On Monday, podcast superstar and comedian Joe Rogan received some words of advice from both former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, both urging the Joe Rogan Experience host to "not apologize" for statements he’s made in the past.
Trump released a statement on Monday telling Rogan to "to stop apologizing to the Fake News and Radical left maniacs and lunatics."
"Joe Rogan is an interesting and popular guy, but he’s got to stop apologizing to the Fake News and Radical left maniacs and lunatics. How many ways can you say you’re sorry? Joe, just go about what you do so well and don’t let them make you look weak and frightened. That’s not you and it never will be!" Trump said.
In an interview with Fox News the same day, DeSantis expressed a similar sentiment, saying that legacy media outlets and the left "fear the fact that he can reach so many people, and so they're out to destroy him."
"No, he shouldn't have apologized. I mean, you see what happens? The mob will come after people, and they're targeting Rogan because he's threatening to upset the apple cart on some of the things that they're holding dear. And with COVID, he's just bringing opposing views. He's letting people decide. They say he's against [the COVID vaccine]. I do not listen to his show, but then I read he specifically advocated for people with co-morbidities and elderly to get vaccinated," DeSantis said.
"I think a lot of the legacy outlets and I think the left fear the fact that he can reach so many people, and so they're out to destroy him. But what I would say is don't give an inch. Do not apologize. Do not kow to the mob. Stand up and tell them to pound sand; if you do that, there's really nothing that they're able to do to you. The only way they have power is if you let them get your goat," he added.
Rogan has been at the center of a number of controversies lately, with the most recent one coming in response to a number of old JRE episodes where he used the N-word. Rogan released an apology video late last week in response.
"I'm making this video to talk about the most regretful and shameful thing that I've ever had to talk about publicly. There's a video that's out that's a compilation of me saying the N-word. It's a video that's made of clips taken out of context of me," Rogan told his fans in a Facebook/Instagram video over the weekend.
Rogan continued on to explain the context of his use of the word, which is related to legendary black comedians using it in their albums.
"We were talking about Redd Foxx; how Redd Foxx said that word on television in the 1970s and how times have changed so much since then, or about how Richard Pryor used it as one of the titles of one of his albums. Or I was quoting a Lenny Bruce bit, or I was quoting Paul Mooney bit or I was talking about Quentin Tarantino using it repeatedly in Pulp Fiction," he said.
"But for years, I used it in that manner. I never used it to be racist, because I'm not racist. But whenever you're in a situation where you have to say, I'm not racist, you f*cked up. And I clearly have f*cked up," Rogan continued.
"And that's my intention, to express myself in this video to say there's nothing I can do to take that back. I wish I could. Obviously, that's not possible. I do hope that if anything, that this can be a teachable moment because I never thought it would ever be taken out of context and put in a video like that."
Rogan also has also received weeks of backlash in regards to hosting Dr. Robert Malone on his podcast in December, where the doctor questioned the current narrative on COVID-19.
In response, a number of musicians have removed their music from Spotify, and the streaming platform has stated that it will now include COVID-19 content advisories on podcasts discussing these issues.
Over the weekend, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek released a memo to his employees saying that he was "deeply sorry" for the way Joe Rogan’s podcast affected them.
"There are no words I can say to adequately convey how deeply sorry I am for the way The Joe Rogan Experience controversy continues to impact each of you. Not only are some of Joe Rogan’s comments incredibly hurtful – I want to make clear that they do not represent the values of this company."
Ek stated however that he does not plan to remove the podcast from Spotify.
"While I strongly condemn what Joe has said and I agree with his decision to remove past episodes from our platform, I realize some will want more. I want to make one point very clear – I do not believe that silencing Joe is the answer."
Ek continued by saying, "...canceling voices is a slippery slope."
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