Joe Rogan apologises for using racial slur during past podcasts

The podcaster and guests appearing in previous episodes were shown using the N-word in a compilation video released by singer-songwriter India Arie.

Joe Rogan has offered his ‘sincere and humble apologies’. Picture: AFP

Joe Rogan has apologised after a video emerged of the star podcaster using a racial slur in previous episodes.

In a post on Instagram, Rogan — who hosts the The Joe Rogan Experience on Spotify — said he offered “my sincere and humble apologies” for what he called “the most regretful and shameful thing that I’ve ever had to talk about publicly”.

The compilation video of Rogan, shared by singer-­songwriter India Arie, showed how Rogan and some of his guests used “nigger” several times on his show.

Rogan said the clips were taken out of context and were based on 12 years of conver­sations. He added that they look “horrible, even to me”.

The podcaster’s response intensifies a debate about the influence Rogan’s show has and how much responsibility its host, Spot­ify, has for its content.

Arie’s compilation comes as Spotify has said it was delayed in addressing outcry over Rogan’s shows about the Covid-19 pandemic and vaccines.

“I know that to most people, there’s no context where a white person is ever allowed to say that, never mind publicly on a podcast, and I agree with that,” Rogan said, adding that he hadn’t used the slur in recent years. “I never used it to be racist because I’m not racist. But whenever you’re in a situation where you have to say ‘I’m not racist,’ you f..ked up. And I clearly have f..ked up. And that’s my intention to express myself in this video.”

Arie was one of several artists who pulled their music from Spotify. She said she opposed the language Rogan used around race and the amount of money he made from Spotify. In 2020, Rogan signed an exclusive podcasting deal with Spotify worth more than $US100m.

The Joe Rogan Experience is the No. 1 show in 93 markets, Spotify has said. Rogan began his show in 2009 and built a following largely on YouTube before signing with Spotify. The platform had previously removed more than 40 of his episodes for content policy violations. Tracking site jremissing.com says the platform has removed 113 of Rogan’s episodes since Friday.

Other artists like Neil Young and then his former bandmates David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash also said they were pulling their music from Spotify over opposition to what they say was misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines spread by Rogan on his show.

In response, Spotify posted its content policies and created advisories for pandemic-related shows that send listeners to an information hub about Covid-19.

It was Rogan’s second apology in a week. Last Sunday, he said he aimed to be more balanced and informed about topics and guests. He said his show had grown “out of control” and said, “If I pissed you off, I’m sorry”.

The Wall Street Journal