Seth Rogen says he’s not in a feud with ‘fascist’ Ted Cruz, whose ‘words caused people to die’

Seth Rogen says he’s not in a feud with Sen. Ted Cruz, while slamming the Texas Republican as a “terrible man” whose “words caused people to die.”

“If someone’s trying to, like, murder someone with a baseball bat, and someone’s yelling at that person to stop, is that a feud?” Rogen asked, when questioned by Stephen Colbert about his ongoing online battle with Cruz on Thursday’s “The Late Show.”

“Feud implies equal ground,” the “Neighbors” and “The Interview” star said.

Rogen and Cruz have been locked in a longstanding war of words on social media. Cruz has dubbed Rogen a “moron” who’s trying to “cancel” whomever he disagrees with, while the writer and performer has blasted the Lone Star State lawmaker as a “fascist piece of s—.”

“He denies the reality of the election. His words caused people to die, and I’m making jokes about it. Is that a feud? I don’t know. To me it doesn’t seem like a feud,” Rogen told the CBS host while promoting his book, “Yearbook.”

“To me it seems like I’m pointing out the fact he’s a terrible man whose words have resulted in death,” the 39-year-old comedian added.

Cruz was one of just two GOP senators to object to the congressional certification of President Biden’s Electoral College victory on Jan. 6 after the Capitol insurrection, citing unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud peddled by then-President Trump and the commander in chief’s most vocal supporters. Cruz has repeatedly denied culpability in the Jan. 6 riot, which resulted in the deaths of multiple people and injured more than 100 law enforcement officers.

Rogen said characterizing his actions as a feud also speaks to a “bigger problem in America” with false equivalency.

“I was going to use the term between the right and the left, which makes it seem like two appendages of the same creature, which I don’t think it is,” he said. “I think one is a creature, and the other is just trying to stop it from destroying the country.”

“I agree I think it’s easy to say that maybe the left feels ineffective in comparison to how they should,” Rogen continued, likening the situation in Congress to a baseball game.

“If you’re playing baseball against a team, and, like, you’re getting a lot of runs, and the other team is trying to bludgeon you to death, is it shocking that you’re not scoring as many runs as maybe you should be scoring?” Rogen asked. “No, the other team is just trying to beat you to death with baseball bats!”

In a statement to ITK, a spokesperson for the Texas Republican said, “We know Sen. Cruz is busy fighting to save the country from Biden’s disastrous policies. It’s surprising to see that he’s living rent free in Seth Rogen’s head at the same time.”

When Colbert asked if Rogen — who produces a line of cannabis home goods — could one day “get high with Ted Cruz,” he replied, “It would be beneficial to him because it would be humanizing him in some way to hang out with him, I imagine.”

Rogen said he’s attempted to reach across the aisle in the past: “There are people in my life that hold the beliefs that Ted Cruz holds and I’ve really tried to engage with them in the last year, and ultimately it was horrifying.”

“And truly I feel like there’s nothing I can convey that would reframe this person’s reality as they viewed it.”

—Updated at 12:18 p.m.