Joe Rogan is practically synonymous with MMA and the UFC, but now one of the fighters is coming after him. Former MMA fighter Fallon Fox called on Spotify publicly to cancel Rogan’s podcast this week over his latest transphobic comments. Rogan has mocked Fox publicly for years and continues to make transphobic comments as well.
Rogan’s incredibly popular podcast helped propel the medium to its current heights and earned him one of the biggest, most loyal followings in the industry. He signed an exclusive deal with Spotify in December, giving him even more power as a creator. That deal has also given critics a fresh target to aim for since Rogan can now be de-platformed in one fell swoop. After his years of transphobic commentary, Fox told Bro Bible that’s exactly what should happen.
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“Joe Rogan is being transphobic yet again,” she said. “He has had more transphobic episodes than you can shake a stick at. Spotify needs to cancel his show already.”
Fox is the first openly transgender athlete in the sport of MMA. She was assigned male at birth in 1975 and transitioned in 2006, with a full course of gender reassignment surgeries. Fox then began competing in the women’s division of MMA starting in 2013, where she stirred up controversy immediately. She retired in 2014. Rogan was one of her first and most vocal detractors.
Fox’s new criticism, however, refers to more recent transphobic comments from Rogan. In a recent episode of his podcast, he said: “There are people who really have these thoughts. The problem is it becomes a protected subject and then you get praised for transferring your gender — for changing your gender. And then it gets exciting for people to talk about, and then you get chastised for even discussing it in any weird way.”
“And then people who were marginalized for being — like, generally dumb people, if they transfer over and become another gender, then they get praised,” Rogan went on. “There are a lot of people who are idiots, but then they become trans, and now all of a sudden we think they’re amazing.”
Back in 2013, Rogan said of Fox: “She calls herself a woman but… I tend to disagree. She used to be a man but now she has had, she’s a transgender which is [the)] official term that means you’ve gone through it, right? And she wants to be able to fight women in MMA. I say no f—ing way. I say if you had a d— at one point in time, you also have all the bone structure that comes with having a d—. You have bigger hands, you have bigger shoulder joints. You’re a f—ing man. That’s a man, OK? I don’t care if you don’t have a d— anymore.”
So far, Fox’s calls to have Rogan’s podcast canceled do not seem to have changed a lot of minds on social media. The comedian continues to stir up controversy at every turn.
