Joe Rogan has put Spotify in a tough spot, but the streaming giant is not ready to part ways with the popular podcast host despite intense criticism over his anti-coronavirus vaccine comments and use of racial slurs.
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek also said in a message to employees Sunday that Rogan’s racist language was “incredibly hurtful” and that the host was behind the removal of dozens of episodes of “The Joe Rogan Experience.”
“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,” Ek said in the note. “And I want to make one point very clear — I do not believe that silencing Joe is the answer.”
The letter is the clearest indication yet of where Spotify stands on Rogan’s fate with the company as some musicians, including Neil Young and India.Arie, have pulled their work from the streaming service in protest and others could follow. Spotify reportedly paid $100 million to exclusively host Rogan’s podcast, which now threatens the bottom line but is also a key part of the company’s strategy to be a one-stop shop for audio
