LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) – Joe Rogan is the most popular podcaster in the world. I’ll repeat – 54-year-old father, “martial artist”, former Fear Factor host, COVID-19 “authority”, mushroom-lover, self-proclaimed “idiot” and blowhard is the biggest podcaster in the world and it appears that no matter what comes out of his mouth – he’s untouchable.
Comedian Tom Segura was a guest on Rogan’s podcast last Thursday (July 14) and as they sat back and smoked cigars, the conversation moved to the topic of the homelessness situation in Los Angeles. Yahoo transcribed the comments below.
Segura: When you see stuff like that on the streets, at least in Los Angeles or California, that’s protected property. Like by law. That’s that’s person’s property by law.
Rogan: Oh, a homeless person’s property is protected?
Segura: Absolutely. If you were to try to move that or take that—
Rogan: You’d get arrested. Hilarious. But they wouldn’t arrest you if you shot somebody. Maybe you should just go shoot the homeless people.
Segura: I like your ideas.
Rogan: And if nobody claims it. I mean nobody does anything about violent crime in LA anymore.
Variety shared these comments with the Los Angeles leaders who work with the homeless population and they had some comments regarding that very discussion.
“It’s repulsive,” said Theo Henderson, an advocate for the homeless who also has his own podcast, We the Unhoused. “It’s infuriating because it’s not only out of touch, but the reality is that unhoused people are targeted by housed people. To advocate trying to shoot at unhoused people or just giving these dog whistles to people that do not see unhoused people as human beings — I can’t believe you’d advocate for it. It’s a very abysmal response to a varied situation that we all should be really concerned and working aggressively to put people in housing right now.”
Andy Bales, who serves as president and CEO of the LA homeless shelter Union Rescue Mission, expressed disappointment in Rogan’s comments. A quarter of the Union Rescue Mission’s staff is made up of those who once lived on the streets.
“I’m surprised and saddened,” Bales said. “The comments about beginning to kill homeless people hits too close to reality for any comfort because murders of homeless people in LA went up 47% last year over the previous year. There is a bit of unfortunate vigilantism already within LA towards people devastated by homelessness and they don’t need any encouragement.”
“Usually when I get in a case like this, with somebody with a lot of influence and responsibility, I invite them to come see what’s happening on the street and get to know the people that they’re talking about,” Bales said. “I would invite Joe to come to Union Rescue Mission to see, not only our work but see what’s happening on the streets and who these people are who he’s talking about.”
The podcast unleased a sharp backlash on social media.
We live in a country where we wait for some crazy Joe Rogan fanatic to shoot a homeless person in order for people, like him, to see that what they openly say has consequences. Public responsibility is knowing it’s not a joke when it can be true, because of you.#ItsTheFuckingGuns
— angry buni 🤬 (@theangriestbuni) July 20, 2022
Joe Rogan said we should “shoot homeless people” which was really shocking because that was the first time he ever referred to them as “people”.
— Liam Nissan™ (@theliamnissan) July 20, 2022
This isn’t the first time Rogan has been roasted over comments on his podcast. Earlier this year, doctors, nurses, and scientists urged Spotify to “implement a misinformation policy” regarding COVID-19, directly related to comments made on The Joe Rogan Experience regarding vaccinations and alternative treatments. The situation ultimately led to musicians like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell removing their music from the streamer in protest.
Earlier this year, Spotify removed approximately 70 episodes of his podcast for using racial slurs. A compilation video of Rogan frequently using the n-word over a 12-year period on his podcast went viral on social media. Rogan took to his official Instagram in response and posted an apology video. In the post, Rogan says it is the “most regretful and shameful thing” he’s ever had to speak about and that he hasn’t “said it in years.”
In response to his language regarding race and what artists are paid by Spotify, singer/songwriter, India Arie pulled her music from the streaming service. Rogan “shouldn’t even be uttering the word,” Arie said. “Don’t even say it, under any context. Don’t say it. That’s where I stand. I have always stood there.” She added, “They take this money that’s built from streaming, and they pay this guy $100 million, but they pay us like .003% of a penny. Just take me off. I don’t want to generate money that pays that.”
Joe Rogan called Canada a communist country but it couldn’t be further from the truth. We all have healthcare, effective gun laws, abortion rights and our ability to vote is not being eroded by a neo-Nazi cult. So Joe you can stick your thoughts up your ass. 😡
— Mark 🍁 (@Markfry809) July 19, 2022
- Stealing rights from women is commonplace
- It’s a crime to own more than 6 dildos – yet – you can carry a handgun without any training or license
- It’s a crime to smoke a joint
- More of its population is in prison than any other state in the US
All of this from a man who:
- Thinks Ivermectin is a “cure” for COVID
- Says the word n*gg*r
- Says “Kindness is one of the best gifts you can bestow … we know that inherently that feels great” but can’t take his own advice.
AS IF – IDIOT indeed. Let’s see what Spotify does with this new controversy.
Spotify and Rogan entered a deal in 2020, reportedly worth more than $100 million, for The Joe Rogan Experience, which leads Spotify as its most-listened podcast – with an average of 11 million listeners per episode.
