Dave Chappelle's 'SNL' monologue accused of 'normalizing' antisemitism

Controversial comic Dave Chappelle has generated backlash for this weekend’s "Saturday Night Live" monologue, in which he denounced antisemitic tropes while calling them reasonable to believe.

"Dave Chappelle said during his SNL monologue that he 'denounces antisemitism in all its forms' … before promptly engaging in antisemitic tropes," tweeted the Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post. Jonathan Greenblatt, head of the Jewish advocacy organization the Anti-Defamation League, tweeted, "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?"

Chappelle, 49, had spent the first half of his 15-minute monologue addressing recent incendiary statements by music and fashion mogul Ye, formerly Kanye West, and a recent Twitter post by the NBA Nets' Kyrie Irving, who later apologized for linking to an antisemitic documentary. "Early in my career," Chappelle said near the start, after brandishing a piece of paper and giving a humorously pro forma statement denouncing antisemitism, "I learned that there are two words in the English language that you should never say together, in sequence. And those words are 'the' and 'Jews.' "

He later said Hollywood has "a lot of Jews. Like, a lot. But that doesn’t mean anything. There’s a lot of Black people in Ferguson, Missouri. Doesn’t mean they run the place," he said, drawing no distinction between persons in positions of authority and those who are not. He said he understood how some people "might go out to Hollywood and you might start connecting some kind of lines and you could maybe adopt the delusion that the Jews run show business. It’s not a crazy thing to think," he said, calling it only "a crazy thing to say out loud … ."

"[H]e essentially argued that Kanye wasn’t really wrong about the Jews controlling everything but he shouldn’t have said it out loud because the Jews, who control everything, destroyed him for it," tweeted Time Out USA Theater and Dance Editor Adam Feldman, adding, "If Chappelle wasn’t tapping into anti-Semitic tropes it’s weird how my notifications are flooded with Jew-haters today." Among the milder replies to Feldman's tweets was, "You wouldn't be ... [upset] if it wasn't true."

Chappelle concluded his monologue by saying how "incredibly difficult" a comedian's job has become and that, "I hope they don't take anything away from me," adding in a deliberately creepy voice, "whoever they are!"

"Chappelle raises concerns about free speech and says he hopes 'they' (meaning 'the Jews') don't take anything away from him," the Israel educational organization StandWithUs tweeted in response. "We're not going to take anything away, but we will use our free speech rights to respond to harmful ideas with good ones."

Representatives for "Saturday Night Live" did not respond to a Newsday request for comment.

Emmy Award winner Chappelle, who has received the Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, previously has engendered controversy for comments many have taken to be transphobic.