in having an open platform as a core value of the company, then we must also believe in elevating all types of creators, including those from underrepresented communities and a diversity of backgrounds. We’ve been doing a great deal of work in this area already but I think we can do even more. So I am committing to an incremental investment of $100 million for the licensing, development, and marketing of music (artists and songwriters) and audio content from historically marginalized groups. This will dramatically increase our efforts in these areas. While some might want us to pursue a different path, I believe that more speech on more issues can be highly effective in improving the status quo and enhancing the conversation altogether.
I deeply regret that you are carrying so much of this burden. I also want to be transparent in setting the expectation that in order to achieve our goal of becoming the global audio platform, these kinds of disputes will be inevitable. For me, I come back to centering on our mission of unlocking the potential of human creativity and enabling more than a billion people to enjoy the work of what we think will be more than 50 million creators. That mission makes these clashes worth the effort.
I’ve told you several times over the last week, but I think it’s critical we listen carefully to one another and consider how we can and should do better. I’ve spent this time having lots of conversations with people inside and outside of Spotify – some have been supportive while others have been incredibly hard, but all of them have made me think.
One of the things I am thinking about is what additional steps we can take to further balance creator expression with user safety. I’ve asked our teams to expand the number of outside experts we consult with on these efforts and look forward to sharing more details.
Your passion for this company and our mission has made a difference in the lives of so many listeners and creators around the world. I hope you won’t lose sight of that. It’s that ability to focus and improve Spotify even on some of our toughest days that has helped us build the platform we have. We have a clear opportunity to learn and grow together from this challenge and I am ready to meet it head on.
I know it is difficult to have these conversations play out so publicly, and I continue to encourage you to reach out to your leaders, your HR partners or me directly if you need support or resources for yourself or your team.
Daniel
245 Comments
Well well well if it isn’t the consequences of my own actions.
F@#K Joe Rogan.
FathashK?
You watch your mouth keyboard, mister!
I do.Every day.I think it’s trying to kill me.
It’s probably not, but hey, never hurts to be cautious.
Looks like my keyboard has commandeered your Kinja account!
They’re trying to initialize an array but can’t decide what language to use
If only it was just him dropping the n-word, but the dude also thinks black people have different brains.
You don’t get to go, “Oops, the racism was accidental!” when you’re spouting phrenology-like bullshit.
Exactly, his whole “You’re not really ‘Black’ unless you are from Africa and have never met a White person” was mentioned on this site. And while I think Rogan’s Covid casual misinformation campaign is super shameful, his racism should also get some acknowledgement. Like, he’s the definition of a guy who would say “ I have a Black friend, so it’s ok”
He’s definitely another insulated white male that doesn’t need to interact with other populations.
his racism should also get some acknowledgement.
Rogan is also a transphobe.
Yellowfoot, phrenology was dismissed as quackery 187 years ago.
Spoken like a coal mining laudanum fiend!I don’t really know a ton about Victorian era shit that isn’t from Mr. Burns.
It’s weird because as offensive as his comments about Black people are, it’s like a layer cake of racism. Because he also says weird shit that treats Russians as “others” compared to the rest of Europe (he says Russians specifically but at that time there were no Russians playing in the NBA, there were players from Eastern Europe so – in addition to thinking that Eastern Europeans are some how genetically different than other Whites – he also thinks all of Eastern Europe is Russia). And talks about the cab driver who took them to Planet of the Apes having an accent in a very derogatory way.
Pro-diversity types also think that Black people have different brains as they often say that diversity is good because minorities can bring different ideas and thoughts to a company/organization, but it’s okay when they say it I guess?
Most people would be lucky to receive one apology in their lifetime that is as sincere as the two Joe Rogan has made in the last week. I still don’t want to watch any episode of his podcast that’s not about another comedian, but he’s a smart, decent human being.
Who the fuck is Spotify trying to appease with this move? Rogan’s casual racism was well known long before they signed a contract with him. This has nothing to do with Rogan’s COVID-19 disinformation campaign.
Its all PR. They have to appear to be doing *something*. Even if what they do doesn’t actually accomplish anything.
It’s kind of weirder than that because neither these deletions nor the various deletions of COVID-19 misinformation podcasts they don’t own have come with any fanfare or bigger announcement. If they wanted to seem like the good guys (not that they are), they would make a big deal out of what they’re doing. Instead it’s more of an effort to bury badness before someone finds out more. (Good luck with that, Daniel.)
I honestly don’t care why they’re doing it. It just needs to happen. They keep bringing up Joe Biden’s use of the slur, but Biden isn’t recruiting for neo-nazi hate groups like Rogan.
Rogan isn’t recruiting for neo-nazi hate groups, you lying fuckrag.
While the A.V. Club does nothing to make this clear, this actually DOES have nothing to do with his COVID misinformation. Instead, this is because India Arie, a black artist, said she was pulling her music from spotify, citing the multiple times he’s used the N word and including a video as evidence
They are trying to orchestrate his demise without doing it themselves and appearing to stifle speech.
