The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Joe Rogan's N-Word Controversy | Michael S. Regan

Episode Date: February 8, 2022

Facebook's metaverse users fall victim to virtual groping, Joe Rogan faces severe backlash over his extensive use of the N-word, and EPA administrator Michael S. Regan sits down with Trevor. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. Spirit Airlines has announced that they are merging with Frontier Airlines. Yes. Quite literally, they're going to put the planes together. And as the passengers, we will like look into each other's faces as we fly. You thought things couldn't get worse, but they did. Yeah, a lot of people were like, ah, spirits and frontier. I think people are thinking of it the wrong way because in math, I that, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, thi thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii I think people are thinking of it the wrong way because in math, I learned that if you multiply a negative and a negative, you get a positive. So technically, this is going to be the greatest airline of all time.

Coming to you from the heart of Times Square in New York City, the only city in America. It's the Daily Show Show Showars Edition. Tonight, Pence, takes on Trump. Show Rogan apologized again. And Michael Asf Regan. This is the Daily Show with Trevor Noah. Hey, what's going on everybody. Welcome to the Daily Show. I'm Trevor Noah and joining me for today's headlines is my good friend Michael Costa. What's going on Michael, how you doing? I'm good. I'm getting ready for Valentine's Day. Oh, yeah. And joining me for today's headlines is my good friend, Michael Costa. What's going on, Michael? How you doing? I'm good. I'm getting ready for Valentine's Day. Ooh. Yeah.

I do my normal Valentine's Day routine. I googled how to make good sex. I booked a head to toe waxing. I booked a reservation at a great restaurant, French, Jacques in the box. Oh, very nice. I like that. You know, it's odd that the love holidays in February. What am I supposed to think about how much I love my wife while I'm shoveling frozen dog shit off the sidewalk? You know? Maybe it's the, maybe it's the, maybe it's the cuddling. Maybe it's like, you know, it's a good time to be, you know? It's, it's, and so I've never thought of it that way. I feel like where you're from is more loving possibly. In fact where I'm from it made more sense

that Cupid had no clothes. Right. This is not just weird. Yeah. Yeah could Cupid would be like yeah just his eyes. You couldn't even get the bow red. No nothing. Yeah. All right let's jump string to today's headlines. to today's thi. tho tho tho thinininininininininin. thin. thin. thin. thin. thin. thin. thin. thin. thin. thin. thin. thin. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho' thi. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. th. th. th. th. th. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. thi. tho. thi. thi. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. thooooooooooooverse. It's the virtual world that's just like the real world, by which I mean Mark Zuckerberg is harvesting your data there too. Companies like META, aka Facebook, are betting billions of dollars on the hope that virtual reality is the future of human interaction. But as they get started, they're finding out that in many ways, the people of the future are all too much like the people of the past.

META is launching a new tool for its virtual reality worlds after users reported virtual groping and other abusive behavior. The personal boundary default setting will allow users to feel like there's four feet of space between them and others. Meta says this will make it easier to avoid unwanted interactions. I mean, come on in the virtual world now. It comes after a woman claims she was verbally and sexually harassed within a minute of joining a virtual game last year. Yeah, look, people, none of this is surprising. I mean, any time a new technology has been invented, it has quickly been used to harass people.

You know, right off the manned, the man, the man, the man, the man, the man, Awesome! Now I can show my dick to strangers at night. Uh-huh, ha, ha, ha. But still, the metaverse was not designed for you to sexually harass others, okay? It was designed to distract everyone from Facebook's other scandals. And what I don't understand is how Facebook couldn't weed out these people before they get into the metaverse. How are these people even getting into the Metaverse? Like, think about it, Facebook has information on everybody.

How come they can't tell who's an internet pervert, but then they can show me ads for crutches three days before I get hit by a car? But obviously, this is really about the principle of feeling safe and respected. It's not actual sexual assault. You know, no one in the Metaverse even has a butt to grab. There's nothing below the waste. That's why everyone in the Metaverse goes to the bathroom out of their mouth. It's a really weird experience. I actually feel like I know where this is going to thoa. You know, they's going to be just faces, like a book of faces.

