Joe Rogan has unwittingly become public enemy No. 1 in recent weeks, at least among some.
Aging artists like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell have fueled a boycott movement against Spotify while top Biden officials like White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki and U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy have urged the streaming giant to do more to crack down on so-called COVID "misinformation."
Political operatives have also been digging up Rogan's most offensive comments in the podcast archives, including a compilation of him using the N-word, to further attack his character.
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Despite his various apologies and Spotify continuing to stand by its $100 million business partner, the efforts to deplatform Rogan have not slowed down. And no one has come after him harder than CNN.
"CNN taking a pious stance against Rogan, against free speech is craptastically fascinating to watch because by doing so, you don't see very much from the network on the U.S. southern border, if anything, on murders being at a 25-year high per the FBI or on inflation impacting every American," Fox News contributor Joe Concha told Fox News Digital. "If they covered inflation and kitchen table issues with the same vigor and passion they did with Joe Rogan or Donald Trump, they might actually be seen as a news organization."
Joe Rogan during the UFC 247 ceremonial weigh-in at Toyota Center on Feb. 7, 2020, in Houston, Texas. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images | REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo/File Photo)
CNN's left-wing media correspondent Brian Stelter has been a vocal critic of Rogan, complaining how Americans trust the podcast star more than his own network.
"Not all opinions are created equal," Stelter said earlier this month. "You think about major newsrooms like CNN that have health departments and desks and operations that work hard on verifying information on COVID-19. And then you have talk show stars like Joe Rogan who just wing it, who make it up as they go along."
"And because figures like Rogan are trusted by people that don’t trust real newsrooms, we have a tension, a problem, that's much bigger than Spotify, much bigger than any single platform," Stelter added.
Concha highlighted how Rogan's audience of roughly 11 million viewers dwarfs CNN's, with every program averaging below 800,000 viewers despite being a "42-year-old international brand with thousands of employees."
"They're getting their derrières kicked by a guy with very little staff and very little taste for appeasing the establishment and conformist thinking," Concha said. "That's what makes him unique and, therefore, that's what makes him a threat to establishment media, such as CNN."
Comedian Joe Rogan performs during his appearance at The Ice House Comedy Club on April 17, 2019, in Pasadena, California. (Michael S. Schwartz/Getty Images)
No one on CNN made it more clear that Rogan was such a threat to the network than weekend anchor Jim Acosta, who stopped short of full-on advocating for Rogan's removal from Spotify.
"You and I both know that compilation right there, which he has admitted to … that would be enough to put anybody out of a job," Acosta told Stelter.
"I mean, to me, it seems untenable to have that kind of video surface, that kind of compilation surface and keep one's job … Joe Rogan can continue to host his podcast if people want to listen to it, they can, but it doesn't have to be on Spotify," Acosta said.
CNN anchor Alisyn Camerota openly admitted she's "officially out of ideas" for "what to do about Joe Rogan" while her colleague Victor Blackwell called for "accountability."
CNN's Jim Acosta averaged only 561,000 viewers through the first three episodes of his primetime audition. (CNN)
NewsBusters managing editor Curtis Houck suggested CNN's fixation on Rogan is meant to "change the subject" away from the scandals plaguing the network following the shocking resignation of its president, Jeff Zucker, who was forced to leave the company after admitting to having a consensual relationship with Allison Gollust, a deputy executive at the network.
Both Zucker and Gollust were also accused of giving her former boss, then-Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, COVID "talking points" to combat then-President Trump in the early months of the pandemic as well as orchestrating the infamous interviews between Cuomo and his brother, now-former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo.
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"CNN always needs a boogeyman and hate object to sic its audience on," Houck told Fox News Digital. "Along with his popularity, Rogan's desire for civil discourse and open, honest debate runs counter to CNN's hateful food fight that thrives off of division."
