Carlos Mencia Disses Joe Rogan Following COVID-19 Announcement

A great rivalry never dies.

Carlos Mencia takes advantage of a clout-chasing opportunity at the expense of Joe Rogan after hearing the news of Rogan’s positive COVID-19 results. Early Wednesday evening, the legendary comedian took to social media to make sarcastic jokes about why he could no longer contract COVID-19 because comedy fans would believe he’s trying to steal it from the Spotify comedian.

“Welp it’s official! I better not get COVID, because if I do, people are gonna say, I stole it from Joe Rogan.”- Carlos Mencia (@carlosmencia)

The remarks reignited an iconic feud between Mencia and Rogan that would cause a major rift throughout the comedy world in the mid-2000s.

Rogan would begin the feud in 2005, writing a blog post entitled “Carlos Mencia is a weak-minded joke thief.” Two years later, he confronted the Mind of Mencia star while performing onstage at The Comedy Store in Los Angeles, CA. During the incident in front of a live audience, Rogan explicitly accused Mencia of having a history of plagiarizing comedy material from other comedians. Carlos would brush off Rogan’s loud remarks, calling them false accusations while finishing his performance. This would lead the live audience to believe that Rogan was just a “bitter” comedian. 

Unfortunately, plagiarism in comedy is a common occurrence. Big-name comedians frequently get accused of joke stealing, either from older talent or their contemporaries.

Later, Rogan posted a video showing a compilation of comic material spliced with clips of Mencia making similar jokes. George Lopez and others appeared in the video to accuse Mencia of ripping off their material. The video would take YouTube by storm, garnering millions of views upon its release.

The two men engaged in a public brawl leading to Rogan being banned from the legendary West Hollywood comedy club by the owner citing unprofessionalism. Rogan wouldn’t walk through the venue’s doors again until 2013. Joe launched his famous podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience” in 2009, which led to instant comedy and podcasting superstardom. Meanwhile, Mencia’s comedic star power would slowly decline throughout the past two decades due to various plagiarism accusations.

Mencia would address those accusations in 2019 with Humberto Guida of LATV Network:

Rogan wouldn’t express his feeling about the feud until 2020 during a conversion with fellow comedian Bob Saget on his JRE podcast. Joe would explain how he was furious at the time of the incident, but now, he only wishes nothing but the best for Mencia.

“I don’t have any hate for that dude, and I hope he’s doing great, I really do.” -Rogan said.

Joe Rogan may have ended the beef with him years ago, but if you ask Carlos Mencia, this is one beef that he feels can never end.

“A really good friend of mine said I should call Joe and makeup because he has got a really good podcast. And I said, ‘What am I supposed to say to someone who accused me of stealing jokes, but not his, and he’s the one who’s tried to ruin my career?’ I never tried to ruin his career. I don’t know how to address that.” – Carlos Mencia tells Humberto Guida of LATV Network.

In July 2021, Mencia would make headlines by telling The New York Times that Rogan’s recent comments on Cancel Culture were “Ironic,” being that he tried to use those exact tactics to ruin his career.

Even though this rivalry may never see its conclusion, hopefully, both comedians can come to a mutual truce one day.