Evan Hafer

Evan Hafer is the founder, CEO, and chairman of Black Rifle Coffee Company, a veteran-owned coffee brand, and a podcast host. He became part of the Epstein files narrative through a widely covered conversation with Joe Rogan in which Rogan made his most extensive public comments about the Epstein document releases.

Background

Hafer is a U.S. Army veteran who served in the Special Forces (Green Berets) and as a CIA contractor. He founded Black Rifle Coffee Company in 2014, positioning it as a veteran-owned, pro-military brand. The company went public in February 2022 through a SPAC merger, trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Hafer hosts his own podcast and regularly appears in conversations with other media figures in the conservative and veteran-adjacent media space.

Role in Epstein Files Coverage

In February 2026, Hafer was the interviewer during a podcast conversation in which Joe Rogan delivered his most notable comments about the Epstein files. During the exchange, Rogan told Hafer that the Epstein files “scare the s--- out of me” and called them “definitely not a hoax.” Rogan added, “This is the one that I hate the most.”

The conversation, reported by The Hill, took place days after Rogan’s own name appeared in the Epstein files — specifically in a 2017 email where Epstein asked physicist Lawrence Krauss to introduce them, though Rogan never responded and no meeting occurred — making his reaction, delivered to Hafer on the podcast, particularly significant. Rogan hosts one of the most-listened-to podcasts in the world, and his comments amplified public attention to the document releases at a moment when the files had already forced resignations at Goldman Sachs and DP World and triggered congressional subpoenas for Leslie Wexner and Lord Mandelson.

Context

Hafer is not alleged to have any personal connection to Jeffrey Epstein. His role in the Epstein story is as the interviewer who prompted and facilitated one of the most widely reported media moments in the Epstein files coverage. The Rogan-Hafer conversation helped move the Epstein files discussion into mainstream podcast media, reaching millions of listeners who may not follow traditional news coverage of the case.

Hafer’s platform — which reaches a predominantly conservative, veteran, and male audience — represents one of the channels through which the Epstein files story has penetrated beyond its initial political and legal circles into broader public consciousness.