Joe Rogan was left red-faced after slamming Australia, calling the country a “dystopian police state” over what he thought was a government advert against anti-vaxxers - only it actually turned out to be a sketch from a satirical show.
The famous podcaster posted the clip from ABC programme Gruen to his 13.4m followers on Instagram.
In the 36-second clip, a man goes into anaphylactic shock and a woman responds by pulling out an EpiPen.
But before he completely lost consciousness, the man asked different questions such as what the brand the EpiPen is, what research has been done on the EpiPen, and more importantly, what was Joe Rogan’s opinion is on the EpiPen.
Just before he passed out, the man told the woman to “Call Joe Rogan.”
At the end of the video, the pro-vaccine message read: “Science has got our backs, get the vax.”
Though it seems despite being a stand-up comedian, Rogan failed to grasp the fact that the video was purely satirical.
Thinking the ad was actually real, he described how Australia “have the absolute dumbest propaganda.”
“Not only has Australia had the worst reaction to the pandemic with dystopian, police-state measures that are truly inconceivable to the rest of the civilized world, but they also have the absolute dumbest propaganda,” Rogan wrote in the post caption.
Thanks to his large platform, people were quick to inform Rogan that he was mistaken.
One person wrote: “Joe’s hurt about comedy.”
“This is from a comedy show in Australia.... calm down people,” another person said.
Someone else added: “That’s a joke advertisement from the TV show Gruen… I love you Joe, but you’re the one that’s spreading the false message on this one.”
“@joerogan you know this was taken from a satirical advertising TV show yeah?” a fourth person replied.
While Australians took to Rogan’s comment section to tell him that his own country hasn’t exactly handled the Covid-19 pandemic well.
One person wrote: “Don’t think someone from the US who handled the pandemic HORRENDOUSLY should comment on Australia.
“Take a seat Joe. Compare the deaths per capita and worry about your own backyard. Sincerely, Australia,” another person said.
Someone else added: “Jokes aside but, so weird the narrative that is being fed to you guys in US about us in Aus. Goes to show how much a story can be twisted.”
“‘The worst reaction to the pandemic’ says the guy in a country where hundreds of thousands are dead,” a fourth person replied.
When people highlighted this error, the penny finally dropped for Rogan who then updated his post, accepting he made an embarrassing gaffe.
“EDIT: apparently this is not a real ad. It’s from a satirical show,” he added at the bottom of the caption.
Australia 1 - Rogan 0.
It’s Rogan has previously criticised Australia for how they have handled the pandemic.
He claimed “some crazy s*** going on right now where the army is trying to keep people inside in Australia,” according to AU News.
Rogan tested positive for Covid-19 in September and controversially made the headlines when he announced that he had been taking horse de-wormer drug Ivermectin.
This drug is typically used in small doses for humans to treat infections caused by some parasitic worms and head lice and skin conditions like rosacea.
However, the FDA has not approved the use of Ivermectin to treat Covid-19 and can have side effects such as “nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, low blood pressure, allergic reactions, dizziness, ataxia, seizures, coma and even death”.
