Joe Rogan’s polarizing nature is tearing the world of comedy apart. Over the weekend Spotify reportedly removed more than 100 episodes of Rogan’s podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, after a video compilation of him using the N-word was widely shared on social media.

Rogan apologized for his use of the slur in an Instagram video, stating that he is “not racist,” had not used that language in many years, and that the video compilation had been taken out of context. “Whenever you’re in a situation where you have to say, ‘I’m not racist,’ you fucked up, and I clearly have fucked up,” Rogan said. 

Despite Rogan’s rampant spreading of COVID misinformation and blatant use of the slur, comedians like Jon Stewart and Whitney Cummings have come to his defense, tweeting out their support of the controversial podcast host. Just one day before the video compilation of Rogan went viral, Stewart expressed his support for Rogan on his podcast, The Problem With Jon Stewart, saying that musicians like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell—who have chosen to remove their music from Spotify until Rogan is deplatformed—are overreacting. “There’s no question that there is egregious misinformation that’s purposeful and hateful, and that being moderated is a credit to the platforms that run them,” Stewart said. “But this overreaction to Rogan, I think, is a mistake.” Stewart has yet to comment on Rogan’s liberal use of the N-word.  

“Don’t look to why so many people trust joe Rogan, look to why so few people trust the mainstream media,” tweeted Cummings, cocreator of 2 Broke Girls, the day Rogan posted his apology. The next day she doubled down on the sentiment, tweeting, “Comedians did not sign up to be your hero. It’s our job to be irreverent and dangerous, to question authority and take you through a spooky mental haunted house so you can arrive at your own conclusions. Stay focused on the people we pay taxes to to be moral leaders.”

Cummings’s tweet quickly became a Twitter meme, with comedians like Billy Eichner and Akilah Green satirizing her seemingly earnest sentiment. “A comedian’s job is to stop New Yorkers on the street and ask them if they have any thoughts about Michelle Pfeiffer,” Eichner tweeted. “End of discussion.” 

“A comedian’s job is to create irreverent, dangerous material that questions authority, tuck that material away in your morning pages journal, and make 2 Broke Girls,” tweeted Green, the Emmy-nominated cowriter of A Black Lady Sketch Show.

Since the video compilation of Rogan went viral, other high-profile celebrities have changed their stance on Rogan and his show. After initially publicly supporting Rogan, Dwayne Johnson withdrew his support for the podcaster once the video compilation surfaced. “I was not aware of his N word use prior to my comments, but now I’ve become educated to his complete narrative,” tweeted Johnson in a reply to New York Times best-selling author Don Winslow. “Learning moment for me.” 

As for Spotify, the company’s chief executive, Daniel Ek, sent a memo to staff on Sunday night, addressing Rogan’s past use of the racial slur. Per CNN, though Ek wrote that he found Rogan’s comments “incredibly hurtful” and that they “do not represent the values of this company,” he said he did not believe “silencing” the podcaster was the solution. 

Ek wrote that Spotify had taken part in “conversations with Joe and his team about some of the content in his show, including his history of using some racially insensitive language,” adding that Rogan was the one who chose to remove the episodes from the streaming service.  

In 2020, Spotify struck a deal with Rogan to exclusively carry his podcast on its platform. According to The Wall Street Journal, the deal was reportedly worth more than $100 million. In the memo, Ek said that he would pledge “an incremental investment of $100 million for the licensing, development, and marketing of music (artists and songwriters) and audio content from historically marginalized groups.”

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