Comedian Jerry Seinfeld, who has mainly remained apolitical as one of the most celebrated and successful comedians of his age, dipped his toes into some potentially controversial comments while appearing on the podcast “Honestly with Bari Weiss.” Weiss, a former journalist, was interviewing Seinfeld about his new Netflix movie, “Frosted,” which chronicles the battle between Kellogg’s and Post over breakfast supremacy. Noting the era of “Frosted,” which takes place in 1963, Weiss said it was a nostalgic period, which “feels like another planet.” Seinfeld seemed to agree and added, “But there’s another element there that I think is the key element, and that is an agreed-upon hierarchy, which I think is absolutely vaporized in today’s moment. And I think that is why people lean on the horn and drive in the crazy way that they drive because we have no sense of hierarchy,” he said.

He lamented the loss of “a real man” from those days. “I really thought when I was in that era, again, it was [John F. Kennedy], it was Muhammad Ali, it was Sean Connery, Howard Cosell, you can go all the way down there. That’s a real man.” Seinfeld noted that his own role as a comedian was a “childish pursuit” that didn’t encourage such machismo, but admitted he still admired those types of men. “I’ve always wanted to be a real man. I never made it,” he joked. He noted his “Frosted” co-star Hugh Grant as another great example. “He knows how to dress. He knows how to talk. He’s charming. He has stories. He’s comfortable at dinner parties and knows how to get a drink. You know what I mean? That stuff.” He did acknowledge there might be pushback but held firm. “But I miss a dominant masculinity. Yeah, I get the toxic thing. Thank you, thank you,” he said. “But still, I like a real man.”

Some online users took umbrage at Seinfeld’s comments, with one posting online “If you Google “Seinfeld Dominant Masculinity” this is what shows up:” featuring a picture of the show’s female character, Elaine Benes, sitting in a chair smoking a cigar. “Yes the “dominant masculinity” for which Jerry Seinfeld is well known…” wrote another user, featuring Seinfeld wearing the “pirate shirt” from an episode of “Seinfeld.” Seinfeld has previously lamented for days gone by. Speaking on “The New Yorker Radio Hour,” Seinfeld accused the far-left of ruining entertainment. He said comedy is meant to be free of policing, which is what draws people to it. “It used to be you would go home at the end of the day, most people would go, ‘Oh, ‘Cheers’ is on. Oh, ‘M*A*S*H’ is on. Oh, ‘Mary Tyler Moore’ is on. ‘All in the Family’ is on.’ You just expected there’ll be some funny stuff we can watch on TV tonight. This is the result of the extreme left and PC [politically correct] crap, and people worrying so much about offending other people.”