why those ones?
Spotify pulls over 70 episodes of Joe Rogan's podcast
Spotify removed over 70 episodes of Joe Rogan's podcast The Joe Rogan Experience Friday, according to The Daily Beast and the website "JRE Missing," which compares Spotify's current listings with a database that includes every episode ever released.
Rogan has drawn criticism for interviewing Drs. Peter McCullough and Robert Malone — both of whom have been accused of spreading COVID-19 misinformation — on his show, which draws millions of listeners per episode.
After several musicians removed their music from the streaming service in protest, Spotify announced Sunday that it would add content advisories to future episodes that discuss COVID. The announcement did not mention any plans to remove episodes.
Spotify has not yet commented on why those particular episodes were removed. The controversial Malone interview is still up, but interviews with comedians Bull Burr, Nick Swardson, and Tom Segura — all of which were released years before the pandemic — no longer appear on Spotify. Gizmodo reports that Spotify also removed two episodes featuring author and podcaster Michael Malice.
Malice wrote a book on the political "new right" and appeared in a December livestream alongside Rogan, InfoWars host Alex Jones, independent political commentator Tim Pool, and conservative transgender YouTuber Blaire White.
Episodes featuring Jones, Pool, and White are still accessible on Spotify. Rogan has not made any statement about the deletions.