This story just keeps developing, and with each new facet, Joe Rogan continues to look like the only party involved who isn’t trying to stifle and censor the speech of others. The ordeal has been brewing for days now when singer Neil Young called on Spotify to choose between him or Rogan over two episodes of Rogan’s podcast that featured Covid-19 vaccine-skeptics.
The vaccine “skeptics” were accomplished doctors, one of them the inventor of mRNA technology which was the basis for the current Pfizer and Moderna Covid vaccines. These weren’t Reddit forum run-of-the-mill conspiracy quacks Rogan interviewed.
Needless to say, Spotify sided with Rogan and yanked Young’s music at his own request. As a capitulation, the company said it would create some guidelines and put up disclaimers on all content that may feature views or opinions that run counter to agencies like the CDC or FDA.
Now, enter the White House, with Press Secretary Jen Psaki stopping just shy of calling for Spotify to either fire or censor Rogan further:
Psaki calls for more censorship after Spotify announces warning labels on COVID-19 content following leftist outrage over Joe Rogan:
"It's a good step. It's a positive step, but there's more that could be done." pic.twitter.com/AyXo0XMlqn
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) February 1, 2022
What more does Psaki and the Biden administration think could be or should be done?
Are they calling for Rogan to be removed, demoted, sent on a two-week vacation with Whoopi Goldberg?
That part is unclear, but it sure sounds like Psaki is advocating for some kind of guidelines that may put discussions of Covid, and vaccines specifically, off-limits if the content might fall outside the accepted “science” offered exclusively by the government.
Psaki seems to be egging the issue on, perhaps urging more artists to join the “me or Rogan” train and threaten to pull their music off the world’s most popular streaming service if it continues to employ the world’s most listened-to podcaster.
The big catch right now is Taylor Swift, who is currently being recruited to join the Spexit by David Crosby, but has yet to bite:
The reason for wanting to speak with miss Swift is that she is the only one who has successfully kicked Spotifys ass
The only one
I think she could give us good advice
This isn’t over— David Crosby (@thedavidcrosby) February 2, 2022
Even some other fellow podcasters are getting in the mix demanding Rogan’s silencing on the platform:
I'm removing my podcast from @Spotify. I know it's not a big deal but hope it will be part of a growing avalanche. Thank you to #NeilYoung, @jonimitchell, and @nilslofgren for your courage in leading the way.
— Mary L Trump (@MaryLTrump) February 2, 2022
Yes, Mary Trump is the niece of former President Donald Trump and a glorified left-wing critic of her uncle. As she points out, her following is minuscule, but she sees the bandwagon going by and wants to get on.
All of this speaks to the way progressives have become intolerant of any view with which they disagree. Joe Rogan is the first to admit he’s a comedian, an entertainer, not a doctor or scientist. He interviews a vast variety of people.
Artists calling on Spotify to dump Rogan is one thing, at least it’s plain-jane liberal cancel culture at its finest. However, now that the White House has gotten involved, it sure feels like things have taken a different turn into state-sanctioned censorship of a private citizen.
The irony in all of this is that Rogan made himself without Spotify’s help. They gave him a $100 million contract for the exclusive rights to his show. If the company fires him, he’ll just have to back to podcasting for himself with his massive audience.
In other words, Rogan is too big to fail even if removed from Spotify. His following dwarfs most of these artists complaining about his presence. Rogan gets about 11 million listeners per episode, but his numbers used to be a bit bigger when he wasn’t confined to Spotify.
So much for musical artists who believe in freedom of expression and freedom of speech. Neil Young, singer of “Rockin’ in the Free World,” is leading the charge to silence Rogan and remove a little bit of freedom from everyone’s world.
