Jerry Seinfeld was interviewed for Buzzfeed Brew, and gave a perfectly sensible answer about “diversity” in comedy, namely that if you’re funny, you’re funny, and comedy is not a census designed to look like the pie chart of America.
It’s perfectly sensible, except to Gawker, which is trying to inspire 2-minutes of Seinfeld hate:
Jerry Seinfeld, the most successful comedian in the world and maker of comedy for and about white people, isn’t interested in trying to include non-white anything in his work.
When asked why he featured so many white men in his web series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee during a Buzzfeed interview on CBS This Morning, Seinfeld seemed offended by the very question. “It really pisses me off,” he said. “People think [comedy] is the census or something, it’s gotta represent the actual pie chart of America. Who cares?”
BuzzFeed Business Editor Peter Lauria seemed hesitant to pursue the frank answer, but the comedian continued on anyway. “Funny is the world that I live in. You’re funny, I’m interested. You’re not funny, I’m not interested,” he said. “I have no interest in gender or race or anything like that.” He seems to suggest that any comedian who is not a white male is also not funny, though he’s also likely fed up with the amount of bad comedy he’s been forced to sit through in his (waning) career.
Which is too bad, because Seinfeld is downplaying the work of everyone from Richard Pryor and Bill Cosby to Aziz Ansari, Mindy Kaling, and Eddie Huang, who are all in various stages of their own sitcoms that just might turn out to be the next Seinfeld….
In conclusion: Yes, comedy should represent the entire pie chart of America, and the glorious, multicolored diversity pie should be thrown directly at Jerry Seinfeld’s face.
No, you fool, Seinfeld isn’t denigrating anyone. He’s saying that we should judge comedians by the quality of their comedy, not the color of their skin.
Where did I hear something similar to that before? Definitely not at Gawker.
Someone saw this coming from a mile away:
Update: Others have the same reaction, such as Noah Rothman at Mediaite:
And McKay Coppins at Buzzfeed:
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