Dave Chappelle is receiving backlash for his problematic monologue during a Nov. 12 Saturday Night Live episode.
The already-controversial comedian attempted to roast Kanye West for his recent antisemitic comments, but in doing so, Chappelle also managed to perpetuate antisemitic tropes.
He seemed to insinuate that the real problem was West voicing his offensive remarks – not the offensive ideas themselves.
In what started to sound like a defense of West, Chappelle noted that he’s “been to Hollywood” and can confirm that “it’s a lot of Jews. Like, a lot.”
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He continued, “If you had some kind of issue, you might go out to Hollywood and start connecting some kind of lines and you could maybe adopt the illusion that Jews run show business.”
“It’s not a crazy thing to think, but it’s a crazy thing to say out loud,” Chappelle suggested.
Anti-Defamation League chief executive officer Jonathan Greenblatt called out Chappelle and SNL on Twitter following the episode.
“We shouldn’t expect @DaveChappelle to serve as society’s moral compass, but disturbing to see @nbcsnl not just normalize but popularize #antisemitism,” he wrote. “Why are Jewish sensitivities denied or diminished at almost every turn? Why does our trauma trigger applause?”
Even before he opened his mouth on Saturday, Chappelle’s SNL appearance was already very questionable; the comedian has a long history of transphobia.
In his 2021 Netflix special, The Closer, Chappelle mocked trans women’s bodies, defended trans-exclusionary radical feminists (TERFs) and tried to argue that “gender is a fact.”
The National Black Justice Coalition, a civil rights advocacy group, said in a statement at the time, “With 2021 on track to be the deadliest year on record for transgender people in the United States – the majority of whom are Black transgender people – Netflix should know better.”
“Perpetuating transphobia perpetuates violence,” they warned. The NBJC called on Netflix to “immediately pull The Closer from its platform and directly apologize to the transgender community.”
Chappelle never apologized and Netflix did not take down the special.
