If and when podcaster Joe Rogan decides he’s had enough of Spotify, the leftist streaming service that hosts his wildly popular show, he has a new home ready and waiting.
Rumble.com invited Rogan, under fire because he challenged the China Virus narrative, to move the podcast to a free-speech friendly platform.
This afternoon, the video-streaming site offered Rogan $100 million through four years.
Under pressure from radical leftists, Spotify has removed more than 100 episodes of Rogan’s podcast, a number of which feature Rogan’s using the “n-word” as well as his interviews with controversial figures.
China Virus, N-Word
The trouble for Rogan began when he interviewed mRNA vaccine pioneer Robert Malone, who argues that young people don’t need to be vaccinated against the China Virus, and that the political powers that be are creating “mass formation psychosis” about the Asiatic bug.
Science Officialdom was aghast. Some 270 “doctors” signed an open letter to Spotify in December that demanded Rogan be silenced for spreading “misinformation” and Malone’s “conspiracy theories.”
“By allowing the propagation of false and societally harmful assertions, Spotify is enabling its hosted media to damage public trust in scientific research and sow doubt in the credibility of data-driven guidance offered by medical professionals,” wrote the 270 “doctors,” not all of whom were doctors.
That small fact aside, leftists turned up the heat and pulled together clips of Rogan using the N-word. Rogan never used the word as an epithet, but he profusely apologized on his Instagram account.
“There’s nothing I can do to take that back. I wish I could. Obviously, that’s not possible,” Rogan said. “I certainly wasn’t trying to be racist, and I certainly would never want to offend someone for entertainment with something as stupid as racism.”
“I never used it to be racist because I’m not racist,” Rogan added. He hasn’t used the word in years because it “is not my word to use.”
Nonetheless, after “discussions” with Spotify execs, as the Washington Post put it, Rogan began pulling episodes.
A website that tracks the program reports that 113 episodes are gone. Rogan purged not only supposedly racially-offensive shows but also those that offended leftist sensibilities. Those shows featured interviews with Owen Benjamin, former homosexual Milo Yiannopoulos, and “conspiracy theorist” Alex Jones.
Rogan also scrapped two episodes with Gavin McInnes, founder of the Proud Boys.
Last week, Spotify said it would add a “content advisory” to any podcasts about the China Virus.
Among the voices calling on Spotify to warn Americans about Rogan’s virus “disinformation” is White House spokesman Jen Psaki.
“Our hope is that all major tech platforms — and all major news sources, for that matter — be responsible and be vigilant to ensure the American people have access to accurate information on something as significant as COVID-19. And that certainly includes Spotify,” she said:
So, this disclaimer — it’s a positive step. But we want every platform to continue doing more to call out misinform- — mis- and disinformation while also uplifting accurate information.
New Offer
Sniffing a chance to pull Rogan away from Spotify, Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski offered the former MMA color commentator a safer venue to express himself.
“We stand with you, your guests, and your legion of fans in desire for real conversation,” Pavlovski wrote:
So we’d like to offer you 100 million reasons to make the world a better place.
How about you bring all your shows to Rumble, both old and new, with no censorship, for 100 million bucks over four years?
This is our chance to save the world. And yes this is totally legit.
Reuters reported that investors responded well to the offer.
“Shares of CF Acquisition VI (CFVI.O), the SPAC that has agreed to take Rumble public, surged more than 18% on the news,” the wire service reported. “The deal, announced in December, had valued Rumble at $2.1 billion.”
Rogan has been with Spotify for about 18 months.
In 2020, the Wall Street Journal reported that Spotify inked a $100 million deal to host Rogan’s podcast, which has 11 million regular viewers.
H/T: Daily Mail