Whoopsie!
This will snowball into his removal completely. The blood is in the water. And no, he won’t return to previous platforms in the same way. The hateful content he’s released since moving to Spotify would have already been removed from Youtube. He would have ran out of strikes long ago.
“This will snowball into his removal completely.”
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, yeah.
Sure.
These apology videos are going to be coming weekly I bet, as people keep digging.
I don’t think this movie is going to make anyone happy. People who want him deplatformed for his covid misinformation are still going to want him deplatformed, especially since none of his covid misinformation has been pulled. People who defend him will claim he’s the victim of “woke” culture. It doesn’t help that there’s no explanatioon for why what was taken down was taken down.
In 3 weeks, not a soul will care about any of this.
It’s nuts that that in response to Rogan’s Covid disinformation campaign, they are cracking down on his racism from years ago. In 2026, in response to Rogan’s advocating genocide, Spotify will crack down on his Covid lies.
This typical of AV Club reporting, to not figure out or properly present the cause and effect. But one has nothing to do with the other. What happened was that India Arie pulled her music from Spotify, citing discomfort with sharing a platform with Rogan not only because of covid misinformation but also because of his frequent usage of racial slurs in the past. She posted a bunch of clips from various episodes to back up the point. Rogan and Spotify are trying to douse the latest fire, that’s all.
This isn’t really what’s happening. His older racism from when the podcast was JRE blew up in the last 18 hours.
In 2049, in the irradiated remains of what used to be America, a mutated Joe Rogan will still be broadcasting to the cockroach people who have inherited the planet.I forgot what point I was trying to make.
“It’s nuts that that in response to Rogan’s Covid disinformation campaign”
It’s literally MORONIC that you think it is in response to that.
Absolutely none of the people bitching about Joe Rogan have ever listened to a single episode of his podcast. (Except you, I know, I know…)
Perhaps don’t make a sweeping generalization and then undercut it.
Every piece of shit Joe Rogan fan trots that shit out every fucking time. Just say you’re racist trash, dude. Own it
If you just listen to 100 of his 4+ hour long episodes and seen every one of his comedy specials, you’d know that he was saying the n word with love for the black community.
I’m not much of a fan actually. When someone can’t formulate a rebuttal from reason, they do what you just did.
Clip after clip after clip after clip of him saying racist shit is plenty for me. Clearly, it’s not enough for you
I got a Richard Pryor tape you should hear…
You thinking that’s the same thing is all I need to know about you
The fact that it’s not the same thing is exactly the problem.
For some reason I don’t think you do.
Considering that your people are insane racists with a taste for children …
This guy has every single lame racism apologist cliche in the arsenal.
I don’t like Rogan but I am racist because of my experiences in the black community and because of things like the N word, I as a white man could never really be part of their community. When I was young and I was the only white guy in the room and they are saying the N word and I cannot are we rally friends? CLEARLY I am was not racist but I still couldn’t say it. If I am the only white guy in the room and a song comes on with that word I cannot participate?!? So ya I’m racist now.
That’s because before his podcast started, we knew he was a piece of shit. His views haven’t changed over the years. Are you saying he doesn’t constantly say racist, misogynist, and false things?
You did not “know” Joe Rogan was “a piece of shit” before his podcast started. You are lying.
Dude, it’s not like he’s a new entity that just showed up on the podcast scene. He’s been an asshole for twenty years (at least). Why would I feel the need to listen to a dude’s opinion when I got quite enough of it on tv back in the Aughts?
I’m not lying. I’m 49 years old and have been following his career since Kids in the Hall. I remember him when podcasts didn’t exist. Nice try though.
NewRadio, not Kids in the Hall. D’oh! Was reading through about Dave Foley and mis-typed.
Sure we did. His entire career before that was shit. But yeah, until he got an enormous platform to share his dumbbro takes, we didn’t know just how much of a piece of shit he was.
Hey it’s always hard to learn our Dad was kind of an asshole, but at least most of us learn from that. We don’t latch onto other meathead idiots and get defensive when they turn out to be assholes too. See this as a teachable moment!
Eh, he came across as a jerk long before he got his own podcast. No need to listen to his garbage, i can just go find whatever local idiot holds court at the nearest bar and listen to them instead.
Anyone who’s ever listened to an entire episode of Joe Rogan’s podcast is a racist child molester, which is weird for you brag about. It’s very weird for you to brag about being a racist who fucks kids.
When he had Alex Jones on, that was all I needed.
You know, you don’t have to listen to a racist, to give them one’s money or time, to know that they’re the wrong thing for the time and the planet.
Will you still watch Richard Linklater’s “Dazed and Confused”? (Jones is prominent is Linklater’s “Slacker”)
That’s a very tricky question isn’t it.
