Donald Trump, Will Ferrell, formal graduation gowns and hoopla.
What could be more serious than that?
Even comic actor and USC alum Will Ferrell won’t leave Donald Trump alone, finding fun at the expense of the embattled president during a sometimes serious graduation talk at the Trojan campus.
Ferrell (Class of 1990), who received an honorary doctorate, was a smash at the graduation despite having to apologize to parents at the outset for his presence.
“Will Ferrell? Why Will Ferrell? I hate his movies, he’s gross,” he said, pretending to be one of those parents.
Ferrell’s jokes about President Trump brought some of the greatest laughter from the happy crowd of new university graduates.
“The institutions to which I have spoken at previously include Bryman School of Nursing, DeVry Technical School, Debbie Dudeson School of Trucking, University of Phoenix, Hollywood DJ Academy and Trump University,” Ferrell said with a straight face.
“I am still waiting to get paid from Trump University. In fact, it turns out I owe Trump University money for the honor to speak at Trump University.”
Trump University made headlines during the presidential campaign and into the early months of the Trump Administration as it was the target, along with the new president, of successful lawsuits by thousands of students over the value of its real estate training program. Trump himself sparked controversy by questioning the impartiality of the federal judge in the case because of the judge’s Hispanic heritage.
The legal actions were settled at the end of March in a $25 million agreement.
Ferrell wasn’t just political.
Channeling Whitney Houston, he closed by singing his version of “I Will Always Love You.”
“If I should stay, I would only be in your way,” he sang. “So I’ll go, but I know, I’ll think of you every step of the way. And I will always love you, will always love you, will always love you, Class of 2017. And I will always love you.”
He celebrated his being awarded an honorary doctorate and said his children now had to address him as Dr. Ferrell.
Ferrell said he had been informed he could do minimally invasive surgery — “at the time and place” of his choosing, and invited hernia patients to his “surgery center” — a windowless van parked at the nearby Coliseum.
He wasn’t the first comedian to give a major college commencement address. Among others, Lewis Black gave a laugh-a-minute talk at UC San Diego in 2013.
But as for this latest speech Friday by Ferrell, Rolling Stone noted, “Ferrell charted his journey from a USC freshman in 1986 to the Groundlings to ‘Saturday Night Live’ to box office success. He admitted that, like many of those in the audience awaiting diplomas, he didn’t have a plan upon leaving college.”
He said: ”To those of you graduates sitting out there who have a pretty good idea of what you’d like to do with your life, congratulations. For many of you who maybe don’t have it all figured out, it’s OK. That’s the same chair that I sat in. Enjoy the process of your search without succumbing to the pressure of the result.”
But he also said his definition of success was his 16 1/2-year marriage and his three sons — 13, 10 and 8 — who took bows. And he noted his involvement with Cancer for College — scholarships for cancer survivors started by a USC classmate of his.
“No matter how cliche it may sound, you will never truly be successful until you learn to give beyond yourself,” he said in a poignant moment of seriousness.
Time.com posted a transcript of the 3,000-word address.
Other comments and coverage:
In which #WillFerrell serenades USC’s Class of 2017 with Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” pic.twitter.com/IPrTAeS7oO
— Consequence of Sound (@coslive) May 13, 2017
Will Ferrell singing Whitney Houston at USC graduation is exactly what we need right now. https://t.co/9uOWvK1Dpa
— Washington Post (@washingtonpost) May 13, 2017
Will Ferrell and Dame Helen Mirren sending off the USC grads today! Congrats @TangTangforreal @USC #CongratsGrad #USCgrads #WillFerrell #yay pic.twitter.com/1WjPOnZbbX
— GATZ (@findGATZ) May 13, 2017