The Moment Joe Rogan Realises He Is A Rich Man North of Richmond

Note: This article relates to an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience that featured an interview with “Rich Men North of Richmond” singer, Oliver Anthony. The whole weird saga is available in various clips on YouTube, starting here.

Joe, we need to talk about your interview with Anthony Oliver. Which, I think we both agree, was a trainwreck.

You brought the “Rich Men North of Richmond” singer onto your show hoping to findsomeone in sympatico with the image you try to portray as a down home champion of the everyman.

Just two things wrong with that plan.

One: Anthony, while remaining polite, didn’t dance to your tune.

Two: Oliver Anthony is a musical artist in the embryonic state of his career, while you are exactly the kind of multimillionaire he was singing about.

To be clear, I have a lot of problems with the lyrics of that song that aren’t entirely limited to (but also not helped by) the fact that Fox News moderators dedicated the first ten minutes of the first Republican Presidential Debate to sycophantically begging the candidates to relate to in what could be considered — at least in Fox terms — to be the conservative zeitgeist.

As someone who once had to clinically obesity, I object to his portrayal of people with chronic health problems as “the obese milkin’ welfare”. While we’re at it, I have a problem with shitting on people who need to rely on welfare in general, as a matter of principle. As an aside, and as a redneck, I also kind of object to a clearly articulate man with an educated, moderated accent putting on an Appalachian drawl in front of a mic.

But then, I know the music industry and I get that not every lyric needs to be autobiographical. From country music singers to gangster rappers, music has a long history of adopting a mythical voice and narrative to illustrate a point.

As far as I know, Johnny Cash never actually shot a man in Reno just to watch him die.

So I’m okay with just letting Anthony’s lyrics slide. Just a little. What I’m not okay with is you pretending you are a man of the people, which you clearly are not, who sweated over the thought of millionaires like you paying their fair share of taxes.

There was something Freudian about your desperation to equate Anthony’s criticism of overweight people on welfare to millionaires like you contributing to a progressive tax regime.

There’s nothing funnier than millionaires talking shit about billionaires, you giggled like a middle-aged, Viagra-fuelled pothead.

Joe, I know you’re a fan of weed, Henley shirts, and neon bar lights that emblazon your own name in the background behind you, but I’m pretty sure the cost those things would hardly put a dent in the $200 million you made by selling your show to Spotify, let alone your $65 million stock portfolio or the earnings from any of your 15 investment properties. But, hey, if times get tough, you could always sell one of the fifteen luxury cars you own (valuing $20 million) or maybe downsize from your $15 million mansion. I mean, who needs ten bedrooms and 12 bathrooms, anyway?

Not that I begrudge your wealth. Some might call it obscene, but haters gonna hate.

What I object to is the sight of you starting to sweat at the thought of people like yourself paying their fair share while simultaneously presenting yourself to be something you’re not.

Hell, even Oliver Anthony sat right across from you and addressed the false mythology that he himself was an Appalachian.

You know, it’s funny right off the get go. I guess because it was Radio WV [West Virginia] that posted the original video but, like, I’ve never once advertised myself as being necessarily from the mountains. - Oliver Anthony

Maybe you should delve a little deeper into that statement. Maybe comment on how an artist doesn’t necessarily need to speak to embody the lived experience of his art to provide a representative illustration of the struggles of everyday people who don’t have the platform to express the everyday fears and challenges that their lives may bring? But I’m sure you were about to get to that. Sorry to interrupt. What was your response?

Well, people are tired of being fucked with. And it seems like people in power are always fucking with people. And its just, I think it’s a natural inclination that human being have. And I think the founding fathers of this country recognize that when they set up our government, they set up our government to protect against tyranny. And they did it by having all these different branches of government and they’re all coordinated. And there’s a lot of fucking, a lot of stuff that keeps people from just running it the way they want to run it, like a King! — Joe Rogan

Um… again, two things, Joe.

One: What the fuck does any of that have to do with being from Appalachia?

Two: I haven’t smoked a joint in years, but can I dip into your stash?

To give Anthony his due, he responded to your libertarian word salad with a breakdown of Federal Government overreach and encroachment on states’ rights that I don’t necessarily agree with but found earnest and eloquent.

You, on the other hand, just sounded like an asshole.

I don’t know anything about this, so I’m gonna be talking out of my ass. But I would imagine, hey, look, I’m too low on funding, too… But the idea of taxing the rich being the way to fix all this, no, you’re just going to give more money to the government and they’re not really good at doing stuff, you know, I mean, would it be nice if rich people donated to fixing streets and schools and stuff like that? Yeah, for sure. Yeah, it would be a good, good, good, call. Also, fat people shouldn’t be buying fucking fudge rounds with food stamps. — Joe Rogan

Look, I’ve seen a lot of interviews with Oliver Anthony, including this one, and it seems clear that he regrets the fudge rounds line in “Rich Men North of Richmond” because it took away from the broader point her was making about equality. He told you this to your face when he said he’d rather “let a song be left up to the interpretation of the listener” (presumably because at least one of you knows what a metaphor is) and plans to write a song that addresses the gulf between the criticism of individual citizens who rely on welfare to get by, and corporations getting bailed out with corporate welfare to the tune of billions of dollars.

Which you immediately defended with capitalist talking points about how the government propping up job creators is good for everybody and the public benefit of bailing out billionaires but not poor people. I’m going to let you slide on how badly that jibes with your earlier comment about government not being good at stuff. Unless that stuff is a ton of cash handed to the corporations at 0% interest, I guess.

I get where you were coming from by having Oliver Anthony on your show. Like a lot of people, you were hoping he would turn out to be one of the red meat eating, lunatic fringe hosts that you love so much. You’re the guy who platformed Jordan Peterson and at least one Covid conspiracist, the latter causing Neil Young and Joni Mitchell to withdraw their catalogues from Spotify. For once, you’re guest didn’t play monkey to your accordion.

Do better. Chill out. Have a fudge round. Or go fix a street and schools and stuff.