Jerry Seinfeld has some apologies to make, nearly two decades after his release The bee movie.
On Sunday, May 12, Seinfeld alum, 70, gave the commencement address to graduates at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina — where his son Julian currently attends and his daughter Sascha previously graduated.
During his speech, the comedian took time to reflect on his 2007 animated film Bee movie – one controversial element of the story in particular.
“I made a cartoon about bees that you might have watched as a kid,” Seinfeld said in a video filmed by an attendee and shared on TikTok.
“If any of you felt a little uneasy about the sexual undertones of the relationship between Barry B. Benson and Vanessa, the flower girl who saved his life, I’d like to apologize for that now,” he continued, prompting laughter from the audience. “Maybe I didn’t calibrate it perfectly.”
Jerry Seinfeld apologizes after unintentionally ‘insulting’ Howard Stern: ‘I’m sorry’
Fans of the DreamWorks children’s film have long joked about the romantic tension between Seinfeld’s character in the film, Barry (the bee), and Renée Zellweger’s character, Vanessa (the human). Back in October 2021, Seinfeld addressed the same issue during an appearance on tonight’s show, apologizing once again for the allusion.
“I apologize for what appears to be a certain unpleasant subtle sexual aspect The bee movie“, he said then.”[It] it really wasn’t intentional, but after it came out, I realized this really wasn’t suitable for kids. Because the bee seems to have a thing for the little girl, and we don’t really want to continue that as an idea in children’s entertainment.”
Seinfeld’s commencement speech at Duke also drew public attention when anti-war protesters left the ceremony and booed from the audience when the TV star took the podium, according to NBC News and CBS News.
Why Jerry Seinfeld doesn’t believe he could make the same jokes Seinfeld Today: ‘PC crap’
Seinfeld has been making a lot of public appearances in recent weeks in support of his latest film, unfrozen, which marks his feature directorial debut. Speaking with PEOPLE at the film’s April 30 premiere, Seinfeld talked about taking on the role of director for the first time in his career.
“You don’t want to think that this is a really big, important job. Like, a pilot never wants to get on the PA system and say, ‘I’m going to try to get this plane in the air.’ You have to have confidence,” he said.
Jerry Seinfeld and his family at the Los Angeles premiere of ‘Unfrosted’ on April 30, 2024.
Amy Sussman/Getty
Never miss a story — subscribe to PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up to date with the best PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Seinfeld previously told PEOPLE that he had been “obsessed with Pop-Tarts my whole life,” which inspired him to take on the film.
“My friend Spike Feresten, who was a writer on my show and is still a good friend of mine, thought we should make a movie out of the story, the real story, which we did,” he explained.
Unfrozen — which features an all-star cast including Melissa McCarthy, Jim Gaffigan, Hugh Grant and more — is set in 1963 Battle Creek, Michigan, when “Kellogg’s and Post, arch-cereal rivals, race to create a face-changing pastry breakfast forever,” the synopsis reads.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education