The podcast host has been widely criticised for the statements. Photo / Getty, AP
The podcast host has been widely criticised for the statements. Photo / Getty, AP
Joe Rogan has been slammed for telling some people they should avoid getting vaccinated to protect against the spread of Covid-19, but Spotify hasn't indicated it plans to take any action against the UFC commentator.
Speaking on his popular podcast, Rogan said "for the most part it's safe to get vaccinated", but doesn't believe those who are young and healthy should get the jab.
The 53-year-old recommended "vulnerable" people should get the shot, adding that his parents had already been vaccinated.
"People say, 'Do you think it's safe to get vaccinated?' I've said, 'Yeah, I think for the most part it's safe to get vaccinated'. I do. I do," Rogan said on The Joe Rogan Experience in a conversation with comedian Dave Smith.
The podcast host has been widely criticised for the statements. Photo / Getty
"But if you're like 21 years old, and you say to me, 'Should I get vaccinated?' I'll go, 'No'.
"If you're a healthy person, and you're exercising all the time, and you're young, and you're eating well, like, I don't think you need to worry about this.
"We're talking about something that is not statistically dangerous for children. But yet people still want you to get your child vaccinated, which is crazy to me."
Rogan is Spotify's No 1 podcast host but the company's CEO Daniel Ek declined to address his comments directly, when asked about them by Bloomberg reporter Lucas Shaw.
"What I will say is we have 8 million creators, and hundreds of millions of pieces of content," Ek said. "We have a content policy and we do remove pieces that violate it."
Rogan's comments go against guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which specify that vaccinations are safe for everyone over the age of 16.
The UFC commentator inevitably copped a wave of backlash, including from America's top infectious diseases expert, Dr Anthony Fauci.
Dr. Anthony Fauci has countered the claims. Photo / AP
"You're talking about yourself in a vacuum," he told the Today show. "If you want to only worry about yourself and not society, then that's OK.
"But you're saying to yourself, 'Even if I get infected, I could do damage to somebody else even if I have no symptoms at all', and that's the reason why you've got to be careful and get vaccinated.
"You're worried about yourself getting infected and the likelihood that you're not going to get any symptoms. But you can get infected, and will get infected, if you put yourself at risk."
Fauci added healthy, young people should "absolutely" get vaccinated.
The White House also rebuked Rogan for his comments. Joe Biden's communications director Kate Bedingfield told CNN: "I guess my first question would be, did Joe Rogan become a medical doctor while we weren't looking?
"I'm not sure that taking scientific and medical advice from Joe Rogan is perhaps the most productive way for people to get their information."
Social media wasn't kind to Rogan either. Fellow podcaster Brandon Farmahini tweeted: "A very cringy take from Joe Rogan on vaccines. Young healthy people should get vaccinated because they can easily contract Covid, spread it & potentially serve as a vessel for the virus to mutate to be deadlier and resistant to existing vaccines. Come on Joe Rogan, be better."
UFC reporter Ben Fowlkes posted: "If you're a healthy 21-year-old wondering if you should get vaccinated, I beg you, ask a scientist."
Joe Rogan's side job is broadcasting UFC fights, where one of their 26-year old professional athletes recently posted a social media post saying goodbye because he thought he was dying from covid.
Rogan suggested his two daughters — 12-year-old Lola and 11-year-old Rosa — showed little to no symptoms after testing positive to Covid-19.
"I mean, I hate to say that if someone's children died from this. I'm very sorry that that happened. I'm not in any way diminishing that. But I'm saying the personal experience that my children had with Covid was nothing," he said.
Jones has previously claimed on his podcast that the Covid pandemic was being used by elites to "reorganise society" and "end prosperity."
According to the New York Times, 43 per cent of the US population have had at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, while 29 per cent are fully vaccinated.
The Joe Rogan Experience is currently the No 1 podcast on Spotify in the United States. It became available exclusively on the streaming service last year.
According to The Verge, a source close to the situation says Spotify reviewed this Rogan episode and allowed it to remain on the platform because he doesn't come off as outwardly anti-vaccine.
