Joe Rogan and Spotify have responded to the backlash from the latest episode of The Joe Rogan Experience featuring Alex Jones. Now, this wouldn't be the first time Rogan has hosted Jones on his show but it is the first time Jones' episode on the JRE has been uploaded to Spotify. Jones was previously banned on the platform in 2018 after violating their rules and regulations but apparently, Spotify's willingness to bend the rules depends on the host. Well, at least that was the case.
Since the episode with Jones aired, people have been calling for a further boycott of both Rogan and Spotify. Neither has budged with both Rogan and the streaming giant issuing statements, defending the decision to host the far-right conspiracy theorist. Rogan shared a video of Bill Gates admitting that there have been side-effects to the vaccine during testing, with the caption reading:
"I knew people were going to criticize the content of the podcast without even listening and I was right. That’s why I fact checked every single crazy thing he said, and all of them were verified. People have said he spread “anti-covid vaccine conspiracy theories” because he said that 80% of the people who were given one of the vaccines got sick. Here’s the video of Bill Gates admitting it himself.
Now, I’m NOT anti vaccine, and if a safe and effective covid vaccine is created I’ll take it and encourage others to take it, but I wanted to put this video up to validate what he said.
He said a lot of crazy, but accurate things, and that’s what I’ve been saying about him for years. He’s most certainly fucked up in the past, but this episode and the subjects he exposed highlight why I chose to have him on."
Ahead of the public statement, Spotify issued an email to managers regarding the episode, though they didn't mention Alex Jones by name. The e-mail included instructions to employees on how to answer any questions regarding the content on the platform, the guests allowed, and generally, what is and isn't acceptable.
"If a team member has concerns about any piece of content on our platform, you should encourage them to report it to Trust & Safety because they are the experts on our team charged with reviewing content," an e-mail from Horacio Gutierrez, chief legal officer at Spotify, wrote to employees. "However, it's important that they aren't simply flagging a piece of content just because of something they've read online. It's all too common that things are taken out of context."
Despite previously barring Jones from their platform, it appears that they have since changed that policy. Gutierrez added that it's important for Spotify to host "diverse voices and points of view on our platform."
"We are not going to ban specific individuals from being guests on other people's shows, as the episode/show complies with our content policies," Gutierrez added.
Check out Joe Rogan's full response below.