Instead, I’m trying to do the best I can, and take a stand when I think I can have an impact.”Īddressing the case of “curious fellow” Rogan and his “wildly popular podcast”, Gay said she believed the 54-year-old’s apology over misinformation in certain episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience was simply a “convenient way of shirking accountability for misleading people about their life-or-death health decisions.” “I am not looking for purity it doesn’t exist. Gay had, earlier on Tuesday (1 February), tweeted she would be removing her podcast The Roxanne Gay Agenda from Spotify over its continued association with Rogan and the rampant misinformation about Covid-19, vaccines and climate change. He provoked more backlash after allowing controversial clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson to go on lengthy “rants” of climate misinformation during an episode that was released on 25 January.
Rogan had last year interviewed doctor Robert Malone, who falsely claimed on The Joe Rogan Experience, that Americans were “hypnotised” into wearing masks and getting vaccines. The anti-Spotify camp currently includes singer Joni Mitchell, folk rock band Crosby, Stills and Nash, musicians India Arie and Nils Lofgren, as well as podcast host Brene Brown. The Bad Feminist author also explained her decision to remove her podcast from the Swedish audio streaming giant in an op-ed published by The New York Times on Thursday (3 February), after Neil Young took a stand against rampant Covid misinformation on Rogan’s podcast last month. The company had 31% of the 524 million music streaming subscriptions worldwide in the second quarter of 2021, more than double that of second-place Apple Music, according to Midia Research.Roxane Gay has joined a growing number of musicians and podcasters who have boycotted Spotify over its “ineffective policies” to combat misinformation amid the row surrounding Joe Rogan’s podcast. Musicians still generate the bulk of Spotify’s profits, experts say. Spotify reports having 406 million active monthly users, up nearly 20% from last year, and advertising has grown largely because of podcasts. “But I want to stress again that that’s a pretty big if, and I don’t know if it will come to that.” “I think that if Joe Rogan kind of learns from this experience and becomes a driving voice for that conversation, that could be really valuable,” she said. Wingfield said the controversy could be positive if it starts a shift to discussions of racial stereotypes. “He can say things that I think can move the needle.” “I do think that assembling this kind of audience is important,” he said. His audience may not hear the discussions otherwise, Wihbey said. His comments were clearly racist, Wihbey said, but he hopes that Rogan will see this as a chance to substantively discuss race and vaccine issues in future episodes.
Rogan is an odd mix of shock jock and host who leads discussions of public policy, arts and culture, Wihbey said, describing his brand as conservative “bro America.” “It’s become clear to me that we have an obligation to do more to provide balance and access to widely accepted information from the medical and scientific communities guiding us through this unprecedented time,” Ek continued in a statement. It took the company five days to respond publicly to Young. Rogan apologized in an Instagram video Saturday, saying that the slurs were the “most regretful and shameful thing” he has ever had to address and that he hasn’t used the N-word in years.Įk told The Wall Street Journal last week that he took responsibility for being “too slow to respond” to the criticism over vaccine misinformation. “I don’t want to generate money that pays that.” 003% of a penny,” the Grammy winner wrote. “They take this money that’s built from streaming, and they pay this guy $100 million, but they pay us like. Arie posted it on her Instagram account, using the hashtag #DeleteSpotify. The scrutiny intensified when a video compilation emerged last week showing Rogan repeatedly using the N-word. Spotify said it would soon add a warning to all podcasts that discuss COVID-19, directing listeners to factual, up-to-date information from scientists and public health experts.