Jonah Hill spent years taking jiu-jitsu lessons, and now he says he’d ‘annihilate’ anyone who body shames him

Jonah Hill says his years of Brazilian jiu-jitsu training have prepared him to stand up to anyone who still calls him the “fat guy from Superbad.” The actor made the comments during a live taping of the SmartLess podcast in Los Angeles in April, a clip of which recently resurfaced online.

Speaking to podcast host Jason Bateman, Hill described how he reacts when people bring up his old Superbad image. He said such comments no longer bother him because of the fighting skills he has built over the years.

According to Complex, the video clip was shared on X by a user named Yonan on August 1, 2026, and had gathered more than 18,000 likes as of this writing.

Hill says he is ready to fight back against old jokes about his weight

During the podcast, Hill directly addressed people who still think of him as harmless or out of shape. “I would f–k you up,” he told Bateman on stage. He continued by describing how he responds to jokes about his Superbad character. “My favorite thing is people are like, ‘Oh, Jonah Hill, f–king fat guy from Superbad,'” Hill said. “And I’m like, ‘I would f–king annihilate you, dude. I’m not kidding you. Try it. If you see me, try it, dude. Bring it. Who’s got it?'”

Hill started training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu at age 35, in late 2018. He began at Clockwork Jiu-Jitsu in New York City, where he trained four to five times a week. Trained fighters have shown this kind of skill in real situations, including one case where a martial arts expert stepped in to stop a street attack.

Hill has said his interest in the sport connects back to his teenage years. He has said that classmates who practiced Brazilian jiu-jitsu “used to beat the s–t out of us at parties” in high school. According to Hill, this experience first kept him away from the sport before eventually leading him to take it up himself.

His current trainer is Josh Griffiths, a third-degree black belt. Griffiths has competed at Abu Dhabi World Pro events and regularly trains top UFC fighters. Hill also joked about the physical toll of the sport. “I love Brazilian jiu-jitsu, except my body is begging me not to love it,” he said on the podcast. 

He added that his wife has offered him a reality check about his hobby, relaying her words: “You’re not going to become a professional fighter. You know that, right? You’re a comedian.” Hill isn’t the only public figure to speak out against comments about his body. NBA star Zion Williamson faced similar criticism recently, after Stephen A. Smith’s comments about his weight prompted a response from his team.

Separately, Hill has been reported to be in talks to appear in the upcoming film 24 Jump Street.