Julia Louis-Dreyfus hits back at Seinfeld’s political correctness remarks

Former Seinfeld star Julia Louis-Dreyfus has pushed back against Jerry Seinfeld’s criticism of cancel culture, saying it’s “good to be vigilant” to sensitivities.

In April, Seinfeld criticised the “extreme left” for ruining contemporary 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 will be some funny stuff we can watch on TV tonight. Well, guess what – where is it?” asked Seinfeld. “This is the result of the extreme left and PC crap, and people worrying so much about offending other people.”

Julia Louis-Dreyfus says it is important to remain vigilant and sensitive when creating comedy today. Credit: Getty Images

However, his former co-star disagreed, arguing that it is important to be sensitive when writing and performing comedy now.

“I think to have an antenna about sensitivities is not a bad thing,” she told The New York Times. “It doesn’t mean that all comedy goes out the window as a result. When I hear people starting to complain about political correctness — and I understand why people might push back on it — but to me, that’s a red flag because it sometimes means something else. I believe being aware of certain sensitivities is not a bad thing. I don’t know how else to say it.”

Louis-Dreyfus starred as Elaine on the beloved sitcom, which was created by Seinfeld and Larry David, between 1989 and 1998. Louis-Dreyfus did not directly address Seinfeld’s previous comments.

The cast of Seinfeld, including Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Elaine (centre right).Credit: AFP

“I can’t judge if it’s better or not,” she said in response to her newfound sensitivities in comedy. “I just know that the lens through which we create art today — and I’m not going to just specify it to comedy, it’s also drama — it’s a different lens. It really is. Even classically wonderful, indisputably great films from the past are riddled with attitudes that today would not be acceptable. So I think it’s just good to be vigilant.”

Political correctness is generally “fantastic”, she told The New York Times during a follow-up interview. The real threat to art, she said, comes from the monopolising power of streamers and studios.

“I reserve the right to boo anyone who says anything that offends me, while also respecting their right to free speech, right? But the bigger problem — and I think the true threat to art and the creation of art — is the consolidation of money and power. All this siloing of studios and outlets and streamers and distributors — I don’t think it’s good for the creative voice. So that’s what I want to say in terms of the threat to art.”

She said the industry had changed in such a way that she, like Seinfeld, believed their show would not get made today.

“I mean, what the hell is happening in network television any more? When Seinfeld was made, it was really unlike anything that was on at the time. It was just a bunch of losers hanging out. So I would say one main reason it wouldn’t be made now is because it’s hard to get anything different recognised. Particularly nowadays, everyone’s sort of running scared.”

After Seinfeld, Louis-Dreyfus went on to play a fictional vice president of the United States, Selina Meyer, in the satirical comedy Veep. Now aged 63, she will feature in the upcoming Marvel film Thunderbolts alongside Florence Pugh and Harrison Ford.

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