Joe Rogan apologizes for his past use of the N-word after a compilation video of him using the slur went viral; 70 JRE episodes have been removed from Spotify

New York Times 2022-02-07 Ben Sisario

Context & Ripple Effects

Rogan had already responded to backlash over contentious guests by defending his booking choices while apologizing to Spotify, as covered in his earlier response to the Spotify backlash. The episode removals now move the dispute from programming choices to the availability of JRE's archive.

Related reporting says the removed installments predated Rogan's Spotify deal and were taken down at his request, making the action a coordinated archive decision rather than a disclosed takedown of his Spotify-era shows.

First-order effects

Seventy JRE episodes are no longer available on Spotify, while Rogan's apology addresses the viral compilation that put his past language under renewed scrutiny.
Spotify must manage the immediate reputational fallout while carrying out a removal request tied to Rogan's pre-Spotify archive.

Second-order effects

The removals give Spotify a concrete response to criticism without changing the stated premise of Rogan's show: he had said he would continue booking contentious guests while adding more experts.
Other high-profile podcast partners gain a clear example that older catalogs can become part of a platform controversy, not merely a creator's historical record.

Third-order effects

If high-profile audio deals increasingly require joint decisions over back catalogs during controversies, editorial governance will extend beyond new episodes to legacy archives.
The case points toward streaming platforms treating creator-led content moderation as an ongoing distribution and brand-management issue, even where the creator initiates the removal.

The trend: Exclusive audio platforms are being pushed to manage the reputational risks of prominent creators' archives as well as their current programming.

