In recent news, Joe Rogan found himself in the headlines after Spotify paid over $100,000,000 for the rights to license the entertainer’s podcast for use on their platform.
However, Joe is now finding himself in the cross-hairs of certain Spotify employees who believe his show should be censored, or at least come with trigger warnings, references, and links to other articles. For the last few weeks, rumor has it that Spotify employees were threatening to walk out unless the platform met their demands.
But Joe appeared to have insinuated otherwise. During the latest episode of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Joe had on the New York City comic, Tim Dillon, and Rogan addressed the rumors directly. The podcaster claimed while there might be some people who are upset by the program’s content, Spotify hasn’t said a word to him.
Reportedly, Joe had on the author of IRREVERSIBLE DAMAGE: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters, Abigail Shrier. The episode apparently stirred controversy among Spotify employees who felt the author was spreading misinformation on the program.
Even though a certain segment of Spotify employees has allegedly criticized him, Joe says the company has said nothing to him, his managers, or anyone close to his team. Joe’s podcast guest, Tim Dillon, suggested that the arguments against him were made in bad faith.
Joe went on to compare Spotify’s predicament to certain music that uses questionable words and ideas in their lyrics, but it wasn’t Spotify’s responsibility to determine what is the right and wrong thing to say in an artist’s song.
Rogan used the example of rap music, an art form that is historically been criticized for being anti-police and abusive toward women. Related to Joe’s first point, Spotify has actually dealt with a similar situation before except with R. Kelly.
Spotify eliminated Kelly’s songs from their platform after the allegations against him were revealed, however, the streaming juggernauts were accused of being hypocritical and selective in terms of who they chose to eliminate from their service. They later rescinded this same policy.
Put simply, there are many other recording artists who have been accused of heinous crimes but their music remains on the platform.