Joe Rogan rants against ‘police state’ Australia after confusing satirical comedy clip for public safety ad

American podcaster edited his Instagram post after several comments pointed out that it was spoof video

American podcaster and UFC commentator Joe Rogan lashed out at Australia and called it a “dystopian police state” after mistaking a spoof video for an advertisement by the Scott Morrison government against anti-vaxxers.

Rogan, who is the host of the Spotify podcast The Joe Rogan Experience, shared a clip of a sketch from ABC programme Gruen on his Instagram page on Monday with the caption: “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 civilised world, but they also have the absolute dumbest propaganda.”

The 36-second clip spoofs anti-vaxxers and shows a woman pulling out an Epipen after a man is seen going into anaphylactic shock. As the woman tries to administer the Epipen, the man starts asking her a series of questions, before losing consciousness.

The man is seen asking what brand the Epipen is, how long it was researched for, what researchers in Europe said about it, and finally, what Joe Rogan has to say about it. He says “call Joe Rogan” before losing consciousness.

The video ends with the message: “Science has our backs, get the vax.”

After several comments pointed out that the video was a spoof – Gruen is a long-running comedy panel show focussed on advertising – Rogan edited his Instagram caption to acknowledge it. “EDIT: apparently this is not a real ad. It’s from a satirical show,” he wrote.

This is not the first time that Rogan has slammed Australia for its Covid management rules.

In August, he had said that there was “some crazy s*** going on right now where the army is trying to keep people inside in Australia”, according to AU News.

He has also courted controversy throughout the pandemic in other ways. In September, he had tested positive for Covid and informed his followers on Instagram that he was using horse de-wormer drug Ivermectin.

Ivermectin is a drug sometimes given to humans in small doses for scabies and other parasites, such as river blindness. It is more commonly used to treat worms in animals. According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), side effects can include “nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, low blood pressure, allergic reactions, dizziness, ataxia, seizures, coma and even death”.

The FDA clearly states that “while there are approved uses for ivermectin in people and animals, it is not approved for the prevention or treatment of Covid-19”. Similarly, the World Health Organisation recommends “not to use ivermectin in patients with Covid-19”.

Before this, in April, Rogan told his estimated 13 million followers on Instagram that young, healthy people did not need to get the vaccine, prompting a wave of condemnation.