Joe Rogan, the polarizing podcaster whose episodes on vaccines have caused a stir for Spotify in recent weeks, apologized Saturday after a video of him using the N-word circulated on social media.
“There’s nothing I can do to take that back,” Rogan said in a video on his Instagram. “I wish I could, but obviously that’s not possible. I do hope that, if anything, that this can be a teachable moment.”
Rogan has branded himself as something of a contrarian in his podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience,” which he’s hosted for 12 years. Musical artists Neil Young and Joni Mitchell announced last week that they would pull their music from Spotify in response to the platform carrying Rogan’s podcast, which has been criticized for spreading Covid-19 vaccine misinformation.
On Thursday, musical artist India.Arie announced that she, too, would remove her work from Spotify because of Rogan’s use of racial slurs. She posted the video compilation of Rogan, who is white, using racial slurs on his podcast, which spurred widespread outrage.