Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson angered his fans after he praised comedian and commentator Joe Rogan for posting a video in which he backed the audio streaming service Spotify's decision to add disclaimers on certain episodes of his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, after he came under fire for for pushing various COVID-19-related conspiracy theories.
Rogan's video response, which he posted to Instagram, attracted the attention of Johnson, who said it was "perfectly articulated" before offering to join Rogan on his podcast some day "and breaking out the tequila with you."
.@TheRock stands with @joeroganpic.twitter.com/9s7Ju9Odv6— Saagar Enjeti (@Saagar Enjeti) 1643655940
The controversy surrounding Rogan and his podcast erupted in the last week after musician Neil Young threatened to cancel all of his music availability on Spotify, saying the company is "spreading false information about vaccines" because it distributes Rogan's podcast.
Young, in a since-deleted open letter, accused Spotify of "potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them" and said he could not in good conscience have his music distributed by a company that has played a role in spreading vaccine misinformation.
Young's demands come as public health experts urge Spotify to block Rogan, whose podcast is the most-listened to podcast on the audio-streaming service.
Young was praised for speaking out. Spotify said it would respect his wishes of removal, though it chose to keep Rogan's podcast on the service. Spotify later said it will add a content advisory to any podcast episode about COVID-19, adding that it would for the first time publicly post its long-standing Platform Rules.
Johnson's message drew the ire of his fans, who expressed their displeasure with the Fast and Furious actor for appearing to back Rogan's falsehoods.
The Rock has come out in support for Joe Rogan. He said \u201cI look forward to coming on your show, brother.\u201d Shameful. Joe Rogan spreads Covid misinformation, attacks Dr. Fauci, and repeatedly spreads the lie that Biden has dementia. What are you doing, @TheRock? Disappointing.— Uncovering The Truth (@Uncovering The Truth) 1643748680
And I've now lost all respect for Mr. Johnson.https://twitter.com/esaagar/status/1488226998405275649\u00a0\u2026— Colin T is ManiacalV\ud83e\udd96\ud83e\udd95 (@Colin T is ManiacalV\ud83e\udd96\ud83e\udd95) 1643739763
Didn\u2019t have the rock being a dick on my 2022 bingo card but here we arehttps://twitter.com/esaagar/status/1488226998405275649\u00a0\u2026— \u2728\u2764\ufe0f\u200d\ud83d\udd25Love is a ruthless game \u2764\ufe0f\u200d\ud83d\udd25\u2728 (@\u2728\u2764\ufe0f\u200d\ud83d\udd25Love is a ruthless game \u2764\ufe0f\u200d\ud83d\udd25\u2728) 1643827015
He's just another enabler of the lame af Rogan. https://twitter.com/UncvrngTheTruth/status/1488615974827819009\u00a0\u2026— Tom Pittman (@Tom Pittman) 1643900746
I always felt there was something off about the Rock. Him supporting Joe Rogan 100% lines up with that.— Liam Marcon (@Liam Marcon) 1643610496
Shall we all show this to @therock? Because he thinks @joerogan is ok.https://twitter.com/CheriJacobus/status/1489054800813641730\u00a0\u2026— Cheri Jacobus (@Cheri Jacobus) 1643854326
So disappointed with @TheRock \u2026.I don\u2019t know why I expected more from him. Your support of @joerogan and his disinformation tells me everything I need to know about who you really are. #therock #joerogan #joerogansucks #whyrockwhy— DJ (@DJ) 1643722870
Shame on Dwayne Johnson! I used to like him.https://twitter.com/UncvrngTheTruth/status/1488615974827819009\u00a0\u2026— Michael Trujillo (@Michael Trujillo) 1643813051
So what's up with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson backing \nJoe Rogan???\nSad. I used to think he was a nice guy.— thetokenone\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08\ud83d\udc89\ud83d\udc89\ud83d\udc89\ud83d\ude37 (@thetokenone\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08\ud83d\udc89\ud83d\udc89\ud83d\udc89\ud83d\ude37) 1643840488
Mere hours after he issued his statement and apologized for spreading misinformation about COVID-19, Rogan tweeted a false story claiming that Ivermectin, a toxic anti-parasitic used to treat parasitic worms, lice, and skin problems mostly in livestock, was shown to be effective against COVID-19's Omicron variant in a Phase III clinical trial.
Rogan tested positive for COVID-19 in September; at the time, he admitted he had treated himself with Ivermectin and claimed his "natural immunity" is reason enough not to get vaccinated, a claim that has long been debunked by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).