Hollywood superstar Dwayne Johnson has walked back his support for UFC legend Joe Rogan after becoming “educated to his complete narrative” amid the N-word controversy.
Rogan was hit with massive backlash after old clips from his podcast made the rounds again, in which the former Fear Factor host used the N-word over 20 times.
The 54-year-old podcast host took to Instagram on Saturday to address his latest controversy in a near six-minute-long video.
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In response to the viral compilation video, Rogan said: “I’m making this video to talk about the most regretful and shameful thing that I’ve ever had to talk about publicly.
“There’s a video that’s out, that’s a compilation of me saying the N-word. It’s a video that’s made of clips taken out of context of me of […] 12 years of conversations on my podcast, and it’s all smushed together and it looks f*****’ horrible, even to me.
“Now I know that to most people there’s no context where a white person is ever allowed to say that word, never mind publicly on a podcast, and I agree with that.
“Now, I haven’t said it in years, but for a long time, when I would bring that word up, like if it would come up in conversation, instead of saying ‘the N-word,’ I would just say the word.
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“I thought as long as it was in context, people would understand what I was doing.”
Rogan, who inked a lucrative deal with Spotify for exclusive rights to his show, was previously hit with controversy over allegations of spreading misinformation relating to the COVID-19 vaccines and masks.
Johnson, 49, was among the people who offered support to Rogan after The Joe Rogan Experience host responded to the ‘spreading COVID misinformation’ claims.
Responding to the UFC colour commentator’s video, he wrote: “Great stuff here brother. Perfectly articulated.
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“Look forward to coming on one day and breaking out the tequila with you.”
Musicians Neil Young and Joni Mitchell are among those who have withdrawn their music from Spotify after the streaming service refused to pull Rogan’s show.
WWE legend Johnson withdrew his support for Rogan after American author Don Winslow made him aware of the Spotify podcaster’s use of the N-word.
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“Dear [The Rock]. You’re a hero to many people and using your platform to defend Joe Rogan, a guy that used and laughed about using the N-word dozens of times, is a terrible use of your power,” Winslow tweeted.
“Have you actually listened to this man’s many racist statements about black people?”
Responding to Winslow, Johnson wrote: “Dear [Don Winslow]. Thank you so much for this. I hear you as well as everyone here 100 [per cent].
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“I was not aware of his N-word use prior to my comments, but now I’ve become educated to his complete narrative.
“Learning moment for me. Mahalo, brother and have a great [and] productive weekend. DJ.”
JRE Missing, a web tool detecting missing episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience on Spotify, has found that 113 episodes of Rogan’s show are not available on the platform.
Spotify has removed over 70 episodes of Rogan’s podcast on Saturday, but the Swedish company has not revealed why they were pulled from the service.
Four-time Grammy winner India Arie has denounced Rogan and shared the N-word compilation on her Instagram Stories on Friday.
The R&B singer explained why she withdrew her music from Spotify and called on her followers to “delete Spotify” and used the hashtag.
Featured Image Credit: PA/The Joe Rogan ExperienceTopics: Joe Rogan, Dwayne Johnson, UFC, The Rock
