What’s the deal with all these protesters?
Jerry Seinfeld once again found himself dealing with pro-Palestinian activists disrupting one of his shows in Australia on Tuesday after facing similar disruption over the weekend. The latest interruption took place at the ICC Sydney Theatre, where two men in the audience stood and shouted “free Palestine” while also unfurling a Palestinian flag, according to 7News Australia.
Video of the incident shared online captures the crowd loudly booing the stunt, while Seinfeld can be heard telling the protesters: “You’re doing great—you’re getting them on your side, can you hear it? It’s working!”
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The legendary comedian, 70, continued to mock the protesters as security responded to the situation inside the theater. “You have strong political feelings,” Seinfeld said, “But you don’t know where to say them. You think that ruining the night—it doesn’t affect me. All these people, you’re ruining their night.”
He went on to joke that the protest was all “set up by me.” “This is a friend of mine,” Seinfeld, who is Jewish, said. “I’m gonna introduce him. His name is Hymie Goldstein… It was all set up.”
“I love them too,” Seinfeld said, referring to the protesters. “They just need a little direction of, you know, where to use their tremendous brain power.” Addressing the activists, he added: “Thank you for coming. Did you like the horse bit before you left? Did you get a little laugh anyway?”
Seinfeld has faced numerous protests at his recent comedy shows and public appearances over his support for Israel in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks and the ongoing war in Gaza. Demonstrators also targeted his commencement speech at Duke University last month after it emerged that his wife, Jessica, had donated to a pro-Israel counterprotest at UCLA that took place shortly before a mob attacked the campus’ pro-Palestinian encampment.
The criticism followed him to the Southern hemisphere, with a heckler interrupting his show at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney on Sunday night. “We have a genius, ladies and gentlemen, he solved the Middle East!” Seinfeld said during the disruption as security at the venue scrambled to eject the man.
“They’re going to start punching you in about three seconds,” Seinfeld joked, “So I would try to get all of your genius out so we can all learn from you.”
