Joe Rogan apologizes for N-word use


Podcast host Joe Rogan posted an apology video, his second in less than a week, to Instagram early Saturday morning, addressing a viral compilation video that showed him repeatedly using the N-word on his show, Fox News reported.
Rogan clarified that he only used the word in quotations or when discussing its sociolinguistic significance.
"I haven't said it in years. But for a long time, when I would bring that word up, if it would come up in conversations, instead of saying 'the N-word,' I would just say the word," Rogan said. He offered his "sincere, deepest apologies" and said watching the compilation made him feel "sick."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
He also apologized for comparing a Black neighborhood he visited to the Planet of the Apes film franchise.
Since Friday, Spotify has removed 113 episodes of Rogan's podcast, The New York Post reports.
The compilation video went viral after musician India Arie, who joined fellow artists Neil Young and Joni Mitchell in pulling her music from Spotify, shared it on her Instagram story Friday. It appears, however, that the video originated on Jan. 30 on the Twitter account PatriotTakes, which posts content critical of the political right and, according to its Twitter bio, is "[p]artnered with" the left-leaning Super PAC MediasTouch.
Public figures and former podcast guests including Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), political commentator Ben Shapiro, journalist Bari Weiss, and conservative YouTuber Blaire White all leaped to Rogan's defense.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Rogan, who signed a $100 million deal with Spotify in 2020 giving the platform exclusive distribution rights to his mega-hit podcast The Joe Rogan Experience, has been under fire in recent weeks for interviewing guests who have been accused of spreading COVID-19 misinformation.
Rogan said on Jan. 30 that he would "balance things out."
The controversial interviews with doctors Robert Malone and Peter McCullough about COVID-19 are still available on Spotify.
Grayson Quay was the weekend editor at TheWeek.com. His writing has also been published in National Review, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Modern Age, The American Conservative, The Spectator World, and other outlets. Grayson earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in 2019.
-
September 14 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include RFK Jr on the hook, the destruction of discourse, and more
-
Air strikes in the Caribbean: Trump’s murky narco-war
Talking Point Drug cartels ‘don’t follow Marquess of Queensberry Rules’, but US military air strikes on speedboats rely on strained interpretation of ‘invasion’
-
Crossword: September 14, 2025
The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to Trump
Speed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raids
Speed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raid
Speed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'
Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearing
Speed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mount
Speed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own list
speed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battle
Speed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants