Just after Spotify removed about 70 episodes from Joe Rogan’s podcast without offering an explanation, Rogan posted a video on Instagram apologizing for saying the word N on his show in the past (via New York Times). In his apology, Rogan specifically refers to a compilation of videos shared by Indian singer Ari, which shows that Rogan repeatedly said the word N during podcast episodes for several years.
“I know that for most people, there’s no context in which a white person is allowed to say that word, nothing in public on a podcast, and now I agree with that,” Rogan said. “Instead of saying the N-word, I would just say the word. I thought that while it was in context, people would understand what I was doing. “
Rogan says the videos were taken “out of context” and that he used the word N when talking about comedians such as Richard Pryor, Red Fox and Lenny Bruce, who have used the word in the past. He also apologizes for another video comparing living in a large black area with the film. The planet of the monkeysand says that “immediately afterwards” he told the story, which he called “a racist thing to say.” According to Rogan, he chose to delete this episode because it was “clumsy”.
Ari shared the compilation in his history on Instagram just days after announcing his departure from Spotify. Ari joins artists Neil Young, Johnny Mitchell and Nils Lofgren in leaving Spotify to protest Rogan’s podcast. But unlike Young, Mitchell and Lofgren, who are protesting the podcast over its potential dissemination of disinformation about COVID-19, Ari says she is concerned about Rogan’s “race language”.
Spotify is facing growing reaction to the management of the Rogan podcast, which is hosted exclusively after signing a $ 100 million deal with Rogan in 2020. Critics, including dozens of medical and scientific experts, say Spotify has to deal with the obvious misinformation about COVID-19 in Rogan’s Podcast, which includes a suggestion that healthy young adults should not be vaccinated. Spotify later responded by putting warning labels on episodes that spoke of COVID.
Spotify has not yet confirmed Rogan’s racist remarks as the reason for downloading dozens of his episodes. On the edge asked Spotify for comment, but did not receive a response immediately.