Top 10 Most Controversial Joe Rogan Experience Episodes

Right-wing commentator and divisive provocateur, Milo Yiannopoulos, has been outright banned from numerous social media sites for his controversial views. So, it should not have been a surprise that the former Breitbart News editor would stir up controversy on “The Joe Rogan Experience” when he was a guest. Milo wound up in touchy and confrontational conversations with Rogan, but when the subject of religion came up, things got messy. Yiannopoulos shared some disturbing revelations pertaining to an inappropriate relationship he had with a priest when he was younger – something he spun as a positive experience. Milo’s apologist statements unsurprisingly led to a loss of publishing deals, among other career repercussions.

A comedian and host in his own right, Adam Conover is known for debunking misconceptions and myths on his now defunct educational TV program “Adam Ruins Everything.” And while he’s normally a voice of reason, Adam was criticized for a lack of preparation, not to mention questionable arguments, when he engaged with Joe Rogan on the subject of transgender athletes. Conover spoke about transgender individuals finding their identity at a young age, only for Rogan to start arguing that children shouldn’t be given hormones or gender reassignment surgeries. With such a heated debate concerning the entire trans community and ethics around transitioning, this episode became one of the show’s most heated.

Before Elon Musk took over Twitter and injected it with his personal brand of “X,” the social media platform was run, in part, by billionaire tech founder Jack Dorsey. When Dorsey was announced as a guest on Joe Rogan’s podcast, many expected the host to give the Twitter co-founder a good grilling over the site’s string of controversies. However, when the episode launched, Rogan’s fans cried foul – claiming he was too soft on Dorsey and barely challenged him. The controversy surrounding this “corporate friendly” chat grew so much that Rogan was forced to issue a statement. Luckily, the tech giant was brought back for a second round where Rogan’s reputation was ultimately redeemed.

In 2020, during an intense California wildfire season, Joe Rogan spoke with writer/podcaster Douglas Murray. During the conversation, Rogan shared a somewhat baffling conspiracy that revolved around “left wing people” being the ones starting the array of forest fires and stated that these Leftists had been arrested doing so. Well, much like wildfires themselves, this conspiracy spread quickly amongst his audience. So much so that the FBI had to step in and inform the public this was not true. For his part, Rogan would publicly acknowledge the controversy he started and offer an apology - essentially admitting to spreading politically motivated misinformation before looking into the claims fully.

Edward Snowden is a highly condemned whistleblower by the United States of America. Afterall, he is responsible for the much-discussed National Security Agency leaks in 2013. In 2019, Snowden appeared on “The Joe Rogan Experience'' – although not in studio. This was due to the former computer intelligence consultant seeking asylum in Russia after the leaks and residing there ever since. In the highly viewed episode, Snowden shared his personal story with Rogan while also shedding light on the issue of surveillance and the potential dangers of smartphones gathering personal information. Despite his condemnation by the US government, the appearance was positively received by Joe’s audience.

Polarizing political talk show host and author, Candace Owens, has sparked her fair share controversies over the years - including outright criticizing the Black Lives Matter movement. But it was her stance on climate change that ignited a firestorm on “The Joe Rogan Experience.” Owens would go on to state that climate change was not as big of an issue as it’s made out to be. She further asserted her disbelief in global warming. Things got heated however, when Rogan accused her of being misinformed and cited various studies. For Candace Owens though, it was clear she was just happy to have the platform to spread her beliefs.

In the midst of the global pandemic, Joe Rogan welcomed physician and biochemist Robert W. Malone on his show. Like others on this list, Malone has also been banned from several social media sites for controversial opinions that many professionals, including those in the medical industry, deem dangerous. And so, when guesting on Rogan’s podcast, Malone continued to stir controversy by sharing his thoughts on vaccines and how the pandemic response was comparable to Nazi Germany. While Malone is a mRNA technology pioneer, his statements were ultimately seen as harmful and misinformed.

One of Joe Rogan’s biggest “gets” led to one of his most watched episodes – not to mention a fair bit of controversy. When Elon Musk appeared on “The Joe Rogan Experience” in 2018, he made himself comfortable with the host. Maybe a little too comfortable. You see, Elon proceeded to take a hit of Rogan’s cigar – only this cigar was a mix of tobacco and cannabis. The visual was apparently a bit too scandalous for some on Wall Street, as Tesla stock plunged. However, some say this was due to an executive departure that happened around the same time. Regardless, the media had a field day with Musk’s appearance on Joe’s show.

Former University of Toronto professor, Dr. Jordan Peterson, can largely thank his appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience” for greatly elevating his profile. Peterson is a critic of political correctness and shares many contentious views around such hot button topics as pronouns, climate change and transgender individuals. He is also at odds with the Canadian Federal Government. All of his opinions were on full display on Rogan’s show. He also ruffled feathers with his stance on solar energy, saying that it is hazardous. Peterson stated that “more people die every year from solar energy than die from nuclear power."

Joe Rogan has stated on many occasions that his show is open to all manner of guests. And with Alex Jones’ appearance, he proved that even the most publicly ostracized are welcome. The host of “InfoWars” is known to constantly spew conspiracy theories and has been labeled as unhinged by many in the media industry. And so, when he appeared opposite Rogan, critics were up in arms that he was getting “The Joe Rogan Experience” platform and access to Joe’s audience – which is in the millions. Internal pushback from Spotify employees were also cited at the time. Some episodes featuring Jones were even removed from the audio service at one point.


Did you listen to any of these episodes of “The Joe Rogan Experience”? Were they worthy of the controversy surrounding them? Sound off in the comments below.