Jerry Seinfeld went toe-to-toe with a pro-Palestinian heckler while performing his stand-up routine over the weekend.
While performing at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia on Sunday night, Seinfeld was heckled by someone in the audience. Video of the incident was shared to X by Australian Jewish Association CEO Robert Gregory, though does not feature the heckler's remarks.
“We have a genius ladies and gentlemen. He’s solved the Middle East. He’s solved it!” Seinfeld responded. “It’s the Jewish comedians, that’s who we have to get.” Jerry Seinfeld demolishes anti-Jewish heckler. - Sydney, Australia
Crowd cheers as security boots the activist.
Taken by AJA CEO Robert Gregory pic.twitter.com/9rUhfHu7tG
— Australian Jewish Association (@AustralianJA) June 16, 2024
“Go ahead, keep going,” he taunted the heckler. “They’re going to start punching you in about three seconds, so I would try and get all of your genius out so we can all learn from you.”
“It’s a comedy show, you moron!” Seinfeld added. “Get out of here.”
While being escorted from the venue by security, the heckler repeated a slogan often used by pro-Palestinian and anti-Zionist activists: "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free."
“You’re really influencing everyone here, we’re all on your side now, because you have made your point so well, and in the right venue, you’ve come to the right place for a political conversation,” Seinfeld continued as the crowd applauded in approval. “Tomorrow we’ll read in the paper ‘Middle East 100% solved thanks to man at the Qudos Arena stopping Jew comedian. They stopped him and everyone in the Middle East went, Oh my God, let’s just get along.'”
“You have to go 20,000 miles from the problem and screw up a comedian, that is how you solve world issues,” he joked.
Gregory criticized anti-Jewish protestors for interrupting the show in order to gain support for their cause.
"Turns out that normal people don't like them, and don't support terrorism," he wrote in a follow-up post.
Seinfeld has dipped his toes into the political and cultural conversation recently, citing the decline of comedy on television for resurgence of stand-up comedy.
“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," Seinfeld said during an April interview with The New Yorker, noting a decline in comedic television. "This is the result of the extreme left and P.C. crap, and people worrying so much about offending other people."
“Now they’re going to see stand-up comics because we are not policed by anyone," Seinfeld continued. "The audience polices us. We know when we’re off track. We know instantly and we adjust to it instantly.” Seinfeld then noted audiences were "flocking" to stand-up comedy because the art form is "something you can't fake." “It’s like platform diving. You could say you’re a platform diver, but in two seconds we can see if you are or you aren’t. That’s what people like about stand-up. They can trust it. Everything else is fake," the comedian said.