Nothing can go wrong with that. We'll be like, wow, this is the future. I actually have a controversial solution to this. This is what I think meta should do. This is what I think meta should do. the meta-sue-soubhast. Yeah, I do it. Because think about it. If we can trap all the sexual harassers in the metaverse,

we won't have to worry about sexual harassment in the real world. Yeah, all the creeps will be at home with their VR helmets, touching each other's cartoon nipples. The rest of us will just interact with actual humans, safe from sexual harassment. It's a thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, then, then, then, then, then, the, thoooooooo tho tho thi, thi, thi, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, we'll the, we'll the, we'll the, we'll the, we th. We th. We th. We th, we th, we th, we th, we th, we th, we th, we th, we th, we th, we th, we th, we th, we th, we th, we th, we the, we'll the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, thean, thean. thean. thean. thean. thean. thean. thean. thean. We'll thean, huh? It's a great idea. I mean, keep in mind, this isn't actually dangerous. You know, you're not in a dark alley, you're in your living room. And your dad's upstairs, right?

Yeah. You know, I mean, and how did this even happen? Aren't the only people in the Metavers' Facebook executives? Right? It feels like it's to this thing. Now keep in mind Trevor we have personal space rules in real life too and they get violated. That's true. You know you ever take the L-train late at night 10 p.m. you got a 69 somebody just to get in the car so we should improve that. I mean I don't think it's a bad thing on the L-train. No. Granted I'm always always in like the preferable position in the 69. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. to be th. th. th. to be th. to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be the to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the to be to be to be to be to be to be to be. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the train. train. train. the train. tr. true. true. true. true. true. true. true. true. I. true. I. I. true. I. I true. I true. I true. I true. I the the 69. I always say you want to be like head up. Yeah, you're the 9. I am. Yeah, guess who's the 6. You know what I'm saying? Sometimes when we do this I feel like from over the weekend. The Republican Party right now is more divided than Kim Kardashian and Kanye West.

The big debate is between a small handful of conservatives who think it is wrong to try and steal an election versus the majority of Republicans who say overthrowing democracy is just legitimate political discourse. Well now Mike Pence has chosen aside. The former vice president Mike Pence rebuked President Trump's insistence that Pence could have rejected the Electoral College results on January 6th. President Trump said I had the right to overturn the election. But President Trump is wrong and frankly there to overturn the election. But President Trump is wrong. And frankly, there is no idea more on American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president.

Ooh, Mike Pence standing up to Donald Trump. Hey! Look at my guy, trying new things for the first time. Next week, players are going to be having sex with his eyes open. But still, good for Pence. And it's going to be fun watching him endorse Trump for re-election in two years. He was right, I should have done it, and next time maybe I will. Now, as part of the January 6th Committee's investigation, it has been collecting documents from the Trump White House to find out what people might have been saying at the time of the insurrection.

And this has turned out to be harder than it should for a couple of reasons. For one, Donald Trump had a habit of tearing up everything that he read it. Yeah. And not even to hide stuff, just anything he was done with, he just tear up and thrown on floor. Probably his revenge on paper for making him read it. And now we're finding out that the stuff Trump didn't tear up, he sometimes kept as souvenirs. The National Archives had to head down to Marlago to take back some White House documents former President Trump had apparently taken to Florida. According to the Washington Post, Trump improperly removed multiple boxes from the White House. To be clear, by law, all those records should have been turned over to the National Archives

and Records Administration. They say that this box mostly contained things like mementos, you know, letters between world leaders like Leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, for example. Oh, guys. I can't believe that Trump saved Kim Jong-un's old love letters. That's so romantic. And I get it, I really do, I get it. Like a lot of people keep stuff that's sentimental.

Like I still keep my old letters from high school. You know, I've got one here. Really beautiful. Dear Trevor, I love you. You're like a brother to me. A sweet, sweet younger brother, a real member of my family. Damn, she wanted me bad. Honestly, I'm kind of surprised that his own letters

are the only thing that Trump took from the White House. I'll be honest. Like, when he got kicked out, I thought he'd just stuff as much stuff into his pockets as he could. Like he'd get out there, and White House security would shake him and the bust of Frederick Douglas would just fall out of his pants. He'd be like, I don't know who that is, but I'm learning more and more about him every day. Fantastic guy. I think we would have gotten along great.

