Jon Stewart Wonders Why Everyone’s Coming for Jerry Seinfeld — Here’s Why

During Jon Stewart’s weekly drop-in to The Daily Show, he touched on all this week’s usual suspects: The tragic death of the President of Iran, international criticism of Netanyahu, the topsy-turvy testimony of Michael Cohen. Those were just appetizers, however — the main course was conservative reaction to liberal reaction to Kansas City Chief Harrison Butker’s commencement speech. Take it easy, Stewart implored all those Fox News pundits. Butker got off easy. The guy who has really gotten raked over the coals? Poor Jerry Seinfeld.

“Look, Jerry Seinfeld took more shit over the past two weeks promoting a Pop-Tart movie than Harrison Butker did for his entire speech. And I ask you people, what is the deal with that?” asked Stewart, somehow resisting the urge to deliver the line in Seinfeld’s nasal, jokey cadence. 

It sounds like the set-up for another joke, but Stewart assures us it’s not. “I legitimately would like to know why he's taking so much shit about everything from everybody,” he repeated. “And who are these people?” OK, OK, Stewart can only hold out so long, giving viewers one final “Who are these people?” in Seinfeld-voice. 

Really, Stewart? You legitimately want to know why Seinfeld has taken so much shit? Here’s a hint: It wasn’t for promoting Unfrosted, despite its 44 percent critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes. No one is complaining that Seinfeld overdid it on the promotional tour, stopping by every third-tier talk show and niche podcast that would have him. No one except Seinfeld, who showed up on Saturday Night Live to admit he had gone overboard with the PR blitz. 

The real reason(s) Seinfeld got so much shit? It was all the unprompted, un-Pop-Tart-related culture bombs that the comic detonated during his many, many media appearances. Here’s a final compilation for those of you keeping score at home:

• Blaming the extreme left for scrubbing all of the sitcoms on TV these days. Let’s throw network executives under the bus as well. “(Comedy) goes into four or five different hands, committees, groups — ’Here’s our thought about this joke.’ Well, that’s the end of your comedy.”
• Declaring the movie business is over, replaced by “Depression? Malaise? I would say confusion.”
• Griping that he’s sick of talk shows before showing up to chew the fat with Kelly Clarkson, Rich Eisen and Bill Maher
• Complaining about his birthday while the world tries to wish him well on his 70th
• Accusing Friends of stealing Seinfeld’s jokes in an Unfrosted promo bit
• Lecturing college graduates about losing their sense of humor while protestors were dragged out of the proceedings 
• Lamenting the woulda-coulda-shouldas of the final episode of Seinfeld decades after the fact
• Bumming everyone out with his “dark moods” and “I just don’t feel good” complaints

You know, those reasons. And who are these people telling anti-woke comics like Seinfeld to just “shut the fuck up”? 

Oh yeah — that was Jon Stewart.