Rogan says 2 former presidents called Spotify over his ‘controversial’ COVID commentary

Podcast giant Joe Rogan recounted his controversial discussions about COVID-19 and how even former presidents joined in complaints to the streaming provider Spotify.

The media platform came under fire after Rogan’s remarks and a post about self-treating for COVID-19, with a protest that included boycotts over what was slammed as COVID misinformation by Rogan. But the host of The Joe Rogan Experience recalled this week that the reactions, including from “two former presidents,” only served to grow his audience.

Dr. Mary Talley Bowden thought he could have been joking. “Really?” she asked.

“Oh yeah,” Rogan confirmed.

“Oh, yeah.”

This raises a serious question: Why would two former presidents go out of their way to complain to Spotify over a podcaster talking about a drug? pic.twitter.com/HO1k2Wy9oq

— The Vigilant Fox (@VigilantFox) June 10, 2025

“I thought it was going to be like a normal tweet that I put out or a normal Instagram post that I put out, and then all of a sudden I hear that Neil Young wants me removed from Spotify,” Rogan recalled of his famous post in 2021 in which he revealed he tested positive for the virus and was treateing it with drugs like Ivermectin.

“I was like ‘What the f*ck is going on this is crazy!’” he recalled on Tuesday’s show as he spoke with guest Dr. Mary Talley Bowden.

“Spotify got calls from two former presidents,” he noted.

“Really?” Bowden asked.

“Oh yeah!” Rogan confirmed.

“Did they deplatform? Did you get censored or deplatformed?” Bowden questioned.

“No, I grew by two million subscribers in a month. I did, because people started listening, because they made it sound like I was this maniac and they started listening like ‘oh he’s really reasonable and pretty humble about all this stuff and is just asking questions,’” the podcaster replied.

(Video Credit: The Joe Rogan Experience)

Rogan’s comments came as he called out media outlets that blasted his use of Ivermectin and referred to it as a horse dewormer.

“I’m, like, ‘Why aren’t you guys concentrating on the fact that a 55-year-old man is fine three days later during the worst strain?’ It was during the Delta where everybody’s freaking out. ‘This one’s going to kill us all.’ And I was fine in three days,” he said.

He felt the experience was a “wake-up call” about the media.

“It’s so dirty. It’s such a dirty business,” Rogan said. “God, I used to have massive respect for journalists. If I had never done this podcast, I would be your regular schmo out there with, you know, just spitting out all the company lines and all the blast all over the news.”

“I kind of liked it better then,” he added. “I didn’t think the world is filled with demons, money-hungry demons that are willing to sacrifice human lives in the pursuit of revenue.”

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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.

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