When Howard Stern Told Joe Rogan How He Should Have Apologized To The World

At the height of Howard Stern's career, he became incredibly wealthy because he was willing to say things so controversial that he got beaten up. After previously being a sitcom and reality show star, Joe Rogan launched a podcast that made him so rich that fans want to know how much he pays his staff. More importantly, Joe arguably is Howard's spiritual successor in some ways, as he isn't afraid to infuriate Taylor Swift's fans or anger people by telling a former child star something shocking.

Despite the things they seem to have in common, Joe and Howard don't see eye-to-eye as they compete to get the most listeners. For example, Howard once called Joe out and tried to tell the podcast host how he should apologize to the world.

Howard Stern Told Joe Rogan How To Apologize For His Remarks About The COVID-19 Vaccination

Over the last several years, Joe Rogan has become one of the most divisive figures in pop culture. That is because there are many people who love Joe and regularly listen to him and lots of other people who can't stand Joe and blame him for his role in what they perceive as some of society's ills.

One example of an issue that has earned Joe a staggering amount of love and hate is his comments on the COVID-19 vaccines. While Joe has been celebrated for his comments, Joe's take on the vaccine also infuriated a lot of people who wanted him to be canceled.

One example of a person who was angry about Joe's COVID-19 vaccine comments is Howard Stern. In fact, Howard went so far as to publicly tell Joe how he should apologize to the world for his vaccine comments.

In February 2022, Business Insider published an article covering what Howard said about Joe apologizing.

At the time, Howard spoke out about Joe during an episode of his SiriusXM radio show.

While speaking about how Joe should have handled the COVID-19 vaccine backlash, Howard stated he should have unreservedly apologized to the world.

As a result of Joe's comments about the COVID-19 vaccine and his past use of a revolting word when he was joking, many called for Spotify to cancel their deal with him. However, in February 2024, Variety reported that Joe signed a deal renewal with Spotify said to be worth up to $250 million. That figure was even more impressive than Joe's previous deal with the company , which was reported to be worth up to $200 million.

Furthermore, Business Insider reported that Howard gave unsolicited advice to Joe that he should tell his listeners to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

[Joe should say] I'm wrong, and go get the vaccine before you die.

After advising Joe how he believed that host of "The Joe Rogan Experience" should apologize to the world, Howard wasn't done.

In September 2023, a New York Post article quoted Howard Stern talking about how freaked out he was by the COVID-19 pandemic on his SiriusXM radio show. During his radio show, Howard revealed that his fear of the virus was causing problems in his marriage with his wife, Beth Ostrosky. “She goes, ‘That’s what you do. Every time I say I’m going to do something, you bring up COVID.'... I’m just telling you, I’m scared. Am I wrong?”

Instead, Howard went on to comment that he found it ridiculous that anyone would listen to Joe's comments about medical topics, to begin with.

The whole thing with Joe Rogan is so silly to me.

Howard went on to give Joe more advice on how to handle discussing the COVID-19 vaccine in public.

As Howard went on, he spoke about when Joe sought to clarify his comments about the COVID-19 vaccine. Howard then told Joe to tell his listeners not to listen to his comments about medical issues.

"Even the apology he just should've said, 'You know what? Listen, I'm a comedian... And I have no idea what I'm talking about'. I have no medical background whatsoever to be telling people what to do with their health."

In April 2021, the BBC published an article about Joe clarifying his comments about the COVID-19 pandemic at that time. That article revealed Joe's original comments that sparked the backlash against the podcaster that Howard was commenting on. At the time, Joe stated that he didn't think that young and healthy people needed to take the vaccine for themselves.

"If you're a healthy person, and you're exercising all the time, and you're young, and you're eating well...like, I don't think you need to worry about this."

After the backlash, Joe clarified that he wasn't anti-vaccine, as some people were labeling him at the time. "I'm not an anti-vax person. I believe they're safe and encourage many people to take them."

Joe Rogan Went On To Joke About His COVID-19 Vaccine Scandal

After Howard Stern advised Joe Rogan about how to apologize to the world for his comments about the COVID-19 vaccine, the podcast host definitely didn't listen. In fact, instead of apologizing the way that Howard told him to, Joe opted to make jokes about the backlash he faced over the vaccine.

In August 2024, USA Today published an article about Joe's live Netflix comedy special, "Burn the Boats." That article revealed that Joe cracked many jokes during that comedy special about COVID-19. For example, Joe made fun of the idea that anyone would turn to him for medical advice. However, that was the only COVID-19 topic that Joe seemed to agree with Howard on.

If you're getting your vaccine advice from me, is that really my fault?

Joe went on to make jokes about how COVID-19 changed the way he viewed vaccines in general.

"Before COVID, I would have told you that vaccines are the most important invention in human history. After COVID, I’m like, 'I don’t think we went to the moon.'"

Joe also made a joke about the reports about how many people died due to COVID-19. Still not through, Joe also stated that COVID-19 made him cut people out of his life seemingly because of how they reacted to the pandemic. "COVID was just so strange. We lost a lot of people during COVID, and most of them are still alive. There's a lot of people that I don’t f*** with anymore."