Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, Russell Brand, and ‘Get Him to the Greek’: an ugly blotch on Judd Apatow’s CV
There have been many films and television shows that have aged badly over the years, from the unsettling jokes in Sixteen Candles to the alarming expectations and beauty standards for women in Bridget Jones’s Diary or the crude humour in Superbad.
The problematic nature of these movies occurs in the subject matter explored; however, some films have aged ungracefully because of the cast, with actors renowned for being unsettling, alarming and crude. And given the recent controversies in the press, there’s one film that immediately springs to mind, with a smorgasbord of celebrities that are now famous for all the wrong reasons, and something so problematic that it isn’t even on Letterboxd.
Get Him To The Greek was released in 2010 and marketed as a ‘musical comedy’ starring Russell Brand and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs. If you didn’t wince after that sentence, then I’m not sure what else to write, but the film follows a guy called Aaron who works at a struggling record company and is assigned the task of looking after a rock star for 72 hours. The rock star is, of course, played by Russell Brand, because nothing screams washed-up rock star like a mess of straggly hair that looks like a cluster of rats’ tails glued to a piece of skin. Brand is joined by Jonah Hill in the other leading role.
Despite being produced by comedy legend Judd Apatow, the film does not have the same wit or charm that we’d associate with his earlier projects, and due to the cast of the project, it now permanently resides in Hollywood’s graveyard, collecting dust along with Brand’s and Diddy’s careers.
It’s hard to know who is worse, but Diddy and Brand have both recently been reported in the press for numerous accounts of sexual assault and abuse, with Diddy’s trial still ongoing as hundreds of men and women have spoken about the abuse they allegedly suffered at his Hollywood parties, attended by countless famous faces. What happened at these events had been hinted at in the past, but nobody was prepared for the horrific onslaught of stories about the rapper’s alleged abuse of power.
With that, Channel 4 released a documentary last year about the many women who had come forward with allegations of being sexually assaulted by former comedian Brand. He has since denied all claims and recently posted a video of his quote “re-birth” as he was baptised in the River Thames by Bear Grylls. Despite the numerous allegations, Brand continues to play out a bizarre online reality and try his hand at the victim narrative, portraying himself as a victim of an encounter.
There are many films that are practically unwatchable through today’s lens, but this one really takes the biscuit. We’re living in an age where viewers are being forced to re-examine films they once loved in light of new information about the cast and directors. People are starting to question the art they enjoy after discovering that the artists behind it can be morally reprehensible. Recent allegations against figures like Ali Abbasi and Justin Baldoni have pushed audiences to think more carefully about how celebrities use their power to shape their image. Just because someone makes good art doesn’t mean they’re a good person.
Get Him To The Greek leaves a strange mark on Judd Apatow’s otherwise squeaky-clean career. It leaves him in an uncomfortable situation in which something he made is now tainted by some of the people he collaborated with, and holds a nasty reputation that most people want to forget.
