Joe Rogan Says Sorry for Using N-Word After Old Videos Surface

In latest weeks, the highlight on Joe Rogan, host of the favored Joe Rogan Experience podcast on Spotify, has solely grown brighter and warmer. After receiving a storm of criticism for selling covid-19 vaccine misinformation on his podcast, all eyes are actually on Rogan once more after movies of him repeatedly utilizing the n-word through the years and evaluating a Black neighborhood he was in to Planet of the Apes surfaced on-line.

On Saturday, Rogan supplied his “sincere and humble apologies” for his use of the n-word on Instagram and mentioned that the video mashup making the rounds on-line was taken out of context. Even so, he added, “it looks fucking horrible, even to me.” The video was one in every of two shared earlier this week by Black musician India.Arie, one of many newest artists to depart Spotify in protest over Rogan following the departure of Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and others.

“I know that to most people there’s no context where a white person is ever allowed to say that word, never mind publicly on a podcast, and I agree with that now,” Rogan mentioned in his practically six-minute Instagram post. “I haven’t said it in years, but for a long time, when I would bring that word up, like if it would come up in conversation, instead of saying ‘the n-word’, I would just say the word.”

The podcast host went on to offer a protracted listing of examples of when he had used the n-word. For occasion, in one of many clips included within the video mashup shared by India.Arie, Rogan defined that he and his friends had been speaking about how Black comic and actor Redd Foxx would apply it to TV. Another time, he mentioned he was referencing how Richard Pryor, additionally a Black comic and actor, used the n-word because the title of one in every of his albums.

One of probably the most weird explanations Rogan gave for utilizing the n-word up to now was when he mentioned he was analyzing it as a result of it was a “very unusual word.”

“[T]here’s not another word like it in the entire English language, because it’s a word where only one group of people is allowed to use it, and they can use in so many different ways,” Rogan mentioned. “Like if a white person says that word it’s racist and toxic, but a Black person can use it and it can be a punch line, it can be a term of endearment, it can be lyrics to a rap song, it can be a positive affirmation. It’s a very unusual word, but it’s not my word to use, I’m well aware of that now.”

In the opposite video, Rogan is proven telling a narrative on his podcast about going to see Planet of the Apes in Philadelphia with two mates. According to the podcast host, they had been dropped off by a cab in an all-Black neighborhood. In order to attempt “to make the story entertaining,” Rogan mentioned the next:

“We got out, and it was like we were in Africa, like we were in Planet of the Apes.”

Rogan defined on Saturday that he later deleted the podcast episode and that it was an idiotic factor to say. He wasn’t making an attempt to be racist, he maintained, he was simply making an attempt to be entertaining.

India.Arie, the artist who posted the movies, mentioned Rogan shouldn’t be utilizing the n-word in any respect. While some artists have left Spotify due to Rogan’s promotion of covid-19 misinformation, she defined that she was leaving for quite a lot of causes, together with the podcast host’s language when referring to Black individuals.

“He shouldn’t even be uttering the word. Don’t even say it under any context. Don’t say it. That’s where I stand. It’s my right to stand there. I have always stood there,” India.Arie said on Instagram.

In addition, the musician pointed to the streaming platform’s low royalty fee charges for artists, particularly musicians and podcasters of shade, as a purpose for her departure. She additionally mentioned she didn’t need cash generated by her music for use to spend money on Rogan, which Spotify reportedly paid greater than $100 million for unique rights to his podcast.

The streaming platform has confronted intense scrutiny over its misinformation insurance policies and its help of Rogan in latest weeks. The controversy has motivated a wave of individuals to cancel their Spotify subscriptions, though it’s troublesome to say what number of. On Friday, Spotify quietly eliminated 70 episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience from its platform however has not publicly defined why.

Gizmodo reached out to Spotify on Saturday to ask for touch upon Rogan’s apology however didn’t hear again by the point of publication. We’ll make sure that to replace this text if any person will get again to us.

“It took a Neil Young to open the door for someone like me, but I walked through it because I’ve been standing at this door for a long time,” India.Arie mentioned. “What if we all leave [Spotify]? Then we can start having a conversation. We can go from a conversation to a negotiation.”