Knicks Owner & Mamdani Trade Insults, Joe Rogan Drops a Bombshell | 6/19/26 FIRST LOOK

0:03Hey everybody, I'm Dave Rubin and this is First Look. It's Friday, June 19th, 2026. We've got a packed show for you today. More than a million Knicks fans flood New York City for the team's first championship parade in 53 years. But the celebration includes a public feud between Knicks owner James Dolan and Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Joe Rogan says powerful political figures, PACs, and even former presidents tried to pressure Spotify into removing his podcast during the COVID era. Let's dive in. We start in New York City, where more than a million Knicks fans pack the streets Thursday to celebrate something many thought they'd never see, a Knicks championship parade.

0:50After ending a 53-year title drought by defeating the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals, the Knicks rolled through Manhattan's famed Canyon of Heroes as a sea of blue and orange stretched for blocks in every direction. Fans climbed light poles. Office workers dumped confetti from skyscrapers. Entire families packed lower Manhattan hours before the parade began. For a franchise that has endured decades of heartbreak, disappointment, bad contracts, playoff collapses, and false starts, this was the payoff. But while the celebration was largely about basketball, politics managed to sneak its way into the spotlight, and it involved Knicks owner James Dolan and New York City's Democratic Socialist Mayor Zoran Mamdani.

1:42The tension has been building for weeks. Leading up to the NBA Finals, Dolan publicly criticized city officials for imposing heavy restrictions around Madison Square Garden during outdoor watch parties. At the time, Dolan told WFAN, they're sitting there trying to say, well, we're big Knicks fans, but they're not Knicks fans. Then referring directly to Mamdani, he's not a Knicks fan. That feud resurfaced Thursday during the championship celebration at City Hall. After the parade concluded, Mamdani delivered a nearly 10-minute speech recapping Knicks' history. The mayor referenced Willis Reed's legendary 1970 Finals performance, Bernard King's 60-point Christmas Day game in 1984, Patrick Ewing's playoff battles, Charles Oakley, and dozens of former Knicks players from different eras.

2:39He even shouted out former enforcer Charles Oakley, whose long-running feud with Dolan has become part of Knicks lore. The speech seemed to go on forever. Then Dolan took the microphone, and in one sentence, he appeared to sum up what much of the crowd was thinking. Without mentioning Mamdani by name, Dolan said, I don't need your vote. I don't need to quote to you what happened here, because if you're real Knicks fans, you know it already. The crowd erupted. It was a clear contrast between a politician giving a lengthy speech and a sports owner speaking directly to fans who had just waited more than half a century for a title.

3:22Dolan then reminded the crowd that while many had suffered through decades of losing seasons, some younger fans weren't even alive for much of that drought. He joked that not everybody in attendance looked old enough to have suffered through all 53 years. Then he brought the focus back where most fans wanted it, the championship. Dolan told the crowd, we're very, very happy to have brought you a championship, and added, thank you for supporting our team. We're going to keep working to bring you even better basketball. Now, regardless of what anyone thinks about James Dolan, Thursday belonged to the fans.

4:03After decades of frustration, New York finally got its championship. And for one day at least, basketball managed to overshadow politics. Mostly. Now to a remarkable claim from Joe Rogan. Rogan says that during the height of the COVID pandemic, powerful political figures, including former presidents, allegedly pressured Spotify to remove his show over what they called vaccine misinformation. The comments came during a new episode of the Joe Rogan Experience featuring author and behavioral expert, Chase Hughes. Rogan reflected on the firestorm that engulfed him during the pandemic after he questioned lockdown policies, challenged some vaccine narratives, and discussed alternative COVID treatments.

4:50You'll remember the controversy. In 2021 and 2022, media outlets, activists, celebrities, and public health officials repeatedly accused Rogan of spreading misinformation. Musicians pulled content from Spotify. Activist groups launched pressure campaigns. Major media outlets ran story after story demanding action. At the center of the controversy were comments Rogan made suggesting that healthy young people may not need the vaccine, as well as discussions surrounding treatments, including ivermectin, after he contracted COVID himself. Looking back, Rogan says the pressure campaign was much larger than most people realized.

5:32He said, the position that I was in during the COVID thing was very unique. Rogan explained that despite intense criticism, his audience had already become so large that efforts to silence him ultimately failed. Then came the most explosive allegation. According to Rogan, there were presidents involved and former presidents involved that were contacting Spotify. He claimed those individuals were attempting to get him removed from the platform over alleged vaccine misinformation. Rogan did not name any specific presidents, nor did he provide evidence identifying who allegedly made the calls. But he insisted the pressure campaign was real.

6:14He said they spent a lot of money, and added it wasn't a small amount of money. It wasn't a small amount of people. Rogan also claimed numerous PACs and advocacy groups targeted both Spotify and his sponsors. According to him, many advertisers left during that period. He said, I lost a lot, a lot during those days. But one factor helped protect him, Spotify. Rogan specifically credited the company for resisting pressure. He noted that Spotify is headquartered in Sweden rather than the United States. And he suggested that international ownership may have insulated the company from some of the political pressure being applied.

6:56Rogan said, thank God I was on Spotify, and then added, thank God Spotify is not an American company. Eventually, Spotify chose not to remove Rogan. Instead, the company added COVID content advisories to episodes discussing the virus. The show remained available, and today, Rogan remains the most influential podcaster on the planet. Now, whether people agree or disagree with Rogan's views during the pandemic isn't really the larger issue. The bigger question is this. Should powerful political figures be pressuring private companies to silence voices they disagree with? Because if Rogan's allegations are true, that's exactly what happened.

7:38And it's a reminder of just how intense the battle over information, censorship, and free speech became during the COVID era. Many Americans were told certain questions couldn't even be asked. Years later, some of those same questions are now openly debated, and that's one reason stories like this continue to resonate. Because trust in institutions remains deeply damaged, and many people still believe the full story of what happened during COVID has yet to be told. And that's your first look this Friday. Quick recap. More than a million Knicks fans packed New York City to celebrate the franchise's first championship in 53 years, while James Dolan took a pointed shot at Mayor Zoran Mamdani during the festivities.

8:25And Joe Rogan claims powerful political figures, including former presidents, attempted to pressure Spotify into removing his podcast during the COVID controversy. We'll keep following all of it. I'm Dave Rubin. Thanks for starting your day with First Look. See you Monday.