This might come as a shock, but apparently, Canada isn’t the most perfect place on Earth. At least, not according to these celebrities. While most of us probably hope that our country and its people make a good impression, it seems that we haven’t won over every A-lister who has come to visit. These stars have not been shy about their opinions on Canada. Some of the jabs are playful and others, not so much — we’ll try not to cry ourselves to sleep about it.

Here are 7 celebrities who ruthlessly, hilariously, or playfully dissed Canada at one time or another.

Anthony Bourdain

We hold Anthony Bourdain close to our hearts, which is why his words cut extra deep. The late celebrity chef and TV personality once called Toronto “not a good-looking city” and that it “didn’t make much of an impression.” In his book World Travel: An Irreverent Guide, Bourdain comments on the city’s twentieth-century architectural fads, comparing it to “every third-tier city library” and “every public school in America.” However, a handful of restaurants did manage to impress the star, and he admitted that within its “steel-box exterior,” Toronto is a “uniquely wonderful and weird” place.

K.J. Apa

 

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This Riverdale star grew a bit tired of Vancouver while he lived in the city during the show’s filming. “The food is really good. The only thing is when you live there for a long time, it can get kind of boring. The city is not the biggest city in the world and it shuts early, which I guess is kind of good,” Apa said on Live with Kelly and Ryan back in 2017, to which Seacrest replied, “It keeps you coming to work the next day.”

Leonardo DiCaprio

DiCaprio, a passionate environmentalist, openly criticized Canadian oilsands during the filming of his documentary Before the Flood. His words even drew a response from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who told the Oscar-winner that his criticisms “were not helpful” at an economic summit in 2016, according to the National Post.

The star also said he was spooked by extreme weather changes in Alberta while filming The Revenant, saying it was “very eye-opening” to see the effects of climate change firsthand. However, provincial officials and politicians were quick to debunk DiCaprio’s claim and pointed out that it was a chinook, which is normal for the region.

Kevin Durant

We hate to admit it, but we may have deserved this one. Durant suffered an injury during Game 5 of the NBA Finals in Toronto back in 2019, and Raptors fans cheered as he was helped off the court. Needless to say, his teammates were not impressed. Raptors fans were quick to make amends on social media, and one even sent apology flowers “on behalf of Canada” to the Golden State Warriors’ offices.

However, Durant later told Yahoo Sports that he didn’t remember hearing the cheering fans when he was injured, and added with a smirk that “It will probably be the last time [the Raptors] will be in the Finals.” Ouch.

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Joe Rogan

Rogan had some choice words for Canada’s pandemic lockdowns during an episode of his podcast in April 2021.

“Canada’s f—-d right […] they’re so locked-down and I don’t understand why they think that’s good,” he said. “You can’t do what you’re doing, where you have f—–g Gestapo pulling people over for your papers, ‘Why are you out? Why are you out of your house? There’s a cold floating around.'” His controversial stance on COVID-19 vaccines also got him in trouble with the White House, so we’ll take his words with a grain of salt.

Bill Burr

Leave it to Bill Burr to tell it like it is. Conan O’Brien hosted the comedian on his show in 2016 and asked him what he thinks of Canada. “I love Canada, but I don’t go up there with like this starry look in my eyes like everyone’s going to be riding around on mooses,” said Burr.

“Talk to anybody of colour that tried to make it playing hockey up there, listen to the stories they have. You’ll be like, ‘Were you in Alabama?’ No, it was Manitoba,” he said. “Those are still white people up there, just because they’re on the other side of the invisible line doesn’t mean they’re not going to act like white people.”

Ryan Reynolds

Dissed by our very own kind! Hollywood A-lister and proud Vancouverite Ryan Reynolds admitted that Canadians are terrible at fighting during an appearance on BBC America in 2016. When asked if Canadians are bad liars, Reynolds said, “We’re not good at lying or fighting, really, I mean terrible […] it’s slappy, it’s not very sexy.” Sorry we can’t all be superheroes like you, Ryan.

Curiocity Staff

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