Marketing Genius Judd Apatow Turns Katherine Heigl’s ‘Knocked Up’ Slam Into a Sales Pitch

At last night’s GQ Men of the Year party in Los Angeles, we had to ask newly shaven director-screenwriter-producer-superman Judd Apatow about Katherine Heigl’s recent admission that she thought Emily Nussbaum was right: Knocked Up was actually kinda sexist. Naturally, a guy with such a way with words deftly sidestepped the question. “I think the characters are sexist at times,� he told us, “but it’s really about immature people who are afraid of women and relationships and learn to grow up. If people say that the characters are sexist, I say, yeah, that’s what I was going for in the first part of the movie, and then they change.�

When we asked if he’s had his feelings hurt, he blamed Vanity Fair for twisting poor Katherine Heigl’s comments. “I’ve done a lot of interviews, and when you’re promoting a movie, you talk for hours and hours and hours, and so it’s very easy for something to be taken out of context. I’m just happy people are talking about Knocked Up six months after it came out.� And then, with the kind of reverse-jujitsu marketing acumen that marks him as the Smartest Man in Hollywood, Apatow turned it all around: “You know we’re on the cover of Vanity Fair,� he said. “It reminds people that they need to buy Knocked Up on DVD and judge for themselves.� —Soo Youn

Katherine Heigl Talks About Marriage, Ratings Ploys, and Why She Thinks Knocked Up Is Sexist [VF]

Earlier: ‘Knocked Up’ Brings the Gender Wars Back!
Honestly, ‘Entertainment Weekly,’ Is This the Smartest Man in Hollywood?