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Jerry Seinfeld says people who say 'Free Palestine' are worse than the Ku Klux Klan (www.nbcnews.com)

submitted 1 year ago by geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml to c/politics@lemmy.world

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Jerry Seinfeld likened the Free Palestine movement to the Ku Klux Klan — even saying those who use the phrase "Free Palestine" are worse than the white supremacist group — at a student event at Duke University meant to honor hostages who are being held in Gaza.

Seinfeld spoke at the school in Durham, North Carolina, to introduce a former Israeli hostage, Omer Shem Tov, when he made the remarks, according to the university's student newspaper, The Duke Chronicle. He reportedly started by saying, in reference to the Free Palestine activist movement, "Just say you don’t like Jews."

“By saying 'Free Palestine,' you’re not admitting what you really think. So it’s actually — compared to the Ku Klux Klan, I’m actually thinking the Klan is actually a little better here, because they can come right out and say, ‘We don’t like Blacks, we don’t like Jews.’ Okay, that’s honest,'" the Chronicle reported Seinfeld said.

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[-] arsCynic@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

They dated for four years, therefore I assume there was consent. I don't think the word predatory applies in such cases.

Conversely, we had a comedian in my country who relentlessly messaged women he worked with to the point of once going to their home and knocking on her door begging she opened. That's predatory.

[-] DrSteveBrule@mander.xyz 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Yes because we all know every relationship is consensual. Especially when it's between a man in his late 30s who took an interest in a 17 year old girl. Why would the word "grooming" ever be a thought on anyone's mind in such a scenario.

[-] arsCynic@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

Yes because we all know every relationship is consensual. Especially when it’s between a man in his late 30s who took an interest in a 17 year old girl. Why would the word “grooming” ever be a thought on anyone’s mind in such a scenario.

Were you cognitively not capable at seventeen to detect grooming? And I'm not saying this acerbically. People who argue your point seem to talk as if at seventeen they still thought as 12-year-olds. If that's the case, then yes I agree. But in my late adolescence I was definitely capable of discerning vice from virtue.

Anyway, here we go with definitions again:

“Sexual grooming is the action or behavior used to establish an emotional connection with a vulnerable person – generally a minor under the age of consent[1][2] – and sometimes the victim's family,[3] to lower their inhibitions with the objective of sexual abuse.” ―https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_grooming

While the corporate elites don't really have a great track-record, especially considering "where are the Epstein files?", I don't think it applies in Seinfeld's case, even though he strikes me as a douchebag. But I might be wrong, have been before.

[-] DrSteveBrule@mander.xyz 1 points 1 year ago

Believe it or not, your level of maturity at 17 years old does not represent the majority of 17 year olds. Nor does mine and I considered myself to be reasonably mature at that age, as it seems you believe yourself to have been. What makes grooming so effective is that the targets of grooming don't realize when it is happening. You may be right about the definition, but the way you are going about trying to correct people is insensitive to the topic at hand. Especially when it is so obvious that said point has gone straight over your head. You are completely off topic with the definitions argument.

[-] arsCynic@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 year ago

Believe it or not, your level of maturity at 17 years old does not represent the majority of 17 year olds. Nor does mine and I considered myself to be reasonably mature at that age, as it seems you believe yourself to have been. What makes grooming so effective is that the targets of grooming don’t realize when it is happening. You may be right about the definition, but the way you are going about trying to correct people is insensitive to the topic at hand. Especially when it is so obvious that said point has gone straight over your head. You are completely off topic with the definitions argument.

Wait, the topic at hand is "Jerry Seinfeld says people who say 'Free Palestine' are worse than the Ku Klux Klan", right? The whole reason I brought this up was because unjustly calling him a paedophile does discussing this topic a disservice because any further arguments won't be taken as seriously. Sprinkling valid criticism with lies doesn't strengthen an argument.

this post was submitted on 11 Sep 2025

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