Joe Rogan's controversial deal with Spotify is worth $200M - twice what was reported
- Spotify's deal to get exclusive rights to The Joe Rogan Experience was worth at least $200 million, double the amount that was previously reported
- The streaming service has said it would stick by Joe Rogan amid a spate of controversy over alleged COVID misinformation and his use of the n-word
- The company also promised to contribute $100 million for works by creators 'from historically marginalized group'
- It comes after podcaster and journalist Jemele Hill said she wanted the company to give to black creators and that their defense of Rogan is hurting her audience
- Hill is the latest in a number of creators cutting ties with Spotify over Rogan
Spotify's deal to secure exclusive rights to The Joe Rogan Experience is worth at least $200 million, double what was previously reported.
According to two people familiar with the transaction, Spotify had spent more to get Joe Rogan back in May 2020 than it did on buying entire companies, like Gimlet Media and The Ringer, the New York Times reported.
As Rogan faces controversy over alleged COVID-19 misinformation and repeated use of the n-word, Spotify is in damage control and has promised to contribute $100 million for works by creators 'from historically marginalized group.'
The move comes after fellow Spotify host Jemele Hill, a former ESPN commentator, said the streaming service's defense of Rogan has created problems with her audience on the platform.
'What I would like to see,' Hill said, 'is for them to hand $100 million to somebody who is black.'
Spotify's deal to secure exclusive rights to The Joe Rogan Experience was worth at least $200 million, according to two people familiar with the 2020 transaction
Spotify had paid more for the show than it had for whole companies as the streaming service sought to stave off competition from Apple and Google
Emmy-winning journalist Jemele Hill, said Spotify's defense of Rogan was hurting her audience on the platform. Spotify has promised to spend $100 million on works of 'marginalized groups'
Hill, an Emmy-winning journalist who hosts 'Unbothered,' is the latest Spotify content creator slamming the company for standing by Rogan.
Earlier this month, film director Ava DuVernay, severed her ties with Spotify as she was set to produce a podcast with the company.
Artists like Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and David Crosby have also pulled their music from the streaming service over the anti-vaccine comments made on Rogan's show in December.
Yet despite the backlash, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek had told employees that exclusive content like Rogan's show was 'vital ammunition' in Spotify's competition against Apple and Google, so he won't be fired, the Times reported.
Although Spotify was primarily known for its music streaming services, the company began pivoting to podcasts in 2018 by purchasing smaller companies to get their hands on the growing market.
Acquiring The Joe Rogan Experience was a pivotal part of their plan due to Rogan's popularity and freewheeling, uncensored talks with celebrities and people of interest.
When Spotify secured the show, the company's stock went jumped by 17 percent that week.
The company's value has grown since acquiring Rogan's show and moving into podcasting, with the company reporting $10.9 billion in profit at the end of 2021.
Spotify and The Joe Rogen experience did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment.
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek had told employees that exclusive content like Rogan's show was 'vital ammunition' for the company to maintain its podcasting supremacy
The company's value has grown since acquiring Rogan's show and moving into podcasting, with the company reporting $10.9 billion in profit at the end of 2021
Music legends Neil Young and Joni Mitchell were among singers to have their music removed from Spotify in protest of comments made by Rogan on his show
Although Rogan previously admitted he was not vaccinated and expressed doubts about the vaccine on his show in the past, he received widespread backlash after inviting anti-vax doctors Robert Malone and Peter McCullough in December.
Both men made controversial claims on the show, which has 11 million people tuning in every episode.
Malone, who is one of the pioneers of mRNA vaccines, said official COVID figures are not to be trusted because hospitals get bonuses if patients have the virus and that the government was 'out of control' and suppressing data.
McCullough, vice chief of internal medicine at Baylor University Medical Center, claimed the pandemic was deliberately planned, and that the vaccines were killing thousands of people.
By January 10, more than 250 doctors signed an open letter to Spotify, entitled: 'A call from the global scientific and medical communities to implement a misinformation policy.'
'By allowing the propagation of false and societally harmful assertions, Spotify is enabling its hosted media to damage public trust in scientific research and sow doubt in the credibility of data-driven guidance offered by medical professionals,' they said.
They point out that Rogan's average listener was 24, and his vaccine skepticism was dangerous: unvaccinated 12- to 34-year-olds are 12 times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID than those who are fully vaccinated.
Dr Robert Malone appeared on Rogan's podcast on December 31, speaking for three hours about the government's supposed work manipulating the pandemic
India Arie shared resurfaced clips of Spotify's premier podcaster Joe Rogan repeatedly using the N-word, after pulling her discography from the popular streaming platform
Rogan then offered an apology about the interviews and promised to get more 'diverse' experts to discuss vaccines and the state of the pandemic.
'If I pissed you off, I'm sorry,' he said in a 10-minute apology video posted to his Instagram account.
'I'm not trying to promote misinformation. I'm not trying to be controversial.'
The podcaster then offered another apology when R&B singer India Arie posted a compilation video of every time Rogan said the n-word on his show.
'I used to say it if [I was talking about] a Richard Pryor bit or something, I would say it in context,' Rogan said.
'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?!
'There's nothing I can do to take that back. I wish I could. Obviously, that's not possible. I certainly wasn't trying to be racist, and I certainly would never want to offend someone for entertainment with something as stupid as racism.'
Spotify subsequently removed a slew of episodes of Rogan's podcast from their site, including the ones that contained the volatile language.
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