Image by Getty Images

By Anne Cohen May 27, 2014

Beware of schlubby Jews with beards.

That’s basically what Washington Post critic Ann Hornaday wrote in an piece that called out frat-boy comedies such as the ones produced by Seth Rogen and Judd Apatow for enabling people like Elliot Rodgers, who killed six people near the University of California’s Santa Barbara campus on May 23.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

“How many students watch outsized frat-boy fantasies like ‘Neighbors’ and feel, as Rodger did, unjustly shut out of college life that should be full of ‘sex and fun and pleasure’?” Hornaday wrote. “How many men, raised on a steady diet of Judd Apatow comedies in which the shlubby arrested adolescent always gets the girl, find that those happy endings constantly elude them and conclude, ‘It’s not fair’?”

Rogen, who stars in the newly released ‘Neighbors,’ was the first to respond:

.@AnnHornaday I find your article horribly insulting and misinformed.

— Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) May 26, 2014

.@AnnHornaday how dare you imply that me getting girls in movies caused a lunatic to go on a rampage.

— Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) May 26, 2014

Judd Apatow, known for such staples of the genre as “Knocked Up” and “Pineapple Express” also chimed in:

“@Sethrogen: .@AnnHornaday I find your article horribly insulting and misinformed.”She uses tragedy to promote herself with idiotic thoughts

— Judd Apatow (@JuddApatow) May 27, 2014

“@melissa5001: @Sethrogen @marshallsheldon @AnnHornaday why is it always everything but mental illness?” Because that doesn’t sell papers.

— Judd Apatow (@JuddApatow) May 27, 2014

Also on Hornaday’s sh*t list: “American Psycho,” James Bond movies and “The Pick-Up Artist.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount