Calls to cancel Joe Rogan appear to have been futile.
The "Joe Rogan Experience" host caused an uproar for dropping a racial slur and interviewing alleged anti-vaxers on his show. But rather than lose fans, he gained millions of Spotify followers.
Rogan shared the news while speaking with British pundit commentator Douglas Murray on his show Friday.
"You have been put through the wringer since we last met. They did a number on you. Wow," Murray said of the backlash Rogan has faced, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
"It’s interesting, my subscriptions went up massively — that’s what’s crazy," Rogan replied. "During the height of it all, I gained 2 million subscribers."
Spotify doesn’t publicly release its JRE subscriber numbers, but sources told to The Hollywood Reporter that Rogan's show has been consistently growing since he joined the streamer, although it was clarified that there has not been a spike due to any particular event. The outlet reported that, based on one recent estimate, Rogan typically averages 11 million listeners per episode.
The Rogan controversy led Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and other musicians to pull their music from Spotify, the platform that hosts ''The Joe Rogan Experience.'' Spotify gave Rogan a three-year contract in 2020 that was reportedly worth over $200 million, and recently began including content advisories on some episodes of the podcast. Spotify did, however, remove about 70 of Rogan's past episodes amid mounting pressure.
Rogan was undeterred as he took to the stage in Austin, Texas, to discuss the ordeal during a set at Vulcan Gas Company.
"I talk s**t 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 s**t were you about to do when my stupid idea sounded better?" he continued. "You know that dude who made people eat animal d**ks on TV? How does he feel about medicine? If you want my advice, don’t take my advice."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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