A controversial guest on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast called out the host for giving people who spread conspiracy theories or misinformation a platform to share their ideas.
Douglas Murray, a conservative British political commentator, criticized several guests Rogan has had on the podcast, including Dave Smith, a comedian and recurring guest on the podcast who was in the studio at the time.
“Look, I just feel we should get it out straight away, I feel you’ve opened the door to quite a lot of people who now have got a big platform who have been throwing out counterhistorical stuff of a very dangerous kind,” Murray said on Thursday’s episode.
Murray mentioned several previous podcast guests but specifically focused on podcaster Darryl Cooper, who made headlines by claiming Winston Churchill was the “chief villain” of World War II and altering the narrative of the Holocaust.
Murray has been a staunch supporter of Israel in the Israel–Hamas conflict. He has been accused of spreading anti-Islam ideas, such as encouraging Europe to restrict Muslim immigration.
Rogan and Smith attempted to defend Cooper by downplaying his intentions and self-described expertise. But Murray rejected the notion.
“If you throw a lot of s*** out there, there’s some point at which ‘I’m just raising questions’ is not a valid thing,” Murray said. “You’re not raising questions, you’re not asking questions, you’re telling people something.”
Murray’s comments resonated with some people on social media, who praised him for holding Rogan somewhat accountable.
“Douglas Murray does what few men alive would dare: he calls out Joe Rogan in his own studio,” Saul Sadka wrote.
“Douglas Murray asks Rogan why he doesn’t have real historians on to discuss history. Rogan responds that he wanted Ian Carroll on because he was interested in how you get started in conspiracies? Rogan appears completely unable to justify what he’s doing,” Richard Hanania wrote.
Im gonna put this in Joe Rogan language so .@joerogan understands what Douglas Murray was saying about “experts” being on your show.
— The Misfit Patriot (@misfitpatriot_) April 11, 2025
If you started platforming a bunch of white belts who were really popular on social media to talk about JuJitsu techniques on your podcast…
While Murray’s comments were part of a larger argument that people who are not experts on a topic should not comment on it, his criticism appeared to be directed at people who offer a defense of Palestinians, including Smith.
Smith pushed back on Murray’s assertions, accusing him of having “selective empathy” toward the people of Israel while not extending that to the people of Gaza during wartime.
Meanwhile, Murray told Smith, a comedian who is Jewish and the grandson of a Holocaust survivor, that if he had never visited Israel or Gaza, he should not discuss the issue as though he is familiar with it.
The latest Joe Rogan Experience episode generated debate online, with other people criticizing Murray for his assertion about expertise.
“Douglas Murray claims he doesn’t talk about countries he hasn’t visited. Has he been to Iran? Has he been to North Korea? Pretty sure he has written extensively about, and denounced, both countries over the decades,” Mehdi Hasan, a broadcaster, wrote.
“I’m only a bit way through but genuinely aghast at how censorious, arrogant, and just generally stupid Douglas Murray comes off in his debate with [Dave Smith],” Saagar Enjeti wrote.
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