Mother-In-Law Jokes Are Kosher, Judge Rules
A U.S. District Judge in New Jersey recently ruled that comedian Sunda Croonquist can continue making fun of her Jewish mother-in-law.
Croonquist, the AP reports, a half-Swedish, half African-American woman who married a Jewish man, was sued two years ago by her in-laws who were offended by her jokes. And just in case things weren’t complicated enough, her husband, attorney Mark Zafrin, acted as her defense.
In a 21-page ruling issued Friday, the judge said that her jabs at her in-laws fall under the category of protected free speech since they are clearly an opinion. For Croonquist, this means she can carry on with her routine.
“Suppose I lost, there would be no more mother-in-law jokes,” Croonquist told a reporter in an interview on KABC in Los Angeles.
On Croonquist’s website you can see footage of her riffing on her mother-in-law, describing the moment when she first met her on the way to a Passover Seder.
“The only thing we have in common is that we don’t want to get our hair wet,” she says.
Though perhaps her in-laws should take this up with uber-Jewish comedian Jackie Mason. Croonquist credits her beginnings in comedy with a “chance encounter” with Mason at a party, who enjoyed her sassy shtick and encouraged her to start doing stand-up.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO