A compilation video of Joe Rogan saying the n-word more than 20 times on his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, was posted on social media and now Rogan has responded.
In a 5 minute and 46 second video posted by Rogan, he apologized for his remarks in the past.
During his video, which has more than one million views, Rogan references the compilation of clips and claims, "It's a video made of clips taken out of context of me of 12 years of conversations on my podcast." He then admits that it looks horrible and said he hasn't said "that word in years."
Rogan goes on to say, "I certainly would never want to offend someone for entertainment with something as stupid as racism." He then says, "I can't go back in time and change what I've said, I wish I could, obviously that's not possible, but I do hope that this can be a teachable moment for anybody that doesn't realize how offensive that word can be coming out of a white person's mouth, in context or out of context."
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The popular podcast is now missing more than 70 episodes as Spotify has appeared to remove them from the listening platform on Friday, Feb. 4.
This isn't the first time The Joe Rogan Experience episodes have disappeared from Spotify. In April 2021, more than 40 controversial episodes were removed. According to JREmissing.com — a website that automatically tracks missing episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience —113 episodes total are no longer available on Spotify. However, the controversial Covid-19 misinformation episodes that have caused musicians such as Neil Young and Joni Mitchell to leave the platform are still available.
Grammy award winning musician India Arie shared the compilation video on her Instagram story before pulling her music from Spotify. On her story, she said in part, “he shouldn’t even be uttering the word. Don’t even say it, under any context. Don’t say it. That’s where I stand. I have always stood there.” She went on to speak about the $100 million deal Spotify made with Rogan in 2020 to gain exclusive rights to his podcast and said artists are still underpaid by the platform. Arie saved her spoken statements to an Instagram story highlight titled "Boycott."
Spotify couldn't be reached immediately for comment.
Rocker Neil Young was the first to demand that Spotify remove his music from the platform over vaccine misinformation being spread. Joni Mitchell was next with an announcement on her website titled, "I Stand With Neil Young!"
Other musicians followed suit, and an open letter to Spotify was written after a controversial episode featuring guest Dr. Robert Malone (Episode #1757) was released. Two hundred and seventy doctors signed the letter. It reads, in part, "We are a coalition of scientists, medical professionals, professors, and science communicators spanning a wide range of fields such as microbiology, immunology, epidemiology, and neuroscience and we are calling on Spotify to take action against the mass-misinformation events which continue to occur on its platform. With an estimated 11 million listeners per episode, JRE is the world’s largest podcast and has tremendous influence. Though Spotify has a responsibility to mitigate the spread of misinformation on its platform, the company presently has no misinformation policy."
Rogan posted a video in response to those controversial episodes as well on Jan. 31. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek addressed the controversy. Despite the open letter, the Dr. Robert Malone episode is still available for listeners, but Spotify has announced it is adding a content advisory to podcasts discussing Covid-19.
