Joe Rogan shuts down $100m offer to leave Spotify amid controversy

Joe Rogan talking on podcastSpotify/Joe Rogan

Podcast phenom Joe Rogan shut down the idea that he might accept a $100 million offer to leave Spotify amid all the controversy surrounding his show in recent weeks.

At the back end of January, Spotify was thrust into controversy after a number of musicians hit out at the streaming service for allowing Joe Rogan to spread “disinformation” about the global health crisis.

In the weeks since then, the platform has defended Rogan and made changes to his show – with a disclaimer now being added to some contentious episodes – but there have been increased calls to cancel his deal amid accusations of racism from previous comments made by the podcast host.

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Amid that controversy, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has stood by Rogan, claiming that “canceling voices is a slippery slope,” suggesting that they won’t be terminating the deal anytime soon.

Joe Rogan talking to the mic on JRE podcastYouTube: JRE Clips
Rogan has been under fire in recent weeks.

Despite that, Rogan received an offer on social media from the platform Rumble, who suggested they’d match his Spotify salary and not censor any of his shows – be it through deletion or otherwise.

While the UFC commentator had stayed quiet on the offer, he did respond to a fan question about it during a ‘secret’ stand-up gig in Austin, Texas – where he poked fun at the whole thing.

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According to The Hollywood Reporter, Rogan was quizzed on taking the offer and leaving Spotify during a Q&A portion of the show, where he said: “No, Spotify has hung in with me, inexplicably, let’s see what happens.”

Joe Rogan on rumbleYouTube/JRE
The podcast host was offered a deal, via Twitter, by Rumble.

Even though the social media calls to cancel Rogan’s deal have been fervorous, it appears as if neither side had the intention of breaking away from each other just yet.

That could, obviously, change later down the line – especially if Spotify continues to lose money from it. Though, we’ll just have to wait and see what happens as things move forward.

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