Discussion

Page Six Jessica Bennett on x
Joe Rogan addresses his repeated use of the N-word in viral clip
@pkafka Peter Kafka on x
New: Spotify CEO Daniel Ek addresses newest Rogan controversy in email to staff. Upshot: Rogan is staying. Says Rogan took down old episodes where he used n-word after talking to Spotify; Ek continues to insist Spotify is not a publisher.
@brianstelter Brian Stelter on x
Spotify has been having conversations with Joe Rogan's team about “concerns” with some of his past episodes, a source tells me. (Translation: Concerns with his repeated use of racial slurs.) Rogan decided to remove some past episodes in concert with his apology, the source says.
@popcrave @popcrave on x
Joe Rogan apologizes for resurfaced podcast clips of him using the N-word. Spotify has reportedly removed 70 episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience that see the comedian using racist slurs. https://twitter.com/...
@scottiebeam Scottie on x
Joe Rogan x Nigger. A compilation. https://twitter.com/...
@benedictevans Benedict Evans on x
The whole Spotify/Rogan story is a teachable moment in one area - the idea that somehow if you switched everything on the Internet from ads to subscription, all the bad stuff will go away. Spotify uses Rogan to drive subscriptions.
@therock Dwayne Johnson on x
Dear @donwinslow Thank you so much for this I hear you as well as everyone here 100% I was not aware of his N word use prior to my comments, but now I've become educated to his complete narrative. Learning moment for me. Mahalo, brother and have a great & productive weekend. DJ h…
@scobie Omid Scobie on x
After removing her music from @Spotify, @indiaarie has doubled down on her decision alongside clips of @joerogan using racist language: “They take this money from music streaming and pay this guy $100million and pay us .003% of a penny [per stream]? Just take me off!” TW: n-word …
@michaelshermer Michael Shermer on x
In a world in which people are given the benefit of the doubt & their words/deeds are put into a larger context a heartfelt apology like this from @joerogan would end the discussion. But cancel culture says otherwise so we need to stand by Joe in support. https://www.instagram.co…
@teroterotero Tero Kuittinen on x
I think Danny still thinks he can ride this out by hiding. Spotify board needs to start thinking about other CEO options - publicly traded company needs actual leadership. https://twitter.com/...
@stevesilberman Steve Silberman on x
Joe Rogan found the word “n****er” so compelling he repeated it over and over, as the sounds of it caressed his ears like a kind of mantra. Now, as he says he was embarrassed by it, Spotify is quietly removing the evidence of his fascination with the word. https://variety.com/...
@dianelyssa @dianelyssa on x
At least 70 episodes removed by @Spotify — without a word — due to Joe Rogan's repeated use of the N word. Stunning. Absolutely no notes. Well done, team. Bang up job. 👏🏾 Y'all paid $100M for these episodes, why would you take them down now? 🤔 https://twitter.com/...
@dansinker @dansinker on x
If that dude were to lose his Spotify deal tomorrow he'd... make his podcast and distribute it via a feed like everyone else does. Nothing stops for him. His audience would still get to listen to his bullshit every day. Nothing goes away except a big foam lottery check.
@pkafka Peter Kafka on x
“Looking at the issue more broadly, it's critical thinking and open debate that powers real and necessary progress. ”
@murphyslaw74 @murphyslaw74 on x
If protesting @joerogan and asking @Spotify to remove him is considered cancel culture, then so be it because his culture definitely needs to be canceled. https://www.cnn.com/...
@pkafka Peter Kafka on x
“And I want to make one point very clear - I do not believe that silencing Joe is the answer. We should have clear lines around content and take action when they are crossed, but canceling voices is a slippery slope.”
@davidvorick David Vorick on x
The fate of all public companies is to pursue profit over protecting the freedoms of their users. It's hardcoded into the shareholder agreement and enforced by the government. If it's part of the S&P 500, you can count on it doing the wrong thing. https://twitter.com/...
@pkafka Peter Kafka on x
Ek: “While I strongly condemn what Joe has said and I agree with his decision to remove past episodes from our platform, I realize some will want more.”
@mollyjongfast Molly Jong-Fast on x
“I do not and never have believed the six million figure. I think the Red Cross numbers of 250,000 dead in the camps from typhus are more realistic. The efforts of communism to spread itself throughout the world,” Charles Johnson said about the holocaust. https://twitter.com/...
@originalspin Jeff Yang on x