Take the entire range of media, from published books, to visual stills, to moving images, sounds, etc. etc. etc.
There’s a bunch.
Life is short.
Unless I’m teaching a class about film?
Or taking one?
No, I don’t think I need to experience Linklater again.
If I hadn’t yet?
I dunno.
On the one hand: film canon.
On the other hand, that film canon was created by white dudes creating for other white dudes, mostly, at least the one I was taught, same with art history, and musical history as well.
Now?
I’m trying to go my own way a bit.
A bit.
And for sure, these are tough questions, re: the canon, because some of it was fantastic, I thought, at the time, in my ignorance, but now?
Not so much.
So to sum up: I dunno.
But I’m trying to make room in my life for other and new artists and creators, or at the very least, not support those that continue to support what I do not.
Simple, right?
No, he’s not. He has cameo parts in Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly. Neither are what I would call “prominent.”
“All of these people condemning this theft haven’t stolen a single television from a Des Moines Wal Mart.”
“All of these people saying UFOs are fake have never seen a UFO.”
I’m not sure if you’re defending Joe Rogan or the existence of UFOs now.
Both. Neither.
That’s not making the argument you think it is.
What is “false equivalency”?
Does me listening to him change the fact that he repeatedly uses racial slurs? Does me listening to him change the fact that he platforms dangerous medical misinformation?No?Then why the fuck would I listen to him?
Because context matters.
If you would like to describe the context to me for those 70+ episodes, I am all ears.
That would be out of context.
That’s some great non-answer, I tell you what. You should be proud. btw I listened to Rogan, specifically his interview with KITH Dave Foley mainly to hear about his difficulties post Newsradio and his being at risk for jail in Canada. He’s nothing special. The true crazy posts is where he makes his bread and butter.
The big advantage Rogan has is just going on and on for 2+ hours. It gets interesting when you go beyond a guest’s limited storage capacity for shop worn anecdotes and careful PR strategies.
The … the context would be out of context? I’m not sure you know what that word means.
Yep, the context in which he says racist things and anti public health and safety statements in does matter: It matters because he shouldn’t be given a platform to spout his racist, anti public health and safety bullshit.
Dude, Joe Rogan’s not gonna fuck you. (Allegedly he can suck his own cock, so he’d pretty much sorted.)
I’ve also never read Mein Kampf, but I still know that Hitler was a racist piece of shit.
Yeah, but without reading it, you won’t understand the context! What if he was calling for the destruction of the Jewish race in a good way? Ever thought of that?(Sorry, just trying to save Mormon Nailer the time.)
I listened to a few years ago before he went totally crazy because on of my friends played it for me. He came across as an idiot know nothing, which is what he’s proven himself to be.Also a racist, he’s a racist too.
Last week: Spotify Boycott over Rogan happensnone of the people bitching about Joe Rogan have ever listened to his podcast.~right wing commenter This week: Super cut of Rogan being a racist no not like that~right wing commenter
Eh, had a gal who was a regular listener, so I gave it a go. I heard a meathead lobbing softballs and/or lame jokes at various comedians/”thinkers”/whatever else, and thought, “…that’s it? Nah, not my bag.” Like, I don’t want to see Jordan Peterson given free rein to do his circular “philosophy” shtick unanswered. I could go to his fucking website for that, and all I’d be missing would be Rogan’s stoned quips. ::shrug::
“You’re not a REAL fan, so you don’t get to have an opinion
about that horrible thing millions of other non-fans just found out
about this rich famous guy. If you heard ALL of the podcasts, you’d
understand the CONTEXT and it would magically be ok that a white guy
says the n-word a LOT for no fucking reason. Also there’s context for the other racist things this white guy says, dude, just trust me.”Yeah fuck that. No white person
should be allowed to say that word because Black people have fucking
asked us to respect that. Why is it up for discussion and debate when
Black folks ask us to respect a beyond-reasonable request? Why do so
many people RUSH to defend whites (and other non-Black people) insisting
on using the n-word??? It’s psychotic.
When was this quorum of all black people? Did they issue a formal edict?
The idea that there is a consensus among black people that it’s OK for anybody to use that word is not true.
“I mean, how can you criticize MEIN KAMPF if you haven’t read it at least twice?”
It’s almost as if people who aren’t douchebags don’t gravitate towards douchebaggery
Why would I ever listen to his podcasts?…
Not just one or two episodes. 70. And they were pulled down pretty damn quick, like someone compiled that list already.
The list is up to 110 now. I guess they are now getting around to listening to all the old episodes. Looks like they did some nice due diligence on their $100 million purchase.
Let’s not forget Rogan’s blatant transphobia. This guy is such a piece of shit. I have a funny feeling he’s not going to apologise for that. Anyway, Fuck Rogan.https://www.themarysue.com/spotify-allows-joe-rogan-to-say-so-much-transphobic-bs/
Hes a dumb meathead, did you really expect a nuanced take from him about trans people?
