People Are Mad At Joe Rogan For Giving Coronavirus Tests To His Podcast Guests

If you’ve watched any of Joe Rogan’s podcast in the last couple weeks, you may have noticed him mention that he’s not only testing himself for Covid-19 every few days, but also ensuring his guests are coronavirus-free before speaking with them by giving them tests that he managed to purchase.

Seems a pretty reasonable thing to do, except some people aren’t happy with it whatsoever, including VICE who picked up the story:

In a recent interview with BUILD, comedian Chris D’Elia mentioned that prior to filming a Joe Rogan Experience episode, he was tested for COVID-19. The interviewer, Ricky Camillieri, shocked, asks, “How is Joe Rogan’s podcast getting tests?”

D’Elia answers with “because Joe is paying for it. That’s why. Joe is basically Bruce Wayne, that’s why.”

Wealthy people can buy things other people can’t – shocker. Well VICE isn’t best pleased:

Tests have been readily available for celebrities and other wealthy people, especially in a state with a backlog of tens of thousands of COVID-19 tests, and in a country with a national shortage. Rogan, like many members of the celebrity class, has been using an on-demand luxury medical service.

A bunch of other people online are mad about it too:

I’m a huge fan but @joerogan ‘s ability to get tested for #COVID19 every three days demonstrates the evil of capitalism in a life-and-death scenario. Good luck getting a test in Detroit. Make it right, Joe.

— Kristina Pingston (@bodhizinka) April 19, 2020

@JoeRogan is a self-centered pig who doesn’t give a shit that there are people dying cuz they can’t get a test cuz YOU USED THEM ALL! More than 1 test is bad enough, but bragging about it is UNFORGIVABLE!

Joe Rogan brags about being tested for virus twice https://t.co/sXtDql1kna

— Cali Jetfan (@cali_jetfan) April 19, 2020

Must be nice to get access to the Coronavirus test at will. I have had friends and their children who have been ill with flu systems & high temperatures and were refused the test because the ERs are rationing them. I guess you’ve reached elitist status. How nice for you.

— 🇺🇸🇺🇸Morris F.🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@MorrisF56319135) April 18, 2020

A close friend, a doctor, presumably had Coronavirus but couldn’t get tested in NYC. Cool that Joe Rogan is able to test his pals like it’s nothing. https://t.co/T95TxIafr4

— Rebecca Klein (@rklein90) April 17, 2020

I guess it’s understandable why people would be upset about this, and maybe Rogan shouldn’t have even mentioned it. But if he hadn’t then people would probably be accusing him of being irresponsible by continuing his podcast interviews in-person. I’m pretty sure he couldn’t give a toss either way TBH.

Besides, the tests Joe Rogan is using are not FDA approved, meaning he isn’t taking away any tests that could be in hospitals (I think?). Pretty sure a hospital can only use FDA approved tests, but I could be wrong.

Dr. Abe Malkin, who administers the tests for Rogan and his guests, told VICE:

“I give everyone a disclaimer, it’s not FDA approved, you can’t use this for diagnosis, it’s more for peace of mind, for epidemiologic data. But if they need a definitive diagnosis, they have to get a nasal swab,” Dr. Malkin said.

“I’ve tested about 300 [people] in the last week, about 5% of asymptomatic people turn up positive on antibody testing, and about 10 to 20% of symptomatic people have showed up positive on antibody testing. And everyone that was a known positive, has shown up positive on antibody testing,” Dr. Malkin said, noting this is in line with statistics he’s seen elsewhere.

So Rogan is paying for all his own tests including the ones his guests take, and these are all tests that (presumably) can’t be used in hospitals, but people still have an issue with it because they think he should be spending his own money to help the general public get tested, or something. Well like I said I understand the frustration but I don’t know if that’s really fair on the guy, especially as he’s continuing to put out his podcasts and entertain us during these tough times where we can use all the digital content we can get.

Not to mention he was one of the first ‘celebrities’ to wake people up to how serious coronavirus is, when he interviewed this dude back in March: