Joe Rogan responds to his comments about the Haka in this Insta-post

Publish Date: Tuesday, 12 September 2017, 9:02AM

It was a few loose words uttered that managed to get close to an entire nation fired up, something that Joe Rogan has since realised has come to be quite the regret.

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Much to the delight of our fellow Kiwis, Rogan has since owned up to his words and extended a massive apology to New Zealand public for his rogue comments about the Haka. The conversation that he had with fellow comedian Hannibal Burress, which took what Kiwis would regard as an unsavoury turn, made comments on the Haka performed by the Tall Blacks. Regardless of what he did say in that recent podcast, Rogan reveals he is actually a big fan of the Haka and confessed he needs to do a wee bit of study before he spins some yarns again.

I got a bunch of messages today from people in New Zealand pissed off that I made fun of people doing the haka at a basketball game. For the record, before I apologize to anyone I offended I just want you all to know that I've also called it "one of the dopest war dances the world has ever known". I was just making fun of the fact that they were doing it at a basketball game and that the American players they were competing with were staring at them looking kinda confused. On my podcast we make fun of a lot of shit. We get high, we get silly and we try to be funny. If I thought that many people from New Zealand would get pissed off I would have never said it, or I would have tried to make fun of the situation in a more respectful way. Being American I'm ignorant to what the Haka means to the culture of the people of New Zealand, and unfortunately I pissed some people off by joking around, and for that I sincerely apologize. What's really fucked up about it is that I actually think the Haka is amazing and we've talked about it being a pretty incredible thing to watch many times. I was just making fun of one moment where it looked out of place in a basketball game. My sincerest apologies to the people of New Zealand.

A post shared by Joe Rogan (@joerogan) on Sep 10, 2017 at 10:53pm PDT

The NZ Herald caught up with former Tall Blacks player Paora Winitana, who contributed to the creation of their Haka - Tu Kaha O Pango Te Kahikatea - and he explains the backstory behind it:

"Our haka talks about that story and how the Tall Blacks go on a journey, every year as the small nation that we are, and we overcome great odds and great challenges. We talk about how in order for us to overcome these things, we have to rely on our current strength but also the strength of our culture, our tradition and how that propels us forward and gives us the strength to overcome these great odds."

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