Joe Rogan hits back at media calling him “homophobic and transphobic”
Joe Rogan Experience (YouTube)UFC analyst and comedian Joe Rogan fired back at media outlets who labeled him as transphobic after a clip of him discussing transgender athletes had resurfaced.
Among other things, the popular UFC commentator is known for his massive podcast the ‘Joe Rogan Experience’ which brings in millions of viewers per episode.
However, due to the size of his show, many of his comments around controversial topics are often put under scrutiny and, during one of his latest episodes with Mark Normand, Rogan fired back at some of his critics.
Joe Rogan, InstagramTrans comments taken “completely out of context”
Rogan received a lot of backlash after he was critical of a transgender athlete who had started fighting in a mixed martial arts promotion, without disclosing that she had been born a biological male.
After receiving criticism for his approach to the topic, Rogan felt that he had been misrepresented by media outlets who narrowed in on a specific comment despite his concerns around the issue and the safety of others. The backlash had been heightened after Bernie Sanders used Rogan in endorsement material for his presidential campaign.
“What was fascinating to me was that these people like f**king CNN printed something saying I was homophobic and transphobic, there’s a clip that they’re using that’s completely out of context,” he expressed, denying the accusations. “if there are some trans people listening to this, I’ve got nothing but love for you, for everybody.”
Topic starts at 1:53 for mobile users.
“The video they are using is me saying, “you’re a f**king man.” I definitely shouldn’t have used those words,” Rogan admitted, taking back his choice of words at the time of the comment, but sticking with his original point.
“But this person was a man for 30 years, transitioned to become a woman for 2 years, and then started fighting women, didn’t tell them she used to be a man and was smashing girls, she literally broke this girl’s skull,” he explained.
Joe Rogan’s view on trans athletes and fighters
Rogan also revealed that he was not even against the idea of trans athletes fighting in a division of their choice as long as everyone involved was aware beforehand. “Here’s the thing, if she disclosed it and everyone knew I’m 100% okay with it. If you want to do that and you’re a woman, it’s your choice to fight a trans woman and see how you do.”
“I’m not (transphobic). This has only to do with athletics, in terms of your gender identity and who you are and what you want to do I don’t care, and specifically, my wheelhouse which is fighting, there is a gigantic physical advantage that men have,” Rogan added.
Despite dealing with a lot of controversy in recent weeks, particularly after voicing his thoughts on the upcoming election, the popular podcast host does not seem to shy away from standing his ground, as was seen in his short feud with Stephen A Smith.