The story of how Joe Rogan‘s business partner went from hawking adult toys to hawking supplements to hawking polyamory reveals a fascinating pattern of reinvention, opportunism, and spectacularly tone-deaf public relations. Aubrey Marcus—born Chris Marcus before his spiritual rebrand—has built a career on monetizing mystical experiences and Joe Rogan‘s platform. His latest venture into public polyamory advocacy might be his most ambitious grift yet.

From Flesh light to Friendship

Before Aubrey Marcus became the wellness guru preaching “total human optimization,” he was just Chris. He was working for his stepfather’s adult toy company and cold-calling podcasters to advertise the Flesh light. His first pitch to podcaster and UFC commentator Joe Rogan in the early 2000s wasn’t about cognitive enhancement or spiritual awakening. It was about promoting m**turbation accessories.

Marcus explained on a podcast that Rogan’s decision to accept the Fleshlight sponsorship wasn’t purely financial. According to Marcus, Rogan embraced the unconventional partnership specifically because his handlers advised against it. “Joe was into it not only because it was the first podcast sponsor but because he liked not taking himself too seriously.” Despite warnings from his team, Rogan insisted on the deal, telling them he wanted people to know “I’m still Joe and I’m still someone who will advertise a flash light that you f**k.”

What started as a transactional advertising arrangement evolved into a genuine friendship built on shared interests in consciousness exploration, genetic bottleneck theory, and making money from people seeking self-improvement. The transition from adult toy advertising to supplement empire took approximately two years.

During a podcast appearance where Marcus discussed his business, Rogan expressed interest in collaborating. Marcus asked what supplement he’d most like to see developed, and Rogan’s immediate response was telling: “A nootropic. I’d like a cognitive enhancer.”

What followed was six to eight months of what Marcus generously calls “intensive research.” However, critics describe it as throwing ingredients together and hoping for the best. Their flagship product, Alpha Brain, emerged from this astonishingly unscientific process.

The clinical trial they conducted was fundamentally flawed. Out of 27 tested categories, Alpha Brain showed statistically significant effects in only three areas. In many cases, the placebo actually performed better than the active product.

Despite these underwhelming results, Marcus and Rogan aggressively marketed Alpha Brain as scientifically proven, generating an estimated $100 million annually in revenue.

This questionable marketing strategy has legal consequences. Alpha Brain is currently facing a lawsuit in New York for making “blatantly false and deceptive” claims.

The most damning aspect involves Onnit’s 2021 sale to Unilever for an estimated $250-400 million. Unilever represents everything Rogan claims to oppose: a massive corporate conglomerate that sells pharmaceutical products and has attempted to acquire major pharmaceutical companies. While Rogan built his reputation criticizing “big pharma” for prioritizing profits over people’s health, he simultaneously profited from selling questionable supplements before cashing out to one of the world’s largest consumer conglomerates.

Rogan’s frequent criticisms of rushed pharmaceutical development, particularly regarding COVID vaccines, ring hollow when considering his own casual approach to supplement development. “It’s a new product and you’re administering it to hundreds of millions of people without a lengthy trial period,” Rogan once said about vaccines, apparently oblivious to the irony.

Divine Dating Apps

Fresh off his pharmaceutical windfall, Marcus started working on his most ambitious project: rebranding polyamory as spiritual evolution. The origin story for it seems like a parody.

Marcus claims he received a divine message during a Miami workout telling him to “go on Raya right now and you’re going to find somebody there that’s important.” That first swipe led him to Alana, who would become the third person in what he calls their “relationship constellation.”

The arrangement escalated during a spiritual journey to Egypt, where Marcus received another mystical message in the Temple of Isis: “You need to have children with both of them.” This revelation, which Marcus attributes to the goddess Isis herself, sent their relationship into what he dramatically terms the “tragic” phase.

Marcus insists this isn’t polyamory. It is “radical monogamy in the field of erotic mystics,” an expanded monogamy involving “deep exclusivity” between himself and his wife Vylana, with Alana as an integral third.

The semantic gymnastics are quite impressive, but the underlying dynamic remains the same. One man, multiple women, and a lot of spiritual justification for having his cake and eating it too.

The Uncomfortable Truth About the Tell-All

Polyamory itself isn’t inherently problematic, as consenting adults can structure their relationships however they choose. The issue lies in the deeply uncomfortable dynamics revealed during Marcus’s public confession on a podcast with his two partners. Both women were visibly emotional throughout their appearance, with tears flowing as they described their journey into this arrangement.

Vylana, Marcus’s wife, described undergoing “hundreds and hundreds” of psychological deaths to accommodate the arrangement. Her tears reflected what she called her “unique sacrifice.” The emotional breaking point came during that Egypt trip, where she “almost threw myself in the Nile” after Marcus’s revelation about having children with both women.

Alana’s position appears even more precarious. She spoke through tears about “going to sleep most nights by myself” and learning to see solitude as “provision” rather than lack. For someone supposedly in a committed relationship, her description sounds remarkably like that of a mistress trying to convince herself she’s chosen this arrangement freely.

The power dynamics are troubling. Marcus, the older entrepreneur with millions in the bank, presents these arrangements as spiritual evolution while two younger women tearfully explain how they’ve learned to suppress their natural desires for security and exclusivity. The fact that both women are crying while defending their choices suggests something deeper than spiritual enlightenment at work.

The Backlash and the Ex-Fiancé Defense Strategy

The response to Marcus’s polyamory revelation was swift and fierce. Members of what he calls the “spiritual community” led the charge in condemning his choices. Here are some of the comments:

Rather than weathering the storm quietly or engaging with legitimate concerns about power dynamics, Marcus doubled down with a transparently desperate damage control strategy.

Marcus brought his ex-fiancée, Caitlyn Howe, onto his podcast for what he calls a “Sacred Confessional.” Rather than taking responsibility for the harm his public oversharing may have caused, Marcus enlisted an ex-partner to vouch for his character while positioning himself as a misunderstood visionary.

However, his audience was also very critical about it, calling him out.

Howe focused heavily on Marcus’s treatment of her during their relationship, describing how he “never ever tore me down” and “constantly invited me to see how magnificent I was.” Perhaps most revealing is Marcus’s admission that both his engagements—to Howe and later to his wife Whitney—contained “hidden conditions,” promises made in hopes that “something will evolve that isn’t quite there yet.”

The most damaging aspect of this defense may be its transparent desperation. Rather than engaging with critics’ concerns, Marcus frames the entire controversy as a modern witch hunt, with Howe eagerly supporting this narrative. There’s nothing like a narcissist complaining about the audience not liking a literal interview he arranged, conducted and publicized.