Featured Image Credit: The Joe Rogan Experience
He's arguably the biggest podcaster out there, and after Joe Rogan threw his weight behind Donald Trump in the 2024 election while helping secure the young male vote, his profile has only grown.
Much like how we've seen the likes of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and John Cena pivot from wrestling into lucrative acting careers, Rogan's stint as a UFC commentator was only the start of something much bigger.
Since 2009, Joe Rogan has had a galaxy of stars sitting with him, boasting everyone from Elon Musk to Donald Trump himself. Topics of conversation include alien conspiracy theories, self-driving Teslas, and the question of whether Jesus was real. The issue of artificial intelligence is also a recurring theme, but Rogan might not be as savvy as you think when it comes to spotting AI slop.
As we've seen with the viral Celina 52 Truck Stop, it's getting harder to tell what's real and what's not.
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Rogan's September 5 episode saw him chewing the fat with comedian Tim Dillon, and in wild scenes, he ended up in an argument with his producer over a video of Minnesota's Governor Tim Walz.
A viral video includes Walz dancing in a 'F**k Trump' shirt, with Rogan maintaining it's '100 per cent real'. Discussing the video, an angered Rogan vented: "You know what's really fun? When someone is in that whole race and running for president and vice president, and then the race is over and they realize that person was a liability, so they cut them off, and then that person goes wacky like Tim Walz."
Asking Dillon whether he'd seen the video, the comedian said he hadn't, which prompted Rogan to tell producer Jamie Vernon to locate the clip. Dillon questioned whether it's real, with Vernon replying: "No, it's not real."
A bit of a spat ensued, as an adamant Rogan continued: "Yes, it's real..."Look at him dancing, that is so real, Jamie. He slaps his ass. Definitely him. This is 100 percent real, Jamie."
As confirmed by AFP Fact Check, the AI-generated video of Tim Walz dancing down an escalator to The Pussycat Dolls' "Don't Cha" was uploaded to TikTok on August 6 by a user called @RoggenRoland.
Rogan eventually agreed when Vernon showed him a caption that stated it was fake.
Still, a defiant Rogan defended his fumble as he concluded: "I fell for it too. And do you know why I fell for it? Because I believed that he's capable of doing something that dumb...He's so weird."
It looks like the original clip was altered by Jebra Faushay on X, admitting that they 'swapped the face' of someone dancing with Walz. The bio on Faushay's account reiterates that she posts 'satire.'
