About 70 podcast episodes by Joe Rogan’s were removed from Spotify as musicians continue to protest the streaming service for allowing the podcaster to spread falsehoods about the coronavirus and his use of a racial slur.
It remains unclear why the episodes of the “Joe Rogan Experience” were taken down, however, it’s likely due to the widespread criticism the controversial podcaster is facing.
At least one guest who made an appearance on a since-pulled episode said they believed Rogan used the n-word during the recording appearance. So far, all purged episodes appear to pre-date the pandemic, the Washington Post reported.
Other pulled episodes include appearances by Amy Schumer and Joey Diaz.
There was also an episode that medical professionals have slammed in recent weeks, which they say spread misinformation about vaccines. But that episode was still available on Spotify as of Sunday. The episode featured an interview with Robert Malone, who is a doctor and well-known skeptic of the coronavirus vaccines.
The website JREMissing tracks missing episodes of Rogan’s podcast and notes when they were taken down from Spotify. It first noted that 70 podcast episodes were removed from Spotify on Friday.
On Saturday, Rogan posted a video on his Instagram account and apologized for his past use of the n-word, in which he added that it is “the most regretful and shameful thing that I’ve ever had to talk about publicly.”
Singer India. Arie recently announced that she would remove her catalog from the streaming platform in response to Rogan’s “language around race.” Which may have prompted Rogan’s apology.
It also included a compilation video on social media that shows numerous times over 12 years in which Rogan used the n-word on his show.
While Rogan claims the clips were taken out of context, he did admit that the video looked “horrible, even to me.”
The controversy over his podcast continued to spiral after other artists including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell pulled their music from Spotify to protest what they see as the streaming platform’s lack of content moderation, especially surrounding the coronavirus misinformation that was featured in some episodes of the “Joe Rogan Experience.”
Spotify acquired the podcast in 2020, in what was reported a $100 million deal.
