Joe Rogan Is Backpedaling And Admitting ‘Obviously I Have No Idea What Is Right’ After A Guest Called Out His Bullsh*t COVID Vaccine Claims

This is a repeat statement but a necessary one: Joe Rogan is not a doctor.

He knows this. Everyone else knows this. Hundreds of doctors who wrote an open letter (urging Spotify to shut down Rogan’s fount of Covid vaccine misinformation) know this. Still, many millions of listeners listen to Rogan every day, and he’s spent (at least) a year-and-a-half casually doling out misinformation against masks and vaccines. It all really began with Bill Burr blasting Rogan for describing people who wear masks as “bitches,” and it’s all snowballed from there. Fast forward to today, and there’s UFC president Dana White and Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers looking to Rogan for Covid advice, and the proudly unvaxxed Rogan’s been so very upset that Canada won’t let him perform at a crowded arena during a pandemic.

Well, someone finally got through to Rogan… by embarrassing him. That would be Australian broadcaster (and Uncomfortable Conversations host) Josh Szeps, who wasn’t here for Rogan making wild (and unresearched) claims about Covid vaccines. As Szeps pointed out, the rise in myocarditis in young men who get COVID “exceeds the risk of myocarditis from the vaccine,” and at that point, the podcast’s producers pulled up a New Scientist article that proved Szeps’ point. That led to Rogan calling this outcome “interesting” but also “not what I’ve read before.”

And then Rogan had to surface on Twitter and admit his “cringey” mistake. To his credit, he did so (although he didn’t really have any other option) but he also had an excuse: “[I]t’s what happens when you stumble in a long form podcast when you didn’t know a subject was going to come up and you wing it.”

Rogan had explained (in the above tweet) that he had been referring to a Guardian article for his claims, but if one reads that article, it clearly refers to a non-peer-reviewed study on rising rates of myocarditis. And Rogan is now admitting, “Obviously I have no idea what is right,” and “I’m sure I’ll stumble again in the future, but I honestly do my best to get things correct.”

Rogan’s response is essentially him saying that, hey, he rambles for at least three hours with these guests, so some mistakes should be expected, and cut him a break. To which there are two responses: (1) Rogan’s been almost exclusively been talking about Covid on his show for months, so he should have expected this very related subject to come up; (2) Simply because his show lasts for half a day doesn’t make him any less accountable for spreading dangerous conspiracy theories.

A comic book nerd once declared, “With great power comes great responsibility.” Rogan talks directly to millions of listeners several times per week. He’s using his “long form” format as an excuse, but he’s tackling serious subject matter, so maybe it’s time to be, you know, serious about it.

(Via Joe Rogan on Twitter)