The latest episode of Saturday Night Live was hosted by the controversial and enormously successful comedian Dave Chappelle, and, as one might expect, it is eliciting some strong feelings from people who are accessing the internet. The long-running NBC sketch show, Saturday Night Live, started off with a cold open bit, as is customary, and then transitioned into the host’s monologue. The fact that SNL had booked Dave Chappelle, one of the most accomplished stand-up comedians in the world, meant that he was given an extra-long monologue in which he commented on anti-Semitism, former President Donald Trump, and Georgia Senatorial candidate Herschel Walker. As a result, people took to Twitter to express both their outrage and their support for him.
Can someone explain to me why @DaveChappelle’s #SNL monologue was any different than Ye’s antisemitism?
— Rebekah Sager (@Rebekah_Sager) November 13, 2022
The opening of comedian Dave Chappelle’s monologue on Saturday Night Live consisted of him pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket and (purportedly) reading a statement of support for the Jewish people and condemnation of anti-Semitism while maintaining a deadpan delivery. After that, he quickly followed it up with a joke, implying that this was all that was necessary for Kanye West to do. This was in reference to the musician and fashion designer’s recent allegedly anti-Semitic statements that he made (via interviews and social media), which have caused him to lose endorsements and partnerships with companies like Adidas (which, as Dave Chappelle pointed out, was founded by a pair of brothers who had been members of the Nazi Party).
Dave Chappelle did not roast Kanye, but that does not mean he agreed with Kanye. He subtly called out Hollywood’s hypocrisy and racism. Listen carefully to the monologue before you speak. #snl
— Sasha_Smierce (@Sasha_Smierce) November 13, 2022
The comedic dissection of anti-Semitism in culture, in particular as it relates to black culture in the United States, hit a nerve with a great number of people, as one might expect from something of this nature. The official Saturday Night Live post on YouTube has received over 757,000 views in fewer than 12 hours since it was uploaded. This indicates that Dave Chappelle’s monologue went viral almost immediately after it was broadcast. As was to be anticipated, a significant number of users immediately took to the social networking site Twitter to either defend Dave Chappelle’s actions or criticize the comments he made.
He slammed the woke mob years ago and they tryed to cancel him. His comedy is not bias. He slams conservatives and liberals & their ideology equally.
— CJ Drummond (@CWDandAJD) November 13, 2022
Those who feel that the comedian is further promoting anti-Semitic tropes under the guise of joking about them and those who feel that he is satirizing anti-Semitism through comedy can be categorized into several camps in response to Dave Chappelle’s monologue on Saturday Night Live. In general, the reaction to Chappelle’s monologue can be broken down into these categories. There is also a significant number of users on Twitter who have responded by stating that they anticipate Dave Chappelle’s show will be “canceled” as a result of this and that they consider him to be the greatest comedian who ever lived. This seems to be something of a preemptive backlash to a backlash, with some people making the assumption that others will be offended, and then those people becoming offended by their own sense of offense, and so on and so forth. It just keeps going around and around.
It is highly unlikely that Dave Chappelle will have his appearance on Saturday Night Live “canceled” as a result of his most recent monologue; however, the question of whether or not anyone is ever actually “canceled” is open to debate. Netflix appears to have unwavering support for any kind of special or release that the stand-up comedian wants to release, despite the fact that he is as controversial as he is popular. In addition to this, Dave Chappelle is well-known for his enormous wealth, which allows him to pretty much do whatever he wants at this point in his career.
On the other hand, if there is one thing that Dave Chappelle is an expert at, it is stirring up a heated debate over the internet. It is clear from spending even a brief amount of time on Twitter that he has, once again, violated the terms of his agreement.
