Dave Chappelle is under fire after delivering a monologue on Saturday Night Live that Jewish groups have called antisemitic.
The controversial comedian joked about Kanye West and Kyrie Irving, the rapper and NBA player who have recently made antisemitic statements and social media posts, during his routine.
Chappelle said he'd figured out that there are "two words in the English language that you should never say together in sequence, and those words are 'the' and 'Jews.'"
The organization StopAntisemitism called out the comedian in a Sunday night tweet.
"In October 2021, we featured Chappelle as an Antisemite of the Week," the group wrote. "Many, including those in the Jewish advocacy world, expressed dismay, stating his commentary was 'humor.' Last night on SNL, Chappelle showed us once again what a vile antisemite he is."
The tweet included a link to an entry on StopAntisemitism's website calling Chappelle "The Hateful Joker."
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has also condemned Chappelle. CEO Jonathan Greenblatt issued a scathing indictment of the comedian in a tweet on Sunday.
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?
— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) November 13, 2022"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. "Why are Jewish sensitivities denied or diminished at almost every turn? Why does our trauma trigger applause?"
At another point in the SNL monologue, Chappelle said: "I've been to Hollywood. And I don't want y'all to get mad at me, I'm just telling you this is just what I saw. It's a lot of Jews. Like a lot. But that doesn't mean anything, you know what I mean? There's a lot of Black people in Ferguson, Missouri. It doesn't mean we run the place."
This was the third time that Chappelle hosted the famed sketch show.
The LGBTQ+ community railed against the news that Chappelle would be SNL's November 12 host. Critics had previously decried certain jokes in his 2021 Netflix stand-up special, The Closer, as transphobic.
Chappelle was also accused of being antisemitic in The Closer after he talked about a film idea with the title Space Jews.
"In my movie idea, we find out that these aliens are originally from earth. That they're from an ancient civilization that achieved interstellar travel and left the earth thousands of years ago," the comedian said in the special.
"Some other planet they go to, and things go terrible for them on the other planet. So they come back to earth and decide that they want to claim the earth for their very own. It's a pretty good plotline, huh? I call it Space Jews."
StopAntisemitism Executive Director Liora Rez told Newsweek that the group previously called out Chappelle over his Netflix special. The comedian further "proved our instinct correct with his disgusting opening monologue" last weekend, she said.
"Chappelle's affiliation with Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam cannot be ignored, specifically when he makes antisemitic comments masked as 'jokes,'" Rez continued. "Not only are these 'jokes' not funny but they are actually dangerous."
Rez added: "Chappelle has normalized the Jew-hatred spewed by Kanye West last month, which often manifests into real world violence. Who gave Chappelle the greenlight for that disastrous hate speech? Where are Lorne Michaels and NBC Universal CEO Jeff Shell in holding Chappelle accountable?"
Newsweek reached out to the ADL and a representative for Chappelle for comment.
Updated 11/14/2022, 6:32 p.m. ET: This story was updated with comment from StopAntisemitism Executive Director Liora Rez.
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