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The website, JREMissing, uses Spotify's API to compare available episodes to a database of all episodes recorded. 4, a fan-made website found that more than 100 episodes of Rogan's podcast were no longer available on Spotify. 1 found 19% of Spotify subscribers said they canceled or will cancel their service, according to a report from Variety. The hashtags #DeleteSpotify and #CancelSpotify began trending on Twitter as some people called for the removal of Rogan's podcast.
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This was layered on top of a growing musician boycott over concerns that Rogan's podcast serves as a platform for COVID misinformation. Videos of Rogan using racial slurs on past episodes went viral on social media at the end of January. Why were episodes of Rogan's podcast removed? Here's what you need to know about the backlash against Joe Rogan and Spotify. 8 but added that it was a "relief" to address comments he regrets making. Rogan said the backlash was a "political hit job" in an episode of his podcast posted on Feb. 5, saying he "wasn't trying to be racist" and agreeing that he shouldn't use such slurs, regardless of the context. Rogan posted an apology to Instagram on Feb. The company paid the comedian a reported $200 million, double the amount previously thought, according to a report from The New York Times Thursday. It views Rogan as a key component to its growth as an audio platform, and the comedian has said being able to express himself is one of the reasons he moved his podcast to the streaming service. Spotify continues to grapple with a dilemma that many internet giants like Facebook and YouTube face: balancing freedom of expression and effective moderation of objectionable content on their platforms. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek confirmed that Rogan chose to remove multiple episodes of his popular podcast from the streaming service after the company's leadership discussed his use of "racially insensitive language," according to a memo sent to employees. Some other artists joined the boycott, but the backlash grew soon after when a compilation video of Rogan using a racial slur on numerous past episodes began circulating on social media.
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In January, rock legend Neil Young pulled his music from Spotify over objections to false claims about COVID-19 vaccines on Rogan's popular podcast. This has put pressure on Spotify, the music streaming service that signed the comedian to an exclusivity deal in 2020. Joe Rogan and his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, are at the center of growing concerns over COVID-19 misinformation and the host's use of racial slurs in dozens of episodes.
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