Jon Stewart defends Joe Rogan over Spotify row: ‘This overreaction is a mistake’

Ted Nugent has weighed in on the recent controversy surrounding Spotify and Neil Young‘s decision to pull his music from the platform.Young last month demanded that his music be removed from Spotify, asserting in a since-deleted open letter to his management that content like the Joe Rogan Experience podcast “spread[s] false information about vaccines”.The streaming platform obliged, later confirming that Young’s content would indeed be removed from the platform.The saga drew mixed reactions from the wider music industry, while many seemed to side with Young, including Joni Mitchell who also announced she would be pulling her discography from Spotify over its conduct surrounding vaccine misinformation, as did Young’s former bandmates Crosby, Stills & Nash, comedian Stewart Lee, Crazy Horse and E Street Band guitarist Nils Lofgren, and cult alternative rockers Failure, among others.Now, controversial right-wing rocker Ted Nugent has spoken out about Young’s decision, calling the ‘Harvest Moon’ singer-songwriter “a complete punk”.Speaking on his ‘Friday Free For All’ edition of The Nightly Nuge on Friday (February 11), he said: “Well, Neil Young, God bless him. I’m sure that there’s many people that appreciate Neil Young’s creativity and his talents and his creation of wonderful music for those people who love that kind of music.

Former Daily Show host Jon Stewart is taking on one of the bigger questions of our time: “Who gets to decide” what information constitutes “misinformation.”

Quiet since November, The Problem with Jon Stewart is set to start up again on AppleTV+ on March 3.

Joe Rogan returned to the stand-up stage on Tuesday night where he dedicated some time to discuss the recent cultural scandal surrounding his podcast, "The Joe Rogan Experience."  The popular podcast host, whose show is exclusive to Spotify, has been the subject of scrutiny in recent days after musicians on the platform called him out for spreading COVID-19 misinformation as well as using racial slurs in past episodes. Rogan previously issued a video apology for the racial remarks and worked with the platform to remove dozens of old episodes he was no longer proud of.  However, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Rogan made light of the situation during a stand-up show in Austin, Texas.Tuesday in front of a crowd of fans and supporters.

Spotify-exclusive podcast The Joe Rogan Experience this week, both on-stage and during an episode of the podcast itself.Rogan’s podcast recently prompted protest from the likes of Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Graham Nash and Nils Lofgren, with the musicians pulling their catalogues from the streaming platform.Young sparked the exodus late last month, when he requested his music be taken off Spotify, citing the platform “spreading false information about vaccines” and specifically targeting Rogan.It came after hundreds of scientists and medical professionals asked Spotify to address COVID misinformation on its platform, sparked by comments made on Rogan’s podcast – calling the host’s actions “not only objectionable and offensive but also medically and culturally dangerous”.In response, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said that, while the platform wouldn’t be severing ties with the controversial figure, they would be adding content advisories to podcast episodes which discussed COVID-19, directing users to their dedicated information hub.Rogan himself addressed the boycott on Instagram, telling fans: “I don’t always get it right. I will do my best to try to balance out these more controversial viewpoints with other people perspectives so we can maybe find a better point of view.”Shortly after, Rogan found himself embroiled in controversy again when songwriter India.Arie shared a video that compiled instances the podcast host had used the N-word on his podcast.

Joe Rogan is speaking out about all the controversies he’s recently been making headlines for…

Chris Willman Music WriterHow will Neil Young fare as a streaming presence now that he’s taken his music off Spotify, the service that accounted for close to half of his streaming revenue prior to his initiating a break amid the ongoing Joe Rogan?The long-term effect on consumption for Young’s songs remains to be seen or felt, and the veteran rocker may yet see his numbers sink without consumers being able to access his material via music’s most popular digital destination. But in the two weeks since he made his stand, two trends became evident: first, a big surge in streaming attention as fans followed him to other services… followed by a return to the kind of numbers he had in normal times, when he was still on Spotify — but, of course, without Spotify.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorEmbattled podcaster Joe Rogan said he isn’t planning to exit his Spotify deal to bring his popular — and controversial — show to Rumble, a video platform startup catering to right-wing personalities.Rogan, in a stand-up performance Tuesday in Austin, Texas, told the crowd he would not be moving “The Joe Rogan Experience” to Rumble, which earlier this week publicly offered him a $100 million deal. Rogan’s exclusive multiyear Spotify deal is reportedly worth more than $100 million.“No, Spotify has hung in with me, inexplicably,” Rogan said in answer to an audience member’s question about whether he was taking Rumble up on its offer, as reported by THR.

Joe Rogan, 54, addressed his recent controversies, including his anti-COVID vaccine rhetoric on his Spotify podcast, during a stand-up show in Austin, Texas on Feb. 8. The former actor and UFC commentator told the live audience he “talks shit for a living,” which is why he finds it “so baffling” that his listeners would rely on his opinions about the vaccines.

