The Rock Awkwardly Changes Tune On Joe Rogan Over Resurfaced Tweets

Joe Rogan became mired in controversy after musical artists such as Neil Young and Joni Mitchell threatened to pull their music from Spotify unless "The Joe Rogan Experience" was removed from the platform for allegedly spreading misinformation about COVID-19. The wildly popular podcaster addressed the controversy in a nearly 10-minute video posted to Instagram on January 30. He spoke about diversifying his roster of guests in the future in order to present a more balanced viewpoint. "If there's anything that I've done that I could do better, it's having more experts with differing opinions right after I have the controversial ones," Rogan said in the clip. A throng of followers responded with support in the comment section including Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. "Great stuff here brother. Perfectly articulated," the actor wrote. "Look forward to coming on one day and breaking out the tequila with you."

By February 5, Rogan found himself amidst controversy once again as a compilation video of him using the N-word on his podcast in the past went viral. Once more, the podcaster used Instagram to post a video that addressed his past use of the slur. "It looks f***ing horrible. Even to me," Rogan admitted. The UFC commentator explained he "wasn't trying to be racist," and mentioned how the compilation made his use of the slur appear worse than it was. "I thought as long as it was in context, people would understand what I was doing," Rogan added. 

This time around, The Rock did not offer supportive words.

Author Don Winslow disapproved of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's support of Joe Rogan and tweeted at the Hollywood A-lister on February 4. "Have you actually listened to this man's many racist statements about Black people?" Winslow wrote. Although Johnson had previously publicly supported Rogan, he had a change of heart about the podcaster. "I was not aware of his N word use prior to my comments, but now I've become educated to his complete narrative," Johnson tweeted in response to the novelist. "Learning moment for me," the "Red Notice" star added. Shortly after, Johnson found himself in hot water as insensitive statements from his past went viral.

A clip from The Rock's days in the WWE was shared on social media where he mockingly spoke fake Chinese while in the ring with an opponent. "Thank you @TheRock for speaking out against racism," podcaster Tim Pool snarkily wrote while sharing the offensive clip on February 5. That was not the only questionable material from the actor's past that caused a stir.

Donald Trump Jr. posted a screenshot of a transphobic tweet the former wrestler posted in 2011. "[Y]ou can't just try to quietly delete transphobic attacks without giving a groveling apology," Trump tweeted on February 5 while tagging Johnson. Even Caitlyn Jenner weighed in on Johnson's unearthed tweet. "Hmmmm... the double standard is real," she wrote in reply to Trump. "Cancel culture has got to go," she added, seemingly referencing the actor's comments about Rogan.