Jerry Seinfeld’s current gig is Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee, where he rides around with some of his famous friends and they shoot the breeze. It’s like an informal interview show and people generally like it. President Obama even did an episode. Seinfeld announces new episodes all the time on his Twitter, often doing a little one-liner joke, which are often cheeseball. Sample: “New Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee! Cedric The Entertainer. No affiliation with Cedric The Regular Person.”
Well, Jerry tried to do a punchy little joke about his latest guest, professional disgruntled comedian Lewis Black. This is the tweet:
New!
Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee
Lewis Black.
Black’s life matters.
@Acura! https://t.co/MDGxxNNjgz— Jerry Seinfeld (@JerrySeinfeld) January 26, 2017
Do I think this is funny? No. I don’t. Do I think that Jerry Seinfeld needs to be burned in effigy? Not really. He tried to jokingly minimize Black Lives Matter – a movement started because of extrajudicial killings of black people – by doing a stupid play on his guest’s name. I think this is a situation where the tweet could be deleted and a simple apology should be offered. While I’m not a Seinfeld fan, I seriously doubt his intention was to mock BLM or the reason the movement exists. He was just trying to be punny and the joke really, really did not land (especially judging from the comments on that tweet).
Jerry is also one of those “people are too politically correct these days, no one will let me say sexist and racist sh-t anymore” comedians. I think that probably explains why Seinfeld didn’t delete the tweet (at least not yet). He thinks he’s just misunderstood. Dude, we get what you were trying to do and it’s a still a pretty sh-tty joke to make.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
F*ck this poor put upon schitcky rich white dude and his eternal put uponness that he cant say shitty things repercusion free which is really what he keeps bemoaning , f*ck him them and f*ck him now
“Jerry is also one of those “people are too politically correct these days, no one will let me say sexist and racist sh-t anymore” comedians.”
I question this statement. Jerry Seinfeld is one of the comedians that will not say the N word and doesn’t believe it is ever funny. He has had conversations with Chris Rock about the need to make everything black against white. Just saying… I don’t know if he is one of those rich white guys trying to get away with crap.
just b/c a person won’t say the N word and is friends with Chris Rock – doesn’t mean they aren’t racist. his comedy was never about pushing the envelope of politically correct speech. i’m not really sure what his point is now in belaboring that it is some type of big issue in the world.
it makes him seem like an out of touch bigot because deep down it has nothing to do with his comedy. he doesn’t like PC language not because of his comedy but because it makes him feel bad about his beliefs – which is he’s a rich white man who is entitled to say and think what he wants without repercussions and people who don’t like it are just too sensitive.
He is a jewish man. I doubt he has never felt any backlash or bigotry. This does not mean he is not bigoted, I am just saying he doesn’t live in a WASP bubble.
He is not just friends with Chris Rock but his best man/best friend is George Wallace.
I could be wrong, but from what I remember part of what inspired his whining about political correctness was an audience not laughing at some lame, cheesy joke he told that stereotyped gay men a little bit.
Steve Bannon makes money off of his show reruns so that’s plenty to keep me from watching. Steve Bannon is an alt right racist who has the most control of Trump. Most of these orders written by #presidentbannon #RESIST
No matter what Seinfeld is or is not, and no matter what his intentions were, it’s just plain disrespectful to make silly puns on the term Black Lives Matter, a movement that began in the wake of the death of an innocent kid, Trayvon Martin, who was stalked and murdered by a creepy wannabe-cop as he walked home from buying candy — and why? Simply because he was a black kid in a hoodie walking in a mostly-white neighborhood.
The list of black citizens killed by law enforcement only gets longer as time goes by, and it even includes a twelve-year-old child, Tamir Rice, who was shot by police as he sat in a park holding a toy gun that was not pointed at anyone — shot dead within 5 seconds of the squad car’s arrival, without even a single word being spoken by the officers first.
Yeah, maybe it’s personal to me–I have a mixed-race family and I worry for the young black men and boys of the family whenever they go out — but it’s not just because of that that I find it disrespectful to use Black Lives Matter in a joking way. It’s because of all of these lives, and many MORE, that have been lost. For a long time I kept a list (this is an old one, below) to use on Twitter, and then it got too long to tweet, so I began using only their last names. Then even that last-name-only list got too long to tweet.