Great. If thee's that, theirn't, thi. thi. thi. thi. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. th. th. that. that. that. th. th. th. th. th. th. to th. to th. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to th. to. th....................................................................................................................................... picture, you know? I think it's great that Pence stepped up to Trump. Not that Trump probably even heard him because he's just in the metaverse harassing everybody, but Pence letting loose. I like this. I heard he tried 2% milk for the first time as well. He's getting edgy. He's getting edgy. He's getting edgy. He even paused for effect. Trump said he's even. He even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he he he he he even he he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even he even could do it. He was raw. Yeah, that was good. It was powerful. It was sexy. That was good. Him and Mother tonight.

They might even hug. Yeah. All right, that's it for the headlines. When we come back, we're gonna be talking about the new Joe Rogan scandal that is rocking Spotify. So don't go away. Welcome back to the Daily Show. Let's talk about Joe Rogan. The scariest thing to come out of the show Fear Factor. After a week of scandal surrounding his anti-vacene podcasts,

Joe Rogan is still in the news, which is rare in America. I mean, in this country, news cycles are here today, gone tomorrow. Breaking news, dinosaurs have come back from the dead and are destroying cities around the globe. All right, moving on. Kim and Kanye are fighting again. Now, if you remember, the whole reason that Joe Rogan got into trouble in the first place

was because rock legend, Neil Young, said that he refused to be on the same platform as Joe Rogan if Joe Rogan was going to be spreading lies about vaccines. So then, because of the backlash, Joe Rogan apologized. And a lot of people were like, okay, okay, we're moving in the right direction. Even the rock was like, great job Joe Rogin, let's grab a drink. But just before Joe Rogan could get that drink, another musician, India Arie, I am not my hair. Well, she put out her own video online, saying that there's a different reason that she doesn't want to be on the same platform as Joe Rogan. And this was it.

I'm going to leave a short message here about why I decided to... Why I decided to ask my music be pulled off of Spotify. Spotify is built on the back of the music streaming. So they take this money that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's thoe th back of the music streaming. So they take this money that's built from streaming and they pay this guy a hundred million dollars, but they pay us 0.003% of a penny? Just take me off. I don't want to generate money that pays this. This is why. Watch this.

You know, the nigger saying the word nigger. Why you've the nigger saying nigger saying nigger. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. S nigger. S nigger. S nigger. S nigger saying the word. S nigger saying the word. S nigger saying the word. S. S, saying the word. S, saying the word. S saying the word saying the word saying the word saying the word, saying the word, saying the word saying the word saying the word saying the word the word the word the word, saying the word, saying the word, saying the word, saying the word, saying the word, saying the word, saying the word, saying the word, saying the word, saying the word, saying the word, saying the word, saying the word, saying the word, saying the word, saying the word, saying the word. S nigger saying the word. S nigger. S nigger. S nigger. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S saying th. S saying th. S saying th. S-s. S-s. S-s. S-s. S-s saying th. S-s. S saying thi. S saying thigger. She's calling you a niggers like this boy that he's a nigger and starts calling them niggers. Erd nigger. There should be a word like nigger, especially the word nigger. That's our nigger. Nigger. He says nigger.

the n-ager. . Nigger. Neger, say nigger, and he couldn't say nigger, and it's n-er. Whoa! That's a lot of the n-word. And with the hard ER as well, which is never a good thing. If there's ever a video of you saying the n-word that many times, you better pray one of two things. Either you're a black person, or you're a dead man from history. Yeah, because then the worst thing they can do is take your statue down

and move it into a museum. And as bad as it was seeing a supercut of Joe Rogan dropping the N-word like he bought it in bulk at Costco. An even worse part of the video, I know. Yeah, an even worse part of the video is when Joe Rogan, again on his podcast, told a story about going to a movie the movie the movie the movie the movie the movie the movie to a movie to a movie to a movie to a movie to a movie to a movie to a movie to a movie told a story about going to a movie in a black neighborhood. And this is what he said.

