On Sunday, as we reported, a small group of Duke University students interrupted commencement ceremonies as the keynote speaker, comedian comedian Jerry Seinfeld, was being introduced. The good news is that they were mostly shouted down and booed as the crowd shouted in support of Seinfeld: “Jerry, Jerry!”
Warning: Mild profanity
As a Blue Devil, I was dismayed to see @DukeU students walk out on the great @JerrySeinfeld at graduation.
But I was also pleased to see that most did not join the idiocy and booed their asses out of there.https://t.co/SyZ2ntfJPM
— Bob Hoge (@Bob_Hoge_CA) May 12, 2024
After the brief disturbance, Jerry went on to deliver a well-received speech (more on that later).
Seinfeld’s wife Jessica took to social media after the ceremony and revealed that most students were not booing her husband—they were shouting down the disrupters.
“Amazing crowd @dukeuniversity today where Jerry gave the commencement speech and received an honorary degree,” Jessica Seinfeld wrote on her Instagram story. “There was a minimal interruption – a small group of protesters walked out.”
“They were booed by the crowd and then the stadium chanted ‘Jer-ry!’” she added. “Jerry’s speech was amazing and the grads and their parents gave him a standing ovation.”
Some on the internet are claiming that the protesters were triggered that Jessica supported counter-protests to the violent mob that camped out on UCLA’s quad for weeks. What, they expected zero pushback for the antisemitic takeover of a major university? Snowflakes.
Jerry Seinfeld has been vocal in his support of Israel. In December 2023, amidst Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, he travelled to Israel.
Jessica Seinfeld, Jerry Seinfeld’s wife, funded the violence Zionist protest at the UCLA encampment. https://t.co/AEVvpU2RSY
— CODEPINK (@codepink) May 12, 2024
I love how Codepink, in the tweet above, accuses Jerry of being “vocal in his support of Israel” and that Jessica is some sort of war criminal for siding with the counter-protesters. To me, it only makes me like the couple more.
But back to Jerry’s speech. I wrote Sunday about his praise for effort in life and his advice to fall in love with as many aspects of it as possible. But he also had some very smart words on “privilege,” which somewhere along the line became a dirty word and a slur against one’s character.
He also took a subtle swipe at wokeism.
“Privilege is a word that has taken quite a beating lately,” he said. “Privilege today seems to be the worst thing you can have. I would like to take a moment to defend it.”
Growing up Jewish in New York, he said, was a privilege for an aspiring comedian. Graduating from Duke University is another privilege for the students attending his speech, he added.
“You went to Duke, that is an unbelievable privilege,” he said. “We’re embarrassed of things we should be proud of, and proud of things we should be embarrassed about.”
Then he took a funny shot at Blue Devil Nation:
“You’re never going to believe this, Harvard used to be a great place to go to school,” he joked. “Now it’s Duke.”
I’ve always thought the whiny angst over “privilege” is ridiculous, because isn’t giving our children the best chance in life one of our main goals? Isn’t that part of the American dream? But now, to some, it’s something to be sneered at.
Seinfelds 1, wokesters 0.
Watch the full speech:
