Why everyone’s talking about Jerry Seinfeld’s bizarre new interview.

Jerry Seinfeld is at it again. This time he's sounding off about masculinity and gender roles. 

The comedian, who is best known for the wildly successful '90s sitcom, Seinfeld, appeared on the Honestly with Bari Weiss podcast on Tuesday to talk about his latest project, Unfrosted, a film set in the '60s.

Watch: Jerry Seinfeld talks masculinity and gender roles. Post continues below.

When asked whether he feels nostalgic for his childhood, the 70-year-old admitted that he does.

"There’s another element there that I think is the key element, and that is an agreed-upon hierarchy, which I think is absolutely vaporised in today’s moment," he said. "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. And as humans, we don’t really feel comfortable like that."

"I really thought, when I was in that era, again, it was JFK, it was Muhammad Ali, it was Sean Connery, Howard Cosell, you can go all the way down there. That’s a real man. I want to be like that some day," he continued.

Seinfeld, who is no stranger to controversy, doubled down on his comments by saying he misses "dominant masculinity".

"Yeah, I get the [toxic masculinity] but still, I like a real man."

Following the interview, listeners questioned whether Seinfeld should be commenting on masculinity at all since the persona he has built for himself is the complete opposite.

"Be serious! Jerry Seinfeld is the last person I think of when I think of masculinity," tweeted one user.

"No one looks at Jerry Seinfeld and thinks 'that's dominant masculinity'. Not even Jerry. These guys always expose their own insecurities," wrote another. 

Be serious! Jerry Seinfeld is the last person I think of when I think of masculinity pic.twitter.com/x6aUtIZj3K

— fraser ramon (@SteveMerkle9) May 29, 2024

No one looks at Jerry Seinfeld and thinks “that’s dominant masculinity.” Not even Jerry.

These guys always expose their own insecurities. https://t.co/idTtY7FmJS

— Film The Police LA (@FilmThePoliceLA) May 29, 2024

The very idea that *JERRY SEINFELD*, of light blue mom-jeans and sensible sneakers fame, is the adjudicator of what is masculinity, is so fucking funny.

Best joke he's told in decades.

— Jonny Bartrand (@JBartrand) May 30, 2024

Others reminded him of the time he dated 17-year-old high school student Shoshanna Lonstein when he was 38. 

"Jerry Seinfeld, whose idea of 'dominant masculinity' as we all know is dating a 17 yo girl when he was 38," said a user on X.

Jerry Seinfeld, whose idea of “dominant masculinity” as we all know is dating a 17 yo girl when he was 38. https://t.co/huWX6Z4GO1

— Melanie/Mel (@melon_reads) May 30, 2024

ICYMI, in 1993, 38-year-old Seinfeld spotted 17-year-old Shoshanna at Central Park in New York. They flirted and hit it off enough for her to give him her number.

Following that meeting, Seinfeld and Lonstein, dated for four years, but the comedian long maintained that they did not begin the relationship until she was 18.

While the '90s was definitely a different time with age gaps and power dynamics not acknowledged or questioned the way they are now, people still had their suspicions about the 21-year age difference.

For example, Spy Magazine referred to Lonstein as "a legal voter" following her 18th birthday.

Soon after, Seinfeld appeared on radio host Howard Stern's show where he was grilled.

"So, you sit in Central Park and have a candy bar on a string and pull it when the girls come?" Stern asked, feigning exasperation.

"She's not 17, definitely not," Seinfeld replied, flustered.

A month later, he returned to the show where Stern once again brought up their Central Park meeting when Lonstein was 17.

"I didn't realise she was so young," Seinfeld said. "This is the only girl I ever went out with who was that young. I wasn't dating her. We just went to a restaurant, and that was it."

The couple became a tabloid favourite. Neighbours of Lonstein's parents told media they frequently saw Seinfeld pick her up in a limousine, and paparazzi even captured them leaving her school together.  

In 1994, Seinfeld told People, "I am not an idiot. Shoshanna is a person, not an age. She is extremely bright. She's funny, sharp, very alert. We just get along. You can hear the click."

They dated for four years before breaking up in 1997 when he was 42, and she was 21. 

Two years later, he married his now-wife Jessica Seinfeld, which also made headlines due to the fact that she was newly married to another man when they started seeing each other. 

While Seinfeld is one of the world's most recognisable comedians, he remains a polarising figure. From his questionable relationships to his outdated beliefs, people never pass up a chance to roast the personality.

Feature Image: The Free Press.