Spotify’s CEO apologized late Tuesday night in a memo to employees for the company’s ongoing controversy with podcast host Joe Rogan, but said the company remained committed to hosting the show.
Spotify has said it has no plans to remove its top-rated podcaster Joe Rogan following a heavily edited video compilation surfaced that showed him saying the “N-word”.
Earlier this week, Daniel Ek offered an apology concerning Joe Rogan for his repeated use of racial slurs on his show, “The Joe Rogan Experience.”
“There are no words I can say to adequately convey how deeply sorry I am for the way The Joe Rogan Experience controversy continues to impact each of you,” Ek said in a memo Monday night.
Ek went on to say that Spotify would still carry Rogan’s podcast, despite calls for the company to de-platform the host.
“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,” Ek said. “And I want to make one point very clear — I do not believe that silencing Joe is the answer.”
“Not only are some of Joe Rogan’s comments incredibly hurtful, I want to make clear that they do not represent the values of this company. I know this situation leaves many of you feeling drained, frustrated and unheard.”
“We should have clear lines around content and take action when they are crossed, but canceling voices is a slippery slope. Looking at the issue more broadly, it’s critical thinking and open debate that powers real and necessary progress,” he added.
Likewise, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson apologized over his initial support of Joe Rogan, who had used racial slurs on a popular podcast.
Johnson shared in a tweet on Friday that he was unaware of Rogan’s use of the “N” word after publicly supporting Rogan’s response to the recent controversy surrounding his podcast promoting COVID-19 misinformation.
“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.”
Over the weekend, Rogan apologized for his use of the slur, telling the media that he wished he hadn’t used it.
According to JREMissing.com, which tracks missing episodes, Spotify has removed more than 113 episodes of “Joe Rogan Experience” from its services since Feb. 7.
The episodes were deleted by Rogan, not Spotify, Ek wrote in a note to employees.
His apology video, posted to Instagram on Saturday, was a six-minute apology from Rogan. Slurs that he used were “regrettable” and “shameful.”
“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. I haven’t said it in years,” Rogan said. “It’s not my word to use, I’m well aware of that now.“
(Editors note” Pay attention to the fact his statement was “…where a white (emphasis mine) person is ever allowed to say that word…”. I suspect that this may be a subtle middle-finger to his detractors…)
Rogan’s use of racial slurs is just the latest controversy surrounding the podcast. Last month, several musical artists, led by Neil Young, chose to remove their catalogs from Spotify over Rogan’s amplification of COVID-19 misinformation.
(Editor’s note, again: Dear ol’ Neil did NOT see a need to have his music removed over racial slurs-just COVID “mis-information”. Perhaps we should ‘follow the money:
August 4th, 2020: Blackstone announces the appointment of Jeffrey B. Kindler, former chairman of CEO of Pfizer as their advisor.
January 6th, 2021: Neil Young sells 50% of his entire song catalog rights to Hipgnosis (love the name!)
October 12, 2021: Blackstone and Hipgnosis Song Management launch $1 billion partnership to invest in song, music IP, recorded music, and royalties
January 25, 2022: Neil Young demands Spotify remove his music over Joe Rogan vaccine misinformation)
“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 [expletive] horrible, even to me,” Rogan said on Instagram. “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 added.
After the video compilation surfaced over the weekend, Rogan apologized. Although the video was compiled from previous podcasts, it is not clear who made it. Many people shared it, including musician India Arie, who has threatened to have her music removed from Spotify.
Spotify’s loss of just a handful of artists hasn’t crippled the streaming giant, but it has brought more attention to one of the company’s best-paid and most controversial media moguls.
Nonetheless, Ek reportedly said he will not remove the podcaster from the streaming platform and committed to investing $100 million in “historically marginalized groups.”
Spotify eventually agreed to remove Neil Young’s music after Young accused Rogan of spreading false information about coronavirus vaccines and “possibly causing death.”
Rogan responded to critics in a separate Instagram video, claiming that he was not promoting misinformation or trying to be controversial, but simply seeking to have a conversation with people who held “differing opinions.”
The show’s host pledged to include views from a variety of experts, while stressing that he is himself “not a doctor or a scientist.”
