controversy: Celebs Rumors

Taking a stand. Amid the controversy surrounding Spotify’s support of comedian Joe Rogan and his podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience,” many stars have decided to pull their content from the streaming service in protest.

Amber Dowling After spending last week in second place, HBO’s “Euphoria” reclaimed the top spot on Variety’s Trending TV chart for the week of Jan. 31 – Feb.

Dwayne Johnson is walking back his support of Joe Rogan.

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.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorSpotify CEO Daniel Ek, under fire from critics inside and outside the company over its partnership with Joe Rogan, said in a memo to employees that was “deeply sorry” for how the controversy over the podcast host has affected them.But in the wake of the company removing 70 past episodes of his podcast and Rogan’s use of the N-word on his show, Ek signaled that Spotify does not plan to end its deal to distribute “The Joe Rogan Experience.”“I do not believe that silencing Joe is the answer… canceling voices is a slippery slope,” he wrote in the memo Sunday, which was obtained by Variety.Ek said he is “committing to an incremental investment of $100 million for the licensing, development, and marketing of music (artists and songwriters) and audio content from historically marginalized groups.” “If we believe in having an open platform as a core value of the company, then we must also believe in elevating all types of creators, including those from underrepresented communities and a diversity of backgrounds,” the CEO wrote.Rogan has been a controversial figure ever since Spotify inked its exclusive deal with him in 2020, his hosting of right-wing personalities on “The Joe Rogan Experience.” The latest controversy over coronavirus misinformation on Rogan’s podcast has gone beyond the low-boil level that has previously accompanied outrage over comments on his podcast. That was led by Neil Young, who demanded Spotify pull his songs or drop Rogan, and has been followed by a few other artists and creators.According to Ek, Spotify has had conversations “with Joe and his team about some of the content in his show, including his history of using some racially insensitive language.

Signing off. Awkwafina decided to leave Twitter after her statement on the use of a “blaccent” and African American Vernacular English (AAVE) brought backlash.

Whitney Cummings is sharing her thoughts on the Joe Rogan Spotify debate.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has seemingly backed away from his previously stated support for controversial podcaster Joe Rogan.

Spotify users have cancelled their subscriptions since the controversy around Joe Rogan’s podcast broke out.In January, hundreds of scientists and medical professionals asked Spotify to address COVID-19 misinformation on its platform, sparked by comments made on The Joe Rogan Experience. The 270-plus members of the science and medical community signed an open letter, which called Rogan’s actions “not only objectionable and offensive but also medically and culturally dangerous”.Following the publishing of that letter, Neil Young demanded his music be “immediately” removed from the platform, with many high-profile artists like Joni Mitchell, David Crosby and Graham Nash following suit.Now, as Variety reports, a consumer poll from Forrester Research has found that 19 per cent of the streaming service’s customers have since cancelled their subscriptions, or plan to in the near future.

Awkwafina is reflecting on the backlash surrounding her “blaccent.”

Mumford & Sons member Winston Marshall has written a piece for Bari Weiss’ Substack criticising artists taking action against Spotify.In the essay entitled ‘When Artists Become the Censors’, Marshall takes aim at those he believes are threatening free speech, including Neil Young, who recently pulled his music from Spotify.On January 24, Young published an open letter – which has since been deleted – expressing his feelings about content like the Joe Rogan Experience podcast “spreading false information about vaccines”. This sparked a wider protest, with the likes of Joni Mitchell and Crazy Horse member Nils Lofgren following suit.“Something resembling a bottom-up authoritarianism has become the norm,” Marshall writes in the essay.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorHow big of a liability vs. an asset will Joe Rogan prove to be for Spotify? A new survey sheds some light on which way the wind might blow given the spate of #DeleteSpotify and #CancelSpotify hashtags that blew up on social media in recent days — although similar past customer backlashes have resulted in minimal damage.About 19% of Spotify users said they have already canceled their service — or plan to — over the Rogan uproar, according to a Feb.

Jon Stewart is offering a defence of Joe Rogan.

Former Mumford & Sons band member Winston Marshall released a lengthy essay comparing calls for action against Joe Rogan’s podcast on Spotify to Soviet-era censorship.  On Thursday, Marshall released an essay on Substack with the title "When Artists Become the Censors" in which he criticizes artists like Neil Young, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Joni Mitchell, Nils Lofgren and India Arie, all of whom have pulled their music off Spotify until it addresses misinformation on "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast.  In his essay, Marshall begins by discussing the state of music censorship in the Soviet Union in 1984 before comparing it to the conditions that Spotify is facing today as calls for it to pull Rogan’s work mount. He even called out Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who previously voiced their "concerns" about misinformation on Spotify.  "Of course, Spotify is a private company; they’re under no obligation to platform anybody.

