When Dave Chappelle returned to SNL on Saturday night, he didn’t mince words with his thoughts on Kanye West in his opening monologue. In fact, with so much to say, Chappelle wound up speaking for about 15 minutes, much longer than your average Saturday Night Live guest host’s monologue. He first took aim at Kanye’s highly-controversial comments about Jewish people, poking some fun at how the former billionaire has essentially been sabotaging his own career.
Watch the full monologue below, via SNL on YouTube.
“‘I denounce antisemitism in all its forms. And I stand with my friends in the Jewish community.’ And that, Kanye, is how you buy yourself some time,” Chappelle said at the start of the monologue, feigning reading the statement from a folded-up piece of paper.
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Chappelle then brings up the social media post made by West that started this cavalcade of controversy against him. West said in the bizarre post that he was going “Death Con 3” on Jewish people, adding that he “actually can’t be Anti Semitic” because Black people are “actually Jew also.” Seemingly feeling invincible from consequences, West went on to claim that “Adidas can’t drop” him from his high-dollar sneaker deal from the company, even if he posts anti-Semitic messages online. He was promptly dropped by the company, losing his billionaire status in a day, and Chappelle shared his thoughts on seeing the situation play out in real time.
“Ironically, Adidas was founded by Nazis, and they were offended!” Chappelle joked.
Dave Chappelle Returned for the Third Time as Host on SNL
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Chappelle also touched on the rise of Donald Trump in the world of politics, observing that he struck a chord with voters who respected that he’s an “honest liar.” He also touched on Senate candidate Herschel Walker as well as the conflict in Ukraine and the controversy involving NBA star Kyrie Irving who was suspended for sharing a post to social media referring to a movie that’s said to be anti-Semitic.
Of course, Chappelle is also someone who’s no stranger to controversy. His Netflix comedy specials have come under fire for jokes about the LGBTQ+ community, though Netflix has stood by Chappelle despite calls on social media for the specials to be pulled. There had also been some rumors that the SNL writing staff may be boycotting the Chappelle episode, but as we have seen with the show making it to air, that was not the case.
You can stream the full episode of Saturday Night Live featuring Dave Chappelle on Peacock. The show will return on Dec. 3, 2022 with host Keke Palmer.
