Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is no longer backing Joe Rogan after a video of the UFC commentator using the N-Word went viral.
Earlier this week, Rogan took to Instagram to post a nine minute video addressing accusations that his podcast ‘JRE’ was spreading misinformation concerning Covid-19.
The longtime UFC commentator admitted that he enjoys having “interesting conversations with people that have differing opinions”, and admitted he doesn’t “always get it right”, promising to “do better“. In response to his video, Joe Rogan garnered support from a number of notable personalities, including Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.
“Great stuff here brother. Perfectly articulated. Look forward to coming on one day and breaking out the tequila with you.”
However, after a video of Rogan using the N-Word on multiple occasions during previous podcast episodes went viral on the internet, ‘The Rock’ quickly denounced his support on Twitter.
Dear @donwinslow
Thank you so much for this
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.Mahalo, brother and have a great & productive weekend.
DJ https://t.co/3mBf85wRoe— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) February 5, 2022
“Dear @donwinslow, Thank you so much for this 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. Mahalo, brother and have a great & productive weekend.” – Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.
For his part, Joe Rogan has already issued a lengthy apology acknowledging that he “f*cked up” (see more on that here).
“I was also talking about how there’s not another word like it in the entire English language because it’s a word where only one group of people is allowed to use it, and they can use it in so many different ways. If a white person says that word, it’s racist and toxic.”
“But a Black person can use it, and it can be a punchline, it can be a term of endearment, it can be lyrics to a rap song, it can be a positive affirmation. It’s a very unusual word, but it’s not my word to use. I’m well aware of that now, but for years I used it in that manner.”
“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 f*cked up. And I clearly have f*cked up.”