(The Hill) — Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has issued an apology over his initial support of Joe Rogan, saying he wasn’t aware of the popular podcast host’s use of racial slurs.
In a tweet on Friday, Johnson shared he was not aware of Rogan’s use of the “N” word after he publicly supported Rogan’s response to the recent controversy surrounding his podcast promoting COVID-19 misinformation.
“Thank you so much for this,” Johnson replied to a tweet from author Don Winslow.
“I hear you as well as everyone here 100% I was not aware of his N-word use prior to my comments, but now I’ve become educated to his complete narrative. Learning moment for me.”
Rogan apologized over the weekend for his use of the slur, saying he wished he had said things differently or not at all.
Spotify has removed more than 70 episodes of Rogan’s podcast from the platform. The company hasn’t officially explained why the content was taken down.
Rogan initially had come under criticism for spreading misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines, which had led Neil Young, India Arie, Joni Mitchell and others to remove their music catalogs from the internet streaming platform.
In a response last month, Rogan promised he will “try to balance out these more controversial viewpoints with other people’s perspectives” on his podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience,” the LA Times reported.
“Great stuff here brother,” Johnson commented to Rogan’s statement. “Perfectly articulated. Look forward to coming on one day and breaking out the tequila with you.”
Arie recently shared a video montage of Rogan saying the N-word 20 times on his podcast.
“I’m not racist, but whenever you’re in a situation where you have to say ‘I’m not racist,’ you f— up, and I clearly have f— up,” Rogan said in a statement. “I can’t go back in time and change what I said, I wish I could, obviously that’s not possible, but I do hope this could be a teachable moment for anybody that doesn’t realize how offensive that word could be coming out of a white person’s mouth, in context or out of context.”
