Nick Offerman Calls Out Ben Shapiro's "Rampant Homophobia" Over 'The Last of Us' Role

Nick Offerman has publicly slammed Ben Shapiro over Shapiro's criticism of his gay role in HBO's The Last of Us, calling out what he described as Shapiro's "rampant homophobia" and poor grasp of the show's content.

Speaking on the Talk Easy With Sam Fragoso podcast in an episode titled "It's Time to Give Nick Offerman ('Parks and Recreation') His Flowers," Offerman said he had only just seen a video of Shapiro attacking his performance for the first time before responding. Shapiro had described the episode "Long, Long Time" as having no zombies and being about "two gay men who meet and have a relationship," referring to Offerman's character as "gay Ron Swanson" and singling out sex scenes (Variety).

Offerman did not hold back. He said he was "embarrassed for his reading comprehension" and accused Shapiro of getting "eight things wrong in his recap, besides his rampant homophobia" (Variety).

The episode at the centre of the dispute, "Long, Long Time," starred Offerman opposite Murray Bartlett as two men whose love story unfolds over 20 years while the world succumbs to a zombie virus. The instalment was widely praised and became one of the most talked-about episodes of the HBO drama's first season.

Offerman won both an Emmy and an Independent Spirit Award for the performance. At the Independent Spirit Awards, he used his acceptance speech to address homophobic trolls who were outraged by his decision to play a gay character (Variety).

The Talk Easy episode, published on the podcast's official YouTube channel under the title "Nick Offerman ('Parks and Recreation') on Masculinity, Ben Shapiro, and the Legacy of Ron Swanson" (YouTube), references Shapiro's "vexing response" to Offerman's Emmy-winning turn at the 40:52 mark in the show notes (Talk Easy podcast).

This is not the first time Offerman has addressed online hostility toward the role. He previously told Variety that he tunes out toxic backlash to his work, saying: "You can't navigate life steering by Twitter trolls, the sadness of Elon Musk and his minions" (Variety).

For fans of the show, the exchange is a reminder of how one episode of television can ripple far beyond the screen. "Long, Long Time" told a quiet love story inside a zombie apocalypse, and more than three years after it aired, it is still generating conversation — between an Emmy-winning actor and a conservative commentator, no less.