Jerry Seinfeld causes controversy for telling activist “I don’t care about Palestine”
Comedy veteran Jerry Seinfeld has caused controversy by saying he “doesn’t care” about Palestine in an interaction on social media.
The star of the 90s sitcom Seinfeld was in New York on Sunday for the 50th Anniversary special of Saturday Night Live, when Instagram user SubwayDJ asked for a video selfie with the comedian, who agreed and posed for the shot.
The influencer said “Free Palestine!” along with a peace sign, before prompting Seinfeld to do the same by looking at him and asking “Maybe?”, to which he replied: “I don’t care about Palestine”. The poster frowned at the camera and said “That’s sad”. SubwayDJ, who describes himself as an “Instagram Provocateur” in his account bio, posted the video with the caption “Jerry doesn’t care about Palestine”.
Seinfeld has been a vocal supporter of Israel since the October 7, 2023 terror attack by Hamas on the Jewish state that sparked greater conflict in Gaza. A phased ceasefire was called between the two sides on January 19.
In May of last year, Seinfeld’s appearance at Duke University sparked a walk out from Pro-Palestine supporters. In the same month, a stand-up gig was briefly halted as he was heckled for his views, while the following month he was filmed in Australia clashing with another heckler.
2024 also saw him make headlines for declaring the “movie business is over”, making the comment while promoting his directorial debut in the film Unfrosted.
He attended SNL50 on Sunday alongside many other comedy names, both in the audience and on stage. Ryan Reynolds alluded to his wife Blake Lively’s legal battle with Justin Baldoni during a sketch, while Sabrina Carpenter and Paul Simon performed the latter’s song ‘Homeward Bound’.
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Victoria Luxford
NME
