Comedian and UFC analyst Joe Rogan is under fire again, after critics accused him of being transphobic following a discussion on his podcast on the topic.
Among a ton of other ventures, Rogan is mostly known these days for his viral podcast, the Joe Rogan Experience, which regularly draws in millions of listeners per episode.
Considering how big the show has become, though, it’s no surprise that everything the host says gets put under a microscope – which is exactly what happened shortly after a March 19 episode with fellow comedian Jim Breuer went live.
While discussing the trans community with Breuer, Rogan questioned what he considers to be the current mainstream attitude towards the topic of transitioning.
“It’s not fake,” Rogan said. “There are people who really have these thoughts. The problem is, it becomes a protected subject, and then you get praised for transferring your gender — for changing your gender. And then it gets exciting for people to talk about, and then you get chastised for even discussing it in any weird way.”
Rogan also complained about how he feels the transgender identity is being used by some for unconditional praise from their peers.
“Then people who were marginalized for being — like, generally dumb people, if they transfer over and become another gender, then they get praised,” the host continued. “There are a lot of people who are idiots, but then they become trans, and now all of a sudden we think they’re amazing.”
Rogan and Breuer only continued on the topic briefly, but their pit stop resulted in another round of accusations of transphobia for the former Fear Factor host.
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According to Digital Media News, their site received “multiple emails” from people upset about the discussion, and criticisms of the host soon started popping up on social media, as well.
“Rogan is a bigot & actively still spreads harmful misinformation about trans people and trans issues,” one Twitter user claimed. “He’s not an ‘open minded, reasonable guy,’ he’s just an asshole & he’s been an asshole for a long time.”
Rogan is a bigot & actively still spreads harmful misinformation about trans people and trans issues. He’s not an “open minded, reasonable guy,” he’s just an asshole & he’s been an asshole for a long time.
— PTChronic (@PTChronic) March 21, 2021
Joe Rogan is probably more liberal than most americans. But please don't take his advice on trans issues
— 🍒CherryChase🌺 (@grillmasterjet) March 19, 2021
Rogan has dealt with accusations of transphobia before, notably back in 2020, when he responded at length to accusations in the media specifically calling him transphobic and homophobic.
Despite this latest incident, the popular podcast host doesn’t seem like he’ll stop voicing his own opinions anytime soon, even if what he says does cause controversy once it comes out.
