Spotify’s CEO Apologizes to Staff Over Joe Rogan Controversy

Joe Rogan has been in on hot water in recent weeks and it only got worse this past Friday.

The host of the podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience, ” was seen in a compilation video where he uses the N-word. The video was shared on social media platforms.

Rogan described the video on Saturday as “horrible” in an Instagram post and said it was the “most regretful and shameful thing” he’s ever had to talk about publicly. He said the video is made up of clips “taken out of context” from 12 years of conversations on his podcast.

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek told staff, “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.”

The CEO wrote his apology in a note to staff that was provided to CNBC by a Spotify spokesperson.

Elk has said however that he has no plans to drop the podcaster from the platform.

“Not only are some of Joe Rogan’s comments incredibly hurtful — I want you to make clear that they do not represent the values of this company,” Ek added. “I know this situation leaves many of you feeling drained, frustrated and unheard.”

“It looks f—— horrible, even to me,” Rogan said of the tape. “I know that to most people there is no context where a white person is ever allowed to say that word, never mind publicly on a podcast. I agree with that now. I haven’t said it in years.”

He admitted that for a long time he would just say the word instead of saying the N-word. “I thought as long as it was in context, people would understand what I was doing,” Rogan said.

“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,” Ek said.

“And I want to make one point very clear — I do not believe that silencing Joe is the answer. We should have clear lines around content and take action when they are crossed, but canceling voices is a slippery slope.”

Ek said Spotify will instead invest $100 million for the licensing, development, and marketing of music and audio content from historically marginalized groups.

Musicians such as Neil Young and Joni Mitchell recently boycotted Spotify for continuing to host Rogan’s podcast.

Rogan said last week, “I’m not trying to promote misinformation, I’m not trying to be controversial. I’ve never tried to do anything with this podcast other than to just talk to people.”

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.