Controversial podcaster Joe Rogan recently had to clarify about a “dumb memory moment” over the assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk. In a conversation with fellow podcaster Theo Von in an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience Podcast, Rogan spoke of Kirk’s assassination at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on September 10, 2025.
Joe, 58, recalled that he was hunting elk in Utah when the shooting happened. However, he then describes some of his actions and responses on that particular day. “I was getting text messages from people wanting me to comment on things,” he shared. “I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ I literally didn’t know what was going on.”
Meanwhile, it was Rogan’s fans that were left wondering what he was talking about. One shared the discussion on X (formerly Twitter), which was then followed by Joe’s actual reaction to finding out about Kirk’s death while recording his podcast live.
Honestly I just remembered it wrong. I was elk hunting when Jimmy Kimmel was getting people angry at him for joking about the assassination and blaming it on MAGA.
I would never “lie” about that. I just had a dumb memory moment. https://t.co/v6MxnhL3Da
— Joe Rogan (@joerogan) April 4, 2026
At the time, Rogan was in the middle of recording an episode when he heard about Charlie’s shooting. “So this just happened, we just found out that Charlie Kirk got shot,” he said.
On the X post, one social media user shared the two clips, writing, “What a weird thing to lie about.” Meanwhile, according to Radar Online, when Rogan learned of the controversy, instead of blasting the bearer of bad news, he actually became contrite.
“Honestly I just remembered it wrong,” Rogan tweeted. “I was elk hunting when Jimmy Kimmel was getting people angry at him for joking about the assassination and blaming it on MAGA. I would never ‘lie’ about that. I just had a dumb memory moment.”
Despite this, some of his critics wondered how a podcaster who featured Kirk and his philosophies on a regular basis could actually make that mistake. “This is a little weird. There’s no way you could ‘forget’ that… this was national news,” one X user commented. Another agreed, writing, “I want to believe this, but it is one of those events, similar to 9/11, that you remember exactly where you were when you heard the news.”
Another social media user wrote, “Peak pandering to the Trump crowd. Rogan knows his audience has shifted hard right post-election, can’t afford to look like he was memeing or downplaying it. Quick rewrite so he stays in the good graces of the based bros who keep the numbers up.”
Yet another X user questioned, “How do you not remember where you were when such a historical figure was assassinated, especially while you’re on air? I remember exactly where I was when I got the news. I’m starting to get worried about your brain, sir.”
Another social media user wrote, “What about you gaslighting your friend Theo about what’s going on with our occupied government! Was that a dumb memory moment also?”
