Plus VIDEO: Jerry Seinfeld On Diversity In Comedy: “Who Cares? Are You Making Us Laugh Or Not?” (Wonder if it occurs to Jerry that the same principle would logically apply to testing for verbal and mathematical skills to get into Harvard or to getting into NASA's Astronaut Training Program, which today takes racial diversity in space into account.)

Jerry Seinfeld On Diversity In Comedy: “Who Cares? Are You Making Us Laugh Or Not?”



During a BuzzFeed Brews with CBS This Morning interview, the former Seinfeldstar and co-creator said it is “anti-comedy” to approach the genre like it’s “the census.”

At the height of Seinfeld’s popularity, the NBC comedy was repeatedly accused of presenting an exclusively “white” view of its diverse New York City setting. During Jerry Seinfeld’s BuzzFeed Brews with CBS This Morning interview on Monday, BuzzFeed Business Editor Peter Lauria asked about the enduring criticism, which has carried over to his Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee web series. The Crackle docu-comedy featured white male performers (like Larry David, Ricky Gervais, Alec Baldwin, and Michael Richards) in the first batch of episodes, but later included Sarah Silverman and Tina Fey.

“People think it’s the census or something,” Seinfeld said of the assertion that all pop culture should accurately reflect society. “This has gotta represent the actual pie chart of America? Who cares? Funny is the world that I live in. You’re funny, I’m interested. You’re not funny, I’m not interested. I have no interest in gender or race or anything like that.” . . .

http://www.buzzfeed.com/jarettwieselman/jerry-seinfeld-on-diversity-in-comedy-who-cares-are-you-maki