Home/Entertainment/Dave Chappelle SNL monologue ignores anti-trans scandal, mocks Kanye
Dave Chappelle SNL monologue ignores anti-trans scandal, mocks Kanye
Charles JonesNovember 13, 2022
Comedian Dave Chappelle, who took the stage at NBC's 8H studio on Saturday night, used his 15-minute monologue as host of "Saturday Night Live" to discuss current events, but declined to say anything anti- Discussing trans jokes he told drew controversy.
Chappelle caused trouble last year after the release of The Closer in October, which featured the 49-year-old comedian's damaging remarks about the transgender community and prompted an immediate backlash from Netflix staff. That included a staged strike by transgender Netflix employees and allies after the streamer's chief content officer, Ted Sarandos, defended Chappelle's harmful jokes as artistic expression and supported his "creative freedom."
Instead, Chappelle spent the first segment of his monologue commenting on rapper Kanye West's recent anti-Semitic remarks, beginning by saying, "Before I start tonight, I wanted to read a brief statement I've prepared: 'I renounce Anti-Semitism in all its forms and stand with my friends in the Jewish community.' And with that, Kanye, you buy yourself some time." He then shared jokes about Kanye's anti-Semitism scandal as well as Kyrie Irving's recent anti-Semitic tweet and his apology.
Chappelle also shared a few jokes that left audiences gasping, including, "I've been to Hollywood and that's exactly what I saw: there's a lot of Jews, like a a lot of. But that doesn't mean anything. There are a lot of black people in Ferguson, Missouri, but that doesn't mean we run the place."
He then ended his set by saying, "Thank you for your support and I hope you don't take anything away from me – whoever they are."
West and Chappelle have crossed creative paths before, most notably during the early beginnings of West's rap career, which saw the musician appear as a musical guest on the Comedy Central series Chapelle's Show. West also performed during an event Chappelle hosted in New York in 2004, which was adapted into the documentary Dave Chappelle's Block Party.
This was Chappelle's third guest appearance on Saturday Night Live, and all three appearances took place in the same week as a controversial national election. It looks like series creator and showrunner Lorne Michaels has snapped the spotlight as "SNL's" host for key moments in the country's political history in the immediate aftermath of the election. After Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 presidential election, Chappelle hosted the show for the first time, with the standup's monologue underscoring his concern for the country's future, but also imploring the audience to give Trump's presidency a chance. Four years later, during the show's COVID-hit season, Chappelle hosted for a second time following a presidential election in which current President Joe Biden unseated Trump from the presidency.
Referring to this year's election, Chappelle mocked Herschel Walker and the so-called "end of the Trump era."
Later in the episode, there was a barbershop sketch that also discussed current events, including more jokes about West, Walker, the election, as well as pop culture obsessions like Yellowstone and Netflix's limited series Dahmer.
Another skit revived classic Chapelle's Show characters for a House of the Dragon parody.
Watch the entire monologue below.
https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/dave-chappelle-snl-monologue-anti-trans-jokes-kanye-1235430575/ Dave Chappelle SNL monologue ignores anti-trans scandal, mocks Kanye
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