Photo by Michael Schwartz/WireImage
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) color commentator and podcasting extraordinaire Joe Rogan recently sold his “Experience” to Spotify for a “gross” $100 million, though I think we can all agree their newly-formed partnership has gotten off to a rocky start.
Longtime fans accused Rogan of “selling out” while select Spotify employees threatened to strike if upper management didn’t yank some of the more controversial episodes, like the Abigail Shrier interview that cast a negative light on the transgender movement.
Doesn’t sound like Rogan is losing any sleep over it.
“They have literally said nothing to me about it,” Rogan said (transcribed by Digital Music News). “Zero. It’s never come up. Now, is there someone at Spotify that’s complaining about the Abigail Shrier episode? I’m sure. Is it a transphobic episode? It’s not. They’re wrong. It’s nothing to do with that. It has to do with the fact that human beings are actually malleable. We all know that. That’s why cults exist.”
Cults like the Joe Rogan fan base! (ba-dum-dum, TISH!)
“I don’t know what the actual conversation has been from Spotify talking to these employees but if these employees are listening, I would tell you, emphatically, I am not in any way anti-trans,” Rogan continued. “I get it, you’re a 23-year-old woke kid and you’re working for this company and you think you’re gonna put your foot down, I get it.”
As of this writing, Spotify has no plans to censor Rogan or manage his content, which is now being created in his podcasting bunker in Texas (see it here) after the longtime funnyman closed up shop Los Angeles.