Spotify CEO says he won't 'silence' Joe Rogan after viral video showed podcaster repeatedly using N-word on show

• Spotify CEO Daniel Ek sent a staff memo Sunday amid fresh controversy around podcaster Joe Rogan.
• It came after a viral video showed Rogan using the N-word multiple times in old episodes of his show.

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek on Sunday defended Joe Rogan after a viral video on Friday showed the podcaster using the N-word multiple times on his show.

"I do not believe that silencing Joe is the answer," Ek said Sunday in a staff memo first reported by Axios' Sara Fischer.

On Friday, Grammy-winning singer-songwriter India Arie posted a compilation video of Rogan using the N-word multiple times across older episodes of his show. Rogan used the slur 24 times across the 23 clips used in Arie's video. Rogan released an apology Saturday.

Spotify paid a reported sum of more than $100 million to acquire the rights to Rogan's show, which was added to the platform in September 2020.

Ek said Sunday that his company had held conversations with Rogan about his past use of "racially insensitive language" and that Rogan had chosen to remove an undisclosed number of episodes from Spotify.

In his memo Sunday, Ek told staffers he was "deeply sorry" for "the way The Joe Rogan Experience controversy continues to impact each of you."

"I know this situation leaves many of you feeling drained, frustrated and unheard," Ek said. "While I strongly condemn what Joe has said and I agree with his decision to to remove past episodes from our platform, I realize some will want more."

Ek continued: "I want to make one point very clear — I do not believe that silencing Joe is the answer. We should have clear lines around content and take action when they are crossed, but canceling voices is a slippery slope."

Ek said in the memo that Spotify had committed to an "incremental investment" of $100 million for developing artists from "historically marginalized groups."

Rogan was previously the subject of a backlash for spreading COVID-19 misinformation on his show, prompting artists Neil Young and Joni Mitchell to demand that their their music be removed from the platform.

Ek has had to deal with fallout from Rogan's show before. Vice reported in September 2020 that Ek fielded concerns from employees over transphobic content on Rogan's show, and in October 2020 the company faced a backlash after Rogan hosted far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

In an all-hands meeting last week, Ek told Spotify staff that content like Rogan's was crucial to the company's "bold ambitions," as reported by The Verge.

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