Joe Rogan says two former presidents complained to Spotify in bid to censor his COVID views
Controversial podcaster Joe Rogan claimed two former presidents tried to get him kicked off Spotify in a bid to censor his COVID-19 views.
Rogan, 57, gained widespread recognition during the pandemic for being a COVID-19 skeptic and encouraging young people not to get vaccines designed to lessen the effects of an infection.
His strong opinions - which went against the advice of public health officials - led many to call for his ultra-popular podcast to be taken down from Spotify, where he signed a $100million exclusivity deal in 2020 and has since resigned a $250million deal.
The conservative host took to his podcast on Tuesday to reveal some very high-profile people had begged the streaming service to cut his show, including two unidentified former presidents.
'Spotify got calls from two former presidents,' he told his guest, Dr. Mary Talley Bowden, without naming either lawmaker.
DailyMail.com has reached out to Spotify for comment.
Singer Neil Young also issued Spotify an ultimatum, telling the company he would not share a platform with a podcaster who spread 'false information about vaccines.'
The singer's catalog was removed from the site but has since returned in 2024.
Despite the massive backlash that threatened to derail Rogan's empire in the public sphere, he says he was unbothered by the fuss and 'grew by two million subscribers in a month.'
'I did [grow], because people started listening,' he said on the podcast. 'Because they made it sound like I was this maniac and they started listening, like: "Oh, he's really reasonable and pretty humble about all this stuff and is just asking questions."'
Rogan, whose podcast is hugely popular among young men, also defended his beliefs, saying he brought on doctors and medical professionals who were well-known and published.
'You'd see their eyes glaze like they didn't want to hear it,' he said of critics.
Ultimately, Spotify did not remove Rogan's podcast from its platform.
Founder Daniel Ek later addressed the controversy in 2022, saying: 'I think the important part here is that we don't change our policies based on one creator, nor do we change it based on any media cycle.
'Our policies have been carefully written with the input from numbers of internal and external experts in this space – and I do believe they're right for our platform.'
However, despite allowing him on the platform, Ek said there were 'many things that Joe Rogan says that I strongly disagree with and find very offensive.'
At the time of the incident, then-White House Press Secretary, Jen Psaki, called on Spotify to do more to 'combat misinformation' during the COVID-19 pandemic, which killed more than one million Americans.
'Our hope is that all major tech platforms and all major news sources for that matter be responsible and vigilant to ensure the American people have access to accurate information on something as significant as Covid-19. That certainly includes Spotify,' the Biden-era secretary said at the time.
Spotify would go on to flag content that covered the virus, which Psaki said was a 'positive step.'
'But we want every platform to continue doing more to call out misinformation while also uplifting accurate information.'
It is unknown if Joe Biden was one of the former presidents who contacted Spotify.
During the 2024 election cycle, Rogan's guests included Donald Trump himself, who later credited podcast appearances as a major boost to his campaign.
Rogan had previously turned down having the two-time president on his show, but changed his mind after he saw the politician on fellow comedian Theo Von's show.
He has since had on several of Trump's top camp, including FBI Director Kash Patel and former First Buddy Elon Musk.
Kamala Harris was keen to appear on the show, but plans fell apart after she refused to travel to Rogan's Austin studio during her campaign.
Rogan's podcast has 14.5million followers, as of 2024 - largely outshining his competition, despite no longer being exclusive to Spotify.
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