Joe Rogan breaks silence on Jimmy Kimmel controversy

Joe Rogan has spoken out about the Jimmy Kimmel controversy, which saw the host briefly taken off air "indefinitely" — a decision later overturned, with Kimmel now back on screen.

The initial announcement sparked outrage from celebrities and fans – some even cancelling their Disney+ and Hulu accounts in solidarity.

Now, in an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience on Tuesday (23 September), he shared: "I definitely don’t think that the government should be involved, ever, in dictating what a comedian can or cannot say in a monologue."

Rogan explained that he had remained silent on the issue due to being away on a trip, before describing Kimmel as "a good guy," "a smart guy," and "a funny guy".

He added: "The companies, if they’re being pressured by the government — so if that's real — and if people on the right are like, 'Yeah, go get ’em’ – oh, my God, you’re crazy. You’re crazy for supporting this. Because this will be used on you."

- YouTube www.youtube.com

Rogan's podcast episode was seemingly recorded before Disney announced Kimmel's return.

In a statement on Monday, they shared: "Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country."

The company continued: "It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive. We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday."

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• Jimmy Kimmel delivers emotional monologue over Charlie Kirk remarks
• Reactions pour in as Jimmy Kimmel returns to ABC: 'A win for free speech'

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