Joe Rogan Addresses Protests Over COVID-19 Misinformation: 'I'm Not Trying To Be Controversial'

Joe Rogan has broken his silence on the controversy surrounding his eponymous Spotify podcast.

Rogan, 54, posted a 10-minute video on Instagram Sunday addressing allegations that he has been spreading false information about the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and vaccine efficacy via the "Joe Rogan Experience" podcast. The controversy was recently heightened further by Neil Young and Joni Mitchell's move to pull their music from Spotify in protest.

The podcast host said that he made the video because people "have a distorted perception of what I do maybe based on sound bites or based on headlines of articles that are disparaging."

He defended his decision to host two doctors, Dr. Peter A. McCullough and Dr. Robert Malone, who were self-proclaimed vaccine skeptics, describing them as "very highly credentialed, very intelligent [and] very accomplished people."

In response to some of his episodes being labeled "misinformation," Rogan argued that "many of the things that we thought of as misinformation just a short while ago are now accepted as fact."

However, Rogan also acknowledged that his role is just to interview guests. "I do not know if they’re right. I don’t know because I’m not a doctor, I’m not a scientist. I'm just a person who sits down and talks to people and has conversations with them," he said.

He admitted to getting things wrong and trying to correct his inaccuracies.

"I'm not trying to promote misinformation. I'm not trying to be controversial," Rogan said. "I’ve never tried to do anything with this podcast other than just talk to people and have interesting conversations."

Moving forward, Rogan said he will do his best to be balanced. He added that he agrees with Spotify's decision to add a "content advisory" to any podcast episode that discusses COVID-19.

"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 pledged. "I don’t want to just show the contrary opinion to what the narrative is."

Rogan went on to thank Spotify for "being so supportive." He also apologized for the backlash that the company faced due to "The Joe Rogan Experience," which was the no. 1 podcast on the streaming platform in 2021.

Spotify also released a statement Sunday via a public letter from CEO and founder Daniel Ek, who announced that the platform will add content advisory to podcast episodes and direct listeners to its dedicated COVID-19 HUB that "provides easy access to data-driven facts, up-to-date information as shared by scientists, physicians, academics and public health authorities around the world."

"We know we have a critical role to play in supporting creator expression while balancing it with the safety of our users. In that role, it is important to me that we don't take on the position of being content censor while also making sure that there are rules in place and consequences for those who violate them," Ek wrote.

The letter also mentioned that Spotify will start "testing ways to highlight our Platform Rules in our creator and publisher tools to raise awareness around what's acceptable and help creators understand their accountability for the content they post."

Last week, Young issued an ultimatum to Spotify via an open letter on his website saying he would remove his music from the platform if it didn't stop the spread of COVID-19 vaccine disinformation. He specifically called out Rogan's podcast.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who signed a reported $25 million podcast deal with Spotify in 2020, have also spoken out, expressing their concerns over Spotify's misinformation spread.