Podcast host Joe Rogan called the insurance business “gross” after the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Thompson, 50, was killed outside a Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan last Wednesday. The suspect fled the scene following the shooting.
On Monday, Luigi Mangione, 26, was taken into custody at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, in connection with the shooting. He was later charged with second-degree murder in New York. He is also facing multiple charges in Pennsylvania.
Rogan discussed the incident in an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, which was released on Tuesday. The episode was filmed before Mangione was arrested.
“It’s a dirty, dirty business,” Rogan said. “The business of insurance is f****** gross.”
Rogan also hypothesized about the shooter’s motive.
“I don’t think this guy was a professional,” Rogan said. “I think this guy, if I had to guess, [is] some guy [who] got f***** over. Apparently, that company is really bad on denying claims.”
Research firm ValuePenguin found that UnitedHealthcare denies about one-third of claims, the highest denial rate among all health insurance companies surveyed. The company is the nation’s largest health insurer.
“I don’t think anybody’s going to be crying too hard over that guy,” film director Roger Avary, who was a guest on the podcast episode, said of Thompson’s killing.
Rogan said Thompson’s family may mourn the loss, “but that’s about it.”
Joe Rogan in New York City on April 10, 2013. Rogan commented on the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on his podcast.
RW/MediaPunch/MediaPunch/IPx
Rogan is the latest commentator to weigh in on the shooting. Fox News host Jesse Watters reacted to Mangione being taken into custody during an episode of The Five on Monday. He said that Mangione was “not ready” to go to prison.
“He’s way too soft. He’s going to get annihilated on the inside,” Watters said.
Watters said if Mangione is not sentenced to death, “maybe someone will do him justice behind bars.”
“You should stop there,” Jeanine Pirro told Watters after his remarks.
Mangione graduated valedictorian of his class from Gilman School, a private school in Maryland, in 2016. He later graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in 2020.
Mangione appeared in a Pennsylvania court for an extradition hearing on Tuesday. While being escorted into the courthouse, he shouted, “It is completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people,” to the crowd of press gathered outside.
He is being held without bail and did not enter a plea on the charges.
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Clinton Mora is a reporter for Trending Insurance News. He has previously worked for the Forbes. As a contributor to Trending Insurance News, Clinton covers emerging a wide range of property and casualty insurance related stories.