Jeremy Clarkson has weighed in on recent discussions concerning Spotify's decision not to back down from giving the likes of Joe Rogan a platform to share their views on matters concerning the Covid vaccine.The streaming giant has been under heavy scrutiny in the past few weeks, with artists such as Neil Young and Joni Mitchell having pulled their discography from the platform.Among many other musicians, the pair were left disappointed upon seeing Spotify defend Joe, who some say has used his Joe Rogan Podcast to spread misinformation about the Covid vaccine.In a statement last week, Spotify boss Daniel Ek said: "If we want even a shot at achieving our bold ambitions, it will mean having content on Spotify that many of us may not be proud to be associated with."Not anything goes, but there will be opinions, ideas, and beliefs that we disagree with strongly and even makes us angry or sad."American actress Sharon Stone has since weighed in with her thoughts on the matter as she deemed Joe to be "dangerous" and "risking people's lives with his idiocy" for how he has spoken about Covid on his podcast. "I just want to say COVID is not an opinion-based situation, and Mr Rogan thinking that his opinion or a disclaimer for the lives that he personally has affected and caused losses of, it's not an opinion," she told a TMZ cameraman in LA last week."Mr Rogan is risking people's lives with his idiocy and his professing that his thoughts about COVID are opinions, they aren't opinions."And while Jeremy is very much for the idea of giving people the right to express their thoughts and feelings whichever way they see fit, in his latest column for The Sun, the TV personality couldn't help but to agree with Sharon. "Sharon Stone has

recent apology for using the N-word he also branded himself a victim of a ‘political hit job’.Yes, you could say there is a lot to unpack here.The comedian and commentator’s podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, has been at the centre of intense criticism over the past couple of weeks amid accusations it’s become a breeding ground of Covid ‘misinformation’, with numerous stars including Neil Young and India Arie withdrawing their music from Spotify in protest.Singer Arie also shared a clip of Rogan, 54, using the N-word on the show, which he addressed and apologised for over the weekend, calling it ‘the most regretful and shameful thing I’ve ever had to talk about publicly’. Discussing the recent incident with comic and actor Akaash Singh on Tuesday’s episode, Rogan – whose podcast is housed on Spotify as part of a reported $100million (£73m) exclusive deal – addressed footage of him using the slur after insisting ‘if you stay offline…life goes on as normal’.As he opened the podcast, Rogan said that while the clip of him ‘had always been out there’ and he saw it as a ‘good thing’ it was unearthed, he likened it to ‘a political hit job’.To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 videoThe podcaster said: ‘It’s like this is a political hit job.

Steve Albini has called on Joe Rogan to follow the example of Insane Clown Posse, as Rogan continues to face a backlash over the content of his Spotify podcast.Rogan recently apologised after it emerged that he had used the N-word multiple times on his show, calling it “the most regretful and shameful thing I’ve had to talk about publicly” before arguing that the clips had been “taken out of context of 12 years of conversations on my podcast”.He was already under fire after Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and more removed their music from Spotify in response to vaccine misinformation promoted by guests on his show, which has been exclusive to the streaming platform since a $100million deal was struck in 2020.On Monday (February 7), Albini shared an interview with Insane Clown Posse’s Violent J from 2020 in which the musician acknowledged problematic lyrics in the band’s music.Discussing ICP’s 2000 collaboration with Three 6 Mafia, which contains the line “sick like a diseased Ethiopian,” Violent J told Stereogum: “I was that stupid. I didn’t understand the offensiveness in that.

Joe Rogan is firing back after a video resurfaced in which he’s seen using the N-word nearly two dozen times.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorJoe Rogan weighed in again on the controversy over his repeated use of the N-word on his podcast — and Spotify’s removal of 70 past episodes because of “racially insensitive language” — and played the victim card.Last Friday, Spotify pulled 70 past episodes “The Joe Rogan Experience” from its platform, which the streamer said it did at the request of Rogan and his team. That came after singer India Arie last week said she was pulling her music and podcasts off Spotify, citing Rogan’s “language around race”; she reposted a video on Instagram compiling 24 times Rogan used the N-word on his podcast, and the clip soon went viral.Rogan addressed the situation in Tuesday’s episode of his podcast.

Joe Rogan is opening up about backlash for his commentary on his podcast, which is hosted on Spotify.

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“Joe Rogan watchdog” for the progressive nonprofit Media Matters — shared seven clips of the 54-year-old making off-color comments during podcast interviews with various guests. Paterson posted the “Joe Rogan Experience” clips to Twitter on Monday — just days after Rogan was forced to apologize for other, older footage that featured him using the N-word.

Daniel D'Addario Chief TV CriticThe most surprising thing about Jon Stewart’s recent defense of the comic and podcaster Joe Rogan might have been that it made waves at all.Stewart, on a podcast affiliated with his Apple TV Plus series “The Problem With Jon Stewart,” called the reaction to claims Rogan has made about COVID-19 vaccines “a mistake.” Stewart compared Rogan, the podcaster and comic, to “dishonest, bad actors,” and said that identifying such people “is so much more important to me.” He added, “You have to engage. Like, how do you not engage with people? The whole point of engagement is, hopefully, clarification… It might be a fool’s errand, but I will never give up on engagement.” This argument brought Stewart — a discourse-shifting TV icon in his time as host of “The Daily Show,” and a figure who has lately struggled to break into the conversation — back into the news.

Spotify and FC Barcelona are reportedly close to agreeing a sponsorship deal, according to a radio station based in the Spanish city.The football club announced back in September that it has debts of more than £1billion, and they are said to now be in talks with the streaming service over a £237million deal.The purported three-year deal would see Spotify’s name appear on the shirts of both the men’s and women’s teams, and their training kits. It would also be prefixed to the football giant’s stadium name, which would then be known as the Spotify Nou Camp.As well as reports from the radio station RACI (via The Times), a Catalan journalist has also shared a photo online of executives from Spotify meeting with Juli Guiu, FC Barcelona’s vice president of marketing, at the stadium.If the deal is closed successfully, it could make for some positive news for the streaming platform, which has been embroiled in controversy recently surrounding its exclusive The Joe Rogan Experience podcast.Rogan was called out for spreading “misinformation” about the COVID-19 vaccine on the show, while clips later resurfaced online of him using racial slurs and making racist comments on the programme.

Neil Young has taken another swipe at Spotify after pulling his music from the platform to take a stand against COVID-19 vaccine misinformation being spread by podcaster Joe Rogan.