During episode #2492 of The Joe Rogan Experience, Joe Rogan sat down with comedian Ari Shaffir to revisit a controversy Shaffir faced. The two spoke about how Comedy Central handled Shaffir’s decision to take his comedy special to Netflix.
Rogan laid out the situation bluntly, explaining what unfolded behind the scenes. “Comedy Central was trying to force you into doing a Comedy Central special, but you had a deal with Netflix,” he said. “And even though it was completely legal and contractually legal for you to do a comedy special with Netflix, Comedy Central was strongarming you into doing it on Comedy Central and cancelled your show because you wouldn’t do a special with them.”
Shaffir then shared his perspective, walking through how the situation developed from his end. “I paid for my own special and then I got to figure out where it’s going and they go, ‘It should be here,’” he said. “And I go, ‘No, no, I don’t think it should.’”
He added that the format played a role in his decision. “It’s also was a double special and it was like it needs to be on a stre amer more than a network,” he explained. “And then I was like no, I’m going to Netflix.”
Shaffir didn’t hold back on how the fallout felt. “And yeah, and then they were like, let’s go blackmail then,” he said. “It’s crazy. I get it from their perspective.”
He expanded on the broader power dynamics at play, suggesting the network was trying to maintain control. “They’re like, ‘Hey, we can’t be losing power,’” he said. “And they never really thought it was an open mic.”
Rogan disagreed with that logic, arguing the move could have benefited the network instead. “It was not losing power, because the reality is that would just bring more people to Comedy Central,” he said.
Shaffir agreed and emphasized how dominant Netflix was at the time. “And Netflix back then was so much bigger to do a special,” he added. “When I did that 2017 special on Netflix, I was the mayor of New York for like three weeks.”
He painted a vivid picture of that moment in his career. “Everywhere I go, I bike at a red light, three people would recognize you,” he said. “It was a different time for specials then. And of course, that was the biggest thing. I’m going to do that.”
Shaffir then recalled how dire things became, including Rogan’s attempt to help keep Shaffir’s show afloat. “It was a wild time,” Shaffir said. “You said you would host for free. I was on the phone with you crying.”
Rogan noted, “I said tell them I will host it for free, because you were going to take out a loan to pay off all the crew, because all the crew had signed on for X amount of episodes and it was going to cost them money.”
He described Shaffir’s efforts to save the situation. “And you were like, ‘I’m trying to figure out a way to keep us on the air,’” Rogan said. “I go, tell Comedy Central I will host it for free.”
According to Rogan, every attempt to find a compromise was shut down. “They just wanted to screw you,” he said. “They just wanted to screw you.”
Shaffir said that he even proposed alternatives but was shut down. He said, “Anyone I suggested, they said no. I said Ali Siddiq should do it, but they said no.”
Rogan closed the discussion with a critique of the entertainment industry. “It just shows you the grossness of the business sometimes, when these people who are just gatekeeping executives,” he said. “And they don’t exist anymore.”
Shaffir agreed, pointing to how the landscape has changing. “That’s the cool thing,” he said. “You can go to Tom. You can go to a guy like that or whatever, and he goes, ‘No, I love the show. It made me bigger. Let’s get it going again.’”
