Don Lemon calls out Joe Rogan for 'straight white men' comment: 'You're aggrieved now?'
On Don Lemon Tonight Tuesday, Lemon called out Joe Rogan, who said on his hugely successful podcast recently that he believes we may be heading toward a society in which straight white men will be silenced.
“You can never be woke enough, that’s the problem. It keeps going. It keeps going further and further and further down the line,” Rogan said in the May 13 episode of The Joe Rogan Experience. “And if you get to the point where you capitulate, where you agree to all of these demands, it will eventually get to ‘straight white men are not allowed to talk.’ Because it's your privilege to express yourself when other people of color have been silenced throughout history. It will be, ‘You’re not allowed to go outside because so many people were imprisoned for so many years.’ I’m not joking. It really will get there.”
Lemon has spoken out recently against cancel culture, and he agrees there’s a debate to be had, but also believes Rogan’s take on the matter couldn’t be further from reality.
“There is an important debate right now about cancel culture and wokeness, questions about what either term even means and what happens if it goes too far. There are legitimate questions about that,” Lemon said. “But acknowledging the oppression, discrimination or differences of others does not silence anyone else.”
Rogan, who has a $100 million contract with Spotify and reaches hundreds of millions of listeners, received backlash last fall for repeating false conspiracy theories about wildfires in Oregon being started by left-wing activists, and more recently for comments he made about young people not needing to get the COVID-19 vaccine. He apologized in both situations and was seemingly not affected in the least, which Lemon pointed out.
“No matter what he has said, he has not been silenced. He has a huge megaphone with millions of loyal listeners, all of whom every single day say whatever they want,” Lemon said. “Joe Rogan is part of the conversation. There’s a lot I can go on about, especially about straight white men. You’re aggrieved now? OK. No one is stopping Joe Rogan or any other straight white man from expressing themselves, period.”
Don Lemon Tonight airs weeknights at 10 p.m. on CNN.
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