NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Rev. Al Sharpton said he needs to hear more than an apology from Joe Rogan after the podcast host's past use of the N-word came to light.
"The apology is good, but with the apology must come some penance. What is he going to do in terms of his show and in terms of showing that he's sincere. This is not one or two times, this is many times," Sharpton, 67, told TMZ on Tuesday.
Beyond the controversy surrounding Rogan's use of COVID-19 misinformation, the 54-year-old's previous use of racial slurs on "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast sparked a new firestorm, as compiled by artist India Arie, prompted Spotify to remove 70 episodes of his show at his and his team's request, as well as calls for his show to be pulled.
Rogan first apologized on Instagram on Saturday, saying, "There's nothing I can do to take that back. I wish I could. Obviously, that's not possible. I certainly wasn't trying to be racist, and I certainly would never want to offend someone for entertainment with something as stupid as racism."
However, by Tuesday night, Rogan made light of the controversy during a stand-up show in Austin.
"I haven’t used that word in years," he said. "But it’s kind of weird people will get really mad if you use that word and tweet about it on a phone that’s made by slaves."
Sharpton said Rogan, who reportedly signed an exclusive, multi-year $100 million deal with Spotify in May 2020, needs to prove he's "seriously sorry" and that meetings with Black leadership groups, including his National Action Network, would not be sufficient.
He also noted how members of the Black community often have no choice.
"When we've seen people in our community speak wrong they have had to do things like work with those communities and do projects in those communities," the MSNBC host added. "He's not above that."
Meanwhile, Rogan has turned down a $100 million podcast offer from right-wing platform Rumble after Spotify CEO Daniel Ek called Rogan's comments "incredibly hurtful" in a staff memo on Sunday, yet did not believe "that silencing Joe is the answer."
Ek also said that Spotify will invest $100 million in the "licensing, development, and marketing of music (artists and songwriters) and audio content from historically marginalized groups."
Sharpton said the platform's decision keep Rogan "says a lot about them."
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