Joe Rogan disclosed the surprising reason his name surfaced in the Jeffrey Epstein files during a recent podcast episode, while sharply criticizing former President Donald Trump for labeling the scandal a hoax.
Rogan’s Refusal to Meet Epstein
During Tuesday’s episode with guest Cheryl Hines, wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Rogan, 58, explained that Epstein attempted to connect with him in 2017. A guest on his show, theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss, received an email from Epstein requesting an introduction after appearing in September 2017.
Rogan stated, “Jeffrey Epstein was trying to meet with me. And I was like, ‘What? Like, no thanks.’ It’s not even a possibility that I would’ve ever went, especially after I Googled him.” He emphasized his immediate rejection, questioning Krauss harshly: “One of my guests was trying to get me to meet him. I was like, ‘B**** are you high? Like, what the f*** are you talking about?'”
Krauss agreed to facilitate but never received a response from Rogan. Rogan clarified he would only entertain such a meeting if he sought favor with the elite, adding, “Some people get intoxicated by being in a circle of rich and powerful people—even if they don’t have any ambitions of being one of those people. They just want to be around them.”
Criticism of Trump Administration’s Epstein Files Handling
Rogan expressed frustration with the Trump administration’s approach to the Epstein documents, stating, “None of this is good for this administration. It looks f****** terrible. It looks terrible for Trump, when he was saying that none of this was real, this is all a hoax. This is not a hoax.”
Once a vocal Trump supporter who endorsed him in the 2024 election and hosted him on the podcast, Rogan has grown critical of Trump’s White House decisions, particularly accusing the administration of gaslighting the public over the files’ release.
The Department of Justice unveiled over three million files in late January, including approximately 180,000 photos and 2,000 videos related to Epstein and associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
