The Rock Appears To Distance Himself From Joe Rogan Following Recent Controversy

The controversy surrounding Joe Rogan and his podcast has been in the news for weeks and shows no signs of dying down any time soon. The latest little bit involves The Rock, who now seems to have distanced himself from Rogan.

Rogan has been the center of controversy due to sharing misinformation about COVID-19 on his podcast, as well as anti-vaccine messages. Rogan recently had to apologize for that and said he would bring a more balanced look on hsi show. Spotify, at one point, refused to remove his podcast, so musicians like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell had their music pulled from the service. At the time, The Rock supported Rogan for his apology. He commented on the Instagram post, “Great stuff here, brother. Perfectly articulated.” Then he mentioned wanting to share a Teremana with him.

However things got worse from there. Footage of Rogan using the N-word made its way online. The Verge reports that Spotify has removed 113 episodes of the podcast now, which was confirmed by Daniel Ek.

Ek said in a memo: “Not only are some of Joe Rogan’s comments incredibly hurtful — I want to make clear that they do not represent the values of this company. I know this situation leaves many of you feeling drained, frustrated and unheard.”

Spotify spoke with Rogan and his team about “some of the content in his show, including his history of using some racially insensitive language.” After this, and after Rogan’s “own reflections,” Rogan “chose to remove a number of episodes from Spotify.” Ek said he “strongly condemns” what Rogan had to say but doesn’t think “silencing Joe is the answer.”

He added: “We should have clear lines around content and take action when they are crossed, but cancelling voices is a slippery slope. Looking at the issue more broadly, it’s critical thinking and open debate that powers real and necessary progress.”

Rogan has since apologized for his use of the slur in another Instagram post. This brings us back to The Rock, who put up a post on Twitter suggesting that he learned more and has changed his stance on the situation.

He wrote: “Dear @donwinslow Thank you so much for this. I hear you as well as everyone here 100% I was not aware of his N word use prior to my comments. But not I’ve become educated to his complete narrative. Learning moment for me. Mahalo, brother and have a great & productive weekend. DJ.”

Dear @donwinslow
Thank you so much for this
I hear you as well as everyone here 100%
I was not aware of his N word use prior to my comments, but now I've become educated to his complete narrative.
Learning moment for me.

Mahalo, brother and have a great & productive weekend.
DJ https://t.co/3mBf85wRoe

— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) February 5, 2022