Jerry Seinfeld blames ‘extreme left’ for ruining comedy
Jerry Seinfeld has become the latest elder statesman of comedy to decry the impact of cancel culture, joining the likes of Dave Chappelle, Ricky Gervais and John Cleese in blaming political correctness for hurting the craft.
The comedian is on the promotional circuit for his new film, Unfrosted, a Netflix movie about the race to create Pop-Tarts in the 1960s. Speaking to David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker, ahead of the film’s release, Seinfeld turned to the current state of comedy and the disappearance of his favoured format: the sitcom.
Jerry Seinfeld blamed the “extreme left” for ruining comedy in an interview with The New Yorker.Credit: AP
“It used to be, you would go home at the end of the day, most people would go, ‘Oh, Cheers is on. Oh, M*A*S*H is on. Oh, Mary Tyler Moore is on. All in the Family is on.’ You just expected there will be some funny stuff we can watch on TV tonight. Well, guess what – where is it?” asked Seinfeld.
“This is the result of the extreme left and PC crap, and people worrying so much about offending other people.”
Seinfeld, who turned 70 on Monday, then explained that the shift was a bonus for live performers, as audiences turned to stand-up for comedy that wasn’t “overpoliced”.
“Now they’re going to see stand-up comics because they are not policed by anyone,” he said. “The audience polices us. We know when we’re off track. We know instantly, and we adjust to it instantly.
“But when you write a script, 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.”
Seinfeld, whose sitcom ended in 1998 with the much-debated two-part finale, is convinced that many jokes would no longer fly in today’s climate.
“We did an episode of the series in the ’90s where Kramer decides to start a business of having homeless people pull rickshaws because, as he says, ‘They’re outside anyway.’ Do you think I could get that episode on the air today?”
The comedian answered his own question: “We would write a different joke with Kramer and the rickshaw today. We wouldn’t do that joke. We’d come up with another joke.”
Remnick was quick to point out that Seinfeld’s long-time collaborator, Larry David, 76, managed to offend everyone and anyone on his long-running sitcom, Curb Your Enthusiasm, which wrapped up only a few weeks ago.
Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld discussing the Seinfeld finale in 1999.
“Larry was grandfathered in,” countered Seinfeld. “He’s old enough so that, ‘I don’t have to observe those rules because I started before you made those rules.’”
According to Seinfeld, David’s age and experience made him the exception rather than the rule.
“If Larry was 35, he couldn’t get away with the watermelon stuff and Palestinian chicken,” he said, referring to two Curb jokes that play on racial stereotypes.
He argues that streamers and TV networks are all grappling with the same question, “How do we do this now? Do we take the heat, or just not be funny?” which, he said, explained why no new sitcoms are being picked up by networks.
Towards the end of the interview, Seinfeld conceded that the pendulum was swinging back the other way. “I see a slight movement,” 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.”
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