Andrew Yang, a businessman and former Democratic presidential candidate, is walking back his comments made on Twitter that defended Joe Rogan, after a 5-minute compilation clip of the popular podcaster using the N-word was shared on social media.
Yang tweeted Sunday, “I don’t think Joe Rogan is a racist — the man interacts with and works with black people literally all of the time.”
From NBC News:
Yang’s comments came one day after Rogan, who has been the center of controversy regarding Covid-19 and vaccine misinformation on his Spotify podcast, issued a public apology for his past use of racial slurs.
In a five-minute video shared on Instagram on Saturday he said, “I never used it to be racist.” He said though he used the N-word in the past, he hasn’t used it in years, calling his behavior “the most regretful and shameful thing that I’ve ever had to talk about publicly.”
Yang’s tweet guarding Rogan was met with criticism, including disappointment from Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison, who tweeted, “Dude… seriously?! You joking right Andrew? Is that now the new defining line… working with folks?!”
As a result, Yang tweeted out a thread apologizing for his defense of Rogan.
“I like to believe the best of people - especially if I’ve met and spent time with that person. Sometimes it makes me miss something. I think we should have the capacity to forgive people - whether a podcaster or a mayor - if they mess up. Maybe it’s because I mess up too,” Yang wrote on Twitter.
He added, “Racism is real, deep, corrosive and even lethal. I know that. I made a mistake in an earlier tweet tonight that downplayed these realities.”
He also wrote, “I deleted the tweet because it was wrong-headed. It also hurt people, which is never my intent. I’m sorry. I’m learning and appreciate those who reached out to express their feelings.”
These tweets are just a small part of the Joe Rogan controversy that has lasted for weeks.
Earlier this week, The Rock also walked back his comments in support of Rogan after the now-infamous video of Rogan using the word “nigger” on multiple episodes of his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience.
Rogan posted an “apology” video to Instagram trying to clarify his use of the racial slur. Poorly I might add.
According to CNN, as a result, Spotify has had to remove more than 100 episodes of Rogan’s podcast off their streaming service. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek in an internet memo to Spotify staffers said Rogan’s comments do not “represent the values of this company.”
After days of the racist compilation video surfacing on social media, Grammy-award-winning singer India Arie shared that she would be removing her discography from Spotify.
This came days after other artists removed their music from the streaming service because of the COVID-19 misinformation Rogan has been disseminating on his podcast for months.
Not to mention, as previously reported by The Root, Rogan said in a recent episode of his podcast that only “100 percent” African people should be called Black, which was met with a clap back from The Daily Show host Trevor Noah.