Podcaster Joe Rogan has been offered $140 million AUD to transfer his podcast from Spotify to Rumble amid misinformation claims and racial slur controversies.
Rumble is a Canadian based video-sharing platform that has become popular amongst people who hold conservative view points with the website having signed a deal with Trump Media and Technology Group. Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski released a statement saying that he would love for Rogan to move his hit podcast show to his platform.
“We stand with you, your guests, and your legion of fans in desire for real conversation,” he said.
“So, we’d like to offer you 100 million reasons to make the world a better place,”
“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.”
Several musical artists have removed their music from Spotify after claiming that Rogan was spreading misinformation about COVID-19, following this, various episodes of Rogan’s podcast were deleted after Spotify brought in new disclaimer for COVID-19 content on the music streaming service. He also was found to have used the N word roughly 20 times in old episodes, resulting in the removal of more episodes and an apology from Rogan.
“There’s a video that’s out that’s a compilation of me saying the N-word,” Rogan said.
“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,”
“And it looks f*****g horrible, even to me,”
“I can’t go back in time and change what I said, I wish I could, obviously that’s not possible, but I do hope this could be a teachable moment for anybody that doesn’t realize how offensive that word could be coming out of a white person’s mouth, in context or out of context.”
Spotify CEO Daniel El stated in a memo to staff that “Not only are some of Joe Rogan’s comments incredibly hurtful—I want to make clear that they do not represent the values of this company”. While adding that “We should have clear lines around content and take action when they are crossed, but cancelling voices is a slippery slope”.
Various people have weighed in on the controversy including Donald Trump Jr who tweeted “Stand with @JoeRogan or it will only be a matter of time before the leftist elite come for you or your loved ones for not complying with their desires”. While @mistergeezy commented “White People are putting on their capes to save Joe Rogan from accountability on Black History Month”.
Rogan has yet to comment on the offer from Rumble.
