Joe Rogan faced an awkward confrontation on his own hit podcast after a leading British conservative blasted him for regularly featuring conspiracy theorists.
Author and columnist Douglas Murray appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience and challenged the superstar podcaster over the guests he brings on his show to discuss alternative theories about history and geopolitical issues.
‘I feel you’ve opened the door to quite a lot of people who now got a big platform, who have been throwing out counter-historical stuff of a very dangerous kind,’ Murray said to Rogan.
Murray offered podcaster Darryl Cooper and Holocaust denier Ian Carroll as examples of the kind of Rogan guests who have shared questionable information.
Daryl Cooper has said that not only did the Nazis not intend to murder millions but that Winston Churchill is the main villain of World War Two.
‘These guys are not historians, they’re not knowledgeable about anything,’ Murray said.
‘No one is calling Ian Carroll a historian,’ Rogan shot back.
‘But then why listen to their views on Churchill?’ Murray insisted. ‘If you only get the contrary view, which is – “isn’t it fun if we all pretend that Churchill was the bad guy of the 20th century?” – at some point you’re going to lead people to think that’s the view. And that’s horses**t of the most profound kind’
British conservative Douglas Murray slammed Joe Rogan, accusing him of platforming dangerous voices
Rogan has always said he is just curious about alternative views and wants to hear what those who believe in them have to say
‘I don’t think about it that way,’ Rogan doubled down. ‘I just think, I’d like to talk to that person.”
But Murray wasn’t having it and concluded: ‘There’s a point at which “I’m just raising questions” isn’t valid anymore… You’re not asking questions — you’re telling people something.’
It comes weeks after president John F Kennedy’s grandson slammed Rogan for spreading misinformation about the 1963 assassination.
Jack Schlossberg took aim at the podcaster for his 2023 interview with his cousin, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, in which the now Secretary of Health and Human Services peddled the idea that John F. Kennedy was killed by America’s intelligence agencies.
Trump appeared on the same podcast months later and vowed to release all of the documents related to JFK’s November 22, 1963 assassination if he were to be elected president.
‘Are you going to go through all the JFK assassination files tomorrow with your little butt buddy Bobby,’ Schlossberg asked Rogan in a video posted to Instagram Monday night. ‘You better.’
‘After you spread all those lies, you’re not going to make sure that they’re true?’ he asked rhetorically.
In a caption for the video, Schlossberg also goaded Rogan to have him on his show.
‘Just kidding, you’re too scared to talk to someone who doesn’t agree with you,’ Schlossberg said.
Rogan became the most successful podcaster in the country thanks to his interviews with guests with controversial views.
It has paid off, as last year Spotify renewed their partnership with Rogan for as much as $250 million over its multiyear term.
Over the years, Rogan has developed a huge audience who listen to his long, wide-ranging interviews with a variety of guests, including comedians, athletes, scientists and conspiracy theorists.
‘There’s no script of what we’re going to talk about, and it all just sort of happens in real time,’ said Rogan on Spotify’s blog post. ‘It’s just an actual organic conversation with people enjoying themselves, which is something we all can relate to, and something we all love to do. These conversations have changed the way I think about life immeasurably and continue to do so.’
The show is consistently Spotify’s most popular podcast but also a frequent cause of controversy for the company. Most notably, Spotify came under huge pressure in 2022 to drop Rogan over his anti-coronavirus vaccine comments and use of racial slurs, with some musicians, including Neil Young, pulling their music from the platform in protest.
In February 2022, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek denounced the host’s racist language but said, ‘I do not believe that silencing Joe is the answer.’
Rogan says he’s a progressive who backed Bernie Sanders in 2016 but who became a MAGA supporter thanks to recent woke excesses of the Democrat party.
