Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko, a long-time boxing champion considered one of the world’s top heavyweights, accused comedian Joe Rogan of “repeating Russian lies,” following an incident in which Rogan implied that the leaders of Ukraine and America “were about to start World War III.”
In Friday’s episode of the “Joe Rogan Experience,” the actor criticized President Joe Biden’s decision to authorize Ukraine to strike Russia with US-supplied long-range missiles and said he doesn’t feel safe that they are “throwing weapons at Russia.”
“How are you allowed to do that when you are going out? As people, they don’t want you to be there,” said Rogan. “This should be a way to stop doing something important that could start World War III. Maybe it’s a good thing we want to avoid from a dying former president.”
Rogan added to his criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, referring to a presidential address in which Zelenskyy said “Putin is scared,” following the launch of missiles in Ukraine last Thursday, following Ukraine’s attack on Russia earlier that week.
“Zelenskyy says Putin is scared. F— you man. F— you people. You people F— you’re about to start World War III,” Rogan said.
Rogan even accused Zelenskyy of “multiple strikes.”
“This behavior is like cocaine. ‘Putin’s fu—– fear, man, Putin is afraid. We took him.
We got him, man, we got him.’ Like, what are you talking about? He has nuclear weapons. Unof—– I’m a monkey,” Rogan said.
Drug allegations related to Zelenskyy have been pushed by Russian media in the past, including through the shared digitally altered video where Zelenskyy appears to say he uses cocaine, and through a disinformation campaign from the Russian propaganda group Storm-1516. Last year, pro-Russian propagandists persuaded celebrities to make paid videos on Cameo that were then made to pretend Zelenskyy had a drug problem.
Klitschko, a retired Ukrainian boxer, responded by posting a video on X, directed at Rogan, which has racked up 11 million views since Monday. He called Rogan’s comment “Russian propaganda.”
“You talk about these American weapons being sent to Ukraine, which you believe will lead to the Third World War, so let me tell you that you are repeating Russian lies,” Klitschko said in his video. “Putin’s Russia is in trouble, so they want to threaten you and people like you. His battle was supposed to last three days. It took three years because of the heroism and dedication of us Ukrainians. So you are using the only weapon that Putin wants to use, propaganda, and this weapon weakens our democracy. “
Klitschko closes his video by calling Rogan to join him on his podcast, where he says the two can discuss his “points” “as free people”.
A massive Rogan fan account on X later responded to Klitschko’s video, writing “Does this make sense to anyone or just trying to get on the podcast?” Klitschko then responded by saying “Fear of a Thing = Giving public opinion about the world, but not being able to discuss your opinion and the truth with someone from the public that you care about. We would only meet in the podcast ring and not in the boxing ring. Let’s do it! What are you waiting for?”
Klitschko held belts from the International Boxing Federation, World Boxing Organization and International Boxing Organization from 2008 to 2015. The former boxer went undefeated from 2004 to 2015, then retired in 2017. Klitschko’s brother, Vitali Klitschko, is currently the mayor of the capital of Ukraine , Kyiv, and a former heavyweight champion.
Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba echoed Rogan’s comments, writing in an X post, “Hi @joerogan, scaring Ukrainians without giving them a chance to speak is not a good fight. If you feel like having a real conversation, let’s sit down and talk about anything related to Ukraine – dragons joined. You know your stuff, I know mine. Cigars on me.”
Rogan also said in his segment on Friday that he believes the administration of President Donald Trump will reduce tensions between Russia and Ukraine, saying, “We voted for Trump and his idea is to stop all this sh–, and I hope he can do that.”
Rogan endorsed Trump the day before the election, having previously had him as a guest on his podcast.
CNN reported that Zelenskyy recently said that he believed the war in Ukraine “will end quickly with the plan of this team that will lead the White House,” referring to the Trump administration.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com