Category: Columbia University

Jerry Seinfeld has taken back his explosive claim that the ‘extreme left’ politically correct mob has killed comedy.

In April the iconic comedian, 70, sparked uproar when he told the New Yorker’s David Remnick that oversensitivity has ruined comedy and claimed people are now ‘worrying so much about offending’ people.

The Seinfeld star fondly remembered the days when people would get home and turn on the TV to watch comedies such as ‘Cheers,’ ‘M.A.S.H.,’ or ‘All in the Family.

‘Well, guess what? Where is it? Where is it? This is the result of the extreme left and P.C. c**p and people worrying so much about offending other people,’ he said. 

Now Seinfeld has revealed his ‘regret’ over the comments which he says are ‘not true’ in a groveling appearance on the latest episode of comedian Tom Papa’s Breaking Bread podcast.  

Addressing the controversy he said: ‘I said that the extreme left has suppressed the art of comedy. I did say that. That’s not true. It’s not true.

‘If you’re Lindsey Vonn, if you’re a champion skier, you can put the gates anywhere you want on the mountain, she’s gonna make the gate

‘Whatever the culture is, we make the gate. You don’t make the gate you’re out of the game…

‘So does culture change? And are there things that I used to say that I can’t say, that everybody’s always moving. Yeah but that’s the biggest easiest target

‘The accuracy of your observation has to be a hundred times finer than that.

‘So I don’t think that as I said the extreme left has done anything to inhibit the art of comedy.’

Seinfeld previously told the New Yorker’s Radio Hour that even though people crave comedic relief, they can’t no longer find it on TV.

‘Nothing really affects comedy. People always need it. They need it so badly and they don’t get it.’

His comments saw him criticized by his own Seinfeld co-star Julia-Louis Dreyfus – who branded his remarks a ‘red flag warning.’

During an interview with the New York Times, the actress said that political correctness can actually be ‘fantastic.’

‘When I hear people starting to complain about political correctness — and I understand why people might push back on it — but to me that’s a red flag, because it sometimes means something else,’ Louis-Dreyfus, 63, told the publication. ‘I believe being aware of certain sensitivities is not a bad thing. I don’t know how else to say it.’   

Louis-Dreyfus won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series seven times: once for The New Adventures Of Old Christine (2006-2010) and six more playing Selina Meyer in Veep (2012-2019).

On top of that, she won the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series for Seinfeld (1989-1998) during her nine-season run on the legendary sitcom that starred Jerry Seinfeld in the lead role. 

‘My feeling about all of it is that political correctness, insofar as it equates to tolerance, is obviously fantastic,’ the acclaimed actress said. ‘And of course I reserve the right to boo anyone who says anything that offends me, while also respecting their right to free speech, right?’

The New York City native admits that certain comedies and dramas from yesteryear just don’t work anymore under modern scrutiny, but being sensitively aware of changing cultural norms should be acknowledged.

When asked directly about Seinfeld’s comments on political correctness, Louis-Dreyfus stressed how comedy has evolved over the decades.

‘If you look back on comedy and drama both, let’s say 30 years ago, through the lens of today, you might find bits and pieces that don’t age well,’ the TV veteran with more than 40 years of experience said. ‘And I think to have an antenna about sensitivities is not a bad thing.’

The former Saturday Night Live cast member added, It doesn’t mean that all comedy goes out the window as a result.’

While Louis-Dreyfus agreed with the premise of the iconic stand-up comedian’s statement, she cited her reasoning to be more centered on the sitcom being ‘too unique’ as opposed to it not being PC enough for the times.

She went on to admit that it’s ‘good to be vigilant’ and keep up with the changing times and culture, citing how even some great films and television shows of the past can include beliefs and attitudes that ‘today would not be acceptable.’

‘Probably not,’ were her exact words when initially asked whether Seinfeld could be made today. ‘I mean, what the hell is happening in network television anymore?

Seinfeld is no stranger to criticizing those he sees as PC – ‘politically correct’ – mobs. 

Back in 2015, he warned other comics not to perform at college campuses because they were too politically correct. 

Roughly nine years later, Seinfeld says political correctness is alive and well on network television, and comedy fans are circumventing that by going to see live comedy shows instead.

‘Now they’re going to see stand-up comics because they are not policed by anyone. The audience polices us. We know when we’re off track. We know instantly. And we adjust to it instantly,’ Seinfeld said.

Seinfeld said that people who want to be successful comedians need to be able to work within the parameters of what society deems acceptable, using the metaphor of gates in skiing.

Seinfeld added that organic process of trial and error doesn’t happen in TV boardrooms and jokes are nitpicked. 

‘But when you write a script, and it goes into four or five different hands, committees, groups – ‘Here’s our thought about this joke’ – well, that’s the end of your comedy,’ he said.

‘With certain comedians now, people are having fun with them stepping over the line, and us all laughing about it.

‘But again, it’s the stand-ups that really have the freedom to do it because no one else gets the blame if it doesn’t go down well. He or she can take all the blame [themselves.]’ 

At a time when pro-Palestine protests rage on at college campuses across the nation, Seinfeld, who is of Jewish descent, was confronted by angry agitators outside the State of the World Jewry Address in New York City back in February.

Journalist Bari Weiss gave the address, and as Seinfeld left the event, protestors repeatedly screamed at him ‘free Palestine’ and ‘you support genocide.’

Seinfeld is seen waving at the hostile crowd as he gets into his car to drive off. 

Seinfeld revealed to the Times of Israel in December 2023, a little over two months after the war in Gaza began, that he ‘lived and worked on a kibbutz in Israel when I was 16 and I have loved our Jewish homeland ever since.’

He concluded by saying he would ‘always stand with Israel and the Jewish people.’