Jerry Seinfeld's wife applauds Duke crowd who drowned out anti-Israel protesters during commencement speech
Jessica Seinfeld praised her husband's "amazing" Duke 2024 commencement speech on Instagram after a group of anti-Israel protesters tried to interrupt him.
Jessica Seinfeld, the wife of comedian Jerry Seinfeld, praised her husband's "amazing" Duke University Class of 2024 commencement speech on Instagram over the weekend after a group of anti-Israel protesters tried to interrupt him but found themselves drowned out by the rest of the audience.
The comic, who is Jewish and a co-chair of the university's Parents Committee, took the stage over the weekend to deliver remarks to a crowd of over 7,000 when the small demonstration broke out.
A few dozen protesters walked out of their seats, chanting "Free Palestine" along the way, videos of the incident show.
The Duke audience wouldn't have it, bursting out in chants of "Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!" and cheering for the comedian, video shows.
DUKE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS WALK OUT ON JERRY SEINFELD COMMENCEMENT SPEECH, CHANT ‘FREE PALESTINE’
"Amazing crowd @dukeuniversity today where Jerry gave the commencement speech and received an honorary degree," Jessica Seinfeld wrote on her Instagram story. "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 received an honorary degree and delivered his speech without further interruptions.
The university posted Seinfeld's full speech on its YouTube page.
JERRY SEINFELD ASKS HOWARD STERN FOR FORGIVENESS AFTER SUGGESTING HE ISN'T FUNNY
In the 16-minute clip, Seinfeld took a break from the jokes to give students his "three real keys to life."
"No. 1, bust your a--," he said. "No. 2, pay attention. No. 3, fall in love."
He urged the new grads to try hard and try again if they fail. Question risks and appreciate the small things in life.
He also took a subtle swipe at wokeism.
"Privilege is a word that has taken quite a beating lately," he said. "Privilege today seems to be the worst thing you can have. I would like to take a moment to defend it."
Growing up Jewish in New York, he said, was a privilege for an aspiring comedian. Graduating from Duke University is another privilege for the students attending his speech, he added.
"You went to Duke, that is an unbelievable privilege," he said. "We're embarrassed of things we should be proud of, and proud of things we should be embarrassed about."
"You’re never going to believe this, Harvard used to be a great place to go to school," he joked. "Now it's Duke."
Duke has emerged as a top U.S. university, attracting students who would be Ivy League contenders if they weren't turned off by the administrations' handling of far-left campus protests, experts told Fox News Digital last week.
"You cannot beat this school," Jessica Seinfeld concluded in her Instagram story. "We are #ForeverDuke."
Fox News' Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.