If you needed further proof that everything you love can somehow be problematic, look no further than Seinfeld. The mega-popular comedy, which still airs reruns daily on TBS, helped Donald Trump’s campaign C.E.O., Steve Bannon, make his fortune—and still lines his pockets to this day. What would George Costanza say?!
This depressing tidbit comes, most recently, courtesy of a feature in The New Yorker, which notes that Bannon, the chairman of Breitbart—who is on temporary leave and got his start as a Goldman Sachs mergers-and-acquisition dealmaker—”made a fortune by buying a share of the royalties for Seinfeld back in 1993, and still receives them to this day.”
Sadly, this is so. And the truth has actually been out there for a little while, right under our very noses. According to the Daily Beast back in August, Bannon initially made the deal after he left Goldman and founded his own firm, Bannon & Co.
So, as you flip on the TV and zone out to Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer’s crazy shenanigans, just know that you’re also sending your very own teeny tiny paycheck to Steve Bannon. Will any of us change our habits with this new knowledge? Should we even bother? This is a modern day Seinfeld quandary if we’ve ever seen one.