Joe Rogan has claimed that “presidents” contacted Spotify to try to remove his podcast from the streaming platform over his Covid commentary, alleging “a lot of coordination” took place behind the scenes.
He made the remarks during an episode of his show, which aired Wednesday, with Chase Hughes, an author and behavioral researcher.
While discussing the pandemic, Rogan said his willingness to question the Covid lab leak theory, vaccine side effects and alternative treatments drew sharp criticism from politicians and figures in the media.
In 2022, Spotify, which distributes The Joe Rogan Experience, faced backlash from critics who accused Rogan of spreading Covid misinformation. Several artists, including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, threatened to or removed their catalogs from the platform in protest.
The Swedish company eventually added content advisories to Rogan’s episodes that discussed the pandemic, and Rogan pledged to “try harder” to offer more balanced views.
“The blowback was crazy,” Rogan said. “They tried to crush my sponsors. They organized campaigns. There was PACs (political action committees) involved.
“Thank God I was on Spotify. And thank God Spotify is not an American company. And also it helped that I was number one in, like, 90 countries and not number 90 in one country, you know? That helped.”
Hughes, who praised Rogan for his ability to endure “social injury” over his views, said he “didn’t know that there was that much s*** going on.”
“Oh I can’t even talk about it,” Rogan, who endorsed President Donald Trump in the 2024 election, said. “But there was presidents involved and former presidents involved that were contacting Spotify… trying to get me removed for vaccine misinformation.”
“And it turned out to be right. All of it. Not a single f****** apologized,” Rogan continued. “Not a single retraction, not a single, you know, mea culpa…And you know I lost a lot of sponsors.”
Rogan went on to allege that “there was a lot of coordination” taking place behind the scenes. “I don’t talk about it too much because…it’s pretty deep,” he said.
He added: “It was nuts, but it didn’t work, right? But they tried. They spent a lot of money, a lot of money. That part was spooky.”
The podcast host didn’t clarify which presidents or former presidents he was referring to. When reached for comment by The Independent, White House spokesperson Kush Desai accused Joe Biden’s administration of censorship.
“President Trump has himself been a victim to political censorship, and the countless Americans who were also censored due to the Biden administration pressuring social media companies were key to the President’s resounding re-election,” Desai said. “The Trump administration will never waver from upholding Americans’ free speech rights.”
The Independent has contacted Spotify for comment.
Rogan, who hosts one of the most popular podcasts in the world, inked a $200 million streaming deal with the European platform in 2020. He renewed his deal in 2024.
During an earnings call in 2022, CEO Daniel Ek addressed the controversy surrounding Rogan’s commentary on the pandemic.
“I think the important part here is that we don’t change our policies based on one creator, nor do we change it based on any media cycle or call from anyone else. Our policies have been carefully written with the input from numbers of internal and external experts in this space,” Ek said.
“There’s no doubt that the last several weeks have presented a number of learning opportunities. There’s still work to be done, but I’m pleased that Spotify is already implementing several first of its kind measures to help combat misinformation and provide greater transparency.”
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