Entertainment
Joe Rogan podcast episodes mysteriously vanish from Spotify in ‘technical issue’Emily BashforthEntertainment – Metro
The commentator has been criticised for airing controversial views in the past.
Joe Rogan has been criticised for airing controversial views in the past on his podcast (Picture: Vivian Zink/Syfy/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty)
Joe Rogan’s podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, mysteriously disappeared from Spotify in what has been branded a ‘technical issue.’
It appeared that 36 episodes of the podcast went missing from the streaming platform, leaving Spotify themselves bewildered.
The confusion comes after the American commentator received criticism earlier this year for sharing controversial views on his pod.
Rogan invited guests onto his episodes who would spread misinformation, which listeners called ‘fake news.’
However, there appears to have been no rhyme or reason for the removal of dozens of his podcast episodes this time around, despite Spotify users calling for the broadcaster to be removed altogether a few months ago.
‘Spotify is aware of this technical issue and we are looking into it now,’ a spokesperson told Los Angeles Times.
Spotify cited a ‘technical issue’ for 36 episodes of his pod going missing (Picture: AP)
Some of Rogan’s missing episodes featured interviews with politicians including Republican Dan Crenshaw and former Democratic Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.
Episodes featuring musician Post Malone and comic Bryan Callen also disappeared.
Spotify acquired Rogan’s podcast back in 2020 for a whopping $200million (£159m), with the 36 episodes that went missing this week ones recorded before the pod moved to Spotify.
However, this isn’t the first time the Swedish streaming giant has removed podcast episodes of Rogan’s, whether intentionally or unintentionally, after they purposefully purged over 100 episodes that starred far-right public figures and conspiracy theorists.
They received major backlash for offering the views a platform, however, the podcast still averages 11million listeners per episode, according to Rogan.
The 54-year-old also claims that he gained 2million subscribers amid the drama.
Rogan refuses to ‘walk on eggshells’ on his podcast (Picture: YouTube)
Rogan admitted in March though that he is not prepared to ‘walk on eggshells,’ and would be willing to quit his podcast hosting duties altogether if it meant censoring himself or his guests.
‘There’s more people pouring over it but it’s the same thing. I do it the same way,’ he said.
‘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**k that!’
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The comedian – who also apologised for his use of the N-word in resurfaced videos – has been accused of giving a platform to false statements about Covid and the vaccine after several musicians spoke out in protest against Spotify.
Neil Young was among those removing their entire catalogue of music from the platform.
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