Larry David appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to promote his new series, The Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness, which is set to premiere on HBO Max this Saturday, including in Israel. During the interview, Kimmel brought up a recent Paul McCartney concert in Los Angeles and said David was in the audience, highlighting that David was the only person not singing along to "Hey Jude".
David defended himself by mocking the crowd’s singalong behavior. "You think I’m going to do 'na, na, na' ? What kind of person do you think I am?" he said, adding that the audience’s swaying and standing was "so pathetic." He argued that McCartney can sing "na, na, na" because he wrote the song, but said he felt no obligation to join in. When Kimmel pushed back and said McCartney had given audiences so much, David replied, "I gave him something small." He also said he found the whole ritual of standing, swaying and surrendering to be "repulsive."
Kimmel rejected David’s explanation, saying, "Here we disagree," and insisting that McCartney wanted the audience participation. He also noted that David likely did not even pay for the ticket, saying he had gotten in for free. David answered that he would not have paid for it anyway.
The exchange comes after McCartney’s two intimate March performances at the Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles, attended by a celebrity-heavy crowd that reportedly sang and danced through a show spanning six decades of his career. Among those present were Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, Stevie Nicks, Margot Robbie, Harrison Ford, and Ringo Starr.