While some people don't appear to take the 'Joe Rogan Experience' podcast host's apology for his offensive language well, the RnB singer claims that she is pleased with the 54-year-old's response.
- Feb 10, 2022
AceShowbiz - India.Arie has reacted to Joe Rogan's apology after she revealed clips where the podcast host was caught using the N-word several times and referring to black people as "Apes" on his "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast. While some people don't appear to take Joe's apology well, the musician is pleased with Joe's response.
"I have to say, I think he did a fine job with his apology," the R&B vocalist shared on CNN's "Don Lemon Tonight" on Tuesday, February 8. She went on to opine, "He said a lot of the things I would want to hear someone say. The thing that stuck out for me most was when he said, 'It's not my word to use.' And I think changed behavior is what we're really looking for."
India.Arie later doubled down on her statement in a video which she was posted to her Instagram page. "To be very clear, I never called him a racist," the Denver native said in the new footage. "What I did, in the curation of my space, is say, 'I don't like this here. I don't want to be here.' "
"Anyone who saw those videos and decided for themselves if was racist or not, that's their perception. I think he did well with his apology. I also found some of it disingenuous," she explained before reminding people that "everyone on the planet knows that [the n-word] is loaded."
Prior to this, Joe expressed his remorse for his offensive language in an Instagram video while noting that the clips which India.Arie posted were made up of "out of context" moments from "12 years of conversations" on his podcast. "It looks f**king horrible. Even to me," he acknowledged. "I know that to most people, there is no context where a white person is ever allowed to say that word, never mind publicly on a podcast. And I agree with that now, I haven't said it in years."
"It's not my word to use. I am well aware of that now, but for years I used it in that manner," the 54-year-old continued. "I never used it to be racist because I'm not racist."
While he can't take that back, he hopes that his mistakes can be a "teachable moment" for others because he "never thought it would ever be taken out of context and put in a video like that."
