Jon Stewart Says the Overreaction to Joe Rogan Is a Mistake: ‘Don’t Leave. Don’t Censor, Engage’

Former Daily Show host Jon Stewart defended podcaster Joe Rogan this week and advised artists to resist pulling their work from Spotify in protest of him.

“This is going to be a blanket statement,” Stewart began during an episode of his podcast The Problem with Jon Stewart. “And I would say this: Don’t leave, don’t abandon, don’t censor, engage. I’m not saying it’s it’s always going to work out fruitfully, but I am always of the mindset that engagement, and especially with someone like a Joe Rogan who is not, in my mind, an ideologue in any way.”

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Stewart pointed out a time when Rogan discussed myocarditis in kids with Josh Szeps and how Rogan adjusted his position upon learning new facts on the show.

“Joe just went, like, ‘Ah, I didn’t know, I didn’t get that,'” Stewart said. “And that, to me, says that’s a person that you can engage with. And so, I think all the overblown rhetoric about him.”

“And here’s the other thing,” Stewart added. “‘You’re a musician, like how much misinformation is spread by — like, Eric Clapton is on the platforms that you’re on, and he’s a fucking psycho. Do you remove yourself from every platform?'”

Stewart concluded that misinformation should be fought elsewhere against serious bad actors.

“My point is, we all exist in this world and on this planet, and there’s no question that there is egregious misinformation that’s purposeful and hateful and all those other things,” the former Comedy Central star said. “And that being moderated is a credit to the platforms that run them. But this overreaction to Rogan, I think is a mistake. I really do.”

“I’m more worried about the algorithm of misinformation than the purveyor of misinformation,” he added. “Misinformation will always be out there, but if the algorithm drives people further and further down the rabbit hole, the algorithm is the amplifier and the catalyst of extremism.”

Jon Stewart generated left-wing ire last June when he said the lab leak origin theory for the coronavirus pandemic had merit during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

“I think we owe a great debt of gratitude to science. Science has, in many ways, helped ease the suffering of this pandemic, which was more than likely caused by science,” Stewart said.

He later added:

“Oh my God, there’s a novel respiratory coronavirus overtaking Wuhan, China. What do we do? Oh, you know who we could ask, the Wuhan novel respiratory coronavirus lab. The disease is the same name as the lab. That’s just a little too weird, don’t you think? And then they ask those scientists, they’re like…’So, wait a minute, you work at the Wuhan respiratory coronavirus lab, how did this happen?’ And they’re like, ‘Uhh, a pangolin kissed a turtle?’”

“‘Oh my God, there’s been an outbreak of chocolatey goodness near Hershey, Penn. What do you think happened?’ I don’t know, maybe a steam shovel mated with a cocoa bean,” he said. “Or it’s the fucking chocolate factory! Maybe that’s it!”