EXCLUSIVE
Jerry Seinfeld has given a blunt four-word response to a 7NEWS question about being heckled by a pro-Palestinian audience member at his Sydney show on the weekend.
Seinfeld was walking near Sydney Harbour Bridge with his entourage on Tuesday when 7NEWS reporter Tom Sacre approached the beloved comedian for a chat.
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WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Jerry Seinfeld chats to 7NEWS in Sydney.
Asked how he was doing, Seinfeld gushed about how much he loved Sydney.
“We love it, we love the Australian people, we are here to put smiles on their faces and that’s what we’re gonna do tonight,” he said, ahead of Tuesday night’s show.
But when Sacre asked about Seinfeld’s gig at the Qudos Bank Arena on Sunday night, when he roasted a heckler for interrupting his performance, the 70-year-old star wasn’t in the mood for a long response.
“You were saying the other night (a comedy show) is not the place to solve the world’s problems, it’s just a place for you to make some jokes?” Sacre said.
Seinfeld threw his hands up, in the air, grinned and said: “What do you think?” before waving Sacre away with a “thank you!”
Seinfeld generated national headlines by verbally taking down the heckler on Sunday night.
“We have a genius ladies and gentlemen, he solved the Middle East,” Seinfeld said after the interruption.
“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.
“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.
“You have to go 20,000 miles from the problem and screw up a comedian, that is how you solve world issues.”
His comments drew loud applause from the audience.
Seinfeld, who is Jewish, made a solidarity visit to Israel in December and met with families of hostages taken by Hamas in the October 7 attack.
Despite the heckling at Sunday night’s performance, the comedian seemed to be enjoying his time in Sydney.
“Tonight we’re playing at the Sydney Theatre, the greatest venue in the world, in my opinion,” he said.
“The way it’s set up, it’s my favourite place to perform, so we’re so excited to be here.”
The comic will also appear in Brisbane, Adelaide, and Melbourne.
Seinfeld sparked a different kind of controversy recently when he said he missed the era of “dominant masculinity” during a podcast interview.
He was reflecting on American culture in the 1960s after exploring the era in his new Netflix film Unfrosted, which tells the fictionalised origin story of the Pop-Tart.
“I miss a dominant masculinity,” he admitted on the Honestly with Bari Weiss podcast.
“I get the toxic thing … but still, I like a real man.”
He added that he liked the way the 1960s had an “agreed-upon hierarchy”.
“We have no sense of hierarchy (now),” he said.
“As humans, we don’t really feel comfortable with that.
“That is part of what … if you want to talk about nostalgia, that is part of what makes (the 1960s) attractive looking back.”