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Topics: Celebrity, US News, Donald Trump, Politics
Britt Jones
Topics: Celebrity, US News, Donald Trump, Politics
Judd Apatow has come out to claim that the Trump administration has turned comedy into something harder to navigate for one simple reason.
The writer and director, 58, is probably one of the most prolific comedy directors in Hollywood, having brought audiences fan-favorites like The 40-year-old Virgin, This Is 40, and Knocked Up.
But he has now revealed that if he was to parody politics, Donald Trump has made his mission difficult.
While promoting his project The 99 Year Old Man! - a documentary about Mel Brooks that featured the final on-screen interviews with Rob Reiner and David Lynch - he was interviewed by The Times of London.
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There, Apatow said: “If you look at what’s happening in the world, it’s stranger than Dr Strangelove. Characters in our country are more ridiculous than characters in Kubrick’s film, so what can comedy do? The Trump administration is hard to be exaggerated in a sketch, so it’s a difficult moment for political comedy."
Going on to call it ‘very difficult’, the director, who is known for casting wife Leslie Mann, said: “It’s very difficult and so cruel that there’s not a lot of humor in it. Indeed, sometimes I think things have become so serious that, maybe, it’s a moment for us not to joke about it and to instead have a bit more energy to fight for our values. It is important people have an outlet and an expression, but it doesn’t mean anything without action. And it’s certainly the time for that.”
Having been a long time Trump naysayer, Apatow has also been vocal about his distain.
Just this year when attending the Directors Guild of America (DGA) awards in Los Angeles, Apatow called out fellow attendees about who they voted for in the 2024 elections.
“There’s a good chance that some of you in this room voted for Trump. I won’t judge you, I won’t judge you. But God will,” he said before joking: “Maybe I should make TV that MAGA people would like... ‘The Real Housewives of January 6.’”
Just last month, he was talking about the controversial move of putting ICE agents in major US cities.
He said at the Variety Studio: "I’m not sure I can solve all the problems of the world right now. But everybody has to get involved and wake up and look for ways to be positive and stand up for what this country is truly about. What’s happening right now is completely heinous and goes against all the values of the country.”