Inside The Relationship Between Joe Rogan And Elon Musk

On April 25, 2022, it was announced that billionaire Elon Musk had purchased Twitter for a whopping $44 billion (via CNBC). According to CNN, this news came weeks after he had acquired a 9.2% stake in the social media platform. This subsequently made him the largest shareholder and Musk stated that he intended to join Twitter's board (per another article from CNBC). Shortly after, Twitter disclosed that Musk had decided against joining after all. Instead, the world's richest man decided he wanted to buy Twitter. Musk currently has over 85 million followers and has expressed his fondness of the app throughout the years.

NPR reports that he intends to create an edit button for users and to vanquish fake spam accounts, amongst other things. However, Musk has also stated that he wants to relax Twitter's free speech rules. He has described himself as a "free speech absolutist" and tweeted that "free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated."

Newsweek writes that many are alarmed at the possibility that certain banned controversial accounts will be reinstated. Per The Guardian, Musk's decision to buy Twitter has been heavily criticized for this reason. However, the Tesla CEO does have a prominent friend rooting for him — famed podcast host Joe Rogan.

According to The Independent, Joe Rogan is a comedian, UFC commentator, and the host of the incredibly popular "The Joe Rogan Experience." The Conversation reports that the podcast is downloaded 200 million times a month and has had its fair share of controversy. Rogan is known for having notable guests like Kanye West, Edward Snowden and more. Although he has been praised for his no filter approach, he has also come under fire for reportedly spreading misinformation and giving alleged conspiracy theorists a platform. Nonetheless, "The Joe Rogan Experience" continues to break records and gain millions of listeners and subscribers.

After Musk indicated that he intended to buy Twitter, Rogan expressed his approval on his podcast (via KFDM). On an episode that aired on April 16, he told his guest, actor Duncan Trussell, that Musk was "superintelligent" and that he has the skills and potential to be an impressive leader.

Per Fox News, Rogan continued to say that he was ecstatic over the potential purchase and praised Musk's character and abilities. He went on to commend Musk's beliefs on free speech and stated "He (Musk) said, 'Freedom of speech is someone you don't like saying something you don't want to hear... They have to have that right. It's essential to a democracy.'"

Elon Musk and Joe Rogan are well acquainted. Sportskeeda reports that Musk was a guest on "The Joe Rogan Experience" in September 2018, May 2020, and February 2021. According to Outsider, the September 2018 episode has broken viewership records. On the show, Musk and Rogan have discussed a plethora of topics including Musk's decision to sell a flamethrower and his belief that artificial intelligence will one day be smarter than him. However, arguably the most notable moment is when the pair decided to smoke marijuana together during the 2.5 hour interview (via Insider). The screenshots of Musk smoking quickly became memes.

In fact, Musk later jokingly tweeted one of these memes in early April, 2022 when news that he had purchased a large stake in Twitter became public. The meme simply stated "Twitter's next board meeting is going to be lit." On his latest appearance on "The Joe Rogan Experience" in 2021, Teslarati writes that Musk and Rogan spoke about his various businesses including SpaceX and Tesla.

Per Sportskeeda, Musk also brought up the infamous incident where his Cybertruck's window shattered during an on-stage demonstration in 2019. Musk told Rogan that a sledgehammer was to blame. Despite this, the 2018 episode remains to be one of the most popular on "The Joe Rogan Experience." NBC News explains that shortly after the episode's release, Tesla's stock decreased but Musk's notoriety increased.

On March 14, 2022, Elon Musk challenged Vladimir Putin to a fight in "single combat" over Ukraine via Twitter (per Insider). According to Men's Health, this tweet came shortly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Ramyan Kadyrov, a Chechen warlord, replied to Musk stating that he would inevitably lose the fight because he was only a "businessman and Twitter blogger" while Putin is a world leader and a martial arts specialist. Kadyrov then suggested that Musk should train at one of his boxing gyms. Soon after, Rogan went on his podcast and expressed his desire to train Musk for this alleged fight.

According to the New York Post, Rogan expressed his belief that Musk could take on Putin. He stated "First of all, he's a very big man. He's not small. And Putin is smaller than me." He went on to say that he had texted Musk to arrange any services he needed regarding training. Rogan also called Musk a "strange character" and retold a story where Musk had previously defeated a champion sumo wrestler (via Insider). Although it's unknown if Musk ever replied, Rogan stated that the fight "would be so f****** epic."