Students Walk Out of Jerry Seinfeld’s Duke Commencement Speech In Pro-Palestine Protest

Dozens of students walked out of comedian Jerry Seinfeld‘s Duke University commencement speech on May 12.

A video posted on X showed students chanting “Free, free Palestine” as they left the stadium with pro-Palestine flags, and the walkouts seemed to be in protest of Seinfeld’s support of Israel. Seinfeld has publicly voiced his support for Israel since the October 7 Hamas-led attack.

Boos could be heard in the stadium, though it is unclear whether they were directed towards Seinfeld or the students exiting the stadium. The comedian was able to deliver his speech without any major interruptions.

Jessica Seinfeld, Jerry Seinfeld’s wife, posted on her social media supporting her husband’s commencement speech.

“Amazing crowd @dukeuniversity today where Jerry gave the commencement speech and received an honorary degree,” Jessica posted on her Instagram story. “There was a minimal interruption – a small group of protesters walked out.”

Seinfeld visited Tel Aviv in December to meet with the hostages freed by Hamas. Despite maintaining an apolitical stance in his comedy throughout his career and facing public backlash for his pro-Israel views, Seinfeld does not regret visiting Israel, he said in an interview with GQ.

In a statement to CBS News, Frank Tramble, Duke’s vice president for marketing, communications and public affairs, said: “We’re excited and delighted for the Class of 2024 and their families. We understand the depth of feeling in our community, and as we have all year, we respect the right of everyone at Duke to express their views peacefully without preventing graduates and their families from celebrating their achievement.”

This protest follows waves of antiwar demonstrations at universities over the past month. Smaller protests have also occurred at university commencements at U.C. Berkeley and Emory University. Some institutions, such as Columbia University and the University of Southern California, have canceled their main commencements, opting for small, school-based graduations instead.

Seinfeld recently said that “the extreme left and PC c—” is ruining comedy in an interview.