Jerry Seinfeld Regrets Saying The ‘Extreme Left’ Is Ruining Comedy

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld, 70, retracted his claim that the “extreme left” is ruining comedy during an appearance on the Breaking Bad with Tom Papa podcast. 

“I said that the extreme left has suppressed the art of comedy,” Seinfeld said. “I did say that. It’s not true.”

He added, “I don’t think the extreme left has done anything to inhibit the art of comedy. I’m taking that back now, officially. 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.”

Seinfeld argued that it’s a comedian’s job to adapt to culture. “You can’t say certain words about groups,” he said. “So what? The accuracy of your observation has to be 100 times finer than that to just be a comedian.”

Additionally, the comedian pointed out that a past remark of his was misinterpreted as him stating that he wouldn’t perform on college campuses because students are too politically correct. 

“Not true,” he said. “First of all, I never said it, but if you think I said it, it’s not true. I play colleges all the time. I have no problem with kids, performing for them.”

Seinfeld made his original comments in an interview in April, thinking back to how comedy once was, speaking out against the current political climate. 

“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’ll be some funny stuff we can watch on T.V. tonight,” he said. 

“Well, guess what – where is it?” the comedian added. “This is the result of the extreme left and P.C. c—, and people worrying so much about offending other people.”

The remarks received mixed reactions at the time, including criticism from former Seinfeld alum Julia Louis-Dreyfus. In an interview, she noted that it was a “red flag” when people make complaints about political correctness ruining comedy. 

On the podcast, Seinfeld expressed surprise that his comments received so much attention. 

“I did not know that people care what comedians say,” he said. “That literally came as news to me. Who the hell cares what a comedian thinks about anything?”