A pointed criticism of President Trump’s policies on science by Seth Rogen was edited out of the filmed coverage of an annual science awards show, it has emerged.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, which was one of the sponsors of the event, Rogen was one of the presenters at this month’s Breakthrough prize ceremony, a high profile and lavishly funded awards programme recognising “outstanding scientific achievements” co-founded by, among others, Google co-founder Sergey Brin and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and which describes itself as “the Oscars of science”.
Along with actor Edward Norton, Rogen was presenting a special prize in fundamental physics to Gerardus ‘t Hooft. Addressing the audience, which included Brin and Zuckerberg as well as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Rogen appeared to refer to Elon Musk (who was not present) by saying: “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.”
The Hollywood Reporter said that Rogen added: “It’s amazing how much good science you can destroy with $320m and RFK Jr, very fast.”
However the remark was not included in the “full” 99-minute film of the event that the Breakthrough prize posted on YouTube and on its own website.
In a statement to the Hollywood Reporter, the Breakthrough prize foundation 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.”
Trump’s assault on the US science establishment has been unrelenting, resulting in an open letter signed by 1,900 prominent scientists in March, condemning the Trump administration’s threats to universities, federal grants and funding, and triggering mass layoffs, resignations and censorship. Musk supported Trump’s re-election campaign with nearly $300m, and subsequently became a “special government employee” with the remit to gut government agencies to save money. Robert Kennedy Jr, one of the US’s most prominent vaccine skeptics, was appointed health secretary in February and, among other controversies, has been accused of giving Americans “false hope” that the cause of autism would be discovered before the end of 2025.
Zuckerberg, Bezos and Altman also donated $1m each to Trump’s inauguration committee.
Source: theguardian.com
