Dave Chappelle’s comments about the Jewish community during his “Saturday Night Live” monologue are being criticized as anti-Semitic.
Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt took to Twitter on Sunday to criticize the comedian and the NBC late-night show.
“We shouldn’t expect @DaveChappelle to serve as society’s moral compass, but it’s disturbing to see @nbcsnl not just normalizing but popularizing #antisemitism,” Greenblatt wrote. “Why are Jewish sensibilities denied or diminished at almost every turn? Why does trauma cause us to applaud?’
The controversial comic hosted the show and addressed the firestorm surrounding Kanye West, who legally changed his name to “Ye” following his comments about Jews.
Chappelle began the show by reading a statement that read: “I denounce anti-Semitism in all its forms and stand with my friends in the Jewish community.”
“And so, Kanye, you’re buying yourself some time,” Chappelle joked.
He went on to say that Ye had broken “the rules of show business” which are “the rules of perception”.
“If they’re black, then they’re a gang. If they’re Italian, they’re a mob,” Chappelle said. “But if they’re Jewish, it’s a coincidence and you should never talk about it.”
Chappelle went on to talk about the abundance of Jews in Hollywood.
“But that doesn’t mean anything,” he said. “There are a lot of black people in Ferguson, Missouri. It doesn’t mean they run the place.”
Chappelle said he could see “if you had some kind of problem, you might go out to Hollywood and start connecting some kind of lines and maybe adopt the illusion that Jews are running show business.”
“It’s not crazy to think about,” he said. “But it’s crazy to say out loud.”
Writer Adam Feldman tweeted “That Dave Chappelle SNL monologue probably did more to normalize anti-Semitism than anything Kanye said.”
“Everybody knows Kanye is crazy,” Feldman wrote. “Chappelle positions himself as a teller of hard truths. It’s worse.”
CNN has reached out to representatives for Chappelle and NBC for comment.
