Producer Judd Apatow has spoken out after it emerged that Jonah Hill allegedly hated his Superbad co-star so much that he tried to ban him from being hired for the part.

Superbad was released all the way back in 2007 (if anything's going to make you feel old, it's this), and followed Jonah Hill as Seth alongside Michael Cera as his schoolmate Evan as they tackle everything that most high school boys will encounter.

The pair are involved in a series of hilarious capers as they try to fit in, find romance, and attempt to get their underage hands on alcohol to take to a house party hosted by classmate Jules (Emma Stone).

They also encounter cops played by Seth Rogen and Bill Hader, and of course, the inimitable Christopher Mintz-Plasse playing McLovin.

Well, Mintz-Plasse almost didn't get his iconic role all because of Jonah Hill.

Jonah Hill hated one of his Superbad co-stars. Credit: Vince Bucci/Getty Images

Hill, who played the hot-headed, hormonal Seth, admitted he wasn’t exactly vibing with Mintz-Plasse during auditions. “Chris was really, really amazing off the bat. And I think he was really annoying to me at that time,” he said to Vanity Fair.

It turns out, Hill wasn’t exaggerating. Executive producer Judd Apatow backed up the story: “In the audition, he was very caustic and attacked Jonah and did improvs insulting Jonah.”

Apatow added: “Jonah said, ‘I don't like that guy. I don't want him doing it.’ And I said, ‘That's exactly why we're hiring him. It couldn't be more perfect. The fact that it bothers you is exactly what we want.’”

Seth Rogen, who co-wrote the film and also played Officer Michaels, confirmed the tension. “Jonah immediately hated him,” he said. “He was like, ‘That was f***ing with my rhythm. I couldn’t perform with that guy.’”

Hill’s reaction might’ve been intense, but ironically, it solidified Mintz-Plasse’s place in Superbad history.

Hill (left) wanted Mintz-Plasse (right) not to be hired. Credit: John Wilcox/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images

His portrayal of Fogell, complete with the now-legendary fake ID that simply read “McLovin” became one of the most quoted and recognizable characters in modern comedy.

Speaking to Vanity Fair, Mintz-Plasse admitted he was shocked to even get a callback after his open audition, especially since many of his drama class friends also tried out: “Which was a little weird.”

He eventually read alongside Hill and Cera and unknowingly ruffled feathers in the process.

And it wasn’t just Hill who had mixed feelings at first. Director Greg Mottola recalled: “He played it like he was clearly the coolest guy in the room and everyone else was a nerd and a loser. He was Dean Martin instead of Jerry Lewis.”

Mintz-Plasse also shared his perspective during Fan Expo Chicago: “Jonah Hill hated me so much after my audition. I get it, I was 17, I was not a professional actor, I was in high school and we're playing high school kids.

“So Jonah's roasting me - and you remember being in high school, you just like yeah it's my f**king buddy roasting me, it's not going to bother me, I'm going to roast him back. And that's what I did in the audition.

“And I left the room... and Jonah's like 'f**k that guy'.”

But time (and box office success) heals all wounds. Mintz-Plasse said the pair eventually buried the hatchet. Hill later messaged him saying he should have “big bro’d” him after the audition and taken him under his wing.

Featured image credit: Vince Bucci/Getty Images

Seth Rogen has made a rare comment about his former friendship with James Franco, years after he cut him off.

Rogen, 44, and Franco, 48, had been friends for years after they met on the set of the 1999 NBC series Freaks and Geeks, going on to work together in several movies over the next two decades, including Pineapple Express, The Disaster Artist, and This Is The End.

However, their longstanding friendship came to an end in 2018 after Rogen cut Franco off in the wake of the latter's allegations of sexual misconduct.

Franco had been accused of inappropriate behavior by former students at his Studio 4 film school, which closed in 2017.

Seth Rogen (right) distanced himself from James Franco (left) following the allegations. Credit: Jeff Vespa / Getty Images

Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal had accused the actor and his partners of "sexualizing their power as a teacher and an employer by dangling the opportunity for roles in their projects," with the suit alleging Franco "was looking to create a pipeline of young women who were subjected to his personal and professional sexual exploitation."

The lawsuit was settled in 2021, and Franco addressed the allegations during an interview on SiriusXM, telling host Jess Cagle, per USA Today: "I'll admit I did sleep with students.

