Trevor Noah Rips Joe Rogan's Recent Apology
India Arie followed the example of Neil Young when she announced she would be pulling her music from Spotify in protest of Joe Rogan. While Young and other artists took exception with the COVID-19 views expressed on Rogan's podcast, Arie had other concerns. "I find Joe Rogan problematic for reasons other than his Covid interviews," she wrote in an Instagram post on January 31. "For me, it's also his language around race." The singer was referencing a viral compilation video that showed the comedian using the N-word repeatedly in past podcasts.
Rogan took to Instagram to apologize for his past use of the racial slur. "It looks f***ing horrible. Even to me," he said in the video posted February 5. "I certainly wasn't trying to be racist," the podcaster explained while mentioning the compilation lacked true context. Although he admitted to realizing he should not say the word, regardless of context. "It's not my word to use, I'm well aware of that now."
Many people were unsatisfied with Rogan's apology including Donald Trump. The former president was upset that the podcast host was kowtowing to the left. "[H]e's got to stop apologizing to the Fake News and Radical Left maniacs and lunatics," Trump said in a statement on February 7, per NBC News. "How many ways can you say you're sorry?" he added. Meanwhile, Trevor Noah took umbrage with Rogan's apology for a completely different reasons.
The thing Joe Rogan said that really bothered Trevor Noah
Trevor Noah skewered Joe Rogan's apology in a lengthy segment on "The Daily Show" that aired February 7. The host referenced how Rogan mentioned his use of the N-word was taken out of context, but to Noah the intention did not matter. "Because Black people don't have the time to sit down and sort out the racist who says the N-word 70 times with the non-racist who says the N-word 70 times," he said on the political comedy show. In fact, Noah preferred a non-Black person who used the slur to just be forthright. "Just stop saying it or just be racist — it's easier for everyone that way," he joked.
During the segment, Noah called out Rogan for a portion of the viral compilation where he discussed seeing "Planet of the Apes" in a Black neighborhood and likened it to visiting Africa. "It's not just racist. That's OG racism. That's the original, old-school racism," Noah said. "The Daily Show" host joked there were two good scenarios for a person to use the N-word that often. "Either you're Black person, or you're a dead man from history," Noah quipped.
Rogan defended himself on an episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience" that aired February 8. He claimed that the viral video of him using the slur was a targeted attack. "That video had always been out there. It's like, this is a political hit job," he said on the podcast (via NBC News).