Joe Rogan’s most vocal defender in comedy right now is Kurt Metzger, and his recent media appearances suggest he would rather shout down a conversation than actually engage with the criticism aimed at his friend.
According to sources, Metzger has been making the rounds on podcasts lately. Nearly every one of them, he has found a way to bring up “The Elephant Graveyard,” the viral video criticizing the broader Rogan podcast ecosystem, and its supposed billionaire influence.
The clearest example came on “The Mystery Boys” with Duncan Trussell and Alex Jones, where Metzger repeatedly talked over both hosts before misrepresenting the video’s actual argument.
Rather than address the claim that Rogan has surrounded himself with wealthy, politically connected guests, Metzger reduced the entire critique to something absurd, telling Jones that the video claimed that Joe Rogan drank blood with the elites.
He said, “So you got to be put in a trance. Let’s say you make a 83-minute Joe Rogan bashing movie that’s almost impossible to sit through. Yeah. And you save all the real [ ] lies that he drinks blood or whatever.”
That pattern repeated itself on a separate podcast with host Greg Carlwood, where Metzger reportedly hijacked the discussion the moment Rogan’s name came up. When Carlwood raised the idea that Rogan has been shaped by his friendships with figures like Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and Peter Thiel, Metzger fired back.
He said, “Dude, every time I hear a dumb thing of like Joe Rogan is compromised cuz I know Joe. And I’m like what do what the [ ] are you talking about compromised? What do you think he does for a living?”
Host Carlwood then explained what critics mean with Rogan being compromised. He said, “What it means is that there’s a lot of people in the billionaire class, the technocratic billionaire class that are friends of Peter Thiel that make the rounds on that podcast doing their PR. That’s what it means.”
He continued, “To people like me and you who have some discernment, they don’t look good. But to other people, they do look like, ‘Oh, there’s nothing wrong with this guy. He’s quite friendly. He’s quite nice.'”
Carlwood later admitted he had not expected the reaction, noting, “I understand why people are so critical and they think he’s been pacified by his friendships with Elon Musk and friendly relationships with Trump and Peter Thiel. People do not like that.”
He also pointed out the timing was no coincidence, since the video had reportedly gone up the same day the episode was recorded, adding that Metzger considers Rogan “maybe the best person he’s ever met in the entertainment business.”
Whether it is loyalty or something else driving the outbursts, Metzger’s attempt to reframe legitimate criticism as an outlandish claim has only made the underlying accusations harder to ignore.
