Taking the stage at NBC’s Studio 8H on Saturday night, comedian Dave Chappelle He used his 15-minute monologue as host of the show “Saturday Night Live“To talk about current events, but he refused to discuss anything related to the anti-trans jokes he made that sparked controversy.
Chappelle sparked outrage last year after the October release of The Closer, which included hurtful remarks from the 49-year-old comedian about the transgender community and prompted an immediate backlash from Netflix employees. This included a gradual exit from transgender Netflix employees and their allies after the broadcast’s chief content officer, Ted Sarandos, defended Chappelle’s harmful jokes as artistic expression, and upheld his “creative freedom.”
Instead, Chappelle spent the first part of his monologue commenting on rapper Kanye West’s recent anti-Semitic remarks, opening by saying, “Before I start tonight, I wanted to read a brief statement I made: ‘I give up anti-Semitism in all its forms, and stand With my friends in the Jewish community. And that, Kanye, is how you buy yourself some time.” He then proceeded to tell jokes about him Kanye’s anti-Semitism And so is the recent Kyrie Irving scandal Antisemitic Tweet And an apology.
Chappelle also told some jokes that made the audience gasp, including, “I’ve been to Hollywood and this is exactly what I saw: It’s a lot of Jews, like Many. But that doesn’t mean anything. There are a lot of blacks in Ferguson, Missouri, but that doesn’t mean we run the place.”
Then he finished his collection by saying, “I thank you for your support and hope they don’t take anything from me – who are they. “
West and Chappelle have crossed creative paths before, particularly during the early stages of West’s rap career, where the musician appeared on the Comedy Central series “Chappelle’s Show” as a musical guest. West also sang during a Chappelle event in New York in 2004, which was made into a “Dave Chappelle’s Block Party” documentary.
This was Chappelle’s third hosting term on “Saturday Night Live,” and all three gigs came the same week as a controversial national election. It seems as if series creator and presenter Lorne Michaels has charted the situation as the post-election “SNL” host at key moments in the country’s political history. After Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election, Chappelle hosted the show for the first time, as protest monologues highlighted his concern about the country’s future, but also appealed to audiences to give Trump’s presidency a chance. Four years later, during the season affected by the Corona virus, Chappelle hosted for the second time after the presidential election that saw incumbent President Joe Biden removed from the presidency.
Regarding this year’s election, Chappelle has mocked Herschel Walker and the so-called “end of the Trump era.”
Later in the episode, there was a barbershop-themed infographic that also discussed current events, including more jokes about West, Walker, and elections, as well as pop culture obsessions like Netflix’s limited series “Yellowstone” and “Dahmer” .
In another infographic, the classic “Chappelle’s Show” characters are revived for a Parody “House of the Dragon”y.
Watch the full monologue below.
. “Friendly writer. Unapologetic student. Typical internetaholic. Social media ninja. Communicator. Music fanatic.”