Joe Rogan called a viral video showing him repeatedly using the N-word a “political hit job” during Tuesday’s episode of his podcast, Variety reports. According to The Hollywood Reporter, he followed that up Tuesday evening with a standup set in Austin, Texas, where he mocked himself and his many recent controversies.
Last week, India.Arie announced that she was joining the growing number of musicians pulling their music from Spotify, but unlike Neil Young, who was perturbed by Rogan’s vaccine skepticism, Arie cited Rogan’s “language around race.” To make her point, she shared a cut of Rogan saying the N-word 24 separate times on his podcast. In response, Spotify conducted an internal investigation and removed over 70 episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience.
“That video had always been out there,” Rogan said on the February 8th episode of The Joe Rogan Experience. “It’s like, this is a political hit job.” He continued, “And so they’re taking all this stuff I’ve ever said that’s wrong and smushing it all together.”
He added that, “It’s good because it makes me address some shit that I really wish wasn’t out there,” and called the experience a “relief.”
Rogan further discussed his use of the racial slur on Tuesday evening. “I used to say it if [I was talking about] a Richard Pryor bit or something, I would say it in context,” he told the audience for his standup show. “I haven’t used that word in years. But it’s kind of weird people will get really mad if you use that word and tweet about it on a phone that’s made by slaves.”
Rogan also absolved himself of any blame for spreading COVID-19 vaccine misinformation. “I talk shit for a living — that’s why this is so baffling to me,” he said. “If you’re taking vaccine advice from me, is that really my fault? What dumb shit were you about to do when my stupid idea sounded better? ‘You know that dude who made people people eat animal dicks on TV? How does he feel about medicine?’ If you want my advice, don’t take my advice.”
Last weekend, Rogan offered a more apologetic statement on his use of the N-word, saying in a video, “I clearly have fucked up.” For Spotify’s part, the streaming giant is still sticking by the beleaguered podcast host. On Saturday, the Science Vs podcast broke down Rogan’s now-infamous interview with Robert Malone to show how “cherry picking the data” allowed them to spread vaccine misinformation.
