Joe Rogan Under Fire After Apparent Health Misinformation Goes Viral

Joe Rogan is going viral, and not in a good way, after a resurfaced podcast clip sparked widespread backlash over what critics say is a fundamental misunderstanding of measles. A short video circulating on X (formerly Twitter) shows the "Joe Rogan Experience" host discussing measles while describing symptoms and immunity patterns that many viewers say more closely resemble chickenpox, not measles. The moment quickly ignited criticism, with users accusing Joe Rogan of spreading misinformation.

In the clip, Rogan recalls childhood illness, saying:

“It was an infection that everyone got when I was a kid and what happened was you’d get sick for a few days and then you’d be immune for life, and they were making it look like everyone’s dying from measles. Like, no, if you’re dying from measles, you’re sick. You’re already compromised, which is exactly what happened with COVID. Where 90 f-cking plus percent of the people who died had 4 plus comorbidities.”

The clip didn’t sit well with many viewers, who immediately pointed out that Rogan’s description appeared to align more with chickenpox than measles.

One user who reshared the video wrote bluntly, “Maybe just maybe, people shouldn’t take medical advice from a guy who doesn’t know the difference between chicken pox and measles. Just a thought.”

Another commenter called the mix-up “dangerous,” adding, “Pretty deadly mistake there @joerogan. I assume you’ll be making a public correction? Measles ≠ Chicken Pox.”

Others accused Rogan of minimizing the seriousness of measles altogether. One post read, “Joe Rogan confuses chickenpox with measles, also forgets that measles wipes out your immune system’s memory to fight other germs.”

Another user predicted the controversy wouldn’t lead to any clarification at all. “He won’t correct anything and thousands of his followers will gaslight themselves into believing they actually had the measles when they were children and insist the official stats are wrong," they said.

Part of what fueled the backlash is the timeline itself. Joe Rogan was born in August 1967, meaning he grew up during a period when measles vaccines were already widely in use. By the time he was a child, measles cases in the U.S. had dropped dramatically due to vaccination efforts, which is why critics argue that measles wasn’t something “everyone got” when he was growing up.

That’s where many viewers believe the confusion comes in. Chickenpox, which was extremely common during Rogan’s childhood, is the illness most people remember spreading through schools, kids getting sick for a few days, developing immunity, and then moving on. Measles, on the other hand, had largely been pushed down thanks to vaccines and was no longer the universal childhood experience it once was.

The viral health controversy arrives at a moment when Rogan is already facing renewed criticism, but this time over what some see as a noticeable shift in his tone toward President Donald Trump.

During Thursday’s episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience" with comedian Shane Gillis, Rogan pushed back on the idea of further U.S. aggression toward Venezuela, saying he didn’t believe “anybody’s going to really support” it and calling a potential war with the country “a terrible idea.”

Rogan also took aim at Trump’s widely criticized social media post following filmmaker Rob Reiner’s death, which suggested Reiner died because of “Trump derangement syndrome.” Rogan called the post “a crazy thing to put out” and said it wasn’t funny, adding there was “no justification for what [Trump] did that makes sense in a compassionate society.”

“When you see it with no empathy, that’s when it’s hard to like [Trump],” Rogan said, as he and Gillis compared the post to online reactions celebrating the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Both comedians noted that similar remarks from former President Barack Obama would have sparked outrage, with Rogan adding that the moment “just shows you how crazy it is, the way Trump thinks and talks.”

Joe Rogan has yet to address the recent backlash regarding the viral health mix-up.