Daniel Ek is opening up about the controversy surrounding Spotify in a conference call which announced new quarterly numbers.

Spotify said monthly active users rose 18% to 404 million for the fourth quarter of 2021 as premium subscribers hit 183 million and revenue grew 24%. It reported numbers as controversy swirls around Joe Rogan.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSpotify posted middling results for the fourth quarter of 2021 — a period that does not include the recent controversy over Neil Young and other musicians removing their music from the streaming giant, which is the world’s largest paid music-subscription service.Premium subscribers grew to 180 million — up 8 million from the 172 million reported last year — and monthly average users grew 18% to 406 million, from 381 million.However, ARPU (average revenue per user) grew just 3% year over year in the quarter, and just 1% on a constant currency basis. Ad-Supported revenue reached a record 15% of total revenue, according to the announcement, with gross margin at 26.5%.Spotify’s market capitalization fell about $2.1 billion over a three-day span last week after Young pulled his songs from the audio-streaming giant.

India Arie is opening up on her decision to withdraw her music and “SongVersation” podcast from Spotify following controversy over Joe Rogan’s involvement with the platform.

Failure are the latest act to announce they’re pulling their music from Spotify following the ongoing COVID controversy involving Joe Rogan.Last month hundreds of scientists and medical professionals asked Spotify to address COVID misinformation on its platform, sparked by comments made on The Joe Rogan Experience.More than 270 members of the science and medical community signed the open letter, which called Rogan’s actions “not only objectionable and offensive but also medically and culturally dangerous”.Soon after, Neil Young demanded that his music be pulled from Spotify, asserting in a since-deleted open letter to his management that content like Rogan’s podcast “spread[s] false information about vaccines”.The streaming platform obliged, later confirming that Young’s content would indeed be removed from the platform.Other musicians and entertainers have since followed suit in removing their music and content from the platform including Janis Joplin, Graham Nash and Stewart Lee.Now, in a lengthy Facebook statement, cult alternative rockers Failure have announced that they too are planning to remove their music from Spotify in protest of the service platforming misinformation about the coronavirus vaccine as well as its overall business model.“Failure have wrestled with the question of Spotify and whether to have our newest music, which we control, on the platform,” the band began their statement.

Sharon Stone sounded off on Joe Rogan over the way he’s approaching the COVID-19 misinformation controversy surrounding his show. Rogan’s exclusive deal with Spotify has been in the crosshairs of various critics in the last week after Neil Young announced that he was pulling his library of music from the platform unless it addressed the misinformation about the pandemic and vaccines being promoted by Rogan as well as guests on his show.

Amid the mounting pressure on Spotify over allegations of Covid misinformation presented on its Joe Rogan Experience podcast, the show’s host made an apology of sorts — “if I pissed you off, I’m sorry” — and garnered support from Dwayne Johnson, Kevin James, Jewel, Jamie Kennedy, Tulsi Gabbard, Troy Aikman, Kat Von D, Domanic Monaghan, Candice Owens, Jillian Michaels, Tomi Lahren and Andrew Dice Clay.

The 12th season of The Real Housewives of New Jersey premiered on Feb. 1 and Teresa Giudice‘s relationship with fiancé Luis Ruelas was definitely the main focus of the show. During a confessional, Margaret Josephs brought up a resurfaced video of Luis and noted it as a big “red flag” for Teresa to watch out for in her relationship with the business man.

Two more artists are joining Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Nils Lofgren in pulling their music libraries from Spotify due to the content on Joe Rogan’s podcast.  Graham Nash and India Arie announced Tuesday that they plan to have the platform remove their music. Nash, who performed with Young in Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, provided a statement to Fox News Digital explaining that his decision comes after hearing the content on "The Joe Rogan Experience."  "Having heard the Covid disinformation spread by Joe Rogan on Spotify, I completely agree with and support my friend, Neil Young and I am requesting that my solo recordings be removed from the service," Nash said in a statement.  Joe Rogan is facing criticism over the content of his podcast.

Dwayne Johnson showed his support for Joe Rogan after the podcast host responded to the handful of artists protesting his presence on the Spotify platform.  On Monday, Rogan released a nearly ten-minute video response to critics calling for the platform to remove "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast, arguing that he often spreads misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic on the show.  Last week, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and guitarist Nils Lofgren announced that they were pulling their music off the platform until it addresses the issue of misinformation on Rogan’s show. Meanwhile, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry also issued a statement noting they had some concerns about misinformation on the platform, where they have an exclusive deal, without mentioning Rogan directly.  In the comments of Rogan’s lengthy video, in which he defended the content of his show as well as the qualifications of the guests he had on, Johnson complimented the UFC commentator and said that he hopes to come on "The Joe Rogan Experience" soon.  Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson complimented Joe Rogan on his response to backlash to his presence on Spotify.

