JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA – APRIL 09: Joe Rogan appears on throughout the UFC 273 occasion at VyStar Veterans … [+]
“Severance is a improbable present,” wrote Joe Rogan in a publish on social media. “Utterly authentic and completely unpredictable.” Maybe much more unpredictable has been the frenzied response that his endorsement of Apple’s sci-fi drama hit has since stirred up.
“Superb writing, directing and performing,” the comic and host of the Joe Rogan Expertise podcast continued, including he had just lately completed watching the collection’ first season. “Only a completely distinctive present.”
However as an alternative of a dialogue in regards to the creative deserves of Severance, Rogan’s feedback have kicked off a heated political discourse — and drawn criticism in the direction of a few of the current visitors he’s had on his podcast, which boasts practically 19.5 million subscribers and over 5.8 billion views on YouTube alone.
“This man has glazed a parasitic billionaire tech CEO on his podcast each single week for the previous few months,” said Twitch streamer and political commentator Hasan Piker in response to Rogan’s publish. Piker’s remark has amassed over 32,000 likes and 1,200 reposts.
The political streamer, who has over 7 million followers throughout platforms, didn’t specify who he was alluding to. However a minimum of a handful of outstanding tech moguls have appeared on the Joe Rogan Expertise since final August, together with Palantir chairman Peter Thiel, former Fb exec Chamath Palihapitiya, enterprise capitalist and a16z co-founder Marc Andreessen, Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg and Tesla chief Elon Musk, who’s additionally been moonlighting as an enforcer in President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency as of current.
“If Lumon have been an actual firm you’d convey Kier Eagan in your podcast to lick his boots and discuss how the ‘woke’ left is ‘communist’ for being towards companies severing individuals,” said host of The Humanist Report Mike Figueredo, drawing a parallel to Severance’s shadowy antagonist.
Different posters replied by mocking Rogan for his affiliation with Musk, who’s appeared on his podcast a number of occasions.
(I’ve reached out to Rogan for remark and can replace this piece accordingly if I hear again.)
Joe Rogan’s Chats With Tech Moguls
Rogan, identified for his sprawling pursuits and big selection of visitors, has typically been criticized for his lackadaisical interviewing type and tendency to hardly ever push again on questionable claims.
In an look on Rogan’s podcast final November, Andreessen alleged that the Biden administration had engaged in censorship and discrimination, pressuring banks into unfairly “debanking” Silicon Valley founders and crypto entrepreneurs for his or her political opinions. The enterprise capitalist additional critiqued the Client Monetary Safety Bureau for “terrorizing anyone who tries to do something new in monetary providers.”
“Delete CFPB,” later posted Musk on X, backing the a16z co-founder.
Although Andreessen’s debanking expenses have since been countered, The Home Committee on Oversight and Authorities Reform revealed on January 25, 2025 that it has launched an investigation into the matter, citing Andreessen’s claims on The Joe Rogan Expertise.
Chatting with Rogan in January, Zuckerberg backed Andreessen’s criticism of the CFPB, including that he questioned whether or not there was “a quiet consensus” amongst regulators to punish the tech trade. He additionally claimed the Biden administration hectored Fb into suppressing discussions round Covid-19 vaccines and implementing draconian, biased content material moderation insurance policies. The Meta head then in contrast the federal government’s actions to “one thing out of 1984,” referring to George Orwell’s dystopian novel.
