Joe Rogan Is Making A Pledge Amid His Spotify Controversy
Joe Rogan has found himself at the center of controversy after artists Neil Young and Joni Mitchell pulled their music from Spotify. The drama began unfolding in mid-January when Young penned a now-deleted open letter demanding his removal from the platform. In the letter, he slammed the streaming service for allowing "false information about [COVID-19] vaccines" to circulate, "potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them," according to Variety.
Most notably, however, Young gave Spotify an ultimatum, in which he named Rogan as the prime suspect in spreading the aforementioned misinformation. "I want you to let Spotify know immediately today that I want all of my music off their platform. They can have Rogan or Young. Not both," he wrote. Mitchell soon followed suit, accusing "irresponsible people" of "spreading lies that are costing people their lives." She added that she stands "in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities."
Rogan, who hosts the highly controversial podcast "The Joe Rogan Experience," has come under scrutiny for having guests — including Dr. Robert Malone — who offer contrarian views on the COVID-19 pandemic. Rogan himself has been railed after advocating for the use of ivermectin as an effective treatment against COVID-19. Now, amidst all the chaos, Rogan is speaking up on his new plans to shift gears with his podcast.
Joe Rogan pledged to 'balance out' controversial views on his show
Joe Rogan is making some adjustments to his podcast. On January 30, the UFC commentator took to Instagram to promise a more balanced "Joe Rogan Experience" after Neil Young slammed him for spreading COVID-19 misinformation. In the video, Rogan revealed his plan to tweak the show's approach to the pandemic. "My pledge to you is that I will do my best to try to balance out these more controversial viewpoints with other people's perspectives so that we can maybe find a better point of view," Rogan stated. "I don't want to just show the contrary opinion to what the narrative is. I want to show all kinds of opinions so that we can all figure out what's going on — and not just about COVID, [but] about everything."
Rogan believes many "have a distorted perception" of his podcast based on "sound bites" and "disparaging" article headlines. He also acknowledged hosting the "highly-credentialed" Dr. Peter McCullough and Dr. Robert Malone, who have offered contentious pandemic takes, as his most controversial episodes. Contrarily, Rogan mentioned having vaccine advocates Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Dr. Peter Hotez, and Dr. Michael Osterholm on his show — the latter previously serving on President Biden's COVID-19 advisory board.
Dustee Jenkins, Spotify's head of global communications and public relations, stated that, despite Young's pleas, Rogan's podcast "didn't meet the threshold for removal," per The Verge. Spotify, however, will now add a disclaimer to any podcast discussing COVID-19, CNN reports.