Mazel tov! Seth Rogen is throwing James Franco a bar mitzvah for charity
James Franco is coming of age with a little help from Seth Rogen, who is throwing his 37-year-old pal a bar mitzvah.
“The Interview” costars are joining forces at the 4th Hilarity For Charity Variety Show, themed after the elaborate celebrations that go along with the Jewish rite of passage, which are normally performed when a boy turns 12.
“Ever since I’ve known James, he’s been talking about wanting a bar mitzvah,” Rogen said in a statement. “We’re excited to see him finally become a man while also helping us raise awareness and funds for people living with Alzheimer’s and towards research that will lead to a cure.”
Rogen and his wife Lauren Miller Rogen, who founded Hilarity For Charity in 2012 to raise awareness for Alzheimer’s disease among millennials, are hosting the flagship shindig for Rogen’s longtime collaborator on Oct. 17 at the Hollywood Palladium.
“The League” star also promised a mohel, someone who performs a circumcision in the Jewish faith, and a live bris, the ceremonial cutting of the foreskin, for Franco at the 21-and-over show. However, it’s not totally clear if any of that is actually going to go down...
“You KNOW you won’t want to miss this!!!” Franco wrote on Instagram, sharing the event poster. “Seth Rogen and the Gang are going to throw me a Bar Mitzvah!”
Last year’s benefit took on a prom night theme and raised $1 million. Previous engagements have drawn celebrity guests including Paul Rudd, Kevin Hart, Aziz Ansari, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruno Mars, Jack Black, Samuel L. Jackson and Nick Kroll.
Rogen has become an advocate for Alzheimer’s disease awareness in recent years after his mother-in-law, Adele, was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s at age 55. In February 2014, the actor-comedian testified in front of a Senate committee about the neurodegenerative disease.
“The situation is so dire that it caused me -- a lazy, self-involved, generally self-medicated man-child -- to start an entire charity organization,” he quipped. “It was through this that we felt we weren’t just complaining there was nothing to be done but actively taking steps to do something. Instead of being disappointed that young people were so misinformed about the reality of the disease, we started to educate them.”
In a statement, Miller Rogen noted that 5 million Americans are living with the disease and that it is the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S.
“Yet it is the least funded and the only one with no treatment whatsoever,” she said.
Follow me on Twitter @NardineSaad.
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