Jeff Garlin denies he has been fired from The Goldbergs over alleged inappropriate comments

Comedian Jeff Garlin has denied claims that he has been fired from The Goldbergs for alleged inappropriate comments made on set.

The Curb Your Enthusiasm star appears in the ABC Eighties-set sitcom as family patriarch Murray Goldberg, which has aired since 2013.

However, rumours recently emerged claiming that Garlin had been fired from the show, with anonymous former employees claiming that the actor had made people uncomfortable on set through use of inappropriate language and touching or hugging people without permission.

While Sony refused to say whether Garlin had been let go from the show, he has now denied this in an interview with Vanity Fair, saying: “No, I was not fired from The Goldbergs. I have not been fired from The Goldbergs.”

Garlin admitted that he had faced annual investigations by human resources during his last three years on the show, which he chalked down to “missed” jokes.

“It’s always the same thing. It’s about me and my silliness on set,” he said. “They don’t think it’s appropriate. I do. That’s where we’re at. I’ve not been fired because of it. We just think differently.”

“My opinion is, I have my process about how I’m funny, in terms of the scene and what I have to do. They feel that it makes for a quote ‘unsafe’ workspace… I am always a kind and thoughtful person. I make mistakes, sure. But my comedy is about easing people’s pain. Why would I ever want to cause pain in anybody for a laugh? That’s bullying. That’s just uncalled for.”

He also denied sending a text to a colleague suggesting that they should come to the next table read wearing only underwear.

“There’s no way,” he said. “I’m talking 100 per cent no way, because I don’t talk that way. I don’t. Now, have I said stuff like that joking? You bet. But not joking where the underlying thing was something sexual. It would have been silly.”

Garlin has previously claimed that he was almost fired from the show after colleagues complained about comments he made on set.

“I was saying some really stupid silly things that I can’t believe that anyone would find offensive, but to each his own,” he said in 2019. “I said to them, ‘I understand if I worked at an insurance office and there’s a bunch of desks — that’s inappropriate. But in a comedic atmosphere it’s stupid.’”

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