Chelsea Handler reportedly criticized Joe Rogan after Forbes estimated his podcast earned $82 million. The comedian questioned how much money Rogan made despite criticizing his views. Her comments came after his podcast reportedly topped Forbes’ 2026 earnings rankings.
Chelsea reacts after Forbes estimated Joe earned $82 million from his podcast
Forbes reportedly named The Joe Rogan Experience the highest-earning podcast of 2026. The show reportedly generated an estimated $82 million in earnings for Rogan. Handler responded to the news with a sharp criticism under the Instagram post.
“82 million to be completely uninformed and say ‘whoopsie doodle,’ every time he’s wrong, which is FREQUENT?” Handler commented. Her comment appeared to criticize Rogan’s perceived lack of accuracy. She also questioned whether his content justified his enormous earnings.
Rogan’s podcast reportedly remained a major commercial success despite Handler’s criticism. The show reportedly operated under a lucrative Spotify deal worth up to $250 million. It also reportedly attracted more than 80 million downloads and views each month.
Forbes reportedly ranked several other podcasts among the industry’s highest earners. John Coogan and Jordi Hays’ TBPN by OpenAI reportedly earned $70 million. Steven Bartlett’s The Diary of a CEO reportedly followed with $45 million.
Ashley Flowers‘ Crime Junkie reportedly earned $42 million during the same period. SmartLess, hosted by Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, and Sean Hayes, reportedly earned $37 million. Rogan’s earnings still placed him well ahead of the other top podcast creators.
The Joe Rogan Experience began as a live video stream on Ustream in 2009. Rogan initially hosted the show with comedian Brian Redban. The podcaster later grew into one of the biggest problems in the industry. Forbes reportedly credited the show’s success to “deep listener trust with massive scale.”
Handler has also expanded her own presence in podcasting. She recently announced the Dear Chelsea Network with iHeartPodcast. Her criticism of Rogan came as she continued building her own podcasting platform.
TELL US – DO YOU THINK JOE ROGAN’S PODCAST DESERVES ITS MASSIVE EARNINGS? WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT CHELSEA HANDLER’S CRITICISM?
