Ben Shapiro says Joe Rogan is being attacked because he's "too powerful a voice"

Joe Rogan's podcast is once again at the heart of controversy due to the use of racial slurs. Several music icons have pulled their music from Spotify in protest against the platform's support for Rogan.

American conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro believes the recent fiasco is a deliberate attempt by the left to "de-platform" Rogan. According to Shapiro, Rogan's reach among fans is the reason behind this campaign to tarnish his image.

Shapiro recently said on The Ben Shapiro Show:

"If you didn't have a problem with anything Joe Rogan said ten years ago and said nothing about it ten years ago, shut the 'F' up now. Because we all understand what this is, which is an attempt to de-platform Rogan. The entire goal here is to unperson Rogan. We all get that. This is not a well motivated attempt to change Joe Rogan's thinking. It's an attempt to destroy Joe Rogan because he is too powerful a voice. Because he has tens of millions of listeners every week, that's why."

Watch Shapiro give his take on Rogan's controversy below:

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Spotify is deleting episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience

Rogan recently came under criticism for inviting outspoken anti-vaxxers Dr. Robert Malone and Dr. Peter McCullough to his podcast. A group of doctors complained to Spotify, accusing Rogan of spreading misinformation. Popular folk artists Neil Young and Joni Mitchell also took down their music from the platform.

Dave Crosby and Stephen Sills also joined the growing list of artists to protest against Rogan's podcast. Musician India Arie gave rise to fresh controversy by circulating a compilation where Rogan repeatedly uses the 'N-word'.

Issuing an apology, the UFC color commentator said in an Instagram video:

"I know that to most people, there is no context where a white person is ever allowed to say that word, never mind publicly on a podcast, and I agree with that now. I haven't said it in years. It's a very unusual word, but it's not my word to use. I never used it to be racist, because I'm not racist, but whenever you're in a situation where you have to say 'I'm not racist,' you've f***ed up, and I clearly have f***ed up."

Watch Rogan's apology below:

Spotify has quietly removed 110 episodes of Rogan's podcast since he issued the apology. According to the platform's chief executive Daniel Ek, the episodes were taken down at Rogan's will.