The Spotify CEO Daniel Ek told employees that they will not cut ties with Joe Rogan despite controversies.
The streaming platform has faced nothing but backlash since artists and users have tried to cancel the service for being so closely affiliated with Joe Rogan.
The CEO said that while he strongly condemns Rogan’s use of racial slurs, he will not silence the podcaster.
“While I strongly condemn what Joe has said and I agree with his decision to remove past episodes from our platform, I realize some will want more,” Ek wrote.
“And I want to make one point very clear — I do not believe that silencing Joe is the answer.”
Ek confirmed that Spotify “should have clear lines around content and take action when they are crossed, but canceling voices is a slippery slope.”
After thousands of requests to comment on the content Rogan has been producing, that’s now available on Spotify, the streaming platform has removed a number of podcast episodes but claims that was not their decision.
Ek and his team spoke with Rogan about the shows content “including his history of using some racially insensitive language.”
“Following these discussions and his own reflections, he chose to remove a number of episodes from Spotify,” Ek said.
