Joe Rogan calls his use of N-word in resurfaced clips ‘regretful and shameful’ and says he hasn’t used the word in years – as artists boycott Spotify over his controversial podcast
- Rogan, 54, has been under fire in recent weeks from progressives and others in favor of canceling the Joe Rogan Experience host’s $100million deal
- The temperature was turned up further when Grammy-winning R&B singer India Arie posted the problematic clips Friday afternoon
- ‘Check this out,’ Arie adds, before relaying a barrage of more than 20 clips of the longtime UFC commentator using the slur on his podcast
- Rogan, in an Instagram video posted early Saturday, responded to the resurfaced clip by admitting ‘it looks f—king horrible. Even to me’
- The UFC commentator promised the video consisted of ‘out of context’ bits from his long-running show, but said the video is ‘ regretful and shameful’
- The comedian argued that he was fascinated by the slur and often used it when quoting standup routines from the likes of Red Foxx and Lenny Bruce
- Rogan wrapped up the nearly six-minute clip apologizing three times in hopes that his video would be a ‘teachable moment’
Comedian and Spotify’s premier podcaster Joe Rogan responded to an old clip that resurfaced from his podcast in which he used the N-word over 20 times, apologizing and calling it ‘the most regretful and shameful thing I’ve ever had to talk about publicly.’
Rogan, 54, has been under fire in recent weeks from progressives and others in favor of canceling the Joe Rogan Experience host’s $100million deal with the world’s most popular streaming service for what’s been called misinformation regarding the COVID-19 vaccine.
The temperature was turned up further when Grammy-winning R&B singer India Arie posted the problematic clips Friday afternoon, while explaining why she decided to part ways with the world’s most popular streaming service and calling for her followers to ‘delete Spotify,’ using the hashtag.
‘Hey ya’ll,’ the 46-year-old singer says in the first of a series of stories posted to her Instagram account. ‘I’m going to leave a short message here about why I decided to ask my music be pulled off of Spotify.
‘Check this out,’ Arie adds, before relaying a barrage of more than 20 clips of the longtime UFC commentator using the slur on his podcast – which then were posted to YouTube before Rogan signed with Spotify in 2020 – over the years, on several separate occasions, to her nearly 1million followers.
Rogan, in an Instagram video posted early Saturday, responded to the resurfaced clip by admitting ‘it looks f***ing horrible. Even to me.’
The UFC commentator promised the video consisted of ‘out of context’ bits from his long-running show, but said the video is ‘the most regretful and shameful thing I’ve ever had to talk about publicly.’
He added: ‘I know that to most people, there is 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. I haven’t said it in years.’
The comedian argued that he was fascinated by the slur and often used it when quoting standup routines from the likes of Red Foxx and Lenny Bruce.
‘It’s a very unusual word, but it’s not my word to use,’ he said. ‘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’ve f***ed up, and I clearly have f***ed up.’
Rogan also responded to a clip that resurfaced of him calling a black neighborhood in Philadelphia that he saw a movie in ‘Planet of the Apes.’
‘I was trying to make the story entertaining,’ he said. ‘I did not, nor did I ever say that black people are apes, but it sure f***ing sounded like that. It wasn’t a racist story, but it sounded terrible.’
‘I’ve said a lot of f***ing stupid s**t, which is okay, but not when you’re talking about race.’
Rogan wrapped up the nearly six-minute clip apologizing three times in hopes that his video would 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.’