Spotify deletes 100-plus episodes of Joe Rogan's podcast after video surfaces of past racial slur

US podcaster Joe Rogan says his use of the racial slur was the 'most regretful and shameful thing that I've ever had to talk about publicly'.

Spotify's popular US podcaster Joe Rogan has apologised after a video compilation surfaced that showed him using racial slurs.

Spotify's popular US podcaster Joe Rogan has apologised after a video compilation surfaced that showed him using racial slurs. Source: Getty Images

More than 100 episodes of the podcast by Spotify's popular US podcaster Joe Rogan have been removed off the platform.

It comes as he apologised after a video compilation surfaced that showed him using a racial slur - the N-word - in clips of episodes over a 12-year span.

In a video posted on his Instagram account, Mr Rogan, who hosts a podcast called The Joe Rogan Experience, said his use of the slur was the "most regretful and shameful thing that I've ever had to talk about publicly". But he said the clips were "taken out of context".
"It's not my word to use. I am well aware of that now, but for years I used it in that manner," he said during the six-minute video on his Instagram account. "I never used it to be racist because I'm not racist."

A website tracking episodes of the Joe Rogan podcast, JRE Missing, noted the removal of 70 episodes on Friday.

At least 113 episodes have now been removed. Spotify has not responded to requests for comment on the reason for removing past episodes from the archive.

India.Arie also pulls music off Spotify

Mr Rogan's mea culpa follows Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter India.Arie's announcement on Thursday that she was removing her music from the Spotify streaming service because of the racial slur that Mr Rogan had made during his podcasts.

She posted the video montage of Mr Rogan's clips on her Instagram account. Mr Rogan, who launched his podcast in late 2009, didn't specify which years he used the racial slur.

In her video, Arie said even if some of Mr Rogan's conversations were taken out of context, "he shouldn't be uttering the word".

"Don't even say it under any context," she added.

Mr Rogan's message on Saturday addressed a video a clip from his podcast 11 years ago in which he talked about going to a movie theatre in a black neighbourhood to see Planet of the Apes.
"I was trying to make the story entertaining, and I said we got out and it was like we were in Africa. It's like we were in Planet of the Apes," Mr Rogan said.

He said he wasn't trying to be racist but realised it was "an idiotic thing" to say. He said he deleted the podcast but that someone must have saved the clip.

Mr Rogan's apology comes as Spotify is promising to combat the spread of COVID-19 misinformation as part of a damage-control campaign sparked by musician Neil Young, who called out the streaming service's top podcaster for magnifying vaccine skepticism.

Last Sunday, Spotify said it will soon add a warning before all podcasts that discuss COVID-19, directing listeners to factual, up-to-date information from scientists and public health experts.

The company also aims to bolster transparency about its publishing decisions by laying out the rules it uses to protect users' safety.


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3 min read
Published 6 February 2022 4:09pm
Updated 6 February 2022 9:00pm
Source: AAP, SBS


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