More on this absurd non-story.
Via TIME:
Jerry Seinfeld wants to stay out of the conversation about diversity in comedy, but he may not be able to stay blasé for much longer. In an interview published by BuzzFeed Brews and CBS This Morning, the iconic comedian was asked about the lack of diversity among the guests on his Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee Web series — and his answer is now driving the latest controversy over the racial and gender makeup of the comedy world.
Here’s what happened: when asked about the homogeneity of his guests, Seinfeld derided critics for paying attention to whether comedy programming like his series accurately represents the makeup of the population. “Who cares?” he said, elaborating that he has “no interest” in gender or race but feels that “PC nonsense” about diversity is “anticomedy” because it focuses on something other than whether or not a person is funny.
The interview has already sparked a debate over whether, as Gawker put it, that statement combined with his overwhelmingly white male slate of guests means he thinks “any comedian who is not a white male is also not funny” — or, on the other hand, whether Seinfeld’s statements are forward thinking, reflecting a desire for true meritocracy among comedians.
He may come to regret being so flip. The conversation about diversity in comedy has reached a boiling point in recent months, focused largely on Saturday Night Live. Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee is no SNL — it’s a conversation-based Web series rather than a sketch show, so there’s no need for him to find comedians who can do a varied set of impressions and characters — but the arc of SNL’s recent challenges with diversity illustrates why his comments can’t be written off.