Joseph James Rogan (born August 11, 1967) is an American podcaster, UFC color commentator, comedian, actor, and former television host.

He hosts The Joe Rogan Experience, a podcast in which he discusses current events, comedy, politics, aliens, religion, philosophy, science, martial arts, and hobbies with celebrity guests.

After relocating to Los Angeles in 1994, he signed an exclusive developmental deal with Disney and appeared as an actor on several television shows, including Hardball and NewsRadio.

[8][10] He also practiced amateur kickboxing and held a 2–1 record;[18] he retired from competition at age 21, as he began to suffer from frequent headaches and feared he might sustain worse injuries.

Rogan had no intention of being a professional comedian,[20][21] but was a fan of comedy from a young age, later saying of Richard Pryor's special Live on the Sunset Strip, "It affected me in such a profound way.

[8] At 21, after six months preparing material and practicing his delivery,[22] he performed his first stand-up routine on August 27, 1988, at an open-mic night at a Stitches comedy club in Boston.

[8] The appearance led to the network offering him a three-year exclusive contract and a role in a pilot episode of a "dopey game show" for $500.

He secured his first major acting role in the 1994 nine-episode Fox sitcom Hardball as Frank Valente, a young, egocentric star player on a professional baseball team.

[27] From 1995 to 1999, Rogan starred in the NBC sitcom NewsRadio as Joe Garrelli, an electrician and handyman at the show's fictional news radio station.

[33] Rogan began working for the mixed martial arts promotion Ultimate Fighting Championship as a backstage and post-fight interviewer.

[35] He became interested in Brazilian jiu-jitsu in 1994 after watching Royce Gracie fight at UFC 2: No Way Out, and landed the position at the organization as Sussman was friends with its co-creator and original producer, Campbell McLaren.

[41] Around this time, Rogan also worked on ideas for a film and a cartoon with his comedian friend Chris McGuire,[33][20] and began to operate a blog on his website, JoeRogan.net, which he used to discuss various topics that helped him develop his stand-up routines.

[34] In 2001, the development of Rogan's television show was interrupted after he accepted an offer from NBC to host the American edition of Fear Factor.

[45] In February 2003, Rogan became the new co-host of The Man Show on Comedy Central for its fifth season from August 2003, with fellow comedian Doug Stanhope, following the departure of original hosts Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carolla.

[49] After Fear Factor, Rogan focused his career on his stand-up comedy, as concentrating on television had made him feel lazy and uninspired to work on new material for his act.

With the money he had earned from television, Rogan hired two people full-time to film him and his comedy friends on tour, and release clips on his website for his JoeShow web series.

[52][53] In 2005, Rogan wrote a blog entry on his website accusing comedian Carlos Mencia of joke thievery, a claim he had made since 1993.

[52] The set was recorded in September 2006 at Cobb's Comedy Club in San Francisco, and contains excerpts of an improvized Q&A session with the audience that was typical of Rogan's act at the time.

[60] He was also working on a book around this time that he tentatively titled Irresponsible Advice from a Man with No Credibility, based on his blog entries on his website.

The show covered topics discussed on his podcasts, including the existence of Bigfoot and UFOs, and featured several comedians, experts, and scientists with the aim of trying to "put some subjects to bed ... with an open-minded perspective".

[10][64] The first episode was recorded on December 24 and was to be a live weekly broadcast on Ustream,[65] with Rogan and Redban "sitting in front of laptops bullshitting".

[80][81][82] A number of UFC fighters, including Israel Adesanya, Terrance McKinney, Michael Chandler, Aljamain Sterling, Frankie Edgar, Darren Till, Marlon Vera, Ben Askren, and Brendan Schaub, defended Rogan.

[91] In April 2024 a lawsuit was filed against Onnit, alleging that its 'Alpha BRAIN' supplement performed no better than a placebo in a clinical study and that the product was surrounded by "false, misleading and deceptive advertising".

[95][96] He describes himself as a strong supporter of freedom of speech, and has criticized cancel culture and what he perceives to be suppression of those who hold right-wing views in the television and film industry.

He said that Elon Musk, who had been on Rogan's podcast a couple of days prior, "makes what I think is the most compelling case for Trump you'll hear, and I agree with him every step of the way".

He has stated that his personal experiences with meditation in isolation tanks have helped him explore the nature of consciousness and improve his performance in various physical and mental activities and overall well-being.

[122][123][124] This drew controversy due to multiple people reportedly being hospitalized after self-medicating with an over-the-counter form of ivermectin designed to treat ailments in livestock, which typically has a significantly larger dosage.

[130] On January 29, the songwriter Joni Mitchell removed her catalog from Spotify in support of Young and "the global scientific and medical communities on this issue".

[134][135][136] Rogan is an avid hunter and is part of the "Eat What You Kill" movement, which attempts to move away from factory farming and the mistreatment of animals raised for food.

"[142] Rogan made the comment in defense of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who faced allegations of antisemitism for saying that political support for Israel was "all about the benjamins".