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Everything you need to know about Joe Rogan's Spotify controversy over COVID-19 misinformation

Raechal Shewfelt·Editor, Yahoo EntertainmentFebruary 4, 2022, 2:48 PM·16 min readIn this article:

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• Joe RoganAmerican martial artist, podcaster, sports commentator and comedian
• Neil YoungCanadian-American guitarist, singer and songwriter

Neil Young's Jan. 24 announcement that he wanted his music off the streaming service Spotify because it hosts Joe Rogan's podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, continues to have a ripple effect. After Young cited Rogan's show for "spreading false information about vaccines," other celebrities, as well as the streamer itself, have reacted, with some following Young's lead.

Here's the latest, which we'll update with new developments.

India.Arie shares clips of Rogan using the n-word

On Feb. 4, four days after pulling her music from Spotify, Arie returned to the subject on her Instagram Story. "Hey, y'all. I'm going to leave a short message here about why I decided to … ask my music be pulled off of Spotify," she said, according to Deadline. The singer then played clips of Rogan using a racial slur multiple times. The outlet also reported that the footage had previously been posted on YouTube and "predates his $100 million deal with Spotify in 2020."

Jon Stewart says Rogan 'overreaction' is 'a mistake'

The former host of The Daily Showoffered his opinion on his podcast, The Problem With Jon Stewart, on Feb. 3, when a co-host asked for his take. "Don't leave. Don't abandon. Don't censor. Engage," he began. "I'm not saying it's always going to work out fruitfully. But I am always of the mindset that engagement, and especially with someone like a Joe Rogan, who is not, in my mind, an ideologue in any way." Stewart pointed out that Rogan had corrected himself on air before, after a guest told him he was wrong. They then looked up the answer to a question about vaccines, and confirmed that Rogan was, in fact, incorrect. Stewart asked how much misinformation is spread by Eric Clapton, for example, who is a vaccine skeptic — Stewart called the musician a 'f

psycho' — and people remain on the same platforms as him. "There's no question that there is egregious misinformation that's purposeful and hateful and all those other things, and that being moderated is a credit to the platforms that run them," Stewart said. "But this overreaction to Rogan, I think, is a mistake."

(editor：)