The Social Network star Jesse Eisenberg recently distanced himself from Facebook and Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg. The actor described some of Zuckerberg’s actions as problematic and concerning.
Eisenberg appeared on BBC Radio 4‘s Today show and spoke about his association with Zuckerberg. “It’s like this guy is… doing things that are problematic, taking away fact-checking,” Eisenberg said. “[There are] safety concerns. Making people who are already threatened in the world more threatened.” Eisenberg played Zuckerberg in Aaron Sorkin’s 2010 biographical drama The Social Network. The film also starred Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake and Armie Hammer.
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Eisenberg went on to double down on his concerns with the Facebook entrepreneur. “These people have billions upon billions of dollars, like more money than any human person has ever amassed, and what are they doing with it?” he said. “Oh, they’re doing it to curry favor with somebody who’s preaching hate.” The Social Network actor insisted his concerns weren’t entirely because he’s associated with Zuckerberg via the film. “I think of it as somebody who is married to a woman who teaches disability justice in New York, and lives for her students [who] are going to get a little harder this year.”
Meta announced in January that it would no longer use independent fact-checkers on its Facebook and Instagram platforms, instead opting for a “community notes” feature similar to Elon Musk’s X, formerly Twitter. This leaves the accuracy of posts left largely up to the platform’s users, and when announcing the decision, Zuckerberg described the third-party moderators as “politically biased.”
Eisenberg’s Portrayal of Zuckerberg Was Critically Acclaimed
Although Eisenberg doesn’t want to think of himself as being associated with Zuckerberg, The Social Network remains one of his most critically acclaimed films. David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin‘s 2010 film tells the story of how Facebook was founded and the legal troubles that soon followed, but the factual accuracy of the film has been contested. Neither Zuckerberg nor any other Facebook staff were involved with the film — but Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin was a consultant for the book the movie was based on.
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The Social Network was a huge commercial success, grossing $224 million against a $40 million budget. It was also well-received by critics and chosen by the National Board of Review as the best film of 2010. It received eight Oscar nominations, including a Best Picture nod. Eisenberg was also nominated for Best Actor. In 2024, the Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the United States National Film Registry due to it being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.
In the years after the film’s release, Sorkin has shown interest in creating a sequel, saying that there is plenty of material for a new movie continuing the story. In April 2024, he revealed he had been working on a script for a Facebook movie surrounding the Jan. 6 United States Capitol attack. With Eisenberg’s latest comments, it seems unlikely that he’d want to reprise his role in any potential sequels going forward.
The Social Network is streaming on Netflix.
Source: BBC