"I didn't sleep with anybody in that particular class. But over the course of my teaching, I did sleep with students, and that was wrong."

When challenged about the power imbalance between him and the students he had relations with, Franco responded: "I suppose at the time, my thinking was if it's consensual, OK.

"Of course, I knew talking to other people – other teachers or whatever – it's probably not a cool thing. At the time I was not clearheaded, as I've said."

Franco addressed his fallout with Rogen in 2024, telling Variety: "I haven't talked to Seth. I love Seth, we had 20 great years together, but I guess it’s over. And not for lack of trying. I’ve told him how much he’s meant to me."

Rogen has largely remained quiet about the end of the friendship, telling Esquire in 2025 that he hadn't seen those comments from Franco, claiming: "Honestly, I absorb so little media that it really wasn’t on my radar."

However, in a new interview released on June 13, 2026, Rogen addressed the end of their friendship in more depth, admitting it was "nuanced".

Speaking the New York Times The Interview podcast, Rogen revealed: "I haven't worked with him in a really long time and I have no plans to," adding that he also hasn't "talked to him in a long time."

When he was asked about Franco, Rogen took several seconds to consider how much he wanted "to personally share about this," adding: "The nuance of it is too personal for me to get into right now."

He explained: "It is a very personal thing. There's the public-facing side of it, which I've spoken about, and I have the same stance publicly that I've had, and I think the proof is in the pudding more than anything. I have not worked with him in years.

"But the personal side of it is just so nuanced, and it involves people that I don't know if I should be dragging into this."

Featured image credit: Michael Kovac / Getty Images

Seth Rogen has incited ire on social media after his recent comments about crime in LA were branded "privileged" and "disconnected".

It all began when YouTuber Casey Neistat took to Twitter to reveal that his car had been broken into. "So our cars got robbed this morning because Los Angeles is a crime-riddled 3rd world sh*thole of a city," Neistat wrote.

Rogen, however, was not one for having his hometown spoken badly about.

The 39-year-old Canadian actor responded: "Dude I’ve lived here for over 20 years. You’re nuts haha. It’s lovely here. Don’t leave anything valuable in it. It’s called living in a big city."

Neistat asked if he was permitted to feel "violated" over the incident, to which Rogen responded: "You can be mad but I guess I don’t personally view my car as an extension of myself and I’ve never really felt violated any of the 15 or so times my car was broken in to."

The Pineapple Express star then joked: "Once a guy accidentally left a cool knife in my car so if it keeps happening you might get a little treat".

Some people did not see the humor in the situation, and said that Rogen was "privileged" and "out of touch."

"Imagine not being rich and someone breaking into your car. [Then] imagine celebrities saying it’s not a Big Deal," wrote one Twitter user, while another stated: "'It's lovely here' ~ The Whitest Privilege Dude.''

Another added: "You say he’s nuts and that it’s lovely there, and then act like being robbed is just a part of life XD you know, in some magical places, it’s unusual to be robbed."

"When people talk about celebrities being disconnected from the reality of normal people, this is what they are talking about, @Sethrogen," one Twitter user responded. "I get it, you're trying to be Mr. Nice Guy, but you're really being Mr. Snootypants."

"This is what I imagine when people from LA defend how LA is," another social media user corroborated.

Somebody else replied: "Imagine being so rich and privileged you can afford not to be worried if your car gets broken into."

Other Twitter users took the opportunity to speak about the crime issues plaguing LA. "People living in tents, broken social care, failing economic outlook, complete class inequality, crappy leadership, untenable property prices, sky high taxes, traffic, pollution, increasing crime, decreasing population…. But hey the sun sure is nice," asserted one fan.

Rogen apparently responded to the criticism, as several hours later, he tweeted: "A lot of people come at me and talk s**t on Twitter hoping I’ll engage with them publicly and give them attention, but instead I DM them and tell them to go f**k themselves privately. It’s a lot more fun."

Feature image credit: Sipa US/Alamy

Seth Rogen gave a pretty blunt reply after James Franco claimed that their friendship was "over".

Once one of Hollywood’s tightest and most hilarious duos, Franco and Rogen were the ride-or-die team behind some of the wildest comedies of the 2000s.

