Hanan Othman
New Jersey rap veteran Joe Budden is facing some serious accusations by a previous member of his network. Former "See The Thing Is..." podcast host Olivia Dope has published a tell-all social media video in which she reveals the reason she quit the Joe Budden Network.
Joe Budden Accused Of Sexual Harassment
In her social media video post, Dope confesses that Budden’s behavior towards her during her time at the network led to her decision to resign. She goes on to say that a specific moment while recording an episode back in January was evidence of sexual harassment by Joe.
During the episode, Olivia pointed out that JB repeatedly made several inappropriate comments that made her feel uncomfortable and ultimately influenced her to leave her position.
“On January 18, 2021, Joe Budden sat in on a recording of the female-led podcast I was a part of and continuously made sexual, suggestive remarks to me that made me extremely uncomfortable as well as fearful of dampening the mood if I didn’t laugh along while he made those sexual remarks to me. Those moments not only live on the internet forever, it also forced me into the decision of quitting the podcast.”
Joe Budden Says His Podcast Is Done
A few days ago, in what seemed to be an inevitable end, considering Dope’s confession, the Joe Budden Podcast aired its final episode. After some tension during recent episodes and a mysterious hiatus, Joe posted on Twitter suggesting the show was over, then drove the point home with later tweets.
“Helluva run!! God bless. … No, it’s time for it to STOP being given thought…. There are millions of podcasts, ppl will survive. … 100000%”
Joe Budden Addresses Co-Hosts Rory + Mal Are Missing
In March 2021, Joe Budden addressed the many rumors surrounding his podcast. Budden went on the air to set things straight. JB promised there was no beef or bad blood, but that there was “turmoil.” The rap personality didn’t exactly explain what was happening though, further clarifying he loves Rory and Mal like brothers.
“I’ll eliminate some of the suspense. This is Rory’s seat, and this is Mal’s seat. Whenever they feel like returning to their seats, then they’ll return to their seats. And then what will happen is the same thing when your star player comes back to the team. [I] love when podcasts go through this type of turmoil, it shapes character.
Around the 16-minute mark, Budden admitted both co-hosts acknowledged something needed to change possibly friendship or business-wise.
“Sometimes in friendship and business, everyone needs to take a step back and go to their respective corners. Sometimes everyone’s perspective and perception on how to go about that and how it should be executed is different. It’s not a beef. Nobody has communicated a beef. What they have communicated to me is something is wrong. Whether that be in our friendship, how we’re speaking to each other, the respect level.” (around the 16:00 mark)
Joe Budden Makes Huge Black Ownership Power Move
In February 2021, before all the recent trouble with his podcast, Budden made some boss moves in his field. Joe went to Instagram to share the news that he would be taking his popular podcast to Patreon in March and accepted a position as Patreon’s Head of Creator Equity. He threw in a shot at his doubters for good measure.
“I don’t follow a path, I’m creating my own to leave a trail.” & they used to say i was problematic lol… #JBN#HOCE“
