On the other hand, Joe Rogan issued the following statement regarding his N-word use:
“I know that, to most people, there’s no context where a white person is ever allowed to say that word, never mind publicly on a podcast. And I agree with that now. I haven’t said it in years.
But for a long time when I would bring that word up, like if it would come up in conversation, instead of saying ‘the N-word,’ I would just say the word. I thought as long as it was in context, people would understand what I was doing.
Like that context was part of the clip we were talking about was Redd Foxx, how Redd Foxx said that word on television in the 1970s and how times have changed so much since then; or about how Richard Pryor used it in the title of one of his albums; or how I was quoting a Lenny Bruce bit; or I was quoting a Paul Mooney bit; or I was talking about how Quentin Tarantino used it repeatedly in ‘Pulp Fiction’; or I was talking about how a Netflix executive ironically used it because he was trying to compare it to another offensive word, he said it out loud, and they fired him – not calling anybody a word, just saying the word out loud.
I was also talking about how there’s not another word like it in the entire English language because it’s a word where only one group of people is allowed to use it, and they can use it in so many different ways.
If a white person says that word, it’s racist and toxic. But a Black person can use it, and it can be a punchline, it can be a term of endearment, it can be lyrics to a rap song, it can be a positive affirmation. It’s a very unusual word, but it’s not my word to use.
I’m well aware of that now, but for years I used it in that manner. I never used it to be racist because I’m not racist, but whenever you’re in a situation where you have to say ‘I’m not racist,’ you f**ked up. And I clearly have f**ked up.”
