Joe Rogan apologises for podcast about fake Covid tweet after doctor relentlessly harassed

Joe Rogan and Bret Weinstein recorded a lengthy podcast segment about a tweet which was later discovered to be fake. Photo / Supplied

Joe Rogan has apologised and deleted a more than 10-minute segment on his podcast about a fake tweet attributed to a real doctor about the Covid vaccine.

The amplification of the fake tweet, which exceeded the character count allowed on the app and has been described as “clearly photoshopped” by critics, prompted a deluge of harassment towards the US doctor.

The tweet falsely attributed to Dr Natalia Solenkova said: “I will never regret the vaccine. Even if it turns out I injected actual poison and have only days to live. My heart and is [sic] was in the right place. I got vaccinated out of love, while anti-vaxxers did everything out of hate. If I have to die because of my love for the world, then so be it. But I will never regret or apologise for it.”

I was informed last night that this tweet is fake. The show was already out, so we initially decided to post a notice saying we got tricked, then later thought it best to just delete it from the episode.
My sincere apologies to everyone, especially the person who got hoaxed. https://t.co/GOeVjGMH7x

— Joe Rogan (@joerogan) January 5, 2023

On Wednesday’s episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, the commentator spoke about the fake tweet, which he described as “insane”.

He had guest Bret Weinstein, a former professor of evolutionary biology, with him on the show.

Both men are Covid vaccine sceptics who have lauded anti-parasitic drug ivermectin as a treatment for the virus, which the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) strongly warns against.

Rogan said in the segment that the idea that he did not get vaccinated out of hate was “ridiculous” and went on to question the safety of the vaccine and criticise the US government.

On Thursday, Weinstein tweeted that the episode would be taken down temporarily “to address something we discovered after its release”.

“A tweet we discussed turns out not to be authentic, and there’s no way to preserve that part while protecting the person who was being impersonated,” he wrote.

On Friday, Rogan issued an apology.

“I was informed last night that this tweet is fake,” he wrote, retweeting a video of the segment.

“The show was already out, so we initially decided to post a notice saying we got tricked, then later thought it best to just delete it from the episode.

“My sincere apologies to everyone, especially the person who got hoaxed.”