He could always say nothing at all. I mean, we could hope to be that lucky.
Unrelated to the dumb meathead, but nuance takes re: trans people!? The only take I’ve seen that isn’t labeled phobic and shouted down is “gender is a social construct.” There doesn’t seem to be much room for nuance in that take.
Is that the only proper response? “Oh, well, he’s dumb *shrugs*”?
india arie: artist relations from spotify called me yesterday and they asked me what i want. i’m not gonna say it all here. what i want to say to you is something i already knew but i want you to know is that they said it last night [that] most of the streams on spotify are black music. if you’re paying attention at all you know the role of black music in this world.
Jon Stewart finally has the respectability he always wanted
Holy shit. I knew Joe Rogan was a fucking asshole but I never heard some of these.
Some twat upthread was trying to say that people shouldn’t criticise Rogan if they haven’t listened to any of his podcast episodes, but this sprinkling of clips is enough to make me feel pretty comfortable not listening to his crap ever.
Wow when is The Rock’s comment from. Not that I’m surprised he’d agree with Rogan, just surprised he’d do it publicly. The guy is so careful with his public image.
the rock’s team just put out a statement that says nothing.
he’s also trending because of these very old clip and tweet
While I agree the Rock has done several bad takes, that video also comes from his ‘heel’ era in wrestling when his job was to purposely say offensive things to rile up the crowd as the ‘villain’.
That last tweet is even written like he was in character at the time… Which is entirely possible since WWE was/is very controlling with their star’s social media accounts.
There was a whole thing about it a little over a year ago after someone seemed to get released for being supportive of another person who left the company that they were in a relationship with (or something along those lines). I think WWE then tried to do a whole crackdown on preventing all their stars from doing unauthorized social media stuff, though that may have been limited to ‘in character’ or using ring named accounts.
So no Johnson for President 2024 campaign?
The Rock has always been Republican. Just because he didn’t like Trump, doesn’t mean he’s an ally. Fucker’s part of the reason the IATSE strike almost happened.
Want some additional fun? Look up Don Winslow’s record per using the N word. It’s literally plastered multiple times throughout his written material.
Ter Rock is a pig.
Jon Stewart? He got weird about covid lately but i am shocked to see him defend Rogan.
I mean, he defended Chappelle too. I don’t *think* he defended Louis CK but he was definitely mute on the topic. A lot of his former writers are not on good terms with him. Recall he constantly has Bill can’t explain the tides O’Reilly on his show, all buddy buddy. He hasn’t really changed at all since the Bush years. But the world and politics sure as shit has. He’s like Biden thinking we can still have a reasonable conversation with people who straight up want to murder us.Sorry, I’m ranting and getting off track. Anyway, don’t have heroes I guess.
I didn’t know he defended Chapelle, ugh. Its weird to see someone who loved to say he’s the rational one still feel like he can reason with the unreasonable.
Where did you hear that about his former writers?
https://www.vulture.com/2015/07/jon-stewart-told-wyatt-cenac-to-fck-off.html
Anyone else? You said “a lot of his former writers.”
Jon Stewart is a standup comedian defending another standup comedian. It tracks.
Don’t be. The rich defend the rich, it’s the strongest class solidarity this country has. Jon Stewart was never the great people’s champion; the show just looked better to us back then.
Also, lots of old comedians circle the wagons when one of their own gets called out for shit older comedians tend to do.
Don’t you remember how he kicked Wyatt Cenac off the show for calling out Stewart’s racist impression of Hermain Cain?
I didn’t hear him defend Rogan, exactly. I heard him defend the concept of discourse over forced silence, and I share it. The recent news surrounding Rogan just happened to be catalyst for expressing this opinion.
People will think whatever they think about Joe Rogan, but twitter accounts like this really do away with the facade that they’re “just looking to combat misinformation or protect marginalized communities.” They’re digging a decade-plus back into his archive to find sound bites that make him look as bad as they can—a lot of these are at least supposed to be jokes. Then they’re identifying people who have supported him with the sole intention of looking to generate some heat their way.This isn’t about protecting anyone. It’s about trying desperately to stir up enough outrage so that you can finally feel like you matter.
I’m going to go out on a really risky limb and guess you’re white.
Guarantee that post you just wrote will be used against you when you’re in competition for a promotion in the year 2045.
At least that would mean the world will be around in 2045. That’s something.Forgot to say this up front, but: It’s a little rich to do this thing where you talk about how harmful language and harm images can be, even regardless of context (see: McNeil, David or Pesca, Mike), and then do a whole thread where you blanket anyone who watches it in the N-word. Again, sort of making it seem like this is just about grinding your various axes.
Edit: *harmful” images and the guy’s name was Don McNeil. Never take young people on a field trip.
It works, though!
If I were Joe Rogan I simply would not have amassed a decade-plus worth of sound bites that make me sound like a terrible human being
Okay that made me lol.
