Joe Rogan 'declined' one of the most wanted podcast guests because he 'didn't want him to know where we are'
Joe Rogan has revealed that there is one guest who he refused to have on his podcast because he didn't want them to know where the show was recorded.
In October, Rogan welcomed former US President Donald Trump onto to 'The Joe Rogan Experience' ahead of the 2024 Presidential election, having received more requests to host politician than anyone else.
Since starting the podcast in 2009, the UFC commentator has recorded with several other of the biggest names in the world including Mike Tyson, Elon Musk, and Kanye West.
However, there is one highly-requested guest that Rogan declined to have on the show because he was worried about them learning where the podcast was made.
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Speaking on an episode of the podcast in 2020, Rogan discussed former mafia crime boss Michael Franzese and admitted that, although Franzese's team had reached out about filming together, he was reluctant to do so.
Rogan said: "He's a motivational speaker now? He sounds like a f***** hustler
"I saw him being interviewed recently. Wait a minute, they contacted me! Really recently I got a request to have him on."
Rogan's guest for the episode then urges his host to have Franzese onto the podcast, to which the podcaster quietly replies: "I don't know if I want him to know where we are."
After years working in the Colombo crime family in New York City, Franzese was eventually arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison on conspiracy charges, although he did not serve the entire sentence.
Since then, he has worked as a motivational speaker and has his own YouTube channel where he tells stories about his life and reviews famous mafia films and television series.
Shortly after Rogan mentioned him on the podcast, Franzese responded on his own channel, saying: "Everybody's telling me 'Mike, Joe Rogan mentioned you on his show he spoke about you for five or six minutes'.
"I haven't seen it but I heard he had a graphic up about me, was reading things about me him and his guest for a couple of minutes.
"Everybody is saying 'Mike you've got to get on Joe Rogan'. Hey, it's not up to me to go to him, if he would like to invite me, I'd be happy to go.
"He is the number one guy no doubt about it. In podcasts he does a brilliant job.
"Thank you for talking about me, I don't know what it was about, I hope you said some good things. But we'll see what happens."
Ben McCrum