Dave Chappelle’s SNL monologue accused of 'normalising' antisemitism

Dave Chappelle is known for ruffling feathers but many people think he overstepped the mark this time.

The provocative comedian began the latest episode of Saturday Night Live with a skit all about Kanye West’s recent horrifying fall from grace.

But Chappelle’s comments about “the Jews” failed to draw laughs from many viewers, with the head of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) accusing him of “popularising” antisemitism.

The group’s CEO Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted on Sunday: “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?”

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Chappelle began his monologue in an ostensibly respectful way, saying: “I denounce antisemitism in all its forms and stand with my friends in the Jewish community.”

However, it turned out he then had a punchline to deliver: “And that, Kanye, is how you buy yourself some time.”

The stand-up comic continued: “I’ve probably been doing this for 35 years now and early in my career I learned there are two words in the English language you should never say together in sequence.

“Those words are ‘The’ and ‘Jews,’” he said. “I never heard someone do good after they said that.”

He went on to say that he has a lot of Jewish friends so is not “freaked out by your culture”.

But, he then joked: “Why do some of your people dress like Run-DMC?”

Chappelle’s controversial quips, which continued over the course of his 15-minute sketch, invited a stream of fury on Twitter, with Time Out’s New York theatre editor Adam Feldman suggesting: “That Dave Chappelle SNL monologue probably did more to normalize anti-Semitism than anything Kanye said.”

One group even compiled all his offensive remarks into a two-minute clip:

Here’s what other critics had to say about his performance:

Meanwhile, others sprung to his defence:

Neither SNL nor Dave Chappelle have yet commented on the fall-out.

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