Obama’s Higher Ground Production Company May Leave Spotify
Former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama’s production company, Higher Ground, is reportedly considering leaving Spotify.
According to Vanity Fair, the three-year deal the Obamas have with the music streaming platform is coming to an end soon and there are no further projects in development. Past shows on the platform include The Michelle Obama Podcast and Renegades: Born in the USA hosted by Barack and musician Bruce Springsteen.
Washington Examiner reports that team members from Higher Ground have reportedly expressed frustrations about working with Spotify and have found it “difficult to get additional shows off the ground.”
The outlet notes that The Obamas are trying to promote new, younger voices on their platform instead of placing the spotlight on themselves.
Spotify recently received critiques for failing to remove podcaster Joe Rogan from their platform after he interviewed two doctors who provide false comments on the coronavirus vaccine. Reports also came out that Rogan had repeatedly used the n-word in past on his show The Joe Rogan Experience.
Rogan took to his Instagram to apologize for his language on previous episodes after India Arie called him out.
“There’s been a lot of sh-t from the old episodes of the podcast that I wish I hadn’t said, or had said differently,” Rogan wrote in an Instagram caption accompanying the video apology.
“It looks f--king horrible. Even to me,” he said. “I know that to most people, there is no context where a white person is ever allowed to say that word, never mind publicly on a podcast. And I agree with that now, I haven't said it in years.”
