Doctors Say Joe Rogan Is A 'Menace To Public Health' & Spotify Should Rein Him In On COVID
270 doctors say he's spreading misinformation to millions.
Joe Rogan, the comedian and occasional UFC commentator, is not a good source of COVID-19 information.
That's what 270 doctors say in a new open letter to Spotify, which calls on the streamer to rein in its No. 1 podcast host because of his frequent comments about vaccines and COVID-19.
"Joe Rogan has repeatedly spread misleading and false claims on his podcast, provoking distrust in science and medicine," the letter says.
The doctors say they want Spotify to establish a policy on misinformation so that it can moderate some of the potentially harmful claims on Rogan's show.
"This is not only a scientific or medical concern; it is a sociological issue of devastating proportions and Spotify is responsible for allowing this activity to thrive on its platform," the letter says.
Epidemiologist Katrine Wallace, who is one of the signatories on the letter, told Rolling Stone that Rogan is a "menace to public health" because of the unproven views he includes on his show.
"Having things like this on the Joe Rogan podcast gives a platform to these people and makes it a false balance. This is what really bothers me," she said.
Wallace and her colleagues brought the receipts in their letter, which cites various times when Rogan has entertained fringe ideas and conspiracy theories about COVID.
They point of that he's "discouraged vaccination in young people and children," misrepresented the way mRNA vaccines work, promoted the drug ivermectin as an unproven COVID treatment and recently hosted Dr. Robert Malone, who was suspended from Twitter for spreading misinformation about the pandemic.
The letter points out that Rogan's average listener is about 24 years old, and that some shows can be "mass-misinformation events" depending on the guest.
Rogan actually caught the virus last summer and claimed to have thrown "the kitchen sink" at it, using a combination of proven and unproven treatments.
He reportedly has an audience of about 11 million people and is the most popular host on Spotify.
Spotify has yet to respond to the doctors' letter.