Podcast host Joe Rogan admits he considered quitting America and moving to Australia
Popular podcast host Joe Rogan has revealed that he actually considered moving out of the US and relocating to Australia — before coming to the realisation that he would never be able to live in a country that doesn’t afford its citizens the same “freedom” as Americans enjoy.
During a recent interview with retired mixed martial arts fighter Royce Gracie, 57-year-old host — who relocated from California to Texas in 2020 with his whole family — opened up about where he once considered moving to if he didn’t live in the US.
“There’s no place that has this kind of freedom,” he said, before revealing: “I used to think Australia …”
However, he says that he ultimately realised the country wasn’t the place for him when he saw the strict Covid-19 protocols that were enforced during 2020.
Rogan made the claim that the reason authorities in Australia were able to implement such harsh quarantines during the pandemic was because of strict gun control laws, Realtor reports.
“I saw how they handled the pandemic [and] I was like, ‘Oh f***, well, that’s what happens when no one has guns,” he said.
“Yep, the army just rolls in and tells you what to do and puts you in concentration camps because you have a cold, like it’s crazy.”
His use of the term “concentration camps” was in reference to comments made by some travellers who were quarantined for weeks when entering Australia — either in hotels or in isolation facilities that were criticised by many for their lack of comfort and amenities.
It is not the first time that Rogan has spoken out to criticise Australia’s strict Covid measures.
In a 2021 Instagram post, he slammed the country’s leaders for what he described as “dystopian, police-state measures,” when he said “Australia had the worst reaction to the pandemic with dystopian, police-state measures that are truly inconceivable to the rest of the civilised world.”
The news of his near move Down Under comes after the “Joe Rogan Experience” host responded to criticism levelled at him from chairman of the ABC Australia Kim Williams.
Rogan responded to an attack from the ABC boss, who argued the podcaster was “deeply repulsive” and took advantage of “people’s vulnerabilities”.
Kim Williams made the comments as his own organisation struggled with significant drops in audience figures.
When asked about “the Rogan effect” and how exactly the successful podcaster has managed to capture what has been dubbed “the bro-market” in the US, Mr Williams did not pull his punches.
“I am not a consumer or enthusiast about Mr Rogan and his work,” he said.
“(But) I think that people like Mr Rogan prey on people’s vulnerabilities. They prey on fear.”
Rogan responded to the criticism overnight with a tweet on X. Sharing a clip of Mr Williams’ rant, he said “LOL WUT”.
Elon Musk shared Rogan’s tweet and compared the ABC to a communist Russian newspaper, saying “from the head of Australian government-funded media, their Pravda,” he wrote.
Although Rogan did not end up relocating overseas, he did make a major move in 2020, when he quit his life in California and moved to Austin, TX, where he purchased a $22m (US$14.4m) mega-mansion from which he now records his infamous podcast.
The podcaster has managed to lure dozens of A-list celebrities to his new home on Lake Austin, where he has built a custom studio to record his show.
Rogan, a former comedian, previously provided UFC colour commentary before launching his podcast in 2009. By 2015, he was one of the most popular podcasters.
He has since interviewed everyone from Edward Snowden to Neil deGrasse Tyson, J.D. Vance, and Bernie Sanders. After Sanders appeared on his show in 2020, Rogan endorsed the Democratic Party candidate in the 2020 presidential race.
In 2020, Rogan moved from Southern California to Austin after reportedly agreeing to an estimated $100 million deal to broadcast exclusively with Spotify.
In February 2024, Rogan reportedly signed a new $250 million agreement with Spotify that allowed him to broadcast on other platforms, including YouTube and Apple.
