#IStandWithJoeRogan trends on Twitter after cancel culture mob targets podcaster

On Sunday, the hashtag #IStandWithJoeRogan was trending on Twitter after the cancel culture mob created an out-of-context compilation of the podcasting icon using the N-word. Rogan has been battling a string of controversies regarding his wildly popular "Joe Rogan Experience" podcast and Spotify, the streaming platform that exclusively hosts the podcast episodes.

At the time of publishing, the pro-Rogan hashtag, promoted by Twitter account Libs of TikTok, has reached the No. 8 spot on Twitter's trending page.

The message of support comes after a number of big name celebrities backed Rogan, and following the most recent controversy he faced in regards to past podcast episodes. On Saturday, Rogan released a video to Instagram apologizing for his use of the N-word in old episodes of the podcast.

The video compilation that circulated on social media of Rogan's use of the word was, according to Rogan, taken out of context and selectively edited.

"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 the Instagram video.

"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."

The trending message of support also comes as the podcast continues to face backlash for hosting Dr Robert Malone as a guest, who continues to question the current narrative on COVID-19 and vaccines.

A letter was sent to Spotify, signed by over 200 medical professionals, describing Rogan as a "menace to public health" and urging the company to censor the podcast star.

In response to the backlash, numerous musicians have removed their music from Spotify, including Joni Mitchell and Neil Young. Spotify has also vowed to include COVID-19 content advisories on podcasts discussing the topic.

Spotify had also recently taken down over 100 episodes of Rogan's podcast. According to Engadget, only 70 episodes were initially removed Friday.