Theo Von Savagely Mocked for Flub While Defending Conspiracy Theories With Joe Rogan
Podcaster and comedian Theo Von kicked up a bevy of mockery this week after his appearance on Joe Rogan’s popular podcast went viral for all the wrong reasons, even being compared to a scene from the satirical comedy Arrested Development.
Von stepped in it while defending the validity of conspiracy theories with Rogan. At one point during their conversation, Von told a story about a building being built near Hollywood that he claimed housed both a major talent agency and the CIA. He recalled a construction worker telling him the high-rise would have talent agency offices and as well as CIA, which he suggested was evidence they work hand in hand to deceive the public. Critics, however, were quick to point out the worker likely meant CAA – the LA-based sports and talent agency, Creative Artists Agency.
Rogan began the exchange by saying it really irks him “when smart people are completely unwilling to recognize that conspiracies are not just real, but they’re also not rare, they’re very common.”
“They’re common, and people get away with them, especially when they’re in positions of extreme power, like running intelligence agencies,” Rogan began, adding:
And there’s a lot of things that they do that are morally reprehensible but totally legal. Like, they can do it because they’re allowed to, because they are a three-letter organization and they have ultimate power to do a lot of really gross things that are in the nature or in the interest of national security. So this is the whole idea behind it.
They say, ‘This is our decision. This is the best move for national security. This is how we compromise assets. This is how we gather information. This is how we keep America safe.’
“But are they? Why is it our FBI and CIA are working against us? That’s what it feels like. They’re just tricking us about it,” Von replied.
“They’re tricking some people on purpose,” Rogan added.
“But why is that even their goal? I thought that they—” Von asked.
“Because they’re trying to arrest people. So this is the problem with your career. This has been explained to me by a lot of people that are experts and people that know. John Kiriakou explained it this way: Your reputation is based on how successful you have been arresting people, cracking cases. And so people set up cases so they can break them. They basically set up an escape room and they’re like, ‘I don’t know how to get out of here.’ And they pretend that they’re just like a regular wizard that stumbled into the escape room. But no, you set the whole thing up.
“Yeah. That’s what it is. Well, it’s the same as like a bunch of those stories. Oh, I think it’s the same even with Hollywood,” Von replied, launching into an anecdote:
And, you know, I remember one day I was walking in the Century City Mall over there. It’s in Los Angeles. It’s off of Santa Monica Boulevard. And there was a blue-collar guy walking by, and he was working construction. They were building something there. And I was like — he’s like, ‘Theo, what’s up, man?’ So we’re talking for a minute. I was like, ‘What are you all building?’
And he’s like, ‘You’re not even gonna believe this? We’re building’ — he’s like — ‘a 10-floor, 20-floor building. Ten floors are a talent agency, and the other 10 floors are for the CIA.’ And I was like, ‘What? Just in the same building? Just happened to be that’s what you’re building?’ He’s like, ‘Yep, that’s what we’re building.’ And he wasn’t lying. I don’t think he was lying to me. It just seemed like a—it was just like—
“It’s a weird mixture,” Rogan noted.
“Right, but I think that this starts to happen. News stories get created, right? Things get—whether they’re fiction or whatever goes on—you don’t even know a lot of times what’s a news story. You can send actors out to create a scene, you see a video, you believe it. And then they make movies—” Von insisted.
“That’s been done before. That’s been done before,” Rogan agreed.
“Oh yeah, but then you see movies and stuff come out later about it. So it’s like you’re almost creating your own news to then make a ‘based on a real story.’ You know what I’m talking about?” Von declared.
The Atlantic’s Yair Rosenberg commented, “Theo Von here is confusing the talent agency CAA (Creative Artists Agency) with the CIA. Don’t get your news or worldview from charismatic know-nothings! Do get some laughs at their expense.”
Podcaster Danny Gold added, “lol. he’s talking about CAA, the talent agency, whose offices are across the street from the mall. Theo Von is the perfect encapsulation of a conspiracy podcaster, just a moron all the way through.”
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