Ripjoerogan — Mock gravestone for Joseph J. Rogan 1967-2058 with humorous epitaph about a T1 line

Ripjoerogan

2010hoax / hashtagsemi-active

Published August 15, 2026

Ripjoerogan is a running fake death hoax about UFC commentator and podcaster Joe Rogan that spread through the hashtag #RIPJoeRogan starting around 2010. Fans and trolls periodically flood Twitter, Twitch chats and UFC post-fight streams with fabricated obituaries, and Rogan himself has publicly shut them down.

hoax memes death hoax tragedy memes hashtag memes trolling memes unwilling celebrity memes

Overview

Ripjoerogan is the shorthand name for a long running series of fake death hoaxes about comedian, podcaster and UFC color commentator Joe Rogan, usually pushed under the hashtag #RIPJoeRogan1. The joke keeps coming back every few years, with waves of tweets, Reddit posts and Twitch chat spam claiming Rogan just died from something absurd like a DMT or marijuana overdose2.

The format is simple. Someone posts a mock eulogy or a satirical obituary, other accounts pick it up, the hashtag briefly trends, and unsuspecting fans either mourn or start Googling for confirmation3. It is closer to a trolling ritual than a single meme image, and UFC live chats are one of its favorite habitats, where viewers spam chat during post-fight pressers to bait new fans1.

Origin & Background

Platform
YouTube (early hoax) / Twitter (viral spread)
Date
2010

The exact first Joe Rogan death hoax is not documented, but tribute style content dates back at least to May 26th, 2010, when YouTuber JShore131 uploaded a video titled "R.I.P. Joe Rogan (1967-2012)" that pulled in over 147,000 views and a heavily downvoted comment section3. The video treats Rogan as already gone two years before its own stated death date, which set the tone for the bit as absurdist rather than convincing3.

The hashtag version of the joke crystallized on January 5th, 2014, when satirical site The Internet Chronicle published a fake obituary called "Joe Rogan Dead at 46," claiming he had died of a DMT overdose2. Enough people took the article at face value that #RIPJoeRogan trended on Twitter the same day1.

How It Spread

Rogan responded to the 2014 wave from his own Twitter account, sharing the Internet Chronicle piece with the line "I'm alive as fuck, SON," a tweet that pulled roughly 175 likes and 122 retweets and effectively made the hoax part of his own brand1. After that, the bit kept resurfacing across platforms rather than dying off1.

On April 21st, 2018, following the real death of actor Verne Troyer, Redditor Suibu posted a meme on r/JoeRogan titled "RIP Joe Rogan" using an image of Troyer lifting weights, and it cleared 451 upvotes1. That June, Twitter user sonny_antonelli pushed another satirical eulogy claiming Rogan had died from a marijuana overdose1. On January 26th, 2019, the MMA podcast account themmaholes filmed a fake reaction to Rogan's death on Instagram with the caption "#RIPJOEROGAN 1967-2019 You will be missed," pulling over 1,000 views1.

The hoax hit livestream culture on July 13th, 2020, when Twitch streamer bobbyfeeno was flooded with chat messages during a Just Chatting stream telling him Rogan was dead, and he briefly fell for it on camera before searching for news, in a clip that hit 2,600 views1. Weeks later on August 9th, 2020, Twitter user MommaLizbian posted another mock tribute that picked up around 300 likes in 48 hours1.

How to Use This Meme

The typical Ripjoerogan post is a straight faced fake obituary, mock reaction video or one line tweet with the hashtag #RIPJoeRogan, often tied to an absurd cause of death like a DMT or weed overdose2. A common convention is to drop the hashtag into UFC post-fight chats or Rogan's own podcast clips to bait fans who have not seen the running joke before1.

Frequently Asked Questions