Portuguese performers quit comedy festival over Jerry Seinfeld’s support for Israel

Six Portuguese comedians dropped out of a Lisbon comedy festival in protest of Jerry Seinfeld’s public support for Israel.

By World Israel News Staff

Several Portuguese performers have withdrawn from an upcoming comedy festival in Lisbon over the participation of Jerry Seinfeld, citing the American comedian’s public support for Israel.

At least six acts have pulled out of the inaugural MEO Commedia a La Carte Fest, scheduled for October 29 through November 1, where Seinfeld is set to headline the final night.

Actress and comedian Inês Aires Pereira announced that she would no longer perform her show “Namastê,” saying she could not appear at an event alongside someone whose positions she considered unacceptable.

“One of the names persistently defends ideas and acts that I consider indefensible,” Pereira wrote. “We cannot relativize or normalize a genocide.”

Comedy duo Cebola Mol, consisting of Eduardo Madeira and Filipe Homem Fonseca, also withdrew. Their announcement included an image of a watermelon, widely used as a pro-Hamas symbol.

“We will celebrate justice, freedom and joy with you on another occasion,” they said.

Other performers to leave the festival lineup include Pedro Tochas and visual artist Alexandre Farto, known as Vhils. A planned “Tributo Pop” concert featuring Carolina Deslandes, Tatanka and Bárbara Tinoco was also canceled, along with an appearance by Conjunto Cuca Monga.

Vhils said he had asked organizers to remove his name after it appeared on festival promotional material.

“My name was announced on one of the festival’s posters. I asked for it to be removed and it was,” he wrote. “As some people still think I’m taking part, let me be clear: I will not be at MEO Commedia a La Carte Fest.”

Seinfeld remains scheduled to perform at Lisbon’s MEO Arena on November 1 in what organizers have promoted as his first appearance in Portugal and his only European show of 2026.

The controversy centers on Seinfeld’s vocal support for Israel since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack.

“I lived and worked on a Kibbutz in Israel when I was 16, and I have loved our Jewish homeland ever since,” Seinfeld wrote shortly after the attack. “I will always stand with Israel and the Jewish people.”

He traveled to Israel with his family in December 2023, where he met former hostages and relatives of Israelis held captive in Gaza. Seinfeld later described the visit as “the most powerful experience of my life.”

He has also repeatedly confronted pro-Palestinian protesters and activists. During a 2025 appearance at Duke University, Seinfeld said the slogan “Free Palestine” was, in his view, a way of expressing hostility toward Jews.

“Free Palestine is, to me, just — you’re free to say you don’t like Jews,” he said.

Seinfeld has faced protests at several public appearances since the Gaza war began, including a walkout during his 2024 commencement speech at Duke and interruptions at comedy performances.