Gerard Way and Joe Rogan are both very well-known figures in their respective fields, but these fields have very little overlap. Rumors of a familial relationship between them seem to have been floating around the internet for the better part of two decades, but is there any truth to them? Are Joe Rogan and Gerard Way related?
Joe Rogan is believed to be a first cousin once removed of brothers Gerard Way and Mikey Way of the band My Chemical Romance. Gerard Way has referred to himself as simply a cousin of Joe Rogan. Rogan has referred to himself as both a “distant weird cousin” and later a first cousin once removed of Gerard and Mikey Way.
Joe Rogan and the Way brothers are not known to have met, so it is difficult to confirm their exact relation. What we will do in the rest of the article is look at times that either of them have talked about being related to see if we can put the pieces together.
When Have Joe Rogan and Gerard Way Addressed Being Related?
Both Joe Rogan and Gerard Way have said that they have never met one another, but both have also said that they are related. There have been at least three major comments made since 2006 that have addressed this.
Year | Commenter | Setting | Stated Relationship |
2006 | Joe Rogan | The Daily Orange Interview | Distant cousins |
2014 | Gerard Way | Reddit Thread | Cousins |
2019 | Joe Rogan | The Joe Rogan Experience Episode | First cousins once removed |
As you can see, over the years, the exact nature of the familial relationship between Joe Rogan and Gerard Way has become clearer. Let’s look at these in detail and get a deeper understanding of exactly what they have said about the topic.
Joe Rogan’s Interview With The Daily Orange in 2006
All the way back in 2006, The Daily Orange did a telephone interview with Joe Rogan, who was at the time the host of Fear Factor and was still famous for playing the character of Joe Garrelli on the NBC sitcom NewsRadio.
The interview was predominantly about Joe Rogan’s stand-up comedy career and how very few people knew about it at the time compared to many of his other roles. About halfway through this, the interviewer included a “random question,” asking Rogan how he is related to Mikey and Gerard Way from My Chemical Romance.
Joe Rogan responded to the question initially by saying that he does not know and that he has never met them but adds that his relationship with the Way brothers is “some distant weird cousin thing.”
Although Rogan had a lot less information on his relationship with Gerard Way during this interview compared to statements that he would end up making in the future, he did nonetheless seem aware that they were related in some way.
Gerard Way’s Ask Me Anything Thread on Reddit in 2014
The next major reference to the topic came on October 1, 2014, when Gerard Way created a thread on Reddit’s IAmA forum. On this forum, users create threads describing what they are and allow users to “ask me anything.” Occasionally, as in this case, they are celebrities who create the threads for outreach to their fans.
In the title of this thread, Gerard Way identifies himself by name and describes himself in multiple ways, one of which is as a “cousin of Joe Rogan.”
Curiously, the topic of Way and Rogan being related does not come up again in any of his responses in the rest of the thread. Of the 78 further posts that the My Chemical Romance lead singer makes in his thread, Joe Rogan is not mentioned any further.
In spite of this only single fleeting mention, it is clear from the thread that Gerard Way is aware that he and his brother Mikey Way were in some way related to Joe Rogan, or at least believe that it is a possibility.
Kevin Smith’s Visit to the Joe Rogan Experience in 2019
On October 29, 2019, Kevin Smith was a guest on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast for the fourth time, joining the host for episode #1372. At one point in the podcast, Smith begins to ask Rogan about one of his grandmothers, named Josie. He then follows by mentioning Gerard Way, to which Rogan immediately responds that they are related.
Kevin Smith then says that the reason that he is bringing it up is because he had been having a prior conversation with Gerard Way, who had told him that he does not “have 100% confirmation” but is “pretty sure” that Joe Rogan is a cousin to him and his brother Mikey.
Gerard Way had then told Kevin Smith that he believes that his aunt Josie is the same Josie that is a grandmother to Joe Rogan. If this relationship is correct, as both Joe Rogan and Gerard Way believed as of 2019, then that would make Rogan a first cousin once removed of both Way brothers.
Kevin Smith asks if Joe Rogan and Gerard Way Are Related:
Final Thoughts
In spite of their very different careers and allegedly never having met, Joe Rogan and Gerard Way are believed to be first cousins once removed. This same relationship extends to Gerard’s brother Mikey Way.