So I go, you gotta go to one where there's Planet of the Apes, man, we're gonna go see Planet the Apes. So I look on the iPhone app, and it says, okay, is that in a good neighborhood? He's like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, the guy, the guy, the guy, the guy, the guy, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there. there. there. there. there's. there's. there's. there's. there's. there's. there's. there's. there's. there's. there's. there's. there's. there's. there's. there's. there's. there's. We're there's. We's. We's. We's. We's. We's. There's. There's. There's. There's. There's. There. There. There. There. There, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there. There, there. there. there. there. there. there. there. there. there's. there's. there's a there's a there's a there's a there's a there's a there's a there's a there's a there's a there's a there's a there's. English. He takes us there. We get out and we're giggling, we're gonna see Planet of the Apes. We walked into Africa, dude. We walked in the door, and there was no white people. There was no white people.

Wow. That video is so bad it actually made me miss the N-word video. Ah, the good old days. I mean, you walk into a cinema in a black neighborhood and you call it Planet of the Apes? I mean, unless he means he was blown away by the black neighborhood cinematography and storytelling, although I doubt it. Anyway, because of this video, right, and India Ari, Joe Rogan was forced to make yet another stop on his Apology World Tour. And this one was a lot more, and I mean a lot more apologetic, than his vaccine video. I'm making this video to talk about the most regretful and shameful thing that I've ever had to talk about publicly.

There's a video that's out, that's a compilation of me saying the N-word. It's a video that's made of clips taken out of context of me of 12 years of conversations on my podcast and it's all smushed together and it looks fucking horrible, even to me. Now, I know that to most people, there is no context where a white person is ever allowed to say that word word. the word word word word word word the word the word the word the word the word the word the word the word the word the word the word the word the the the the end the end the end the end the end the end the end the end the end the end the end the end the end. It's the end the end. It's the end. It's the the the the the th. It's. It's. It's the the the the the the the the the the end. It's. It's the the the the end the end. It's the end. It's th. It th. It th. th. th. th. th. th. th. It th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. And th. And th. And th. And th. th. th. thin. the th. th. th. the th. thin. th. the th. the th. And th. know that to most people, there is no context where a white person is ever allowed to say that word, never mind publicly on a podcast. And I agree with that now. I haven't said it in years. But for a long time, when I would bring that word up, like if it would come up in

conversation and stay, instead of saying the N-word, I would just say the word. Like that context was part of the clip we were talking about Red Fox, how Red Fox said that word on television in the 1970s and how times have changed so much since then, or about how Richard Pryor used it as one of the titles of one of his albums. But for years I used it in that manner. I never used it to be racist because I'm not racist but whenever you're in a situation where you have to say I'm not racist. You've fucked up and I clearly have fucked up. Yeah you can tell Joe Rogan knows he is in trouble because in the vaccine video if you remember like he's outside he's enjoying a nice day here he was in a library. He was in the vaccine video, if you remember, like, he's outside, he's enjoying a nice day.

Here he was in a library. He's like, look, I'm learning. See the books? I'm learning. You should, it's serious. And you can tell it's serious. You can tell because he's like, guys, my brain used to think athat way anymore at all. I disavow that man, I disavow him. You know this kind of reminded me of?

It kind of reminded me of when my mom used to get the belt and I was a little kid, and I'd be like, Mommy, Mommy, Old Trevor like cookies, but New Trevor does not think that way anymore. New Trevor doesn't even know where the cookies are on the top shelf. And going going thowing thowing tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho th is tho th is th is tho th is thi thi tho tho tho tho tho tho thi thi thi thi thi thi tho tho tho tho tho tho tho thi th- th- th- th- th- th- th- th------------tha thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thiiiiiiiiiiiiiia'' way thia' way thia' th top shelf and going forward, I only want to eat vegetables. Mammamble. Now even though Rogan apologized, this was strange. A lot of people were arguing sort of against his apology, saying that the end word with context

is totally fine for a white person to say. Yeah, you know, and I understand what they're saying, like, you know, maybe you're a professor teaching history, maybe you're a news anchor reporting on a story about Jorogin, maybe you're in a Quentin Tarantino movie and you have to use the N-word because if you don't, then the movie has no dialogue. But, but for the most part, as a white person, you never need to use the n-word. There's no like need. For example, I've gone this entire story saying the n-word, and everyone has understood exactly what I've meant, right? Nobody's sitting at home going, Natella?

