Amidst ongoing controversy, Spotify seemingly deleted over 100 episodes of the Joe Rogan Experience (JRE) from its platform.
The music giant has gotten flack about podcaster Joe Rogan in recent weeks due to COVID misinformation on his show. In January, 270 doctors, scientists, and professors penned an open letter to Spotify decrying an episode featuring vaccine skeptic Dr. Robert Malone as a potential threat to public health.
From there, artists like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell gave Spotify an ultimatum: remove Rogan or they’ll leave the platform. Spotify sided with Rogan.
While 113 JRE episodes are missing as of this publication, this purge doesn’t appear connected to the misinformation controversy, according to Engadget. This is evidenced by the fact that the controversial episode in question, episode #1757 with Dr. Robert Malone, is still available on Spotify.
It’s unclear whether Spotify — or perhaps Rogan’s team — purposefully removed these episodes, or if it’s some kind of glitch. The deleted episodes appear to be somewhat random. According to tracking site JRE Missing, the most recent episode removed is #1458 with comedian Chris D’Elia, who was accused of soliciting minors in 2020. Some newly deleted episodes, however, are even older.
The most likely explanation is that the episodes were removed after singer/songwriter India.Arie blasted the host’s repeated use of the N-word, uncensored, in numerous examples pulled from the podcast and edited together. (Let this serve as your content warning for that linked Instagram Story.) Spotify hasn’t explained anything yet — ironic, given the company’s barely-a-week-old move toward transparency.
This isn’t the first time JRE episodes disappeared from Spotify, either. Last April, over 40 episodes were wiped without explanation. Mashable has reached out to Spotify for comment, and will update this article if received.
UPDATE: Feb. 5, 2022, 3:38 p.m. EST This story has been updated to include context from India.Arie’s criticism of Rogan.
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