Jerry Seinfeld’s performance in Australia on Sunday was briefly derailed by an anti-Israel heckler who was mercilessly mocked by the comedian.
“We have a genius ladies and gentlemen, he solved the Middle East,” Seinfeld joked as the crowd in Sydney jeered the heckler.
As security moved to eject the person, he continued, “They’re going to start punching you in about three seconds, so I would try to get all of your genius out so we can all learn from you.”
The roast didn’t stop there. “You’re really influencing everyone here we’re all on your side now, because you’ve made your point so well, and in the right venue, you’ve come to the right place for a political conversation,” he said. “You have to go 20,000 miles from the problem and screw up a comedian, that is how you solve world issues.”
Several of Seinfeld’s recent comedy sets and his commencement speech at Duke University have been targeted by pro-Palestinian protesters after it was revealed Seinfeld’s wife had financed counterprotests at UCLA right before the counterprotesters launched a violent attack.
Seinfeld has been an outspoken supporter of Israel and its war on Hamas, and he traveled to a kibbutz in December to meet with hostages’ families. He has also recently griped about a grab-bag of culture war issues, from the “extreme left” purging American television of good comedy to his desire for the return of “dominant masculinity.”
“When we get protesters occasionally, I love to say to the audience, ‘You know I love that these young people, they’re trying to get engaged with politics, we have to just correct their aim a little bit, they don’t seem to understand that as comedians we really don’t control anything,’” Seinfeld said in May.
This post was originally published on Daily Beast
