Who owns Rumble, the video platform that offered Joe Rogan $100 million to switch from Spotify?
Amidst the Spotify controversy, Joe Rogan has been offered $100 million by Canadian online video platform Rumble.
The platform was founded by tech entrepreneur Chris Pavlovski in 2013, who currently works as the acting CEO. In December, the company announced it would go public through a business arrangement with special purpose acquisition company CF Acquisition Corp.
Pavlovski worked an internship at Microsoft and also founded a viral joke website before launching Rumble. Pavlovski is also founder/partner at Cosmic Development, an IT company with branches spread out all over Europe. According to Bloomberg, Pavlovski's net worth amounted to $77 million dollars as of 2019.
Pavlovski offered Joe Rogan a $100 million deal after multiple episodes of his popular podcast were taken down from Spotify. Pavlovski wrote in a Twitter post:
"We stand with you, your guests and your legion of fans in desire for real conversation. So we'd like to offer you 100 million reasons to make the world a better place. How about you bring all your shows, both old and new, with no censorship, for 100 million bucks over four years? This is our chance to save the world. And yes, this is totally legit."
Hey @joerogan, we are ready to fight alongside you. See the note from our CEO @chrispavlovski... https://t.co/G7ahfNNjtP
Spotify's response to the Joe Rogan controversy
Back in May 2020, Joe Rogan signed a $100 million dollar exclusive deal with streaming giant Spotify. Since his licensing deal with the platform, the controversies surrounding Rogan's podcast seem to have multiplied.
Rogan recently faced heavy criticism for hosting outspoken COVID-19 vaccine critique, Dr. Robert Malone. Folk music icon Neil Young pulled down his music from Spotify in protest against Rogan.
Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and comedian Stewart Lee have boycotted Spotify in protest of Joe Rogan’s podcast.
Who would you rather listen to?
Popular artists like Joni Mitchell, Nils Lofgren, Graham Nash, India Arie, David Crosby and Stephen Stills soon followed Young's cue. Several episodes of the podcast were taken down after a video of Rogan using the 'N-word' went viral.
Responding to the controversy, Spotify said it would include a content advisory to podcasts discussing Covid. While Spotify CEO Daniel Ek condemned the use of racial slurs, he doesn't believe silencing Joe Rogan is the answer.
Ek wrote in a memo to staffers:
"While I strongly condemn what Joe has said and I agree with his decision to remove past episodes from our platform, I realize some will want more. And I want to make one point very clear -- I do not believe that silencing Joe is the answer. We should have clear lines around content and take action when they are crossed, but canceling voices is a slippery slope."
Find out: How much is Joe Rogan's Net Worth?