Piers Morgan, 56, wrote a January 31st op-ed piece for The New York Post in which he criticizes Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, this time for their January 29th statement to Spotify. In it he also defends podcaster Joe Rogan in light of recent controversy surrounding his podcast and his frequent promoting of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation.
Morgan begins his piece by saying that while Rogan has criticized him in the past, he thinks they share similarities as people and with their beliefs. “Joe Rogan once branded me an ‘a**hole’’ after I called for more gun restrictions in America – and said my British accent should itself be restricted to ‘selling mops and non-stick cookware’ on late-night TV,” he acknowledges.
He goes on to say that “Rogan’s got an open mind; like me,” and that “he doesn’t park himself into any particular political or social tribe, nor does he like or dislike people according to their partisan allegiance.”
Morgan’s main point of the piece (unsurprisingly as he’s frequently aired his grievances with them) is to once again bash the former royal couple, as he notes they made a reported $25 million deal with the audio giant for their own podcast in the past. This, as fans write on Twitter, really isn’t related to their urging of the platform to do better in removing and preventing vaccine misinformation— a common (and important) concern as the Omicron variant continues to spread across the globe.
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Previously, the former royal couple voiced their “concerns” about Spotify’s mishandling of vaccine misinformation, which is largely promoted by Rogan’s popular podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience (it often features anti-vaccination commentary and controversial guests).
Since Spotify has a notable lack of policies prohibiting COVID-19 vaccine misinformation, thousands of concerned app users, musicians like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell and the former royals have all spoken out against this.
Health experts, doctors and scientists continue to denounce vaccine misinformation promoted by Rogan’s podcast. Rogan has encouraged millions of young listeners in the past to not get vaccinated and recently featured guests on his show like Twitter-banned virologist and prominent anti-vaxxer Dr. Robert Malone. (Malone has a history of comparing pandemic safety policies to the Holocaust and accusing public officials of ‘hypnotizing’ the public).
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“Spotify should give Joe Rogan cash Meghan & Harry make from their shows and tear up Royals’ contract,” Morgan said in his op-ed’s concluding sentence, disregarding the gravity and weight of misinformation promoted on Rogan’s show and finding another reason to target the former royals.
“I don’t always agree with what Rogan or his guests say, but why should I?” Morgan writes earlier. He adds, “we’re not living in North Korea, we’re allowed to hold different views from each other,” (although baseless “views” and scientific-backed information regarding preventative COVID-19 measures like vaccines are two very different things).
Promoting the former while dismissing the latter, Twitter users write, (as they discuss harrowing information from Rogan’s podcast that they continue to find) can harm and endanger countless young listeners.
