Tipsheet

‘The View’ Co-hosts Defend Joe Rogan: ‘We Have a First Amendment in This Country’

Madeline Leesman
Madeline Leesman  |  January 27, 2022 1:30 PM

This week, the cohosts of “The View” said that the public can’t “cancel” podcast host Joe Rogan over his views on the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic and the vaccine. This comes after rock artist Niel Young demanded Spotify remove Rogan's podcast from their service or remove his music.

During the panel discussion Wednesday, the co-hosts reacted to Howard Stern saying on-air that “The Joe Rogan Experience” should not be removed from Spotify over Rogan’s views on the vaccine. 

“I’m against any kind of censorship, really. I really am. I don’t like censorship,” Stern said, though he acknowledged that he doesn’t agree with Rogan’s views. 

“It’s not Spotify’s job,” co-host Joy Behar said in agreement with Stern’s remarks. “We have a First Amendment in this country. We have to stick with it. You can’t just pick and choose when you want to use the First Amendment.”

Behar continued, saying that boycotts and “more speech” are the way to respond to misinformation.

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“It’s not a cancel culture. It’s a consequence culture. And the way we handle it is we don’t buy Spotify. We ignore Spotify,” Behar said.

Co-host Sunny Hostin disagreed, saying Spotify ‘[has] to do something,” such as adding a disclaimer at the beginning of Rogan’s podcast.

“Don’t they [Spotify] have some accountability for it? It is their platform. It is their business,” Hostin countered.

“I’m not saying that Joe Rogan should be removed from Spotify,” Hostin continued, noting that Rogan has 11 million listeners. “But I do think, as the podcast’s platform, you have to have some sort of guidelines. How about a disclaimer on his podcast that says, you know, ‘This is misinformation.’ How about removing some of the podcasts that disseminate misinformation. You have to do something.”

Sarah Haines chimed in, saying that Rogan brings on lots of “controversial” guests, such as Alex Jones.

“People are hungry for conversations,” Haines stated. “He [Rogan] has a three hour conversation with this guest and he does bring on opposing views. In fact, he doesn’t see that as ‘platforming’ them. He had Dr. Gupta on a month ago. He’s had controversial guests like Alex Jones, and that one was removed. But I think people are open to having open conversations, disagreements, debates and they don’t want to be told how to feel about it.”

Hostin pushed back, claiming that Spotify needs to “police and eliminate” some of his content.

Watch the clip below.