Podcast host Joe Rogan threatened Tuesday to sever his $200 million contract with Spotify if he has to “walk on eggshells.”
“If I become something different because it grew bigger, I will quit. If it gets to a point that I can’t do it anymore, where I have to do it in some sort of weird way where I walk on eggshells and mind my p’s and q’s, f*ck that!” Rogan said.
The podcast host and Spotify have come under fire in recent months after Rogan hosted Dr. Robert Malone, a skeptic of the COVID-19 vaccine, on his show in January. Rogan was also criticized after a liberal activist organization put together a compilation of all the times he used the N-word during his podcast. Musicians Neil Young and Joni Mitchell boycotted Spotify by removing their music from the platform.
Joe Rogan threatens to QUIT $200 million Spotify deal if he has to ‘walk on eggshells and mind my p’s and q’s’ https://t.co/ggu5tAqksg
— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) March 30, 2022
A group of 270 doctors urged Spotify in an open letter to implement a COVID-19 misinformation policy after Rogan’s episode with Malone, calling the statements on vaccines “medically and culturally dangerous.” White House press secretary Jen Psaki called on tech companies to promote accuracy and label certain reports on vaccinations as “mis-and disinformation” during a February press briefing. (RELATED: ‘Stop Apologizing,’ Trump Tells Joe Rogan)
Rogan called his repeated use of a racial slur the most “shameful” and “regretful” thing he had to address.
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek announced he had no intention to cancel Rogan’s show, though expressed his support to staffers over the hurt feelings caused by the controversy in early February. The platform did, however, delete over 70 episodes that had aired years prior.
Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski offered the podcast host $100 million to leave Spotify to bring his show to their platform.
“We stand with you, your guests, and your legion of fans in desire for real conversation,” Pavlovski said. “So we’d like to offer you 100 million reasons to make the world a better place.”