Spotify is denying a report that Joe Rogan could bolt the streaming giant this year after his contract expires.
Rogan’s future has become a topic of intense speculation particularly in light of the fact that his relationship with Spotify management has “frayed,” according to the news site Semafor.
The news site claimed over the weekend that Rogan could bolt Spotify and take his estimated 11 million listeners with him as the star podcaster’s contract with the Sweden-based audio platform was due to run out later this year.
When reached by The Post, a spokesperson for Spotify disputed Semafor’s reporting, insisting that Rogan’s contract does not expire this year.
A Semafor spokesperson told The Post that the news site updated its original story with a link to a New York Times article from last year which claimed the contract ran for three-and-a-half years “with the possibility of more.”
In late 2020, Rogan, the stand-up comedian and MMA announcer whose podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience” had amassed a loyal following of millions on Google-owned YouTube, signed an exclusive rights deal with Spotify worth a reported $200 million.
Rogan was recruited to Spotify by Courtney Holt, who was head of studios and video. But Holt, who played a key role in signing A-list names for podcasting including Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and Barack and Michelle Obama, left Spotify in April last year.
Holt’s departure severed a key link that tied Rogan to the company, according to Semafor.
Last year, Rogan’s frustration with public demands to curb what he can say on his podcast boiled over — prompting him to threaten to quit the streaming giant.
“I will quit. If it gets to a point that I can’t do it anymore, where I have to do it in some sort of weird way where I walk on eggshells and mind my p’s and q’s, f–k that!” Rogan said during a March 2022 episode.
Last week, Rogan was accused of making an anti-Semitic comment when discussing Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), the controversial member of the “Squad” who was booted off the House Foreign Affairs Committee for her past statements about Israel.
The podcaster’s free-flowing style and his willingness to host controversial vaccine skeptics and conspiracy theorists including Alex Jones and others have been sources of unrest within the rank and file of Spotify employees.
Rogan has also come under fire for his criticism of transgender activists and their supporters — many of whom have accused the podcaster of transphobia.
Last year, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek apologized to staffers after an online video of Rogan uttering a racial slur went viral.
Rogan apologized, saying that the “horrible” montage of him using the N-word was the “most regretful and shameful thing” he’s ever had to address and that the remarks were “taken out of context.”
Spotify came under pressure to terminate its relationship with Rogan in February last year following a podcast appearance by Dr. Robert Malone, a biochemist who worked on mRNA technology that was used as the basis for two of the most widely distributed COVID vaccines.
Malone has been banned from Twitter and YouTube for allegedly spreading misinformation related to COVID and the vaccines.
Rogan’s interview session with Malone prompted Canadian American rocker Neil Young to pull his music from Spotify.
Spotify is in the midst of a transition period. Last month, Ek announced that the company was laying off 6% of its 6,600-strong workforce.
Spotify also announced the departure of Dawn Ostroff, the company’s chief content and advertising business officer. Ostroff leaves amid a company-wide reorganization.
Young’s former bandmates with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young — David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash — followed suit, as did Joni Mitchell, author Roxane Gay, self-help guru Brene Brown, Grammy Award winner India.Arie, and Sophia Bush.
Despite calls to banish Rogan, Ek has stood behind the podcaster, whose contract with Spotify reportedly includes clauses that allow him to express himself freely.
Crosby, Stills and Nash ended up rejoining the streaming service five months after Young left. Crosby died last month. He was 81 years old.