Alex Jones Urged Rogan To Host Pro-Rape Extremist

Tate, whom Romanian authorities detained over charges of organized crime, rape and human trafficking in 2022, has on multiple occasions appeared on Infowars as a guest, despite repeatedly making statements endorsing violence against women.

Jones has appeared on “The Joe Rogan Experience” as a guest. Rogan’s show pulls in hundreds of millions of downloads per month. Jones is also friends with Rogan, and both men live in Austin, Texas. Jones and Rogan exchange warm messages in the texts Hatewatch reviewed. On March 6, 2020, for example, Rogan compliments Jones on his shaved head. The Infowars host replies, “Now for the Joe Rogan Alex Jones sex tape … that will break the net” along with a winking emoji.

Rogan spoke approvingly of Tate this year on a Jan. 6 episode of his podcast, long after allegations of abuse that matched his hateful rhetoric about women had surfaced.

Andrew Tate arrives handcuffed and escorted by police at a courthouse in Bucharest on Feb. 1, 2023. Former kickboxer Tate, his younger brother and two Romanian women are under investigation for allegedly "forming an organised criminal group, human trafficking and rape". They are accused of coercing women into "forced labour... and pornographic acts" for "substantial financial benefits". All four were arrested at the end of December (Photo by DANIEL MIHAILESCU/AFP via Getty Images)

“I don’t know. I don’t know what [Andrew Tate] did,” Rogan said of Tate. The remarks came during an interview with Dave Portnoy, founder of Barstool Sports, who has himself faced allegations of sexual misconduct, which he has denied. Rogan went on: “I know a lot of what [Tate] does is theater. Right? A lot of what he does is very, like, satire. He plays the role of this boastful misogynist who smokes cigars and drives Lamborghinis and that’s his thing. And because of that, he’s amassed an amazing amount of money, and he’s done it by doing this character, this online persona. But then, also, he says very wise things. He says ridiculous shit but also says really interesting things. He’s a very smart guy.”

Rogan continued, comparing the male supremacist Tate to a heel in professional wrestling, or someone who embodies the characteristics of a villain to a hyperbolic degree. Portnoy tilted his head skeptically.

“That’s where I go … I go … I think there’s a lot of people who think that and then I think there are other people who take it seriously,” Portnoy replied.

Tate moved to Romania around 2018 and claimed publicly that he did so because he expected the country to be more tolerant of how he treated women.

“Forty percent of the reason I moved to Romania was because rape laws are more lenient there,” he reportedly said. “I’m not a fucking rapist, but I like the idea of just being able to do what I want.”

On Dec. 14, 2019, years before Rogan's exchange with Portnoy, Jones texts Rogan to recommend he bring Tate onto the “The Joe Rogan Experience.” Jones makes the suggestion a day after the men discuss a conflict between them that is never fully detailed. Hatewatch reached out to Jones and Rogan for this story but received no response. Just prior to the beginning of this series, Jones appeared to block the reporter who reached out for comment. Tate is currently detained in a Romanian prison and awaiting trial. Hatewatch contacted him via Twitter, where he has posted occasionally from jail, but did not receive a reply.

‘I am sorry I went too far before and ask you not to hurt me for it’

On the morning of Dec. 13, 2019, Jones started a conversation with Rogan. The messages appear to refer to a conflict that arose between the two men, triggered by Jones’s drinking. Hatewatch reported on allegations around Jones’s drinking at work in Part 1 of this investigation.

Alex Jones to Joe Rogan, 8:13.31 a.m.:
Hope you are doing fantastic killer!

Alex Jones to Joe Rogan, 8:15.30 a.m.:
I am getting contacted by folk saying you talked about a text I sent where I talked about drinking and said I was sorry.

Alex Jones to Joe Rogan, 8:16.36 a.m.:
If true that’s fine but please don’t talk about the privet drinking to much stuff. My X will blow it up.

Alex Jones to Joe Rogan, 8:17.32 a.m.:
I am a new person and do value our old friendship and would like to regain your respect!

Alex Jones to Joe Rogan, 8:18.02 a.m.:
I am sorry I went to far before and ask you not to hurt me for it…

Rogan replies to the texts through a different phone number on the afternoon of Dec. 13, 2019.

Joe Rogan to Alex Jones, 4:21.49 p.m:
Hey brother you texted my old number. I didn’t say anything bad about you, in fact I gave you credit for being right about a lot of shit including these Chinese monkey pig hybrids. I might have mentioned you drinking, but it was just as an excuse for you. If you don’t want me to mention it again I won’t.
Hope all is well.

Alex Jones to Joe Rogan, 4:26.50 p.m.:
Thanks

Alex Jones to Joe Rogan, 4:27.02 p.m.:
People love go stir up trouble

Alex Jones to Joe Rogan, 4:27.20 p.m.:
I am doing really good.

Alex Jones to Joe Rogan, 4:27.46 p.m.:
Saw you about to text:)

Alex Jones to Joe Rogan, 4:28.02 p.m.:
Don’t worry I won’t start bugging you all the time

Joe Rogan to Alex Jones, 4:28.03 p.m:
Yeah people love to stir shit up

Alex Jones to Joe Rogan, 4:29.34 p.m.:
I am very happy for your success and proud I know you and I just want to clean up my work so I don’t get to be only know for my out of control stuff!

Alex Jones to Joe Rogan, 4:29.53 p.m.:
Have a great Christmas [Christmas tree emoji] coming up!

Rogan then sends Jones a YouTube clip of him interviewing comedian Tony Hinchcliffe earlier that day. The two men discuss conspiracy theories in the segment. He references “Bohemian Grove,” an infamous campground in Monte Rio, California, that is a magnet for rich and powerful people.

