Comedian Joe Rogan has taken aim at the haka in one of his most recent podcasts.
In a podcast featuring actor Hannibal Buress, the discussion turned to the Tall Blacks' performance of the haka before a match against the US at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in 2014.
The former Fear Factor host seemed confused as to why the haka was performed, then became scornful.
"This is ridiculous, they're playing basketball. You're playing NBA superstars you f**king dummies," he said.
"It seems stupid. If you're playing basketball, it's stupid. It's weird if you do all of that then get your ass kicked."
Māori Party co-leader Marama Fox told NZME Rogan "has no understanding of indigenous culture in his own country or around the world".
"Kiwis have made the haka their own and we perform it with pride. We've been doing it across this nation and across a number of sports for a long time."
"Everyday Kiwis perform the haka because they love it and it brings pride to ourselves and our nation."
Following a huge backlash, Rogan apologised for the comments in a post on his Instagram account, in which he claimed he once referred to the haka as "one of the dopest war dances the world has ever known".
He clarified that his criticism of the haka was isolated to the one instance in which it was performed by the Tall Blacks against the US national team.
"Being American, I'm ignorant to what the haka means to the culture of the people of New Zealand, and unfortunately I pissed some people off by joking around, and for that I sincerely apologise," he wrote.
"I was just making fun of the fact that they were doing it at a basketball game and that the American players they were competing with were staring at them looking kinda confused.
"On my podcast we make fun of a lot of sh*t. We get high, we get silly and we try to be funny. If I thought that many people from New Zealand would get pissed off I would have never said it, or I would have tried to make fun of the situation in a more respectful way.
"What's really f**ked up about it is that I actually think the haka is amazing and we've talked about it being a pretty incredible thing to watch many times.
"I was just making fun of one moment where it looked out of place in a basketball game."
Newshub.
