Neil Young wants his music off of streaming giant Spotify because it’s “spreading fake information about vaccines” through superstar podcaster Joe Rogan.
Young posted a letter on his website (it’s since been taken down) saying that the service is “potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them. Please act on this immediately today and keep me informed of the time schedule… I want you to let Spotify know immediately TODAY that I want all my music off their platform…They can have Rogan or Young. Not both.”
Young addressed the letter to his manager Frank Gironda and Warner Bros. co-chairman and Chief Operating Officer Tom Corson. Young is very serious about COVID-19 and its danger – in 2021 he pulled out of Farm Aid over safety concerns about the virus.
Rogan is ridiculously popular among men aged 18 to 34, and he gets called out for vaccine misinformation regularly. Recently, Australian TV personality Josh Szeps schooled Rogan on a claim that getting the vaccine is an unnecessary risk for young people. Check out that back and forth below.
Rogan later admitted that Zepps made him “look dumb.”
“If anyone was going to make me look dumb on the podcast, I’m glad it’s Josh Zepps,” Rogan tweeted, “because I love him, and he’s awesome.”
He went on to say that the exchange was a result of him trying to be in the moment about the topic and wing it.
“That video is cringe, but it’s what happens when you stumble in a long-form podcast when you didn’t know a subject was going to come up, and you wing it,” Rogan tweeted. “Obviously, I have no idea what is right, but the article I posted was what I was referring to. I’m sure I’ll stumble again in the future, but I honestly do my best to get things correct.”
In April of last year, Rogan said that young people shouldn’t get vaccinated, saying “if you’re like 21 years old, and you say to me, ‘Should I get vaccinated?’ I’ll go no.’”
He later tried to downplay those comments and said he’s “not an anti-vax person” and also “not a respected source of information, even for me.”
Young joins the growing number of people calling out Rogan for his views. Earlier this month, hundreds of scientists and medical professionals wrote an open letter to Spotify calling his views “not only objectionable and offensive, but also medically and culturally dangerous.”
“By allowing the propagation of false and societally harmful assertions, Spotify is enabling its hosted media to damage public trust in scientific research and sow doubt in the credibility of data-driven guidance offered by medical professionals,” the letter said.