The bromance kicked off in 1999 on the teen cult series Freaks and Geeks and quickly snowballed into one of Hollywood’s most consistent partnerships.

The two racked up fan-favorite collabs like Pineapple Express (2008), The Interview (2014), and The Disaster Artist (2017).

But things started to crumble in 2018, when Franco was hit with sexual misconduct allegations from five women — including four of his former acting students, per the Independent.

Franco said at the time the accusations were “not accurate” but added that he didn’t want to “shut down” people who “did not have a voice.”

The lawsuit, filed by two of Franco’s former students, Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal, claimed he and his business partners had “engaged in widespread inappropriate and sexually charged behavior towards female students by sexualizing their power as a teacher and an employer by dangling the opportunity for roles in their projects.”

One especially disturbing claim involved a “sex scenes” masterclass where Franco allegedly “intimidated them into performing gratuitous sex scenes.”

By 2021, the actor settled the lawsuit for $2.23 million.

In the aftermath, Rogen publicly pulled away from his longtime friend.

In a 2021 interview with The Times, he said: “What I can say is that I despise abuse and harassment and I would never cover or conceal the actions of someone doing it, or knowingly put someone in a situation where they were around someone like that.”

He added: “The truth is that I have not and I do not plan to [work with Franco] right now.”

That statement stung Franco. In a Variety interview from October 2024, he spoke candidly about how the split hit him: “No. I haven’t talked to Seth. I love Seth, we had 20 great years together, but I guess it’s over.

“And not for lack of trying. I’ve told him how much he’s meant to me.”

Franco called Rogen’s decision to distance himself “hurtful.”

When asked recently about Franco’s emotional comments, Rogen wasn’t eager to dive back in. Speaking to Esquire, he admitted: “Honestly, I absorb so little media that it really wasn’t on my radar.”

Reflecting on the quiet years, Franco said: “I did go through a lawsuit, and during that lawsuit I wasn’t working. But then Covid hit so everybody wasn’t working. So, I don’t know, it was all… I mean, we were all kind of in it. So it was sort of like, ‘I don’t know what I am.’”

He also shared that he used the time to do some serious self-work: “But I did certainly use the time to, I hope, good purpose. And whatever had been going on with me before, I had to change my whole way of life.

"So I am proud of the kind of work I did during that time. And yeah, I wasn’t working in movies, but I certainly was doing a lot of work to change who I was.

“As painful as it was – yes, of course rejection is painful, being told you’re bad is painful. But ultimately that’s kind of what I needed to just stop going the way I was going.”

Featured image credit: Jeff Vespa / Getty

Seth Rogen has spoken about a bizarre encounter he had with Tom Cruise, in which the famous Scientologist tried to "pitch" the religion to him.

Appearing on Good Morning Briain, the Knocked Up star promoted his new memoir, Yearbook, as he gave viewers of the breakfast show a taste of what to expect.

The 39-year-old recalled a time when he was invited to the Misson: Impossible actor's home around 2005 as the typically serious actor wanted advice on how to get into comedy.

However, it wasn't long before the conversation turned to Scientology, with Tom apparently having told Seth that it would "blow his mind".

Seth began: "It was a slow sell. At first, I was a little insulted when he didn’t bring it up because I was like am I not good enough for him? Does he actually want to talk about comedy? Am I not good enough to be indoctrinated by this man?

"But eventually, it was around when he had just been jumping on Oprah’s couch and kind of just acting generally strange in the media and he started to say that he felt the media was manipulating how he was coming across."

Seth then claimed: "[Tom] started to say that the media was manipulating how he was coming across and I said, 'Why do you think that?', and he said, 'Because I've been costing the pharmaceutical industry so much money that they've incentivized the media to make me look bad'."

He went on to say: "Then he brought up his friend Louis Farrakhan which was a shocking revelation as well, he said they’ve also made him look bad in the media.

"He said it's all because of Scientology and if you give me an hour to just explain to you what Scientology is, it’ll blow your mind. You’ll say no way."

On his concerns about turning down the influential movie star, Seth added: "Honestly, I did not have the strength to say 'tell me about it' because I was genuinely worried that I was not strong enough to have Tom Cruise pitch me on Scientology and say no to him because I’m a huge fan of him, honestly."

Seth Rogen's new memoir, Yearbook is available to buy now.

Featured image credit: Jeffrey Mayer / Alamy