Stand-up comic Jerry Seinfeld found himself in hot water after saying in an interview that he misses the era of "dominant masculinity" and how he likes a "real man."
The actor, who played a semi-fictionalized version of himself in the 1990s sitcom Seinfeld appeared on The Free Press podcast Honestly with Bari Weiss to discuss the rules of comedy and to promote his Netflix comedy film Unfrosted.
The movie marks Seinfeld's directorial debut and he stars alongside comic cohorts Melissa McCarthy, Jim Gaffigan, Max Greenfield, Hugh Grant, and Amy Schumer.
It is loosely based on the 1963 rivalry between Kellogg's and Post cereal brands and the creation of the Pop-Tarts breakfast pastry.
Watching the movie had Weiss thinking about the early '60s and how, unlike the present, there was "a sense of one conversation" and a "common culture," which led her to wonder if Unfrosted was a long-gestating passion project for Seinfeld or if it stemmed from nostalgia for a "time that feels like another planet or at least another country."
"Of course it does," replied Seinfeld and continued:
"But there's another element there that I think is the key element, and that is an agreed-upon hierarchy, which I think is absolutely vaporized in today's moment."
"And I think that is why people lean on the horn and drive in the crazy way that they drive because we have no sense of hierarchy, and as humans, we don't feel comfortable like that."
As the actor gathered his thoughts and said "As a man..." Weiss interjected to clarify what his pronouns were before continuing with the interview, to which Seinfeld said he always "wanted to be a man" but never "made it."
He continued:
"I really thought when I was in that era, again, it was [John F. Kennedy], it was Muhammad Ali, it was Sean Connery, Howard Cosell, you can go all the way down there."
"That's a real man."
He added:
"But I miss a dominant masculinity. Yeah, I get the toxic thing. Thank you, thank you."
"But still, I like a real man."
You can watch the full interview here.
Jerry Seinfeld on the Rules of Comedy—and Life | Honestly with Bari Weissyoutu.be
Social media users were unnerved by the actor's bold take on genderism.
His dating history came back to haunt him.
The interviewer wasn't free from scrutiny either.
Seinfeld was never one to hold back on his criticism of the "extreme left" and how they made political correctness ruin comedy.
In April, he lamented the challenges of finding comic relief on TV in the current P.C. climate during an interview with New Yorker's Radio Hour.
"Nothing really affects comedy. People always need it. They need it so badly and they don't get it," he said, adding:
"It used to be that you'd go home at the end of the day, most people would go, 'Oh,' Cheers' is on. Oh, 'M.A.S.H.' is on. Oh, '[The] Mary Tyler Moore [Show]' is on, 'All in the Family' is on.'"
"You just expected [there will] be some funny stuff we can watch on TV tonight."
"Well, guess what? Where is it? Where is it? This is the result of the extreme left and P.C. crap and people worrying so much about offending other people."
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