Joe Rogan: Soon Straight White Men Won't Be Allowed Outside

Joe Rogan is once again courting controversy, though this time not related to his opinion on COVID-19 vaccines. The Spotify podcaster complained last week, during a sit-down with standup comedian Joe List, about "woke" culture, claiming that comedy movies are in danger of being "canceled" entirely and that if society continues to "agree to all these demands, it’ll eventually get to straight white men are not allowed to talk" or even "go outside." As List laughed, Rogan said, per NBC News, "I’m not joking. It really will get there. It’s that crazy." Reaction:

• "Now, keep in mind Rogan has never been at risk of losing his platform, which Spotify reportedly paid $100 million for, even while he pals around with the alt-right," writes Tatiana Tenreyro at the AV Club.

• Tenreyro wasn't the only one pointing out how little danger of being silenced Rogan appears to be in. Here's the Mary Sue's headline: "Man Paid $100 Million To Talk for a Living Warns That Straight White Men Will Not Be 'Allowed to Talk.'"
• Fast Company points out that the same week Rogan made his comments, one of his friends, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, made some incredibly racist comments during a set that were caught on video, costing him his WME agents and a few upcoming appearances with, yes, Rogan. "During a week where his buddy got widely panned for doing a soft white-supremacist bit on stage, Rogan getting mad about the plight of the straight white man is sadly clarifying," Joe Berkowitz writes. "People like Rogan seem to think that ever apologizing for saying anything is a violation of some sacred comedian’s covenant, and you don’t need to be a social justice warrior to know that’s just plain wrong."
• On Don Lemon Tonight Tuesday, Lemon pointed out Rogan's past controversies (like interviewing—and publicly agreeing with—conspiracy theorist Alex Jones), Yahoo News reports. "Look, there is an important debate right now about cancel culture and wokeness," Lemon said, "questions about what either term even means and what happens if it goes too far. There are legitimate questions about that, but acknowledging the oppression, discrimination or differences of others does not silence anyone else, let alone lock them up."
• Reaction from the other side included David Hookstead at the Daily Caller writing that "Obviously, Rogan is taking things to a bit of an extreme here, but the foundation of his point is 100% true. You simply can’t give into the woke mob, people who believe in cancel culture and any of the similar nonsense. Once you give those people a single inch, they will always take a mile. It’s never enough. It’s literally never enough." Brandon Morse at RedState appears to have a similar take, but only readers with a paid membership can access the full column.

(More Joe Rogan stories.)