Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who starred in “Seinfeld” and “Veep,” is speaking out against her former co-star Jerry Seinfeld’s stance on the state of comedy and “political correctness.”
“If you look back at comedies and dramas from, say, 30 years ago through the lens of today, you might find some parts that are outdated. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to have an antennae for sensitivities,” Louis-Dreyfus told The New York Times in an interview.
She continued, “That doesn’t mean all comedy is ruined. When you hear people start complaining about political correctness, I understand people rebel against it, but to me it’s a red flag because it can mean something else. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to be aware of certain sensitivities.”
Seinfeld made headlines a month ago when he appeared on The New Yorker Radio Hour and blasted the “hard left” for making comedy too politically correct and pushing it off TV.
“Seinfeld” star Michael Richards says one of the show’s leads almost quit
Julia Louis-Dreyfus told The New York Times: “When I hear people start complaining about political correctness, I understand that people are going to be rebellious about it, but to me that’s a red flag, because sometimes it means something else.” (Dia Dipaspil/Getty Images/File)
“Back in the day, most people would come home at the end of the day and say, ‘Oh, Cheers is on. Oh, MASH is on. Oh,[The] Mary Tyler Moore [Show]”I predicted that ‘All in the Family’ would be broadcast.” [there will] “There should be something interesting to see on TV tonight,” he said.
“Well, guess what? Where is it? Where is it? This is the result of far-left and PC nonsense and people who are overly worried about offending others.”
In his opinion, stand-up comedians “are not watched by anyone. The audience is. We know very quickly when we’re off track, and we adapt very quickly.”
“But once you write a script and it goes through four or five people, committees, groups, and they say, ‘Here’s our idea of this joke,’ that’s the end of comedy.”
Jerry Seinfeld said he believes the disappearance of comedy from television is due to “the far left and political correctness bullshit and people who care too much about offending other people.” (Getty Images/File)
Click here to sign up for our Entertainment Newsletter
Louis-Dreyfus also challenged creativity by committee, but for different reasons.
“My feeling about all of this is that political correctness is obviously fine as long as it equates to tolerance. And of course I reserve the right to boo anyone who says something that makes me uncomfortable, but at the same time I respect their right to free speech, right? But the bigger issue, and the real threat to art and artful creation, is the consolidation of money and power. All of this siloing of studios, outlets, streamers, distributors, I don’t think is good for creative voices. So that’s what I want to say in terms of threats to the arts,” she told the newspaper.
The “Veep” star noted that as culture changes, so do tastes.
The “Veep” star said that comedies and dramas today are made through a “different lens” and that “things are changing in a big way for the better.” (Santiago Felipe/Getty Images/File)
Did you enjoy reading this? For more entertainment news click here
“I know that the lens through which we create art today — not just comedy but drama as well — is a different lens. It really is. Even classically great, indisputably great films of the past are riddled with attitudes that would not be acceptable today. So I think it’s good to be vigilant,” she said, adding, “I mean, things have changed. And in that case, I’d say things have changed for the very good.”
A question often asked about classic TV and film comedies is, “Can it be made today?” But in the case of “Seinfeld,” Louis-Dreyfus doesn’t think so, not in terms of content, but rather in terms of the larger corporatization of entertainment.
Louis-Dreyfus believes “Seinfeld” couldn’t be made today because “it’s hard to get recognition for something different.” (Chris Haston/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
Click here to get the FOX News app
“What the hell is going on with network television? When Seinfeld was made, it was nothing like what was on the air at the time. It was just a bunch of losers,” said the 63-year-old. “So I think one of the main reasons it’s not made now is because it’s hard to get recognition for something different. Especially these days, people are kind of scared.”
Fox News Digital’s Caroline Sayer contributed to this report.
