Seth Rogen might have ruffled some costly feathers on the Breakthrough Prize ceremony earlier this month after his joke about billionaires within the crowd backing Donald Trump was lower from the award present’s YouTube stream.
The comedian reportedly made the joke whereas presenting a prize for physics alongside actor Edward Norton, who confirmed like to tech giants within the crowd — which included Google co-founder Sergey Brin, VK co-founder Yuri Milner and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg — for underwriting the awards.
“And it’s superb that others [who have been] on this room underwrote electing a person who, within the final week, single-handedly destroyed all of American science,” quipped Rogen, based on The Hollywood Reporter.
The joke — one which THR described as “clearly” making Norton “uncomfortable” — appeared to focus on earlier attendee Elon Musk, who has rallied behind the Trump administration’s cuts which have fueled deep concern amongst scientists.
“It’s superb how a lot good science you’ll be able to destroy with $320 million and RFK Jr., very quick,” Rogen continued.
A few of the award ceremony’s co-founders — Brin, Zuckerberg and his spouse Priscilla Chan — attended Trump’s inauguration. Milner and his spouse Julia Milner are linked to the Trump household, as nicely.
Others on the ceremony included Trump megadonor Chamath Palihapitiya, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
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The joke — which reportedly “landed with a thud” — didn’t make the ceremony’s stream that aired per week later; it gave the impression to be lacking within the moments earlier than Norton remarked on the “mild applause” from the gang.
A spokesperson for the Breakthrough Prize Basis, when requested about Rogen’s feedback being lower, advised THR, “This 12 months’s ceremony lasted longer than the prior few years, and a number of other edits have been made as a way to meet the initially deliberate run time.”
Rogen didn’t instantly reply to a JHB request for remark.