Joe Budden may have unintentionally given fans a peek behind the curtain of his podcast empire — and the numbers are impressive.
In a recent Instagram Story post meant to show off the views his podcast videos were getting, Budden failed to fully blur out a section of the screen that appeared to reveal his Patreon revenue. The slightly blurred text clearly indicated that The Joe Budden Podcast has raked in just over $900,000 from Patreon subscriptions alone.
Importantly, this figure does not include revenue from YouTube, ad deals, sponsorships, or merch — meaning Budden’s actual podcast earnings are likely well into seven figures.
The revelation adds some weight to Budden’s past claims about the financial success of his show. Last year, in a lighthearted conversation with rapper Doe Boy, the former Slaughterhouse MC estimated that he’s made around $4 million over the last decade from podcasting — though even his co-hosts questioned the accuracy of that figure.
Budden laughed it off at the time, but doubled down:
“Probably about three and a half to four and a half mil,” he said, adding that his gross income might be closer to $7 million.
He also used the moment to encourage aspiring podcasters:
“This is not unimaginable. If you work hard and keep your head down to the finish line and just focus on your content.”
While Budden’s numbers are solid, they still trail the likes of Twitch and YouTube megastars like Kai Cenat, who regularly pull in multimillion-dollar revenues through diversified digital content. Still, for someone who began his podcasting journey as a passion project, Budden’s accidental earnings reveal proves he’s built a legitimate business — whether he meant to show it or not.