African American

Joe Rogan’s wildly popular podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, is now an “experience” that comes with debate over the 54-year-old comedian’s past comments on a range of issues, including Covid-19 misinformation, his friendly banter with Proud Boys co-founder Gavin McInnes and his racist comments comparing a Black neighborhood to “Planet of the Apes.”

A horde of celebrities have weighed in. Some, such as musicians Neil Young and India Arie, have slammed Rogan, while comedians such as Jon Stewart and Whitney Cummings are calling for him to be shown leeway as a comedian.

Rogan is exactly who you think he is.
We can debate Rogan’s past remarks all day, but here’s the thing: Rogan is exactly who you think he is. He is the podcast host who has spewed racist comments, cried about white male victimhood and featured extreme-right guests who have a record of white nationalism and other forms of bigotry. Indeed, that’s precisely how Rogan cultivated his massive audience of primarily young, white men: with comments and commentary designed to entertain that very crowd. That rocketed him to the top of the podcast charts, which, in turn, led to a 2020 deal with Spotify reported to be worth $100 million.

Playing to his audience is why in a 2013 episode of his show Rogan shared a story about getting dropped off by a car service at a theater in a Black neighborhood to see “Planet of the Apes.” He said, “We walk into 'Planet of the Apes.' We walked into Africa, dude.” As the other comedians on Rogan’s show laughed, he continued, “We walked in the door, and there was no white people. … 'Planet of the Apes' didn’t take place in Africa.” Then, in a moment of self-awareness, he added, “That was a racist thing for me to say.”

Yes, it was. Rogan knew his story was racist, but he also knew his audience would laugh at him characterizing Black people as subhuman.