Comedian Jerry Seinfeld faced a brief interruption during his Duke University commencement speech when a group of students walked out chanting "Free Palestine." The crowd responded by drowning out the protesters and cheering for Seinfeld, who continued his speech without further incident.
In a display of both support and dissent, Duke University students disrupted comedian Jerry Seinfeld's commencement speech on Sunday with chants of "Free Palestine."
As Seinfeld took the stage to deliver his remarks to a graduating class of over 7,000 students, a small group of protesters rose from their seats and marched out of the stadium, chanting their message in solidarity with the Palestinian cause.
Videos of the incident show the protesters' voices being quickly drowned out by a chorus of "Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!" from the rest of the audience, who cheered and applauded to support the comedian.
Jerry Seinfeld, who is Jewish and a co-chair of Duke's Parents Committee, managed to deliver his speech without further interruptions, despite the brief demonstration.
In an Instagram post following the event, Seinfeld's wife Jessica praised her husband's performance and the audience's response.
"Amazing crowd @dukeuniversity today where Jerry gave the commencement speech and received an honorary degree," she wrote. "There was a minimal interruption – a small group of protesters walked out."
"They were booed by the crowd and then the stadium chanted ‘Jer-ry!’" she added. "Jerry's speech was amazing and the grads and their parents gave him a standing ovation."
Seinfeld's speech focused on his "three real keys to life": busting one's butt, paying attention, and falling in love. He urged the graduates to embrace hard work, question risks, and appreciate the small things.
He also took a subtle jab at woke culture, defending privilege and arguing that graduating from Duke was an honor to be cherished.
"Privilege today seems to be the worst thing you can have," he said. "I would like to take a moment to defend it."
"You went to Duke, that is an unbelievable privilege," he added. "We're embarrassed of things we should be proud of, and proud of things we should be embarrassed about."
Duke University has emerged as a top-tier educational institution, attracting students who might otherwise have attended Ivy League schools but were deterred by the administrations' handling of campus protests.
Despite the brief interruption, Seinfeld's speech was well-received by the vast majority of the Duke community, who expressed their support on social media and praised the comedian's message of resilience and positivity.
"You cannot beat this school," Jessica Seinfeld concluded in her Instagram story. "We are #ForeverDuke."
