“He Gives Real Hugs” – Joe Rogan Gives Dwayne Johnson His Vote of Confidence Despite Ups & Downs in Relationship Over the Years

Fans of the Joe Rogan Experience will remember the buzz around Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson‘s first appearance on episode #2063 of the podcast last year. Johnson, the biggest, most popular Hollywood star at the moment going on the biggest podcast seemed like the most natural thing for both men.

Not so for the fans. Rogan had been openly critical of the former WWE superstar on his podcast, and ‘The Rock’ was criticized by Rogan fans for his response to Rogan’s ‘n-word’ controversy two years ago. However, their podcast appearance turned out to be quite amicable as neither man discussed these controversial and potentially friction-creating topics. This upset the fans no end, who wanted to see the two men hash out their prior differences. And the reason behind it may be just how nice of a person ‘The Scorpion King’ star is.

Conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson joined Rogan on episode #2138 of the JRE podcast for an extensive, three-hour conversation. During their chat, the two men started talking about Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. And Rogan was all praises for the action star. Rogan told Carlson that Johnson had not only appeared on his podcast but also spent quality with him and his friends: “Yeah ‘The Rock’ worked out with us then sat in the sauna with us. It was fun. Got the cold plunge with us. It was fun.

Carlson was curious about how the Hollywood star was off-camera and asked the podcast host “Is he a good, dude?” Rogan told him that Johnson was in fact a pretty humble, friendly, and down-to-earth person to hang out with, and was not simply faking it for the cameras.

“He’s a great guy. Really nice guy. Like, really nice guy. Like, you know, some people are fake humble, they fake it to look cool. He’s not doing that, he’s a real guy… Like, he gives real hugs. You know, he’s real… And we hung out with him him for hours. We worked out, we all hung out, and then we did a podcast together. These are genuinely nice guys. Like you’d be able to sniff something out,” Rogan told Carlson.

And this is high praise indeed given Rogan didn’t seem to have a very high opinion of ‘The Rock’ before their podcast appearance.

Joe Rogan and ‘The Rock’s up-and-down relationship

Joe Rogan, in an episode with Derek from the fitness YouTube channel ‘More Plates More Dates’, was flabbergasted at ‘The Rock’ claiming he was all natural. Rogan and Derek found it nigh impossible to believe that the Hollywood megastar didn’t use steroids to achieve and maintain his Adonis-like physique.

The stand-up comic felt that Johnson was being dishonest with his fans and the millions of kids who idolized him and gave them unachievable body-building standards. And the ‘feud’ was not one-sided by any means.

In 2022, a compilation of Joe Rogan saying the ‘n-word’ on his podcast appearances went viral. Johnson, who had earlier expressed support for Rogan after the podcaster came under fire for allegedly spreading misinformation, appeared to withdraw support for the stand-up comic. But, all of this seemed like water under the bridge as the two men had a very affable and cordial conversation on Rogan’s podcast.

What are your thoughts on Joe Rogan praising ‘The Rock’ to Tucker Carlson?