During a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience with guest Andrew Wilson, the topic of Chelsea Handler’s public call-out of Rogan over his record-breaking salary came up, and Rogan gave a candid, largely unbothered response.
Wilson brought the news to Rogan’s attention. “Well, you recently pissed off Chelsea Handler,” Wilson said. Rogan’s initial reaction was genuine surprise. “I didn’t know,” he replied.
Wilson explained that Handler had been vocal about her displeasure with Rogan’s earnings, summarizing her position as believing Rogan was “an evil capitalist pig who makes too much money.”
Rogan found the irony hard to miss. “She’s rich. That’s crazy,” he said with a laugh.
Rather than being drawn into a prolonged war of words, Rogan kept his response measured. “I think she’s just getting attention. I can’t be bothered,” he said. He then reflected on his personal history with Handler. “I know her. I’ve known her forever. I wrote a blurb for one of her earlier books. Never had a bad word to say about her publicly. Every time I’ve seen her, I think I’ve given her a hug. So, I don’t know what’s going on, but it has nothing to do with me.”
Wilson then offered his read on the situation plainly: “It sounds like seething jealousy.”
From there, the conversation widened into a broader cultural pattern around class resentment and wealth criticism. Rogan referenced pop artist Billie Eilish’s public statements about billionaires to illustrate the trend, noting that Eilish declared, “Hey man, no one needs to be a billionaire. Give away your money, homie.” His response was pointed: “It’s crazy because you’re rich, okay? And you also live on a house that’s on Indian land.”
Rogan acknowledged that he understands where these sentiments originate, even if he takes issue with them. “I think a lot of the socialism stuff that’s moving out of the east has a lot to do with that too. There’s the idea of class jealousy. There’s a little bit of that, but there’s also a little bit of young kids who really feel like the system is rigged and that these pigs have gobbled up all the gold and they’re being told that.”
He also pushed back on the notion that taxing the wealthy more aggressively is a clear-cut fix, pointing to waste and fraud in government programs.
“The first thing you should do is clean your house. If you want more money, you got to figure out what you did with the first money. Why is there so much waste?” he said.
Despite the public nature of Handler’s remarks, Rogan appeared more puzzled than anything else. He noted the apparent contradiction in her position, shared his personal perspective on their relationship, and moved on without escalating.
