After taking a hiatus from his podcast series, Joe Rogan returned to the public eye on Tuesday with his stand-up act in Austin, Texas. In front of a small crowd, Rogan expressed his reaction to the backlash he received regarding the controversial comments on his Spotify show.
Earlier in January, several musicians protested Joe Rogan’s show due to the comments he made regarding Covid vaccinations. Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and the group Crosby, Stills & Nash were among the few that withdrew their music from Spotify, urging the streaming platform’s CEO to do the same for Rogan’s show.
Now, Rogan has come out with his own response to the critical musicians and listeners. During his set in Austin, the comedian spoke to his profession and the nature of his initial comments.
“I talk s**t for a living — that’s why this is so baffling to me,” he shared, per The Hollywood Reporter. “If you’re taking vaccine advice from me, is that really my fault? What dumb s**t were you about to do when my stupid idea sounded better? ‘You know that dude who made people eat animal d***s on TV? How does he feel about medicine?’ If you want my advice, don’t take my advice.”
Rogan also addressed the $100 million offer he received from right-wing streaming platform Rumble. Despite the impressive number, the podcast host has decided to stay with Spotify.
Joe Rogan Speaks to Other Controversy During Stand-Up Act
Of course, this isn’t the only reason Joe Rogan has made headlines recently. Following the initial reaction to Rogan’s Covid-related comments, a video surfaced that compiled every instance of the podcast host using the n-word. Rogan addressed this, too, during his set.
“I used to say it if [I was talking about] a Richard Pryor bit or something, I would say it in context,” Rogan said. “Somebody made a compilation of every time I said that word over 14 years and they put it on YouTube, and it turned out that was racist as f***. Even to me! I’m me and I’m watching it saying, ‘Stop saying it!’ I put my cursor over the video and I’m like, ‘Four more minutes?!’”
“I haven’t used that word in years,” he added. “But it’s kind of weird people will get really mad if you use that weird and tweet about it on a phone that’s made by slaves.”
Joe Rogan used this observation to transition into the topic of the working conditions in overseas cell phone factories. He also believed that the video was a “political hit” of sorts.
“That video [of Rogan saying the n-word in his podcast over the years] had always been out there. This is a political hit job. They’re taking all this stuff I’ve ever said that’s wrong and smushing it all together,” Rogan explained. “It’s good because it makes me address some stuff that I really wish wasn’t out there.”
