Joe Rogan is a former television presenter, comedian, and is now the host of the world’s most popular podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience. The podcast is a space where Joe conducts long-form interviews with a wide range of interesting guests. Some of his more popular episodes include his interviews with Elon Musk and Kayne West. Recently, the Joe Rogan Spotify controversy has emerged from disputable opinions shared on his podcast, posing the question of whether misinformation is still valid information.
Joe made headlines by moving to Spotify exclusively, for a healthy sum of $100 million. This is, in many ways, the beginning of the controversy. Rogan has interviewed countless people on his podcast. But currently, he is under fire for welcoming two specific guests, Dr. Peter McCullough and Dr. Robert Malone, in December 2021. They both made controversial claims in regards to COVID-19, with some being factually untrue. Malone discredited official COVID-19 figures, believing hospitals exaggerate the number of those who contract the virus to gain bonuses. Also, he claimed that the government was “out of control” as they are concealing data from the public. This is certainly a bold claim to make, especially without any evidence.
McCullough claimed, “the pandemic was deliberately planned, and that the vaccines were killing thousands of people.” Now, obviously, this suggestion that vaccines kill thousands is quite frankly absurd and has absolutely no scientific backing whatsoever. This certainly wouldn’t help persuade the cautious and potentially vaccine-averse portion of the American public, and Rogan’s international audience, to get vaccinated.
The floodgates of online pressure were opened after musician Neil Young gave streaming titan, Spotify, an ultimatum. He threatened to have his music removed from Spotify, asserting, saying “they can have Rogan or Young. Not both”. Subsequently, Spotify has removed Young from the platform, hoping he will return again. This gained attraction from many other artists, including, Joni Mitchell, as they sided with Young.
Now I don’t support McCullough or Malone, and if I were Rogan, I wouldn’t have hosted them. However, it seems wrong for artists such as Young and Mitchell to hold Spotify hostage simply for being a platform where alternative views are sometimes shared. Who are they to try and exert power and control over what content people can consume? Especially in the so-called ‘land of the free,’ it seems absurd that you would have celebrities (albeit Hollywood-liberal elite style celebrities) try to infringe on people’s rights to listen to what they want.
In response to this controversy, Rogan posted a video to Instagram, which I thought was professional and honest. He emphasised that he is “going to do [his] best, in the future, to balance things out” whilst claiming he is “not trying to promote misinformation…[or] trying to be controversial,” but rather using his podcast “just talk to people.” Most importantly, in my opinion, he stated that “many of the things we considered misinformation just a short while ago are now considered as fact.” I think this point is particularly pertinent, especially in the realm of Covid-19, which he is in hot water for, because both public and scientific consensus is constantly evolving. For example, you would be shunned for suggesting Covid-19 originated from China a year ago. Presently, however, research conducted by, The Wuhan Institute of Virology, has impacted general consensus. There is also now evidence that cloth face masks don’t do much, despite previously being rigorously enforced by the government for months. Rogan touched on these examples too in his video.
Obviously, I am not proposing that hateful individuals are given platforms to preach or anything like that. Rather, I believe there is such a thin line between science and pseudo-science, and between fact and fiction. Therefore, it is dangerous to suffocate people, such as Rogan, with the label of trafficking in misinformation, when some of the claims on his show have proved correct. To their credit, Spotify has stood by Rogan, announcing plans to add disclaimers next to more controversial content. This seems fair as it will grant people awareness before consuming the content, but without taking away their right to consume it.
However, this dynamic that has been started by Young paints a concerning picture. Regrettably, I don’t believe that this is the last that we have heard of this. Spotify may well be able to pick Rogan over Young, but what would happen if bigger artists like Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber proposed similar ultimatums. I don’t see this to be beyond the realm of possibility. Spotify would certainly have a much more difficult decision to make.
For lack of better phrasing, society needs to simmer down. We all need to step away from the ledge. Instead of holding people hostage to ultimatums over what content the public can consume, they should work constructively to make their point. These ultimatums will only drive people further apart. But all that I have said about Rogan can almost be made to be irrelevant. In the end, I believe as long as the content isn’t overtly offensive, people should be able to consume whatever they want, even if it contains misinformation. It is their right.
Words by Kit Parsons
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