Sharon Stone Has Fiery Words For Joe Rogan Amid Spotify Controversy
Sharon Stone is weighing in on the Joe Rogan-Spotify controversy, and she is not holding back. To recall, Rogan became the center of controversy when musicians Neil Young and Joni Mitchell pulled their music from the streaming service — with the former citing the UFC commentator as a source of COVID misinformation.
With his promotion of Ivermectin and hosting controversial guests such as vaccine skeptic Dr. Robert Malone and pandemic-denier Dr. Peter McCullough, Rogan has certainly made "The Joe Rogan Experience" quite the polarizing listen. With his contentious podcast in tow, more than 250 doctors penned an open letter to Spotify, writing, "Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Joe Rogan has repeatedly spread misleading and false claims on his podcast, provoking distrust in science and medicine." They further added, "He has discouraged vaccination in young people and children, incorrectly claimed that mRNA vaccines are "gene therapy," promoted off-label use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19 (contrary to FDA warnings), and spread a number of unsubstantiated conspiracy theories."
As a result of all the backlash, Rogan took to Instagram on January 30 to respond. In the near-10-minute video, he pledged to "balance out these more controversial viewpoints with other people's perspectives so that we can maybe find a better point of view." As it turns out, though, Sharon Stone is not having it.
Sharon Stone says Joe Rogan's vaccine commentary is 'risking people's lives'
You know her from films such as "Basic Instinct" and "Casino," but did you know that Sharon Stone has worked with Dr. Anthony Fauci for two-and-a-half decades? Talking to TMZ, Stone discussed the Joe Rogan-Spotify controversy and laid into the former "Fear Factor" host for his contentious podcast, "The Joe Rogan Experience."
Touting her experience, she said, "I'm an infectious disease worker who has won the Nobel Peace Summit Award for my work in disease ... Harvard awards, Einstein awards ... I worked with Dr. Fauci for decades and I just want to say, COVID is not an opinion-based situation." She continued, stating, "Mr. Rogan thinking his 'opinion' or disclaimer for the lives that he personally has affected and caused losses of — it's not an opinion. Mr. Rogan is risking people's lives with his idiocy and his professing that his thoughts about COVID are opinions."
Stone's comments come as Spotify revealed they will add a disclaimer to all podcasts discussing COVID-19, per CNN. "... So to the pretense that these are opinions and he should put a disclaimer, he should put a disclaimer that he's an a**hole," she continued. When asked about celebrity support, Stone said, "I think that people can say whatever they want to say... I don't know how many of these people's opinions come with fact-based experience." Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson previously commented on Rogan's post, saying it was "perfectly articulated."