Veep star Julia Louis-Dreyfus has explained why she believes that complaining about political correctness in comedy is a red flag in the wake of comments made by her former co-star Jerry Seinfeld last month.
The 70-year-old comedian was responsible for long-running sitcom Seinfeld, which launched in 1989. In an April 2024 interview with The New Yorker, he claimed that many of the jokes in the series wouldn’t be allowed to be broadcast if they aired today, blaming the “extreme left” and “PC crap” for the “death” of comedy.
Following these “you can’t do edgy comedy any more because of WOKE” comments, Seinfeld was dragged online by none other than It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia star and co-creator Rob McElhenney, whose long-running comedy (which is approaching its 17th season) regularly pushes the boundaries of good taste.
In The New Yorker interview, one example Jerry Seinfeld gave of a joke that he doesn’t think would be allowed in 2024 was: “Kramer decides to start a business of having homeless people pull rickshaws because, as he says, ‘They’re outside anyway’, “Do you think I could get that episode on the air today?”
In response to Seinfeld’s comment, Rob McElhenney simply shared a photo of well-known homeless Always Sunny character (and former priest) Rickety Cricket, with the caption “probably.”
Now, Jerry Seinfeld’s former co-star, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, 63, has entered the fray.
In an interview with the New York Times published on Saturday (8 June) she was asked her about the fact Seinfeld had called out the “extreme left” for ruining comedic television.
She replied: “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 followed up with her thoughts on political correctness, telling the NYT that “as it equates to tolerance,” it’s “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,” she added.
This isn’t the first time that the Veep star has spoken out in favour of political correctness.
Five years ago, she told TIME: “I’m in favour of political correctness. I’m suspicious of those who have a problem with it. I think it is language for something else – for ‘It’s O.K. to make racist jokes,’ or ‘It’s O.K. to make violence-against-women jokes.’”
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