Jerry Seinfeld There Was Never a Real Reason Why Jerry Hated Newman on SEINFELD, But the Storyline "Just Seemed Funny"

If you’re a fan of the “90s sitcom Seinfeld, you have probably at some point imitated Jerry Seinfeld’s voice when he says, “Newman!,” when referring to Wayne Knight’s character, the downstairs postal worker who is friends with Kramer, but the is seemingly the archnemesis of the show’s main character. We never do find out why Jerry has this animosity for Newman, so naturally, both Seinfeld and Knight have been asked about it over the years.

Knight was only supposed to appear in one episode of the show at first, but both Seinfeld and the show’s creator, Larry David, saw the value in the character he brought to the show, and he was written in as recurring.

Seinfeld explained in an interview with CBS News (via /Film) that he believes that Newman was a natural antagonist for him on the show.

"It was an instinctive dislike of the character. He was the first person who was coming onto my own show to sabotage me in some way, and so why would I not hate him forever for that?"

He went on to add:

"The real answer, why I hated Newman, is because it just seemed funny to hate Newman. Everybody has one eccentric friend that's sort of out there. And their outer orbit friend is someone you cannot deal with. So that was the reasoning. There was no real reason for me to hate Newman. He never did anything bad to me, it was just fun. It was fun to hate him."

It was a funny dynamic on the series, for sure. And it makes sense that Jerry has a nemesis, because why not? It’s the show about nothing that’s got a bit of everything.