Joe Rogan contracts COVID, postpones shows with Dave Chappelle

Dave Chappelle and Joe Rogan have been doing stand-up shows together on and off since December, but they’ve been forced to postpone the next two, originally scheduled for Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Friday (9/3) and New Orleans’ Smoothie King Center on Saturday (9/4), as Rogan has tested positive for COVID. He shared the news in a video on Instagram, saying, “I got back from the road Saturday night, feeling very weary. I had a headache. I felt just run-down. Just to be cautious, I separated from my family, slept in a different part of the house. Throughout the night, I got fevers, sweats. I knew what was going on. I got up in the morning, got tested. Turns out, I got COVID.”

“We immediately threw the kitchen sink at it,” Rogan continued, “all kinds of meds. Monoclonal antibodies, Ivermectin, Z-pack, prednisone – everything. I also got an NAD drip and a vitamin drip, and I did that three days in a row, and here we are on Wednesday, and I feel great. I really only had one bad day.”

Ivermectin, as the FDA points out, is “often used in the U.S. to treat or prevent parasites in animals.” It’s not an anti-viral, and it can be dangerous in large quantities (read more from the FDA about Ivermectin here). However, it’s been touted by some, like conservative talk show hosts and politicians, as a COVID treatment and preventative, dismaying doctors and, in some cases, causing hospitalization and death.

The often controversial Rogan previously made headlines for telling young listeners to his show that they shouldn’t “worry about” getting a COVID vaccine if they’re “healthy.” He’s denied being against vaccines, saying, “I’m not an anti-vax person. I’m not a doctor, I’m a fucking moron, and I’m a cage-fighting commentator who’s a dirty stand-up comedian…I’m not a respected source of information, even for me.”

Chappelle, meanwhile, tested positive for COVID himself back in January.