Neanderthal. Nellie Furtado, why is Trevor being so vague? What is the word? In fact, here's a life hack for white people. Saying the actual n-word puts you in unnecessary trouble, especially if you're not racist. It doesn't matter the context, because black people don't have the time to sit down and sort out the racist who says the end-word 70 times, with the non-racist who says the n-word 70 times. Black people are dealing with too much shit. No, no, look at how I was using it. No, dude, no one's got the time for that. Just stop saying it, or just be racist.

It's easier for everyone in that way. So look, I'm glad that Joe Rogan has gone. You know what? I don't, I didn't need to use that word all those times. Because people need to learn. And I'm glad that him, using the word in context, wasn't racist, but it was ignorant and not cool. Okay, fine.

But don't forget. There's also the story where Joe Rogan calls black people apes. And so for that part of the apology, Joe Rogan says this. I did not, nor would I ever say that black people are apes, but it sure fucking sounded like that. I was just saying there's a lot of black people there. But then I went on to talk about what a positive experience it was and how much fun it was to go to see this movie in a black neighborhood.

It wasn't a racist story, but it sounded terrible. It's a fucking idiotic thing to say and I was just trying to be entertaining. I certainly wasn't trying to be racist and I certainly would never want to offend someone for entertainment with something as stupid as racism. All right, I'm not gonna lie. I have a few issues with this part of the video. First of all, he says he would never say black people are apes. But he said that. That's literally what he said. If you said you walked into a black place and it was Planet of the Apes, then you've said that. You've said you can't be like, I didn't say it.

You did say it, which is racist. And it's not just racist. That's like the original old school, like that's on the Mount Rushmore of racism, you know? Black people are apes. It's right next to burning crosses and then like every Bugs Bunny cartoon from the 1940s. What I found particularly illuminating is when he says, I wasn't being racist, I was just being entertaining. No, Joe, I think you were using racism to be entertaining. You understand what I'm saying? I'm not saying you were trying to offend black people people, it th th th th th th th th th the, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, the, it's thi, it's thi, it's thi, it's thi, it's thi, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's th thi, it's thi, it's thi, it's thi, it's thi, it's, it's, it's th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th thi, it's thi, it's thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi, thi, thi, th I think you were using racism to be entertaining. You understand what I'm saying? I'm not saying you were trying to offend black people, by the way, but you knew that offending black people would get a laugh out of those white friends that you were with.

And please understand this, guys. I'm a comedian, right? Which you would know if I had a live audience right now. They would be like, Trevor, you're the greatest of my time. Yeah, but I am a comedian and I love making jokes and I love hearing jokes. And I love, I love all kinds of jokes, right? I love safe jokes, I like jokes, but just because something is a joke,

doesn't mean it can be something else as well, because a joke can be racist. Right? In fact, a joke can be racist and funny if you're telling it to the right crowd. It's no joke with something. It's never funny. Yeah, someone can find it funny. But the laughs don't mean that there's no racism. Think of it this way. If I rob a bank and I get busted, I can't defend myself by saying, no guys I did it as a joke. Yeah, but you pistol whip the bank teller. Yeah but but I made a funny sound when I did it I was like boy-yang young young give me the money bitch so do I get to go now? So yeah Joe Rogan is saying that he would never say something racist. sohn. soe that he would never say something racist. And now because of that. And you know what? I can have my opinion. And you can have

your opinion. you know whose opinion I think Matz has more than most people? Is Joe Rogan. And here's what Joe Rogan said about his joke when he said it. We walk into Planet of the Apes. We walked into Africa, dude. We walked in the door and there was no white, the white, the white, the white, the white, the white, the white, the white, the white, the white, the white, the white, the white, the white, the the the the the the the the the the the the their, their, tho, tho, tho, their, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, th. And, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their. And, their. And, their. And, their. And, their. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I, I, I. I, I. th. th. the. the. the. thea. th. th. th. th. th.oooooe. th. th. th. th. thoooe. I can, I can We walked in the door, and there was no white people. There was no white people. Planet the Apes didn't take place in Africa. I was a racist thing for me to say. Yeah, exactly. It is a racist thing for you to say, you're saying it. You're saying it's racist. But then in the video you're going to be like, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was.......... There. There. There. There. There. There. There. There. There. There. There. There. there. there. there. There, was, was, there, there, there, there, no, there, no, there, no, there. There. There. There. There. there. there. There was no, there. There was, he said it, he said it and then he's like, well, that was racist.

