Back in April, Jerry Seinfeld criticized the “extreme left,” blaming “P.C. crap” for ruining comedy. His former co-star, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, disagrees. In a recent New York Times interview, journalist Lulu Garcia-Navarro asked Louis-Dreyfus about Seinfeld’s comments. Louis-Dreyfus replied:
“If you look back on comedy and drama both, let’s say 30 years ago, through the lens of today, you might find bits and pieces that don’t age well. And I think to have an antenna about sensitivities is not a bad thing. It doesn’t mean that all comedy goes out the window as a result.”
She continued:
“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.”
When asked if she now finds some things she once thought were funny to be out of touch, Louis-Dreyfus asked for time to think about it. After 11 days, she clarified her stance to Garcia-Navarro:
“I wanted to make sure that I answered this whole idea of political correctness correctly, and I can’t really remember what I said. So I wanted to go back to that and be very clear about where I stand. My feeling about all of it is that political correctness, insofar as it equates to tolerance, is obviously fantastic. And of course 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.”
Recently, Louis-Dreyfus starred in *Tuesday*, playing the mother of a terminally ill teenager. The movie received a 6/10 from Exclaim! Meanwhile, it’s advised to skip Seinfeld’s latest project, *Unfrosted*, to avoid disappointment.