Controversial podcast host Joe Rogan said he will stick with Spotify and not accept Rumble’s $100 million offer to switch streaming platforms.
During a Q&A session with fans in Texas following his The Joe Rogan Experience podcast Tuesday, a reporter asked if Rogan would be leaving Spotify for Rumble.
“No, Spotify has hung in with me, inexplicably, let’s see what happens,” Rogan said.
Rumble, a conservative streaming platform that has stated its commitment against censorship, offered Rogan a four-year, $100 million deal, saying it stood with him and supported his “desire for real conversation.”
Rogan has faced criticism over his willingness to feature controversial interviews surrounding COVID-19 treatments and vaccination. This past week, Rogan apologized for having used the N-word in past episodes spanning the course of 12 years, although he insisted it was never said in a racist way.
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“I thought as long as it was in context, people would understand what I was doing,” Rogan said via an Instagram video Saturday while giving multiple pop culture examples of the word being used in the past and how times have changed. “It’s a very unusual word, but it is not my word to use … 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***ed up.”
Rogan then chose to delete several podcast episodes.
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek released a statement Sunday saying the streaming platform would stand by Rogan.
“While I strongly condemn what Joe has said and I agree with his decision to remove past episodes from our platform, I realize some will want more,” Ek said. “I want to make one point very clear – I do not believe that silencing Joe is the answer.”
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Ek added that “more speech on more issues” and “all types of creators” should have a place on Spotify if the platform is truly committed to being an open platform.
“I am committing to an incremental investment of $100 million for the licensing, development, and marketing of music (artists and songwriters) and audio content from historically marginalized groups,” Ek stated. “This will dramatically increase our efforts in these areas. While some might want us to pursue a different path, I believe that more speech on more issues can be highly effective in improving the status quo and enhancing the conversation altogether.”
