Earlier this year, Joe Rogan signed a new multiyear partnership deal with Spotify, which was worth $250 million. Not only did the podcaster get a big deal, but also got the opportunity to expand on other services like Apple Podcasts and Amazon Music. ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’ has consistently remained one of the top podcasts, but with great viewership comes criticism— something Rogan is used to. Remember when health experts complained about misinformation on the podcast during the Covid-19 pandemic?

Now Rogan has left that issue behind. However, one of his latest episodes, #2205 with Legion of Skanks hosts ‘Big’ Jay Oakerson, Luis J. Gomez, and Dave Smith, was criticized. Why? Well, they lacked chemistry!

Rogan predictably touched upon the familiar subjects of the current comedy scene, cancel culture, politics, and topics relating to the culture wars. Since his guests too are comedians, people expected a lot, but the episode just didn’t deliver.

Take, for instance, their discussion about Terrence Howard. When Big Jay Oakerson mentioned the actor’s name, an excited Rogan went on about Howard being a genius. “He’s a very, very smart guy. He just doesn’t have a formal education in this stuff. So like, when I had Eric Weinstein on the podcast, Eric sort of explained to him the things that he’s getting wrong and explained to him, ‘You got to stop teaching, you got to stop saying you’re teaching people. This is very offensive to people like myself.'”

“Terrence is like this super smart guy that’s way smarter than anybody around him. … He is kinda like a self-taught genius,” Rogan opined for several minutes. But Oakerson, who had his opinions about Howard, simply replied, “Naahh!”

People found Rogan’s passionate speech about Howard quite awkward, as his quests were not on the same page. Let us not forget how Terrence Howard was on JRE in May (episode #2152), where he spoke about his theories and his patents.

1×1=2. Doesn’t make sense? Well, the ‘Iron Man’ actor believes this to be true and even came up with proof for it. No doubt, his appearance on JRE grabbed a lot of attention, and when he made another appearance on the podcast with Eric Weinstein, who has a PhD in mathematical physics from Harvard University, people could see the difference between the two.

People couldn’t digest Howard’s theories, which seemed to challenge what we know so far. And so when Joe Rogan called the actor a genius, criticism came his way too. His episode #2205 ended up on Reddit and fans shared exactly why they didn’t like the latest JRE episode.

Fans make fun of Joe Rogan for making it awkward…

Now, there have been JRE episodes that fans loved and on the flip, there have been episodes where viewers saw a heated discussion. But in #2205, Rogan’s conversation didn’t flow as smoothly as people expected. One Reddit user mentioned, “Joe tells a lame joke, pauses until someone laughs, then he proceeds to laugh 3x harder and longer than anyone else.”

Now, let us not forget that Rogan and his guests are all comedians and podcasters with extensive experience. In fact, Legion of Skanks claims to be “the most offensive podcast on Earth” where Big Jay Oakerson, Luis J. Gomez, and Dave Smith talk about viral news and share stories. Yet their chemistry with Rogan didn’t seem to flow. Interestingly, this isn’t the first time the Legion of Skanks was on JRE. Their previous episodes were #1336 (2019) and #1097 (2018).

• “These guys are just not meshing.”
• “Whole episode was whack.”

Further, some fans weren’t happy with how jokes were being ignored. Well, fans shouldn’t be worried too much because Skankfest is from Sep 27th – 29th, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada and people will get to see Oakerson, Gomez, and Smith perform.

“Nothing huge. Everyone is trying to bring up different topics and no one else is going with it. Lot of jokes not landing. But yeah feels awkward,” one person wrote. This also reminds us of the criticism that JRE has been receiving for a while. The podcast is still popular, but there is a section that believes that JRE has become mundane and lackluster. Though JRE has a diverse array of guests, certain personalities have been repetitive, which has also led to similar discussions throughout a few different episodes.

“I’m tired of listening to experts discuss politics and the government. I’d rather listen to standup comedians tell me what’s what instead!” wrote one fan sarcastically to express how the comedians spoke about the topic with predictable talking points.

Do you agree with fans’ take on the Legion of Skanks episode of the Joe Rogan Experience? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.