Joe Rogan pledges to balance "controversial viewpoints" after Neil Young removes music from Spotify

31 January 2022, 10:02 | Written by Cerys Kenneally

(News)

(Neil Young)

Joe Rogan has pledged to balance "controversial viewpoints" on his podcast after being criticised for spreading COVID misinformation by Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and more.

Last week Neil Young shared a now-deleted letter on his Neil Young Archives site addressed to his management and record label, requesting that his music should be removed from Spotify "immediately", adding, "They can have [Joe] Rogan or Young. Not both."

Joni Mitchell also decided to "stand" with Neil Young last Friday (28 January), stating that she's "decided to remove all my music from Spotify". She added that she stands "in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue."

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has since said the streaming service is working to add "content advisory" warnings to "any podcast episode that includes a discussion about COVID-19."

In a new, nearly 10-minute video poosted to Instagram last night (30 January), Joe Rogan responded to recent backlash, saying he will "try harder to get people with differing opinions" on his podcast.

Despite saying he "never tried to do anything with this podcast other than just talk to people," Rogan did admit that he gets "things wrong", and agreed with Ek's decision to add "content advisory" warnings to content discussing COVID. "My pledge to you is that I will do my best to try to balance out these more controversial viewpoints with other people's perspectives, so we can maybe find a better point of view," Rogan said.

He also said that he has "no hard feelings" towards Young or Mitchell, and added that he's "a huge Neil Young fan."