Joe Rogan has apologised for spreading a debunked right-wing conspiracy about the ongoing US wildfires on his popular Spotify podcast.
The actor and presenter had suggested that “left-wing” offenders had been arrested for causing the forest fires which are currently raging across the country’s west coast.
Speaking on The Joe Rogan Experience, Rogan said: “[Authorities have] arrested people for lighting forest fires up there. They’ve arrested left-wing people for lighting these forest fires.”
Local and federal law enforcement officials have been forced to repeatedly deny the claims, which spread on social media.
Rogan, who has claimed his podcast is downloaded by 190 million people per month, conceded he had “f***ed up” in his claims that “people got arrested for lighting fires in Portland”.
“That turns out to not be true,” he said. “I was very irresponsible not looking into it before I repeated it. I read one story about a guy getting arrested for lighting fires [which] turned out to be true, but the other s*** I read about people getting arrested for lighting fires in Portland was not true.
“I repeated it without looking into it and it was a really f***ing stupid mistake that won’t happen again. I’m sorry.”
Rogan has a history of spreading conspiracy theories on his show. The former NewsRadio star has faced criticism for his comments on a number of issues, from ADHD to trans rights.
In May, Spotify bought the rights to Rogan’s ongoing podcast in a deal reportedly worth more than $100m (£77m).