#Ball-Bey
#Dubose
#Bland
#Bird
#Gray
#Garner
#Rice
#Harris
#Scott
#Brown
#Martin
The reason Black Lives Matter exists is no joke. It’s a tragedy. And now more than ever, with the Bigot-in-Chief and his henchman Bannon making draconian rules that target Muslims and people of color, we need to respect it.
@Lahdidahbaby, thank you SO MUCH for this important reminder of the countless lives lost that have inspired the BLM movement. It’s been the complete disregard for black lives throughout America’s disgusting racist history that empowered those cowards perpetrating violence against unarmed young men in the name of self-defense. So no, privileged white guys don’t get to casually demean black lives by making BLM a punchline.
John Crawford III was murdered by police in a Wal-Mart less than a mile from where I lived.
There is nothing outrageous here. For crikes sakes.
db
I guess the comment I am trying to reply to was deleted.
Yes, there is. Is he Steve Bannon? No. Is he part of the problem? Yes.
There is nothing funny about a pun based on a movement to draw attention to and stop the senseless murders of black men and women caused by a racist system.
Who said it was outrageous? I think people are agreeing that it wasn’t in the best taste nor was it particularly funny.
As a person of colour, I’m not offended either. I expected a outrageous tweet from the headline. Then again, I went to see Louis CK a few days ago, and almost got hoarse from laughing. I guess I view comedy as…comedy.
With the current political climate, perhaps he should have been more sensitive, but the world doesn’t owe us anything. Some people are jerks. Some people care. Some people don’t. I don’t think he should delete the tweet. He should stand by it, and take whatever heat he gets as a result.
I agree. It was a lame pun, but it was not aimed at insulting or minimizing BLM or the struggles of black people in the USA.
People seem to be searching for reasons to be offended and then virtue signal these days. Don’t they have anything better to do, like go after a real racist and call him or her out.
It is a stupid and insensitive comment. The comments on his TL are predictable as well.
He’s always been smarmy and annoying. I’m not surprised to hear this.
Besides being completely lame, it seems totally unnecessary. WHY go there? Howard Stern, of all people, even said the other day that you’ve gotta have a little sensitivity. Unless you’re willing to suffer the consequences, whatever they are. $$$$ Maybe his views are down.
Sure. But it is also a larger issue of black lives not being taken seriously.
We are dehumanised and you can see this quite clearly just by the reaction of Mexican and Muslim ban vs the flint water crisis and police brutality.
Haitians were sent back, Katrina,flint, etc we are a joke, they are victims. This is not to say they aren’t, just saying how american liberals see it.
The comment I was responding to is gone.
he has always come off as an ‘i’m older, whiter, richer than you. i’ve been in this business a long time and have been generally harmless, i should say what i want and not hear anything about it’ kind of attitude.
like if anybody doesn’t like his jokes he just slowly closes the gate to his mansion in your face while waving and smiling…
You’re so right. Also, on the “generally harmless” front, what’s up with how’s he so obsessed with defending non-PC humor when his humor has never been particularly edgy or blue? Even this BLM “joke” shows he wouldn’t know how to make a decent joke about race or racial relations if his life depended on it.
That sums up the way he comes across perfectly.
Bad joke but I’m not thoroughly offended. You can take the internet clapback and the fact that very few found it funny as your punishment, Jer.
Agreed, just a bad joke.
I don’t give a flyingf$ck what republicans call me. Seinfeld was intentional. He’s already on record as being anti”politically correct” whatever that means.
Stop saying stupid stuff about minorities. Stop minimizing our very real struggles
Stop being self entitled jerks
Stop making jokes about a serious matter that you never took seriously in the first place.
And just imagine if a holocaust denier made a flippant unfunny joke about the rise of neo-nazis.
Miss me with that snowflake crap.
I didn’t really see anything too offensive. When my boyfriend and I watch black comedians and he (black ) and everyone else there is cracking up at the racist jokes about them I don’t get why it’s funny
You don’t understand why black people can make jokes about blackness that would be inappropriate coming from non-blacks? Is that what you’re saying? You really truly honestly don’t understand? Holy moly…
My nephew says the n word because his black friends do. I smack him and tell him to have some class. He asks if they can say it why can’t he?
Embee, it’s not a matter of having class. If your nephew is legitimately asking that (because I suspect you’re also the one asking it), maybe he (and you?) should read up on all of US history to find out why it is not ok for white people to say the n-word.
And Christ, are we still having this conversation in 2017? White people, it is not ok to use the n-word! Even if other black people use it. There’s a list of like 10 words that we (white people) absolutely cannot use. Is it really that hard? Use one of the millions of other words. Or better yet, if you’re itching to use the n-word that badly, maybe just don’t speak.
