The letter comes after Rogan had to apologize for the second time in a week. The second time because he used the word “negro” in episodes of his show The Joe Rogan Experience. The first time this happened because he allegedly spread disinformation about the corona pandemic through his podcast.
Ek says it was Rogan’s own decision to remove some past episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience, after talks with the music streaming giant and a period of self-reflection. Ek says in the letter: “While I strongly condemn what Joe has said . . . I want to make one thing very clear: I don’t believe silencing Joe is the answer.”
Rogan has previously apologized for his statements on Instagram. “There are many things in old episodes of my podcast that I wish I had never said, or said differently.” In a video, Rogan says he finds the things he has said “deplorable and shameful.” “I now know that for a white man there is no right way to use the word Negro. I haven’t said it in years.”
Rogan’s podcast is available exclusively on Spotify and attracts an average of 11 million listeners per episode, making it the most listened to podcast worldwide.