Joe Rogan has had quite a tough time amid the fallout from the Neil Young and Spotify controversy but he still has one big fan in Dwayne Johnson.
As more and more artists follow Young’s example and departed the streaming platform in protest against the spread of COVID-19 misinformation, Rogan took to social media on Sunday to give his side of events.
In a 10-minute video posted to Instagram, the podcast host pledged to “try harder to get people with differing opinions on” and “do my best to make sure I’ve researched these topics.” “A lot of people… have a distorted perception of what I do,’ Rogan said in regards to recent episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience that featured guests who shared Covid conspiracy theories.
“It’s become what it is today, which is some out-of-control juggernaut that I barely have control of,” he added. “Often times I have no idea what I’m gonna talk about until I sit down and talk to people,” he said, adding, “I am gonna do my best in the future to balance things out.”
The Rock particularly appreciated Rogan’s response, calling it “perfectly articulated.” In a comment on Rogan’s Instagram post, Johnson offered his support.
“Great stuff here brother,” he commented. “Perfectly articulated. Look forward to coming on one day and breaking out the tequila with you.” Rogan has had figures from the film world on his podcast before, including director Oliver Stone, so there’s some hope for Johnson one day getting that tequila.
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Other celebrities have voiced their support for Rogan recently. Former presidential candidate Marianne Williamson stuck up for him over the weekend. “I’m triple vaxxed, but (unless they’re standing for hate or calling for violence) banning someone’s podcast is too much like burning a book to me,” she wrote on Twitter, also adding that Rogan “should talk on his podcast about whatever he damn well pleases.”
The Daily Show host Trevor Noah offered a balanced view on Rogan’s response. “I was half-expecting Joe Rogan to come out and be like, ‘Guys, my podcast was hacked, that wasn’t me,’ but instead he owned up to it,” the South African star said. “I thought it was pretty dope. It was refreshing.”
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