[imagesource: NBC]

American comedian Dave Chappelle has courted controversy in recent years for a number of his stand-up specials on Netflix.

He maintains you can and should joke about everything, although he did admit that some subjects carry more risk than others during his monologue on this past weekend’s episode of Saturday Night Live.

Hosting for the third time in his career, and the first since he faced widespread criticism for making jokes about transgender people, Chappelle zeroed in on Kanye West’s recent egotistical and self-inflicted cancelling.

During his almost 15-minute opening, he also touched on the US midterm elections and former President Donald Trump’s political appeal.

Here’s NBC News:

Chappelle took the stage inside Rockefeller Center’s Studio 8H and started his monologue with an extended riff on Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, who has been widely condemned for making a series of antisemitic comments…

Chappelle mocked Ye as well as Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving, who posted a link to an antisemitic movie on Twitter. But some of Chappelle’s commentary seemed designed to shock and provoke.

Of course, it was.

Welcome to the world of entertainment.

Before we delve into why the monologue courted controversy, here it is in full:

Dave Chappelle Monologue!
Part 1 pic.twitter.com/cSpm6EtCCy

— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) November 13, 2022

Dave Chappelle Monologue!
Part 2 pic.twitter.com/9ZDye3SNPU

— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) November 13, 2022

The following day, the head of the Anti-Defamation League voiced his concerns:

We shouldn’t expect @DaveChappelle to serve as society’s moral compass, but disturbing to see @nbcsnl not just normalize but popularize #antisemitism. Why are Jewish sensitivities denied or diminished at almost every turn? Why does our trauma trigger applause?

— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) November 13, 2022

According to Forward, Greenblatt was far from alone:

The Jerusalem Post accused the comedian of “engaging in antisemitic tropes.” Adam Feldman, theater critic for Time Out New York, tweeted: “That Dave Chappelle SNL monologue probably did more to normalize anti-Semitism than anything Kanye said.”

Screenwriter Amalia Levari tweeted, disapprovingly, “So cool that SNL gave Chappelle the stage to deliver a TED Talk about how antisemitic dog-whistles are good, actually.”

Carly Pildis, a contributor to the Forward and the Director of Community Engagement for the ADL, posted that she thought it was “scary as hell.”

All in all, he upset many Jewish people, Kanye fans, and likely some Trump fans.

Luckily for him, he’s already cashed a number of very big cheques from Netflix and has a personal wealth estimated to be around $60 million.

You can also go ahead and write off Chappelle and Will Smith working together in the future.

Then again, everybody seems to be giving Smith a wide berth. At least he went out with an Oscar.

[sources:nbc&forward]