Dwayne Johnson-Joe Rogan Controversy Explained: The Rock Once Got Backlash For Supporting Joe Rogan
One of the biggest stars in the business right now, Dwayne Johnson began his career as a professional wrestler. He was a key member of the group that helped the WWF (now WWE) grow and succeed before he decided to pursue acting, appearing in some of the most iconic roles.
Known as one of the most powerful individuals on the planet, Dwayne Johnson is one of the highest-paid and biggest-paying performers in the business thanks to his films, which have brought in over $10.5 billion globally. However, the actor faced intense criticism at one time in his life for standing by someone who had offended everyone by using racial slurs and spreading misinformation about COVID-19. Let’s find out.
Dwayne Johnson voiced support for Joe Rogan amid controversy
Back in 2022, Joe Rogan was accused of spreading COVID-19 misinformation on his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, which prompted singers including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell to remove their music from Spotify. The artists decided to remove their music because they didn’t want to be associated with Rogan who had questioned the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines on his show.
The podcaster later tried to clarify his statements on his show by sharing a video on his Instagram;
“I’m just a person who sits down with people and has conversations with them. Have I got things wrong before? Absolutely. But I try to correct things if I have done, because I am interested in telling the truth and finding out what the truth is.”
He continued,
“I am interested in having interesting conversations with people that have differing opinions. I am not interested in only talking to people that have one perspective. I would like to talk to some people that have differing opinions on those podcasts in the future. We’ll see. I do all the scheduling myself. I don’t always get it right.”
Surprisingly, after Rogan’s statement on his controversial opinions, Dwayne Johnson commented on his post;
“Great stuff here brother. Perfectly articulated. Look forward to coming on one day and breaking out the tequila with you.”
The two of them have a long-standing friendship as back in March 2020, when it was speculated that the actor was planning to run for office, Rogan noted that he would back him up if he ever made a bid for the White House.
Dwayne Johnson called out for his support to Joe Rogan
After Dwayne Johnson decided to support Joe Rogan for his apology video in which he said he was not trying to spread misinformation; Johnson noted that he looked forward to coming on his show and received a lot of backlash. Several clips of Rogan using the N-word on his show started to resurface online which led to Rogan apologizing for using racial slurs.
He said in the video that using the N-word is the most regretful and shameful thing he ever has to talk about in public adding that he had not used the word in years. As a result, Dwayne Johnson was called out for his support by author and political activist Don Winslow who wrote,
“You’re a hero to many people and using your platform to defend Joe Rogan, a guy that used and laughed about using the N-word dozens of times, is a terrible use of your power. Have you actually listened to this man’s many racist statements about Black people?”
Johnson defended himself by thanking him for bringing his attention to the situation and added,
Dear @donwinslow
Thank you so much for this
I hear you as well as everyone here 100%
I was not aware of his N word use prior to my comments, but now I've become educated to his complete narrative.
Learning moment for me.Mahalo, brother and have a great & productive weekend.
DJ https://t.co/3mBf85wRoe— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) February 5, 2022
“I hear you as well as everyone here 100%. I was not aware of his N-word use prior to my comments, but now I’ve become educated to his complete narrative. Learning moment for me.”
Spotify removed Joe Rogan’s 70 episodes recorded originally between 2009 to 2018 on February 4th, 2022.
