Students at one of the most prestigious universities in the US have walked out of a commencement speech given by comedian Jerry Seinfeld in protest of the comedian’s support of Israel.
During the commencement ceremony at Duke University over the weekend, dozens of students dressed in robes and caps were seen in a video chanting “free Palestine” and waving Palestinian flags. The students walked out of the ceremony, which took place on the lawns of the university’s football stadium. In the video, posted on X, crowds can be heard booing as the students walked out, while others began cheering on the comedian, chanting “Jerry! Jerry!”
The 70-year-old comedian went on to deliver his speech without any major disruptions from students or the crowd.
He opened his speech with a few jokes before launching into his “three real keys to life” — “bust your ass”, pay attention and fall in love.
“Every chance you get…fall in love with your coffee. Your sneakers. Your Blue Zone parking space. I’ve had a lot of fun in life falling in love with stupid, meaningless physical objects.”
He also touched on his own privilege. “A lot of you are thinking, ‘I can’t believe they invited this guy.’ Too late,” he said.
“I say, use your privilege. I grew up a Jewish boy from New York. That is a privilege if you want to be a comedian.”
A spokesperson from Duke, Frank Tramble said in a statement, “We understand the depth of feeling in our community, and as we have all year, we respect the right of everyone at Duke to express their views peacefully, without preventing graduates and their families from celebrating their achievement.”
Last December, Seinfeld visited Israel to show support for the country and draw attention to the plight of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza since October 7.
Since then, Israel’s military has killed more than 35,500 Palestinians.
The walkout by students at Duke follows a string of other graduation ceremony protests across the US. Over the weekend, students at Virginia Commonwealth University walked out of their graduation ceremony to show support for Palestinians as the Governor Glenn Youngkin gave the commencement address.
During a graduation ceremony at UC Berkeley, dozens of students chanted and waved Palestinians flags while the university chancellor, Carol Christ addressed the crowd.
In recent weeks, universities across the world have set up encampments to protest the war in Gaza.
At Sydney University, tents and banners covered with pro-Palestinian text have dotted the lawn outside the university’s famous quadrangle building. On Saturday, an emergency rally was held with students marching to Vice-Chancellor Mark Scott’s office.
Last week, Ireland’s oldest and most prestigious university, Trinity College, agreed to divest from three Israeli companies, after weeks of student encampment protests.