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Jesse Eisenberg’s portrayal of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network earned him an Oscar nomination in 2010, but these days, the actor would rather not be thought of as an extension of the Meta CEO. Eisenberg, 41, told BBC News Radio 4 that he does not want to be “associated with someone like that” in an interview on Tuesday, February 4.
The Fleishman is in Trouble actor explained that the 40-year-old Zuckerberg’s decisions to end third party fact-checking on Meta platforms gave him pause. “It’s like this guy is… doing things that are problematic, taking away fact-checking,” he said. “Making people who are already threatened in the world more threatened.” For his part, Zuckerberg said that third-part fact-checking systems were “too politically biased” when Meta announced the change.
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The Zombieland star credited his wife, Anna Strout, for some of his perspective on Zuckerberg, saying that he didn’t base his opinion on the tech mogul on his experience of playing him in a movie. “I think of it as somebody who is married to a woman who teaches disability justice in New York and lives for her students are going to get a little harder this year.” (Strout and Eisenberg married in 2017 and have a 7-year-old son, Banner.)

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Eisenberg also said that he was “concerned” about the behavior of Zuckerberg, as well as other billionaires who have formed close relationships with President Donald Trump. “These people have billions upon billions of dollars, like more money than any human person has ever amassed,” he noted. “And what are they doing with it? Oh, they’re doing it to curry favour with somebody who’s preaching hate.”
Eisenberg appeared on BBC News Radio 4 while promoting his film A Real Pain, which he wrote and directed as well as starred in alongside Kieran Culkin. The film has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.