Gum-fight Showdown: How Joe Rogan, Whoopi Goldberg, and Naked Jewish Mice Are Shaping Free Speech in America

Who Should Be Banned, Boycotted, or Berated?

Joe Rogan and Neil Young

A man hears what he wants to hear

And disregards the rest.

Paul Simon, “The Boxer”

The recent Spotify dustup between Joe Rogan and Neil Young has been framed by pundits as a generational grudge match about Freedom of Speech.

I wish it was.

Instead, it’s an amateur-theater reenactment of the Tower of Babel, in which we’re using the same familiar words but still speaking unintelligibly to each other. Throw into the mix Whoopi Goldberg’s suspension from The View, Jenny Nguyen’s firing by Bravo, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Maus being banned in some Tennessee schools and we realize that for most of us free speech will not be defined by legislators pandering for votes, but by the relentless Thunderdome of popular culture.

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“Shut up and gimme free speech!”

On the surface, American discourse on the subject seems to be just a bunch of ill-tempered Yahoos self-righteously screaming, “Shut up and gimme free speech!”

But the truth they can’t fathom is that there never has been such a thing as “free speech”—and rightfully so. What we do have is free-ish speech, and the current tumultuous debate about what that means is as crucial as anything else going on in politics right now. All other political and social issues—abortion, civil rights, infrastructure, LQBTQ+ rights, etc.—depend on who has the right to say what and how we say it. Democracy depends on it. What happens to Joe and Whoopi defines America.

Lots of people find Mel Gibson’s impassioned address to his troops in Braveheart a rallying cry for all freedom-lovers. “They may take away our lives,” he screams with fire in his eyes, “but they’ll never take away our FREEDOM!” Sounds great—in theory. The problem comes when we try to practically apply “freedom” in daily life. Sure, Mel, you’re free to paint your face blue or call a female police officer “sugar tits,” but not free to drive drunk where you put others’ lives in danger. Your freedom ends where it puts the health, well-being, and lives of others in jeopardy. We learn that in middle school.

Freedom of speech is even trickier because words have the power to inspire action. Ask any general on the battlefield, coach at half time in the locker room, or civil rights activist proclaiming “I have a dream.” Powerfully articulating the cause can convince people to rise above their fears to risk failure, humiliation, their jobs, and even their lives. A few right words in the right ears can change the world.

Unfortunately, words can also convince people to commit atrocious acts that are the opposite of everything they claim to believe in: Christians lynching Blacks, a country founded by immigrants now attacking other immigrants, and self-proclaimed “freedom-lovers” attempting to overturn a democratic election, violently invade their seat of government, and knowingly spreading a virus that kills their friends and family.

Because words have the power to destroy our country and to kill our people, we need to keep a robust conversation about free speech.

Should Joe Rogan Be Kicked Off Spotify?

It’s important to remember that the First Amendment is not about free speech in general, but only about keeping the government from passing laws restricting free speech. (“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”) That gives private businesses like Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, and Spotify most the power when it comes to regulating what is and is not permissible on their platforms.

When it comes to corporate America, few make their policy decisions based on ethics or morality. They follow the business school mantra of “The bottom line is the only line.”

The gum-fight showdown between Neil Young and Joe Rogan was basically over Rogan’s podcast featuring misinformation about COVID-19 treatments that encouraged vaccine hesitancy. I’ve read conflicting reports about whether or not Rogan himself is currently vaccinated but, regardless, his decision to send this misinformation out to his 11 million daily listeners has real-life consequences. Over 900,000 have died from COVID-19, hundreds of thousands of which were preventable. In fact, the U.S.’s vaccination program has prevented an estimated 1.1 million deaths and 10.3 million hospitalizations.

It’s statistically likely that Rogan’s show is responsible for at least a few of those deaths. It’s not unlike 17-year old Michelle Carter being convicted of involuntary manslaughter by encouraging her 18-year-old boyfriend Conrad Roy to commit suicide. To not get vaccinated and then die is suicide. To not get vaccinated and infect someone else who dies is manslaughter. Instead of pandering to his base, Rogan could have been saving their lives. For that, Rogan and Spotify share some culpability. That’s why 270 medical experts signed a letter asking Spotify to moderate misinformation.

Still, Rogan shouldn’t be booted from Spotify for that. He made a rational and what seemed like a heartfelt apology and promised to do better in the future. Spotify—late to the party—released some vague guidelines that seemed more corporate ass-covering and PR management than sincerely taking any responsibility.

But the Rogan saga didn’t end there. It got worse.

India.Arie

Musician India.Arie posted a compilation of Rogan using the n-word in his various podcasts. Rogan responded with another apology, pointing out the clips were from years ago and were out of context, but acknowledging that he now realizes there is no context in which a White person should use the word. Although, there’s no “out of context” when he referred to walking into a Black neighborhood as being like Planet of the Apes. Still, his apology seemed sincere. We have to give people the chance to grow and change without permanently punishing them.

