Joe Rogan recently sparked conversation about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies during an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience with comedian Jeff Dye.
While discussing the controversial slaying of political commentator Charlie Kirk, the conversation shifted to DEI hiring practices and their unintended consequences in higher education.
Rogan pointed out what he considers a fundamental flaw in how DEI is often discussed. “The people that DEI especially in regards to education, the people that it discriminates the most against… people say it’s a white supremacist idea to be against DEI. The people that DEI discriminates the most against in education is Asians,” he explained.
He referenced a landmark lawsuit against Harvard University that exposed how the institution made admission standards more difficult for Asian applicants compared to other demographic groups.
“They were making their admission standards more difficult for Asian people than they were for white people, for black people, for everybody else,” Rogan said. “They made Asians more difficult because if they didn’t, half of their population in their classes would be Asian because they work harder.”
Rogan attributed this academic success to cultural factors, drawing from his own experiences in taekwondo growing up around Korean families. He described what he called “tiger moms and tiger dads” as a real phenomenon, citing the intense work ethic he witnessed among first-generation Korean immigrants.
The podcast host also highlighted what he sees as a contradiction in universities’ stated commitment to diversity. “This is where you see the hypocrisy of the education system though because they claim to be all about diversity. Asians are part of diversity. They’re a small percentage of the population in America, but they’re killing it.”
Rogan argued that Asian Americans face discrimination in admissions because “they don’t complain as much.” He suggested that Asian communities are less represented in activist movements because “they’re getting to work more. They’re not the ones that are out there organizing and making signs. They’re not doing that. They’re working.”
This, according to Rogan, allows institutions to discriminate against Asian applicants without facing significant backlash. “Because of that, they’re not as represented when it comes to grievances. So you can get away with being racist against them and you can get away with discriminating against them in higher education universities like Harvard, which is just crazy because it shows you’re lying.”
Dye agreed with this assessment of meritocracy in their own industry of comedy, noting that some female comedians with fewer years of experience receive spots at major clubs while funnier male comedians who have worked for 15 years struggle to get stage time, all in the name of diversity quotas.