Joe Rogan turns down $100m offer to leave Spotify after they ‘inexplicably’ backed him

‘Spotify has hung in with me, inexplicably, let’s see what happens’

Joe Rogan has turned down Rumble’s $100m offer to bring all his shows to the conservative-leaning platform.

During a Q&A session of the 54-year-old podcaster’s stand-up show on Tuesday (8 February), someone from the audience asked him whether he was considering accepting Rumble’s offer.

“No, Spotify has hung in with me, inexplicably, let’s see what happens,” replied the controversial podcaster.

This response comes after Rumble’s chief executive Chris Pavlovski offered Rogan $100m “over four years” to leave Spotify.

“We’d like to offer you 100 million reasons to make the world a better place,” Pavlovski said in a statement.

“How about you bring all your shows to Rumble, both old and new, with no censorship, for 100 million bucks over four years? This is our chance to save the world. And yes, this is totally legit,” he added.

Joe Rogan caused massive outrage again, after speaking about child sex abuse on his widely polarising podcast (Joe Rogan/Youtube)

Rogan had signed a deal with Spotify in 2019 reportedly for more than $100m to be the exclusive host of his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience.

Both Rogan and Spotify, however, have come under fire as many artists like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell have demanded their music be removed from the audio streaming and media services provider because of Covid vaccine misinformation on some of Rogan’s podcasts.

Rogan also found himself at the centre of a renewed controversy when singer India Arie shared an edited compilation of him using the N-word several times on his podcast and asked for her content to be removed from the platform as well.

The podcaster has since apologised for it, saying the compilation was “the most regretful and shameful thing I’ve ever had to talk about publicly”.

Earlier this week, Rogan caused massive outrage again, after speaking about child sex abuse on his widely polarising podcast.

Speaking with stand-up comic Akaash Singh during a three-hour interview, Rogan said boys who had sexual relationships with older women are “going to be fine” provided the women are not “gross”.

The pair discussed a female friend of Rogan’s who allegedly had an affair with a 30-year-old teacher when she was in high school, and the songs that have inspired men to write about lusting after underage women.

Referencing The Police’s “Don’t Stand So Close To Me” and Gene Simmons “Christine Sixteen”, Rogan said: “No one would write a song about that today. You’d be like, wait a minute, are you saying you want to f*** kids? Is that your song? Hey! No! I’m not gonna – I’m just saying don’t stand so close to me.”

Rogan continued that the “crazy thing” is that “no one gives a f*** if it’s a 15-year-old boy and a 30-year-old lady” before Singh interjected: “G’s up.”

Rogan’s recent comments on his podcast appeared to violate Spotify’s platform rules that prohibit content “promoting, normalising, or glorifying child grooming behaviours.”

The Independent has contacted Spotify for comment.

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