Transphobia? Racism? Misogyny? Covid misinformation? There are plenty of
reasons why celebrities can't stand Joe Rogan and his podcast. But who's
been bold enough to call him out on TV? Keep watching to find out.
Joe Rogan was accused of sexism in 2021 with his unflattering response to a popular online
personality. While guesting on The Joe Rogan Experience in 2021, Ali Macofsky happened
to mention that she'd signed up to Trisha Paytas' OnlyFans account. After requesting
a snap of the star, the host took one look at a bikini-clad pic and dismissively responded,
"Yeah, you can keep that."
As you can imagine, Paytas wasn't going to take this lying down.
After being alerted to the comment,
the YouTuber uploaded an eight-minute clip to their channel with the title, Dear Joe Rogan.
"Dear Joe Rogan Podcast, thank you for providing me with some video content today."
After admitting that they'd only previously been aware of the podcaster through Fear Factor,
Paytas directly addressed Rogan.
"Not every woman is here to be pleasure for your eyeballs."
Paytas continued by telling Rogan what he should do in the future.
"Just for future reference, for people — attention trolls like myself that aren't
me — you don't have to 'ugh' at somebody. Because chances are,
even if they are the most beautiful person, maybe they already 'ugh' at themselves."
When he's not being silenced for his very straight white male perspective on his self-titled podcast,
Joe Rogan can also be heard giving his opinion on all things UFC as a color
commentator. But it's not just the men in the ring that the comic enjoys mouthing off about.
In 2020, Rogan called out ESPN's Stephen A. Smith for claiming that Donald Cerrone
had essentially thrown in the towel during his first-round defeat to Conor McGregor.
"It's a bad look for ESPN, it's a bad look for him, it's a bad look for the sport.
There's other people that can do this."
The host did acknowledge that Smith was a natural entertainer but that his style had
no place in MMA. Understandably, Smith wasn't too happy about being patronized
live on air, and said as much in a video posted on Twitter.
"You have your right, just like I have my right to respond, as I'm doing right now."
Smith continued the video by adding,
"Any time you want to talk to me about this fight, or you want to talk to me
about my credentials to discuss something in the world of sports, name the time and place,
Joe Rogan, and I'll show up. It's not a problem. It's not a problem at all."
Alyssa Milano sure appeared to be in a venting mood when she logged onto Twitter one day
in July 2020. The Charmed actor took aim at everything from Donald Trump to Instagram
trends to the Washington Redskins' name in a series of tweets. But it was the
shade she threw at a certain comic that drew the most attention. Milano wrote,
"We live in a world where Joe Rogan's podcast has triple the listeners as mine. Dear God."
The actor's disbelief wasn't shared by everyone, with some arguing that The Joe Rogan Experience
addresses a wider range of subjects than her socially conscious Sorry Not Sorry,
and others believing that she'd overestimated her own listenership by quite some distance.
Rogan waited a few weeks to respond but made sure he stuck the knife in
when he eventually did. Speaking to comedian Tim Dillon
on his eponymous podcast about the issue of political commentary, the host quipped,
"I think we should leave it all to Alyssa Milano.
Yeah. I'm looking forward to her tweets in November, I'm just going to follow all of that."
But he didn't stop there.
"That shift where you go from actor to activist. Yeah. All in. Very interesting.
As soon as the f—-ing calls stop coming in, you're like, 'all right, I'm an activist.'"
Joe Rogan even managed to get on the wrong side of a member of the royal family in 2021 when he waded
in on the issue of the COVID-19 vaccine. On his self-titled podcast, the host controversially —
and wrongly — told listeners that healthy young adults were perfectly safe if they didn't bother
getting jabbed, in a pandemic that had already killed millions of people across the globe.
Although it's unlikely that anyone would take medical advice from a man once best-known for
encouraging game show contestants to eat blended rodents, Rogan still suffered a major backlash
for his comments. And the most high-profile name to speak out was undoubtedly Prince Harry. Yes,
while appearing on Dax Shepard's podcast, Armchair Expert, the Duke of Sussex took
the opportunity to call out the stand-up for spreading alternative facts, saying,
"The issue is in today's world with misinformation endemic, you've got to be careful about what comes
out of your mouth when it comes to that because news doesn't exist in just news anymore."
The royal then offered some wise words to Rogan:
"Just stay out of it. If you have a platform, with a platform comes responsibility."
Joe Rogan was deservedly mocked in 2021 when he put forward the theory that straight white
men are in danger of being silenced by what he called the "woke movement." On his own podcast
regularly listened to by 11 million people. And one that's broadcast
on a streaming service paying him $100 million to talk about whatever he likes.
Don Lemon was just one of several names to call out Rogan,
telling viewers of his CNN show Don Lemon Tonight,
"There is an important debate right now about cancel culture and wokeness,
questions about what either term even means and what happens if it goes too far.
There are legitimate questions about that. But acknowledging the oppression,
discrimination or differences of others does not silence anyone else."
Lemon then added,
"Joe Rogan is part of the conversation. There's a lot I can go on about,
especially about straight white men. You're aggrieved now? OK.
