Times Up Judd Apatow? Penthouse Writer Sends a Message About Cancel Culture With Video Targeting Judd Apatow

Today Penthouse magazine published a new “gotcha” video that targets Judd Apatow. More specifically it targets his moral indignation in the media and on his social media at the bad actors of the world. It targets Judd’s activism at least where said activism intersects with and attacks comedy and comedians.

Created by journalist and comedian Mandy Stadtmiller (Author of “Unwifeable”), because she said she was tired of seeing the direction comedy is taking with safe rooms and contracts for comedians about keeping their jokes friendly. So she created a video that says #timesup to famous producer, director, and comedy magnate Judd Apatow who has been at the heart of the clean up comedy movement. The video blends 15 minutes of footage from movies, tv shows and media interviews that commingle Judd’s attacks on others with footage from his own past record joking about dicks, masturbation, sex, exposure, mass murder, killing sprees and more– what she calls “footage that portrays his hypocrisy in positioning himself as a moral arbiter of the comedy world.”

Stadtmiller says the video spotlights Apatow’s hypocrisy but is not meant to take him down, or add him to the list of victims of what she calls “cancel culture.” She says she is not trying to condemn him for the video collection of dirty jokes, past use of unacceptable words (by 2019 standards), and sexually connotative conversations and movie scenes. Rather she is only looking to demonstrate that he fails under his own standards- standards she believes to be unfair and overly rigorous. She isn’t showing these moments in Apatow’s history to discredit him as an artist, but instead to show why Judd’s crusade against others- particularly Louis C.K.- may be misplaced.

And ultimately her goal is to slow down the attacks on comedians.

Apatow has of course been the most vocal comedian speaking out against Louis C.K.’s attempt to return to the stage, and his decision to tackle certain topics in the now famous leaked audio from Louis set. Very few voices have spoken publicly (in the media or on social media) in support of Louis’ right to return although behind the scenes, in clubs, on sidewalks, you’ll hear a different story.

Don’t trust this video, the journalist warns. It’s “gotcha” journalism; its not necessarily credible. When it comes to Apatow’s comedy, she’s a fan and has been since she was a kid.

But as a comedy obsessive, Stadtmiller explains, she’s become increasingly angry watching Apatow’s crusade against other comedians- something she calls “wormish personal disloyalty”, “argumentative cherry-picking”, “playing dumb as a decoy” and “historical revisionism” with the press and in social media. “To calmly attempt to transition from the man who made his millions off of faggot-and-tranny jokes in his always wildly sexist (in a hilarious way—sorry, guys, but sexism is hilarious, as is misandry) movies to his recent reinvention as Mr. Woke Stasi, El Capitan, is pretty badass.,” she writes in Penthouse.

Response on Twitter is already in motion after Penthouse circulated clips and images. And for some it appears they miss the point, and instead of turning on “cancel culture” are turning on Apatow himself.

Watch the full video on Penthouse.com.

If early response means anything, things may get a lot worse before they get better.

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