Joe Rogan is arguably one of the most influential celebrities of our time. In fact, he appeared on a list of one of 500 key influential figures in global media by Variety. That’s certainly saying something, considering he’s among others like Bob Chapek, the CEO of The Walt Disney Company.
However, Rogan isn’t always in the news for being a positive influence. In fact, a lot of the time, his podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience” is criticized for the guests, or the information that they bring with them. That’s exactly why he’s in the news again.
270 doctors and scientists have signed an open letter to the publisher of Rogan’s podcast, Spotify. Spotify obtained all of the rights to publish his podcast episodes exclusively, making a $100 million deal with Rogan. The letter is demanding that Spotify be held accountable for the misinformation that his podcast spreads.
Specifically, the doctors have reached their breaking point thanks to a recent episode. The episode featured Dr. Robert Malone, a controversial figure in the medical field. The information he broadcast has been described as anti-vax propaganda and misinformation. Rogan isn’t known for stopping his guests from talking about anything, and because of this philosophy, doctors and medical experts have deemed him a “menace to public health.”
The episode in question was published during December of 2021. Dr. Robert Malone was Joe Rogan’s guest, and the conversation between the two was three hours and six minutes long. The episode has gone viral, which is what has medical professionals worried.
During the interview, Malone made several alarming comparisons. The most troubling, however, was that the U.S. was currently acting like Nazi Germany, due to the way that vaccines are being handled in the country. Malone was quoted as saying that today’s society is suffering from “mass formation psychosis” related to the COVID vaccination.
Another shocking statement made by Malone was in regards to two major vaccine developers. He stated that Pfizer and Moderna have “financial conflicts of interest,” implying that the two pushed the vaccines through in order to make money. Malone claims that he was part of the team that invented the mRNA technology used in the COVID vaccinations.
These types of controversial opinions are bad enough, but the issue becomes worse as it deepens. The hundreds of doctors that signed the letter to Spotify fact-checked Malone, provided their evidence, and have been able to prove that the majority of what’s been said is verifiably false.
The largest concern has to do with Rogan’s influential personality. He has an estimated 11 million listeners per episode, and many of them consider the podcast to be news (though it isn’t).
Malone isn’t the only guest that Rogan has had that has compared the current state of the union to Nazi Germany. It states:
Dr. Malone is one of two recent JRE guests who has compared pandemic policies to the Holocaust. These actions are not only objectionable and offensive, but also medically and culturally dangerous.
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At this point in time, Spotify has no misinformation policy, as many other streaming companies do. In fact, they seem to be the only platform that isn’t handling the issue. YouTube removed the video from their platform, and Malone’s Twitter account has been suspended.
It’s unclear whether or not Spotify will do anything about the issue, but another thing is clear. They got a lot more than what they bargained for by getting exclusive streaming rights to The Joe Rogan Experience.