An opinion piece published by CNN on Thursday trashed Rogan, alleging that the "far right-wing conservative support" he has received in recent weeks debunks the "myth" that his show "represents a reasonable middle or common ground uniting average Americans untethered to the left-right spectrum of American politics."
"This myth reflects the lies Americans tell themselves about to race, democracy, free speech and capitalism. Rogan's genius lies in the fact that he presents himself as an everyman throwback to a quieter age -- an era without pandemics or Black Lives Matter protests shining a spotlight on racial privilege," wrote Peniel E. Joseph, the founding director Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. "Folks who enjoy Rogan's political unpredictability, down to earth quality, and frank discussion about politics ignore the fact that he's one of the wealthiest people in America, that his independent perspective often skews far-right (as evidenced by some of his guests, who have included Roseanne Barr, Ted Nugent, Ben Shapiro, Candace Owens and Steven Crowder) and his everyman demeanor is the perfect shtick for a 21st century pitchman able to convince the have-nots that they share a common history, rapport and destiny with the haves."
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The CNN piece slams Spotify over its handling of Rogan, saying it's "an illustration of how far capitalism will bend to use race and Blackness for its own purposes."
"Joe Rogan's platform, it has now been revealed for the world to see, is less a bastion of independence of mind and free expression of thought and more a haven for racial intolerance, sexist insults and the kind of so-called 'locker room talk' that made Trump a hero to many among his base -- and helped turn Rogan into a social media sensation in the first place," Joseph wrote. "Enter at your risk or pleasure (or both), but don't pretend that you don't know what you're listening to."
Joe Rogan, the popular podcast host on Spotify, has emerged as Public Enemy No.1 among many liberals who have called for him to be censored. (Michael S. Schwartz/Getty Images)
CNN even published an "analysis" piece declaring Rogan's use of the N-word "another January 6 moment."
"The podcaster Joe Rogan did not join a mob that forced lawmakers to flee for their lives. He never carried a Confederate flag inside the US Capitol rotunda. No one died trying to stop him from using the n-word… But what Rogan and those that defend him have done since video clips of him using the n-word surfaced on social media is arguably just as dangerous as what a mob did when they stormed the US Capitol on January 6 last year," CNN Enterprise writer John Blake began the article on Sunday. "Rogan breached a civic norm that has held America together since World War II. It's an unspoken agreement that we would never return to the kind of country we used to be. That agreement revolved around this simple rule: A White person would never be able to publicly use the n-word again and not pay a price. Rogan has so far paid no steep professional price for using a racial slur that's been called the ‘nuclear bomb’ of racial epithets." It may even boost his career."
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Blake acknowledged "some" may call the Jan. 6 comparison "hyperbole," but doubled down by attempting to link the peaceful transfer of power that was agreed upon following the Civil War and that since then "The universal condemnation that used to greet White people who publicly used the n-word was also part of a civic norm that made a multiracial democracy possible." The piece also invokes the Rwandan genocide.
"Don't let the Rogan n-word controversy devolve into another tired discussion about cancel culture. This moment is bigger. If Rogan goes on with business as usual, all of us -- not just Black people -- will pay a price. Our country won't be the same… This is another January 6 moment," the CNN writer added.
CNN was forced to change the headline from "Joe Rogan's use of the n-word is another January 6 moment" to "Why shrugging off Joe Rogan's use of the n-word is so dangerous" after facing intense mockery and condemnation for the article on social media..
CNN has developed a reputation for labeling many things "racist," but the liberal network was mocked on Wednesday for taking it a step further and declaring that certain text fonts can be racist.
The liberal network's hostile treatment of Rogan began long before the current movement to oust him from Spotify. Last year, several CNN stars accused Rogan of taking "horse dewormer" after the podcast host announced he tested positive for COVID and had taken ivermectin, prescribed to him by a doctor, among other treatments during his recovery.
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Rogan later forced CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta during a contentious interview exchange to admit his colleagues were wrong to describe his use of ivermectin as a livestock drug.
