Is UFC commentator Joe Rogan leaving Spotify?

There are no reports of Joe Rogan leaving Spotify despite having several episodes of his podcast taken down by the platform. The $100 million multi-year exclusive licensing deal between Rogan and Spotify seems to stand strong even as episodes of the JRE podcast continue to be taken down.

UFC commentator Joe Rogan's Spotify deal is set to make him a very rich man. https://t.co/4Y1gFpiUP6 #MMA

— Sportskeeda MMA (@sportskeedaMMA) October 8, 2020

According to recent reports, at least 42 different Joe Rogan Experience podcast episodes were found missing from Spotify, now the exclusive platform for the show. Such episodes include Rogan’s conversations with Brian Redban, David Seaman, Chris D’Elia, Gavin McInnes, Milo Yiannopoulos, Eddie Bravo, and Dave Asprey.

Spotify has offered no explanation for the removals or even addressed the repeated complaints from Rogan fans. Joe Rogan, on the other hand, has confirmed that Spotify removed certain shows as a condition of their $100 million agreement with him. Rogan told guest Fahim Anwar in a recent episode of his podcast:

"There were a few episodes they didn’t want on their platform, and I was like ‘okay, I don’t care.'"

Spotify employees want Joe Rogan fired

According to a recent report, anonymous Spotify employees are once again outraged with the Joe Rogan Experience, which was America’s most popular podcast in 2020. Employee complaints, however, fall on deaf ears of company executives who paid the 53-year-old comedian more than $100 million to stream exclusively on the platform.

As reported by Insider, a Spotify employee wrote on an internal working channel on the app called FishBowl:

“I’m personally bothered by his transphobic comments and am concerned with the way he might spread misinformation.”

However, this is not the first time Spotify employees have expressed their concern about the polarizing host. In September, an unknown number of employees at Spotify threatened a full-blown strike if the service didn't grant them direct editorial oversight of The Joe Rogan Experience. While Spotify didn't cave to the demands, the removal of episodes could be seen as a result of the strike.

However, others claim that there is only a minority of people at Spotify who are displeased with Joe Rogan. But their numbers were sufficient to merit a town hall meeting in September to address transphobic accusations about the UFC color commentator.