Report: Rogan Podcasts 'Purged'

It appears 70 episodes of Joe Rogan's podcast have disappeared from Spotify, reports The Daily Mail. 

Rogan has come in for sharp criticism in recent weeks although there is no direct link between the episodes that were removed and the arguments over COVID. 

Spotify has been the exclusive home of The Joe Rogan Experience since the streaming giant paid $100 million in 2020 but he is accused of spreading misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines. 

Musicians Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and India Arie have pulled their music from the platform in protest. 

Rogan himself has also apologized to Spotify over the backlash it's facing. His latest episode was uploaded to Spotify on Friday after a week-long gap. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has defended Rogan and said that he will continue to remain on the platform.

Rogan's return Friday coincided with around six dozen of his podcast mysteriously vanishing from the site.

Some of the episodes that have been removed are from years ago, four of the podcasts from 2010. 

Others taken down from the library of more than 1,700 shows include ones broadcast in 2018 and had nothing to do with Rogan's views on the coronavirus pandemic.

WSJ Graphic

Among the episodes removed are ones containing guests that have proved to be the most controversial, particularly conspiracy theorist Alex Jones of InfoWars.

Jones had been banned by Spotify from appearing in content on the platform for creating 'hate content' but Rogan interviewed him anyway and uploaded the interview to Spotify - earning a swift backlash for letting him spread misinformation.

Rogan's brand often rejects 'political correctness' as he slams 'cancel culture' but his comments and those from his guests have sparked accusations of transphobia and Islamophobia.

The Wall Street Journal reports the Rogan spat has been a rude wake-up call for Spotify as it seeks to become the world’s largest audio company. Like Facebook and YouTube, Spotify started as a tech platform agnostic to what it hosted. But it is now moving toward being a media company that is responsible for what it distributes. The shift means, like it or not, the company is confronting some difficult decisions about content that can spark heated reactions from consumers, employees, artists and podcasters.