Aug 11, 2026
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Add us on GoogleComedian and actress Chelsea Handler recently criticized Joe Rogan, questioning why the media personality is making a reported $82 million from his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience.
After Forbes named Rogan the world’s highest paid podcaster of 2026, she commented on the publication’s July 30 Instagram post saying, “WHO IS PAYING JOE ROGAN 82 MILLION? Give that to our vets, or our children!!!”
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“82 million to be completely uninformed and say ‘whoopsie doodle’ every time he’s wrong, which is FREQUENT?” she added.
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Joe Rogan is viewed as a controversial figure by some. The podcaster is known for welcoming all guests on his podcast, regardless of political affiliation and cultural beliefs. But he has come under fire in the past for spreading misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic, even suggesting at one point that healthy young people shouldn’t need to take vaccines at all. In 2020, he also accused “left-wing people” of starting wildfires in Oregon, a claim that local law enforcement and the FBI debunked.
On an Aug. 5 episode of his podcast, Rogan seemed taken aback by Handler’s comments. In part because the celebrity is a millionaire herself.
“That’s funny. She’s rich,” Rogan said. “That’s crazy. That’s what she said? I make too much? Is there a certain number I should make?”
Rogan’s large podcasting business
According to Forbes, Rogan had the most listened to podcast in the first quarter of 2026, with most of his listeners, 78% to be exact, being male, according to data from Edison Research shared with the publication.
Rogan has been atop Edison’s list since 2019, meaning he hasn’t lost much, if any, popularity despite taking shots at anyone he chooses. As an example, Rogan welcomed Donald Trump on his podcast in 2024 during his election campaign before ultimately endorsing him for president. But in recent months, Rogan has criticized the president for the war with Iran and the administration’s handling of the Epstein files before that.
In 2025, The Joe Rogan Experience topped Spotify’s podcast list for the sixth year in a row, as well as YouTube and Apple in the same year for the first time. Some of his standout episodes included long-form conversations with Elon Musk and Bernie Sanders.
Rogan signed a $250 million deal with Spotify in 2024, allowing his show to stream across multiple platforms. Spotify’s first deal with Rogan in 2020 brought his podcast to the platform exclusively, when it began its foray into podcasts.
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Who else made the list of the world’s highest-paid podcasters?
Rogan releases around 15 episodes per month and earns more than 80 million downloads and views, according to Forbes. That statistic helps paint the picture of why the podcaster tops Forbes’ 2026 list, and by some distance, too.
Rogan’s estimated salary of $82 million between June 2025 and June 2026 is $12 million more than what John Coogan and Jordi Hays, the hosts of TBPN, earned. Third on the list is Steven Bartlett, the host of The Diary of a CEO, who earned $45 million. Rounding out the top five are Ashley Flowers, the host of Crime Junkie ($42 million) and the hosts of SmartLess: Will Arnett, Jason Bateman and Sean Hayes ($37 million).
Forbes’ rankings are based on estimates of the money earned by podcasters through minimum guarantees, ad revenue sharing, platform fees and live events.
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Danni Santana is a journalist based out of New York City with a decade of experience reporting and editing business stories about retail, restaurants, sports, and personal finance.
