Joe Rogan is under fire again, this time for sharing a fake news story about actor Steven Seagal that quickly got him called out on social media.
The former reality TV show host and current podcast star has faced quite a bit of criticism lately as a handful of musicians left the Spotify platform in protest of his own podcast, which has drawn the ire of many for his choice of guests and information they had been sharing about the COVID-19 pandemic.
Joe Rogan told his followers that actor Steven Seagal was fighting for Russia
Joe Rogan told his nearly 15 million followers that actor Steven Seagal was pictured outside of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv preparing to attack the city’s Gostomel airfield.
The Instagram post was a screenshot of a fake CNN social media photo showing the Under Siege actor clad in military fatigues. The fake post read, “Intelligence agencies around the world have spotted American actor Steven Seagal among Russian special forces positioned around the outskirts Gostomel airfield near Kyiv captured by Russian airborne troops.”
Rogan, 54, wrote in the caption, “If I had to guess the plot of this f****d up movie we’re living through I would say we are about 14 hours from the arrival of the aliens.”
At the time of writing the post has generated more than 400,000 likes and nearly 11,000 comments, many of which are mocking Rogan for posting the fake story. It has since been deleted.
In the past, Rogan has been complimentary of Seagal, especially The Glimmer Man star’s martial arts skills. Rogan was quoted in November 2020 as saying, “100 percent legit. 100 percent real move that you see in Muay Thai all the time, it’s real. This is Steven Seagal at his best…he was a legit Aikido master. He was one of the first, if not the first American’s to teach at a dojo in Japan. He was 100% legit. Back then…I used to love this guy.”
Seagal’s rep confirms to Monsters and Critics, ‘It’s not Steven’
A representative for Steven Seagal told Monsters and Critics exclusively that the actor has been in Dubai on business amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The rep continued, “There is zero truth to the wild photoshopped image shared on social media which is lifted from Steven’s 2017 movie named Cartels.”
The rep added, “It is unfortunate that people with large followings don’t do a little more fact checking before sharing such content to millions of people around the world. No other comment will be made at this time.”
The post does not appear on any CNN social media feeds
Monsters and Critics has scoured through CNN’s social media feeds and cannot find any evidence that the network posted the Seagal story.
The photo Rogan shared is from the 2017 Seagal movie Cartels. In that movie, the actor plays a member of a special operations team.
Seagal was last mentioned in a CNN report in June 2021 when the network reported that the actor had joined a pro-Putin political party in Russia named A Just Russia for Truth.
Seagal is banned from entering Ukraine
Thanks largely to his friendship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Ukrainian government has banned Seagal from entering their country.
The Guardian reported in May 2017 that Ukraine bans people from entering their country only if they have been found to have “committed socially dangerous actions … that contradict the interests of maintaining Ukraine’s security.” That same year, Seagal accepted Russian citizenship.
In 2016, a viral video showed Seagal eating carrots with pro-Russian Belorussian President Alexander Lukashenko. The Washington Post reported at the time that Seagal was visiting Lukashenko at his estate and had been invited to sample some of the dictator’s fresh vegetables.
Seagal recently sold his California ranch
SF Gate reported in February 2022 that Seagal had sold his ranch in Montague in northern California for around $7.5 million. The ranch is known as the Lava Lakes Ranch. The SF Gate report describes the home as being “5,329-acre Northern California property features seven lakes and sits in the shadow of Mount Shasta.” According to SF Gate, Seagal has been trying to sell the home since 2014.