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By Ryan Smith
Senior Pop Culture & Entertainment Reporter
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Comedian Joe Rogan has praised a theory that actor Terrence Howard once shared with him about the possibility of life on other planets.
On a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, the host discussed Howard's theories with his guest, computer scientist and fellow podcaster Lex Fridman—asking him if he was familiar with "Terrence Howard, the actor." In May, Howard appeared on the podcast and spoke at length about his lifelong interest in physics, challenging the foundations of science as he touted various theories.
The Empire star, who told Rogan he held 97 patents, criticized the basis of principles such as event horizon and gravity, saying that basing beliefs on straight lines instead of waves and curves had distorted any true understanding. He also said the universe was finite rather than infinite and that planets in the solar system were slowly moving away from the sun, with Venus on course to eventually take Earth's place.
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Rogan told Fridman: "He's got a great theory. It's a really interesting theory. He thinks that all solar systems, instead of it being like a collection of debris from the outer galaxies—there's that, too—but what it really is, is the sun is ejecting matter. And we know that, right? So after millions and millions of years, the sun is ejecting matter. The matter coalesces and becomes a planet.
"As it gets further and further from the sun, it becomes more hospitable to life. As it gets into that Goldilocks zone, where Earth is, it peoples. And then he thinks that this is happening all throughout the galaxy—that planets get to a certain stage, and then they people, and then those planets are slowly gonna move further and further out, way further, and get colder and colder.
"And it's up to these creatures to figure out how to get the f*** out of there before it becomes inhospitable. And that's where the advanced civilizations come in. And this is why he thinks the most advanced civilizations are on the planets that are furthest from the sun. Because they're the ones who've adapted and figured out a way to exist off of some other form of energy other than just sunlight."
Responding to Rogan's comments, a spokesperson for Howard told Newsweek that the actor "is grateful to Joe for his friendship and continued support."
"Terrence has always been deeply passionate about exploring new ideas, particularly in science, mathematics and the possibility of advanced life beyond Earth," said the representative. "It's great to see that his perspectives are being recognized and discussed in a meaningful way.
"While Terrence prefers to let his work and theories speak for themselves, he appreciates the open-minded discussions that push the boundaries of conventional thinking."
Fridman asked Rogan if Howard had "an idea about which planets in our solar system might be peopled."
"Probably used to be Mars," Rogan responded, adding, "There's nothing on there now."
Accepting Fridman's assertion that there "could be life there now because there's water there," Rogan said: "There's probably some sort of bacterial life, right? The real question is, is there any evidence that there was other life?"
The host continued: "Think about how difficult it is for us to find dinosaur bones, right? Dinosaurs have to become a fossil. It's like—it's a very complicated process. They have to die in mud or something. They have to get covered up, and then they calcify. And if you don't know, when you get a fossil, the bone that's fossilized, it's not really that bone. What it is, is it's been remineralized by all the Earth elements, and so it's kind of a different thing. But it's in the shape of the bone—that's fossilized bone."
Applying this theory to evidence of life on other plants, Rogan said: "What if you're talking about, like, 30 million years, 50 million years, 100 million years, 200 million years, a billion years? What if Mars, a billion years ago, had life on it? What would be left?"
Rogan and Fridman agreed that there would be "nothing left" from so long ago.
After Jamie Vernon, Rogan's producer, looked up the estimated ages of Earth and Mars—about 4.5 billion years—Rogan quipped: "These are just wild guesses by a bunch of f****** eggheads … I'm going with Terence Howard. I think he's right. I think just what a brilliant idea, though."
"I'm offended you call him an actor," Fridman said of Howard. "He could be a mathematician, physicist."
"He's a lot of things," Rogan said. "Brilliant guy."
He described Howard as self-taught, adding: "You know, this is the thing. Like, a lot of brilliant people that just don't get the correct education, but they're still brilliant."
"The raw horsepower is there," Rogan continued. "But I think this theory that he has about planets peopling, I find it so fascinating. I couldn't stop thinking about it for days. I was like, 'I think he's right.'"
Update 01/27/25, 6:58 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from a spokesperson for Terrence Howard.
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