This requires no context to make it clear that Joe Rogan not only thinks he has every right to say this word, but that he savors doing so like sipping a fine cognac https://twitter.com/...
@carnage4life @carnage4life on x
There's been a persistent and wrong idea that ads & algorithms cause moderation issues. Moderation issues are caused by speech we don't like. The complexity comes from the fact that some people like that speech. The US further complicates that with many topics being split 50/50. …
@francisboulle @francisboulle on x
This website https://jremissing.com/ tracks which @joerogan episodes are being deleted from Spotify so you can find them elsewhere online 👍 https://twitter.com/...
@reckless Nilay Patel on x
Doesn't seem to be for any reason that makes a ton of sense https://twitter.com/...
@brownandbella Grittney Spears on x
Seventy. Damn. Episodes. of him saying nigger with the hard er. But remember the white left kept telling us that actually it was great that Bernie Sanders was courting this guy??? At some point, we gon talk more about this but I'm a lil busy today. https://twitter.com/...
@seldo Laurie Voss on x
Stories about Rogan (in this case repeatedly using the n-slur) will continue until Spotify realizes the thing it bought for $100m is radioactive and will slowly kill them if they continue to hang on to it. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@dada_drummer Damon K on x
Watching the larger world marvel at Spotify's behavior... it's not like knowing about a band before they got big, it's more like a sports car weaves past you in traffic and then a half hour later you see it wrecked by the side of the road surrounded by flashing lights https://twi…
@oliverdarcy Oliver Darcy on x
⁦@joerogan⁩ apologizes for having used the n-word in the past: “Whenever you're in a situation where you have to say 'I'm not racist,' you've f-ked up, and I clearly have f-cked up.” https://pagesix.com/...
@caseynewton Casey Newton on x
Spotify has apparently now removed about 6 percent of all Joe Rogan episodes without any comment on the matter https://www.nytimes.com/...
@lukeobrien Luke O'Brien on x
Still circling the core issue here. Are we really meant to think that Rogan being racist is unrelated to him seeking out white nationalists, fascist gang leaders, Holocaust deniers and assorted far-right propagandists to appear on his show? https://www.nytimes.com/...
@eacrunden @eacrunden on x
Is he ever going to be pushed to apologize for his transphobia? https://twitter.com/...
@justinhendrix Justin Hendrix on x
Keep in mind- Spotify signed Rogan knowing he had hosted White supremacists, conspiracy theorists and other far right characters. They did not import dozens of episodes on that basis. They knew what they were getting. They decided the racist slurs did not cross the threshold. htt…
@mattdpearce @mattdpearce on x
NEW: Joe Rogan apologized for using the N-word over the years; Spotify has newly removed about 70 old episodes of his show. @indiaarie, who posted a compilation on Instagram of Rogan saying the N-word about 20 times, explains her concerns with Spotify: https://www.latimes.com/...…
@slpng_giants @slpng_giants on x
This is the dumbest dance. @spotify knew what they were getting into and gave Rogan a $100 million contract anyway so it would bring in new users. That they're pretending to care now (either of them) is a joke. It was a cynical move for Spotify's and they're paying the price. htt…
@karaswisher Kara Swisher on x
Perplexed as to why ⁦@Spotify⁩ is not more transparent about what they took down and why. Why so secret? Also again, ⁦@joerogan⁩ does a clearer job than the company: Joe Rogan Apologizes for ‘Shameful’ Past Use of Racial Slur https://www.nytimes.com/...
@lucas_shaw Lucas Shaw on x
Jan. 30: Spotify assured everyone it has robust content guidelines. Feb. 4: It removed 70 episodes of its biggest show after the public revealed the use of racial slurs. Makes you wonder what else is on a platform with 3.6 million podcasts. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@codinghorror Jeff Atwood on x
Rogan is Paltrow for dudes, basically? That checks out ✅ https://twitter.com/...
@caseynewton Casey Newton on x
No word on which specific episodes were removed or what they contained. Hit me up if you know more — will have more Monday in @platformer.
@caseynewton Casey Newton on x
All of these episodes were created before Rogan became a Spotify exclusive and had previously been available on Apple / Google and elsewhere.
@caseynewton Casey Newton on x
Update on this: person familiar with the matter tells me the decision to remove these episodes was Rogan's. It followed conversations between Spotify and Rogan's team.
@nycsouthpaw @nycsouthpaw on x
I would love to know: who did the work of identifying these 70 episodes for expurgation—Spotify's staff, Rogan's operation, or a third party? https://twitter.com/...
