Seth Rogen Talks Cancel Culture, Comedians’ Jokes Not Aging Well
Seth Rogen thinks that comedians are going overboard when it comes to cancel culture in regards to past jokes that have not aged well.
Insider reports that Rogen appeared on Good Morning Britain yesterday to discuss his new book Yearbook, a collection of essays about his life. Host Susanna Reid asked the 39-year-old comedic actor what he thought about controversial jokes from his past films.
Rogen quickly took responsibility for “certain jokes” that he understands would not play well today: “There are certain jokes that for sure have not aged well, but I think that’s the nature of comedy,” Rogen said. “I think conceptually those movies are sound, and I think there’s a reason they’ve lasted as far as people still watching and enjoying them today. Jokes are not things that necessarily are built to last.”
He added that when he sees comedians complain about cancel culture, “I don’t understand what they’re complaining about. If you’ve made a joke that’s aged terribly, accept it. And if you don’t think it’s aged terribly, then say that.” Rogen noted that receiving criticism for his work is “one of the things that goes along with being an artist, and if you don’t like that, then don’t be a comedian anymore.”
Reid later asked Rogen if he would go through his Twitter account to delete any past jokes that haven’t aged well, to which he responded, “I was never a comedian that made jokes that were truly designed to target groups that were subjugated in some way. Have we done that without realizing it? Definitely. And those things are in our movies and they’re out there, and they’re things that I am more than happy to say that they have not aged well.”
He went on to say, “But in my Twitter, I’ve never made a joke that’s outwardly horrific in some way, and if you have, I would question why you did that. Saying terrible things is bad, so if you’ve said something terrible, then it’s something you should confront in some way, shape, or form. I don’t think that’s cancel culture. That’s you saying something terrible if that’s what you’ve done.”
As we earlier reported, Charlyne Yi called out Seth Rogen for his claims that he cut off his professional relationship with James Franco amid his ongoing sexual misconduct scandal. Yi posted a checklist for The Disaster Artist costar to “apologize to survivors by making their lives even more vulnerable by publicly siding with an abuser, further damaging their careers and safety.”
Rogen addressed his relationship standing with Franco saying, “What I can say is that I despise abuse and harassment and I would never cover or conceal the actions of someone doing it, or knowingly put someone in a situation where they were around someone like that. However, I do look back at a joke I made on Saturday Night Live in 2014 and I very much regret making that joke. It was a terrible joke, honestly.”
