The theater chain AMC refused to show the movie on any of its 3,500 screens . Although AMC claimed the decision was due to the film 's limited appeal , co-producer Penn Jillette commented to MSNBC : " It 's the kind of thing that makes you go ' Come on , play fair . ' It 's not like we 're trying to slide this by anybody by calling it '' Love Bug 2 : Herbie Takes It Up the Ass '' . " The film includes footage of Gilbert Gottfried 's telling of the joke at a Comedy Central/New York Friars ' Club roast of Hugh Hefner which had been almost entirely censored when aired on television . Taped not long after the September 11 attacks , the incident occurred at a time when , according to one of the commentators in the '' Aristocrats '' film , entertainers were uncertain how much comedy was allowed in the aftermath of the attacks . Gottfried followed Rob Schneider , who had received mixed results with his stand-up comedy performance in Hefner 's honor . Gottfried began his performance with a joke in which he claimed to have to catch a late flight out of town but was worried because his flight " had a connection at the Empire State Building . " The joke , a reference to 9/11 , was poorly received by the audience , who showered Gottfried with boos and cries of " too soon . " In response , Gottfried told an obscenity-filled rendition of the Aristocrats joke . According to the film , the telling was as much a cathartic experience for the audience as it was a shocking one , regardless of whether viewers were familiar with the joke or not . During his performance , Gottfried told the audience " They might have to clean this up for TV . " '' The Aristocrats '' received a generally positive reception from film critics . Review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes reports the film as holding a " Certified Fresh " rating , with an overall 79 % positive approval rating based on 147 reviews , and a rating average of 7.1 out of 10 . The site 's general consensus is that the film is hilarious and revealing of the way comedy works . " Can a joke stand up to repeated tellings ? '' The Aristocrats '' demonstrates that it 's possible . " At Metacritic , which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 0 – 100 reviews from film critics , the film has a rating score of 72 based on 39 reviews , classified as a film with generally favorable reviews
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
The Aristocrats (film)