It’s the most wonderful time of the year: April Fool’s Day, when websites attempt to prank us without making us roll our eyes in the process. What tomfoolery are the brands up to this year? Well, Netflix has announced that they have acquired the rights to Seth Rogen — as in, Seth Rogen, the person. Rogen’s personal autonomy is now owned by Netflix. Okay, sure. Hilarious.
In the Facebook announcement video, Rogen (who looks like he just rolled out of bed) reads aloud the contract. “I, Seth Rogen,” he begins, “do hereby relinquish ownership of mind and body to the entity known as ‘Netflix, Inc.’” Rogen then admits that he should have read the contract before he signed it.
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“I have known Seth for many years,” said Jareth Chumley, a senior Netflix development executive and an apparent fan of the Superbad actor, said in a press release. The Rogen and Netflix deal came about when the two met at a wrap party in 2017. “Seth approached me,” recalls Chumley, “and said something like ‘Jesus Fucking Christ Jarbear, I would sell my soul for a fuckin' enchilada right now.’”
If Netflix really wanted to prank us, they should have checked out Kit Harrington’s severed head prank for inspiration. That’s how April Fool’s is done!
Unamusing jokes aside, this absurd Netflix deal is actually meant to promote Rogen’s new special, Seth Rogen’s Hilarity for Charity, which will be released on April 6. It is a broadcast of the sixth annual Los Angeles HfC Variety Show, which was taped in front of a studio audience on March 24. Performances include stand-up, musical comedy, and sketches. The comedy lineup includes, among others, Tiffany Haddish, Sarah Silverman, and Jeff Goldblum. Hilarity for Charity is Rogen’s advocacy organization that uses comedy to raise funds for Alzheimer’s Disease awareness and research. Rogen started the enterprise in 2012 with his wife, Lauren Miller Rogen.