The Joe Rogan Experience podcast is the biggest in the English-speaking world. A testament to this fact is the reportedly $250-million, non-exclusive, multi-year extension Rogan signed with Spotify earlier this year.

One of the pioneers of podcasting, Rogan has come a long way from doing shows in his living room with sponsorship from sex toy companies to having the biggest platform in the world that has made him obscenely wealthy. This, of course, is because of the hard work and dedication the UFC commentator has put in for over a decade. However, it is very possible that none of this may have been possible if it was not for one man: Tom Green.

How did Tom Green influence pop culture?

Tom Green is a man who wears many hats, and has worked as comedian, writer, filmmaker, talk show host, and musician. He rose to prominence as one of the biggest MTV stars in the nineties. His influential ‘The Tom Green Show’ aired on MTV between 1994 and 2000 and became a hit due to its unconventional humor, wild pranks and Green’s persona.

The show influenced subsequent hit shows such as the Steve-O-led ‘Jackass’ and ‘The Eric Andre Show’. Before this, however, Green had started off his career as a stand-up comic, and rapper, founding the group ‘Organized Rhyme’, whose single ‘Check The O.R.’ was nominated for Best Rap Recording at the 1993 Juno Award.

Green made his acting debut in the 2000 comedy film Road Trip and also appeared in a brief role in the movie remake of hit TV show Charlie’s Angels the same year. His most successful Hollywood project, however, came in 2001, when he directed, co-wrote, and starred in the cult comedy film Freddy Got Fingered which continues to enjoy a loyal fanbase to this day. In 2006, Green started a web talk show, which influenced Joe Rogan to start his JRE podcast as the podcast host admitted in a recent video.

Joe Rogan credits Green for starting JRE

Tom Green started his web talk show in 2006 and had Joe Rogan on as guest in 2007. The UFC commentator had not yet started his podcast and was working as a comedian and reality TV host in Hollywood. In a recent video, Rogan credited him for being one of the biggest inspirations for starting his JRE podcast after he went on Green’s show in 2007, which the latter recorded in a home studio.

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The New Jersey native recounted being impressed with the setup since it gave him the space to say anything he wants without interference from any executives or management. “Tom Green was probably one of the biggest inspirations for me to start my podcast because I did Tom Green’s show. He had an internet talk show set up in his house in Hollywood in 2007,” he said.

“And I remember, there’s video of it online, me sitting in his room that he had converted into a television studio, going ‘You’ve nailed it, you don’t need executives, you don’t need producers, you don’t need all these suits telling you what to say. Just figure out how to make money doing this.’ And I really just followed that. That was a major one [inspiration for the JRE podcast],” Rogan added. And just two years later, he would start JRE, which would go on to become the most popular podcast in the world. A large part of the reason Rogan founded the podcast was because of Green, with whom he continues to be friends.

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