@eduardosuarez @eduardosuarez on x
Now things get interesting. So the defense was @Spotify was not a publisher but now (again) it's acted as one and without explaining two key questions: why and why now https://twitter.com/...
@bravetinsoldier Doctor Dan on x
His transphobic content is still up. If this is the game Spotify is playing, I think it's clear where they stand. They're okay with being a platform for hate speech and COVID misinformation. https://twitter.com/...
@teroterotero Tero Kuittinen on x
Hard right is going absolutely ballistic over Rogan's apology. Spotify may now face a second boycott wave from the extremists. When you sup with the devil, best use a long spoon, as the old Swedish folk saying goes. https://twitter.com/...
@teroterotero Tero Kuittinen on x
That Spotify N word analyst is literally working through the entire Saturday, removing episodes without exerting editorial control. Hope he's not in Swedish time zone... though the weekend overtime bennies are spectacular over there. https://twitter.com/...
@salhernandez Salvador Hernandez on x
Joe Rogan and Spotify havent explained why about 70 episodes of his podcast were deleted this week, but Rogan mentioned he deleted one episode where he talks about walking in a Black neighborhood and said it was like being in “Planet of the Apes” https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ...
@teroterotero Tero Kuittinen on x
CEO specifically stated he does not have creative control just before exercising creative control over 70 episodes. Hard to see how it would be possible to mishandle a crisis worse than this. https://twitter.com/...
@teroterotero Tero Kuittinen on x
Spotify sure picked a time to have a staff meeting where they told employees they must be able to support content they find uncomfortable. I don't think Danny understands what he has shackled himself to. https://twitter.com/...
@cwarzel Charlie Warzel on x
genuinely interesting question! i'd also add that when a back catalogue is like legitimately THOUSANDS of hours of rambling conversation it is both hard to search to find bad shit but also...probably filled with regrettable shit that's hard to find! https://twitter.com/...
@carnage4life @carnage4life on x
I think it's more racist that an entire political party is upset about the idea of a Black woman as Supreme Court than that Joe Rogan used the N word on his podcast. I'm not saying the latter is good but instead that the former has way more negative impact and way less outrage.
@blgtylr Brandon on x
Just the idea that you can remove episodes of a podcast that have “offensive language” and he can apologize for “using the language” but not like, acknowledge the underlying racist ideology that led him to think it was okay to use in the first place, like.
@craigsj Craig Bro Dude on x
those rogan clips resurfaced in january 2020 when he endorsed bernie. spotify did the deal anyhow. now they gonna pretend to care about him getting loose w slurs lol
@rdrv3 David Ruddock on x
People in Rogan's orbit think about racial slurs like they think about taking off their shoes in the house. “Oh, I guess that's what we do now. We don't say that word (in public).” So, they just see themselves here. Again. “Victims” of a woke culture and “PC” language.
@eoinhiggins_ @eoinhiggins_ on x
If Joe Rogan can't use racist slurs, he'll lose his appeal for a sizable chunk of his audience https://www.nytimes.com/...
@rdrv3 David Ruddock on x
I'm going to be sustained by the energy of men losing their minds over this for months https://twitter.com/...
@kibblesmith Daniel Kibblesmith on x
This means there are more episodes of Joe Rogan where he says the N-Word than there are episodes of Columbo, period. https://twitter.com/...
@keithedwards Keith Edwards on x
But I thought they weren't in the business of censorship. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@reckless Nilay Patel on x
Like, we can all make this *assumption*. But if you really want to run around saying you're a platform, you have to do the hard part of moderation and be transparent about enforcement. Otherwise you're just trying to protect your huge talent investment. Like... a media company.
@reckless Nilay Patel on x
All that talk about transparency and being a platform with rules and neither Spotify nor Rogan will comment on whether 70 clips of the show were deleted because of the n-word or not https://www.theverge.com/...
@eoinhiggins_ @eoinhiggins_ on x
It's always about being “taken out of context” with these guys https://twitter.com/...
@jangles Neville Hobson on x
Oh, this takes this Joe Rogan kerfuffle to a whole new level... #spotifyexodus https://twitter.com/...
@jackposobiec @jackposobiec on x
