Apart from his work as a UFC color commentator, many fans recognize Joe Rogan as one of the greatest standup comedians ever. The host of the “Joe Rogan Experience” regularly performs in front of crowds at comedy events and clubs. And many also know Rogan solely as a standup comedian and podcast host, unaware of his work with the UFC. But something even fewer people are aware of is Joe’s long-running feud with fellow comedian, Ned Arnel “Carlos” Mencia.
Carlos Mencia became famous as a comedian in the late 90s for bringing up taboo topics such as race, culture, and social class in his bits. But his work did not impress Joe Rogan who accused Mencia of stealing jokes in a blog post. Their feud escalated even further when Joe denounced Mencia and his work on air.
In his appearance on The Point with Ana Kasparian, Rogan said, “I believe anybody who tries to take any of your ideas and pawn them off as their own is a piece of s***. They should be outed as being a piece of s***. Now, with Mencia, the real problem is he was profiting off of this and destroying other comedians’ careers.”
However, even before this, Joe and Carlos’ feud reached a melting point when they argued in what would become a viral video. And it happened all the way back in February 2007. This incident led to the Hollywood Comedy Store famously banning Rogan from their venue.
Why did the Hollywood Comedy Store ban Joe Rogan from performing?
Between 2007 and 2013, Joe Rogan found himself banned from the Hollywood Comedy Store. Joe used to frequent this venue as a standup comic. But in February 2007, a spat between him and his long-standing enemy Carlos Mencia led to Joe’s banning from the venue. The former Fear Factor host addressed this on his podcast.
Joe said, “He was way more popular than me, especially as a comic. The Comedy Store took his side, and I was like, ‘F*** you guys’. And I took off… I called Mitzi [owner of the Comedy Store] and gave her the whole rundown of what was going on… And then she gave me a spot that night, then they called me 2 hours later and said I was banned.”
Joe also revealed that a video of him arguing with Carlos Mencia proved to be the final nail in the coffin that led to his ban. He said that even his agents dumped him over this incident. Subsequently, they asked him to apologize if he wanted to work with them. But in typical Joe Rogan fashion, he did not bow down to their demands.
Joe told his agents that he wasn’t apologizing to anyone. He said, “We’re done. There’s no apology and we’re never gonna work together.” But all ended well between Joe Rogan and the Hollywood Comedy Store after he returned to the venue in 2013 to support another comedian.