Australian comedian Jim Jefferies has hit back at American comedian Jerry Seinfeld after the sitcom star made a thinly veiled “threat” to him on his turf.
Seinfeld, 70, was on stage at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena in June when his performance was interrupted by a pro-Palestinian heckler.
In response, the TV star sarcastically claimed the provocateur had “solved” the humanitarian crisis, before drawing an analogy between the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and Australia’s checkered history in treating First Nations people.
He then jokingly threatened to heckle an Australian comedian in retaliation.
“What do you think about this? I’m going to annoy Jim Jefferies at a concert in New York. If this works (to solve the Gaza crisis), this will work (to help indigenous peoples),” the TV star told the audience.
Radio presenters Kyle Sandilands and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson asked Jefferies about the threat on the Kyle and Jackie O show on Tuesday morning.
Jefferies, 47, who will play his second concert in Sydney on Wednesday, told the hosts he had never met Seinfeld but the two shared “mutual friends”.
“I don’t know if he meant it as a threat, but I’m totally willing to accept it,” Jefferies said.
Australian comedian Jim Jefferies has thrown down the gauntlet to American comedian Jerry Seinfeld (pictured in June), who said he would “ruin” the Australian comedian on a recent show.
He went on to joke that if “I was in the middle of a show in New York and I was getting booed, and the booer was Jerry Seinfeld talking about Aboriginal people, as he was being dragged away all we would hear would be…”
The rest of the comments were censored during the broadcast.
Sandilands, 53, said he didn’t even realise Jefferies had been raised on the same comedy set because “the Australian media cut him off”.
“Because, you know, they don’t want to go the Aboriginal way,” Sandilands said before playing the unedited audio.
In it, Seinfeld addressed Australia’s own history with racial issues.
“Because I know there are problems here, with the Aboriginal Indians and the whites,” he said.
Seinfeld has been a staunch supporter of Israel since the conflict with Hamas began in October 2023.
Sydney-born comedian Jim Jefferies (pictured) lives in the US but is currently touring Australia. Jefferies told Kyle and Jackie O he is “ready for” a showdown with Seinfeld after the Sydney morning radio duo aired unedited audio from Seinfeld’s show.
The Sydney-born, Perth-raised comedian is no stranger to public conflict.
A troublemaker at Jefferies’ recent show in Perth was forcibly removed by security, all while Jefferies responded from the stage that the angry customer should try to “fight” him.
Part of the incident, which occurred at Perth’s HBF Stadium, was captured on video by radio host Robbie Von Klitzing, who temporarily hosts HIT WA alongside Carly Portch and shared his account of what happened with listeners.
He revealed that the audience’s anger came after US-based Australian comedian Jefferies made some jokes about American politics, taking aim at Donald Trump, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
The controversial comedian is no stranger to public conflict and also explained why a troublemaker at his recent show in Perth had to be removed by security: “Trump fans have no sense of humour.”
“Trump fans have no sense of humor about Trump,” Jefferies told Kyle and Jackie O when Sandilands pressed him to explain why he wasn’t voting for Trump.
“Because that makes it harder for comedians! He makes it harder for us!” Jefferies said.
Explaining the Perth incident, the comedian said he had been making a joke about how the former US president was trying to appeal to younger voters by “piercing his ear”.
“How funny!” Jackie O chimed in.
“I’m not condoning attempted murder or anything like that, but it was strange that the crowd started chanting USA USA,” Jefferies continued.
Sandilands was adamant that politics have no place in comedy and tried to steer the conversation with some digs at “very liberal California” where “it’s all about guys wearing lipstick and high heels.”
Jefferies was undeterred: “I think we have the silent majority,” he replied, adopting a politically neutral stance.
“I think both the far left and the far right are just continuing what they’re doing and most of us think everyone is crazy.”