What doesn’t break you down, just makes you stronger?
Attempts to unseat Joe Rogan have apparently had just the opposite effect: The “Joe Rogan Experience” host claims he’s amassed millions of Spotify subscribers amid the ongoing uproar over past episodes in which he featured alleged anti-vaccination guests and the “N-Bomb.”
Rogan, 54, dropped the bombshell over his alleged influx of subscribers to Friday’s episode with British pundit commentator Douglas Murray.
“You’ve been put through the wringer since we last met,” Murray exclaimed, referring to the “Fear Factor” moderator who was on the social media pan. “They did a number with you. Wow.”
Rogan, who reportedly has an average of 11 million listens per episode, replied: “It’s interesting, my subscriptions have gone up massively – that’s crazy. At its peak, I gained 2 million subscribers…”
Joe Rogan reportedly averages 11 million listeners per episode. NBCU Photo Bank/NBC Universal via
While Spotify doesn’t publicly disclose the number of JRE subscribers, sources have claimed that that subscriber base has been growing steadily since it joined the platform — and not due to a single event — according to .
Elsewhere during the episode, the “cancellation-proof” UFC commentator toasted CNN, which had falsely claimed he was taking “horseworm medication” for COVID. (Rogan was actually taking the human-grade form of ivermectin).
“Yes, [the media] went for it. It’s also fortunate that the people who chose to do it were CNN,” he lamented. “They are so untrustworthy and people know how biased they are and how socially odd their anchors are.”
UFC announcer and podcaster Joe Rogan speaks at the weigh-in before a UFC on FOX 5 event in Seattle December 7, 2012. AP
The martial arts enthusiast also shot sharply at the media group’s short-lived streaming service CNN+, which went down the drain after three weeks: “You spent $ 300 million, you get 10,000 subscribers.”
“Imagine the hubris of thinking that something people don’t want for free… that you’re going to charge for it,” the joker had added of the epic flop.
Rogan initially found himself in hot water over a “JRE” episode released on New Year’s Eve. In it guest had Dr. Robert Malone, known for his alleged anti-vax views, compared the current US health climate to Germany in the 1920s and 1930s when the Nazis came to power.
Rogan initially found himself in hot water over a “JRE” episode released on New Year’s Eve. In it guest had Dr. Robert Malone, known for his alleged anti-vax views, compared the current US health climate to Germany in the 1920s and 1930s when the Nazis came to power. REUTERS
In response, A-list musicians from Joni Mitchell to Neil Young pulled their music from Spotify in a bid to push the platform to remove the podcasting juggernaut. Meanwhile, the Rogan watchdogs made headlines that same month after sharing clips of the comedian uttering the N-word numerous times on his podcast over the years.
Spotify never bowed to the impeachment campaigns, though it ripped through over 100 episodes, some of which featured well-known conservatives, far-right pundits or conspiracy theorists, including Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes, Michael Malice, Alex Jones and Milo Yiannopoulos.