Jerry Seinfeld says he was ‘wrong’ to blame ‘extreme left’ for killing comedy

Jerry Seinfeld took back his comments and admitted he “regrets” what he said. Photo / Getty Images

Jerry Seinfeld was “wrong” to blame the “extreme left” for killing comedy.

The 70-year-old star caused a stir earlier this year when he argued TV comedy was in crisis because writers worried too much about “offending other people”, but he has now backtracked on his comments and admitted he “regrets” what he said.

Appearing on Tom Papa’s Breaking Bread podcast, he said of his “wrong” remarks: “I said that the ‘extreme left’ has suppressed the art of comedy. I did say that. That’s not true. It’s not true.

“If you’re a champion skier, you can put the gates anywhere you want on the mountain and 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?’

“Does culture change? And are there things that I used to say that I can’t say because people are always moving [the gate]? Yes, but that’s the biggest, easiest target.

“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.”

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The Seinfeld star insisted it is not his “business” to be happy or not with the current “culture” of the comedy scene, but he needs to work to stay relevant.

He added: “It is not my business to like or not like where the culture is at. It is my business to make the gate, to stay with my skiing analogy.”

And Seinfeld denied ever suggesting he didn’t want to perform at colleges anymore because young people are too politically correct.

He said: “I play colleges all the time. I have no problem with kids, performing for them … I do colleges all the time.”

In his original remarks, the veteran comedian warned “the extreme left and PC c***” had led to a decline in comedy shows on TV.

He told the New Yorker: “Nothing really affects comedy. People always need it. They need it so badly and they don’t get it,” he said. “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 TV tonight.’ Well, guess what – where is it?

“This is the result of the extreme left and PC c***, and people worrying so much about offending other people … 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.”