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Joe Rogan has once again found himself at the center of controversy over some comments he made on his podcast.
On Tuesday night, Rogan was accused of making anti-Semitic comments when he defended Rep. Ilhan Omar when she faced backlash for saying, “it’s all about the benjamins” when she was talking about America’s support of Israel.
“It’s just about money — she’s just talking about money,”
“That’s not an anti-Semitic statement, I don’t think that is,” “Benjamins are money.
“The idea that Jewish people are not into money is ridiculous. That’s like saying Italians aren’t into pizza. It’s f—ing stupid. It’s f—ing stupid,”
.@joerogan saying “the idea that Jewish people are not into money is ridiculous. That’s like saying Italians aren’t into pizza” would make sense if Jews invented money and/or Italians had been massacred because of a conspiracy that they control the world through pizza. pic.twitter.com/odzZzFHIYG
— Ian Haworth (@ighaworth) February 7, 2023
Rogan was immediately accused of making anti-semitic comments by Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League.
“Disturbing that at a time of rising anti-Jewish violence, when growing numbers of Americans believe in antisemitic conspiracy theories,
@joerogan would use his immense platform to spew antisemitic tropes about Jews and money.”
“For centuries, people have used these longstanding tropes to spread vicious lies about the Jewish people. “Comedian” or not, Rogan’s comments are no joke.”
It didn’t take long for Rogan to begin trending on social media because people were angry with his comments.
This statement by Joe Rogan is blatantly and disgustingly antisemitic. It plays on one of the oldest, ugliest, and most dangerous antisemitic tropes. This is indefensible. pic.twitter.com/6Gt0IQ0Llo
— Marc Lamont Hill (@marclamonthill) February 8, 2023
I pay very little attention to @joerogan. But … as a Jew, this is pretty fucked-up. My dad was a CPA. My mom was a probation officer. Worked hard, saved, never wealthy. Busted ass to give their kids good lives, college educations. So—fuck you. https://t.co/6UErEpHPD0
— Jeff Pearlman (@jeffpearlman) February 8, 2023
Joe Rogan said: “the idea that Jews are not into money is ridiculous. That’s like saying Italians aren’t into pizza.”
Newsflash: The notion that interest in money is uniquely Jewish is Antisemitic garbage that should never be fed to an audience of millions.
— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) February 7, 2023
Rogan was later accused of sounding like Kanye West with his comments.
I’m shocked to discover the clip below of @joerogan indulging in vile antisemitism by flippantly insisting ‘Jews love money like Italians love pizza’
Joe, do you realize you sound just like @IlhanMN and Kanye?!
Dont you realize that your words foment Jew-hatred?!
Shame on you! https://t.co/nfD7k3GOur pic.twitter.com/wQFvwoNldM
— Dov Hikind (@HikindDov) February 7, 2023