“Hey Joe Rogan, we are ready to fight alongside you.”
Those are the words that Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski wrote to the world’s largest podcaster, in the hopes that the comedian would warm up to the idea of jumping ship from Spotify, whose CEO recently offered a longwinded apology over Rogan’s views.
In a groveling apology, CEO Daniel Ek wrote: “There are no words I can say to adequately convey how deeply sorry I am for the way The Joe Rogan Experience controversy continues to impact each of you. Not only are some of Joe Rogan’s comments incredibly hurtful – I want to make clear that they do not represent the values of this company.”
Full text of Spotify CEO Daniel Ek’s note to staff: pic.twitter.com/3FHlmzV3UW
— Peter Kafka (@pkafka) February 7, 2022
“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. I want to make one point very clear – I do not believe that silencing Joe is the answer,” he said, adding that they would invest $100 million into “historically marginalized groups.”
Over at Rumble, however, Pavlovski wrote that the fight for free speech was ready to be fought:
“We stand with you, your guests, and your legion of fans in desire for real conversation. So we’d like to offer you 100 million reasons to make the world a better place.
“How about you bring all your shows to Rumble, both old and new, with no censorship, to 100 million bucks over four years?”
Hey @joerogan, we are ready to fight alongside you. See the note from our CEO @chrispavlovski… pic.twitter.com/G7ahfNNjtP
— Rumble (@rumblevideo) February 7, 2022
“This is our chance to save the world,” Pavlovski wrote. “And yes, this is totally legit.”
The latest Rogan controversy stems from Rogan’s use of “the n-word,” which Rogan says he is “deeply sorry for.”
Rogan had used the word several times in context only—that is to say, when discussing the actual word itself. Rogan never called anyone the word.
Rogan signed a $100 million contract with Spotify in 2020.
