Earlier this year, Jerry Seinfeld made waves by calling out the woke left for ruining comedy.
"Nothing really affects comedy," he said. "People always need it. They need it so badly and they don’t get it."
"This is the result of the extreme left and PC crap and people worrying so much about offending other people," he added. "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 continued. "They move the gates, like in skiing. Culture, the gates are moving. Your job is to be agile and clever enough that wherever they put the gates, I’m gonna make the gate."
Seinfeld has typically shied away from flaunting his political views, though I don't doubt he leans left. His recent willingness to critique the woke left, however, was a breath of fresh air. And this wasn't the first time he's done so, either. A decade ago, in an interview with Buzzfeed, he took host Peter Laurie to task for questioning the lack of diversity in his classic sitcom Seinfeld.
However, months after calling out the woke left for ruining comedy, he's now taking it all back.
In a candid conversation with comedian Tom Papa on Tuesday’s episode of the "Breaking Bread" podcast, Seinfeld said that he “got it wrong,” and claimed that it is “not true” that the extreme left has ruined the art of comedy.
Seinfeld now says that comedians should respond to changes in culture.
"I did an interview with the New Yorker, and I said that the extreme left has suppressed the art of comedy," he began.
"I did say that," he admitted. "That's not true. It's not true."
"No?" asked Papa.
"No!" Seinfeld replied.
Seinfeld then used Olympic skiing as an analogy.
"If you're Lindsey Vonn, if you're a champion skier, you can put the gates anywhere you want on the mountain," he said. "She's gonna make the gate. That's comedy."
"Whatever the culture is, we make the gate. You don't make the gate; you're out of the game," he added. "The game is, 'Where is the gate, How do I make the gate and get down the hill in the way I want to?'"
“So does culture change?" he asked. "And are there things I used to say that I can’t say that everybody's always moving? Yeah. But that’s the biggest, easiest target, you know – you can’t say certain words, whatever they are, versus about groups, so what? The accuracy of your observation has to be a hundred times finer than that to just be a comedian.”
Seinfeld is now of the position that it doesn’t matter if comedians agree with these cultural shifts. Their primary responsibility, in his current view, is to “play the game” based on what is deemed acceptable.
"So I don't think the, as I said, the extreme left has done anything to inhibit the art of comedy," he concluded. "I'm taking that back now officially. Got it. They have not. Do you like it? Maybe. Maybe not. It's not my business to like or not like where the culture is at. It's my business to make the gate."
Sad.
— Matt Margolis (@mattmargolis) October 16, 2024
Jerry Seinfeld walks back his past comments about the left ruining comedy.
Who pressured him to disavow his past comments? pic.twitter.com/oFnciuBWyd
This is disappointing of Seinfeld. And I'm honestly wondering whether he believes this or if a publicist pressured him to disavow his past comments — which, let's be honest here, were 100% accurate. If you ever find yourself watching sitcoms or comedy movies from your youth, you probably have said plenty of times: “That joke wouldn’t fly today.”
This realization often extends to shows and films from just 10, 15, or even 20 years ago. It’s a sobering thought, especially since many of the most beloved and iconic series are still cherished today by most of us who aren't triggered by a joke. Even Seinfeld’s own hit sitcom from the '90s features jokes, scenes, and plot lines that would be too controversial to air now out of fear of offending the woke left. This isn’t progress; it’s a suppression of artistic expression.
I'm sorry to see Jerry cave to the mob.
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