You are so fucking gross it’s unbelievable
Clearly you’ve used that word hundreds of times in your life. Were they ALL on the many occasions that you were molesting a black toddler?
To me, Twitter accounts like this instead demonstrate that Rogan has a longstanding, and deep, pattern of misogyny, hatred, and racism.
That you think that joking about these topics somehow excuses one’s attitudes, ie you can be both, someone who makes pathetic jokes about one’s beliefs, while still holding those beliefs, that you somehow think attempting to excuse actions with humor or to call that humor, worries me.
It’s a common trope for the GQP: I was only joking, or it was a joke!
They say.
Only, that’s not how jokes work.
For a joke to work, you have to actually push the limits of what society finds comfortable, so far, that it becomes ridiculous and finally, humorous.
Simply mocking someone else isn’t a joke, it’s using language to be hurtful.
And if what you mock happens to be race?
Or gender?
And if your humor is solely based along those lines?
Maybe you’re simply a racist prick, yeah?
I’m sure not every (probably most) supposed jokes didn’t work, and anyone is free to say that. But threads like that are clearly trying to get him punished, or shame people who would otherwise want to go on the show, or get Spotify to intervene somehow. That’s not going to do anything for anyone who is oppressed. That’s just going to make people feel like their Twitter tantrums move the needle.There’s this obtuse counter of “if comedians have the right to say what they want, audiences have the right to tell you your jokes suck.” Yes, of course they do, and I haven’t seen anyone dispute that. But this isn’t about giving feedback. It’s about trying to get you deplatformed because people have unilaterally decided that you are harmful.
I hear you.
And I totally understand that it’s very dangerous for anyone, myself included, to try and decide what humor might or might not be.
BUT!
I have this idea that by clearing the airwaves a bit, we make room for other voices, and perhaps those voices will be less racist, misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic, etc. with their approach to humor.
One step at a time.
And that is how quieting some people helps oppressed people: by making room in society for their voices.
If that’s the way you feel, then that’s how you feel. But a) I don’t see it as a zero-sum game, and b) it does actually sound slightly Orwellian to talk about the virtues of “quieting” people whose voices you’ve decided are harmful, and c) How will that work in practice here? Spotify gets rid of Joe Rogan so that it can commit more money to more diverse podcasts, Joe Rogan goes somewhere else or starts it up himself, remains extremely popular, and then what? He’s still huge, has a lot of influence, Spotify looks like they caved to the censorious far-left, and who’s happy?
Eat shit, you terrible, terrible fucking person.
So they’re demonstrating that for decades Joe Rogan’s being saying racist things because he could get away with it? Cool, I’m glad to know that he’s been an awful person for a long long time.
I guess what I don’t understand is, where was this level of organization a few months ago? Or when Rogan originally got his Spotify deal? His racism has been an open secret for a long time, but it’s being brought up as a “plan B” to get him off Spotify and that feels really fucking gross.
Basically, a hearty “fuck you” to the folks who waited until now to share compilations of his racism. Too little, too late.
There’s a big difference between *discussing* the word “nigger” versus *calling* someone a nigger. Most of those clips have no context, so we can’t tell which it is, but the clips that do have enough context show that he is discussing the word.
Well, that was a horrifying descent into the mind of a bigot.
That’s Patriot Takes whose founding member Jordy is now being accused of using the N word in a text that he sent to his fiancee Lexi. People in glass houses…
“the most regretful and shameful thing I’ve ever had to talk about publicly.”
And that’s even considering the two seasons of The Man Show he hosted.
Imagine being the inferior replacement for Adam Corolla.
I will not and you can’t make me!
Jimmy Kimmel?
You mean Ben Stein’s sidekick?
While we’re on the subject, how about that Jimmy Carr, huh?
I’d like to see him kicked to death by a Roma community. So would others.
God you fucking people scare me
Say what you will about poor taste; at least Carr’s joke is crafted with clear purpose (as he literally explains right after he delivers it). He’s trying, and failing, to be Stewart Lee. Rogan’s “joke” is literally “don’t Black people look like apes?” No dissection, no follow-up. Just straight fucking racism.
YEAH, what about those offensive jokes he told in a standup routine that is about him telling offensive jokes. WHAT EVER WILL WE DO ABOUT THIS???
I wonder, if Jacob Marley ever visits Rogan, how many links Jacob will point to as already forged and attached to Rogan’s legs? I doubt the big goose will help him now.
What
nice reference
Joe Rogan is not sorry.I don’t pay attention to his show. Well, most podcasts and celebrity radio shows, really. Nothing personal like that, just lack of time in the day. But as far as the edgelords out there, the people who call themselves following in Howard Stern and Don Imus’s 1980s – 90s footsteps (free speech absolutism as righteous revolution), I’m super-uninterested in them.And there’s some idiotic black people who follow this guy (almost exclusively men, guys who consider themselves these big deal contrarians and anti-PC types and who would rationalize that a rap song’s usage of black slurs is the same thing “so whatever”… Morons!)
