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Joe Rogan is no stranger to controversy.
The podcast host and comedian routinely comes under fire for comments made on his podcast, with the latest issues stemming from recent episodes that have been accused of spreading COVID misinformation.
Rogan responded to the backlash — which included Neil Young quitting Spotify after making the platform choose between his music and Rogan’s podcast.
This weekend, Rogan released a nearly 10-minute video to clear the air.
“If I p—ed you off, I’m sorry,” Rogan said on Instagram. “I’m not trying to promote misinformation. I’m not trying to be controversial.”
“I’ve never tried to do anything with this podcast other than just talk to people and have interesting conversations.”
“The problem I have with the term misinformation, especially today, is that many of the things that we thought of as misinformation just a short while ago are now accepted as fact,” he said. “Eight months ago, if you said if you get vaccinated you can still catch COVID and you can still spread COVID — you will be removed from social media … Now, that’s accepted as fact.
“If you said ‘I don’t think cloth masks work’ you would be banned from social media. Now that’s openly and repeatedly stated on CNN. If you said, ‘I think it’s possible that COVID-19 came from a lab,’ you’d be banned from many social media platforms. Now that’s on the cover of Newsweek.”
Rogan spoke with experts about the COVID vaccine which sparked the backlash, but he continues to insist he simply wants to have a conversation and give all viewpoints a chance to be shared.
Considering how widely popular his podcast is, it’s safe to say listeners appreciate that.