- Cuban called Joe Rogan’s attempt to goad a vaccine scientist into debating RFK Jr. “ridiculous”.
- Cuban also slammed Rogan and Elon Musk for becoming everything they say is wrong with the media.
- Cuban later told Insider that he was just having “fun” on Twitter and wasn’t “mad” at the duo.
Billionaire Mark Cuban has slammed Joe Rogan and Elon Musk on Twitter for becoming “everything” that they claim is wrong with the mainstream media.
Cuban’s tweet on Sunday came a day after Rogan challenged vaccine scientist Peter Hotez to debate anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on his podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience.” Hotez’s subsequent refusal to debate Kennedy got Twitter owner Elon Musk’s attention, with Musk tweeting on Saturday that he thinks Hotez is “afraid of a public debate” on vaccines.
Cuban, who is a co-star and investor on the “Shark Tank” television show, said Rogan’s remarks were “disrespectful” after the latter called medical professionals “heartless monsters“.
The businessman also said Rogan’s attempt to goad Hotez into having a debate with Kennedy is “ridiculous,” because debating on Rogan’s home turf means the odds are already stacked against Hotez.
“You have producers that will prepare you and you get to control the conversation. @RobertKennedyJr also has a staff ready to prepare him, and these topics are what he talks about in every speech,” Cuban tweeted at Rogan. “You both do this on a daily basis. Dr Hotez works every day to try to find ways to help people.”
Cuban also said that Musk and Rogan have become exactly what they’ve said they hate about the mainstream media.
“Joe, you and @elonmusk’s @twitter are the mainstream online media and your platforms have become everything supposedly wrong with MSM. You are driven by self interest. Just like the MSM always has been accused of,” he said.
“And you both have earned that right. You busted your asses to be great at what you do and earned all you have accomplished,” Cuban added. “But don’t lie to yourselves and all of us and tell us you are different. You aren’t.”
Musk has often been skeptical about the mainstream media in his tweets, and said in a Twitter Spaces chat in November that he prefers “citizen journalism” to traditional news outlets. And in a podcast episode Rogan released in March, he called the mainstream media “corrupt” and “indebted to the companies that pay for their advertising.”
Cuban told Insider that he had said his piece on the matter and had no further comments on his tweet.
“It wasn’t anything special. And I’m not mad. Just fun on Twitter,” Cuban said.
Cuban is not the only billionaire who has waded into the issue. Investor Bill Ackman chimed in as well, pledging an additional $150,000 to Rogan’s offer to donate $100,000 to a charity of Hotez’s choice if he debates Kennedy on-air.
Hotez, for his part, has agreed to go on Rogan’s show to talk about vaccines, but not to debate Kennedy. The scientist also said on Sunday that it has been “overwhelming” to get dogpiled on by Twitter’s most influential voices.
Representatives for Rogan did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider sent outside regular business hours.
Twitter responded to Insider’s request for comment with an automated response that didn’t address the questions asked.
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