Carlos Mencia Says Joe Rogan Has Been Accused of Stealing Jokes, Too: ‘This Is What You Started’

Carlos Mencia isn’t exactly accusing Joe Rogan of stealing jokes — he’s just asking us to Google the other comics who are pointing fingers. And if Rogan doesn’t like it? That’s tough, Mencia says. After all, Rogan is the one who started it. 

In 2005, Rogan famously stormed the stage at the Comedy Store, accusing Mencia of stealing jokes. The incident was caught on video, and the Comedy Store slapped Rogan for interrupting Mencia’s set. But the damage was done. Comedian Aries Spears claimed last year that Rogan “single-handedly destroyed (Mencia’s) career.”

While The Mind of Mencia was canceled the following year, it’s tough to say what actual effect Rogan had on the comic’s livelihood. But in Mencia’s opinion, Rogan dinged the entire industry by accusing his fellow comics of stealing punchlines. And now, Mencia told VladTV,  Rogan “just got accused himself. You don’t know that? Pull it up! Seriously? You didn’t know about this? I’m sorry to be the one to bring it up, bro.”

Mencia doesn’t sound the least bit sorry to shine a spotlight on fans calling out Rogan after his Burn the Boats special this summer. Some compared one part of the special to a similar routine by former MMA fighter, occasional comic and frequent Joe Rogan Experience guest Brendan Schaub. Decide for yourself if Rogan should go to comedy jail:

• Rogan from Burn the Boats: “I wish I was gay — it looks way easier. You are hanging out with only guys, no one can get pregnant.”
• Schaub from his 2022 special Gringo Papi: “My life would be so much easier if I was just gay as shit. If I was locked down with the bros during quarantine, with the homies, you know how much fun we would have?” 

It sounds more like a similar premise — “Being gay is easier than being straight” — than joke theft, but Mencia is right that at least some fans were squawking on Reddit. The accusation never got traction and had largely gone unpublicized before Mencia brought it back to the table. 

“He got accused of stealing Brendan Schaub’s joke,” argued Mencia. “This is what I didn’t want. The policeman of this got caught with his hand in the cookie jar — if that’s the case.”

So Mencia is suggesting Rogan didn’t steal the joke after all? “Whether he did or didn’t, I don’t care. It doesn’t matter to me. I’m not getting involved in it. It’s not my thing,” claimed Mencia, the comic whose version of “not getting involved” meant instructing his interviewer to look up the allegations.  

Mencia’s larger point to Rogan? “This is what you started,” he chided. “This is what we started with all this bullshit.”