Seth Rogen is attacking other comedians for whining about “cancel culture” rather than owning up to their “horrific” or “terrible” jokes.
The “Superbad” star told “Good Morning Britain” Tuesday that some off-color jokes in his movies “have not aged well” — while insisting that he “never made a joke that is outwardly horrific in some way.”
“And if you have, I would question why you did that,” he said of other comedians, according to a clip shared by the Independent.
“Saying terrible things is bad. If you’ve said something terrible, that’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,” he insisted.
“To me, when I see comedians complaining about this kind of thing, I don’t understand what they’re complaining about,” he said.
“Getting criticism 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.”
The 39-year-old filmmaker said he was more than happy to accept criticism of jokes in his own movies.
“I was never a comedian, I don’t think, that made jokes that were truly designed to target groups that were subjugated in some way,” he told the UK breakfast show.
“Have we done that without realizing it? Definitely. Those things are in our movies and they’re out there, and I’m more than happy to say that they have not aged well,” he said.
“But I think that’s the nature of comedy … Jokes are not things that necessarily are built to last,” he said.
Rogen did not name any fellow comedians, but there has been a recent rise in complaints about cancel culture.
Last week, Chris Rock blamed cancel culture for making “safe” and “unfunny” entertainment — insisting it was “disrespecting” audiences, who wield the “ultimate cancel” of not laughing at a comedian’s jokes.
