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Topics: Dwayne Johnson, Joe Rogan, Celebrity
Hannah Smith
Dwayne The Rock Johnson has claimed criticism over his backing of Joe Rogan has been a 'learning moment'.
Johnson waded into the controversy surrounding the controversial podcast host last week, when he commented on a video apology shared by Rogan in response to calls for him to be removed from Spotify after repeatedly using his podcast to promote anti-vaccine and covid-19 conspiracy theories.
'Great stuff here brother. Perfectly articulated. Look forward to coming on one day and breaking out the tequila with you,' Johnson wrote.
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For one of the world's biggest movie stars to publicly back you is a pretty big deal, and Johnson's support didn't go unnoticed, with many taking to social media to show their disappointment at his decision to defend Rogan.
Among those to call out the Fast & Furious actor was author Don Winslow, who in a tweet told Johnson, 'You're a hero to many people and using your platform to defend Joe Rogan, a guy that used and laughed about using the N word dozens of times, is a terrible use of your power.'
'Have you actually listened to this man's many racist statements about Black people?' he asked.
Winslow's comments refer to a number of incidents in episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience in which the host has either personally used or laughed at use of the N word, as well as other allegations that he's platformed racists on his podcast.
Johnson himself responded to Winslow's criticism, tweeting:
Following his clarification, Johnson has become the target of conservatives who have accused him of 'hypocrisy' and shared previous transphobic and racist comments made by The Rock during his time with WWE.
Rogan himself took to Instagram last week to respond to the racism allegations, calling them 'the most regretful and shameful thing that I've ever had to talk about publicly'.
'Whenever you're in a situation where you have to say ‘I’m not racist,' you f***ed up, and I clearly have f***ed up,' he said.
Over the weekend it was revealed that more than 100 episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience have been quietly removed from Spotify, with whom Rogan has an exclusive deal.
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