By Kyle Smith
Wednesday, February 09, 2022
Joe Rogan confesses he’s embarrassed by that supercut of
him using the N-word over the years: “I used to say it if [I was talking
about] a Richard Pryor bit or something, I would say it in context,” he said in
a standup routine in Austin on Tuesday night. “Somebody
made a compilation of every time I said that word over 14 years and they put it
on YouTube, and it turned out that was racist as f***. Even to
me! I’m me and I’m watching it saying, ‘Stop saying it!’ I put my cursor over
the video and I’m like, ‘Four more minutes?!’”
More: “I haven’t used that word in years. But it’s
kind of weird people will get really mad if you use that word and tweet about
it on a phone that’s made by slaves.” Ouch. Did you hear that, Neil Young?
Maybe you should rethink allowing Apple Music to host your stuff. When you’re
done taking down the banking system, of course.
Rogan added, “I talk sh** for a living — that’s why this
is so baffling to me. If you’re taking vaccine advice from me, is that really
my fault? What dumb sh** were you about to do when my stupid idea sounded
better? ‘You know that dude who made people people eat animal d***s on TV? How
does he feel about medicine?’ If you want my advice, don’t take my advice.”
Funny stuff, and a good illustration of how to handle this kind of gotcha
attack: acknowledgment, together with self-deprecation. It works. We’re all
human. We’re all flawed.
As for what was clearly a coordinated campaign to destroy
him, Rogan said on a podcast, “In a lot of ways, this is a relief. That video
had always been out there. This is a political hit job. They’re taking all this
stuff I’ve ever said that’s wrong and smushing it all together. It’s good
because it makes me address some stuff that I really wish wasn’t out there.”
Rogan comes across as a humble and thoughtful guy as well
as an unusually curious interviewer. I think he’s winning his fight.
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