Seth Rogen was applauded by the audience when he revealed on Friday that he had refused a photo request from House Speaker Paul Ryan, but conservative commentators have labelled the American actor and comedian "rude" and a "drama clown".
Speaking on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Rogen recalled his interaction with the Wisconsin Republican at an event on brain health hosted by Mitt Romney earlier this month.
"My whole body puckered, as it were, I tensed up and I didn't know what to do," Rogen told host Stephen Colbert.
He shook Ryan's hand but when he asked for a photo, Rogen stopped him.
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"His kids are standing right there expectantly, clearly fans of mine, and I said 'No way, man'.
"And I said, furthermore, I hate what you're doing to the country at this moment and I count the days until you no longer have one iota of the power you currently have."
Rogen's encounter, which he described as a "wonderful and awkward story", divided opinion on social media.
Speaking on Fox and Friends, former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said: "If we as Americans, if we as a society can't talk to each other, if we can't engage in civil discourse, then we're going to lose the country."
Ryan is yet to comment on the story.
Rogen is not the only celebrity to criticise the House Speaker recently. In a tweet last week, Singer John Legend told Ryan "f**k you" over the White House's immigration policy.
It comes after White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was booted from a Virginia restaurant because she works for President Donald Trump.
