Chelsea Handler publicly called out Joe Rogan after Forbes named him the highest-paid podcaster of 2026, with an $82 million salary from The Joe Rogan Experience.
The 51-year-old comedian left a comment on Forbes's Instagram post demanding to know who was responsible for the payout. Handler wrote that the money should instead go to veterans or children, and accused the 58-year-old of delivering "completely uninformed" takes, adding that he says "whoopsie doodle" every time he is wrong, which she called frequent. More than 3,000 people liked her comment.
Other users piled on in the thread. One wrote that Rogan makes people scratch their heads wondering how he got there. Another called for Handler to run for president and said no one on the Forbes list deserves their earnings while teachers can barely pay their bills.
Rogan, also a comedian and UFC broadcaster, launched The Joe Rogan Experience in 2009, making him one of the earliest podcast adopters. Handler launched her own podcast, Dear Chelsea, in April 2021.
Rogan's Controversies
Rogan has drawn criticism for broadcasting misinformation about COVID-19. In January 2022, musicians Neil Young and Joni Mitchell pulled their music from Spotify, which distributes his show, in protest of his pandemic content.
That February, singer India Arie posted a montage of Rogan using a racial slur more than a dozen times. Rogan subsequently posted an Instagram video apologizing, saying he now agrees there is no context in which a white person should use the word, and acknowledged he had "clearly" made a serious mistake.
Handler's Own Podcast Plans
In early July, Handler announced a multiyear partnership with iHeartMedia to launch a podcast network. She said building on Dear Chelsea into a network feels meaningful, particularly because the first show produced under the deal, You're the Problem... with Yamaneika, is hosted by Yamaneika Saunders, someone Handler described as one of the funniest people she knows. Handler's national The High and Mighty Tour runs through the end of the year.
