Rogan’s Jews

What the shock jock doesn’t get about antisemitic conspiracies.

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Joe Rogan. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images.)

Dear Reader (except those of you too busy with your darkness retreats),

“You know who loves fried chicken? Black people. You know who else loves fried chicken? Everyone. Because it’s delicious.”

I tried to find the exact comedian who told this joke the way I remember it,

but apparently it’s a pretty common riff in one form or another. Michael Che has one, Ralphie May another, Dave Chapelle another. 

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  1. Avatar photo
    Peter_Shalen

    I did not know who Joe Rogan was before I read Mr. Goldberg's piece. I made a number of comments on this page to the effect that I found it odd that Mr. Goldberg denied that Rogan is an antisemite after so clearly establishing that he is one. For reasons that I can't make head or tail of, a number of people disagreed with me. Now I have received a notification from the organization Stop Antisemitism that they have named Rogan "antisemite of the week," and their piece on him makes it pretty plain that he is a vile all-around bigot:

    https://www.stopantisemitism.org/antisemite-of-the-week-10/joe-rogan-the-podcaster-pushing-jewish-power

    Shame on all the people who defended him.

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    O.M.G. calling from Vaudeville, AZ

    “Shock joke!?” All men are prejudiced. It’s how one acts in responses to one’s own hardwiring that makes it good, bad or indifferent. Joe Rogan is not an antisemite because he loves bagels too. Gotta run on. Viva Jonah. Peace through superior mental firepower

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    Ben Connelly

    I think Rogan is funny, but man he stepped in it this time. I hope he apologizes.

    “ For instance, even if you believe that Italian people invented pizza and love it more than everyone else, the fact remains Jews didn’t invent money.”

    Ok that made me laugh.

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  4. Jmackanos

    Jonah, I just want to tell you how much I enjoy reading your newsletters. For one thing, I usually learn something new. But I always, always laugh at something you've said, even when you are talking about (or explaining) something not-so-funny. Like antisemitism. The world seems to be such an overwhelmingly depressing place these days, so I just wanted to tell you I appreciate your humor immensely. (P.S. being an animal-lover, the updates on the canines are also always a high point!)

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    1. Avatar photo
      Ben Connelly

      I agree! I always learn something and I almost always laugh (sometimes uncontrollably). Reading the G-File is sometimes the highlight of my week.

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  5. Avatar photo
    Peter_Shalen

    After commenting extensively on this thread, I learned that Rogan's antisemitic outburst was even worse than I had thought after reading Mr. Goldberg's column. After saying that that Jewish people are not into money as Italians aren’t into pizza, he added "There’s many people that have that opinion, and they should be represented." Apparently this is a new twist on the Roman Hruska principle: not only do mediocre people deserve representation, but antisemites also deserve representation. Wow.

    I've been thinking about why Mr. Goldberg would say that he doesn't consider Rogan an antisemite. I suppose there is some sort of sense among some of my fellow Jews that if they point out too many antisemites, they will be accused of calling everyone an antisemite. Of course not everyone is an antisemite, but many people are, including this fellow Rogan. And being squeamish about pointing this out is harmful. If one says he is not an antisemite, it gives respectability to his antisemitism, and encourages others to follow his example. I urge Mr. Goldberg to retract his statement letting Rogan off the hook.

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  6. Ben Kissling

    "Norwegians eat 11 pounds of pizza a year."

    Those are rookie numbers.

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  7. Engage

    "I don’t think Rogan is an antisemite, and I don’t think he should be canceled. I do think he’s often proudly ignorant and something of a hypocrite..."

    I'm convinced that people who criticize Rogan haven't spent much/any time listening to him and, more importantly, don't understand who he is and what he does.

