ESPN DEI Hire Claims Joe Rogan, Who Built 9-Figure Podcast, Is 'Good at Exactly Zero Things'

ESPN hired a guy by the name of David Dennis Jr. in 2021, acknowledging it hired him because his father was a former civil rights activist. ESPN thought signing Dennis was good PR in the aftermath of George Floyd's death.

Dennis can be described as a wannabe Bomani Jones, without the credibility or chops to be taken seriously. He is perhaps best known for criticizing Caitlin Clark in June for not sticking up for the black women in the WNBA targeting her.

According to Dennis, white women are born in "privilege" and thus have a "moral obligation" to defend people of color –  apparently, even if said people of color are hard-fouling them and sharing nasty tweets about them.

Dennis is also violating ESPN's so-called "ban on politics"– the policy in which ESPN used to suspend Sage Steele in 2021 – by repeatedly calling Donald Trump a racist online. ESPN did not respond to a request for comment on why Dennis is allowed to break the policy, but Steele was not. 

We can guess why

Simply put, David Dennis Jr. is a beneficiary of privilege, DEI, and ESPN wanting to prove it stands with BLM. And yet, Dennis says Joe Rogan is the talentless hack.

Responding to Rogan's new Netflix special in which he includes jokes about transgender Americans, Dennis declared Rogan "good at exactly zero things."

Good at nothing, hey?

Joe Rogan built a nine-figure media empire with a skeleton crew of pals-turned-producers. The "Joe Rogan Experience" is the most listened-to podcast on record. And the most lucrative, recently signing a $210 million licensing agreement with Spotify.

Industry titans like Stephen A. Smith and Bill Maher defer to Rogan as the gold standard of podcasting, both admitting they want to replicate his success. Rogan sounds pretty "good at" podcasting to us. 

And standup comedy. 

By himself, Rogan elevated himself into an echelon of comedians that includes Dave Chappelle and Jerry Seinfeld. There is a reason every comedy special in which Rogan participates generates weeks of chatter.

Rogan is also the leading color commentator for the UFC. While he never fought professionally, he learned the craft of MMA as a bullied teenager. UFC president Dana White called Rogan one of the most knowledgeable voices in the sport last month.

"One of the key components to [the growth of the UFC] was Joe Rogan, who is the greatest play-by-play fight guy ever," White told Shannon Sharpe last month.

"He’s a guy who’s really educated on the sport, he’s actually done it, loves and respects the sport and the athletes. And Joe Rogan had this ability to walk you through what was happening before it actually happened. And jiu jitsu as a sport and as a martial art completely took off and everybody started training in it."

"Rogan is better than Howard Cosell. Howard Cosell never actually trained in it and could speak about it with the love and passion that Rogan does," White added.

Thereby, we must chuckle at a man who only works at ESPN because of his father and skin color claiming Rogan – a self-made man in podcasting, sports, and comedy – is "good at exactly zero things."

Rogan is a generational talent in three different industries. Dennis is the author of a book (no one read) about race and the host of a YouTube show averaging 400 views.

David Dennis Jr. isn't even good at race-baiting or pandering, his only two job requirements.