Despite criticizing Joe Rogan for using the N-word on his program, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek made it clear to staff that the platform has no plans to terminate its relationship with its top podcaster.

Ek expressed regret in Sunday's internal message, which was leaked by the media that the recent debate over the extremely popular The Joe Rogan Experience (JRE) podcast has left some of Spotify's personnel "drained, frustrated, and unheard."

The entrepreneur labeled several of Rogan's on-air comments as "extremely hurtful," adding that the platform had had "conversations" with the 54-year-old comic about the substance of his shows, including "his history of using some racially insensitive language."

According to Ek, it was in response to such "conversations" that the podcaster chose to pull 70 episodes of his show from Spotify last week. Rogan also apologized in a video that he used the N-word "in context" while describing a particular tale or individual, not as a racist epithet. However, he stated that he now understood that it was still immoral and that context was irrelevant.

"While I strongly condemn Joe's comments and concur with his choice to remove previous programs from our platform, I understand that some may crave more. And I want to be crystal clear - I do not believe that silencing Joe is the solution," Spotify CEO Daniel Ek remarked.

While the platform should undoubtedly take action against abusive content, he cautioned that "canceling voices is a slippery slope." "Taking a broader view of the issue, it is critical thinking and open debate that fuel genuine and necessary progress."

Despite its $100 million exclusive arrangement with Rogan, Ek stressed that Spotify was "not the publisher of JRE."

He also committed $100 million to the platform's licensing, development, and promotion of music and audio content created by historically underrepresented communities. According to the CEO, such a move would aim to "improve the status quo and elevate the conversation overall."

Ek noted that disputes such as the one currently raging over JRE are "inevitable" as long as Spotify maintains a commitment to "becoming the global audio platform" while preserving an open culture.

The revelation of a clip last week in which many instances of Rogan using the N-word were grouped has dealt another setback to the podcaster, whose show regularly has an audience of up to 11 million listeners per episode.

Several musicians, including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, removed or threatened to remove their content from Spotify in January in protest over the comedian's alleged promotion of misinformation about Covid-19 and vaccines.

Spotify replied at the time by stating that it will add a "content advisory" to any podcast episodes on the coronavirus, sending viewers to "trusted sources" such as government data and health experts. Rogan stated that he was "extremely pleased" with the decision.