Joe Rogan claims recent controversies surrounding his podcast led to a boost in subscriptions.- His show came under fire earlier this year following an interview with $4.
Joe Rogan said the $4 surrounding his show hasn't deterred the podcast's fanbase — instead, he claims his listenership grew by millions amid the uproar.
"It's interesting, my subscriptions went up massively — that's what's crazy," Rogan told Douglas Murray, a British political commentator, during Friday's episode of "
"During the height of it all, I gained 2 million subscribers," he continued.
"I'm so pleased for you, I'm pleased for everyone actually," Murray told Rogan in response. "When I watched what they were doing to you I just thought 'as long as you survive this something is going to be okay in this world.'"
In January, over 200 scientists wrote a letter to Spotify claiming that Joe Rogan's podcast was spreading dangerous
Following the initial pushback from the scientific community, prominent musicians including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell pulled their music from Spotify in protest. Meanwhile, a video showing $4 in old podcast episodes went viral.
Spotify CEO's Daniel Ek $4, whose show is the top podcast in the world. The music streaming giant reportedly $4 for the exclusive rights to "The Joe Rogan Experience."
Spotify has since deleted an undisclosed number of episodes of the show and launched a content advisory warning on
As for Rogan's response, he has promised to make his show more balance and "try harder to get people with differing opinions."
"I'm not a doctor — I'm a fucking moron. I'm not a respected source of information," he said.