Screenshot from the October 27, 2020 “Joe Rogan Experience” episode (#1555) with guests Tim Dillon and Alex Jones. Screenshot from YouTube/PowerfulJRE

Zac Drucker, a former Infowars employee, recalled to Hatewatch that in 2021, Jones attended a dinner with members of his team in a steakhouse in McAllen, Texas, near that city’s convention center and told stories about his friendship with Rogan. Specifically, Drucker recalled Jones saying that around 2010, Rogan flew Jones out to Las Vegas to watch an IFC fight, and that while there, he and another comedian did hallucinogens with the Infowars host for several days in a hotel room. The group watched conspiracy videos on YouTube, according to the story Drucker recalled.

Joe Rogan to Alex Jones, 4:30.47 p.m:
I gave you credit for exposing bohemian grove too. We talked about how if you had heard that without evidence you would think it’s nonsense and you exposed it all to the world.

Alex Jones to Joe Rogan, 4:31.08 p.m.:
In the above video?

Alex Jones to Joe Rogan, 4:31.18 p.m.:
Thanks I am going to watch it

Joe Rogan to Alex Jones, 4:31.51 p.m:
Yeah. I think it starts around 4 minutes in. We talked about Kennedy and secret societies and all kinds of crazy shit that seems like it should be fake but it’s absolutely true.

Alex Jones to Joe Rogan, 4:32.17 p.m.:
They are really coming for me and you doing a show in March really helped.

Alex Jones to Joe Rogan, 4:32.39 p.m.:
So thanks for taking the high rode

Alex Jones to Joe Rogan, 4:32.59 p.m.:
That was the start of my life turn around.

Alex Jones to Joe Rogan, 4:33.05 a.m.:
No shit

Alex Jones to Joe Rogan, 4:33.23 p.m.:nb
I have lost 40 pounds

Alex Jones to Joe Rogan, 4:33.39 p.m.:
I was very depressed and raging

Alex Jones to Joe Rogan, 4:33.59 p.m.:
Was not just lashing out at you

Joe Rogan to Alex Jones, 4:34 p.m:
It’s all good brother. I’m happy you’re doing well. I hold no grudges. Life is short

Alex Jones to Joe Rogan, 4:50.09 p.m.:
That’s the fucking TRUTH!

‘He lives in Transylvania and is a really good guest.’

Jones resumed texting Rogan at 8 a.m. the next day, Dec. 14, 2019, sending him Andrew Tate’s contact information, upon Tate’s request.

“If you could drop joe a txt and recommend me for his podcast I would appreciate it,” Tate texted Jones earlier that morning.

Jones and Tate appear to have dined together the night before, based on other messages they exchanged in the thread.

Alex Jones to Joe Rogan, 8:04.33 a.m.:
I have known this guy a few years. He lives in Transylvania and is a really good guest. He is a long time fan of yours and said in the past you followed him on Twitter.

Joe Rogan to Alex Jones, 12:54.51 p.m:
Yeah he’s been trying to get on my podcast for a while. I’m way over booked right now.

Drucker, the former Infowars employee, said that Tate’s content fit in with Infowars’ target audience.

“Part of the audience that Alex glues to a little bit is the pro-masculine, masculine, misogynist, Christian alpha male type of deal,” Drucker said, comparing Tate with such Infowars guests as Gavin McInnes and Mike Cernovich. “They are presenting a ‘He-Man Woman Hater’s Club’ mentality that the right-wing attaches to fervently. Anyone who fits that bill is the type of person that Alex wants to have on.”

Jones then pivots away from Tate, suggesting to Rogan that the podcast bring back Jones as a guest instead.

Alex Jones to Joe Rogan, 2:23.38 p.m.:
I am not his agent;) just passing info on. We all know who needs to comeback on. That crazy guy who got the best numbers ever if you total up the clips from that day. I forget his name but the 3rd time would be the best only way to break the record?

Drucker depicted Jones’ friendship with Rogan as imbalanced. According to Drucker, Jones needed Rogan more than Rogan needed him.

“He was always desperate, he was desperate, desperate to get Rogan on Infowars. He wanted that publicity so bad,” Drucker said of his former boss. “And, keep in mind, their relationship was very close at one point.”

Josh Owens, another former employee of Infowars, told Hatewatch that Jones talked about his relationship with Rogan. He said the men seemed to have a real friendship with history behind it.

“I think Rogan had a significantly bigger show than Jones,” Owens recalled. “I think they were genuinely friends and I think Rogan wasn’t necessarily opening it up to where Jones could come on there as much as possible. I think that frustrated Jones to a degree, or at least that was the sense that I got.”

‘They’re all in it together’

Jones sends Rogan a link to an Infowars post about environmental activist Greta Thunberg three hours after that text suggesting he return to his show, but the podcast host appears to ignore it. The men resume chatting two days later, when Rogan sends Jones an animated clip of the previous podcast they did together, which Jones calls “avant-garde.”

Jones and Rogan continue to text one another throughout the files Hatewatch reviewed. Jones sends more messages than he receives. The men primarily send links to one another and briefly comment on them. When Jones sends Rogan a link to an Infowars clip about Google removing a video about using ultraviolet light to treat the emerging COVID-19 pandemic on April 26, 2020, Rogan responds by sending a screenshot of a since-deleted tweet claiming that CNN was collaborating with Joe Biden’s presidential campaign to cover up allegations of his misdeeds.

“Fucking crazy that google is willing to take that episode down,” Rogan writes to Jones across two texts. “They’re all in on it together.”

This story is Part III in a series. Hatewatch will continue this investigation in Part IV.

Photo illustration of Joe Rogan (from left), Alex Jones and Andrew Tate by Lincoln Agnew