Mary Trump said Tuesday she would join the growing list of artists and content creators to pull their work from Spotify in protest of its decision to retain Joe Rogan’s podcast, despite it repeatedly spreading COVID-19 misinformation.
“I’m removing my podcast from Spotify. I know it’s not a big deal but hope it will be part of a growing avalanche,” she tweeted, praising musicians Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Nils Lofgren for leading the way.
“Spotify should get rid of Joe Rogan’s show not just because he spreads COVID disinformation but because he is a racist,” she added on Wednesday.
She said her new podcast, “The Mary Trump Show,” which she debuted in December, would be available “everywhere you listen―except Spotify.”
Last week, Young announced he was removing all of his music from the audio streaming service because it was hosting shows that spread “false information about vaccines — potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them.”
“They can have Rogan or Young. Not both,” he said.
Rogan is estimated to have around 11 million listeners per episode of his “Joe Rogan Show” podcast. It is consistently No. 1 on Spotify’s podcast charts. (Trump’s show does not appear in the Top 100.) He has promoted false statements about vaccines and COVID-19 cures and often hosts guests who do the same.
In January, 270 scientists, doctors, health care workers and professors signed an open letter slamming Rogan as “a menace to public health” and calling on Spotify to establish a misinformation policy.
Spotify announced Sunday that it would add content advisories to any podcast episode that discusses COVID-19. Critics have said that the move — details of which remain unclear — is not enough.