If Spotify drops Rogan he will start his own subscription service and easily make 10x what he was in the original contract
@daviddtss David Dennis Jr on x
How did Spotify find 70 n word episodes out of damn near 2,000 episodes? Did they already have them marked for n word use? Just in case someone notices?
@caitlyn_jenner Caitlyn Jenner on x
Bye bye Leftover hippies from the 60's boycotting @joerogan on Spotify. Nobody will miss you. Thank you @Spotify for standing up for Rogan!
@scottiebeam Scottie on x
100 million huh @Spotify https://twitter.com/...
@donwinslow Don Winslow on x
Dear @Spotify , You have openly supported this racism for years. Now you're going around deleting old episodes trying to hide your support. Nope. Watch him smile as he says the N word over and over and over again. You can't delete this. Spotify is bathed in this racism. https://t…
@tressiemcphd Tressie McMillan Cottom on x
I repeat, @spotify got exactly what it wanted in Rogan. Every platform is chomping at the bit for a Rogan. They love the racism, the sexism, the vitriol, the stupidity. It's literally their happy pants pill. https://twitter.com/...
@matthewacherry Matthew A. Cherry on x
Yep deleting my @spotify account. Fuck this. https://twitter.com/...
@marcushjohnson Marcus H. Johnson on x
The censorship debate isn't really about censorship. The same people who say Rogan is being censored want to ban CRT in schools. So its really about protecting white voices from criticism and minimizing Black/Brown voices. Its really about who should have power and who shouldn't.
@michaelmalice Michael Malice on x
both of the episodes are pre-covid https://twitter.com/...
@cherijacobus Cheri Jacobus on x
Ignoring his comparing Black people to apes and saying Black ppls brains are “different” than white ppls, Joe Rogan addresses his repeated use of the N-word in viral clip https://pagesix.com/... via @pagesix
@yourmusicwhore @yourmusicwhore on x
I was trying to hear him out but it just kept getting worse lmao https://twitter.com/...
@xeni @xeni on x
Do not let anyone lie to you that Spotify must choose between censorship and Joe Rogan. The publisher choose to offer a $100 million contract to a man who loves saying the n word with a hard r, and pushes pandemic disinformation. This isn't complicated. Spotify sucks. Rogan sucks
@scottiebeam Scottie on x
This dick is a racist, your honor. There is your context: https://twitter.com/...
@vinn_ayy Vinny Thomas on x
lmao Joe Rogan apologized for using the n word on instagram and most of the comments are white guys saying “we support you brother, much love”
@daviddtss David Dennis Jr on x
SEVENTY. EPISODES. OF. RACIAL. SLURS. SEVEN ZERO. https://twitter.com/...
@vickerysec Chris Vickery on x
wtf? Holy hell, no no no. Joe Rogan is canceled. Immediately. Nobody that looks like Joe, or myself for that matter, gets to use *that* word 70 times(!), in this day and age, in their place of work (e.g. his podcast) and keep the job. Absolutely unacceptable. https://twitter.com/…
@penenberg Adam L. Penenberg on x
“Spotify acts as Rogan's publisher, saying that Spotify is rather a ‘platform’ that lacks any advance editorial control over Rogan's show.” The key word here is “advance”. But when you pay Rogan to be on your platform, you are in essence publishing him. 1/2 https://twitter.com/..…
@penenberg Adam L. Penenberg on x
Spotify has become a throwback to the post 2010-2016 era when “platishers” were the rage. But platforms and publishers have different responsibilities when it comes to disseminating news.
@carnage4life @carnage4life on x
Watched India Arie's story about why she's pulling her music from Spotify and she illuminated a certain injustice. 1. Spotify makes money on music streaming. 2. It pays artists a pittance. 3. Most streams are from Black artists. 4. It spends the money on anti-Black podcasters. ht…
@timmarchman Tim Marchman on x
Rogan explaining how he didn't mean anything racist by saying a Black neighborhood in Philly was like “Planet of the Apes,” but just meant that it was like Africa, is really something. https://twitter.com/...
@oliverdarcy Oliver Darcy on x
Spotify CEO @eldsjal on addressing the company's crisis: “We were too slow to respond.” https://www.wsj.com/...
@richsignorelli Richard Signorelli on x
I am calling for a nationwide boycott of @Spotify and also for all Twitter influencers to pull their podcasts from the service. Joe Rogan Apologizes for ‘Shameful’ Past Use of Racial Slur https://www.nytimes.com/...
@slpng_giants @slpng_giants on x
70 episodes. SEVENTY. EPISODES. Rogan is apologizing now (when caught), but where is the apology from @Spotify for paying this person $100 Million to amplify and profit from him? How many apologies would any of their employees get for saying the n-word on video even once? https:/…

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