Yet another celebrity is getting heat over the love of hunting.
Last week it was James Hetfield, frontman for hard rockers Metallica. This time it's Joe Rogan, a longtime standup comic and former "Fear Factor" host and martial arts champion.
It started when he let it be known during his "Joe Rogan Experience" podcast on June 8 that he killed a black bear with a bow and arrow while in Canada. His podcast cohost was bowhunter Cameron Hanes — who also happened to be Rogan's hunting buddy.
Hanes posted this photo to his Facebook page...
Rogan (left) with Hanes. (Image source: Facebook)
...along with the following caption:
"Joe Rogan becomes a bowhunter. Last night, on a memorable bear hunting evening in Alberta, Joe made a perfect shot on this beast. We were hunting from the ground eye-to-eye with the bears when this mature boar offered Joe a shot. As John Rivet captured all the action on film, after months and months of practicing with his Hoyt, preparation finally met opportunity and with adrenaline surging, Joe made the most of it. The boar went 40 yards tops and was down in seconds. Fire up the grill, we are eating bear tonight!"
Rogan added an Instagram photo with the caption, "Anyone that tells you bear meat isn't delicious doesn't know what the f**k they're talking about":
Well, as you can imagine, that didn't sit well with some folks. (Content warning: Some rough language ahead...)
Redacted (Source: twitter.com/greeneyedsouls)
@joerogan Shame on you for killing innocent animals. #Idiot— Moises Campos (@Moises Campos) 1402287483.0
One comment under Hanes' photo read, "Can't look at this photo. Don't understand individuals who pose with a dead human or animals. I don't enjoy other creature's suffering."
Others included "total waste" and "poor bear" and "f**king disgusting meatheads."
Rogan isn't one to take things lying down and posted a series of tweets in defense of his kill, noting in particular that he eats the animals he hunts:
Dear folks mad at me for hunting: I only hunt things I eat and my goal is to personally ethically harvest all the meat I eat at home (1)— Joe Rogan (@Joe Rogan) 1402503825.0
Right now in June, the things you can hunt are limited so I went bear hunting. I know some people have a problem with that (2)— Joe Rogan (@Joe Rogan) 1402503914.0
If you wear leather and eat meat hating hunters for getting their own food is insanely hypocritical and just another sign of the (3)— Joe Rogan (@Joe Rogan) 1402504037.0
Convenient detachment people have regarding the food they consume. Make no mistake about it, if you eat meat you're killing as well (4)— Joe Rogan (@Joe Rogan) 1402504086.0
If you're killing with your purchases thinking that makes you better than a person that kills their meat themselves is highly retarded (5)— Joe Rogan (@Joe Rogan) 1402504211.0
Life eats life. My goal with perusing hunting is to get more connected with that. It's been a bizarre and complex journey (6)— Joe Rogan (@Joe Rogan) 1402504290.0
The bear I killed was the result of countless hours of practice with a bow resulting in a perfect shot that killed it in seconds (7)— Joe Rogan (@Joe Rogan) 1402504874.0
Again hunting is not something I frivolously pursue and I only hunt things I can eat and only in a legal and ethical way.— Joe Rogan (@Joe Rogan) 1402504943.0
I grow and kill my own vegetables too, often times laughing heartily as I pluck them from the life sustaining ground #TeamPeople— Joe Rogan (@Joe Rogan) 1402505479.0
(H/T: The Daily Dot)