To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a webbrowser thatsupports HTML5video
Joe Rogan has spoken out as the controversy surrounding his Spotify podcast and the spread of misinformation about Covid continues to gather steam.
The 54-year-old has been at the centre of the row with his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, accused of giving a platform to false statements about Covid and the vaccine.
It led to several musicians speaking out in protest against Spotify, with Neil Young removing his entire catalogue of music from the streaming service, with Joni Mitchell supporting his move.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle also released a statement revealing that they have ‘expressed concern’ to Spotify about the ‘all too real consequences’ of spreading misinformation about Covid.
On Sunday, Rogan finally addressed the controversy in a nine-minute video posted to his Instagram.
He stated: ‘Now, because of this controversy … Neil Young has removed his music from the platform of Spotify and Joni Mitchell and apparently some other people want to as well.
‘I’m very sorry that they feel that way. I most certainly don’t want that. I’m a Neil Young fan, I’ve always been a Neil Young fan.’
The UFC commentator continued: ‘My pledge to you is that I will do my best to try to balance out these more controversial viewpoints with other people’s perspectives, so that we can maybe find a better point of view.
‘I don’t want to just show the contrary opinion to what the narrative is. I want to show all kinds of opinions so that we can all figure what’s going on…”
‘I do all the scheduling myself, and I don’t always get it right. These podcasts are very strange because they’re just conversations, and oftentimes I have no idea what I’m going to talk about until I sit down to talk to people, and that’s why some of my ideas are not that prepared or fleshed out because I’m literally having them in real time. But I do my best.’
Rogan admitted that he ‘absolutely’ gets things wrong but makes attempts to ‘correct it’.
‘I’m interested in telling the truth, I’m interested in finding out what the truth is,’ he insisted.
Justifying the podcast guests who have made disproved statements about Covid, Rogan explained that he ‘isn’t interested in talking to people who have only one perspective’ but recognises his conversations should be more balanced.
He again reiterated: ‘I’m not mad at Neil Young,’ describing himself as a ‘huge fan’ of the musician.
Rogan insisted he is ‘not trying to be controversial’ or ‘spread misinformation’ and vowed to do better research for future episodes about Covid.
Last night, Spotify’s chief executive Daniel Ek issued a statement announcing that the service is working to add a content advisory to any podcast episode that includes a discussion about Covid.
‘This new effort to combat misinformation will roll out to countries around the world in the coming days. To our knowledge, this content advisory is the first of its kind by a major podcast platform,’ Ek stated.
He added: ‘We know we have a critical role to play in supporting creator expression while balancing it with the safety of our users.
‘In that role, it is important to me that we don’t take on the position of being content censor while also making sure that there are rules in place and consequences for those who violate them.’
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
Source: Read Full Article