Joe Rogan is hitting back at criticisms of his apology for a viral video that showed him repeatedly using a racial slur in past podcast episodes.
Rogan has been under fire in recent weeks on a variety of issues. Many subscribers and musical artists on Spotify have called for him to be canceled after past race-related remarks along with alleged misinformation regarding COVID-19 vaccines.
Shortly after a compilation of Rogan saying the ‘N-Word’ went viral courtesy of musical artist India Arie, Rogan took to Instagram to apologize for his past racial slur use. This prompted some, including former U.S. president Donald Trump, to question why Rogan felt the need to apologize for past statements published without context.
During a recent stand-up comedy performance at the Vulcan Gas Company in Austin, TX, Rogan addressed critics of his recent apology video. The following was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
“You should apologize if you regret something,” Rogan said. “This idea that you should never apologize. Like if you regret something, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with apologizing…
“Somebody made a compilation of every time I said that word over 14 years and they put it on YouTube, and it turned out that was racist as f*ck. Even to me!” (h/t MMA Fighting)
Many UFC fighters, including former champion Rashad Evans, have come to the defense of Rogan after the racial slur-filled video went viral. Rogan is expected to remain on the commentary team for the upcoming UFC 271 pay-per-view, headlined by a middleweight title fight between Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker.
Spotify has remained firm in its stance that Rogan’s JRE podcast will remain on the platform, despite a plethora of calls to have it removed.
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