The CEO of Spotify spoke out on Joe Rogan’s latest controversy. The controversy started when a video compilation of Joe Rogan saying the n-word emerged online.
Daniel Ek told his employees that Spotify will not cancel Joe Rogan over this matter. He also criticized Rogan’s comments.
“Not only are some of Joe Rogan’s comments incredibly hurtful, I want to make clear that they do not represent the value of this company. While I strongly condemn what Joe has said, I realize that some will want more,” he said.
Spotify is determined to keep their biggest source of income because they allegedly believe in free speech.
As a reminder Spotify purged the Joe Rogan Experience catalogue when they acquired exclusive rights for the sho. In the first purge the catalogue was purged of several alt right extremist and many comedians cancelled over allegations of sexual impropriety.
Still Ek would have us believe that he now believes that silencing Rogan means crossing the line.
“I want to make one point very clear. I do not believe silencing Joe is the answer. We should have clear lines around content and take action when they are crossed, but canceling voices is a slippery slope.”
Joe Rogan hosts the number one podcast in the world – Joe Rogan Experience (JRE). Rogan earned his reputation by tackling a number of controversial issues in longform conversations.
Rogan previously addressed the compilation of him that was released saying:
“Hello friends. I’m making this video to talk about the most regretful and shameful thing that I’ve ever had to talk about publicly. There’s a video that’s out, that’s a compilation of me saying the N word. It’s a video that’s made of clips taken out of context of me have 12 years of conversations on my podcast, and it’s all smushed together. And it looks f–king horrible, even to me. Now, I know that to most people, there’s no context where a white person is ever allowed to say that word, nevermind publicly on a podcast. And I agree with that. Now, I haven’t said it in years. But for a long time, when I would bring that word up, like if it would come up in conversation and stain, instead of saying the N word, I would just say the word I thought as long as it was in context, people would understand what I was doing. ”
You can read his whole statement here.