Out Front Colorado



Fear is not a factor for Joe Rogan

By Drew Wilson



Best known as the host of TV’s smash hit gross-out challenge show 'Fear Factor', Joe Rogan is, in fact, much more than that. He’s an actor, a comedian, a commentator for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, a former champion martial artist and a cutting edge comedian known for his raw and raunchy material.



I caught up with Joe and we talked at great length about everything from UFOs and conspiracy theories to time travel and sexual politics. I admit I’d previously only thought of him as that hot little buff guy from 'Fear Factor' but after chatting with him for nearly three hours, I came to realize he was also funny, profound and a helluva cool guy.



Are you aware that you have a really big gay following?

What? No. Is it really big?



Oh yeah, all my friends were like, ‘you’re gonna interview Joe Rogan? Oh, my God, he’s so hot!’

(Laughing) It’s funny because I used to work out at a gym in Holly wood in this really gay neighborhood because it was so close to the set where we filmed _News Radio_ and I used to joke about it because every time I used to work out I felt like this tasty little morsel in a homo stew. Dudes were just -_way_ too aggressive. It’s not that they were dickheads about it but it was the exact same way straight guys act around girls, so it was really weird to me. Gay dudes are dudes and dudes do fucked up shit. If you have a dick eventually you’re gonna do something stupid.



So what would they do?

Guys would try to spot you when there’s no need. They’d just come up behind you out of nowhere and grab the bar when there was no need and I’d be like ‘Dude, it’s fine. Just relax!’ They were just basically putting their feelers out.



You’ve said on your Web site that a lot of people take you for gay. Why do you think that is?

Dude, there are a bunch of factors. Without a doubt if you have a little bit of fame someone is eventually gonna say you’re gay. The other thing is that a lot of straight guys get jealous of you so they claim that you’re gay, especially if their girlfriends happen to be attracted to you. Then there are the gay guys with wishful thinking. I’m a really laid back person and I really don’t care what anybody thinks about me and I don’t have an agenda as far as paying attention to my image. I say and do whatever the fuck I want dude, and I think that might have something to do with it too. Like, the ring tone on my cell phone is Christina Aguillera's _Beautiful_. When my phone rings it goes, ‘You are beautiful…’ and I laugh every time.



That is pretty gay.

I know! It’s the gayest thing ever. It’s so gay that even gay dudes don’t even claim that song. That’s a song only a girl could sing and not even a good-looking girl at that. Christina Aguilllera is pretty fugly. There’s something a little off about her.



D oes that mean you’re a Britney man?

Dude, I don’t get Britney Spears, I have a massive aversion to white trash. But lately I’ve been really attracted to Hillary Skank, that’s what I call her, because even though she came from the trailer park, when she talks you can tell she’s really smart.



Who else are you attracted to at the moment?

Mostly porn stars. But they’re kind of better when you’re on the outside looking in. Once you start hanging out with them you get drawn into their real lives and that’s bad.



You do stand up in addition to your television work. What’s your act about?

It’s just completely uncensored, from religion to life and sex and just whatever I happen to think about. I think about sex a lot.



The press materials about your act are plastered with warnings about extreme adult content. What can you possibly say in the year 2005 that could be so potentially terrifying to people?

Thank you. You say that because you are obviously an intelligent and rational person. But then you get these bible-banging retards who love _Fear Factor_ and want to come see the _Fear Factor_ guy and then get freaked out about the things that I say. How come in this country the retards outnumber the normal people? Oh my god, if you ever travel, you know this country has some scary little shitholes with some really retarded fucking freaks.



_Fear Factor_ is a huge hit and has been on the air several years now. How long do you see yourself continuing with it?

Dude, you know what? It’s so much money I just can’t quit. I don’t care what anybody says, I will whore myself out without a second thought. I will do it in a dress if I have to, man. There are just not that many opportunities in life to make that kind of money so that’s why I do it. Just for the money. It lost its novelty for me a long time ago.



You did a reality show celebrity version of Fear Factor recently that featured Reichen from _The Amazing Race_. Have you heard anything about his recent discrimination case against the printer who had been printing his posters but then refused to continue when he found out Reichen was gay?

What? Fuck that shit. If the guy agreed to print his poster and then wouldn’t because he found out Reichen’s gay then he’s an idiot. Why should he give a fuck? Homosexuality has nothing to do with morality or values, and these retards need to quit worrying about what other people want to do with their lives.

If Reichen wanted to blow some guy in the middle of the street, society shouldn’t give a shit unless they’re blocking traffic. I would laugh; I’d walk by and be like ‘Damn, those dudes have balls; literally.’ In a healthy society, everybody would shun anybody who would criticize someone for something as innocuous as homosexuality. I don’t understand that and maybe that’s another reason why people call me gay; because I defend being gay.



Where does your attitude about homosexuality come from?

When I was a little kid I lived in San Francisco and we lived next door to these gay guys. I didn’t know anything about sex back then but my parents were hippies so there was never any judgment or anything. My aunt would come visit and go next door to smoke pot and dance naked and play bongos with the gay hippies and we never saw anything wrong with that. So I grew up realizing that some people have red hair and some people are gay. It’s just natural, dude.

I remember I had this friend and I was over at his house one time and his father was going off about gay people. I was, like, 11 and I remember thinking it just didn’t make any sense to me for him to worry about it. But he was incensed like it was a personal insult to him. Obviously I didn’t say anything to him because he was a big guy and I was only 11 but that is still burned into my mind to this day at 37 years old. I was just like ‘wow, why was he so angry?’

I managed to avoid a lot of retarded social programming growing up in San Francisco. So it was kind of my weird upbringing that helped lead me to my opinion but I’m the kind of person who really likes to think about things and break things down and question everything so I like to think that even if I wasn’t brought up that way that it is the conclusion I would have eventually come to on my own.