Yeah, only we enlightened wokefolk know how black people SHOULD feel about the Magic Word! If they’re not offended, they’re “idiotic!”
Dan Savage!He’s the guy that defined santorum. That can never be memory-holed.
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/santorum
Dan Savage has some shitty views on trans people, there is a reason people stopped listening to him
Correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t Dan Savage used to have a column here?
Savage Love was syndicated and used to be posted here until about a year ago I think. I’m not sure if it’s no longer syndicated, or if he just decided to host it exclusively at his own website, but he was never a columnist here.
I also think that although he was pretty shitty about Trans issues in the past, he’s walked back a lot of it over the years. There was a decent interview with him recently in Slate(or some Slate analog) where he comes across as an old out of touch white cis dude who’s just trying his best.
Yeah that was it, syndicated answers to send in questions. Look people can change and to understanding trans issues is hard to someone who had no concept. Its frankly hard for me and I am trans. But the fact he keeps showing up on Bill Maher is not a great sign of things.
Yeah but it’s hard to say if that went away because of his views or of the new management drove him out.
Probably the latter knowing how management is here.
Yeah I always figured there was some sort of story behind it being dropped and it wasn’t an entirely amicable decision since the column just stopped appearing here without any sort of notice. I can’t say that I really miss it because I actually think he’s a pretty shitty advice columnist, but I always looked forward to the comments section.
Imagine if the AV Club comment that would have been on Savage Love.
That wouldn’t have ended well.
Savage Love was still on this site up to September 2021, and there is a comment section. Here’s the last article posted:https://www.avclub.com/this-week-in-savage-love-hands-on-1847672222
Damn, Savage Nobody was hilarious
Shitty views on dogs, too.
Thank you, I did not know that but the definition of santorum still stands
as one of the best uses of the internet ever.
He was very pro Iraq war, too!
Rogan: “We walked into Planet of the Apes.”Didn’t Rosanne Barr lose an entire #1 rated TV show for saying something to that effect?
Yeah, because her platform ended it. This platform isn’t.
Andy wasn’t the only Dick on ‘Newsradio’ Joe but you have finally taken over as the biggest ‘Dick’ from the show.
Wow. Who would have thought that the anti-vax guy was also a racist piece of shit, too. Imagine that.
Wait, Spotify can pull eps but the COVID denialism and anti-vaxx bullshit is still up…
I know this company dropped A LOT of money on this man and Rogan does have a solid fanbase so it made sense for the time.But first the COVID-19 shit and now we’re learning this dude used the N-word on multiple shows unironically. Like, come on. At this point eat the loss and kick him off the platform. Getting ridiculous now.
I’m not sure how many people will end up dropping spotify (I did but didn’t figure it would be a movement or anything). Regardless, I would think that this would really tarnish their image among new (and younger) subscribers. Sure, they’ll get the Rogan bro crowd, but people who are new to music services will now associate this with spotify more than anything else since it’s the dominant news story about spotify. That is, I’d have to imagine a new person interested in subscribing to a music service would be aware of this and may only be aware of this when it comes to spotify. Therefore, I think this will hurt their growth even if subscribers don’t drop.
I’m quite sure 90% of Spotify users barely know who Joe Rogan is. The same goes for users who might plan to subscribe later.
I agree most people probably have no idea who Joe Rogan is. But I can’t help but think that people are going to see some sort of blurb about spotify/rogan/racism/misinformation without knowing the details and without even caring who rogan is. It won’t take up much space in their brains. However, when they pick music service maybe the only thing that they can remember about spotify is something…something…racism. And it’s pretty easy to avoid picking Spotify because there are sufficient music service choices and, in my opinion, no service is vastly superior, just various pros/cons. I think it’s different from people dropping a service because that’s more of a hassle.Anyway, I’m just tossing out a thought and I’m not really all that sure about it myself. The only thing that is for certain is that Spotify wants to get past this as fast as possible so it disappears from the ether.
The thing is, the “I won’t use/support this platform because of who else is on there/because they have shitty views and policies” isn’t really something the average people are wont to do, no matter how we’ve been led to believe otherwise by being online all the time.
This is true when finding another alternative is hard. For example Amazon keeps Amazoning because they are a monopoly. But there are umteen alternatives to Spotify. This may be a genuine problem for them.
There are likely clauses in that contract covering just this sort of thing, so they may not have to pay out the rest.
Maybe they can get around to removing their channel of America’s most famous serial rapist after cancelling Joe Rogan for talking about the flu.
“now we’re learning this dude used the N-word”
“We’re learning”? These aren’t uncovered clips of unreleased conversations, these are clips that he published over the course of a decade. There’s no “learning” here.
Well this seems bad
What the fucking fuck
Are we really surprised tho
If you’re not surprised and you haven’t been spreading the word about Rogan you are as bad as anyone else.
