Billy Crystal is not a fan of this generation’s “Cancel Culture.”
While promoting his upcoming film “Here Today” with Tiffany Haddish, the comedian shared some harsh words with the NY Post in regards to the current state of comedy.
“It’s becoming a minefield and I get it,” the comedian told The Post. “I don’t like it, I understand it … I just keep doing what I’m doing and that’s all you can do right now.”
“It’s a totally different world [now] and it doesn’t mean you have to like it,” he added, with a laugh.
Crystal touches on the theme of changing comedic tastes in his latest flick, “Here Today.” The movie, the first he’s directed in two decades, follows a veteran comedy scribe, Charlie Burnz (played by Crystal), who is battling dementia. He unexpectedly meets a singer named Emma Payge (Tiffany Haddish) and the two form an unlikely yet touching friendship.
The Long Island-raised star, 73, who also co-wrote the script with Alan Zweibel, says that he got the idea for the film due to a relative who he was taking care of and was battling dementia.
“She described to me, so painfully, ‘I’m losing my words,’ and she was scared,” he said.
Despite the movie dealing with such a serious subject, Crystal stresses that aging and Alzheimer’s is not the main theme. Instead, he wants people to focus on the sweet relationship between his character and Haddish’s, which he thinks is sorely needed today.
Crystal has a career that spans decades — from his start as one of the first gay characters on TV in the comedy “Soap” to beloved movies including “The Princess Bride,” “When Harry Met Sally … ” and “City Slickers.” He even won a Tony for Special Theatrical Event in 2005 for his autobiographical one-man show “700 Sundays.”
