Pressure on Spotify mounts to cancel Joe Rogan

Spotify is facing increasing pressure to remove podcast host Joe Rogan from its platform due to “COVID-19 misinformation.” Last week, musician Neil Young issued an ultimatum that he would be pulling his music from Spotify unless Spotify de-platforms Rogan. 

“They can have Rogan or Young,” wrote Young in a letter to his record label and management team. “Not both.” 

Joe Rogan is the host of the Joe Rogan Experience, the biggest podcast in the world with 11 million listeners per episode. Spotify bought exclusive rights to the show for over $100 million. 

Young and other members of the elite have been furious at Rogan for spreading what they call “COVID-19 misinformation”, instead demanding that people “listen to the experts”. However, they have vehemently opposed any medical expert hosted by Rogan, including Dr. Robert Malone, who was an architect of the mRNA vaccine technology that powers the COVID-19 vaccine. 

Soon after Young’s ultimatum, Spotify pulled Young’s music off its platform. 

Other celebrities are now pulling their content from Spotify in protest, such as Bill Crosby of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and Joni Mitchell. 

Mitchell called on Spotify to cancel Rogan and included a letter of support signed by “270 medical professionals”. In reality, these medical professionals include veterinarians, science correspondents, associate medical writers, assistant professors, social workers, PhD students, and some simply listed as “Consultant”. Others on the list have no title at all. 

The latest celebrities to pressure Spotify have been the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle. The couple has reportedly passed on their “concerns” about Rogan to the platform but have no intentions of jeopardizing the $25 million podcast deal they signed with Spotify in 2020. 

Rumors circulated that Barry Manilow would be pulling his content from the platform, but Manilow has since denied these rumors.