Spotify Employees Demand Editing Rights to Joe Rogan’s Podcast Following Controversial Statements
Spotify employees are demanding editing rights to Joe Rogan’s podcasts following his recent controversial statements, according to Digital Music News.
The news comes after Rogan pushed a debunked conspiracy theory that claimed “left-wing people,” activists, and protesters were lighting forests on fire in Oregon. Although the podcaster apologized, noting that he “f*cked up on the podcast with Douglas Murray,” some Spotify employees believe Rogan’s episodes should be checked before going on air.
Spotify employees have already had 10 meetings regarding the controversial podcaster, according to Vice as many have taken issue with CEO Daniel Ek’s decision to keep Rogan’s controversial content on the platform.
“In the case of Joe Rogan, a total of 10 meetings have been held with various groups and individuals to hear their respective concerns,” Ek said, according to Vice’s three sources. “And some of them want Rogan removed because of things he’s said in the past.”
The CEO is referencing Rogan’s interview with Abigail Shrier, author of the book Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters. Many activists and listeners have taken issue with the episode, during which the duo claimed people are being pressured into transitioning by the media, while Shrier also compared transgender youth to people with autism.
“You realize that people are not looking at this objectively,” Rogan said during the podcast. “They are activists and they have this agenda, and the agenda is very ideologically driven that anybody who even thinks they might be trans should be trans, are trans, and the more trans people the better.”
Following Rogan’s string of controversies, Ek’s employees do not just want to keep some of Rogan’s content off the air, but they also want the right to edit and fact-check his episodes.
“At Spotify, we are strongly committed to the LGBTQ+ community and diversity in all of its forms,” a Spotify spokesperson told Vice’s Motherboard. “All employees are respected and we believe that everyone has a right to be heard. We have a number of forums for open and transparent discussion and we encourage rigorous debate on topics across the company. All content on Spotify is subject to our long-standing content guidelines. Our diverse team of experts reviewed the content in question and determined that it did not meet the criteria for removal from our platform.”
