Hate Joe Rogan? Hate Netflix? Stop Taking the Rage Bait
Alison Foreman
The funniest thing to come out of Joe Rogan’s new Netflix special is the social media mocking it, but don’t kid yourself: CEO Ted Sarandos benefits from that, too.
Rogan, a 56-year-old podcaster (who, when picking out a shirt for his return to stand-up, chose a shade best described as Minion Vomit Yellow), has been called a lot of things since “Burn the Boats” streamed live on August 3. According to his critics on X, he’s “unfunny,” “a bigot,” “the dumbest man on the planet,” “like if Charlie Brown grew up, did steroids, finished balding, and never went to therapy,” “a lapdog for billionaires,” “adult Caillou,” “proof that those D.A.R.E. videos about the dangers of weed might have made some valid points,” and “the Cybertruck of comedians.”
The progressive pile-on is objectively funny and, at first glance, looks like a welcome counterbalance to the millions of Rogan fans who make “The Joe Rogan Experience” the world’s biggest podcast. In the special, Rogan aggressively mocks the LGBTQ community, punches down at the 7 million people who died of COVID, reminds fellow fearmongers about the asinine Pizzagate theory, and spreads plenty more misinformation — all while claiming to be a good guy. It’s grotesque, but par for the course for the data-driven streamer that proudly platforms transphobes like Dave Chappelle.
As home to the world’s biggest stage in stand-up, Netflix has said it won’t censor its talent no matter the cost. To his credit, Sarandos puts his money where his mouth is: Netflix signed nonbinary comedian Hannah Gadsby to a multi-year deal in 2022… after they called the company an “amoral algorithm cult” on Instagram. Playing both sides makes sense when the controversy is the product.
There’s a recognizable press cycle around inflammatory Netflix specials: right-wingers flock to see their favorite mouthpieces pop off while angry progressives meet the moment online. Being funnier than the ignorant asshole on your phone or TV can feel like a big win for human decency in the moment — but when does pushing back against something slide into giving it free publicity? In the age of ye olde algorithms, it might be sooner than you think.
Streamers fight for eyeballs like any entertainment business. Netflix data remains one of the biggest mysteries in Hollywood (despite a new biannual report illuminating subscribers’ most-watched content), but stand-up is an undeniable success story. Through-the-roof numbers for Chappelle’s “The Dreamer,” released at the very end of December 2023, taught Netflix not only that the controversial comedian still had a loyal audience, but also that our addiction to outrage is still going strong. Chappelle’s “Sticks & Stones” from 2019, which predates the notorious “The Closer” but included its own anti-trans rhetoric, remained the service’s most-watched hour as of November 2023.
Pre-existing fan bases, even those much smaller than Rogan’s, do well for Netflix. Take Matt Rife, who faced criticism for laughing at victims of domestic violence, children with intellectual disabilities, and other vulnerable groups. He also has 19 million followers on TikTok and saw his hour “Natural Selection” snag the title of most-watched Netflix special in 2023 with 13.5 million hours viewed.
Google saw a predictable spike in searches for Joe Rogan the day “Burn the Boats” dropped (and a 40% increase in related searches for the word “height”). It’s impossible to quantify the audience who engages with Rogan from the outside, but the business model for his work is well-established. Disagreement creates cross-pollination between groups and that back-and-forth makes an even bigger cultural moment. Rage bait, followed by backlash, is lucrative.
Even if half the people who engage with the idea of Rogan don’t watch him on Netflix, they prop up the show’s existence by acknowledgment. A meme making fun of Rogan might get 40,000 likes from people who disagree with his views, but that’s still 40,000 interactions. That data teaches any number of algorithms that “Burn the Boats” is something humans see as worthy of our time.
If you compare Rife, Rogan, and Chappelle to progressive comedians on the Netflix platform, the drop-off is steep. The progressive and genderqueer Gadsby’s latest hour “Something Special” is a sentimental set dedicated to their partner, which graciously sidesteps the notorious Chappelle controversy. It netted just 300,000 hours watched in the second half of 2023. “Something Special” was released in May, so the report doesn’t account for the initial rush of subscribers at debut — but when compared to hyper-popular Taylor Tomlinson’s “Look at You” from 2022 (holding attention still with 1.6 million hours watched in the second half of 2023), it’s a painful drop.
In Q1 2024 Netflix added 9.3 million subscribers, almost double what industry analysts anticipated. The streamer also posted $9.37 billion in revenue, outdoing its own projection of $9.24 billion and defying Wall Street expectations of $8.73 billion. Factors in its success include the infamous password-sharing crackdown and the service’s adoption of ads. But when it comes to the streamer’s stand-up slate, hatred wins.
So, should viewers who disagree with Rogan unsubscribe from Netflix? Maybe not.
Boycotts can be effective in changing toxic business behaviors, but the culture wars are too unwieldy to short-sheet from one side. Netflix’s own employees walked out on the company at the height of the Chappelle controversy, to no effect. And if progressives disavow the platform en masse, the comedy specials with kinder lessons see even smaller audiences.
Rogan and Sarandos still cash checks despite critics’ dreadful reviews of “Burn the Boats.” According to Rotten Tomatoes, audiences aren’t pleased either. (Dear algorithm: If you’re crawling this, it’s an “F” from me, dawg.) Many of us may delight in dogpiling Rogan’s artistic failure online, but silence could be the stronger choice. Take it from famed optimist Stephen King.
In “It,” the kid heroes learn an important lesson at the end of their battle with Pennywise. Trapped in a sewer system littered with the bodies of children who tried to fight back and lost, the Losers Club makes the brave decision to not be afraid. By not believing in the monster, by not feeding the evil entity with the terror in their souls, they take away its power. When it comes to Joe Rogan, we don’t need to sharpen our quips or ready our retorts. Instead, post about the good comics making specials you believe in — and together, we’ll turn our back on this clown.
