Dwayne Johnson commended Joe Rogan on Instagram (via Newsweek) after the controversial podcast host issued a statement on his spread of COVID misinformation. Johnson even told Rogan that he “looks forward” to coming on the podcast one day and “breaking out the tequila with you.” The controversy over Rogan’s podcast resulted in artists such as Neil Young and Joni Mitchell removing their music from Spotify, citing Rogan’s damaging spread of COVID misinformation. In the wake of these artists pulling their music, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek announced a plan last week to add warning labels to content that skirts the line between “what is acceptable and what is not.” Ek vowed that Spotify would put warnings on podcast episodes that include conversations about COVID-19, but he did not mention Rogan by name.
Following Ek’s announcement, Rogan himself took to Instagram to post a 10-minute video in which he said that he’s not “trying to promote misinformation” with his podcast. Addressing his decision to have vaccine skeptics such as Dr. Robert Malone and Dr. Peter McCullough on his podcast, Rogan said,“I wanted to hear what their opinion is, I had them on and because of that, those episodes in particular were labeled as being dangerous — they had dangerous misinformation.”
Rogan admitted later in the vide that it’s important he “makes sure that I’ve researched these topics — the controversial ones in particular — and have all the pertinent facts at hand before I discuss them,” adding, “I’m not trying to be controversial. I’ve never tried to do anything with this podcast other than just talk to people and have interesting conversations.”
Johnson took to Rogan’s comments section to praise the podcast host for his statements, writing, “Great stuff here, brother. Perfectly articulated. Look forward to coming on one day and breaking out the tequila with you.”
Johnson wasn’t the only celebrity commending Rogan following the video’s posting. “The Daily Show” host Trevor Noah called Rogen’s statements “refreshing,” adding,“I actually thought it was pretty classy…he owned up to it. I thought it was pretty dope”
