Joe Rogan vowed to do better in the wake of Spotify losing over $2 billion in market value after the streaming service’s stock plummeted last week in the wake of controversy surrounding the UFC color commentator’s podcast on the platform.
In a lengthy video post on his Instagram account, Rogan addressed the criticism he’s faced following popular musicians such as Neil Young and Joni Mitchell pulling their catalogues from Spotify after demanding action on COVID-19 misinformation promoted on his show.
” I think there are a lot people who have a distorted view of what we do. Maybe based upon soundbites, or perhaps based on headlines that are discrediting,” Rogan stated in the video. “The podcast has been accused of spreading dangerous misinformation.”
Rogan then addressed two guests, in particular, who appeared on his show — Dr. Peter McCullough and Dr. Robert Malone — both of whom have been accused of spreading a false narrative surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rogan defended having both guests on his program but added that he needed to do better when presenting differing perspectives on a given subject, including conversations surrounding COVID-19 and the ongoing pandemic.
” The problem with misinformation today is that many things we once considered to be misinformation are now being accepted as facts,” Rogan stated. I don’t know if they are right. It is not clear to me. I don’t know. I’m just a person who sits down and talks to people and has conversations with them.
” What if I do things wrong? Absolutely. I get things wrong but I try to correct them. Because I am interested in the truth, every time I make a mistake, I fix it. I am interested in discovering the truth and enjoy having conversations with others who have different opinions. I’m not interested in only talking to people that have one perspective.”
While Spotify has stood by Rogan after signing him to a massive $100 million deal in 2020 to move his hugely popular podcast to the platform, the streaming service did announce plans to add a content advisory to any podcast episode regarding COVID-19.
Rogan stated that he agrees with Spotify’s new policy. He also promised to be more transparent about the guests booked for his show in order to have a fair and balanced discussion.
“Sure. Rogan stated that he was very pleased with the result. Rogan added, “I think there is one thing I can do that would be better than having experts who have different opinions after my controversial ones. I would most certainly be open to doing that.
” I do the scheduling and sometimes it’s not always perfect. These podcasts are very strange because they’re just conversations, and oftentimes I have no idea what I’m going to talk about until I sit down and talk to people, and that’s why some of my ideas are not prepared or fleshed out.”
Moving forward, Rogan also vowed to take more responsibility when it comes to his own research regarding any subjects he’s discussing on his show, in addition to welcoming more guests to offer a different opinion than those deemed controversial.
” I believe that it’s important. I do my best research these subjects, especially controversial ones, before I talk about them. Rogan agreed.
“I’m not trying promote misinformation. I’m not trying to be controversial. I’ve never tried to do anything with this podcast other than talk to people and have interesting conversations.”
Rogan’s podcast has a reputation for being one of the most popular in the world. Episodes are regularly listened to millions of times. While Rogan isn’t backing down from booking controversial guests, he hopes the changes he plans to enact will calm the choppy waters surrounding his podcast in recent months. He added that he remains a fan of artists like Young and Mitchell and apologized if his show has managed to rub anyone the wrong way.
“I want to thank Spotify for being so supportive during this time, and I’m very sorry that this is happening to them and that they’re taking so much heat from it,” Rogan said.
“I am going to do my best in the future to balance things out. While I will do my best to make this podcast enjoyable, my goal is to keep it interesting and to have conversations that are entertaining. If I pissed you off, I’m sorry, and if you enjoy the podcast, thank you.”
