American podcaster and comedian Joe Rogan recently courted controversy after voicing antisemitic tropes on his massively popular podcast 'The Joe Rogan Experience'.
According to Variety, an American media company, in a recent episode with guests Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti, hosts of the 'Breaking Points' podcast, Rogan remarked that "the idea that Jewish people aren't into money is ridiculous. That's like saying Italians aren't into pizza. That's ******* stupid."
Rogan made the remarks in relation to Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), who was recently demoted by Republicans from the Foreign Affairs Committee after being accused of antisemitism.
After a 2019 tweet criticising the American Israel Public Affairs Committee reappeared, Omar came under fire. Omar wrote that American backing for Israel was "all about the Benjamins" in the post, reported Variety.
After receiving criticism for the post, the Muslim congresswoman apologised, saying she was "grateful for Jewish allies and colleagues who are educating me on the painful history of antisemitic tropes." It is noteworthy that Omar has frequently criticised how the Israeli government treats Palestinians.
"She's apologizing for talking about 'It's all about the Benjamins,' which is just about money--she's talking about money... That's not an antisemitic statement, I don't think that is. Benjamins are money," Rogan continued on his podcast, according to Variety.
"Disturbing that at a time of rising anti-Jewish violence, when growing numbers of Americans believe in antisemitic conspiracy theories, [Joe Rogan] would use his immense platform to spew antisemitic tropes about Jews and money," wrote Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt in a tweet.
The American Jewish Committee's CEO, Ted Deutch, a former congressman, also denounced Rogan's remarks for using "the same tropes that have been used to persecute Jews for centuries."
As per Variety, Rogan, whose show ranked as the most popular podcast of 2022 on Spotify, is no stranger to backlash. Seventy episodes of "The Joe Rogan Experience" were pulled from Spotify last year for the host's repeated use of the N-word, a controversy that led to an apology from the podcast host.
( With inputs from ANI )
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