Covid 19 Omicron outbreak: Right-wing YouTube rival Rumble offers Joe Rogan $100m to leave Spotify

A right-wing video-sharing platform has publicly offered controversial podcaster Joe Rogan $100 million to leave Spotify as he faces immense backlash for spreading Covid misinformation.

Rumble posted a letter on social media addressed to Rogan from its chief executive Chris Pavlovski outlining the offer on Tuesday.

“We stand with you, your guests, and your legion (of) fans in desire for real conversation. So we’d like to offer you 100 million reasons to make the world a better place,” the letter read.

“How about you bring all your shows to Rumble, both old and new, with no censorship for 100 million bucks over four years?

“This is our chance to save the world. And yes, this is totally legit.”

Spotify acquired Rogan’s podcast The Joe Rogan Experience in a landmark deal in 2020, but it has been surrounded in controversy.

Pressure on Spotify to cancel the podcast

There have been repeated calls to cancel the podcast after he interviewed US cardiologist Peter McCullough and vaccine scientist Dr Robert Malone, known for their controversial Covid-19 beliefs, in December.

Music legend Neil Young gave Spotify an ultimatum, either get rid of Rogan or he will pull his music from the platform.

“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,” he said, specifically citing Rogan’s podcast.

Joe Rogan introduces fighters during the UFC 269 ceremonial weigh-in. Photo / Getty Images

Spotify chose to remove Young’s music and since then multiple other artists, including Joni Mitchell, Graham Nash and India.Arie have joined the boycott, calling for their music to be removed from the platform.

Rogan released a nine-minute response addressing the controversy, saying he “absolutely gets things wrong”, promising viewers he would endeavour to find a “counter” guest shortly after controversial topics were discussed on his podcast.

He also welcomed Spotify’s new move to place tags on certain content advising listeners to rely on their own doctor’s advice.

Spotify chief executive Daniel Ek told employees last week that while he didn’t agree with everything Rogan said, the company did not have editorial control over his podcast.

He noted that if Spotify wanted a chance at achieving its “bold ambitions”, then they would have to put up with content “that many of us may not be proud to be associated with”.

Just days ago the streaming service reportedly pulled more than 100 episodes of Rogan’s show.

Among the missing shows are those featuring well-known conservatives, far-right pundits or conspiracy theorists.

All but one was from before the coronavirus pandemic and it came after Rogan responded to a resurfaced clip of him using the N-word almost two dozen times while hosting the podcast.

He called the clip “the most regretful and shameful thing I’ve ever had to talk about publicly” and insisted the video was compiled of “out of context” snippets.

More than 100 episodes have been pulled from Spotify, with speculation it was due to racial slurs not Covid misinformation. Photo / Getty Image

What is Rumble?

The Canadian-based video-sharing platform was launched in 2013 and is known as the YouTube rival that is popular with conservatives.

According to Reuters, the company has even entered an agreement to deliver video and streaming for Truth Social, former US president Donald Trump’s proposed social media app.

Rumble was valued at $2.1 billion in December, according to an announcement about a deal to take the company public.

Responding to Rumble’s offer to Rogan on Twitter, one user wrote: “Does this mean we can say the n word as much as we want on Rumble?”

Another YouTube competitor, Odysee, trolled Rumble by mimicking the letter on its own letterhead with a few changes, including offering “100 gazillion bucks” and promising no censorship, including criticisms of Donald Trump.

“And yes, this is totally legit and not just a marketing ploy for attention,” the last line read.

In a follow-up tweet, Odysee said if it had $100 million in liquid cash it would spend it on its creators trying to get established.