Comedian-podcaster Joe Rogan has had over 1,800 guests on his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, to date, and out of all of them, he has ostensibly found the one he dislikes the most: Dr. Zahi Hawass, the former Egyptian Minister of Antiquities. Turns out, that’s one guest that he was really looking forward to meeting, but had a pretty disappointing experience with.
In an episode with Aaron Rodgers from earlier this May 2025, the color commentator got candid about his feelings toward the same, as he said (via PowerfulJRE on YouTube),
That might have been the worst podcast I’ve ever done, but maybe a good one too. Just to see, OK, this is the guy, this is this closed-minded fellow that’s been in charge of gatekeeping all the knowledge.
That particular episode with Hawass ran for nearly two hours and encompassed their discussion on the history of the Egyptian pyramids. However, notably enough, Rogan appeared to look visibly uninterested throughout the conversation when he didn’t get the answers he was looking for. As he continued to share in that episode with Aaron Rodgers:
About the tomography, whatever it is, yeah, that stuff’s fascinating. Because, even after that podcast, I’ve been watching more videos of those Italian scientists describing it. They’ve used it to- this is one of the things that I brought up, one of the temples that they scanned with this was very accurate. And he’s like, ‘But this was only 50 feet down.’ Yeah, OK. Right.
If anything, it was evident from the actor’s words that the episode with Hawass didn’t quite leave a good impression on him, as he even accused the archaeologist of refusing to “entertain” alternative theories about Egypt’s history. Take a look at the episode in which Hawass appeared (via YouTube):
Not to mention, Rogan even implied that his guest was too rigid in his thinking, and he didn’t quite open up in the conversation as he was ostensibly pressing him about what could be, while Hawass simply appeared to disapprove of the theory without even considering it.
Fans Have Mixed Opinions About Joe Rogan’s Dislike of Dr. Zahi Hawass
While Joe Rogan didn’t hold back while sharing his opinion on Dr. Zahi Hawass and his experience of interviewing him on his JRE podcast, fans are having clashing opinions on the podcaster’s confession.
On the one hand, some feel that his dislike is justified, while others, on the other hand, feel that the former television host only dislikes the archaeologist because he didn’t indulge in his conspiracy theories. All in all, here’s what they have to say on X:
I watched it, he (Zahi Hawass) Dr #ZahiHawass didn't agree with one thing Joe Rogan said. He was a nightmare to interview.
So the worst guest is someone who won't indulge Joe Rogans' conspiracies.
Well, smart people generally disregard fucking nonsense.
So if Joe is saying the pyramids were built by aliens (Not sure if he did I dont watch JRE) and the egyptologist says no, that's should be the end of the debate. No further conversation necessary.
Hilarious. THE guy on Egyptology, huge expert on the subject and Rogan hates HIM for dismissing all his trash conspiracy theories instead of thinking “hm maybe these are trash conspiracy theories”
Mf is upset that an expert professional Egyptologist won’t say aliens built the pyramids
The worst guests are always the ones who write a book with apparently all the answers to lifes mysteries in it just to sit down for a 3 hr interview where the guy keeps going “well I don’t really wanna get into it but the answers in the book”
"It's in my book"… every two mins, was the worst guest by far.
Well, it’s not every day that Rogan meets celebrities on his podcast who don’t really agree with him and his theories, so that’s that too. At the same time, we’ll just let fans decide and settle the debate about whether the podcaster’s dislike for Hawass is actually justified or not!
Joe Rogan Would Rather Explore Egypt With Zahi Hawass’ Old Rival
In the episode with Dr. Zahi Hawass, Joe Rogan quite literally promised to tell the Egyptian archaeologist if and when he were to visit Egypt, at the earnest urging of Hawass himself. And yet, when he was asked later on by Aaron Rodgers if he would actually consider visiting Egypt with Hawass as his guide, the podcast host’s honest response was,
Yeah, meh, mmm. If I’m going, I’m going with Graham Hancock.
Hawass is an Egyptologist and the former Minister of Tourism and Antiquities of Egypt, while Graham Hancock is a British author who promotes pseudoscientific ideas about ancient civilizations and hypothetical lost lands. But the two famously share a rocky history, having clashed publicly before, in 2015, over debates about ancient Egypt’s past (via Ancient Spook).
The two have since reconciled, though, over the past decade, with Hancock even posting a photo last year that showed the pair enjoying a dinner in Cairo after Hawass “graciously accepted my apology for my unkind words to him at a public event in 2015” (via @Graham__Hancock on X). So that’s that too.
What’s your take on this? Let us know in the comments below!
