Lifestyle

Joe Rogan Has COVID And Says He's Taking Horse Dewormer

by Christina Marfice
Michael S. Schwartz/Getty

Joe Rogan, host of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast and famous anti-vaxxer, has announced that he has COVID

Joe Rogan, the inexplicably popular host of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, has announced that he contracted COVID-19. The announcement came after he performed at a series of shows in Florida, where the virus is currently surging out of control. In a video, Rogan also explained the treatment he’s received, which includes ivermectin, a horse and livestock drug that conspiracy theorists on the internet have tried to claim is a miracle cure for COVID.

In a video making the announcement, Rogan explained that he started to feel sick on Saturday night, after he returned home from giving performances in Orlando, Tampa, and Fort Lauderdale.

“Throughout the night, I got fevers, sweats, and I knew what was going on,” he said, adding that he moved to an isolated part of his house away from the rest of his family to quarantine. A coronavirus test that he took the next morning came back positive, Rogan said.

In the video, he also explained the treatments he’s been given for COVID, which include monoclonal antibodies, prednisone, a “vitamin drip,” and ivermectin, a drug most often used as a dewormer for livestock, but that has been touted on the internet as a COVID-19 miracle cure. There have been no studies showing that ivermectin is effective against COVID-19, and the CDC has issued warnings that consuming it can be extremely harmful to humans.

Rogan’s other treatments are widely used to fight COVID. Prednisone is a steroid that’s now used frequently to help infected people ward off serious infection. Monoclonal antibodies were a treatment also given to then-President Donald Trump when he contracted COVID-19 in October.

“A wonderful heartfelt thank you to modern medicine for pulling me out of this so quickly and easily,” Rogan said in his video, adding that while “Sunday sucked,” he was feeling “pretty fucking good” this week. He has not said publicly whether he’s vaccinated, but he’s been outspokenly critical of vaccines on his podcast and other platforms. Earlier this year, he was rebuked by White House officials for saying on his podcast that young, healthy people don’t need to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Rogan has also offered refunds to fans who have purchased tickets to an upcoming show of his in New York, where attendees at all indoor events are required to show proof of COVID vaccination.

“If someone has an ideological or physiological reason for not getting vaccinated, I don’t want to force them to get vaccinated to see the show,” he said on a recent podcast episode. “And now they say that everybody has to be vaccinated, and I want everybody to know that you can get your money back.”