No one is stopping Joe Rogan or any other straight white man from expressing themselves, period."
There's certainly no love lost between Joe Rogan and transgender MMA athlete
Fallon Fox. The pair first clashed in 2013 when the former protested against
the approval of the latter's fighting license on his podcast. According to Vice, he said,
"First of all, she's not really a she. She's a transgender,
post-op person. The operation doesn't shave down your bone density. It doesn't change."
Fox soon fought back, drawing the similarities between Rogan's comments and the discrimination
that one particular baseball legend faced in the early 1940s in a piece for Bloody Elbow, saying,
"Remember when commentators said Jackie Robinson had an unfair advantage
because black people had 'larger heel bones' than the white men he was competing with?
Are we repeating history yet again with bogus bone claims?"
Rogan incurred Fox's wrath again in 2021 when the podcaster bizarrely claimed that, in his words,
"generally dumb people" now have an easy way to improve
their reputation: change gender. The former featherweight tweeted in response,
"Joe Rogan is being transphobic yet again. He's had more transphobic episodes than
you can shake a stick at. Spotify needs to cancel his show already."
Prince Harry wasn't the only famous face to call out Joe Rogan for his dangerous misinformation
on the COVID-19 vaccine. In the same week he
criticized Fox News' Tucker Carlson for a similar thing,
John Oliver couldn't resist tearing the podcaster a new one on his HBO show Last Week Tonight.
Addressing Rogan's claim that healthy young adults don't need to get jabbed, the Brit responded,
"If you're thinking, 'Yeah, I'm not sure I'll need it. Joe Rogan says I'm probably fine.'
Look, it is true: You might not get seriously sick from COVID — or indeed sick at all — but
you could still inadvertently pass it to someone who could then die.
And before you say, 'Well, vulnerable people should just get vaccinated then,'
the vaccines are only 95 percent effective [...] so they'll probably be ok, but maybe not."
"Stop listening to what Joe Rogan tells you,
he's a 'f—-ing moron' — and those are his words, not mine."
If you're wondering what that last line is about, well, Rogan did indeed describe
himself as a "f—-ing moron" following the backlash to his vaccination comments,
in a rare display of self-awareness on The Joe Rogan Experience.
"I'm a cage-fighting commentator who's a dirty stand-up comedian."
And finished with,
"I'm not a respected source of information, even for me."
The Joe Rogan Experience fully leaned into its boys' club mentality in 2011
when regular guest Joey Diaz joked about procuring sexual favors
from female comedians in return for stage time at The Comedy Store's The Belly Room. The host
appeared to find this rip-roaringly hilarious but it's fair to say that Chelsea Peretti did not.
Following the clip's resurfacing in 2020, the former Brooklyn Nine-Nine
star vented on Twitter about how sexism is rife within the comedic world. She posted,
"If you're a male comedian one thing you can do is tell men to shut the f—- up when they
are saying hateful s—- about women. & not go on podcasts that are racist & sexist. You can also
speak up for women getting attacked online for sticking up for themselves. Or....total silence."
Far from apologizing for their problematic banter,
Diaz and Rogan instead fanned the flames even more. Firstly, the former tweeted,
"If that video hurt your feelings watch this c—-sniffers."
He accompanied the tweet with a video titled Joey Diaz Sleeps With One Legged Woman.
And then the latter, according to Showbiz Cheat Sheet, retweeted it.
Whether or not you're a fan of Caitlyn Jenner,
it's hard to disagree with the remark she made in 2020 on TMZ Live, when she said,
"I just feel like Joe Rogan has a lot to learn."
The one-time Olympian was speaking out after the comic had managed to offend
not only herself but her daughters and the entire trans community in one fell swoop.
While talking to Tim Kennedy on his self-titled podcast, Rogan put forward the theory that
transgender individuals may have only gone through such a transition because of their environment.
And he used Jenner, who he also deadnamed, and her famous family as an example, saying,
"Maybe if you live with crazy b—--es long enough they f—-ing turn you into
one. Maybe you go crazy. Maybe that too. Especially those ones."
Jenner subsequently fought back, describing Rogan as a "homophobic,
transphobic ass" before defending her nearest and dearest. She also refuted the claim
that the Kardashian-Jenners had anything to do with her transition, adding,
"I've been gender dysphoric my entire life.
Once I got to the point in life where my kids were raised, and they're all doing well,
[I said] maybe I could live the remainder of my life authentically."
Considering all the craziness that surrounded the 2020 presidential election,
it wouldn't have been too surprising to see Joe Rogan host a debate between the
two main candidates Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
The comic actually proposed the idea on his podcast while chatting to Tim Kennedy, stating,
"First of all, I want no one else in the room, just the three of us. And you'd have
to stream it live so no one can edit it, and I would want them in there for hours."
According to Fox News, Trump gave his blessing to the idea after Kennedy suggested the concept on
Twitter. Sunny Hostin, however, certainly didn't. During a discussion about the subject on The View,
the co-host explained why Rogan would be the worst possible candidate for such a role:
"I mean, I think given his use of the N-word, I think given his, comparing a Black neighborhood
to Planet of the Apes, given the fact that he has called a transgender woman a man,
I think all of that disqualifies him to be the host of a presidential debate."
