An American Pickle's success may be affected after Seth Rogen denies apologizing for comments on Israel
It can only be called a case of terrible timing. 'An American Pickle', featuring Seth Rogen in a dual role, is his most Jewish movie ever. And yet, he might have alienated its core audience, saying that he did not "apologize" for his comments on Israel.
His comments were made when he appeared on the July 27 episode of 'Marc Maron WTF Podcast' to talk about the film. In the free-wheeling chat, Rogen took potshots about the raison d'être of the Jewish state when he said that Jews should “spread out” around the world instead of “putting all your Jews in one basket". He also spoke about being “fed a huge amount of lies about Israel” and its creation, saying: "They never tell you that, ‘Oh, by the way, there were people there’. They make it seem like it was just like sitting there, like the f**king door’s open.”
Post that, Isaac Herzog, the leader of the Jewish Agency, asked Rogen's mother to get Rogen to talk to him. (The Jewish Agency is a nonprofit that works to bolster Israel-Diaspora relations.) Post a Zoom conversation, Herzog released a statement via Facebook saying he had talked with Rogen about “the current situation in Israel,” and that Rogen had “apologized” for his comments.
Hitting back in an interview with Haaretz, a Jewish news outlet, Rogen categorically denied having apologized. “I did not apologize for what I said. I offered clarity. And I think [Herzog] is misrepresenting our conversation." He also said that Herzog had sent a letter to his mother "on very fancy letterhead" and that his mother had "implored me to call this guy and I did and told him I thought this was a private conversation... at no point did I give him permission to publish any part of the conversation.”
However, Rogen also acknowledged in the same interview with journalist Allison Kaplan Sommer that he should not have spoken jokingly on such a “sensitive and nuanced” issue. He also described himself as a "proud" Jew who repeatedly spoke out against antisemitism, even when he saw it in Hollywood -- this is also something he discussed in the podcast, in which he had said that being a Jew was central to his identity. He also said that he has always been outspoken about politics and has supported the Black Lives Matter movement.
Rogen's humor has often connected to his cultural and religious upbringing, with many of his characters also being Jewish. He was obviously in damage control mode as he said that his comments on the podcast "were taken and chopped up and the context literally removed from it and if I read some of those things out of context, I would also probably be upset about it." However, since he 'walked back' the apology he had supposedly given in his conversation to Herzog, this might not be enough. A source close to Herzog said that the Jewish Agency chairman accurately described Rogen’s conversation and that Rogen gave him permission to make the details of the conversation public.
On the whole, given the fact that his comments and subsequent retraction of his 'apology' will affect his target audience, Rogen might have regrets for stirring up a needless controversy in the week leading up to the film's release on HBO Max after its theatrical release was scuttled because of the pandemic.
'An American Pickle' releases on HBO Max on August 6.