@meredith I’m 38 and grew up in a small Massachusetts town not knowing any of the racist terms that I hear these days. With social media and now living in the Orlando Florida area is completely different. My nephews are growing up in a completely different time and world than I did. (Just so you know, I sleep with my black boyfriend everynight and love him to death)
And Christ, it’s 2017 and my man and I get glared at by people of all races while we’re holding hands in public . I have an awesome guy and I never “itch” to say racist things to anyone so I have no reason to not speak. Put your freaking pitchfork down! (Thanks Bubbles)
I don’t have a pitchfork. My second paragraph was a general point, not to you specifically. But if you’re trying to say that having a black boyfriend means you can’t have your own racial biases, Richard Spencer had an Asian girlfriend, but he’s still a white supremacist, so that kind of argument holds absolutely no water.
You didn’t see how minimizing a movement who’s aim is to end violence and systematic racism towards black people was offense? Really?? I am speechless.
When we watch the black comedians joke about racism, violence, and things like that, it pisses me off. I don’t find it funny and if all people don’t stop, neither will racism. Jerry made a dumb joke that went along with the guys name. He should have thought twice about how people would take it.
Embee, you’re not allowed to have a rational or logical thought on this site. You also aren’t allowed to express a different opinion or legitimate question about bias. The women will grab their pitchforks and run you out of town but man, is it fun!
It tends to be the most special of the snowflakes who are so thin-skinned that they mistake receiving non-threatening criticism for their opinions with ‘not being allowed to express any different opinions’ and ‘women running us victimized man-babies out of town with their pitchforks.” Sounds like somebody’s missing their Milo Yiannopolis and Richard Spencer-sanctioned safe spaces. 😉 And of course you’re already convinced that your opinion is the only logical one. At least the ego is nice and big.
Black people joking about racism is not a cause of racism. That’s ridiculous. And you sleeping with a black guy means nothing. Lots of racists have slept with black people, btw. I’m not saying you’re racist, but you have a very very elementary pov and I’d encourage you to have a dialogue about it with your boyfriend, if he in fact gives an eff. He may not. Not all black people are of the same opinion. So your proximity to a black man really doesn’t mean anything. That doesn’t give you any kind of bona fides, if that’s what you’re thinking.
Everything he has done post-Seinfeld has basically confirmed to me that Larry David was the real brains of the operation.
Honestly I have to agree with that. LOL
He says repeatedly on CiCGC that all that should matter is “Is it funny?” On his own standard, this is a FAIL. He should stay in his lane and not do things that point so pointedly to the fact that his lane is hella small.
Personally I’ve never found him funny.
His teeth scare me.
Velourazure 🙂 The horse left the barn with a complete set of teeth.
He’s never been funny. I watched Seinfeld, but not for him.
He’s not even relevant anymore. Seinfeld was funny in the day but I had to watch it and try to forget that he was a 40-something man dating a 17 year old. He was like the creepy uncle everyone had to invite to the wedding who gave all the women lingering hugs.
Also, his wife looks cheap. All that money and she looks like she crawled out of TJ Maxx.
^^^This. The underage girlfriend always made me cringe. He was dating her right around the time all that stuff came out about Woody Allen and Soon-yi Previn, and he and Woody in my mind were cut from the same cloth.
I think his wife had breast implants. I have one of her cookbooks (which actually isn’t bad) and she didn’t have those boobs when they took the photos for the book.
He’s so full of himself. You ain’t that funny dude. It’s not 92 anymore as well. It’s 2017. Get with the times and stop being a mess.
I guess it is like a Sandy Hook or 9/11 joke a week after it happened. Too soon, dude. Too soon.
I don’t know. I’m a comedy writer by profession, and it was a dumb joke. I’m embarrassed for him for how stupid this pun was. And don’t minimize the BLM movement. Ever. That’s all I have.
Tone deaf AF in this political climate
Word.
Everyone needs to relax. I find the term white person offensive and Catholic jokes. So please stop using it
Seinfeld “tried to jokingly minimize Black Lives Matter” seriously? I don’t think so. It was a play on words. I see no disrespect there. Outrage fatigue setting in.
I watched like a dozen episodes of that show and it just made me hate Seinfeld. He seems like such an entitled asshat. He mostly talked down to his guests while they licked his ass. It was terrible. Totally ruined “Seinfeld” for me.