Joe Rogan sparks outrage after claiming return of harmful slur is a ‘victory’
Topics: Celebrity, Podcasts, Social Media
Rhiannon Ingle
Featured Image Credit: The Joe Rogan Experience
Topics: Celebrity, Podcasts, Social Media
Joe Rogan has sparked major outrage online after making the outlandish claim hailing that the return of one particular slur word is 'one of the great culture victories.'
The 57-year-old podcaster, who hosts The Joe Rogan Experience, is well-known on the 'manosphere' circuits positing himself as an 'anti-woke' figure and has gone viral on social media once again this week for championing a word which has long been used to bully, discriminate and cause offence to a particular community.
Rogan made such comments during Thursday’s episode (10 April) of his podcast in which he sat down with Dave Smith, a stand-up comedian, libertarian political commentator, and fellow podcaster.
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In the episode, he rejoiced over the alleged return of the disability slur 'r*tard' - a word which stems from 'mental retardation', which was originally a medical term for people with intellectual disabilities, which has since become a pejorative slur and insult.
"Every time I see people that disagree with any that’s happening, any gigantic world events, it’s one of these r*tarded shows where they’re screaming - there’s the word again," Rogan said, interrupting himself.
"We were just talking about that," he added. "The word r*tarded’ is back, and it’s one of the great culture victories that I think is spurred on, probably, by podcasts."
Rogan has been using the term, which is now well-known in modern society for its derogatory meaning - despite its initial definition - for years now with one instance seeing him impersonate disabled children from his 2006 comedy special Joe Rogan: Live.
Another instance saw him declare that the R-word was 'coming back strong' among high school pupils.
And it's not just Rogan who uses the slur as Elon Musk, who spearheads United States president Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has used the term a number of times on social media this year alone.
Many people have since rushed to X to call out Rogan's most recent comments with actress Maureen McCormick, who played Marcia Brady on The Brady Bunch, writing last Friday (11 April): "Joe Rogan, @joerogan.
🚨 JOE ROGAN: “The word retarded is back and it’s one of the great culture victories.” pic.twitter.com/WiASglTBc6
— Autism Capital 🧩 (@AutismCapital) April 10, 2025
"Your statement that 'the 'R' word is back and it’s one of the great culture victories', ignores the terrible hurt it causes to the millions of people with intellectual disabilities. This is not a victory. It is a regression."
A second penned: "The 'R; word is disgusting and it is disgusting people are celebrating its comeback."
"It really is one of the strangest phenomenons," agreed a third. "Like, it was just killing them to not say a word? How precious are they?"