CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains appearance on Joe Rogan podcast: 'I needed to go into the lion's den'

In media news today, Katie Couric admits she protected Ruth Bader Ginsburg by editing out remarks on anthem kneelers, a former Obama ethics official slams the Biden White House for avoiding questions on Hunter Biden's artwork, and Facebook says it will treat journalist and activists as public figures CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta sought to explain the reasoning behind his appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast "The Joe Rogan Experience" this week, claiming he felt he "needed to go into the lion's den" to communicate to people about public health. Gupta faced intense criticism stemming from his appearance on the show, in which he admitted that CNN shouldn't have referred to Rogan's use of the drug ivermectin to treat the coronavirus as him using "horse dewormer." CNN did not immediately respond when asked if Gupta was forced to justify the appearance in his Wednesday piece following the backlash. In the piece titled "Why Joe Rogan and I sat down and talked -- for more than 3 hours," Gupta detailed his conversation with Rogan, including his "futile" attempt to convince the popular radio host to take the coronavirus vaccine, and compared it to being in a mixed martial arts (MMA) bout. "I realized that if I was serious about trying to communicate public health, I needed to go to a less comfortable place. I needed to go into the lion's den and accept an invitation to sit down with Joe Rogan for more than three hours," Gupta wrote before admitting that many of his friends advised him not to accept Rogan's invitation.