I doubt Michael Malice and Ari Shaffir requested their episode be removed. Also, it's unlikely that such a concerted effort would take place within days by a large number of Joe's guests.
interesting guess, but it can only be part of the story if its true at all. a lot of those people are Joe's best friends that would more likely go down in flames than abandon him (ari, bert, tom, bill).
a more likely angle is some intermediary like publishers or managers are making decisions through contracts or deals.
