Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Mike Redmond | Celebrity | September 11, 2025
Because social media has altered our brains to put 8,000 caveats upfront in a futile attempt to not be misconstrued, I’m going to lay my cards on the table: I am not trying to cancel Nate Bargatze here. In fact, by the end of this journey, I’ll do the opposite.
I’m a fan of Nate’s to the point where the only thing I wanted for Father’s Day this year was his book. (Have you seen the price of hardcovers?) Hell, this whole column sprang from me practically squealing “Hot dog!” when I saw he was the guest on this week’s Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend. It was during that episode that I started to clock some things that led me down a rabbit hole.
For starters, despite bookending the episode with a rumination on “Deez Nuts,” which begat a discussion on nut milk, Conan was unusually reserved during the interview. I know Nate is a clean comic. We wouldn’t even be talking about him if he didn’t excel in that arena. The guy is good. Conan, on the other hand, will go wherever the joke is. High, low, blue, green; he’s a chaos demon. So, it was weird seeing Conan being significantly less profane, but I also get how courtesy works. I’ve been to people’s houses. Not many, but some.
While Conan’s self-censoring wasn’t a giant red flag, it did accentuate one particular moment when he brought up how Nate’s parents instilled “values” into their son that influenced his comedy. That perked up my dog ears, which practically started vibrating when Nate mentioned two things. I should preface this by noting I haven’t watched Nate’s Amazon special yet, which would have made some of this less shocking. I did see his latest Netflix special and have been saving the Amazon one for a treat. That’s how much I like him!
Anyway, Nate brought up a childhood memory where he had to leave a sleepover because the kids were watching Friday the 13th. I was raised by strict evangelical parents, so I know that feeling all too well. He then went on a brief aside about how, despite his fame, he’s just there to “serve.” His career isn’t about him, and aw dammit, I’ve heard that kind of talk before.
Here’s the thing about how dumb I am, despite the whole clean comedy thing being a giant neon sign, I didn’t think Nate was still as embedded in the church as I quickly came to find out. In some of his older standup sets, he jokes about Jesus cutting someone from the church basketball team (That’s blasphemy to some crowds) and wetting the bed after coming home drunk from the bar. Although, in retrospect, it was a very funny joke about trying to convince his wife that she somehow peed a perfect circle underneath him. If Christians love anything, it’s blaming women for things.
Turns out, Nate has cleaned up his act and himself in the time since. He doesn’t drink anymore, and if I were a true fan, I would’ve noticed him giving interviews to Christian Post where he says his career is a “calling from God.” Oh no. He also dropped this doozy of a statement about his time in the Chicago comedy scene to Relevant magazine in 2019:
“A lot of people that I was around weren’t Christians and didn’t grow up in the church or anything,” Bargatze said at the time. “Sometimes guys can go away from that, but it just made me get more into it, because I just thought, ‘Why do you think you’re right?’ I’ve always said I trust my parents more than I trust anybody else I ever met.”
Touting the importance of total obedience to your parents? Yikes. Things went really sideways in Nate’s interview with Esquire in May 2025. He openly espoused his Southern Baptist faith and fired off some pretty huge red flags, including but not limited to:
— Being tempted to go the cancelled comedian route that was catching fire on Netflix in the 2010s. This was the most alarming anecdote because you can’t go that route unless you have some sort of awful view you’re sitting on.
— Taking potshots at Disney, a favored target of the right: “Now Disney is run by a guy that’s just a businessman,” he says. “Well, that guy doesn’t care about the audience.”
— Crediting the 2024 election for his Emmys hosting gig: “Why did they pick me to do it?” he says. “Well, the election probably helped.” It got Hollywood executives asking: “Who doesn’t live in L.A.? Who’s available?”
— Lamenting celebrities with political views: “Once you run out of celebrities’ opinions on politics, maybe I’ll jump back in, but right now I just want to do the opposite.”
Again, I’m not trying to cancel Nate because he has earned some significant benefit of the doubt:
— For starters, he notably did not go the tired “cancelled” route and even said it would “betray his audience.” That’s not nothing. His whole thing is wanting his specials and upcoming movie to be for everyone, and he’s walking that walk. (Is he voting that way … I dunno.)
— He regrets the Esquire interview and said as much in a new feature with The Hollywood Reporter. He even texted Disney CEO Bob Iger to apologize.
— In both interviews, Nate openly discusses going to therapy, which is very taboo in hyper-Christian circles. Prayer should be the only therapy you need, but Nate touted the benefits of his recent ADHD diagnosis and going to sessions with his wife. These are not things you do in the macho, patriarchal Christian world that launched our current president into the White House. You bottle up your emotions and rule your house with an iron fist. Nate will be the first to tell you who runs things, and it ain’t him.
— Marc Maron has his back. If Nate was giving off any sort of MAGA vibes, Maron is not the type of guy who would be quiet about that. Maron has burnt bridges over much smaller offenses.
So, what’s my read on this? I’m going to stick my neck out here and generously say that Nate is almost definitely a small “c” conservative. He cites Jerry Seinfeld as a mentor and Adam Sandler as a career goal, and those two are in that vein. At the end of the day, and as a parent, I get what Nate is trying to do. COVID made it very clear that it is hard finding entertainment for the whole family that isn’t cloying animation or faith-based, neither of which Nate wants to do.
When Nate talks about bringing back entertainment from the old days, he’s not talking Father Knows Best or Leave it to Beaver. He’s talking Full House, King of Queens, Home Alone. He’s open to that PG/PG-13 sweet spot, and I can respect that. He also doesn’t want to touch politics, and while that’s a political stance in and of itself, that makes even more sense as we’re trapped in yet another hell administration where everything happens all of the time.
At the end of the day, Nate is commanding an audience of millions, and he’s doing something very rare. Something that I definitely couldn’t resist during The Superficial salad days or ever: He’s not preaching at them. I also know what you’re thinking: “Mike, how does this make Nate any different than Chris Pratt?” I’m glad you asked.
If Nate does something like this, call me.
Praying for Charlie Kirk right now, for his wife and young children, for our country. We need God’s grace. God help us.
— Chris Pratt (@prattprattpratt) September 10, 2025
