(CelebrityAccess) – Rock icon Neil Young is threatening to pull his music from the largest streaming service in the US over Joe Rogan’s COVID-19 vaccine misinformation. In an open letter to his team and Spotify, Young writes, “They can have Rogan or Young. Not both.”
Young posted the now deleted letter on his website, which was first reported by Rolling Stone. The letter was addressed to Young’s manager, Frank Gironda and Warner Bros. co-chairman and COO, Tom Corson. Young accuses the streaming platform of “spreading fake information about vaccines – potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them. Please act on this immediately today and keep me informed of the time schedule,”, wrote the 76-year-old Grammy winner.
Young is referencing the misinformation Rogan has shared on his Joe Rogan Experience podcast. Earlier this year, a group of 270 scientists, professors and academia members shared an open letter to Spotify, “With an estimated 11 million listeners per episode, JRE is the world’s largest podcast and has tremendous influence,” the letter stated. “Though Spotify has a responsibility to mitigate the spread of misinformation on its platform, the company presently has no misinformation policy. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Joe Rogan has repeatedly spread misleading and false claims on his podcast, provoking distrust in science and medicine,” they added.
This isn’t the first time Young has stood up for what he believes is right. He took a stand over the use of his music with Donald Trump, after the former president played his songs on the campaign trail. Young filed a lawsuit in 2020 against Trump claiming copyright infringement and stating that he “cannot allow his music to be used as a “theme song” for divisive, un-American campaign of ignorance and hate.” The lawsuit was subsequently dropped by Young himself and neither party ever spoke on its conclusion.
