Rogan is under scrutiny again on the heels of addressing accusations he's contributing to the spread of misinformation on his podcast.
Joe Rogan has issued an apology after past videos of him using a racial slur resurfaced on social media.
The host of The Joe Rogan Experience took to Instagram on Saturday and admitted that using the N-word on at least 24 occasions "looks f***ing horrible." Rogan posted a 5-minute, 46 seconds video addressing the latest backlash, and it came just days after India Arie cited those clips as to what led her to pull her music from Spotify, home to Rogan's podcast.
"There's a video that's out, that's a compilation of me saying the N-word," Rogan said in his video. "It's a video that's made of clips taken out of context of me of 12 years of conversations on my podcast, and it's all smushed together."
Nevertheless, Rogan says using the racial slur was wrong and he regrets it.
"Now, I haven't said it in years, but for a long time, when I would bring that word up, like if it would come up in a conversation and instead of saying the N-word, I would just say the word. I thought as long as it was in context, people would understand what I was doing."
Rogan, under scrutiny over accusations he's spreading COVID-19 misinformation on his podcast, said using the term is "the most regretful and shameful thing that I've ever had to talk about publicly." He vowed never to use the term again.
The apology comes just days after Arie and Graham Nash posted separate Instagram posts announcing Rogan's the reason why they're leaving the music streaming platform, following in the footsteps of Neil Young and Joni Mitchell.
In his post, Nash noted that he's taking the same action as Young because he "completely agree[s] with and support[s]" his Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young bandmate, who was the first to pull his music from Spotify.
Arie cited Rogan's offensive language around race as to what triggered her decision to walk away from Spotify.
"I believe in freedom of speech. However, I find Joe Rogan problematic for reasons OTHER than his COVID interviews... FOR ME ITS [sic] ALSO HIS language around race," the GRAMMY winner wrote. "What I am talking about is RESPECT -- who gets it and who doesn't. Paying musicians a fraction of a penny? And HIM $100M? This shows the type of company they are and the company that they keep. I'm tired."
In response to criticism from Young, Mitchell and the more than 200 medical professionals who wrote an open letter asking Spotify to stop spreading Rogan's "baseless conspiracy theories," the podcaster vowed to do better.
"I will do my best to try to balance out these more controversial viewpoints with other people's perspectives, so we can maybe find a better point of view," he said.
RELATED CONTENT:
