Former CIA officer Andrew Bustamante has revealed that Joe Rogan is deliberately avoiding having him on the wildly popular Joe Rogan Experience podcast, and the story behind it raises more than a few eyebrows.
According to sources, the revelation came during an appearance on a podcast, where Bustamante opened up about the snub. His publisher had reached out to the Joe Rogan Show in connection with his upcoming book, hoping to land him a coveted spot on the program. The response from Rogan’s team was direct and a little cold.
According to Bustamante, the producer wrote back saying, “Joe knows Andy. Joe’s been tracking Andy and Joe does not want to talk to Andy.”
Bustamante offered his own theory for why Rogan is passing him over, and it centers on his previous appearance on Lex Fridman’s podcast. He claims the interview went so well for him personally that it reflected poorly on Fridman as a host. “I made Lex look bad on his own show,” Bustamante said, suggesting the backlash in the comment section upset Fridman to the point where he reached out to complain.
Bustamante says he eventually went back on social media, recanted the negative attention, and even posted publicly that Fridman was a great interviewer. But by then, the damage had been done.
As Bustamante put it, “When I left Lex’s studio, he and Joe Rogan are good friends.” The implication being that Fridman’s close relationship with Rogan likely played a role in closing that door.
Whether Rogan’s decision to avoid Bustamante stems from loyalty to Fridman, skepticism about his CIA background, his work with foreign media, or something else entirely remains unclear.
Rogan has not commented publicly on the matter.
