Joe Rogan thinks the Olympics are nothing more than a “giant scam.”
The 2024 Summer Games in Paris have seen a considerable amount of backlash, most of it focusing on a misinterpreted opening ceremony segment featuring the feast of Dionysus, the Greek god of fertility, wine, and pleasure—and while Rogan had plenty to say about that—his biggest gripe with the Olympics is the fact that athletes make very little money despite being the best in the world at what they do.
“The Olympics is a giant scam,” Rogan said on his JRE podcast. “There’s two things going on simultaneously, ok, you have the best athletes in the world participating in their disciplines. That’s happening and then on top of that, you have enormous amounts of money being made and none of it is going to the athletes. It is a giant scam.
“The ridiculous opening ceremony. Where you got a bunch of drag queens doing the last supper and all that sh*t … Nobody understands it because it’s not made by athletes. These are the crazy people who are putting on the Last Supper with transexuals. That’s what they’re doing. It’s not the place for it. They’re pushing this weird agenda in this place where people are already getting f*cking over. They let some wacky gay dude get ahold of the reins and he decided to do this.”
“The Olympics is giant scam”
Joe Rogan calls out the Olympics for not paying their athletes well but spending tons of money on controversial opening ceremonies. ‼️ pic.twitter.com/JZB7VULFxy
— DramaAlert (@DramaAlert) July 31, 2024
According to a report from the Associated Press, U.S. athletes get $37,500 for winning a gold medal; $22,500 for silver, and $15,000 for bronze through ‘Project Gold’ which is run by the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee.
France, the host of this year’s Olympics, will also award its gold medalists roughly $85,000 each; its silver medalists $43,000, and its bronze medalists $22,000.
The Olympics is in More Hot Water After Clearing Previously Banned Athletes to Compete in Boxing
The Olympics has also found itself in hot water after the International Olympic Committee cleared two athletes, Imane Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yu‑ting of Taiwan, to compete despite having been disqualified by the International Boxing Association from the Women’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi last year.
Both fighters were disallowed from competing after they failed gender tests administered by the IBA, leading to widespread speculation online that they are both transgender. In reality, both Khelif and Yu-tin are biological females.
Angela #Carini abbandona il ring nel match contro Imane #Khelif
immagini @RaiDue #OlympicGames #Paris2024 #OlimpiadiParigi2024 #Olympic2024 pic.twitter.com/sLxmc8alBC
— Emei Markus (@EmeiMarkus) August 1, 2024
“She’s too strong,” Renzini recalled Carini telling him.
Shortly after the official announcement, Carini fell to her knees in the ring and was overcome with emotion.
“I had entered the ring to fight,” Carini said in Italian after. “I didn’t give up, but a punch hurt too much and so I said enough. I go out with my head held high.”
Watch the full segment from The Joe Rogan Experience below:
