Joe Rogan vs Spotify: Daniel Ek Apologizes To Employees; Rumble Woos Rogan
Keneci Channel
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UPDATE: Trump Urges Joe Rogan To Stop Apologizing To "Radical Left Maniacs" Over Spotify Controversy
The popular host of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast apologized after a far-left group released a video showing him use the word "nigger," in past episodes of JRE.
Reacting to the controversy, the 45th president of the United States, Donald Trump urged Rogan to not bow down to the woke left-wing mob.
"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," the president said in a statement. "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!"
Popular Republican governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis also echoed Trump's sentiments in an interview Monday, with Fox News. He slammed legacy media outlets like CNN for trying to destroy Rogan because he has far larger audience than the failing far-left outlets.
"No, he shouldn't have apologized. I mean, you see what happens?" DeSantis said. "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." 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."
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After far-left activists last week, circulated on social media an out-of-context compilation video of Rogan saying "nigger," on his podcast, the Joe Rogan Experience JRE, host took to Instagram to apologize profusely, a move widely criticized by conservatives who pointed argue that the apology will only embolden the 'woke' mob who want to see the popular podcaster deplatformed from Spotify.
The controversy surrounding Rogan started when left-wing musicians -- like Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Graham Nash, their fellow bandmates David Crosby and Stephen Stills, as well as India Arie -- all removed their music from Spotify in protest of the JRE host’s presence on the platform. They accused the podcaster and stand-up comedian of spreading coronavirus pandemic misinformation.
The music streaming giant has since caved to left-wing mob's pressure and scrubbed over 100 episodes of JRE from the platform.
Daniel Ek apologized to employees in a memo Sunday: “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 stopped short of ending the company's lucrative exclusive contract with Rogan.
“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. And I want to make one point very clear – I do not believe that silencing Joe is the answer,” Ek continued. “We should have clear lines around content and take action when they are crossed, but canceling voices is a slippery slope.”
The CEO continued: "I am committing to an incremental investment of $100 million for the licensing, development, and marketing of music (artists and songwriters) and audio content from historically marginalized groups. This will dramatically increase our efforts in these areas. While some might want us to pursue a different path, I believe that more speech on more issues can be highly effective in improving the status quo and enhancing the conversation altogether … One of the things I am thinking about is what additional steps we can take to further balance creator expression with user safety. I’ve asked our teams to expand the number of outside experts we consult with on these efforts and look forward to sharing more details."
Video streaming platform Rumble on Monday, publicly offered Rogan a $100m 4-year exclusive deal, pledging that the podcaster will not be censored on the platform.
"We stand with you, your guests, and your legion of fans in desire for real conversation," Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski wrote in a letter screenshot of which the company posted on social media. "So we'd like to offer you 100 million reasons to make the world a better place. How about you bring all your shows to Rumble, both old and new, with no censorship, to 100 million bucks over four years? This is our chance to save the world. And yes, this is totally legit."
Rogan is currently contractually tied to Spotify.