And then now he's like, I've never never say racist. Like, this whole thing makes me go like, why are people so adamant that it wasn't racist? Like, why do people, people do a thing that's racist and then they go. I think it's because people are just truly petrified of having the label racist branded on them for life. That's what people are really afraid of. No one wants to be called a racist, because then they're like, how long am I a racist for? Like, am I racist that can't get jobs? No, I just want to be racist,

but I just want to be racist, but I'm to be called, but I'm to be called, but I'm to be called, but to be called, but to be called, but to be makes people unable to admit when they say or do something racist. They would rather die on the hill of them not being racist, even if it means giving convoluted excuses that don't make any sense. So anyway, after all those videos come out, Joe Rogan got into even more hot water. Yeah, more artists spoke out. The Rock pulled his support. And now, because of thatthat more of his podcast videos are coming under scrutiny. Right? There's a video where Rogan is promoting the proud boys. There's videos where he's laughing about like female comedians being

forced to perform sexual favors in exchange for stage time. Like the videos they're horrible and they just keep coming. And if there's something you you shouldn't have said in public basically, Rogan has said it on his podcast, which, as you can imagine, is a pretty big problem for Spotify. Because now, they own $100 million worth of problems. So this weekend, after dealing with all the episodes with vaccine information, Spotify was now scrambling to take down all the offensive episodes

that they could find. In fact, I think we have some footage of Spotify headquarters over the the weekend..... th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi is thi is thi is thi is thi is thi is thi is thi is thi is thi is thi is thi is thi is thi is thi is th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi, th. And, thi is thi is thi is thi is thi is thi is thi is thi is thi. And, thi. And, thi. And, thi. And, thi. And, thi. And if thi. And if thi. thi. And, thateeateateateateateateateateateateate. And, thi. And, thi is thi is thi is thi. that they could find. In fact, I think we have some footage of Spotify headquarters over the weekend. We are taking heavy fire. I need you to delete those podcasts. We're deleting them as fast as we can. We're still getting backlash from the vaccines. I can't make it stop. New reports of misogyny are popping up everywhere.

Sir, incoming clean out of the age story. Those bastards never stood a chance. No, but for real, though, Spotify's having a hell of a time navigating the situation. And you can tell, like, how tough this is from the response of their CEO. Spotify and its CEO, Daniel Eck, responding to the latest controversy around the Joe Rogan experience in a memo to staff, Eck said, quote, not only are some of Joe Rogan's comments incredibly hurtful, I want to make clear that they do not represent the values of the company. Eck adding, he does not believe silencing Rogan is the answer.

Ex said he is committing $100 million to the same amount as Rogan's reported contract to license, develop, and market audio content from creators from historically marginalized groups. Ah, man, you gotta feel bad for Spotify. You know, they just want to be a company that screws over musicians and now they've got to deal with racism, ah, they just can't catch a break. But yeah, Spotify will spend Joe Rogan's exact salary on amplifying the voices of marginalized groups. That's what they say they're going to do.

Which I guess is supposed to make them look good, but it's also kind of an admission that Rogan's podcast is bad for those groups, right. podcast is bad for those groups, right? Like otherwise you wouldn't need to balance him out. Does that make sense? Like, there's a reason that Spotify has never been forced to give $100 million to marginalize groups because of this American life. I mean, whipping out your checkbook is the classic sign

that you know you're f-ed up. It's not real accountability. It's how rich dudes get out of car accidents when they know that it was their fault. You know, it's just like, wow, looks like I really wrecked you there. So how much does a new kid cost these days? Two million? Three? Ha ha ha. You see, that was a dark joke. And if I had an audience right now, they'd be like, huh? Why are you saying that about children? Booff? And Spotify can say that Rogan's comments don't represent the company.. the company. the company. the company. the company. the company. the company. the company. the company. the company. the company. the. the. the. T. T. thiii. T. T. T. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. T. T. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. Two. the. Two. Two. Two. Two. Two. Two. the. the. the. the. toooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo's values. You know, that's what they said. They said, these podcasts do not represent Spotify's values. But like when companies say that, I'm like, guys, clearly the company's values are making money.

