![]() ![]() Spotify finally responded to the backlash on Sunday, though without addressing the Rogan issue directly. The hashtag #DeleteSpotify began trending on Twitter late last week, and Apple Music jumped on the moment, tweeting that it was now “the home of Neil Young.” Joni Mitchell soon followed suit, along with a smattering of other artists and podcasters. Last week, Neil Young, an outspoken advocate for Covid-19 safety and prevention, said he wanted Spotify to remove his entire catalog because he doesn’t want his music to share a home with vaccine misinformation. Those views prompted a backlash from a group of doctors, professors and scientists that penned an open letter to Spotify, asking the platform to rein in misinformation. Rogan has said he’s not anti-vaccine, but that he believes (against an overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary) that younger people who exercise and eat healthy don’t need to get vaccinated and have little to worry about if they become infected with Covid. (When unvaccinated quarterback Aaron Rodgers contracted Covid, he said he consulted with Rogan on using the drug.) Rogan has also endorsed using ivermectin, an anti-parasitic medicine, as a treatment for Covid, despite repeated warnings from US health officials. He also espoused an unfounded theory known as “mass formation psychosis,” which suggests that much of the population has been hypnotized to follow Covid protocols. Multiple psychologists told the Associated Press the theory is no support for the psychosis theory. In December, Rogan hosted Robert Malone, a doctor who was suspended from Twitter for spreading Covid misinformation. During the show, Malone made several baseless claims, including that Covid vaccines can put people who’ve had the virus at higher risk. More recently, Rogan has been under fire for his skepticism around Covid-19 and the public health protocols in place to fight it. In 2020, Spotify struck a reported $100 million deal to secure exclusive licensing rights to Rogan’s show - one of the largest acquisitions ever in the podcasting space. In 2018, the podcast famously (or notoriously) made headlines when Tesla CEO Elon Musk appeared, sipping whiskey and smoking weed with Rogan for a bizarre, 2.5-hour live interview. The show has built an avid fan base, along with legions of detractors, since it launched in 2009. Rogan built his brand on his willingness to interview people who’d been kicked off other social media, such as the far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. India Arie says she's pulling her music from Spotify over Joe Rogan's comments on race (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images for BET) Paras Griffin/Getty Images NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - AUGUST 25: India.Arie attends Black Girls Rock 2019 Hosted By Niecy Nash at NJPAC on Augin Newark, New Jersey. Rogan hosts “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast, where he interviews a wide range of guests, such as comedians, scientists and business leaders. (SPOT) have found themselves under intensifying scrutiny. Here are some key things to know about him, and why he and Spotify ![]() To his critics, he’s a reckless peddler of dangerous conspiracy theories, haplessly giving oxygen to radical ideas. To his fans, he’s a bold and curious mind at work, using his podcast to investigate and elevate ideas considered controversial or fringe by the mainstream. To call Rogan polarizing would be an understatement. He gained national attention around the same time as the host of NBC’s “Fear Factor” reality series. Rogan, whose website describes him as “mixed martial arts fanatic” and “psychedelic adventurer” among other things, was a regular color commentator for the MMA promoter Ultimate Fighting Championship in the early 2000s. He’s someone who requires a lot of slashes: Comedian/commentator/podcast host/media personality. His Spotify-based podcast’s Covid commentary created a backlash that led several musicians and customers to boycott the platform. If Joe Rogan wasn’t already a household name before last week, he almost certainly is now. ![]()
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