Seth Rogen Says Comedians Upset About Cancel Culture Should Accept Criticism

Updated September 8, 2021

It's unlikely that you've gone through the past few years without hearing someone's opinion on cancel culture.

And since they're more likely to experience the effects of it than the rest of us, chances are your introduction to this hot button issue came from some kind of celebrity. And whether they think that it's making the media landscape more boring, that it's more focused on punishment than reconciliation, or that it ignores historical context, chances are that the public figure you heard discuss it wasn't a big fan of cancel culture.

However, that doesn't mean there aren't some in the limelight who think it's being treated as more of a boogeyman than it needs to be. And based on a recent interview, it seems that Seth Rogen is one of them.

It's worth noting that Rogen didn't just wake up one day and decide he wanted to lecture everyone about cancel culture.

As Insider reported, his thoughts on the matter came up during an interview with Good Morning Britain in which he was promoting his new book, a collection of essays entitled Yearbook.

During this interview, host Susanna Reid asked him how he now views the controversial jokes he's made throughout his film career.

In response, he admitted that some of the jokes in his earlier movies haven't aged well but said that this just speaks to the nature of comedy.

Universal Pictures via YouTube

As he put it, "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."

And for that reason, he doesn't think that cancel culture is worth complaining about to the degree that he's seen other comedians do so.

Instagram | @sethrogen

In his words, "To me when I see comedians complaining about this kind of thing, 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."

He also said that receiving criticism about your work comes with the territory of being an artist and added, "If you don't like that, then don't be a comedian anymore."

He also said that there's a difference between jokes that age poorly and ones that are blatantly offensive from the get-go.

Instagram | @sethrogen

As he said, "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."

h/t: Insider

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