Like, and no shade, by the way. Those are the values of every company. You know, part of me actually wishes that Spotify would just drop the facade. Just come out and be like, we do not believe in silencing Joe Rogan because he makes us money. But if at some point he ends up costing us money, then we will drop him because money. So, is Joe Rogan a racist because he said these things? I mean, people are going to go back and forth forever on this. It almost made me think, maybe the question we should be asking is, thiiiiii, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, tho, thi, thi, thi, thi, tho, to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, tho tho tho thooooooooooooooooooom. thooooooooooooooooooo. thooo. tho. tho. th are going to go back and forth forever on this. It almost made me think, maybe the question we should be asking is, at what point is a person a racist? Is it when they do a racist thing?

Or is it when they do many racist things? Or is it about the severity of the racism? And then how do you measure the severity of racism? The truth is everyone is going to have their own answer. You know, Spotify has chosen theirs. And as for Joe Rogan, he says he's learned his lesson. And I hope he has. But I will say if I were him, I wouldn't walk into a cinema in a black neighborhood for a little while.

All right, when we come back, the head of the EPA will be joining me on the show to tell me where you are most likely to get cancer. So stay tuned. Welcome back to the Daily Show. My guest tonight is Michael Regan, the first black male administrator to lead the environmental protection agency. He's here to talk about his tour of Cancer Alley and Advancing Environmental Justice. Administrator Regan. Welcome to the Daily Show. Thank you. Glad to be here. I'm glad to have you here, you know, because I mean this is the environment. We're

all in the environment and you are now tasked with, I mean essentially making sure that we can breathe, we can drink water and we can live. I feel like your life sort of set you up for this because if my research is correct, you grew up with the type of asthma? Yeah, a type of a respiratory illness where any time there was an ozone action day or a lot of pollution, I'd struggle. And that was really a setback for me because I grew up hunting and fishing with my father and grandfather. So being outdoors meant everything to me because it was a cultural experience learning from them and being with them.

And any moment that I missed being with them, I was in the house because I was on that inhaler or worried about some pollution. Right, right, I feel like it's an origin story. That's what it is. Yeah, well. It's like the pollution affected your ability to have fun with your family, and you're like,

I'm gonna get you pollution. And look at you now, administrator of the EPA. Unfortunately, we learn every day about communities around America where they don't have water that is not polluted by industries that are up the road or up the stream because of the color of their skin. Nobody cares. I mean you read the history of America. Every single time people plan where to put a factory or how the factory will affect the neighborhood. It's never in a rich neighborhood. It's never in a nice neighborhood. It's always in a country. It is.

And everything I do at EPA is through the lens of environmental justice. Contracting, procurement, air quality, water quality, land management starts with are we protecting the least amongst us, those who have lacked political representation and those who have not been at the table for decades. And to your point, systemic racism is by design and the environment is no different than policing or you know incarceration or housing. And so this administration has an all-of-the-above-all-of-government approach. So as I think about lead and the eradication of lead in this country, I'm partnering with

the Secretary of Housing who is thinking about lead paint while I'm thinking about water. This is about making sure that we protect all people and I'm excited to be on this team. I'll be honest with you. Here's the dilemma though. You have a wonderful outlook, you want to do things. The counter is always money. Money and the interests of money. So you say, I want to protect this land, I want to protect the stream. Money says, oh, we want to turn that into an oil pipeline,

or we want to do something with this land where we're going to destroy the vegetation, but also create jobs and money. How do you manage that as the head of the EPA? Knowing full well that the people with money are going to put pressure on your bosses to say like no, no, no, no, too much environment, we need money. Oh yeah, money is absolutely both a blessing and a curse. And here's a reality. We are convinced that you have to choose between jobs, economic, prosperity and development,

