Now Playing
After India.Arie announced last week that she was pulling her music from Spotify partly because of racist language used by podcast host Joe Rogan on the streaming service, she followed up by sharing clips of Rogan previously using the N-word.
The four-time Grammy winner posted edited footage of YouTube clips to her Instagram Stories Highlights showing Rogan using the racial slur several times.
Rogan responded on Instagram by saying the clips were taken out of context, but acknowledged, “It looks f****** horrible, even to me.”
He added. “I never used it to be racist because I’m not racist. But whenever you’re in a situation where you have to say, ‘I’m not racist,’ you’ve f***** up. And I clearly have f***** up.”
In announcing she was removing her music from Spotify, Arie said, “One [reason] is the Joe Rogan conversation, and for me his language around race and some of the things I’ve seen and heard, but also coupled with that, there is the treatment of artists by Spotify.” The “Strength, Courage & Wisdom” singer added that the platform underpays musical artists, and that she doesn’t want to support a company that prioritizes giving Rogan a hefty salary.
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek wrote in a memo Sunday to employees that he was “deeply sorry” for how the Rogan controversy has affected them. Spotify has also removed 70 past episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience, with Ek’s memo saying Rogan “chose to remove a number of episodes from Spotify.” Ek further said the Rogan podcast will continue.
In responding to the criticism of Spotify, Ek also announced that the company is “committing to an incremental investment of $100 million for the licensing, development, and marketing of music and audio content from historically marginalized groups.”
Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
