Several performers have pulled out of an international festival in Portugal headlined by comedian Jerry Seinfeld, with some citing concerns related to the Israel-Gaza conflict and others giving no public explanation.
The withdrawals come ahead of the inaugural MEO Commedia a La Carte Fest in Lisbon, scheduled for Oct. 29 to Nov. 1. While some acts left the lineup without a public explanation, others cited political differences with performers involved in the festival.
On Saturday, actress Inês Aires Pereira announced on Instagram that she was withdrawing her show Namastê from the festival lineup.
In one image, Pereira wrote in Portuguese that “one of the names persistently defends ideas and acts that I consider indefensible. We cannot minimize or normalize a genocide,” according to a translation by The Hollywood Reporter.
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Musical comedy duo Cebola Mol also addressed their exit on Instagram, writing in a translated caption, “We will celebrate justice, freedom and joy with you on another occasion.” The post included a cartoon watermelon, which is widely used as a symbol of Palestinian solidarity.
Several departing acts did not disclose their motives. High-profile performers, including pop musical project Tributo Pop, comedian Pedro Tochas, the group Conjunto Cuca Monga and visual artist Vhils all withdrew from the festival lineup without publicly stating a reason.
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Seinfeld is the festival’s main headliner and has publicly supported Israel. The festival’s website still lists him as a performer.
His support for Israel during the conflict has drawn accolades but also fierce criticism. In June, while leaving a New York Knicks game at Madison Square Garden, Seinfeld told a streamer asking for a “Free Palestine” shoutout that “it doesn’t exist.”
During an event at Duke University, Seinfeld also discussed pro-Palestinian protests, saying, “Free Palestine is, to me, just — you’re free to say you don’t like Jews. Just say you don’t like Jews.
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“By saying ‘Free Palestine,’ you’re not admitting what you really think,” he continued. “So, it’s actually — compared to the Ku Klux Klan, I’m actually thinking the Klan is actually a little better here because they can come right out and say, ‘We don’t like Blacks, we don’t like Jews.’ OK, that’s honest.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Seinfeld’s team but did not hear back.
Comedian and media analyst Tim Young argued that the withdrawals hurt the departing performers far more than Seinfeld, whom he called “uncancellable.”
“It was a total eye-roll for me,” said Young, who also serves as a Media Fellow at the Heritage Foundation and media editor at The Dallas Express.
“I think anybody who is a comedian, anybody who is a performer, would want to work with basically the most successful, if not one of the most successful comedians in world history at this point. The guy’s a billionaire from his comedy and his writing, and I don’t know why you would want to walk away from it,” he added.
Young suggested the withdrawals were simply catering to their existing fan base, calling the move “a group of woke people performing for woke people.”
“They know who their audience is. They’re behaving the way that their audience would behave and just playing into it,” he said, adding the performers are likely getting more publicity from pulling out than they would have from performing.
Young doesn’t believe the withdrawals will have any lasting impact on Seinfeld’s standing in the comedy world.
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“You can’t cancel somebody like him,” Young said. “Comedy is uncancellable. You get to a certain level, you’re not going to be affected by it, and it’s important that people like Seinfeld … come out and say, ‘Hey, you know, this is bad, the things that are happening.’
“Adults can’t be adults anymore. Everybody has to whine and cry. They will sacrifice their own success for a stupid stance.”
