Joe Rogan defend Rep. Ilhan Omar's controversial tweet by agreeing to the stereotype that Jews love money.
Controversial podcast host, UFC announcer, and star of Newsradio, Joe Rogan is again being targeted over his remarks. Deadline reports that in defending U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, Rogan allegedly made antisemitic comments. At issue is the common stereotype of Jewish people being into money, which the podcaster believes is harmless, but others find to be dangerous rhetoric.
Joe Rogan was interviewing MSNBC reporter Krystal Ball about the 2019 tweet of Ilhan Omar’s that led to her being removed from Congressional committees last week. The tweet in question says “It’s all about the Benjamins baby,” referencing Isreal’s U.S.-based defenders being motivated by money, and not any sort of ethical or moral duty. The discussion turned to Rep. Adam Schiff with Rogan defending Re. Omar’s tweet.
Joe Rogan said, on air, “Did you see him sitting next to Ilhan Omar, where she’s apologizing for talking about it’s all about the Benjamins? Which is just about money. She’s talking about money.” While this part is unequivocally true, as the tweet and the discussion was about money, it’s what came next that has brought Rogan under fire.
“The idea that Jewish people are not into money is ridiculous. That’s like saying Italians aren’t into pizza. It’s f*ck*ng stupid.”
Joe Rogan defending Rep. Ilhan Omar on his podcastImmediately, American Defamation League (ADL) CEO Jonathan Greenblatt took to Twitter and called out Joe Rogan for his statement. Greenblatt points out that these tropes, specifically Jewish people loving money, has been used in the past to justify violence. Stereotyping Italians as well for their love of pizza is again, a common trope that can not be used as a blanket statement to apply to all Italian people.
Disturbing that at a time of rising anti-Jewish violence, when growing numbers of Americans believe in antisemitic conspiracy theories, @joerogan would use his immense platform to spew antisemitic tropes about Jews and money. https://t.co/O6o1i2nS9x
— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) February 7, 2023Joe Rogan, in trying to saw a commonly used trope isn’t antisemitic, wandered into a much larger discussion about saying anything about an entire group of people. He’s not alone in drawing criticism over similar statements, or just being threatened with “cancellation,” which is a largely toothless threat from across the political and ideological spectrum. Brie Larson, someone with very little in common with Joe Rogan, has been cancelled as well, and as with the comedian it had little to do with the actress herself and more individuals trying to lash out about a larger problem.
The Last of Us voice actor, Troy Baker, found himself cancelled over promoting a NFT. Given the popularity of the HBO adaptation, which includes Baker in a live-action role, the social media backlash truly impacted his career prospects. Similar to Joe Rogan, there’s the cases of Louis C.K. and Kathy Griffin, again ideological opposites, both canceled, and now both are working again on a steady basis.
While saying that all Jews are into money is not a good thing to say, and does reference frequent antisemitic talking points, Joe Rogan has made far more incendiary comments than this. Canceling, and worrying about being canceled, are both useless endeavors that fail to solve any of the real problems in the world. Rogan will continue podcasting, Greenblatt will continue tweeting, the world will continue to spin.
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