Joe Rogan slams ex-BBC executives, claims network ‘felt justified’ lying about Trump

Podcast host Joe Rogan called out the BBC on Wednesday over the scandal over the network’s deceptively edited video of former President Donald Trump, saying it shows the “deep rot” in mainstream media.

The BBC has faced widespread criticism over a “Panorama” documentary about Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021 speech delivered before the riot at the U.S. Capitol. Critics say the program was misleading because it omitted Trump’s call for supporters to protest “peacefully” and spliced together remarks made nearly an hour apart to appear as one continuous statement.

Trump has threatened a $1 billion lawsuit if the “false, defamatory, disparaging, and inflammatory statements” are not retracted immediately. BBC News CEO Deborah Turness and Director-General Tim Davie both resigned in recent days amid the controversy.

Rogan discussed the scandal multiple times this week, arguing on his podcast that it was “not journalism, but, like, full-on lying and propaganda. And it’s kinda f—ing dangerous.”

“It seems like these people — this is just my opinion — felt justified for completely lying, because it would lead to an ultimate good. So they lost all journalistic integrity. And it is the BBC, which is like the height of journalistic integrity,” Rogan said.

“If that doesn’t show the rot of mainstream, corporate-controlled media, then nothing does. Because that’s pure rot,” Rogan said. “At the top of the heap, if someone quoted a source, and it was the BBC, I’d think, ‘OK, that’s like The Washington Post or The New York Times.’ It’s a very official source, so I’d assume, ‘This must be real.’”

Now, he said, things are different: “They turned it into activism, and they turned it into lying — and they did it in front of everyone, where you could clearly just listen to the full speech and know he didn’t say that. That’s not how he said it at all.”

The BBC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.