JTA
Dave Chappelle focuses ‘SNL’ monologue on ‘the Jews’ and Kanye West’s antisemitism controversy
Andrew Silow-Carroll
November 13, 2022

Hosting “Saturday Night Live” for the first time since he faced widespread criticism about jokes ridiculing transgender people, comedian Dave Chappelle opened the show with a lengthy monologue about … “the Jews” — namely, the controversy surrounding rapper Kanye West’s recent antisemitic comments. In the lengthy monologue, Chappelle danced along the lines he was mocking, emphasizing that he was not antisemitic while arguing that “it’s not a crazy thing to think” that Jews control Hollywood and insinuating that Jews have been making Black people into scapegoats for their past trauma. READ MORE

NEW YORK POST Jerry Seinfeld: Dave Chappelle’s ‘SNL’ monologue ‘calls for a conversation’ Jerry Seinfeld has given his thoughts on Dave Chappelle’s controversial “Saturday Night Live” monologue. Seinfeld, who is Jewish, addressed the comedic routine — which centered around Kanye West’s antisemitic tirades and “normalized antisemitism” — in a new interview with the Hollywood Reporter. “I did think the comedy was well-executed,” the 68-year-old comedian told the outlet. “But I think the subject matter calls for a conversation that I don’t think I’d want to have in this venue.

THE NEW YORK SUN Eli Lake: Give Dave Chappelle a Shtetl Pass Mr. Chappelle exposed the absurdity of these public apologies in his opening joke. After reading from a brief statement denouncing antisemitism, the comic waits a beat: “And that, Kanye, is how you buy yourself some time.” I don’t speak for every Jew, but this one finds that joke hilarious. The target of the barb was not the Jewish people. It was Kanye West and the ADL. Dave Chappelle deserves a shtetl pass.