UFC president Dana White defended his longtime friend Joe Rogan during a recent podcast appearance.
White’s defense comes several months after Rogan was engulfed in a controversy caused by a compilation of Rogan using a racial slur out of context.
UFC color commentator Joe Rogan found himself in trouble after a video compilation of him using a racial slur during his podcast emerged online.
Many celebrities weighed in on the controversy and attacked Rogan. It was widely speculated that Rogan was absent from UFC 271 due to the controversy this video caused.
White denied these claims and instead said Rogan had other obligations.
While the topic was particularly relevant, Adesanya stepped in for White and answered instead of him defending Rogan. Now that the media scrutiny has died down, White shared his thoughts on the matter.
Dana White appeared on The Pivot Podcast and talked about the issue.
“When Joe said it, you have to put it into context. He wasn’t dropping it; He was saying, he was explaining what other people had said, but he was saying the word. [He] apologized for it over & over again.” White said.
“And it’s it’s like the Kevin Hart thing, whom I respect very much, for what he did. You know, uh you know, he said a homophobic slur 10 15 years ago. Apologized for it, you know, did everything the right way like you should then goes to host the oscars.”
“And they’re like yeah well you’re gonna have to publicly apologize for this again. And he’s like no [ __ ] you. ”
“I apologize for that right 15 years ago and, and I learned and I’m a different person now so I’m not going to apologize for it again. ”
“I mean these.. You guys know, the world we live in right now and and if you let the media, or these other people get in your head and do those kind of things to you, it’s why you know my press conferences and [ __ ] I don’t play with these guys.”