Is that a question that is, in any way whatsoever, relevant?
70 down, just leaves 699 930 to go!
Platform is a noun, not a verb. But yeah. This is not a good look for him. Racial slurs are bad.
Get with it, lots of nouns are verbs now:
Soup
Juice
ok, two are.
I love it when nouns are verbed, but for some reason I can’t stand it when verbs are nouned
Gimme a fer-instance.
“They railroaded all these features and now the commenting system is broken” (awesome) “A roll of Menthos is my daily carry” (barf)
Platform is a verb
No it’s not. You can give someone a platform. You can’t “platform” anything or anybody.
Yes, you can and you just used it as a verb. It becomes an acceptable usage because we use it. That’s language.
“We”?! Don’t include me in your little lazy-ass guild.
It’s how all of language works, you strange angry person.
Prescriptivists gonna prescript.
You’d be correct if this was 5 years ago.
You can deplatform them though.Which is weird.
That’s also not a word. You can remove them from a platform.
That’s what I understood the collection of syllables to mean, when I heard them.Seems to be contentious. Some dictionaries have it and some don’t.https://www.lexico.com/definition/deplatform
Language evolves. Impact used to be just a noun.
Joe Rogan: “I’m sorry I said the N-word in the past. It only happened a few times. I’m happy to take any questions you may have.”
Reporter: “70 episodes of your podcast have been pulled. Does this mean that at a minimum you said the N-word 70 times – 1 time on each of those episodes?”
Joe Rogan: “This interview is over!”
If you start out as a comedian and then come to realize that you’re not actually funny, you have a couple of options. You can work on your craft and get funnier. You can surround yourself with far more talented funny people and hope nobody notices that you’re dead weight (the “News Radio” phase of Rogan’s career). Or you can abandon your quest for laughter and pander to a group that will applaud raucously every time you drop an N-bomb or do something else that confirms and legitimizes their bigotry.
So now Rogan makes a career out of endlessly parroting the Trumpian worldview and punching down at all the marginalized groups the right despises. He’s the kind of rich, entitled, elitist snob you find on every college campus in America.
I understand the underlying sentiment, but the way you chose to lay it out makes very little sense. His primary gig has always been stand-up, followed by the podcast and then of course the UFC. He was a paid regular at the Comedy Store before NewsRadio came along. He didn’t abandon it before or after NewsRadio or Fear Factor. He certainly hasn’t abandoned it since then either because he routinely sells out arenas while co-headlining with Dave Chappelle in shows with middle acts who are themselves heavy-hitters selling out theaters on their own while headlining tours. Your entire premise was this idea that he could have chosen to work on his craft and improve, but he didn’t…when in fact he has been doing exactly that for about 34 years now. There are plenty of people who I personally don’t think are entertaining, but I cannot just ignore their obvious success and pretend they somehow failed at it.
Did he do his own research and find out the N-word isn’t racist?
Are you just asking questions?
I think we should find out the context and hear both sides*. *Both sides=just one side, with a sentient piece of meat nodding in agreement.
Practically a Joni Mitchell song.
some people are saying so.
The fact a good portion of American’s listen to him and believe the exact same is the true horror here.
Fast forward six months, and Rogan will be slugging it out with Dan Bongino to see who can absorb the bulk of Limbaugh’s base.REALLY SUPER FUCKING COOL. OBVIOUSLY.
Battle of the Network Eyeties?
I know who this person is, but have never listened to him. So, what is exactly the Joe Rogan Experience?
Rogan didn’t use the word as a slur. Ever.
I wish there was a way to not listen to things we don’t like…
“I do not believe that silencing Joe is the answer. We should have clear lines around content and take action when they are crossed, but canceling voices is a slippery slope.”This is such bullshit, and it’s how people in power always weasel out of doing anything or taking any kind of stand. It’s a false dichotomy. No one is asking you to “silence Joe.” He can still talk as much as he wants. You would just be firing him from your employ because he’s a shit person and because what he says harms people and you don’t want to be a part of that. Or you shouldn’t want to be a part of that. But you do, because you don’t give a shit as long as it makes you money. Just say that.And it’s not a “slippery slope.” You can stop whenever you want. Just like you chose to not do shit now, you can choose to not do shit wherever you like along this imaginary “slope.”What a piece of shit.
My God you people are softer than fucking pillows.
The nice thing about a slippery slope is that it can lead from anywhere to anywhere. Also, nobody ever actually says they’re on one – dude isn’t saying, “We’re currently on a slippery slope from being seen as an internet streaming platform toward being seen as conservative talk radio,” even though it would be accurate.
If there is a slope, it’s a slope they have intentionally jumped on to.“Airing a load of dangerous lies” = not slippery“Stopping said lies” = v. slippery?
