Spotify pulls more than 110 episodes of ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’ podcast, amid COVID-19 misinformation controversy

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Spotify removed more than 110 episodes of Joe Rogan’s podcast because of increased scrutiny of COVID-19 misinformation he broadcast, as well as resurfaced clips of him using a racial slur.

Key Players

Joe Rogan is an American comedian and podcaster best known for “The Joe Rogan Experience” (“JRE”), which he has hosted since 2009. The podcast regularly features guest commentary on current events. In May 2020, Rogan signed a deal with Spotify, making the podcast available exclusively on the platform beginning in January 2021. The deal was worth an estimated $100 million.

Spotify is a Swedish audio streaming service founded in 2006. With more than 400 million active monthly users, it is one of the largest audio streaming services in the world, hosting digital, copyright-restricted music, and podcasts. To compensate artists, Spotify pays royalties that are calculated based on the total number of an artist’s streams. Spotify’s revenue mainly comes from users who pay for its subscription service, Spotify Premium, as well as advertisements.

Further Details

On Dec. 31, 2021, an episode of “JRE” featuring Dr. Robert Malone, an American physician and infectious disease researcher, was released on Spotify. Malone promoted falsehoods about COVID-19, said societal leaders had hypnotized the public, and compared U.S. public health policy to the Holocaust. 

On Jan. 10, 2022, a group of 270 medical professionals published an open letter criticizing Malone, as well as Rogan’s continued spreading of COVID-19 misinformation, The New York Times reported. 

“By allowing the propagation of false and societally harmful assertions,” the letter states, “Spotify is enabling its hosted media to damage public trust in scientific research and sow doubt in the credibility of data-driven guidance offered by medical professionals.” 

The letter denounced Rogan’s past comments that children and young adults should not take the vaccine, that the vaccines were “gene therapy,” and for endorsing off-label use of ivermectin for treatment. It also urged Spotify to implement a strict policy to mitigate the spread of misinformation.

Afterward, popular artists and podcasters threatened to remove their content if Spotify did not regulate “JRE.” On Jan. 24, 2022, a since-deleted letter on musician Neil Young’s website said Spotify must take responsibility and curb the spread of misinformation, Rolling Stone reported. 

“I am doing this because Spotify is spreading fake information about vaccines — potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them,” Young wrote. “Please act on this immediately today and keep me informed of the time schedule.”

“They can have Rogan or Young. Not both.”

Two days later, Spotify began removing Young’s music. Joni Mitchell, whose music was also removed, said, “Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives,” The Times reported. 

Spotify’s existing COVID-19 misinformation policy prohibits material that promotes “dangerous false or dangerous deceptive medical information that may cause offline harm or poses a direct threat to public health,” including denial of COVID-19’s existence or that “promoting or suggesting that vaccines approved by local health authorities are designed to cause death.” 

Since the start of the pandemic, Spotify has provided content on its platform about COVID-19 updates and coverage stemming from various news outlets and has removed more than 20,000 podcast episodes related to the virus.

Outcome 

Spotify adds content advisory, Rogan responds to misinformation criticism

On Jan. 30, 2022, Daniel Ek, the CEO of Spotify and one of its co-founders, wrote in a public letter that Spotify plays a vital role in balancing creator expression and user safety, and that “it is important to me that we don’t take on the position of being content censor while also making sure that there are rules in place and consequences for those who violate them.” 

Ek said Spotify would add a clear “content advisory” notice to any podcast episode on its platform that includes a discussion about the pandemic, directing users to the COVID-19 information hub. No explicit mention of Rogan was made in these statements.

The same day, Rogan responded with an almost 10-minute Instagram video, arguing that the goal of his show is to promote lively conversations, not misinformation. Rogan said he would be open to having “more experts with differing opinions right after I have the controversial ones.”

On Feb. 2, 2022, at an internal meeting, Ek defended Spotify as a platform and not a content regulator, The Verge reported. 

“It is important to note that we do not have creative control over Joe Rogan’s content,” Ek said. “We don’t approve his guests in advance, and just like any other creator, we get his content when he publishes, and then we review it, and if it violates our policies, we take the appropriate enforcement actions.” Ek added, “There are many things that Joe Rogan says that I strongly disagree with and find very offensive.”

Rogan receives further backlash for use of racial slur

In early February, a video of Rogan using a racial slur in various instances over the past twelve years on his podcast circulated on social media, prompting more artists, such as singer India.Arie, to remove their catalogs.

On Feb. 5, Rogan posted another apology video on his Instagram account, lamenting that the compilation was stitched together with clips that looked “horrible, even to me.” He said the clips were taken out of context and discussed the slur’s use by Black comedians such as Richard Pryor and Redd Foxx, as well as white comedians such as the late Lenny Bruce. “It’s not my word to use,” Rogan said, adding that he had not uttered the slur “in years.”

Spotify removes ‘JRE’ episodes

By Feb. 7, 2022, Spotify had removed 113 episodes of “JRE,” Independent reported. Deleted episodes included interviews with far-right commentators like conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and former Brietbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos. Many of the removed episodes aired years before the pandemic.

JRE Missing, an independent website, automatically tracks episodes of JRE that are currently unavailable on Spotify.

Trump-affiliated platform offers Rogan $100 million

Amid the controversy, Rumble, a YouTube-style website affiliated with former President Donald Trump and popular with conservatives, offered Rogan a $100 million deal over four years for all his shows, Reuters reported. 

Chris Pavlovski, Rumble CEO, tweeted Rogan an offer for him to quit Spotify. “We stand with you, your guests, and your legion of fans in desire for real conversation.”  He suggested, “How about you bring all your shows to Rumble, both old and new, with no censorship, for 100 million bucks over four years?”

Axios noted that with Rogan and Spotify engaged in an exclusive contract, a shift to Rumble is highly unlikely, chalking it up to a public relations stunt by Rumble. “Rogan sure knows Spotify’s future dollars are more certain than Rumble’s,” Dan Primack wrote. 

Rogan calls racial slur scandal a political hit job

On Feb. 8, 2022, Rogan said the viral compilation of him using a racial slur was a targeted act, Variety reported.

“That video had always been out there. It’s like, this is a political hit job,” Rogan said. “And so they’re taking all this stuff I’ve ever said that’s wrong and smushing it all together.”

Rogan also said the video’s release had also come as a relief. “It’s good because it makes me address some shit that I really wish wasn’t out there,” he said, adding that he felt proud for apologizing. “We’ve all said some wild shit, and you apologized, and owned that it’s wrong, good for you.”