Spotify’s the biggest name in streaming, and when it comes to podcasts, there’s no one more influential than Joe Rogan, but it still came as a shock to many that the comedian inked a $100 million exclusivity deal with the service, which began on Sept. 1, 2020. Leading up to that date, Joe had stated that the company was very hands-off and didn’t meddle too much with his podcast structure, with the only question they had being which guest he planned to bring on for an upcoming episode.

While $100 million seems like a lot of money, Spotify can more than earn that cash back by getting/retaining 2 million subscribers, and the company’s on track to earn well over $8 billion in 2020. So, they could also afford to be a bit more hands-off when it comes to their approach with Rogan’s podcast, right?

While they don’t seem to be messing with the UFC commentator’s newer episodes, there seems to have been some changes.

Namely for the podcast episodes that are deemed too “controversial” by some listeners. Joe Rogan’s been criticized in the past by some for giving platforms to individuals who promote insane conspiracy theories or possess radical and/or offensive viewpoints and it appears that Spotify agrees. 

The streaming giant didn’t upload episodes featuring Alex Jones, Milo Yiannopoulos, Gavin McInnes, Charles C. Johnson, David Seaman, Owen Benjamin, Tommy Chong, Chris D’Elia, Joey Diaz, and Sargon of Akkad.

It’s also worth mentioning that these are just the ones Entertainment Weekly immediately spotted, and with 1,531 podcast episodes to date to his credit, people will probably find more episodes that didn’t make the Spotify “cut.”

Joe has stated that his podcast’s entire library of episodes would be available on the streaming giant back when he first announced the deal.

So, did Spotify intentionally leave these episodes out like so many people believe?