Then came the clip from 2011 in which Rogan laughs while comedian Joey Diaz jokes about coercing women into sexual acts in order for them to perform at a comedy club. By broadcasting Diaz’s story—and endorsing it with his laughter—he promoted the sexual abuse and exploitation of women. But, again, that was 10 years ago, and as disgusting as it was, unless there’s more like it recently, we have to give him the benefit of the doubt that he’s evolved. Those who don’t wish to forgive are free to tune him out.

Going forward, Rogan and Spotify need to be held accountable for their choices. Preferably, they would hold themselves accountable because it’s the right thing to do. But that hasn’t worked in the past, so we need to be vigilant.

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Should Whoopi Goldberg Have Been Suspended from The View?

Unfortunately, there’s such a thing as too vigilant. Whoopi Goldberg was suspended from The View after referring to the Holocaust as not being about race but “about man’s inhumanity to man ... these are two white groups of people.” She later apologized, tweeting ADL director Jonathan Greenblatt’s statement that “the Holocaust was about the Nazi’s systematic annihilation of the Jewish people — who they deemed to be an inferior race.” To which she added, “I stand corrected.”

Ok, she misspoke. And she owned up to it. Clearly, her intention was not to denigrate Jews or minimize the Holocaust. She was trying to discuss the difference between being White and persecuted by other Whites and being Black and persecuted by Whites because you are always a visible target. It’s an interesting idea worthy of discussion but The View, with its limited format, was not the right platform for such a complex issue, nor did she do it in a way that made her point clear. She unintentionally insulted people by implying their suffering was not equal to Black suffering. As a result, ABC suspended Goldberg for two weeks.

That was wrong. It was obvious that there was no intention to insult and once she realized her mistake, she sincerely apologized. Also, Goldberg has a long history of being supportive of diverse groups, so this comment was not a reflection of a pattern. It should have been the jumping off point for another show in which experts could have been brought in to clarify and explore the issue. That’s how free speech works.

Ironically, Goldberg’s controversial comment came during a discussion of a Tennessee school board’s decision to ban Art Spieglman’s Maus, a Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about the Holocaust. The board’s reason for banning the book was that it used the term “God damn” and it showed nudity (a nude dead cartoon mouse). If you can’t see the absurdity of that, there’s no amount of explanation that will change your mind. I recognize the difference between free speech in the adult world and in the young adult world, but this is clearly an attempt to restrict an important and powerful commentary on the Holocaust that should be read by everyone. Fortunately, the ban pushed the book back onto the bestseller lists.

In a related incident, Bravo fired Vietnamese American Jennie Nguyen from The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City for some racist Facebook posts from 2020 referring to Black Lives Matter protesters as “thugs” and re-posting racist memes and historically inaccurate advice: “If you follow the officers [sic] orders, you won’t get shot.” Has she read a newspaper in the past five years? Following the revelations, she was unfollowed and publicly condemned by other cast members. RHSLC had other racist issues, including African American Mary Cosby’s slurs against Latinx and Asian Americans. (It’s unclear if she quit or has been fired.)

What’s fascinating is that the racism came from two minority cast members. Here’s where it gets tricky. Cosby should have been fired because she is oblivious to her comments and her self-righteous arrogance shows there is no potential for change. But Nguyen should not have been fired because her comments came out of ignorance and she showed the ability to learn and evolve. The show would have done its audience a service by bringing the topic out and having the rest of the cast confront and deal with it. Free speech at its best.

What About Neil Young?

The real hero of this piece is Neil Young. He boldly brought this issue to the public’s attention even though he had to know it would cost him financially and he wouldn’t dislodge Spotify or their $100 million-prize Rogan. He also illuminated a core difference between conservatives and liberals in their approach to free speech.

In general, conservatives have tried to muzzle free speech of their opponents through legislation. They pass laws to restrict voting access for minorities and legal rights for women, immigrants, and LGBTQ+ and to ban books and diverse curriculum in schools, which is the worst form of cancelling free speech. Ironically, though they often complain about the interference of government, they use government to silence those they disagree with. That’s what China, Russia, and North Korea do. Have doubts? Check out Mississippi Republican mayor Gene McGee who’s decided not to release funds to the public library until they remove all “homosexual materials.” He’ll tell you what you can and cannot read.

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This is a reader-supported newsletter. Both free and paid subscriptions are available. The best way to join the community and support my work is by taking out a paid subscription.

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Liberals tend to take a more capitalist approach and use boycotts: forcing pressure on private enterprise by threatening to withhold business. Liberals actually fight for their enemies’ rights to speak, even when they abhor the speech. The one area they are unforgiving is hate speech, which includes using pejorative terms that dehumanize people and incite others to violence against them.

Young was right to call attention to Spotify’s lack of responsibility in watching over its platform in the name of free speech. He mobilized other musicians (Joni Mitchell, Graham Nash, Ari.India, etc.) and authors (Roxane Gay, Brené Brown, Mary Trump, etc.) to leave Spotify and he inspired America to discuss the meaning of free speech. He nudged the world forward with his actions as he’s done with his music.

We’re all freer because of his speech.