Responding to social media posts seems like something that Jerry Seinfeld would never bother with in a thousand years, and yet, the stand-up comedian did just that when he wrote a scathing rebuttal to a LinkedIn post declaring that New York City is “dead” because of the pandemic. While promoting his new book on 60 Minutes, Seinfeld opened up about the reasoning behind his passionate defense of the Big Apple for the New York Times, and it came down to a simple realization: Somebody had to do it:
“When you were a kid, remember kicking over the anthill? That’s what just happened to us. They just kicked over the whole anthill,” he tells Wertheim. “And what do the ants do? ‘All right. Hand me the next crumb. Let’s get back to work.’” Seinfeld says he has nothing against the author of the essay on LinkedIn, “He’s fine. I didn’t like that nobody was rebutting it. Then I realized, ‘Oh, I guess that’s my job.’ Somebody, a real New Yorker, has to answer this.”
While he says he has nothing against the author, Stand Up NYC comedy club co-owner James Altucher, Seinfeld notably didn’t take the opportunity to walk back calling him a “putz.” In fact, he doubled down. “That’s who that guy is for the rest of his life. ‘Oh, look who’s here. The putz from LinkedIn,’” Seinfeld told 60 Minutes.
Published back in August, Seinfeld took Altucher to task for feeling the city and moving to Florida after giving up on New York City. “Imagine being in a real war with this guy by your side,” Seinfeld wrote. “Wipe your tears, wipe your butt and pull it together.” However, the piece drew mixed reactions. While some praised Seinfeld for defending his hometown, others found it tone deaf that a millionaire who owns a three-story garage in the Upper West Side just for his car collection is telling people to “bounce back” while the pandemic is causing large-scale unemployment and economic hardships.
(Via CBS News)