The controversy is not going away and Daniel Ek, CEO of Spotify, has finally reacted. In an email addressed to his employees, Daniel Ek, spoke out in favor of maintaining American Joe Rogan’s podcasts on the platform. The Swedish creator of the world number 1 in audio streaming specifies that certain episodes were however withdrawn this weekend, in particular for inappropriate remarks of a racial nature.
“While I strongly condemn what Joe said and endorse his decision to remove episodes from our platform, I realize some people want more. And I want to say one thing very clearly: I don’t believe silencing Joe is the answer,” the Spotify CEO said.
“We should have clear lines on our content and act when they are crossed, but erasing voices is a slippery slope,” continued Daniel Ek.
Joe Rogan offers his “sincere apologies” for his racist remarks
Following “discussions” with Spotify and “his own reflection”, Joe Rogan – bound to the Swedish platform by an exclusive contract estimated at 100 million dollars – “chose to withdraw a certain number of episodes from Spotify,” he confirmed. According to several media, it would be a total of 70 shows, where Joe Rogan uses the insult “nigger”.
Saturday, the creator of the podcast in his name The Joe Rogan experience had apologized for the racist remarks, offering his “humble and sincere apologies” for “the thing for which I have the most shame and regret to speak in public. »
“I have never employed [ce mot] to be racist, because I’m not racist,” he claimed.
He advocated for the use of unauthorized treatment
A controversial episode on the Covid-19, which had earned Spotify to be accused by folk-rock star Neil Young of not reacting to misinformation, meanwhile remained online. Joe Rogan is notably accused of having discouraged vaccination among young people and of having pushed for the use of an unauthorized treatment, ivermectin, against the coronavirus.
In the wake of Neil Young, several famous artists have pulled out of Spotify or threatened to do so in recent days, while a #DeleteSpotify boycott movement has emerged online.
In an attempt to put out the fire, the Swedish platform announced last Sunday that it would take measures to combat misinformation, in particular by adding links to verified information to podcasts devoted to Covid-19.