Turns out Neil Young was right.
Offenders continue to offend, all you need to do is give them enough rope.
And Spotify's reaction...CRICKETS!
Sweden legendarily accepted Jewish refugees during World War II, but that tradition of looking out for your brother and sister obviously hasn't trickled down to the younger generation. I mean can't you at least SUSPEND the guy?
But really, you should cut him loose.
Come on, this happens all the time. Someone offends and...
The Dodgers fired Al Campanis in 1987 for racist remarks. We're in the midst of the #MeToo era, but when it comes to Jews, it's open season, LITERALLY! People keep killing them.
And it's not only Jews, it's Asians, and Blacks, statistically anti-Semitic attacks are way up. Spotify could take a stand, but...
Come on, Alex Jones was deplatformed, why not Joe Rogan?
We want to minimize this guy's exposure. We want to make him a pariah. Because he's a serial offender, and it's not like he's busy apologizing for his words, some UFC wanker came out and defended him!
Of course if you can Rogan his fans will blow back. But isn't that the problem, his fans taking his word as gospel and running with it? Come on, this guy is a fountain of conspiracy theories, racist language and inaccurate, and dangerous, medical advice. I'm not saying he doesn't have a right to say it, but he does not have a right to say it on Spotify. We want to marginalize voices like this, not encourage them!
And it's not like there's no precedent. Back in 1990, Geffen cut ties with the Geto Boys:
"'While it is not imperative that lyrical expressions of even our own Geffen artists reflect the personal values of Geffen Records, the extent to which 'The Geto Boys' album glamorizes and possibly endorses violence, racism and misogyny compels us to encourage Def American to select a distributor with a greater affinity for this musical expression.'"
And without major distribution the Geto Boys never broke through, never gained a large audience. This is exactly what should happen to Rogan. Just because he's got a lot of listeners and makes money...
So you paid him a big advance. Is money more important than people?
Maybe if the brass at Spotify were minorities they'd understand. You don't want to be caught driving while Black. And when people hear you're Jewish... Even worse, when they don't know you're Jewish it's amazing what they'll say. And some is pure hatred, but a lot is raw IGNORANCE!
Like Mr. Rogan himself. That's his defense, he's ignorant. That doesn't absolve someone of responsibility. The action sustains.
So someone else picks up Rogan... I'm not so sure that will instantly happen, with this history. And even if they do, he'll come with his past, which will taint the new distributor, and as we can tell, it's only a matter of time before Rogan offends again.
Everybody's into money. And Jews are no different from everybody else. This fiction that all Jews are avaricious and rich is just that, a made-up falsehood. As for Jews and money... They were bankers, because the Christians wouldn't allow them to have regular jobs. And now, centuries later, people still believe this trope.
And I don't think rehab would work with Rogan, because he's buoyed by his inane insane followers. Rogan thinks he's right. Think of all the people who didn't get vaccinated based on Rogan's advice and took Ivermectin and died. They may not be Aaron Rodgers, their stories may not be heard by everyone, then again, now they're not heard at all.
As for Neil Young...
Isn't this exactly why we have artists? People outside the system who speak truth to power? Well, today when every act tries to be a brand and sells out to the man at their earliest opportunity that stance is rarely found. Everybody on the inside knows it's not about money, it's about power. Sure, money can buy power, but one artist standing up can mow down a plethora of billionaires. Assuming their heart is true and they're coming from the right place, which Neil Young most certainly is.
And Joni Mitchell followed him overboard, she too cut ties with Spotify. I'll argue the absence of Joni's music will still have an effect long after Joe Rogan is gone and forgotten. That's what great's about music, when done right it is forever. Dead Sea Scrolls. Always waiting to be rediscovered.
I mean not even a peep from Spotify? No consequences? Not even a month off? Even Soupy Sales was suspended when he crossed the line and asked kids to go into their parents' wallets and send him "those little green pieces of paper."
But we've got Elon Musk...a businessman with no sense of culture, who should have studied some of the derided liberal arts to get a sense of culture and history. Musk thinks he's above the law, above reproach, and so far he's paid no price. Musk is letting everybody back on Twitter. And it's not an issue of free speech, Twitter is a private company, it can do what it wants, and now rumors and conspiracies are rampant. And they're having an effect, on vaccine adoption and so much more. And don't tell me you think vaccines are bogus and their detriments are worse than their touted benefits. You only believe this because wankers like Rogan and Musk spread falsehoods.
God, you've got Republicans even defending 1/6. WHICH WE ALL SAW LIVE IN REAL TIME! That's how bad it's gotten, people denying what's actually happened, rewriting history, trying to clean their résumé in real time. Trump lied, so they can too. And in a world where everybody's in their own silo, many people never hear the truth.
We have few artists, thus it's incumbent on companies to stand up and do the right thing. I mean where is the line?
Rogan keeps tarnishing Spotify's image. There's much more at stake than the money they've paid him. It's the whole damn company.
Rogan is an uneducated moron who needs to be woken up. And really, Spotify is the only power that can do this.
But the company is silent.
"Joe Rogan criticized for an antisemitic trope he used in defense of Rep. Ilhan Omar": lat.ms/3lq56sQ
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