Overview
- Rogan said on Wednesday that multiple current and former U.S. presidents contacted Spotify to try to have The Joe Rogan Experience removed over alleged COVID‑19 vaccine misinformation.
- He told a guest that political action committees and organized campaigns spent “a lot of money” to pressure sponsors and the platform and that he lost many advertisers during that period.
- Rogan did not identify any presidents or provide documentation for the claim, and several outlets reported that Spotify and the White House had not immediately replied to requests for comment.
- Spotify previously resisted removing Rogan in 2022, instead adding COVID‑19 content advisories to episodes while CEO Daniel Ek defended the company’s platform‑wide moderation approach.
- The allegation escalates a years‑long dispute that triggered artist and advertiser pullouts in 2022 and could revive debates about how political actors, platforms, and sponsors handle pandemic‑era misinformation.