It has nothing to do with slippery slopes, it has to do with them committing a fuckload of money to Rogan and if they tried to get rid of him they would have to pay his contract out or risk getting sued by him (and absolutely losing the suit, BTW).
You aren’t “canceling” or “silencing” somebody by not paying them and giving them a platform. This is a recent addition to the bad-faith arguments regarding freedom of speech made by people who have never read the constitution. Further, Rogan’s statement on his Covid messaging was replete with lies, Spotify has an interest in not having their customers be lied to (and in not killing their customers!). You can see by what happens to each of the Trump toadies as they are deplatformed: deplatforming works. The extremist psychos turn to piddlier and piddlier apps and avenues to get their harmful messages out, the messages reach fewer people, they have not been silenced when they can say whatever they want, places like Spotify simply aren’t being complicit.I don’t expect Ek’s explanation (eksplanation?) to make any sense, because it’s only justified by the result he wants to reach. He’s taking the “I’ll go plant a tree in Israel to make up for it” approach, but he’s going to need a lot more trees before this is done. Rogan’s lies are a feature, not a bug.
I like how Spotify is committing informally, through an internal memo, to “incrementally” investing $100,000,000 in a variety of Black artists, which is reportedly the exact amount they’re paying the one white guy at the center of this mess. “We’ll eventually try to bring a bunch of Black people, collectively, on average, up to parity with one white idiot” is such a bad effort that it would’ve been better to keep their traps shut.
To paraphrase the CEO: “We’re already 9 figures deep in this guy, so we aren’t going to cut bait on that investment, regardless of how awful he is.”
Dear god, I read that as “9 fingers deep” at first
Literally all it is. They’ve bet the farm on this guy. Too bad for Spotify. They’ve now given Rogan more rope to keep hanging himself. He can’t help himself.
I would love to know what Rogan really thinks about his treatment at Spotify, considering how much he talked them up when he switched over. He was so sure they would leave him alone and not mess with his content, but they’re pretending to take a hands off approach while removing entire episodes they deem problematic.
Just know that if you’re over 35 and smoke pot regularly, Joe Rogan is exactly what you sound like.
Um, no
I’m only 30 and smoke pot regularly. I truly hope I don’t sound like him. Then again I don’t use the N word and believe in the power of vaccinations!
If you’re over 9 and post things like this on the internet, you’re a self-righteous asshole trying too hard to be funny.
Meanwhile…
Platforms have a responsibility to censor hate speech, but it’s difficult for any content provider to be moral arbiter and define that not only for current content but for the legacy and history of every artist, especially when it comes to musicians.
I won’t directly quote Neil Young on the hazards of getting HIV from your friendly gay supermarket clerk handling your potatoes, or the unproven risks of GMOs.
There’s a continuum from Rogan to Alex Jones, and IMHO he’s not quite there. Artists have a right to pull their content in protest, but I think we need to be careful cheering censorship, because that boat stays afloat when the tide turns, and it always does.
“It does not feel especially coincidental to note that this move”
You think it’s not a coincidence that they didn’t do anything about the pandemic misinformation he’s spreading?
Ek apologized to employees? That’s like Nixon apologizing to Liddy. Spotify employees are just accomplices in their immoral employer’s focused mission to exploit content creators into bankruptcy, devalue music, and destroy the livelihoods of performers, songwriters, and record labels. Spotify employees should be apologizing to the music community at large.
I’m sorry you can’t remove context, make a mashup and get what you want.
I’ve had multiple Right-wingers ambush me in my DM’s with a similar argument. “The Right is more tolerant and open-minded than the Left! We actually listen to opposing viewpoints and let everyone state their opinion, while you Liberals just censor anyone who doesn’t agree with you! The Nazis were human beings just like you! Why can’t you hear them out and give them the space to state their views just like anyone else?”
I…have had to block a lot of people.
They’re throwing their stones from behind a glass wall.Right-wingers are literally banning and burning books that they think perpetuate ideas like “it has been/is tough for Black people in the US.” or “it’s okay to be gay.”
Sounds very white.
“user safety”The infantilizing of society continues its slow march into hell.
Spotify CEO: “Sure, we *could* remove Joe Rogan from Spotify. But it’s a slippery slope. What would it say about our company if we removed a podcast just because he repeatedly used racist terms?”
Employees: “That we have ethics and standards?”
Spotify CEO: “This meeting is over!”
Wait tho I don’t understand how they can both “condemn” Joe Rogen but also keep his podcast on their platform….. what? That doesn’t make sense unless these are just words without meaning. Woof.
“slavery is wrong and we know that and we’re sorry but we’re still totally gonna use slaves because our lives are made so much easier. We hope you understand.”
When he says “slippery slope” is he honestly referring to the money that Spotify brings in…. Are we to understand that the CEO is willing to apologize for racism but not remove the racist because he makes him too much money?
That’s not an apology at all. Why does this letter make it sound like the “slippery slope” is anything except the CEO’s problem?