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Joe Rogan N-Word Video Controversy

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Overview

Joe Rogan N-Word Video Controversy refers to a controversial viral video of podcaster and comedian Joe Rogan using the N-word multiple times in a compilation of the instances where he said or discussed using the N-word during his career. After the video went viral amid the 2022 protests of Rogan on Spotify over spreading alleged COVID misinformation, intense backlash was triggered online in early February 2022 that resulted in 113 of Rogan's older episodes being removed with viral debates from those calling for his removal from Spotify arguing with those who supported him.

Background

On January 30th, 2022, the Twitter page @PatriotTakes uploaded the 30-second video to their Twitter page[1], as well as several others in a thread. The video was tweeted with a caption stating that "this is who the right defends," receiving over 16,000 likes and 2.1 million views in eight days (shown below).

The reason for the callout of the right allegedly defending Rogan comes from another video posted just days after Neil Young threatened to pull all his music from Spotify if they didn't remove Rogan, which it didn't, causing this event to escalate on top of the previous controversy.

Amid the N-word compilation video's spread on social media, another older clip of Rogan equating entering "the hood" to "entering the Planet of the Apes" from an older JRE episode was also resurfaced despite existing years prior.

Apology Video From Rogan

On February 5th, 2022, Rogan uploaded an apology video to his Instagram[2] in which he talks about how the clips are from many years prior, lacking context and that he would do better in the future, earning 6.1 million views and 100,000 comments in three days (shown below).

Online Reaction

As the video went viral in early February 2022, the online reaction to both the initial compilation video and his later apology were roughly the same. Because this event is a continuation of the previous Neil Young-Spotify drama, many of the same participants found themselves either defending or attacking Joe Rogan on social media. One of the main points used to defend Rogan was claiming that the context in which he said the N-word, which is said to have been while quoting others or talking about it in a meta-contextual social commentary way, was misconstrued by people who didn't know the original context.

This was pushed back on by people saying that the context doesn't matter, or that those defending his use are just covering for their own desire to use it "correctly" as well, prompting posts like the one tweeted by @SunTzusSon[3] on February 8th (shown below).

With the discussion on the context being irrelevant to the word choice, a video of President Joe Biden from decades before when he was quoting someone else's use of the N-word twice began to circulate online, citing it as a reason to go after the President if the context supposedly doesn't matter, as seen in the reuploaded tweet by TheSlyWeeb[4] on February 7th, 2022 (shown below).

Discussion On The Viral Video's Creators

During the spread of the N-word video online, there was also discussion around the question of who made the video and shared it online. This question was allegedly answered by Twitter user Wokal_Distance[12] on February 6th, 2022, who claimed to identify that the page that posted the video, PatriotTakes, was partnered with a Democratic Super PAC called MeidasTouch, suggesting that the entire push behind the video was politically charged and a "hit job."

Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports, supposedly recognized the group MeidasTouch as being a frequent adversary of his online, insinuating that they chronically make such videos and social campaigns against him and others. Portnoy then reached out on February 7th, 2022, and challenged the collective to a debate on YouTube where he fired back at them, which was reported on the Barstool Sports[13] Twitter page the next day (shown below).

Developments

Celebrity Denouncements and Whataboutism

Since the release of the video, many celebrities in early February 2022 stepped forward and denounced Joe Rogan or their support of him, with a notable example being Dwayne The Rock Johnson who was set to appear on JRE in an upcoming episode. The Rock subsequently dropped his support and denounced Rogan over his statements following the video. Shortly after, people dug through old archived footage of him at various wrestling and acting events, having less than stellar word choices. The two main videos of The Rock speaking disparagingly against certain groups were shared by Twitter users @JackPosobiec[5] and @Makeitso20[6] on February 5th and 6th (shown below, top and bottom).

Similar videos have also been shared that feature TheYoungTurks, of which Hasan Piker has been vocally against Rogan, and Howard Stern, who was criticized for racist stereotyping in previous bits during his radio days, which were tweeted by @Lukewearechange[7] and @PeachStatePulse[8] on February 5th and 8th (shown below, top and bottom).

Spotify's Response

On February 6th, 2022, the CEO of Spotify, Daniel Ek, released a statement to the staff of Spotify about the Joe Rogan situation. In the full text, he went over how he views Rogan's use of the N-word as wrong but concedes that silencing or otherwise canceling him isn't the best solution either, while pledging $100 million (the same as Rogan's exclusivity contract with Spotify) to be used for hiring content creators from marginalized communities[9] (shown below).

Spotify Team, There are no words I can say to adequately convey how deeply sorryI 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. I know this situation leaves many of you feeling drained, frustrated and unheard. I think it's important you're aware that we've had conversations with Joe and his team about some of the content in his show, including his history of using some racially insensitive language. Following these discussions and his own reflections, he chose to remove a number of episodes from Spotify. He also issued his own apology over the weekend.

Though some were happy with the statement overall, there were plenty who were upset at how the CEO was, once again, choosing profit margins and keeping Rogan on the platform instead of what they saw as the proper morally correct thing and removing him, as noted in the Tweet by @AliciaSmith987[10] which earned 890 likes in two days (shown below).

Rumble Offers Rogan Deal

On February 7th, 2022, the video-hosting site Rumble joined in the controversy by tweeting out a letter[11] from its CEO, Chris Pavlovski, where they offered to match Rogan's $100 million contract, as well as promise to not censor any of his future words or episodes (shown below).

Various Reactions

Search Interest

External References

[1] Twitter – patriottakes

[2] Instagram – Joe Rogan

[3] Twitter – SunTzusSon

[4] Twitter – TheSlyWeeb

[5] Twitter – JackPosobiec

[6] Twitter – MakeitSo20

[7] Twitter – LukeWeAreChange

[8] Twitter – PeachStatePulse

[9] Twitter – Peter Kafka

[10] Twitter – AliciaSmith987

[11] Twitter -Rumble CEO

[12] Twitter – SuperPAC

[13] Twitter – Portnoy

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