The controversy swirling around podcaster Joe Rogan has entered yet another chapter after footage of him mocking actress Angelina Jolie for a medical condition and making racist and transphobic comments has surfaced.
Rogan has already been at the center of two other overlapping controversies over the content of his podcast "The Joe Rogan Experience" that grew so intense Rogan ended up posting a public apology last weekend.
Now, the wildly popular Spotify podcaster is once again under fire after Alex Paterson, a researcher for watchdog organization Media Matters for America, compiled a thread of comments Rogan has recently made on his show, including sexist digs mocking Jolie's medical diagnosis.
I'm seeing a lot of Joe Rogan's worst comments from the 2010s circulating. I get paid to listen to his podcast @mmfa & want to remind people that he hasn't changed.\n\nHere are some of the most hateful things Joe has said in the past year and a half. THREAD/— Alex Paterson (@Alex Paterson) 1644275714
In a podcast episode taped last month, Rogan claimed Jolie's Bell's palsy, a frequently trauma-related neurological condition that effects the muscles of the face, is a result of her being "crazy."
He said:
“There's a rule. Crazy pu*sy is the best pu*sy… She’s clearly crazy..."
"That’s the problem with crazy is crazy comes with all sorts of neurotic sh*t."
Jolie revealed her diagnosis in a recent Vanity Fair article in which she also discussed other health problems that arose during her divorce from fellow actor Brad Pitt.
But Rogan's comments on Jolie were just the tip of the iceberg of those compiled by Paterson. In another clip, Rogan joined his guest in mocking transgender people and opined that most are just adopting it as an identity to seek attention.
August 2021, Rogan claimed some trans people aren't actually trans -- "they are just latching on to this need to get attention, or to be special, ... and to be a victim."\n\nHe then agreed with his guest's use of an anti-trans slur, saying "QAnon is just like conservative t-----s"pic.twitter.com/UkdvL3gfxd— Alex Paterson (@Alex Paterson) 1644275757
Rogan said while he believes transgender is a legitimate identity that has "existed throughout history," he agrees with some of transphobic author and conspiracy theorist Douglas Murray's claims about transgender people.
As he put it:
"What Douglas Murray was saying is that some of them aren't really that. They're just latching onto this need to get attention, or to be special, to stand out, to be a victim."
"You're not experiencing real adversity... so you create discrimination against yourself."
Murders and hate crimes against transgender people have skyrocketed year after year, with 2021 the deadliest so far—a record that has been beaten every year since statistics began to be compiled.
Murray, for his part, claims these statistics are fake. No word from Rogan if this is something he also agrees with Murray on.
In other clips from just months ago, Rogan joined his guests in mocking Asian accents.
October 2021, Rogan and his guest made fun of people with "Asian accents" then said people who think that is offensive are "retarded." \n\nRogan added, "But I'm on Spotify, you can get away with it."pic.twitter.com/VbHSxR7veo— Alex Paterson (@Alex Paterson) 1644275749
When he and his guest subsequently discussed how such jokes frequently offend people, Rogan called such people "retarded" and joked that he has a pass to use that word because his show is on Spotify.
"But I'm on Spotify, you can get away with it.
So far, that seems to be true.
Despite intense backlash from both consumers and its own staff, Spotify has chosen to mostly stay out of the furor surrounding Rogan's podcast, citing censorship concerns. Instead, the company has opted to add disclaimers to episodes that amplify COVID-19 misinformation and to delete scores of episodes containing bigoted comments.
But on Twitter at least, Rogan's comments generated intense anger.
I feel like I\u2019m back in high school where teasing \u201cothers\u201d is he name of the game to be popular. Rogan is an adolescent.— Healthcare \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8Voter \ud83c\udf0a (@Healthcare \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8Voter \ud83c\udf0a) 1644333861
The recurring theme being "But I'm on Spotify, you can get away with it."\n\nBecause this is what Daniel Ek pays $100 million for.https://twitter.com/AlexPattyy/status/1490826518691414021?s=20&t=HCgjMlXck_wUqV-vCpDpGA\u00a0\u2026— Get vaccinated. Against COVID & fascism. web rant (@Get vaccinated. Against COVID & fascism. web rant) 1644361443
He has changed. Listen to his interview with Michael Osterholm from March 2020, before his Spotify deal.https://twitter.com/kingbullyo/status/1489666078431236100?s=20&t=I--6bkXrId6DRe-tbfRXKA\u00a0\u2026— JohnRJohnson (@JohnRJohnson) 1644282378
\u201cYou just hate on Rogan because you don\u2019t listen to him!\u201d\u2026 I guess many people don\u2019t realize that we despise Rogan BECAUSE we have given him a shot once or twice in the past.— Joe Kersten (@Joe Kersten) 1644280595
No matter how many hundreds of ridiculous @joerogan #podcasts are removed due to #asshattery, misinformation, or just plain old #racism there\u2019s always reason to remove more. #DeleteSpotify #JoeRoganExperience #racistroganhttps://www.towleroad.com/2022/02/joe-rogan-ridicules-angelina-jolie-over-bells-palsy-diagnosis-mocks-asian-accents-in-newly-resurfaced-clips-amid-spotify-controversy/\u00a0\u2026— PrObama (@PrObama) 1644480459
Disgusting. Deleted my Spotify.— Carolina Aguiar \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 (@Carolina Aguiar \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08) 1644280646
Thanks for this work Alex. I\u2019ve been talking with men and young men since 2008 re: embracing helpful vs harmful ideas of manhood. I think people generally have no idea the kinds of harms and hate that Rogan\u2019s years of content has caused.— jeff perera (@jeff perera) 1644291861
He's literally that dril tweet.pic.twitter.com/s5p3qtMGqT— Stuposterous Granularity (@Stuposterous Granularity) 1644279159
Angelina Jolie is twice the man Joe Rogan is.— Make Racists Afraid Again (@Make Racists Afraid Again) 1644452417
No matter how many hundreds of ridiculous @joerogan #podcasts are removed due to #asshattery, misinformation, or just plain old #racism there\u2019s always reason to remove more. #DeleteSpotify #JoeRoganExperience #racistroganhttps://www.towleroad.com/2022/02/joe-rogan-ridicules-angelina-jolie-over-bells-palsy-diagnosis-mocks-asian-accents-in-newly-resurfaced-clips-amid-spotify-controversy/\u00a0\u2026— PrObama (@PrObama) 1644480459
Despite the repeated uproars, many experts agree the backlash is unlikely to negatively affect Spotify or its deal with Rogan in the long-term. It seems likely the consternation around his content is here to stay.
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