Disturbed frontman David Draiman has called out Joe Rogan on Twitter for the latter's controversial comments about Jewish people and money, with Draiman suggesting Rogan could be perpetuating harmful anti-Semitic stereotypes.
Earlier this week, Rogan came under fire for defending a controversial tweet by Democrat congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who had written that US Congress's support of Israel was "all about the Benjamins [money] baby".
The tweet caused some outcry from politicians on both sides of the aisle, and ultimately resulted in Omar being removed from the Foreign Affairs Committee after a vote by House Republicans.
But in a new episode of his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, where he spoke to political commentators Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti, Rogan defended the congresswoman's comments, stating: “she’s talking about money.”
“It’s not an antisemitic statement, I don’t think that it is," he argued. "Benjamins are money. You know, the idea that Jewish people are not into money is ridiculous. That’s like saying Italians aren’t into pizza. It’s fucking stupid.”
Draiman, who is of Jewish descent, has since tweeted inviting Rogan to open a dialogue about the issue of anti-Semitic tropes, pointing to the "dangerous and disastrous consequences" that enabling such tropes can lead to.
"Et tu @joerogan?" he writes. "Listen, if you’d like to have an opportunity to talk to someone who can explain why perpetuating the stereotype that Jews love money more than any other race/creed/religion, leads to dangerous and disastrous consequences… …I’m around. Let’s talk."
Draiman has long been vocal on the subject of antisemitism, making numerous statements on the Israel/Palestine conflict and highlighting the issue of escalating animosity towards Jewish people in the United States.
“The number of blatant, public, unapologetic attacks that have occurred in particular of late, particularly over the course of the past three to five years, really, really hit a nerve with me," he told the Jerusalem Post Podcast last year. "Jews are attacked on the streets of New York City, whether it’s Brooklyn or anywhere else, on a regular basis at this point. The attacks occur in Los Angeles; they occur in Southern Florida – they occur all over the place… And [the attackers have] been emboldened from several factors from a world that has become increasingly demonising of not only Israel but of Jews in general.”
As of the time of writing, Rogan has not responded to Draiman.
Et tu @joerogan ? Listen, if you’d like to have an opportunity to talk to someone who can explain why perpetuating the stereotype that Jews love money more than any other race/creed/religion, leads to dangerous and disastrous consequences……I’m around.Let’s talk.February 8, 2023
Last year, artists including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell announced they would remove their music from Spotify unless the platform removed Rogan from their listings after he hosted controversial vaccine cynic Dr. Robert Malone.
Spotify founder Daniel Ek later released a statement saying Spotify had a "plan to fight misinformation".
