Joe Rogan has issued an apology after a video compilation surfaced of the podcast host using racial slurs on numerous occasions.
Earlier this week, musician India Arie shared a compilation of clips in a highlight on her Instagram, which included about two dozen instances of Rogan using racial slurs over the course of several years and episodes of his long-running podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience.”
In a five-minute long Instagram video, Rogan addressed the resurfaced clips in a lengthy apology, calling the past comments the “most regretful and shameful thing I’ve ever had to talk about publicly.”
“There’s a video that’s out that’s a compilation of me saying the N-word,” Rogan said. “It’s a video that’s made of clips taken out of context of me of 12 years of conversations on my podcast, and it’s all smushed together. And it looks f----ing horrible, even to me.
“Now, 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 continued. "I haven’t said it in years, but for a long time when I wouldn’t bring that word up, like if it would come up in conversation and staying instead of saying the N-word. I would just say the word."
Rogan said that previously, he thought that if he used the word in context, “people would understand what I was doing,” citing the multiple pop culture references he was alluding to or quoting in the clips.
“It’s a very unusual word, but it’s not my word to use,” Rogan said. “I’m well aware of that now, but for years, I used it in that manner. 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----d up, and I clearly have f----d up and that’s my intention to express myself in this video to say there’s nothing I can do to take that back."
Rogan later added, “I can’t go back in time and change what I’ve said. I wish I could, obviously that’s not possible.”
“But I do hope that this can be a teachable moment for anybody that doesn’t realize how offensive that word can be coming out of a white person’s mouth, in context or out of context,” Rogan concluded his statement. “My sincere and humble apologies. I wish there was more that I could say, but all of this is just me talking from the bottom of my heart. It makes me sick watching that video, but hopefully at least some of you will accept this and understand where I’m coming from."
Rogan’s apology comes amid the controversy surrounding his popular podcast and claims that it is spreading COVID-19 misinformation.
Last September, Rogan revealed in an episode that he had COVID-19 and was using ivermectin, a drug used widely on livestock that health experts urged people to avoid as a form of treatment. More recently, Rogan interviewed a controversial virologist in an episode who falsely claimed that Americans were hypnotized into getting the vaccine.
In protest, both Neil Young and Joni Mitchell removed their music catalogs from the streaming platform. Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex also expressed “concerns” to Spotify amid the backlash.
In a message from chief executive Daniel Ek, Spotify announced that the platform will “add a content advisory to any podcast episode that includes a discussion about COVID-19.”
Earlier this week, Rogan addressed the backlash in a nine-minute Instagram video, saying that he was “happy” with Spotify's solution.
“Whenever I get something wrong, I try to correct it because I’m interested in telling the truth,” Rogan said. “I’m interested in finding out what the truth is. And I’m interested in having interesting conversations with people that have differing opinions.”
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