Joe Rogan blasted the podcasting trade association that bizarrely tried to paint The Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro as a dangerous pariah, calling out the crackpots behind last month’s shocking attack as part of a woke cult.
Podcast Movement created the stir after Shapiro, host of the biggest political podcast in the country, stopped by a trade show in Dallas where the company he co-founded had bought a sponsor’s booth. Although Shapiro simply shook hands and posed for selfies with fans before leaving after a short time, Podcast Movement tweeted a series of groveling apologies for his mere presence.
“Folks, people are in a cult,” Rogan said during his Thursday show, in which he incredulously summarized the strange sequence of events. “They’re in a cult. You can’t entertain any views that are different from yours?”
“It’s just conversation,” he continued. “It’s like people have opinions on one side and people have opinions on the other side. But all they are doing is having conversations. It’s a f***ing podcast.”
WARNING: Some viewers may find the following video of @benshapiro at @PodcastMovement disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised. pic.twitter.com/hBL7kT8y7G
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) August 25, 2022
The podcast king read the entire tweet thread from Podcast Movement, including its apology for the “harm” caused by Shapiro sharing space and time with people who may not share his worldview. The over-the-top reaction is believed to have been prompted by the complaint of one person triggered by the sight of Shapiro.
“Afterwards, they release a statement talking about the ‘harm’ that that did, how they were not aware, like the people who ran this podcast thing, of the ‘harm’ in bringing in Ben Shapiro [and how] that was very dangerous to people,” he added.
Rogan blasting the podcast establishment is akin to Tom Brady trashing the NFL, and perhaps not coincidentally, Podcast Movement has taken down the tweets and replaced them with a trite new statement pledging policies of “inclusivity, diversity & respect for all.”
“It’s a journey,” the new statement says. “We’ll keep listening, keep growing together.”
Rogan noted Shapiro is a co-founder of The Daily Wire and had every reason to be at the show.
“This is bulls***,” Rogan railed. “To say it was a bad idea to let that guy {come] there is crazy. Of course it’s a good idea. It doesn’t mean you agree with everything he says.”
“We’re in a cult, folks,” he added. “There’s a mind-virus cult that took over half the f***ing country.”
Daily Wire co-CEO Jeremy Boreing blasted Podcast Movement at the news and entertainment company’s “Backstage” event Wednesday night, calling its actions ideological bigotry.
“There’s no one else in the world who would be subjected to this type of bigotry, and you get away with it,” Boreing said. “You could not treat a black man this way, you could not treat a lesbian woman this way, you could not treat anyone on the Left in this way … but you can treat a conservative this way with unadulterated bigotry on the page.”
.@JeremyDBoreing calls out @PodcastMovement for condemning @benshapiro for "his presence": "This is an outright act of bigotry." pic.twitter.com/M0ZPyIixND
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) September 1, 2022
Video of Shapiro at the event shows him cordially greeting approaching fans. While the host has jokingly referred to himself as “Darth Vader” in the wake of the incident, he told Wednesday’s audience that the Left’s effort to not only silence, but erase, all those with whom it disagrees is an ominous phenomenon.
“If you’re going to seek to destroy us, then we are not going to just sit here and be destroyed,” Shapiro said. “I do not acquiesce to the erasure of my own existence.”
Boreing said he tried to resolve the matter with one of the owners of Podcast Movement, but his demand of a public apology to Shapiro and The Daily Wire was spurned. Boreing called on podcasters, conservative or otherwise, to stand up for free speech.
“We will not allow Podcast Movement to continue to present itself as a neutral place,” he said. “If you’re a conservative podcaster, they don’t want you there … they don’t care to defend you,” Boreing added. “They want to make money off of your success while your political foes try to destroy you, and then they will watch you die.”