Doctors And Scientists Petition To Remove Joe Rogan From Spotify As A Clip Of Him Getting Corrected Goes Viral

The internet continues to revolve around Joe Rogan, and today a pair of unrelated but nevertheless informative stories caused the podcaster's name to trend on Twitter as controversy continues to plague the Joe Rogan Experience. The first is that a group of scientists and doctors are petitioning Spotify to remove Rogan on the grounds that he is spreading medical falsehoods, particularly with regards to the COVID-19 vaccine. The second is a clip of Rogan being corrected on misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine in real time.

On Tuesday, Rolling Stone reported that 270 medical professionals had signed an open letter petitioning Spotify, with whom Rogan has a $100-million exclusivity deal, to remove him from the platform. They cite that he has discouraged children from getting the vaccine because the vaccine amounts to "gene therapy," touted Ivermectin as an alternative COVID-19 treatment despite the FDA warning against using the drug, and brought on guests that are accused of spreading conspiracies about the vaccine.

In particular, they point to a December 31st episode of Rogan's podcast in which Dr. Robert Malone, who has already been banned from Twitter for spreading vaccine misinformation, gave several controversial statements about vaccines, comparing vaccination efforts to the Holocaust and arguing that those willing to get the vaccine were under a form of "mass psychosis."

As news of the efforts to deplatform Rogan spread on Twitter, many prominent conservatives openly mocked the idea.

Strange that they want to censor @joerogan but not the main stream media who have been demonstrably wrong about almost everything spreading disinformation propaganda for 5 years.

Issue for issue I’d wager Joe was far more accurate then MSM, yet they want to shut him down.🤔 https://t.co/jgMxy1qPkx

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) January 13, 2022

I assure all of those -- particularly those in the media -- calling for Joe Rogan's censorship, Joe is laughing at you. And he should be. He's willing to talk with pretty much anybody, he isn't beholden to your corporations, and his audience dwarfs yours BECAUSE of those things.

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) January 14, 2022

They can't stand that anyone airs any dissent from the views they demand be treated as orthodoxy.

And they become particularly enraged when the people they think are inferior and stupid have large audiences, while nobody listens to them. That's what drives the desperation. https://t.co/Po6B8Eyaxi

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) January 14, 2022

Joe Rogan: King of Misinformation. That's why so many people prefer him to CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS (which never lie or dissimulate) JoeRogan</a> Leave him alone <a href="https://twitter.com/Spotify?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">Spotify and censors everywhere. https://t.co/wFP067tXN3

— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) January 13, 2022

Coincidentally, as conservative and libertarian thinkers mocked the idea of Rogan getting deplatformed for spreading misinformation that could potentially be damaging to public health, a clip of Rogan being corrected on his show for espousing a false statistic about the dangers of COVID-19 vaccines went viral.

We probably won't see Josh Zepps on Rogan's podcast for a while 😂 pic.twitter.com/Eyff4FJn6p

— Borrachinha Depot (@FullContactMTWF) January 13, 2022

In the clip, Rogan attempts to argue that the COVID-19 vaccine results in an increased risk of myocarditis in young people. Australian commenter Josh Szeps points out that the risk of myocarditis is much greater in the same age group from getting COVID-19. After some back and forth, someone on Rogan's staff brings up an article from New Scientist, which states that myocarditis is more common in young COVID-19 patients than from young vaccine-receivers.

After the clip spread on Twitter, Rogan admitted he was wrong and gave Szeps kudos for making him "look dumb." He also pointed to a non-peer-reviewed study from the University of California that posits boys 12-17 have an increased risk of developing myocarditis from the COVID-19 vaccine than if they had not received it (and had not caught COVID-19).

If anyone was going to make me look dumb on the podcast I’m glad it’s @joshzepps, because I love him, and he’s awesome.
However this is why I was confused: https://t.co/Yd31Hwbvqb pic.twitter.com/By1TLeUo94

— Joe Rogan (@joerogan) January 14, 2022

All of this worked to put Rogan at the top of trending topics Thursday afternoon, though it seems by the reactions that the stories will do little to persuade those already upset at him to change their opinion of Rogan.