Superbad’s Seth Rogen admits past films were ‘blatantly homophobic’

Seth Rogen has admitted that some of his past films including Superbad are “blatantly homophobic”.

The actor-filmmaker is known for his work on ‘bro comedy’ movies including Knocked Up and Pineapple Express, famously antagonising North Korea by starring in 2014’s The Interview.

However, in an interview with the Guardian, Rogen conceded that many of his films feature gay jokes which are “blatant homophobia”, citing 2007 hit Superbad as an example.

He admitted: “It’s funny looking at some movies we’ve made in the last 10 years under the lens of new eras, new social consciousness.

“There’s for sure some stuff in our earlier movies, and even in our more recent movies,– where even like a year later you’re like… maybe that wasn’t the greatest idea.

“There are probably some jokes in Superbad that are bordering on blatantly homophobic at times.

“They’re all in the voice of high school kids, who do speak like that, [but] I think we’d also be silly not to acknowledge that we also were, to some degree, glamorizing that type of language in a lot of ways.”

Though Rogen suggests the anti-gay jokes are only visible through some sort of new ‘cultural lens’, people have criticised his comedy for many years for relying on crude innuendos about homosexuality.

His co-star Jonah Hill apologised in 2014 when he shouted “suck my d**k you faggot” at a reporter.

• Dec 01 2023

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