Jerry Seinfeld is walking back his comments on the state of comedy that sparked controversy earlier this year.
Back in April, Seinfeld lamented to The New Yorker that the lack of comedy series on TV today is “the result of the extreme left and P.C. crap, and people worrying so much about offending other people.” On the Oct. 15 episode of the Breaking Bread podcast with fellow funnyman Tom Papa, he clarified what he meant by that.
“I said that the ‘extreme left’ has suppressed the art of comedy. I did say that. That’s not true. It’s not true,” Seinfeld said. “If you’re a champion skier, you can put the gates anywhere you want on the mountain; [you’re] going to 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. The game is, ‘Where is the gate? How do I make the gate and get down the hill the way I want to?”
“So, does culture change and are there things that I used to say that I can’t say because everybody’s always moving [the gate]? Yeah, but that’s the biggest and easiest target,” Seinfeld continued. “You can’t say certain words, whatever they are, about groups. So what? The accuracy of your observation has to be 100 times finer than that to just be a comedian… So I don’t think, as I said, the ‘extreme left’ has done anything to inhibit the art of comedy. I’m taking that back now officially. They have not.”
Ultimately, Seinfeld has “regret” about what he said but is looking forward rather than backward. The Unfrosted star is on tour this fall and spring and with shows at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas extending into next fall.
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