Joe Rogan is doing his best to make it through the media storm that is brewing. In the short span of a couple months Rogan’s name has become vitriolic on twitter and has become an important piece in the culture war.
In spite of Rogan softening up his stance on trans athletes competing against women in MMA Rogan found himself as the target of a cancellation campaign after he featured several controversial scientists on his show. Once the Covid misinformation outrage died down the cycle quickly spun into regurgitating an old compilation of Rogan spouting racially insensitive anecdotes and using racial slurs. At this point Rogan was deep into hot water – especially considering Spotify had share holders to answer to once the stock price took a dive.
In spite of all that Rogan is still worth way more than he’s costing Spotify. While their CEO condemned Rogan for the mega compilation he pledged that he will stand by free speech and not censor Rogan.
This conversation prompted the right wing social media platform to try and capitalize on the mess. Rumble, a self-proclaimed “rights management video platform” offered Rogan $100 million to make the switch.
Ceo of Rumble even provided the following statement:
“We stand with you, your guests, and your legion of fans in desire for real conversation,” he said via Hollywood Reporter. “How about you bring all your shows to Rumble, both new and old, with no censorship, for $100 million bucks over four years? This is our chance to save the world. And yes, this is totally legit.”
Meanwhile Rogan published new content and seems to be weathering the storm.
“I talk sh-t for a living — that’s why this is so baffling to me,” he said. “If you’re taking vaccine advice from me, is that really my fault? What dumb sh-t were you about to do when my stupid idea sounded better? ‘You know that dude who made people eat animal d–ks on TV? How does he feel about medicine?’ If you want my advice, don’t take my advice. Spotify has hung in with me, inexplicably, let’s see what happens.”