Jerry Seinfeld Awkwardly Explains His Eulogy for ‘Dominant Masculinity’

Warning: This article contains descriptions of domestic violence

Comedian and breakfast pastry auteur Jerry Seinfeld made headlines this week for admitting that the “extreme left” didn’t actually kill comedy, as he had suggested earlier this year. Seinfeld conceded that his prior statement is “not true,” then compared comedians navigating evolving cultural sensitivities to an Olympic skiing competition. `

Seinfeld made this confession during an episode of the Breaking Bread podcast, hosted by his friend (and former Marriage Ref collaborator) Tom Papa. While Seinfeld’s mea culpa attracted a lot of online attention, not much notice was paid to another moment in the show, in which Seinfeld addressed another dumb thing he said during the Unfrosted press tour. 

Back in May, Seinfeld publicly proclaimed that he longs for the days of “dominant masculinity,” adding, “I get the toxic thing, but still, I like a real man.” While a lot of people obviously took issue with Seinfeld’s patriarchal nostalgia, Seinfeld did earn the respect of the alpha males who earn their living by over-analyzing candid photos of celebrities while drinking from giant sippy cups.

“That was another thing I said, that I missed dominant masculinity,” Seinfeld told Papa. “Which is probably not the greatest phrase. What I was really saying was, I miss big personalities.” Seinfeld recalled how some of the “big personalities” he mentioned last spring included Muhammad Ali, Sean Connery and Howard Cosell, because “these were all the people I wanted to be like as a kid.” 

“It was really a style thing,” Seinfeld continued. “Everyone conforms (so as) to not offend. I miss George C. Scott.” Seinfeld added he was surprised to see that the headlines the next day claimed that he was “calling for toxic masculinity to come back.” 

“Yeah, we don’t need the ‘toxic’ part, but the big personalities are fun!” Seinfeld argued.

Part of the problem with Seinfeld’s retroactive rationalization of his comments is that most of the macho characters of yesteryear that he singled out are incredibly toxic. Scott was a liquor-soaked ball of rage who famously abused actress Ava Gardner during their relationship. Connery was also an abusive piece of trash who literally bragged about how he silenced women using violence during an interview with Barbara Walters. What a fun personality!

As for Ali, he was obviously a great boxer, and a captivating cultural figure who was lauded for his anti-war activism, but Ali’s legacy is complicated by certain details of his life, like how he began a relationship with a 16-year-old when he was in his mid-20s (of course, we wouldn’t expect Seinfeld of all people to take issue with that). Ali also faced posthumous allegations of domestic violence in the 2018 biography Ali: A Life.

Society moving away from lionizing the “dominant masculinity” of these types of men, who arguably used their talents and charms to obfuscate horrific off-screen behavior and further enable cycles of abusive behavior, is objectively a good thing. 

Just take the L, Jerry.

You (yes, you) should follow JM on Twitter (if it still exists by the time you’re reading this).