Spotify CEO “Deeply Sorry” To Staff Regarding Joe Rogan N-Word Controversy

deadline.com:

Battling criticism for hosting The Joe Rogan Experience, a podcast denounced for the propagation of Covid-19 vaccine misinformation and Rogan’s use of the N-word in 70 episodes, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek released a memo to his employees expressing how “deeply sorry” he is for the way the podcast affected his employees.“There are no words I can say to adequately convey how deeply sorry I am for the way The Joe Rogan Experience controversy continues to impact each of you,” Ek wrote. “Not only are some of Joe Rogan’s comments incredibly hurtful – I want to make clear that they do not represent the values of this company.”Despite his initial apologies, Ek made it clear he does not plan to cut The Joe Rogan Experience from the audio streaming platform.“While I strongly condemn what Joe has said and I agree with his decision to remove past episodes from our platform, I realize some will want more,” Ek explained. “I want to make one point very clear – I do not believe that silencing Joe is the answer.”Ek continued saying “canceling voices is a slippery slope.”The Swedish billionaire CEO urged his employees to “listen carefully to one another” and that all of the internal dialogues “have been incredibly hard, but all of them have made me think.”Read the full letter below.Spotify Team,There are no words I can say to adequately convey how deeply sorry I am for the way The Joe Rogan Experience controversy continues to impact each of you.

Not only are some of Joe Rogan’s comments incredibly hurtful – I want to make clear that they do not represent the values of this company.

I know this situation leaves many of you feeling drained, frustrated and unheard.I think it’s important you’re aware that we’ve had conversations with Joe and his