Joe Rogan has revealed that business has boomed amidst his wave of controversies from this year.
2022 has been a tumultuous year for Rogan from a PR standpoint. First, he was accused of spreading and facilitating misinformation regarding the coronavirus pandemic. Then, he came under fire for past race-related remarks, including the repeated use of “the N word” throughout the history of his podcast.
While some notable figures like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson have condemned Rogan for his past remarks, others like former U.S. President Donald J. Trump and numerous people in the MMA community of all races have spoken out in defense of Rogan.
Although the PR side of Rogan’s brand may have appeared to take a series of hits this year on the surface, that couldn’t be further from the truth in terms of tangible consequences from a business perspective.
On Friday’s installment of The Joe Rogan Experience, Rogan revealed that if there was an attempt to “cancel” him, then those efforts backfired as evident by his podcast subscriptions skyrocketing. (h/t Yahoo News)
“It’s interesting, my subscriptions went up massively — that’s what’s crazy,” Rogan said. “Yeah, [the media] went for it. It’s also fortunate that the people who went for it were CNN,” Rogan said. “They’re so untrustworthy and people know how biased they are and socially weird their anchors are.”
In his own response to the controversies, Rogan addressed the Spotify “misinformation” accusations by clarifying that he hosts various viewpoints on his podcast and stated that he does not attempt to be “controversial.”
Regarding the past race-related remarks, Rogan apologized for his past usage of the N word, even though he believed the clips were taken out of context. He also denied any ill-intent for his usage of the word or for another remark where he was accused of comparing an all-black neighborhood to the “Planet of the Apes.”
Rogan is not the only person to see his fanbase swell after making mainstream news for racial-slur usage. Country music star Morgan Wallen reportedly saw his sales boom and his career explode after he was also in hot water for using the “N-word” slur.
During the height of Rogan’s controversies, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek released a memo addressing the situation and stated that silencing Rogan is not the answer. Based on this report from Rogan, that decision has proved beneficial both for the streaming platform and Rogan himself.
Are you surprised to learn that Rogan’s subscriptions have had a major increase after his recent controversies?
Continue Reading Rogan Says JRE Subscriptions Increased “Massively” After Controversies at MMA News.