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Google PlayJoe Rogan recently confessed that he would quit his podcast if it started to feel like he had to “walk on eggshells.”
MMA fighter Josh Barnett admitted on Tuesday’s episode of The Joe Rogan Experience that he was worried about speaking freely because certain listeners would go through every single one of his statements with a fine-tooth comb. Rogan casually assured Barnett that they would, adding, per Mediaite, “There’s more people pouring over it but it’s the same thing. I do it the same way.”
Rogan went on to tell Barnett that if it ever got to a point where JRE becomes “something different,” he would walk away from his lucrative deal with Spotify. “If I become something different because it grew bigger I will quit,” he said. “If it gets to a point that I can’t do it anymore- where I have to do it in some sort of weird way where I walk on eggshells and mind my p’s and q’s- fuck that!”
Rogan struck a deal in 2020 that would make Spotify the exclusive home of The Joe Rogan Experience. The agreement was initially reported to be worth $100 million, but the New York Times indicated earlier this year that the deal could actually be more than $200 million.
The newly reported figures came at a time where the comedian has been criticized for allowing guests who have been known to spread misinformation on his podcast. Rogan has defended providing these controversial figures with a platform that draws an estimated 11 million people per episode, calling them “high credentialed” people.
270 doctors, scientists, nurses, and educators voiced their concerns over Rogan’s podcast, especially in regards to COVID-19 misinformation, in an open letter. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said in an earnings call in February that the company wouldn’t “change our policies based on one creator nor do we change it based on any media cycle, or calls from anyone else.”
Earlier this year, a video of Rogan saying the N-word on several occasions started making the rounds. Even though he issued an apology, he claimed shortly thereafter that the clip and the subsequent backlash were all part of a “political hit job” against him.
Trevor Noah may have perfectly summed up Spotify’s stance on the whole situation with Rogan, saying, “Part of me wishes that Spotify would just drop the facade. Just come out and be like, ‘We do not believe in silencing Joe Rogan, because he makes us money. But if at some point he ends up costing us money, then we will drop him, because money.’”
