Seth Rogen Doesn't Get Other Comics Whining About 'Cancel Culture'

Seth Rogen doesn’t get why comics are so upset about “cancel culture”

Earlier this month, Billy Crystal and Joe Rogan were the latest to join the stable of mostly older white male comedians complaining about “cancel culture” and/or referring to the act of respecting the plight of marginalized communities as “being PC.” It seems like a lot of grumpy comics don’t want to be held accountable when they say offensive or insensitive shit, except for Seth Rogen, king of making pottery and recognizing that a number of his past jokes are problematic, who shared in a new interview that all these comics complaining about so-called “cancel culture” need to chill the eff out and just be accountable for their words.

Rogen addressed the recent wave of his contemporaries griping about “cancel culture.”

Rogen told Good Morning Britain (via The Independent) that “I think there are certain jokes that for sure have not aged well. But I think that’s the nature of comedy. I think conceptually those movies are sound and I think there’s a reason they’ve lasted. Jokes are not things that necessarily are built to last.”

While some comics are doubling-down on past offensive jokes, Rogen says that “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.”

“To me, when I see comedians complaining about this kind of thing, I don’t understand what they’re complaining about,” Rogen added. “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. To me, it’s not worth complaining about to the degree I see other comedians complaining about.”

Listen, I came of age in the Superbad-era, a movie Rogen co-wrote and I loved when I was in high school. When I watch that movie now, it’s one big Yikes for me, but unlike these other comics, Rogen knows that some of his jokes “have not aged well.”

“I was never a comedian that made jokes that were truly designed to target groups that were subjugated in some way,” he added. “[But] 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.”

Rogen says that if you said something terrible, that’s not cancel culture

“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,” Rogen also said. “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.”

Rogen is one of the most prolific creatives in Hollywood and he recognizes that some of his past work would not fly in 2021. It’s almost like accountability and retrospection is a good business model, huh.