Dwayne Johnson has done a U-turn on the support he had voiced for Joe Rogan since learning about the podcaster's 'n-word' controversy.
Last week, the 49-year-old former WWE Champion showed support for Rogan after the latter issued an apology and explanation for divisive episodes of his podcast.
Music stars such as Neil Young and Joni Mitchell requested to have their music pulled from Spotify over comments made on Rogan's podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience.
Rogan, 54, had come under fire over his discussions regarding the ongoing pandemic on the Spotify-exclusive podcast - particularly the recent episodes that feature interviews with Dr. Robert Malone (#1757) and Dr. Peter McCullough (#1747).
In response to the backlash, Rogan took to Instagram to share a near-10-minute video explaining his side of the story, and how he aims to "do better".
You can check out Rogan's response below:At the time, one of the biggest stars to voice support Rogan was Jumanji star The Rock, who commented: "Great stuff here brother. Perfectly articulated."
Johnson then hinted at a future appearance on Rogan's show, writing: "Look forward to coming on one day and breaking out the tequila with you."
However, that appearance may be on hold.
Yesterday, Rogan posted a second apology, this time in response to a viral video showing Rogan repeatedly using the 'n-word' in public appearances and on his podcast.
The 29-second clip has been widely shared on platforms like Twitter, amassing millions of views in the process. It shows a compilation of times in the past when Rogan has used the slur. In fact, the video shows Rogan saying the word two-dozen times.
You can watch Rogan's second apology video below:While Rogan stated that the clips were "taken out of context", he insisted he no longer uses the word, adding: "It’s not my word to use, I’m well aware of that now."
The podcast host added: "I can’t go back in time and change what I’ve said, I wish I could, obviously that’s not possible, but I do hope that this can be a teachable moment for anybody that doesn’t realize how offensive that word can be coming out of a white person’s mouth, in context or out of context.
"My sincere and humble apologies. I wish there was more that I could say."
In response to the compilation video, author Don Winslow took to Twitter to question Jonshon's previous support for Rogan. Winslow wrote:
"Dear @TheRock, You're a hero to many people and using your platform to defend Joe Rogan, a guy that used and laughed about using the N word dozens of times, is a terrible use of your power.
"Have you actually listened to this man's many racist statements about Black people?"
In response, Johnson - who self identifies as Black and Samoan - said:
"Dear @donwinslow
"Thank you so much for this [...] I hear you as well as everyone here 100%
"I was not aware of his N word use prior to my comments, but now I've become educated to his complete narrative. Learning moment for me."Mahalo, brother and have a great & productive weekend. DJ"
Meanwhile, The Independent has reported that Spotify has "quietly" removed 113 episodes of Rogan's podcast since criticism erupted.