Joy Behar, 79, rallied for contemporary musicians to take note from the likes of Neil Young, 76, and Joni Mitchell, 78, and take their music off of Spotify amid controversies surrounding comedian Joe Rogan, 54, and his popular podcast sharing COVID misinformation during a Monday January 31 episode of The View. During the “Hot Topics” discussion, Joy pointed out how impactful it would be for someone like Taylor Swift, 32, to remove her music from the streaming platform in protest of Joe’s presence.

Garcelle Beauvais’ “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” co-star Erika Jayne is in hot water, and the hosts of “The Real” are sharing their thoughts.

Naman Ramachandran Joe Rogan has finally weighed in on the controversy swirling around his Spotify podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience,” saying, “I’m not trying to promote misinformation.”In a nearly 10-minute long video posted on his Instagram account on Sunday night, Rogan said, “I think there’s a lot of people that have a distorted perception of what I do, maybe based on sound bites or based on headlines of articles that are disparaging.” Defending his choice of Dr. Robert Malone and Dr.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have some thoughts about the ongoing controversy with Spotify.

Spotify has lost more than $2billion in market value after Neil Young removed his music from the streaming giant to protest vaccine misinformation being shared on Joe Rogan’s podcast.Young announced he’d be pulling his music off the streaming service earlier this week. He said Spotify was “spreading false information” about COVID-19 vaccines by supporting anti-vax podcasts like The Joe Rogan Experience. “I am doing this because Spotify is spreading false information about vaccines – potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them,” wrote Young, adding, “They can have Rogan or Young.

EXCLUSIVE: Four senior staffers who resigned in protest from the International Documentary Association are responding to a public statement from the IDA board dismissing their concerns about how the nonprofit organization is being run under new executive director Rick Pérez.

Ska no more.

New year, new woman! Raquel Leviss stood her ground after receiving backlash for having an “unengagement party” following her split from James Kennedy.

Wiley following the rapper’s antisemitism controversy.Back in 2020, Wiley faced backlash after making anti-Semitic comments that led to his eventual suspension from social media sites. He began the tweets by talking about the music industry, writing: “A record deal is not to benefit you it’s to make the person who gave you the advance rich as hell while you take 17 or 18 per cent of net profit after costs.”He continued: “If you work for a company owned by 2 Jewish men and you challenge the Jewish community in anyway of course you will get fired.”This week, the Jewish Chronicle posted an article featuring an image of Rashford and fellow Manchester United player Jesse Lingard partying with Wiley in Dubai, which gained backlash online.England footballers pictured partying with disgraced rapper Wiley https://t.co/khv2CNRBaj— The Jewish Chronicle (@JewishChron) January 25, 2022In response, Rashford tweeted yesterday (January 25): “This picture has been brought to my attention which I understand now, given context, could easily be misconstrued.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentThe Arabic adaptation of hit Italian movie “Perfect Strangers,” which is Netflix’s first Arab original film, is sparking controversy in Egypt and across West Asia due to a gay character and taboo-breaking storylines, prompting the U.S. streaming giant to respond.Since its release, the Beirut-set “Perfect Strangers” redo has been among the top trending topics on social media in West Asia, a region also referred to as the Middle East.

Damon Albarn addressed the backlash over his controversial comments about Taylor Swift while performing in LA last night.The Blur and Gorillaz frontman was playing a show at Los Angeles’ Walt Disney Concert Hall yesterday (January 24) in support of his most recent solo album, ‘The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows’.Ahead of the concert, Albarn participated in an interview with the LA Times where he explained that Swift’s “co-writing” approach was at odds with his “traditionalist” view of songwriting.When journalist Mikael Wood put it to him that Swift was “an excellent songwriter”, Albarn responded: “She doesn’t write her own songs.” He went on to say that co-writing “doesn’t count”.Swift later hit back at the musician, tweeting: “@DamonAlbarn I was such a big fan of yours until I saw this.“I write ALL my own songs. Your hot take is completely false and SO damaging. You don’t have to like my songs but it’s really fucked up to try and discredit my writing.

Taking a stand. J.K. Rowling‘s controversial transphobic remarks have left both Harry Potter‘s fans and cast members feeling conflicted.