I doubt Rogan is racist but he is certainly sloppy. That's to be expected when you are an 'edgy' comedian having free-form conversations for hours while trying to be engaging. Trying to de-platform comedians for offensive jokes is problematic.
The bigger issue with Rogan is that he is constantly platforming people with extreme and occasionally dangerous views. These aren't presented as funny conversations or jokes but as serious discussions around policy and, in the case of Covid, public health. Sometimes he pushes back on his guests but a lot of times he goes along with them and even eggs them on. He has the right to free speech for expressing his opinion on any subject he wants, including exposing his guests to millions of people. But spreading misinformation should have consequences, particularly if it can lead to harmful outcomes for other people. I'm not sure what those consequences should be. At a minimum, I think he should remove all of his medical misinformation podcasts, the same way he removed the 'racist' ones, followed by a clarification. But he won't because he is too far down the Covid rabbit-hole. Does Spotify do it themselves? If so, they can be seen as trying to muzzle his free-speech. Honestly, I think the public outrage may be the correct action in this case. Not sure if anything will come from it though.
I like Rogan in that he is a good conversationalist but he really has to do much better.
|