‘Seinfeld’ co-star on Jerry’s real-life stance against political correctness: ‘That’s a red flag’

Jerry Seinfeld’s stance against political correctness is well-known. Only a few months back, he told the New Yorker in an interview that PC and the “extreme left” ruined comedic television: “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.’ Well, guess what — where is it?”

Seinfeld added to the magazine, “This is the result of the extreme left and PC crap, and people worrying so much about offending other people.”

‘My feeling about all of it is that political correctness, insofar as it equates to tolerance, is obviously fantastic.’

Well, Julia Louis-Dreyfus — Seinfeld’s co-star on the sitcom that used his surname and ruled television for much of the 1990s — appeared to take issue with Seinfeld’s anti-PC stance.

The New York Times recently interviewed Louis-Dreyfus, and the paper told her that “your former co-star Jerry Seinfeld recently made news for talking about political correctness in comedy. I’m wondering, as a famous comedian yourself, what you think about that.”

Dreyfus didn’t mention Seinfeld by name, but she told the Times the following:

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. 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.

She didn’t clarify what that “something else” is, nor did the Times follow up with a question regarding what “something else” might be.

But the interview continued 11 days later, and Louis-Dreyfus added that “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?”