Seth Rogen’s digs at contentious figures was edited out in the ‘full video’ of the awards show
Seth Rogen’s joke about Donald Trump at a recent award show didn’t exactly land well, resulting in it seemingly being edited out of the broadcast.
Rogen was one of the hosts for the 2025 Breakthrough Prize Ceremony last week, which has been nicknamed the Oscars of Science, but things didn’t exactly go to plan.
Rogen seemed to decided to seemingly go off script and criticize president Donald Trump and questioned why high-profile figures in the technology sector, an apparent dig at Elon Musk, would supported him.
Unfortunately, most viewers wouldn’t end up seeing this joke as it was ultimately edited out of the ‘full video’ broadcast of the award show that would later appear on YouTube.
It all started after Rogen, and his co-host fellow actor Edward Norton were introduced by James Corden.
Seth Rogen’s recent joke about Elon Musk and President Trump didn’t appear to go down all that well (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Norton started by praising the many tech titans in the audience. This included Breakthrough Prize co-founders Yuri Milner, Mark Zuckerberg, and Sergey Brin.
According to a report by the Hollywood Reporter, Rogen said: “It’s amazing that others [who have been] in this room underwrote electing a man who, in the last week, single-handedly destroyed all of American science.
“It’s amazing how much good science you can destroy with $320 million and RFK Jr, very fast.”
With some very big names in attendance, Rogen’s jibe at the tech industry getting buddy-buddy with Trump understandably might not have landed.
The Hollywood Reporter also alleged this dig made Norton uncomfortable, who after the quip added ‘I’d say that’s a smattering’.
Another joke Rogen made was about physics prize winner Gerardus ‘t Hooft of the University of Utrecht, which was also edited out of the broadcast.
Rogen’s comments about Musk and Trump were seemingly a nod to the president’s inclinations to defy against scientifically proven notions and cut federal funding to research.
Seth Rogen’s joke reportedly made Edward Norton feel awkward while the pair were on stage (Lester Cohen/Getty Images for Breakthrough Prize)
These cuts affect major scientific programs, and have lead to layoffs at NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and NASA, as well as potentially 10,000 workers at the Department of Health and Human Services.
Funding cuts have also targeted NASA contracts, Covid research grants, and environmental grants, negatively impacting institutions across the country.
A spokesperson for the Breakthrough Prize Foundation gave an explanation as to why Rogen’s bits were edited out.
They said: “This year’s ceremony lasted longer than the prior few years, and several edits were made in order to meet the originally planned run time.”
