Nick Offerman has finally caught up with Ben Shapiro’s much-ridiculed critique of The Last of Us, more than three years after the right-wing commentator shared his thoughts.Offerman starred opposite The White Lotus breakout Murray Bartlett in a standalone episode of HBO’s critically acclaimed post-apocalyptic drama adaptation released in 2023.The episode, titled “Long, Long Time,” shifts focus from main characters Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) to a tender love story between survivors Bill and Frank.The role won Offerman an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series, while the episode itself was lauded as one of the greatest in modern television history.Nevertheless, the episode faced a wave of homophobic backlash. Shapiro was among those who criticized the episode’s focus, complaining on his podcast at the time: “The entire episode has no zombies, no real threat, and it is about two gay dudes who meet and have a relationship, in which one grows strawberries for the other, and then they die.”Nick Offerman (right) has addressed Ben Shapiro’s criticism of ‘The Last of Us’ (YouTube)Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman starred as survivors Bill and Frank in a critically acclaimed episode of ‘The Last of Us’ (HBO)“There’s gay Ron Swanson, and it’s complete with sex scenes and the whole thing,” he said, referencing Offerman’s famous Parks and Recreation character. “And gay Ron Swanson decides that he is also going to commit suicide at the same time because of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ or ‘Romeo and Romeo’ in this particular case.”During a new episode of the Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso podcast, published Sunday, host Sam Fragoso played Offerman the clip of Shapiro’s comments during their interview.“Holy s*** ... that’s crazy,” Offerman said after removing his headphones.“That’s the most Ben Shapiro I’ve ever seen, and there’s a very good reason for that,” he continued. “I’m embarrassed for his reading comprehension; I think he got eight things wrong in his recap, besides his rampant homophobia… That was insane.”Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 dayNew subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled.Try for freeADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.Offerman added that while he hadn’t watched any of Shapiro’s videos, he had heard about his criticism and included it on one of his music tours.“I wrote a song that I was performing on tour and I would preface it by saying, ‘I was going to write a joke about this, but Ben Shapiro questioned my masculinity and I can’t write a better joke than that,’” Offerman said.“That’s like a Joe Rogan clip or something that’s just so dumb and so wrong,” he said. “But then it’s really upsetting to understand how powerful that probably is and how many people it’s reached [who] would be in agreement with it.”“The key to my disposition is I don’t [engage],” he continued. “The billionaires, I think Elon [Musk] wants me to go on social media and snark back at all of them, and then suddenly I’m 90 and I die and I haven’t read any Wendell Berry poems on the radio.”The Independent has contacted Shapiro’s team for comment.Shapiro faced widespread mockery for his take at the time, with one person summing up on social media: “Ben Shapiro’s media literacy is so low he doesn’t realize The Last of Us isn’t about zombies.”The Last of Us — based on the hit PlayStation games of the same name — aired its second season in April, 2025, averaging 37 million viewers within two months. A third season is expected to air in 2027.Meanwhile, Offerman is up for two Primetime Emmy Awards next week: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for Netflix’s Death by Lightning, and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for Margo’s Got Money Troubles.