Seinfeld star and stand-up comedian Jerry Seinfeld has had a change of heart about the “extreme left” ruining the comedy of today. During a recent appearance on his friend and fellow comedian Tom Papa’s podcast, Breaking Bread, Seinfeld walked back the controversial comments he made earlier this year, in which he said “the result of the extreme left and P.C. crap and people worrying so much about offending other people” was behind the lack of hit TV comedy shows in the modern era.

Now, Seinfeld has said he regrets making such claims, accepting that he said what he said but now realizes that that’s “not true,” and asserting that today’s comedians must move with the times.

“I said that the ‘extreme left’ has suppressed the art of comedy. I did say that. That’s not true. It’s not true. If you’re a champion skier, you can put the gates anywhere you want on the mountain and you’re going to make the gate. That’s comedy. Whatever the culture is, we make the gate. You don’t make the gate, you’re out of the game. The game is where is the gate and how do I make the gate to get down the hill.”

‘You Can’t Say Certain Words About Groups. So What?’

Upon reflection, Seinfeld says that culture changes all the time, and only the best comedians are able to adapt, adding that he does not think “the ‘extreme left’ has done anything to inhibit the art of comedy.”

“Does culture change and are their things that I use to say that [I can’t because] people are always moving [the gate]? Yes, but that’s the biggest and easiest target. You can’t say certain words about groups. So what? The accuracy of your observation has to be 100 times finer than that just to be a comedian…So I don’t think, as I said, the ‘extreme left’ has done anything to inhibit the art of comedy.”

Related 10 Jokes From Seinfeld Today’s Kids Wouldn’t Understand While the show still holds up and continues to attract new viewers, there are some jokes in Seinfeld that younger audiences might not understand.

As well as mulling over his previous comments, Seinfeld clarified some others, refuting the claims that he said he would never perform again at colleges as they have become too politically correct and that young people “don’t know what they’re talking about” when it comes to issues such as sexism and racism. Well, according to the comedian, he actually performs at colleges “all the time.”

“First of all, I never said it, but if you think I said it, it’s not true. I play colleges all the time. I have no problem with kids, performing for them. I was just at the University of Indiana. I do colleges all the time.”

At the time, Seinfeld faced a lot of backlash about his comments regarding “the extreme left” and their apparent unending war against comedy. As well as being called out by It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia creator and star Rob McElhenney over the ridiculousness of such claims, his Seinfeld co-star Julia Louis-Dreyfus, with the Emmy winner pushing back against criticisms of “political correctness in comedy,” and saying such claims are often “a red flag.”

Release Date July 5, 1989 Seasons 9 Studio NBC Expand