Fake news is always circulating. Joe Rogan, who runs the podcast on Spotify called the Joe Rogan Experience, fell into a fake news trap which can be heard in his latest podcast release.
A Joe Rogan Accusation
On May 12 of this year, the Joe Rogan Experience released a podcast that, like most, tackled a pretty controversial topic. Joe has made quite the name for himself, talking about things that contradict authority. He is highly opinionated, and he shares his views through his podcasts which have attracted the interest of one million listeners.
On this particular podcast, Joe Rogan was ranting about certain government personnel who was trying to pass a law that prevented Australian citizens from growing food in their gardens at home. He accused the authority in charge of this endeavor of being, “f*cking creeps.”
At the start of the podcast, Joe was chatting with his guest, Bryan ‘Hotep Jesus’ Sharpe. Joe said to Brian: “I read something briefly and didn’t get into the article.” Rogan began confidently. “But they were saying they were trying to pass a bill that would outlaw you growing your own food in Australia.”
To which Bryan reacted: “Oh my god.” At this point, Joe took on a mockery of the Australian accent by slowing his speech down. He said: “They were saying, ‘Whoa, you could grow your own food. And what else? The disease was from your food. It infects the population, kills us off. Oh, we can’t have that.’”
If only @joerogan had taken the time to read my very useful @ReutersFacts fact-check on this 🤦♂️
— Nick Hardinges (@NickHardinges) May 17, 2022
Neither Australia nor any part of Australia is passing a bill that will prevent people from growing their own food… https://t.co/68sfKiZTfN https://t.co/8I8sx5aFbi
Joe Rogan Tries to Find the Justification
Joe wholeheartedly thought the news wasn’t fake. He went on with his rant, trying to find the justification the Australian authorities had for passing such a law. Joe then concluded that it has to have something to do with the agricultural industry trying to “smoke out” the people who are opposed to the COVID-19 vaccine.
He said to Bryan: “You could justify it if you were a real piece of sh*t, you could say most pandemics come from agriculture … fucking creeps man, these fucking creeps, they got a good grip on people during the pandemic.”
He continued about how difficult it is to go to the store for your groceries, yet now people can’t even grow their food. He says: “That’s how you motherf*****g smoke out an anti-vaxxer, you can’t even go to the grocery store any more and you can’t grow your own food.”
Then the penny dropped
The topic that Joe was debating got everyone so riled up that the Joe Rogan Experience producer, Jamie Vernon, wanted to get involved. He took out his phone and started googling the proposed law. He struggled to find anything relating to Australian laws preventing locals from growing their food. Vernon said to joe: “Nothing’s coming up. The closest I can find is New Zealand.”
Joe did not seem to believe his producer and ultimately started googling on his phone. He realized very quickly that he had just berated fake news.
“Hold on,” says Joe. “It’s got to be a real thing … it seems too good to not be … damn it, it better not be fake… It might be fake.” Since then, Joe Rogan has corrected himself for the mistake he made on the podcast released on May 12th.
The Fake News Explained
This is a claim made by several social media accounts, all circulating The Agriculture Legislation Amendment Bill 2022. According to this thread of fake news, the bill will prevent the citizens of Australia from growing their food at home. The claims have been found to hold no truth.
An Australian governmental spokesperson confirmed: “The Agriculture Legislation Amendment Bill 2022 will help safeguard food security, food safety, and access to export markets.”
The legislation rather ensures the safety of food that is sold. For example, one aspect of the legislation requires fruit and vegetables sold in brine to have a PH level no higher than 4.6. This, of course, does not pertain to those growing veggies in their garden at home.
Sources
- “Joe Rogan’s rant about growing food in Australia: what did he say and is any of it true?” The Guardian. Caitlin Cassidy. May 18 2022.
- “Joe Rogan mocked for ranting about fake news story on Spotify podcast – and then realising it’s fake.” The Independent. Jacob Stolworthy. May 18, 2022.