The Joe Rogan Experience is easily one of the most popular podcasts out there, and last year, Rogan signed a 100-million dollar multi-year exclusive licensing deal with streaming giant Spotify. It didn't take long before Rogan's podcast, which has housed a fair number of controversial guests over the years, was ruffling the feathers of certain Spotify employees.
Rogan was warned that Spotify would not be including certain episodes on their platform -- "There were a few episodes they didn’t want on their platform, and I was like ‘OK, I don’t care,’" said Rogan, in a March episode of his podcast with guest Fahim Anwar. Now, a new report has indicated that Spotify has continued to delete several existing Joe Rogan Experience episodes, with most recent deletions including episode #411 with Bulletproof Coffee founder Dave Asprey, who styles himself "the father of biohacking."
In fact, an additional number of episodes including Asprey has been deleted, though Spotify neglected to provide an explanation. Speculation has ensued that Spotify did not want to promote Asprey's controversial "bulletproof diet" -- a diet that consists of foods high in fat, medium in protein, and low in carbs -- which has been targeted by critics as "unscientific."
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In addition to Asprey's three JRE appearances, Digital Music News reports that Spotify has also scrubbed "Live from the Icehouse (#149)," a rowdy episode featuring Joe Rogan, Little Esther, Al Madrigal, Josh McDermitt, Brendon Walsh, Felicia Michaels, and Brian Redban. Unsurprisingly, episodes involving disgraced comedian Chris D'Eliia have also been scrubbed entirely, as he joins the ranks of JRE guests to be removed from Spotify's digital archives: Owen Benjamin, Joey Diaz, Gavin McInnes, Eddie Bravo, Alex Jones, Milo Yiannopolis, and more.
Though Rogan himself appeared unfazed at the prospect of selective deletion, some fans have expressed concern at Spotify's creative control. It should be interesting to see how Spotify and Rogan's partnership continues to unfold -- stay tuned for further updates on the situation as they occur. Should you be a fan of the podcast, how do you feel about Spotify deleting episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience?
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