Neil Young tells Spotify to delete his music over Joe Rogan’s ‘false information about vaccines’
‘They can have Rogan or Young. Not both’
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Neil Young has told Spotify to delete his music from the streaming service over their partnership with Joe Rogan.
In a now-deleted letter posted on his website on Monday (24 January), the 76-year-old singer wrote that he does not appreciate Spotify’s affiliation with Rogan and his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience, which is spreading “false information” regarding Covid-19 vaccines.
Addressing his management team at LookoutManagement and Warner Bros, Young wrote: “Please immediately inform Spotify that I am actively canceling all my music availability on Spotify as soon as possible.”
“I am doing this because Spotify is spreading false information about vaccines – potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them,” he wrote.
“Please act on this immediately today and keep me informed of the time schedule,” the letter added. “I want you to let Spotify know immediately today that I want all of my music off their platform.”
“They can have Rogan or Young. Not both,” he said.
The Independent has contacted Young, Rogan, and Spotify’s representatives for comment.
Earlier this year, hundreds of scientists and medical professionals asked Spotify to address Covid misinformation following a controversial Joe Rogan episode about vaccines.
Rogan, who has a reported $100m (£74m) podcast deal with the streaming giant, interviewed medical doctor Robert Malone, who claimed on his show that Americans were “hypnotised” into wearing masks and getting vaccines.
Malone also told The Joe Rogan Experience that the country suffered from “mass formation psychosis”, which psychology experts say is a concept that does not even exist.
Furthermore, in an April 2021 episode of his podcast, Rogan discouraged young people from getting vaccinated, saying: “If you’re like 21 years old, and you say to me, ‘Should I get vaccinated?’ I’ll go no.’”
He later walked back his comments, saying he was “not an anti-vax person” and that he was “not a respected source of information, even for me”.
Rogan has previously also promoted the concept of taking deworming medication Ivermectin to treat the virus, without providing any medical evidence supporting it.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments