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Dr. Fauci Says Joe Rogan Was “Incorrect” To Advise Young People Against Vaccination

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  • Comedian and podcast host Joe Rogan is being accused of spreading misinformation after suggesting during an April 23 episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience” that young people should not get the COVID-19 vaccine.
  • “For the most part, I think it’s safe to get vaccinated,” he said. “But if you’re, like, 21-years-old and you say to me, ‘Should I get vaccinated?’ I would go ‘no.’”
  • He added that healthy young people who eat well and exercise don’t “need to worry about this.” 
  • Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said Rogan’s remarks were “incorrect” and added, “you can get infected and will get infected if you put yourself at risk. And even if you don’t have any symptoms, you’re propagating the outbreak.”

Rogan Tells Young People To Not Get Vaccinated

Comedian and podcast host Joe Rogan is facing backlash after suggesting that young people should not receive the COVID-19 vaccine. 

He made the controversial remarks during an April 23 episode of his show, “The Joe Rogan Experience.” A clip of it went viral on Twitter after Media Matters reported on it Tuesday. Rogan has been a trending subject on Twitter since then.

“Yeah, for the most part, I think it’s safe to get vaccinated. I do, I do,” he said while speaking to his guest, comedian Dave Smith. “But if you’re, like, 21-years-old and you say to me, ‘Should I get vaccinated?’ I would go ‘no.’ 

“Are you healthy? Are you a healthy person?” he continued. “Like look, don’t do anything stupid, but you should take care of yourself. If you’re a healthy person all the time and you’re exercising all the time and you’re young, and you’re eating well, like I don’t think you need to worry about this.” 

He later said he found it “crazy” that people want to vaccinate their children and said that when his kids contracted the virus, it was akin to a cold.

His remarks outraged many because while young people might be less likely to die of the virus than elderly populations, they can still get serious cases of COVID-19. Plenty of young and healthy people who have contracted the virus continue to deal with long-haul symptoms. According to The Journal of the American Medical Association, in the first five months of the pandemic, 4,535 Americans aged 25-44 died of COVID-19.

Rogan Faces Backlash For Spreading Misinformation

By Wednesday morning, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, disputed Rogan’s claims on “The Today Show.”

“Well that’s incorrect and the reason why is you’re talking about yourself in a vacuum then,” Dr. Fauci explained. “You’re worried about yourself getting infected and the likelihood that you’re not gonna get any symptoms. But you can get infected and will get infected if you put yourself at risk.”

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“And even if you don’t have any symptoms,” he continued, “you’re propagating the outbreak because it is likely that you — even if you have no symptoms — that you may inadvertently and innocently then infect someone else who might infect someone who really could have a problem with a severe outcome.” 

Dr. Fauci is not the only person to encourage young people to get vaccinated following Rogan’s comments. YouTuber and podcast host Ethan Klein said, “That’s how we stop the spread. Not rocket science guys.”

“The people who watch Joe Rogan’s show are the people we desperately need to vaccinate in order to speed up the end of the pandemic,” wrote Daily Beast editor Molly Jong-Fast. “Joe isn’t just endangering their lives he’s endangering the rest of us too.”

Spotify Credits Some Recent Success to Rogan

Rogan is one of the most popular podcasters in the world and has a far-reaching audience. His show is exclusively hosted by Spotify, and he regularly sits at the top of the platform’s podcast charts. Spotify even credits him with some of its recent successes. 

On Wednesday, the company shared its quarterly earnings report. The streaming giant announced its monthly active users went up 24% year-over-year to 356 million, and that its subscribers went up 21% to 158 million. 

The report cited the popularity of several pieces of content, first naming Rogan’s podcast. 

“The Joe Rogan Experience performed above expectations with respect to new user additions and engagement,” it said. 

Spotify has removed other instances of COVID-19 misinformation before. It has also removed a handful of episodes of “The Joe Rogan Experience.” Some have called on Spotify to remove the April 23 episode to limit the spread of Rogan’s message. A source told The Verge that Spotify did review the episode but chose to leave it up because Rogan did not come across as outwardly anti-vaccine and did not make a direct call to action.

See what others are saying: (The Verge) (Axios) (Politico)

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Max to Agrees to “Properly” Credit Writers and Directors After Facing Backlash For Lumping Them in As “Creators”

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The company said the credits were laid out incorrectly due to “an oversight in the technical transition from HBO Max to Max.”


After film and television writers slammed Max for crediting all writers, producers, and directors as general “creators” on its platform, the company said it will be adjusting its credits display.

“We agree that the talent behind the content on Max deserve their work to be properly recognized,” the streaming service said in a statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. 

Max — the new rebrand of HBO Max that incorporates Discovery content — launched on Tuesday to much criticism. Amid glitches and app-switching confusion, the biggest backlash it faced was over the choice to lump creative roles into one credit section called “creators.” As one viral tweet noted, if a user were to select the film “Raging Bull,” the service’s display would not specifically credit Martin Scorsese as the director, rather, his name would be included at random with half a dozen other people, including writers and producers. 

The decision was condemned by many in the industry who argued it minimizes writers and directors by not properly giving them credit where it is due. Especially amid the ongoing writers’ strike, and with directors and actors starting negotiations with studios, some took it as a slap in the face. 

“The studios don’t want anyone to know our names,” writer Christina Strain tweeted. “It’s easier to pay us nothing if we’re faceless.”

“Another move from studios to diminish the role of writers, directors, actors and other craftspeople. Miss me wit this nonsense,” Jorge Rivera, the Vice-Chair of the Writers Guild’s Latinx Writers Committee, added. 

In a statement, Directors Guild President Lesli Linka Glatter said that Warner Bros. Discovery’s choice to “collapse” these roles into one credit “while we are in negotiations with them is a grave insult to our members and our union.”

“The DGA will not stand for it,” Glatter continued.

WGA West President Meredith Stiehm claimed the move was “a credits violation,” as well as an insult “to the artists that make the films and TV shows that make their corporation billions.”

On Wednesday, Max said it would rework its crediting. 

“We will correct the credits, which were altered due to an oversight in the technical transition from HBO Max to Max and we apologize for this mistake,” the platform said.

See what others are saying: (Gizmodo) (The Hollywood Reporter) (The Los Angeles Times)

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A Quarter of Young British Men Support Andrew Tate’s Thoughts on Women

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U.K. residents at large, however, do not view him favorably.


Even under house arrest in Romania, misogynist influencer Andrew Tate still holds substantial sway over young men. 

According to data from YouGov that was obtained by The Independent, 26% of U.K. men between 18 and 29 years old who know of Tate agree with his views on women. That figure was largely the same for men between 30 and 39, as 28% agreed with Tate’s opinions on the subject. 

Men in their 30s were slightly more likely to agree with Tate on his thoughts about masculinity. Three out of ten supported those views, compared to just a quarter of men 18 to 29.

Those statistics only include the thoughts of men who have heard of Tate, but per YouGov, most have. In the 18 to 29 group, 93% were familiar with him, and 86% of men in their 30s knew of him. 

The U.K. at large was less aware of Tate, with just 63% of British adults having heard of him. Of that group, only 6% held a positive view of him. 

Tate has faced substantial backlash for his sexist rhetoric over the years. In the past, he said that men should have “authority” over their wives or girlfriends, and that women should “bear some responsibility” for being raped. He was previously banned from Twitter over his extremist views on women but has since been allowed back on the platform. 

He is currently being investigated in Romania for organized crime and human trafficking. He was arrested and held in custody in December but was released to house arrest earlier this year. No formal charges have been filed against him yet and he has maintained his innocence. 

Tate currently boasts a Twitter following of 6.7 million. It has grown significantly since he was enveloped in legal controversy, and many of his supporters have demanded his release. 

See what others are saying: (The Independent) (Glamour U.K.)

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Involved in “Near Catastrophic” Paparazzi Chase

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“While being a public figure comes with a level of interest from the public, it should never come at the cost of anyone’s safety,” a spokesperson for the couple said.


“Aggressive” Paparazzi Chase Couple in New York

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were involved in a “near catastrophic” paparazzi car chase Tuesday night in New York City, according to a spokesperson for the couple.

In a statement, the spokesperson described the photographers as “highly aggressive.”

“While being a public figure comes with a level of interest from the public, it should never come at the cost of anyone’s safety,” the statement added.

“This relentless pursuit, lasting over two hours, resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers,” it continued. 

Details of the incident are still emerging, but BBC News reported that there are claims the chase involved roughly six cars driving recklessly by running red lights, driving on the sidewalk, carrying out blocking moves, going backward on a one-way road, and taking pictures while driving. 

The chase happened after Harry and Meghan were leaving the Women of Vision Awards with Meghan’s mother, Doria. They did not want photographers to learn where they were staying and attempted to avoid them in what turned into a 75-minute chase on a main road in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. They eventually ducked into a New York Police Department Precinct to hide out before getting into a different vehicle.

The NYPD released a statement confirming that they assisted in protecting the couple as “numerous photographers” hindered their transport. Officials said they made it to their destination and there were no collisions, injuries, or arrests. 

The couple’s spokesperson is asking the public to not share or post footage of the incident. 

“Dissemination of these images, given the ways in which they were obtained, encourages a highly intrusive practice that is dangerous to all in involved,” the spokesperson said. 

Memories of Princess Diana

The chase evokes the brutal press hounding Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, was subjected to throughout her life. The paparazzi’s obsession with her ultimately resulted in her death in 1997, when she was killed in a car crash after being chased by photographers in Paris. 

Since marrying Meghan and later bowing out of the Royal Family, Harry has made it explicitly clear that he fears those events could happen again. Meghan has been the subject of endless tabloid scrutiny, enduring racism and harassment from the press. Part of the reason they left the Royal Family was to keep their family protected from such attacks.

Mayor Eric Adams brought up Diana’s tragic passing while speaking about Tuesday night’s chase. 

“I don’t think there’s many of us who don’t recall how [Harry’s] mom died,” Adams said while speaking to reporters. “And it would be horrific to lose an innocent bystander during a chase like this and something to have happened to them as well…I think that was a bit reckless and irresponsible.” 

Adams also questioned whether or not he believes a chase could go on for two hours in a city as congested as New York, but noted that even a 10-minute chase would be dangerous. He said he will be briefed on the exact timeline and details later. 

See what others are saying: (BBC News) (Associated Press) (Yahoo News)

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