Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt criticizes the hit NBC comedy show after the comedian discusses Kanye West and Kyrie Irving's anti-Semitic controversies during his monologue.
- Nov 14, 2022
AceShowbiz - Dave Chappelle's monologue in the latest episode of "Saturday Night Live" didn't sit well with some people. Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt criticized the hit NBC comedy show after the comedian talked about Kanye West and Kyrie Irving's anti-Semitic controversies during his monologue in the Saturday, November 12 episode.
"We shouldn't expect @DaveChappelle to serve as society's moral compass, but disturbing to see @nbcsnl not just normalize but popularize #antisemitism," Greenblatt wrote on Twitter on Sunday. "Why are Jewish sensitivities denied or diminished at almost every turn? Why does our trauma trigger applause?"
Also slamming the show was The Jerusalem Post. It tweeted, "The American comedian Dave Chappelle said during his SNL monologue that he 'denounces antisemitism in all its forms'… before promptly engaging in antisemitic tropes."
Yet Tangle News founder Isaac Saul added, "Let me be the first Jew to say: Dave Chappelle's SNL open last night was hilarious, timely, honest, and a reminder that he still understands this country better than a lot of people whose whole job is to understand the country. It's okay to acknowledge there are a lot of Jews in media and Hollywood. And like Dave said, you can simultaneously note that it's very stupid to think this means they are in some cabal controlling the world."
Meanwhile, Time Out New York theater editor and critic Adam Feldman said that "Dave Chappelle SNL monologue probably did more to normalize anti-Semitism than anything Kanye said." He continued, "Everyone knows Kanye is nuts. Chappelle posits himself as a teller of difficult truths. It's worse."
Kicking off his 15-minute monologue, Dave told the audience, "I denounce anti-Semitism in all its forms. And I stand with my friends in the Jewish community. And that, Kanye, is how you buy yourself some time." Speaking of the "Donda" artist, the host added, "Kanye has gotten in some scraps before and normally when he's in trouble, I pull up immediately. But this time I was like, 'you know what? Lemme see what's gonna happen first.' "
The comic also mentioned Kyrie, saying, "Kanye got in so much trouble Kyrie got in trouble. Kyrie Irving posted a link of to a movie he seen on Amazon. No caption on the post or nothing like that, but apparently this movie had Anti-Semitic tropes." He continued, "And the NBA told him he should apologize and he was slow to apologize. The list of demands to get back into their good graces got longer and longer and this is where I draw the line. I know the Jewish people have been through terrible things all over the world, but you can't blame that on black Americans."
At one point of his monologue, the "Chappelle Show" star also joked that "there are two words in the English language that you should never say together in sequence: 'The' and 'Jews.' " He went on explaining, "I've been to Hollywood and - no one get mad at me - I'm just telling you what I saw. It's a lot of Jews. Like a lot. But that doesn't mean anything! You know what I mean? Because there are a lot of black people in Ferguson, Missouri, it doesn't mean we run the place."
He additionally said that Ye broke "the show business rules." He added, "You know, the rules of perception. If they're black, then it's a gang. If they're Italian, it's a mob. If they're Jewish, it's a coincidence and you should never speak about it."
