The CEO of Spotify, Daniel Ek, sent a memo to employees Sunday night saying that while Joe Rogan’s comments have been “incredibly hurtful,” he did not believe in “silencing” the podcaster.
It was Rogan’s misinformation on COVID-19 that made him controversial last week, but then came word that he had used a racial slur on his program many times. More than 100 episodes of the program were removed over the weekend.
Rogan, who vowed last week to do better when discussing matters related to the pandemic, apologized Saturday morning after a video compilation of him using the n-word was widely shared on social media.Rogan said he is “not racist” and had not used such language in recent years. He admitted in an Instagram video posted to his account that he acted inappropriately, though he said videos being spread online took him out of context.
CNN
CBS News adds context:
Music accounts for the vast majority of Spotify’s revenue, but Rogan represents its future, analysts say. Keeping his podcast is a key part of Spotify’s strategy to be a one-stop shop for audio. Spotify reportedly paid more than $100 million to license Rogan’s podcast, its most popular. He’s the centerpiece of the company’s goal of becoming an audio company rather than just a music company. In the long term, Spotify has more control over potential revenue from podcasts than it does for music, Midia Research’s Mark Mulligan says.
CBS News
