‘Listen to themselves’: Russell Crowe reveals why he went on Joe Rogan podcast
Aussie actor Russell Crowe has revealed why he went on Joe Rogan — and made a surprising claim about the podcaster’s enormous US audience.
Russell Crowe says Joe Rogan fans “need to listen to themselves”, as the actor reveals he had to keep his political beliefs to himself for fear of turning off the podcast’s right-leaning audience.
Crowe, 61, appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience last month as part of a press tour for his new film, Nuremberg, in which he portrays Nazi war criminal Hermann Goering.
During the candid three-hour discussion, the Gladiator star defended Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, opened up about his struggles with gambling addiction, and talked about his love of NRL.
Rogan, 58, hosts the world’s most popular podcast, but the UFC commentator and comedian is seen by as controversial by some due to his endorsement of US President Donald Trump before the 2024 election, and spreading of alleged misinformation during Covid.
In an interview on 702 ABC Radio in Sydney to discuss his new film, Crowe was asked by presenter Hamish Macdonald about the decision to talk across the aisle to Rogan’s largely male audience for the second time.
“I think we’re in a very important turning point sort of place in the way that we regard each other,” Crowe said.
“If I go on thing like Joe Rogan, if I really purely express my true politics, that crowd’s not going to listen to me. But if I talk to it in a way which I haven’t already turned them off by making some broad political statement, maybe they don’t need to listen to me as much as listen to themselves.”
Crowe earlier spoke at length about the need to end “division” in politics.
“The words of division that we’ve allowed ourself to begin conversations with is so unhealthy,” he said.
“It’s just like your relationship with your mum and dad — you’re not necessarily going to agree with every single thing your mum and dad believe in or say but they’re still your mum and dad.”
Macdonald also asked whether Crowe saw any parallels between the events depicted in the film and the present day.
“[Goering explained] about Hitler and the way the Nazis ruled that the anti-Semitism served a practical purpose, to bring towards them men who needed something else to focus their emotions, something else to blame,” the presenter said.
“He also talked about they had this mandate for change and that democracy had brought forward men who were too weak … and it’s those two parts of the story spoke really clearly to me in this moment now where there is this kind of hyper-masculine rhetoric but also clearly a desire for politics to speak to kind of men’s emotions.”
Crowe did not appear fully on board with that comparison.
“Hmm, you lost me a little bit there,” he said.
But Crowe said the democracy did create “men who were too weak” due to the media environment of “dissection and ridicule”.
“Look at what we do … to everybody who comes along who is showing some signs of potentially being a good politician, a good community leader — we put these people under so much pressure, we dissect them, we chop them down … even when we don’t find anything real on this person we seem find to imply negatives or make up stuff,” he said.
“Take any political figure that comes forward. Dissection and ridicule is the first stage of any progress. Is that the way we do it? Is that going to create an environment where people who would have talent for that want to actually get involved?”
Crowe said that created “such a murky place” that “we deflect the people who have actually got the talent for it and we end up with, as was stated in the movie, we’ve brought forth weaker men”.
“We have to go through this process where every single thing has to be approved by the majority as opposed to what we’ve all grown up with where it was OK to still have respect for a politician even if you thought differently to that person’s politics or the platforms of their party,” he said.
“I know many people from my childhood who were dyed-in-the-wool Liberal voters who still liked Gough Whitlam. I think we’ve lost that … we’re not all black and white, we’re not red or blue, quite often we’re mixtures of these things.”
During his discussion with Rogan, Crowe came out swinging in defence of Australia’s PM, saying Mr Albanese had inherited a “conga line of stupidity” after being asked by the host, “What is wrong with Australia?”
“We have a Prime Minister who’s very much motivated by trying to help everybody, which should be the job of a politician right? To improve the lives of the people they represent,” Crowe said.
“He’s kind of inherited a conga line of stupidity … and he’s trying to fix things.”
Crowe said Mr Albanese was working “extremely hard” and deserved credit for recent international achievements — but that political opponents and sections of the media were quick to discredit him.
“He arrives off a plane the other day, just came back from some very successful international meetings where he’s established various trade things and opportunities for Australia,” he said.
“[He] gets off the plane wearing a Joy Division shirt — big band from his youth — and he’s just a relaxed character. He’s been wearing a suit and tie for weeks on the road.”
Crowe went on to describe how the leader of the opposition, Sussan Ley, seized the moment to criticise the shirt’s reference to “Joy Division” — a term historically associated with Nazi concentration camps.
“The member of the opposition wanted to point out, and did so in parliament, that Joy Division is a Nazi term … and it’s like okay, what’s the point of that?” Crowe said.
“We all know it’s a band name, right? Just because you like the Rolling Stones doesn’t mean that you want rocks to be falling on people. What are you f**king talking about?”
The actor said this kind of political nitpicking distracts from the real work being done, calling it a “smokescreen” that undermines genuine progress.
“That’s what we’re facing all the time,” he said.
“Picking up some pointless piece of minutiae and lighting it on fire to cover up the reality that the Prime Minister worked his ass off on behalf of the country and successfully achieved a bunch of things. [He] should be patted on the back, not pushed down the stairs.”
Crowe, who co-owns the South Sydney Rabbitohs NRL team, has been a long-time friend and supporter of Mr Albanese, a diehard Bunnies supporter and life member.
In 2022, the L.A. Confidential star lent his voice to a slick election ad for Labor that debuted before the party’s campaign launch in Perth.
“I’ve known Anthony for more than 20 years,” Crowe told The Age at the time.
“He is a life member of South Sydney and as loyal and passionate as you can get. In the entire time I’ve known him, he’s never asked me for anything. He asked me if I would lend my voice to the idea ‘We can do things better’, and I said yes.”
Originally published as ‘Listen to themselves’: Russell Crowe reveals why he went on Joe Rogan podcast
Fans outraged over Big Brother’s ‘brutal’ act
