Neil Young wants Spotify to choose: Joe Rogan or him.
The singer is demanding that his music be removed from Spotify due to concerns about COVID-19 vaccine misinformation on the platform. In a letter on his website that he has since deleted, Young specifically called out Joe Rogan, whose podcast The Joe Rogan Experience is a Spotify exclusive, Rolling Stone reports.
"I am doing this because Spotify is spreading fake information about vaccines — potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them," Young wrote. "Please act on this immediately today and keep me informed of the time schedule."
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Young's request comes after a group of scientists and medical professionals wrote an open letter to Spotify asking it to address "misleading and false claims" about COVID-19 vaccines spread on the platform and specifically on Rogan's show. Rogan has said he doesn't plan to get vaccinated against COVID-19, and he drew criticism in 2021 for saying healthy young people don't need to get vaccinated. "That's incorrect," Dr. Anthony Fauci said in response at the time. In December, Rogan spoke on his show with Robert Malone, a doctor who was suspended by Twitter for COVID-19 misinformation.
"By allowing the propagation of false and societally harmful assertions. Spotify is enabling its hosted media to damage public trust in scientific research and sow doubt in the credibility of data-driven guidance offered by medical professionals," the open letter said.
Young on his website reportedly wrote that he wants all of his music pulled from Spotify "immediately TODAY," adding, "They can have Rogan or Young. Not both." As of Tuesday morning, his music was still available to stream.
