While most of the media was paying attention yesterday to heartthrob Ben Affleck’s appearance on Capitol Hill to talk about genocide in the Congo, there was another Hollywood force dominating his own congressional testimony. Funny man Seth Rogen sat on a panel on Wednesday in from of the Senate Heath, Education, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee to talk about Alzheimer’s research.
Rogen may not be the obvious choice to discuss Alzheimer’s disease, but he has a personal connection to the cause. His wife’s mother was diagnosed with the disease at the age of 55, and Rogen founded Hilarity for Charity to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Association.
While the matter at hand was a serious one, Rogen couldn’t help but crack a few jokes at the beginning of his testimony, beginning a round of back-and-forth banter with the subcommittee chairman, Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa.
“Thank you for the opportunity to testify today and for the opportunity to be called an expert in something, because that’s cool,” Rogen began. “I don’t know if you know who I am, chairman. I know you never saw Knocked Up, which is a little insulting.”
“I want the record to note that this is the first time, I will wager, this is the first time in any congressional hearing in history that the words ‘knocked up’ have ever been spoken,” Harkin responded.
“I came here today for a few reasons,” Rogen continued. “One, I’m a House of Cards fan. Had to be here…. Two, is to say people need more help.”
“I’m sorry you had to unmask me,” Harkin joked. “I’m really Kevin Spacey in disguise. Not too many people knew that.”
“The third reason I’m here, simply, is to show people that they’re not alone,” Rogen went on. “So few people share their personal stories, so few people have something to relate to, I know that if me and my wife saw somebody like me talking about this, we would feel less alone.”
“The situation is so dire that it caused me, a lazy, self-involved, generally self-medicated man-child to start an entire charity organization.”
It wasn’t all fun and games at the hearing, however. There were only two senators who stuck around for Rogen’s testimony, with many of the 16 absent lawmakers walking out right before Rogen began speaking. “All those empty seats are senators who are not prioritizing Alzheimer’s,” Rogen tweeted following the event.
The actor also made an appearance on MSNBC’s Hardball later in the day on Wednesday, and again brought up the poor showing at his hearing on Capitol Hill. “It’s indicative of a mentality that we find so frustrating. It seems like these people don’t care,” Rogen said.
[Image via New York Daily News]