    I've listened to dozens of his podcasts. During election season I listen to the politicians smart enough to go on his show (He has an enormous audience), like Gabbard, Yang & Sanders did last election cycle. I also have listened to several with cultures warriors and/or IDW personalities to name a few. People who criticize Rogan say he isn't a real journalist or he's not an intellectual (he agrees with both, BTW). What people should compare him to is talk show hosts. That's what he does - he gets people to talk for 2 to 3 hours at a time. At the end of his show, you know a lot about his guest and whatever position(s) they hold.

    And truth be told, he is a smart guy, but like all us, he says stupid shit from time-to-time and, again, like all of us, he doesn't know everything.

    I suggest people look at a list of his podcasts and when/if you see a guest that interests you, give it a listen decide for yourself.

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      Peter_Shalen

      So you are asking me to believe that Rogan's antisemitic outburst was a case of "say[ing] stupid shit," and that he somehow didn't mean what he said. I have a hard time imagining such a thing, but for the sake of discussion let me suspend disbelief and assume that it happened. What would be the next step? A great many people have pointed out that his words constituted a disgusting display of antisemitism. If he somehow didn't mean what he said, he would presumably say so, and beg forgiveness.

      As far as I can tell he has not done so. Given that his original outburst occurred in the context of saying Omar should not have apologized for *her* disgusting antisemitic statements, I suppose this is not surprising. He seems quite sincere in his antisemitism, even if he is stupid enough to think it's something other than antisemitism.

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        This comment has been deleted

      2. Engage

        I started with a quote from Jonah: "I don’t think Rogan is an antisemite..."

        And I believe that to be true. I've listened to dozens of his podcasts and Judaism hasn't come up that I can remember. I don't think it's a central theme of his, but hey, as a guy that's listened to dozens of his podcasts I could be wrong. Please, find more examples, point them out to me, and prove me wrong.

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          Peter_Shalen

          So he doesn't mention Jews often, but when he does, he does it in a way that shows he's an antisemite. What's the point? That his antisemitism is not of the same obsessive variety as Omar's? I'll accept that.

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          1. Engage

            My point was: listen to the man. Watch/listen to his podcasts. Don't judge him on one fucking thing he said. We could all be judged poorly because of something stupid we said - yes, you to. Don't deny it. If you want to truly know if Rogan is an antisemite, you'll need to invest time and listen to him and not base your opinion on a single article. Go do that and then report back.

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  8. Joe1776

    I can understand why Jews were hated in ancient times. Of course, my "understanding" that does not mean I think it was justified.

    But I really don't understand why Jew Hatred continues to the extent it does in Europe and the US. Jewish people disproportionately suffer hate crimes and it is not even close. It is just so odd.

    If I find out someone hates Jews I tend to take that as a red flag that there is some real evil going on. I mean not that we should hate Christians, Muslims or Buddhists or anyone else. But it just seems so gratuitous to hate Jewish people.

    According to the ADL countries in the middle East and N. Africa are currently the most anti-Semitic.

    https://global100.adl.org/map

    Its not perfect but there might be at least some truth behind the numbers.

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    1. CB76

      "countries in the middle East and N. Africa"

      Hmmm, what's the common denominator there, what could it be, what could it be ...

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  9. Bdecicco2001

    "So, just in case it’s not clear, Omar wasn’t claiming that money-grubbing Hebrews were the problem. She was saying that the Jews are too free-spending with their shmundo when it comes to Israel, lavishly raining Benjamins on the Gentiles to protect Israel, who eagerly accept Big Jews’ blood money. "

    Not in the slightest. She was talking about money. AIPAC is a powerful group, and opposing them is dangerous.

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    C C Writer

    Sorry, but who's this Joe Rogan when he's at home? [that's a British colloquialism, sort of a humorous way of saying "who's this guy anyway?" Referring to this old custom of people being "at home" or "not at home" to visitors even if they're physically there.]

    Don't answer that. I'm just making a point, which is that none of these supposedly well-known media personalities have so big an audience that mention of their names necessarily means anything to most of us. So I guess now I know something about him, but I just want it understood that doesn't mean I ever had any obligation to fulfil anyone's expectations in that area.

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