Bill Ackman offered to donate $150,000 if a doctor debated Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about vaccines on Joe Rogan’s podcast

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Bill Ackman has waded into a vaccine misinformation debate, offering $150,000 to charity if a doctor agrees to debate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Joe Rogan’s podcast.

Rogan got into a tussle with Dr Peter Hotez after the pediatrician tweeted a Vice article criticizing an episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience” that featured Kennedy. 

In the three-hour episode, Kennedy discusses his controversial stance on vaccines, among other subjects, with Rogan.

Hotez agreed with the Vice article’s argument that Rogan broadcast misinformation about vaccines by airing the presidential candidate’s views.

Kennedy was previously banned by Instagram for spreading false information about vaccines, including claiming they were linked to autism and comparing COVID lockdowns to Nazi Germany. His account was reinstated after announcing his presidential bid. 

Rogan responded to Hotez’s criticism by pledging $100,000 to charity if he came on the podcast to debate Kennedy.

Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, then got involved, pledging a further $150,000. He’s one of several public figures appearing to promise donations to charity in exchange for a debate.  

The argument also caught the attention of Elon Musk, who appeared to goad Hotez in a series of tweets trolling Vice and suggesting the pediatrician “hates charity” in an attempt to get him to agree to a debate. Musk responded to Rogan’s initial offer for a debate with two fire emojis. 

Hotez is professor at the departments of pediatrics, and molecular virology and microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, and dean of its National School of Tropical Medicine.

Hotez seemed to agree to Rogan’s demands, offering to come on the podcast to “clear the air.”

It’s not the first time Rogan and Spotify, which distributes his podcast, have been at the center of a controversy involving vaccine information. 

In January 2022, musician Neil Young forced Spotify to take his music off the platform in protest at Rogan’s repeated incorrect claims about vaccines.  

Rogan signed a $200 million deal with Spotify to bring his hugely popular podcast exclusively to the streaming platform in 2020.

Spotify did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider, made outside normal working hours.