Joe Rogan is facing allegations of fabricating details about his whereabouts during the assassination of Charlie Kirk. The controversy has prompted the well-known podcast host to respond assertively.
During a recent episode of the “Joe Rogan Experience,” where he was joined by entertainer Theo Von, Rogan, 58, attempted to recount the events surrounding Kirk’s murder, which occurred in September.
“This all happened while I was out elk hunting,” Rogan stated. “I was in Utah, up in the mountains, hunting.”
However, this claim contradicts a previous instance when Rogan reacted to the assassination in real time during a September podcast episode featuring Charlie Sheen, appearing visibly shocked by the news.
The discrepancy in Rogan’s account was highlighted by an X user who shared a video combining clips from both podcast episodes, questioning, “What a strange thing to lie about.”
While some echoed these sentiments, Rogan quickly defended himself, clarifying that he had simply made an unintentional error.
‘Honestly I just remembered it wrong. I was elk hunting when Jimmy Kimmel was getting people angry at him for joking about the assassination and blaming it on MAGA,’ he wrote early Saturday on X.
‘I would never “lie” about that,’ Rogan added. ‘I just had a dumb memory moment.’
Joe Rogan said on Thursday’s episode of his eponymous podcast that he was elk hunting in Utah when Charlie Kirk was murdered, even though he reacted in real time to the assassination
The backlash to Rogan’s comments to Von was swift, with users across the internet questioning the popular podcaster’s account.
Rogan’s latest podcast had more than 1.6 million views, as of Saturday evening.
‘Well now you kind of can’t believe anything he says,’ one user wrote on X. ‘Once I catch you lying its [sic] over with. Damn joe why?’
Others baselessly accused Rogan of having more nefarious intentions with the retelling on his podcast.
‘He created an entire story about elk hunting and starlink etc and went off for 2 minutes,’ another X user wrote. ‘That’s not misremembering; that’s straight up lying.’
Some internet sleuths returned to Rogan’s podcast episode with Sheen and noted the discrepancy.
‘Just came by to see if I hallucinated Joe NOT elk hunting in Utah during Kirk’s assassination,’ one YouTube user said.
Another added: ‘Who else came here to confirm Rogan was in his studio and not hunting in Utah Mountains?’
Online commenters across social media platforms also questioned Rogan’s memory, wondering how he could misremember such an event.
‘How tf do you forget being on your podcast with Charlie Sheen while learning in real time about Charlie Kirk’s murder?’ one user on X wrote.
‘He definitely was with Charlie Sheen,’ another added.
But others were more sympathetic to Rogan, saying that he had a slip of the tongue that was not alarming.
‘Maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t a lie,’ one X user said. ‘Maybe he is human and can’t remember s*** like the rest of us. Not everything is malicious.’
Another called the accusations that Rogan was lying ‘moronic,’ opining that the comedian and UFC commentator had no reason to be embellishing the story.
‘Why would Joe “lie” about a moment when he was on camera, seen by millions of people?’ the user wrote. ‘It was obviously a memory lapse, he’s almost 60… Not everything is a conspiracy theory.’
Another user on YouTube mentioned that it was ‘possible to misremember things,’ adding that Rogan ‘most likely just forgot.’
‘If he lied on purpose he’d know that people can literally prove him wrong with his own podcasts,’ they added.
Kirk was assassinated on September 10 in Orem, Utah, during an outdoor debate event planned by Turning Point USA
However, Rogan’s apology on Saturday was not widely accepted despite his explanation.
‘When Charlie got killed it was a moment like 9/11,’ one X user wrote. ‘You simply don’t “forget” where you were and especially if you were talking about it live as it happened.’
Another user posted: ‘Memory moment is what we’re calling it now lol.’
Others noted how it was unusual for Rogan to respond to viral criticism but had quickly addressed this.
‘Joe rarely comments on anything about himself, usually just doesn’t care,’ a third user said. ‘Wild.’
Kirk was killed on September 10 in Orem at the Utah Valley University campus during an outdoor debate event planned by Turning Point USA, which he founded.
Rogan’s reaction to the conservative activist’s assassination went viral, with the episode amassing more than 5.6 million views to date.
Kirk’s accused murderer Tyler James Robinson, 22, is facing capital murder charges and a potential death sentence.
Robinson’s defense attorneys now argue that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives ‘was unable to identify the bullet recovered at autopsy to the rifle allegedly tied’ to him.
The Daily Mail has reached out to the Joe Rogan Experience’s production team for further comment.