and protecting people and you don't. It requires all levels of government working with communities to determine what's best and how to do it. And the things circling back to environmental justice, you don't have to put every refinery in every pipeline in every black and brown neighborhood or cutting across every tribal community or reservation. There are ways to think about how we do economic development and create jobs in a way that don't overly burdened to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the to the community the community to their communities communities communities communities communities to their communities to to to to their communities to to to their communities communities to their communities communities communities communities. to to to to to to to to to to be to be to be to be communities communities communities communities communities communities communities communities communities communities communities communities communities communities communities communities to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to their communities communities communities communities their communities to their communities to their to their their their their their to their their their to bethere are ways to think about how we do economic development and create jobs in a way that don't overly burden certain communities. And by the way, when we think about climate change and clean energy, this is about taking

advantage of the future. Our economy and society is evolving. Clean energy, clean opportunities, create opportunities for jobs and economic development. So, it makes this country more globally competitive if we get the jump on countries like China, India and others to deploy these practices at home. And by the way, deploy them at home and if we start with the most polluted areas, we will be starting with the people who can, who can, who are the

least amongst us and can handle these disproportionate pollution impacts. So start there, protect those people, create jobs in those communities, move forward to a clean energy economy and continue to be globally dominant. That's the way we should be thinking about this. Many people like the idea of clean energy. Changing to the clean energy seems like that's gonna be the biggest hurdle of all. I love clean energy, but I also know that we won't be able to wean ourselves off of coal tomorrow. We won't be able to stop using oil tomorrow,

not just because of our need, but also because of the energy, the people who work in those industries. What do you think a the th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the thi, the thi, the thi, thi, thi, the thi, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the thi, thi, thi, thi, thi.... tooooooooooooooooooooooooo, the the the thi, the thi, think a realistic outlook is you want to keep moving forward right but you don't want to be in a place where all of a sudden you cut off your nose to spite your face so how do you find that balance of progress whilst also not alienating what we do today? I mean this is why I have conversations with the Secretary of the Department of Defense, labor, commerce, energy. It takes planning across government. The reality is is at one point point th th th th th th th th thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi. thi. thi. thi thi. thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi. So, thi, th. So, th. So, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi. thi. thi. theeeeean, to to to to to theean, thean, thean, thean, thiii. So, thi. So, thi. So,. The reality is, is at one point in time, people like their rotary phones. And then all of a sudden, we had iPhones.

If we create platforms, technology will move to those platforms and drive society forward. If we can have an electric grid that's just as smart as the web, and we can put clean energy apps on this platform. Well, that's interesting. Then you get society moving forward. And by the way, So anyway, if I start interrupting, you're almost saying we're still in like the dumb energy

phase of how we use electricity and how we how we, how we root to it around a city or a country. Absolutely. And if we want to take advantage of society moving forward, we all know we have to master technologies and we have to do it before other countries do it. So again, this is just as much about national security as it is about saving the planet and creating jobs. The question is, do we not take these opportunities because of political

rhetoric? Why should we not move forward and create new jobs and participate in global competitiveness and let technologies make life for us smarter and easier because we want to hold on to the past. That's where moneyed interests really do hamstring Americans moving forward and hamstrings national security. We should not be tied to the old way just because a lot of people wi influenced are making money through the old mechanisms. You know what, your enthusiasm is infectious. to the old way just because a lot of people were influenced are making money through the old mechanisms.

Well, you know what, your enthusiasm is infectious. I don't know if you can ever remove politics from anything in America, but good luck and try. Thank you so much for joining me on the show. Thank you. Wonderful having you here. All right, thank you so much again to Administ out of it. That's all of it. Everything in America. Well, that's our show for tonight.

But before we go, please consider supporting young black and lit. They're an organization that sources and distributes new books featuring black main characters to elementary and middle schools at no cost. So if you want to support them in their work promoting access to children's books that reflect the experiences of black children, then please donate at the link below. Until tomorrow, stay safe out there, get your vaccine, and remember if Spotify offers you a hundred million dollars, don't take it. It's just not worth it. Watch the Daily Show, weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central, and stream full episodes anytime on Paramount Plus.

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