Joe Rogan claimed that several former US presidents attempted to pressure Spotify into removing his hit show, alleging they “threw a lot of money” at the company in response to accusations of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation, as reported [1] by The New York Post.
The 58-year-old podcast host made the comments while speaking with behavior expert Chase Hughes during Wednesday’s episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience,” where the pair discussed social media, influence, and public perception.
During the conversation, Hughes praised Rogan for being open to bold observations, saying, “I’m not kissing your ass here, but you’re willing to say s–t that sounds preposterous at the beginning of something, and just make an observation that’s real.”
Rogan responded by reflecting on his position during the pandemic.
“Well, the position that I was in during the COVID thing was very unique,” he said.
“I had already — I’d gotten such a head start. I was so far ahead of them. They didn’t realize my ability to say, ‘Wait, this is — this doesn’t make any sense.’ Like, none of this makes any sense.”
He went on to describe the reaction he faced at the time, saying critics organized targeted efforts against him. “They tried to crush my sponsors. They organized campaigns. There was PACs [political action committees] involved,” Rogan stated.
Rogan credited Spotify for protecting his voice during that period, saying, “Thank God I was on Spotify. And thank God Spotify is not an American company.”
He added that his international success also made a difference, remarking, “It helped that I was number one in, like, 90 countries and not number 90 in one country.”
The host then dropped a striking claim, saying, “I can’t even talk about it. But there was presidents involved and former presidents involved that were contacting Spotify.”
“Oh yeah,” he continued. “Trying to get me removed for vaccine misinformation. Yeah. And it turned out to be right. All of it. Not a single [person] apologized. Not a single retraction, not a single, you know, mea culpa, not a single, ‘We were wrong.’”
Rogan also said the controversy cost him financially. “I lost a lot, a lot during those days,” he admitted, describing how sponsor relationships were affected by the backlash.
“There was a lot of coordination” behind the effort, he asserted, adding that he rarely discusses it because “it’s pretty deep.” Nonetheless, he emphasized, “It was nuts, but it didn’t work, right? But they tried. They spent a lot of money, a lot of money.”
Rogan did not identify any of the presidents he claimed were involved.
In 2022, Spotify faced intense public pressure regarding Rogan’s podcast, after critics accused him of spreading misinformation about COVID-19.
The backlash led to artist protests, including musician Neil Young pulling his music from the platform, citing his refusal to share space with Rogan.
Spotify responded by implementing content advisory labels on episodes that mentioned COVID-19 or coronavirus.
Around that time, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek defended the platform’s approach, explaining during an earnings call, “I think the important part here is that we don’t change our policies based on one creator, nor do we change it based on any media cycle.”
Ek added that the company’s policies were developed “with the input from numbers of internal and external experts in this space — and I do believe they’re right for our platform.”
Later in the same conversation with Hughes, Rogan shifted to another topic, defending the UFC White House fight night.
He called the event nonpartisan and described it as an unprecedented expression of patriotism amid criticism from some opponents.
Rogan’s remarks continue to highlight his experience as a controversial cultural figure whose podcast remains one of the most popular shows on Spotify.
Despite the waves of criticism and the allegations he says were directed at silencing him, Rogan insisted that the attempts failed, saying his platform only grew stronger after the storm.