Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko, a longtime boxing champion considered one of the greatest heavyweights ever, accused podcaster Joe Rogan of “repeating Russian propaganda,” following an episode in which Rogan implied that the Ukrainian and American leaders were “about to start World War III.”
In Friday’s episode of “Joe Rogan Experience,” the host criticized President Joe Biden’s move to authorize Ukraine to strike Russia with U.S.-provided long-range missiles and said he didn’t feel safe that “they’re launching missiles into Russia.”
“How are you allowed to do that when you’re on the way out? Like the people don’t want you to be there anymore,” Rogan said. “This should be some sort of a pause for significant actions that could potentially start World War III. Maybe that would be a good thing that we would like to avoid from a dying former president.”
Rogan extended his criticisms to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, referring to a presidential address in which Zelenskyy had said that “Putin is terrified,” following the launch of ballistic missiles into Ukraine last Thursday, following Ukraine’s strike against Russia earlier that week.
“Zelenskyy says Putin is terrified. F--- you man. F--- you people. You F---ing people are about to start World War III,” Rogan said.
Rogan even accused Zelenskyy of “doing a lot of blow.”
“This is cocaine-like behavior. ‘Putin’s fu----- scared, man, Putin’s terrified. We got him.
We got him, man, we got him.’ Like, what are you talking about? He has nuclear missiles. You f----ing monkeys,” Rogan said.
False drug claims regarding Zelenskyy have been pushed by Russian propagandists in the past, including through a widely shared digitally altered video where Zelenskyy appears to say he uses cocaine, and through a disinformation campaign from Russian propaganda group Storm-1516. Last year, pro-Russian propagandists had also tricked celebrities into creating paid videos on Cameo that were then doctored to insinuate Zelenskyy had a drug problem.
Klitschko, the retired Ukrainian boxer, responded by posting a video on X, addressed to Rogan, that has amassed 11 million views as of Monday. He called Rogan’s commentary “Russian propaganda.”
“You talk about these American weapons being sent to Ukraine, which you believe will lead to the Third World War, so let me tell you that you’re repeating Russian propaganda,” Klitschko said in his video. “Putin’s Russia is in trouble, so they want to scare you and people like you. His war was supposed to last three days. It has lasted three years thanks to the heroism and sacrifice of us Ukrainians. So you’re using the only weapon that Putin really intends to use, propaganda, and this weapon really weakens our democracies.”
Klitschko closes off his video by calling on Rogan to have him on his podcast, where he said the two could discuss “like free men” his “points of difference.”
A large Rogan fan account on X later replied to Klitschko’s video, writing “Does this make sense to anyone or just an attempt to get on the podcast?” Klitschko then responded by saying “Fear Factor = Offering a public opinion about a nation, but not able to discuss your opinion and facts with another public figure of the nation you had the opinion about. We would only meet in the podcast ring not in the boxing ring. Let’s do it! What are you waiting for?”
Klitschko held belts from the International Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Organization and the International Boxing Organization from 2008 until 2015. The former boxer did not lose a single fight from 2004 to 2015, and later retired in 2017. Klitschko’s brother, Vitali Klitschko, is currently the mayor of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and was also a former heavyweight champion.
Ukraine’s former Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also addressed Rogan’s comments, writing in an X post, “Hi @joerogan, freaking at Ukrainians without giving them a chance to speak isn’t a fair fight. If you ever feel like having a real conversation, let’s sit down and chat about anything Ukraine-related — dragons included. You know your stuff, I know mine. Cigars on me.”
Rogan also said in his Friday episode that he believes that President-elect Donald Trump’s upcoming administration would alleviate further conflict between Russia and Ukraine saying, “We voted Trump in and his idea is to stop all this sh--, and hopefully he can do that.”
Rogan endorsed Trump the day before the election, having previously had him as a guest on his podcast.
CNN reported that Zelenskyy recently said that he believed that the war in Ukraine “will end faster with the policy of this team that will now lead the White House,” referring to the Trump administration.
