Jerry Seinfeld gave the commencement address at Duke University over the weekend and apologized during his remarks for the sexual content in his 2007 animated children’s film.
The 70-year-old comedian mentioned “Bee Movie” while addressing the crowd gathered in Durham, North Carolina, on Sunday. “I made a cartoon movie about bees you may have watched as a child,” Seinfeld said in a video clip that’s since gained traction on TikTok.
“If any of you felt slightly uncomfortable about the sexual undertones in the relationship between Barry B. Benson and Vanessa, the florist who saves his life, I would like to apologize for that now,” he added. “I may not have calibrated that perfectly.”
Over the years, there’s been a lot of conversation about the nature of the relationship between Seinfeld’s character, a bee, and his human co-star, Vanessa (voiced by Renée Zellweger).
This isn’t the first time Seinfeld brought up his regrets about the relationship in “Bee Movie.”
“I apologize for what seems to be a certain uncomfortable subtle sexual aspect of the ‘Bee Movie,'” he said during a 2021 appearance on The Tonight Show. “[It] really was not intentional, but after it came out, I realized this is really not appropriate for children. Because the bee seems to have a thing for the girl, and we don’t really want to pursue that as an idea in children’s entertainment.”
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Prior to his speech, several pro-Palestinian students walked out of the commencement ceremony when Seinfeld was announced as a speaker, as The Daily Wire previously reported. The comedian has voiced his support for Israel publicly as the war against Hamas continues.
Seinfeld received an honorary degree from Duke. His son Julian currently attends the college, while his daughter Sascha previously graduated from there.
The stand-up star has recently been promoting his newly released comedy, “Unfrosted,” about the origin of Pop-Tarts. The movie, Seinfeld’s directorial debut, has received mixed reviews from critics. It currently has a 40% critical rating and a 55% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
“All told, ‘Unfrosted’ is the cinematic equivalent of a kid mixing every cereal from his parents’ cupboard into a giant salad bowl with the hope that a splash of milk will magically blend the various flavors into something palatable,” one reviewer said of the film.