“The View” co-hosts were united that people “can’t just cancel” Joe Rogan’s podcast following calls to have him removed from Spotify over his views about COVID-19 and the vaccine.
During a panel discussion Wednesday on the ABC talkshow, the ladies played a clip of shock jock Howard Stern who said that “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast shouldn’t be canceled over Rogan’s vaccine views. Stern said he’s “against any kind of censorship.” (RELATED: ‘A Nation Of Golden Retrievers’: Joy Behar Mocks Americans Who Didn’t Want Vaccine Until Free Donuts Were Involved)
“It’s not Spotify’s job,” co-host Joy Behar said. “We have a First Amendment in this country. We have to stick with it. You can’t just pick and choose when you want to use the First Amendment.” (RELATED: Joe Rogan Leaves Sanjay Gupta Almost Speechless As He Confronts Him About CNN’s Lies, Parents Not Wanting To Vaccinate Kids)
WATCH:
HOWARD STERN SAYS DON’T CANCEL ROGAN OVER VAX VIEWS: After rock legend Neil Young demanded his music be removed from Spotify in protest of Joe Rogan spreading misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine on his podcast, #TheView panel reacts to Stern’s take. https://t.co/HwcLhG1gxm pic.twitter.com/4Aw38rWxmP
— The View (@TheView) January 26, 2022
Co-host Sunny Hostin said she disagreed, and while she doesn’t think Rogan “should be removed” from the platform, she said she thinks Rogan’s show should include some kind of “disclaimer.”
“I want a good corporate citizen,” Hostin said. “I’m not saying that Joe Rogan should be removed from Spotify … but I do think, as the podcast’s platform, you have to have some sort of guidelines. How about a disclaimer on his podcast that says, you know, ‘This is misinformation.’ How about removing some of the podcasts that disseminate misinformation. You have to do something.”
Behar said she agreed that Rogan is a “horror.” However, the way to counter bad speech is with more speech and other measures, she added.
“The way to counter it is with boycotts,” Behar explained. “And the way we handled it is we don’t buy Spotify. We ignore Spotify.” She continued her defense, saying, “You can’t just cancel the show, because we have the First Amendment.”
Co-host Sara Haines said that Rogan’s 11 million listeners per episode proves that people are hungry to “have open conversations, disagreements, debates and they don’t want to be told how to feel about it.”
More than 250 doctors wrote a letter to Spotify asking the company to clear up some of the “misinformation” on Rogan’s podcast.