*Joe Rogan returned to the stand-up stage Tuesday night and made time to mock some of his latest controversies.
Rogan headlined an intimate show in Austin, Texas, and addressed the viral video of him using the N-word on his podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience.”
“I used to say it if [I was talking about] a Richard Pryor bit or something, I would say it in context,” Rogan said, as reported by THR. “Somebody made a compilation of every time I said that word over 14 years and they put it on YouTube, and it turned out that was racist as fuck. Even to me! I’m me and I’m watching it saying, ‘Stop saying it!’ I put my cursor over the video and I’m like, ‘Four more minutes?!’
“I haven’t used that word in years,” he added. “But it’s kind of weird people will get really mad if you use that word and tweet about it on a phone that’s made by slaves,” he said before seguing into a bit about labor conditions at overseas cellphone factories, per THR.
READ MORE: Donald Trump Urges Joe Rogan to Quit Apologizing: ‘Don’t Let Them Make You Look Weak’
Later, he mocked the hysteria over his COVID-19 vaccine stance.
“I talk sh*t for a living — that’s why this is so baffling to me,” he said. “If you’re taking vaccine advice from me, is that really my fault? What dumb shit were you about to do when my stupid idea sounded better? ‘You know that dude who made people eat animal dicks on TV? How does he feel about medicine?’ If you want my advice, don’t take my advice.”
Rogan previously said on his podcast that the criticism is part of “a political hit job
“In a lot of ways, this is a relief,” Rogan said to his podcast guest, comic Akaash Singh. “That video [of Rogan saying the N-word in his podcast over the years] had always been out there. This is a political hit job. They’re taking all this stuff I’ve ever said that’s wrong and smushing it all together. It’s good because it makes me address some stuff that I really wish wasn’t out there.”
Rogan added, “You should apologize if you regret something. I do think you have to be careful not to apologize for nonsense.”
Singh replied, “Real life is people who know you and you’re a great guy. … On a podcast where you’re talking for hours on end, I have said shit about every demographic of human beings possible and I regret every one that was, like … not funny. … The punishment is, everybody hears it, and I’m an asshole. But I can’t stop shooting, I can’t stop swinging.”
“Over time, people will understand you,” Rogan responded. “They know you. If you misstep, they know what you’re trying to do — you’re not a vicious person, you’re just trying to be funny.”
Meanwhile, former President Trump has urged Rogan to stop apologizing.
“Joe Rogan is an interesting and popular guy, but he’s got to stop apologizing to the Fake News and Radical Left maniacs and lunatics,” Trump said. “How many ways can you say you’re sorry?”
