Did Spotify pull Joe Rogan's podcast?
Despite how it looks, Spotify hasn't removed Joe Rogan from their platform, which instead seems to be a technical fault.
On February 4, Joe Rogan's JRE podcast saw 71 episodes disappear from Spotify. Many believed it to be the beginning of Rogan's removal from the audio streaming company.
While it looks as though Spotify has begun censoring Joe Rogan, according to CNet, a spokesperson has put a stop to the rumors by insisting that his removed episodes are the result of a glitch, stating:
"It's a technical issue affecting a number of our shows."
The topic has been trending on social media for the past few days as listeners and fans of the popular JRE podcast believe he has finally been removed from the platform.
Is anyone else struggling to access Joe Rogan on Spotify in Australia?
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Unsurprisingly, since the JRE episodes became unavailable on the media service, Spotify shares have plummeted, showing the impact Rogan has.
After initially doubting it, we now know that the 54-year-old will remain on Spotify for the time being. According to Rolling Stone, a number of other podcasts were also inaccessible in the same time frame as Rogan's podcast.
Joe Rogan and Spotify's lasting controversy
After Spotify's acquisition of the podcast, it was believed that the company had just gained the world's biggest podcast without further trouble. Now, both the streaming service and Joe are caught at the center of a controversy that puts the pair at risk.
A number of past JRE episodes have surfaced exposing the host for his use of racial slurs, which prompted an apology video, as seen below.
While the comedian received a huge amount of support for his ownership and understanding regarding the public’s anger towards him, many still argue that his regret isn't enough.
Spotify's $200 million deal proved to be a major factor in the ongoing saga with Rogan. It is still unclear what's going to happen in the near future. Fans appear torn on whether to support or oppose the podcast owner, meaning the company faces massive repercussions no matter which way they opt to fix the problem.