Even after being called out for peddling misinformation, CNN remained defiant, claiming in a statement, "The only thing CNN did wrong here was bruise the ego of a popular podcaster who pushed dangerous conspiracy theories and risked the lives of millions of people in doing so."
Mediaite editor Caleb Howe thinks there is "bad blood" since Rogan "spanked" CNN over its falsehoods about him, but suggested the network's ratcheted-up attacks are a sign that it sees him as a threat in the digital media landscape as it is set to launch its new streaming service, CNN+.
"The streaming space isn't just the space Rogan is in, it's a space he absolutely dominates," Howe told Fox News Digital. "I am sure they wouldn't HATE if he wasn't there anymore. And you can bet part of their argument going forward will be the one Brian Stelter has been attempting to make… that they are prestige media with resources and fact-checking, and Joe Rogan's podcast is not."
CNN is apparently so baffled by Rogan's popularity that it sought out an outside "expert" to help explain why the podcast giant has such a huge following.
A report from CNN Business turned to Gabriel Wisnewski-Parks, a research fellow at UNC Greensboro who claims to have watched "hundreds of hours" of "The Joe Rogan Experience," who told the network his "vocal resistance to tribalism," his willingness to invite guests across the political spectrum and his past career as a comedian helps him be "so magnetic" to listeners.
Wisnewski-Parks argued Rogan's responses to the various controversies that have emerged have only built credibility among his fan base.
Batya Ungar-Sargon, deputy opinion editor of Newsweek and author of "Bad News: How Woke Media Is Undermining Democracy," told Fox News Digital how Rogan's curiosity and skepticism have built a "big working-class audience" versus CNN's dwindling audience made up of "liberal, college-educated elites."
"I'm not saying Rogan is a great journalist; he isn't really a journalist at all. But he has picked up the skepticism and the pro-little guy point of view and the holding power to account that used to be central to journalism and just isn't anymore, and he's really exposed that gap," Ungar-Sargon said.
"In other words, Rogan is not just the mirror image of CNN but a rebuke of the way the liberal mainstream media abandoned working-class Americans and their views to wage a woke culture war on their own behalf… Rogan presents a threat to CNN insofar as he exposes their failures simply by contrast. And the audience they are catering to—those over-educated liberal elites—hate Rogan for the same reasons they do, so it's got that added benefit, too," she added.
Comedian Joe Rogan responded to criticism over past racist comments. (Vivian Zink/Syfy/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
Of course, there's no love lost between Rogan and CNN as he has long been critical of the network as well.
Rogan called CNN as "a left-wing propaganda network" whose ratings are dogs---" as the Chris Cuomo scandal unfolded. He threatened to sue the network over its coverage of him and his use of ivermectin and called anchor Don Lemon a "dumb motherf---er" for doubling down on the "horse dewormer" falsehood following the viral exchange with Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
He torched Brian Stelter and his "f---in' terrible" show following the CNN star's fawning interview with White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, who he asked what the Biden administration thought the media "gets wrong."
"'What are we doing wrong? What are we doing wrong?’ Like, hey motherf---er, you're supposed to be a journalist," Rogan exclaimed.
Joe Rogan and Brian Stelter (Youtube/CNN)
During Thursday's podcast, Rogan urged CNN to change its "business model" while stressing he doesn't "hate" the network and that he "used to go to them every day for the news until they start f---ing hating on me."
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"Stop this editorial perspective with guys like Brian Stelter and Don Lemon that nobody listens to. Nobody is like chiming in saying, ‘oh, yeah, finally we get the voice of reason.’ Nobody thinks that," Rogan said. "Have people that give out effective news -- objective news, rather, and I'll support you. I would turn around 100%… and I'll be one of the people that tells people, 'I saw this on CNN, watch this on CNN. CNN has a different business model. They're just being objective news now.' I'm with you!"
CNN and representatives for Rogan responded to Fox News' requests for comment.
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