Joe Rogan has been the protagonist of one of the great controversies of the beginning of 2022. The accusations that his Spotify podcast —the most listened to in the world— was used to spread misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic, among other controversies, turned him into target of global criticism. However, despite everything, the controversial driver seems to have come out of this situation as a winner.
In the latest installment of The Joe Rogan Experiencethe podcaster assured that the controversial episode ended up drastically boosting his subscriber count. And, true to his style, he took advantage of the occasion to lambast CNN, accusing the US media of promoting criticism against him.
“It’s interesting, my subscriptions increased tremendously. That’s the crazy thing. During the height of it all, I gained 2 million subscribers. […] It is fortunate that the ones who got carried away were CNN. They’re so unreliable, and people know how biased they are and how socially awkward their hosts are,” Rogan said.
Joe Rogan’s statements today are difficult to compare since Spotify does not disclose playback statistics or the reach of its podcasts. However, The Joe Rogan Experience It is long considered the N ° 1 in the world of the genre. as collected The Hollywood Reportereach episode of the show would have an average of 11 million listeners.
The Joe Rogan case put Spotify between a rock and a hard place
Joe Rogan he was never a politically correct character, but his remarks have come under increased scrutiny since his podcast became exclusive to Spotify. Some of his episodes began to be the cause of complaints not only from the public, but also from employees of the service of streaming.
The driver’s conversations with some of the main exponents of the anti-vaccine community, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, generated rejection among health workers in the United States; and also fully impacted the artistic community. Spotify suffered the departure of some historical artists as a protest, in a move spearheaded by Neil Young.
However, the Swedish company found the perfect way to “wash its hands” in the face of the growing controversy. Daniel Ek, CEO of the platform streamingtold his employees that he did not agree with much of what Joe Rogan said, but at the same time he considered it a necessary evil.
“There are many things that Joe Rogan says that I disagree with and find very offensive. But if we are to stand a chance of fulfilling our bold ambitions, we will need content that many of us will not be proud to be associated with,” he said. the executive, at that time.
Spotify had also claimed that it had no control over the content of The Joe Rogan Experience for being a distributor and not an editor. A statement that caused many to raise their eyebrows, taking into account that the company would have paid the driver $200 million to guarantee the exclusivity of his show, something that is not seen every day.
The truth is that, after a few months of the scandal, Joe Rogan seems to have gotten away with it. And he’s not hesitating to brag about it.