Hostin also stuck the knife into Trump,
arguing that he'd "debased the office of the presidency," before adding,
"I think as a country we have lost a sense of decorum, and I don't think a host like that should
be someone who is given the honor. [...] I think that journalists should be hosting these debates."
After 17 years living in the Californian city of Bell Canyon, Joe Rogan and his family decided
to leave the Golden State for Texas. On his podcast in 2020, the star explained
he wanted to go somewhere in the center of the country to be able to travel to both places.
He also referenced the levels of homelessness, financial hardship,
and traffic within the city to validate his argument that the state had simply become
too overcrowded. This perhaps explains why a former Ultimate Fighting Champion
running for City Council in Huntington Beach took such offense at the comic's relocation.
While appearing at a Donald Trump presidential campaign rally later that same year,
Tito Ortiz told the crowd,
"It's important that we protect this city. This city is powerful to me and
I'm not leaving. Joe Rogan, a bunch of other Hollywood guys, they left. I can't
say the word because my children are here, but they're quitters! I refuse to be a quitter!"
Locals appeared to appreciate Ortiz's loyalty, as the UFC Hall of Famer was
sworn in with the highest number of votes in Huntington Beach history.
On January 24, legendary rocker Neil Young gave Spotify an ultimatum:
him or Joe Rogan. In a now-deleted open letter posted to his official website,
Young wrote that the streaming giant had, in his own words,
a "responsibility to mitigate the spread of misinformation on its platform." This was in
reference to Rogan and his controversial guests' opinions on all things COVID-19. Young threatened,
"They can have Rogan or Young. Not both."
Two days later, Spotify granted the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer's request. After defending what they
called their "detailed content policies" and their desire to balance what they said was "both safety
for listeners and freedom for creators," Spotify wished Young well. Their statement concluded,
"We regret Neil's decision to remove his music from Spotify, but hope to welcome him back soon."
Variety reported that the streaming service lost over $2 billion
in market cap with the move. However, Young wasn't finished with Spotify.
In yet another message posted to his website, Young told all their employees to get out
of that place before it ate up their souls. On January 28, Young took to his website once again
to tell all musicians and creators to consider Amazon and Apple because of what
he called the "s—-ty and neutered sound of Spotify." The beef is well done here.
In an act of solidarity with her fellow Canadian singer-songwriter, Neil Young,
nine-time Grammy winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee
Joni Mitchell announced her departure from Spotify over the Joe Rogan drama.
In a post titled, I Stand With Neil Young! on her official website, Mitchell wrote,
"I've decided to remove all my music from Spotify. Irresponsible
people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives. I stand in solidarity
with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue."
The Big Yellow Taxi singer also shared an open letter from medical professionals and scientists
from around the globe. They criticized The Joe Rogan Experience podcast for what they said was
"promoting baseless conspiracy theories" and "broadcasting misinformation" about COVID-19.
Both Mitchell and Young contracted polio as children before a vaccine was made
available. British National Health Service doctor and author Rachel Clarke tweeted,
"They know painfully well how much harm, suffering & avoidable death anti-vaxxers can cause."
On January 31, R&B singer-songwriter India.Arie announced on Instagram that
she was pulling her music from Spotify due to their support of Joe Rogan. She wrote in part,
"Neil Young opened a door that I MUST walk through."
However, the Steady Love singer's decision was
based on other factors than just Rogan's COVID-19 misinformation. She continued,
"ITS ALSO HIS language around race.
What I am talking about is RESPECT — who get it and who doesn't."
She also aimed her fire at Spotify's pay inequality between musicians and Rogan.
"Paying musicians a Fraction of a penny? and HIM $100M?
This shows the type of company they are and the company that they keep. I'm tired."
In a comment on the post she added,
"I wonder who else is tired."
Later that week, the four-time Grammy winner elaborated on her beef with Rogan. In an Instagram
Story Highlight titled Boycott, she posted clips of Rogan repeatedly saying the n-word. She said,
"He shouldn't even be uttering the word.
Don't even say it, under any context. Don't say it. That's where I stand."
The following day, Rogan addressed those allegations in an Instagram video of his own.
"I'm making this video to talk about the most
regretful and shameful thing that I've ever had to talk about publicly."
Rogan stated the clips were taken out of context, but agreed that it is not his word to use.
The Daily Show host Trevor Noah didn't buy Joe Rogan's apology for his use of a racist slur.
During the February 7 episode of The Daily Show, Noah pointed out that Joe Rogan said
he wasn't being racist, he was just being entertaining, then corrected him by saying,
"No, Joe, I think you were using racism to be entertaining."
He continued by adding,
"I'm not saying you were trying to offend Black people, by the way,
but you knew that offending Black people would get a laugh."
Noah took the time to explain to his audience that sometimes a "joke" can be taken too far.
"I am a comedian and I love making jokes, and I love hearing jokes,
I love all kinds of jokes, I love safe jokes, I like dark jokes, I like jokes."
"But, just because something is a joke,
doesn't mean it can't be something else as well because a joke can be racist."
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