Seth Rogen has gone public about his struggles with Tourette syndrome. The actor and comedian announced that he had a history of Tourette in his family, after Ted Cruz make a joke about the condition.
It started with a Tweet...
In January 2021, politician Ted Cruz tweeted about the first film he saw in the theatre. Seth responded to this with ‘everyone who made that film would hate you’.
Everyone who made that film would hate you.
— Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) January 22, 2021
Ted decided to bite, declaring that Seth behaved ‘like a Marxist with Tourette’s’.
This was personal to Seth, and to the wider Tourette community as it hit the algorithm.
They’re all dead. So I think we’re good. And Walt Disney was a Republican.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) January 23, 2021
Even though you behave online like a Marxist with Tourette’s (screaming “F U! F U!” is really, really clever), your movies are typically pretty funny.
I’m sure you hate that I enjoy them. https://t.co/ImVm26QWb8
This is when many of us learned of Seth’s Tourette syndrome diagnosis. He used Twitter to bring some awareness to the condition, whilst highlighting the ‘swearing disease’ stereotype.
Jokes about swearing with Tourette are still very common. Although some people with Tourette do swear, it isn’t the majority of individuals.
As someone who has Tourette’s in their family (and also has a very mild case himself), I once again take great pleasure in telling you to go fuck yourself. (Also VERY few cases of Tourette’s manifest in uncontrollable swearing. Most cases, like mine, manifest in twitching.) https://t.co/NJaEjMfNJt
— Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) January 24, 2021
It’s great to see Seth standing up for his family, and the wider Tourette community.
Seths parents have also spoken about his movements, and that from an early age he was showing signs of ADHD.