Spotify Employees Reportedly Threatening To Strike If Spotify Doesn’t Censor Joe Rogan’s Podcast

joe rogan podcast spotify strike

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The Joe Rogan Experience podcast officially moved to Spotify on September 1 after Rogan and the streaming platform finalized a deal worth a reported $100 million in May for Spotify to be the exclusive home for the podcast.

As the news became public, Rogan was quick to explain that it’s just a “licensing deal” and Spotify “won’t have any creative control over the show.”

Well, on the day the podcast moved to Spotify, fans were quick to notice that not every past episode made it over in the move. Interviews with the controversial figures Alex Jones, David Seaman, Owen Benjamin, Milo Yiannopoulos, plus Chris D’Elia and Joey Diaz simply were not there.

Fast-forward to this week and now we have reports that Spotify employees are demanding editorial oversight of Joe Rogan after feeling “alienated” by controversial episodes.

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek claimed that he held a total of 10 meetings with various groups and individuals about their concerns, which primarily centered around Rogan’s July interview with Abigail Shrier, author of the book Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters, in which Rogan and Shrier dub the trans movement a “social contagion.”

The interview with Shrier is on the streaming platform and Ek didn’t budge after the 10 meetings, claiming the company wouldn’t yank the already public episodes in question.

While a more recent report from Digital Music News suggests some of the group’s demands have been met by Spotify management, some New York-based employees are talking about a high-profile walkout or strike.

“Some of the group’s demands have already been met by Spotify management, though a refusal to allow further changes is stirring talk of a high-profile walkout or strike. According to preliminary plans shared with Digital Music News, the strike would principally involve New York-based Spotify employees, and would be accompanied by protests outside Spotify’s Manhattan headquarters. Other aspects would involve media appearances and coordination with other activist organizations.”

Rogan may be a much, much richer man as a result of his new deal, but it hasn’t exactly been a smooth transition for the show, his fans, and his new friends at Spotify pushing the buttons.