Joe Rogan’s dad has no regrets about not speaking to son for 40 years & is defended from star's abuse claims by daughter

PODCAST superstar Joe Rogan’s estranged dad says he has “no regrets” even though they have not spoken for over 40 years. 

The Joe Rogan Experience host’s father – also called Joe Rogan – told The Sun he and the second family he started just “don’t talk about” his famous son. 

But the 80-year-old retired cop admitted with pride that he saw himself in Joe when he came under fire over controversial podcasts about Covid and vaccinations. 

And although he repeatedly refused to deny claims of domestic abuse that Joe has levelled against him, his daughter leapt to their dad’s defence.

Joe’s half-sister Bridget Carselda said: “Joe will aways be my father’s son, but my father is the original Joe Rogan.”

The Sun tracked Joe’s dad down to his modest colonial-style home in a blue collar neighborhood in Kearny, New Jersey after Joe, 54, described the pain of growing up without him in a recent JRE episode. 

Responding from the porch of his home under a sign that reads “Grandma & Grandpa’s Place”, Mr Rogan claimed he lost touch when Joe’s mom Susan moved away with Joe and his younger sister Laura to San Francisco.  

He said: “I don’t have any regrets, I don’t even know what you’re talking about, regrets. 

“I woke up one morning and he was gone when I went to call him, to pick him up. I knew nothing about them leaving.

“We were separated at the time and he was where he was, in Newark. That’s it. 

“I called and nobody answered the phone. Someone over there told me, ‘Well, they left this morning for California’.

“The last time I saw him was two days before. I used to have him every weekend.

“I have a wife, two daughters, four grandchildren. And it’s been 40-plus years. I love what I got.

“We don't talk about him, it never even comes up.”

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Dad-of-two Joe appeared uncomfortable as he was asked about growing up without a father by evolutionary behavioral scientist Gad Saad on a JRE episode released on May 11.

But he also suggested that dealing with chaos and heartache at home had made him the man he is today.

Joe told Saad: “I haven’t talked to him since I was seven.

“It took probably into my late twenties to really calm myself because there was part of me that felt angry that he wasn't around and also part of me didn’t feel in any way like I was safe.”

Joe has previously accused his father of being a “psychotic person who beat the f*** out of my mother”.

He also claimed his father had beaten his cousin and hauled him up by his hair.

Addressing the allegations of domestic abuse, Mr Rogan said: “I don’t talk about that. Look, it’s been 40-plus years. 

“I haven’t spoken to him in that time. I wish him all the luck in the word.”

Asked if he could take any credit for Joe’s later success in life, his dad said: “I don’t want to take no credit, he was only seven years old. 

“That’s the way I live, I live straight up. Straight. I don’t take no bows. When you don’t go perform, you can’t take a bow.”

UFC color commentator and stand-up comedian Joe has transformed his Spotify podcast into one of the most successful shows in the world with an estimated audience of around 11 million. 

He signed an exclusive deal with Spotify for his podcast said to be worth between $100 million and $200 million in May 2020.

Joe sparked a furious reaction last year over his coverage of the Covid pandemic and vaccines.

He was also blasted after it was wrongly claimed he had used “horse dewormer” to treat the virus.   

Rock star Neil Young removed his music from Spotify after issuing an ultimatum to the platform to choose between him and Rogan. 

During the fallout Joe was forced to hire an "elite" security team to protect the home he shares in Austin, Texas, with wife Jessica Ditzel and their two daughters.

Despite their estrangement, his father, who was dressed in a Pittsburgh Steelers hat and shirt when approached by The Sun, spoke with evident pride about the stand Joe had taken. 

He said: “I’m glad he told them people off when they questioned him about what he said about the Covid. 

“I love it. Everybody should stand up for themselves. 

“Everything is screwed up at the moment. It’s out of control. 

“I got so many people calling me, saying that was me talking. That’s how I talk.”

Despite his refusal to address the accusations of domestic violence, Mr Rogan’s daughter Bridget said that is not the father she and her twin sister Rosa knew growing up.  

Government worker Bridget, 43, said: “I would love to talk to Joe because he doesn’t know who we are. 

“He is our half-brother but I don’t think he has any interest in ever speaking to us or my father.

“I can only speak from my experience. Me and my sister, he has given us everything, put us through college, gave us beautiful weddings, gave us a beautiful life growing up.

“We are blessed to have him. I couldn’t ask for a better father so it’s hard to hear the total opposite coming from Joe. 

“It was a complete shock for us.

“I don’t fault him for it because he was a child. I think he just knows what he was told.”

Asked about her dad’s first marriage, she said: “He said they just didn’t get along.

“He never has said anything bad about his ex-wife, never said anything bad about Joe. 

“He has wished him well, any time he sees him on TV.  

“I remember him saying that Joe and him were very close before Joe moved away. 

“And that Joe had actually called him a couple of times from wherever they were, but then the calls stopped, and that was it.

“But he has no regrets, he has moved on.”

The Sun has reached out to Joe for comment.

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