Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock, has come out in support of podcast host Joe Rogan, who posted a video on Instagram clarifying his stand over controversy around the spreading of COVID misinformation on Spotify.
Setting the record straight, Rogan insisted that he was only debating the issue with his podcast guests, including Dr. Peter McCullough, who made a series of false claims about COVID in December.
"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 in the video.
Reacting to this, Johnson praised Rogan and commented, "Great stuff here brother. Perfectly articulated."
Johnson told Rogan that he “looks forward” to coming on the podcast one day and “breaking out the tequila with you”.
Johnson is not the only one who has extended support to Rogan.
Actor and comedian Kevin James said in the comments, “Joe – we go way back and all these years I’ve known you to be nothing but objective and seeking truth. Thank you. Love you brother.”
Singer Jewel commented, “Your [sic.] doing a great job keep it up.”
During 'The Daily Show with Trevor Noah', comedian and host Trevor Noah too defended Rogan and said, “I actually thought it was pretty classy... he owned up to it. I thought it was pretty dope. It was refreshing.”
Several other celebrities including former American football Troy Aikman, actor Jamie Kennedy, politician Tulsi Gabbard, and others have come forward in support of Rogan.
However, those standing in protest against Rogan and slamming the decision to let him continue to host 'The Joe Rogan Experience' on Spotify have been boycotting the streaming platform.
Legendary musician Neil Young wrote an open letter to Spotify and asked that the music streamer to remove all of his music from the platform, citing Rogan’s podcast spreading COVID misinformation.
Soon his bandmates Graham Nash and Nils Lofgren, singer Joni Mitchell, Ted Talks superstar Brené Brown, and several others removed their content from Spotify and said bye-bye to Spotify.
Meanwhile, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has published an open letter, saying that the platform would add a “content advisory” notice to any podcast episode that includes a discussion about coronavirus that will redirect listeners to a COVID-19 hub.