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Dave Chappelle’s ‘SNL’ monologue sparks backlash as being antisemitic

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Question is whether or not he's going at it from a conspiratorial angle. He's not wrong that jews have been unusually successful given their relative population. But why? Ultimately it's probably much moreso their culture and genetics than anything else. They've done unusually well everywhere they go.

 
Question is whether or not he's going at it from a conspiratorial angle. He's not wrong that jews have been unusually successful given their relative population. But why? Ultimately it's probably much moreso their culture and genetics than anything else. They've done unusually well everywhere they go.

Hell, Greeks own lots of restaurants...including a lot that don't serve Greek food. Why? They help each other get into the business. I'm not sure what point Chapelle is trying to make.
 
I thought it was funny and the only part that was even a little bit offensive was the “Sha Na Na” joke.

But I’m not a Jew, so I might not be the best arbiter of whether or not the monologue was anti-Semitic.
 
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I don't think you can ignore the success... I get where the conspiracies against jews seem to come from. But they're not cheating; they're just really smart.

Nobel prize jews:

7. Jewish Nobel Laureates. Remarkably, Jews and people of Jewish descent represent less than 0.20% of the world’s population, but they represent 22.4% of all Nobel laureates (208 out of 930). This year there are five Jewish Nobel laureates: Paul Milgrom (economics), Louise Gluck (literature), Roger Penrose and Andrea Ghez (physics), and Harvey Alter (medicine).


Here are the Jewish shares of the six individual Nobel Prizes:


a. Economics: 34 out of 86 or 39.5% (197.5 times the Jewish share of the population)
b. Medicine: 56 out of 222, or 25.2% (126 times the Jewish share of the population)
c. Physics: 59 out of 216 or 27.3% (136.5 times their share of the population)
d. Chemistry: 35 out of 186 or 18.8% (94 times their share of the population)
e. Literature: 15 out of 117 or 12.8% (64 times their share of the population)
f. Peace: 9 out of 107 or 8.4% (42 times their share of the population)

 
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The crowd was uncertain how to react to some of his 'jokes'. There were a few where it was dead quite after he made them. Others were more nervous laughter. He just can't help himself at this point. He just wants to poke the bear.
 
The crowd was uncertain how to react to some of his 'jokes'. There were a few where it was dead quite after he made them. Others were more nervous laughter. He just can't help himself at this point. He just wants to poke the bear.
He definitely likes poking. Which I don't necessarily have a problem with.

I think he correctly pointed out that there is some reason to notice how well jews seem to do compared to everyone else -- the basis of these conspiracy theories. But the question is sort of left hanging then. Are the conspiracists correct?

I think that's what he did there.
 
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The crowd was uncertain how to react to some of his 'jokes'. There were a few where it was dead quite after he made them. Others were more nervous laughter. He just can't help himself at this point. He just wants to poke the bear.
He has incredible delivery. And i feel like DC has evolved to more of Spoken Word format that is rooted in his comedy. Which is why i you see an audience hesitate to laugh. He can go on and on, without delivering the punch line and then when it time, he drops the hammer.
 
The crowd was uncertain how to react to some of his 'jokes'. There were a few where it was dead quite after he made them. Others were more nervous laughter. He just can't help himself at this point. He just wants to poke the bear.
It was the same set structure he's been using for years. I want to say Michael Jackson and molestation was the first, he then did Bill Cosby and rape. At this point the structure is so well known he's going to have to change something up to continue to get the kind of laughs he's accustomed to, or risk falling into 'hack' territory.
 
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It was the same set structure he's been using for years. I want to say Michael Jackson and molestation was the first, he then did Bill Cosby and rape. At this point the structure is so well known he's going to have to change something up to continue to get the kind of laughs he's accustomed to, or risk falling into 'hack' territory.
So long as there is controversy and hypocrisy, Dave will continue to deliver. And, so long as those checks continue to cash... Im not sure he cares if he flirts with "hack" territory.
 
So long as there is controversy and hypocrisy, Dave will continue to deliver. And, so long as those checks continue to cash... Im not sure he cares if he flirts with "hack" territory.
I think not being hack is probably what he cares about most. The structure is getting stale, which is fine. He's one of the best to ever do what he does, but that doesn't mean that he's immune to getting caught in a creative rut.
 
I think not being hack is probably what he cares about most. The structure is getting stale, which is fine. He's one of the best to ever do what he does, but that doesn't mean that he's immune to getting caught in a creative rut.
Definitely. I thought the special where he bitched about trans people was pretty meh. He became too absorbed in political argument. (even if he made some salient points -- just wasn't that funny)
 
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Poking the bear is part of the job description when you’re a stand-up comedian.
Absolutely...but it's about finding the humor in the truth. There are a LOT of Jews in Hollywood...and....🤷‍♂️. Kinda felt like he didn't know where to go with it.

That said, I don't see anything objectionable in his bit and it was really funny overall. He's one of the best out there.
 
Absolutely...but it's about finding the humor in the truth. There are a LOT of Jews in Hollywood...and....🤷‍♂️. Kinda felt like he didn't know where to go with it.

That said, I don't see anything objectionable in his bit and it was really funny overall. He's one of the best out there.

Agreed, I didn't get offended but I'm not Jewish so I tend to defer to those that might know a little more about the subject than I do.

I can also see how the timing and subject matter could lead to leaders of groups dedicated to reducing antisemitism to bristle.
 
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He has incredible delivery. And i feel like DC has evolved to more of Spoken Word format that is rooted in his comedy. Which is why i you see an audience hesitate to laugh. He can go on and on, without delivering the punch line and then when it time, he drops the hammer.
Agreed his delivery is amazing. He doesn't even need to tell jokes to be funny. But where was this hammer drop? He ended with Jews controlling Hollywood. That's a pretty low hanging punch line.
 
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There were a few Jewish kids in the neighborhood where I grew up and their parents were very strict about academics. They weren't outside playing after school. They were inside doing their homework. I think that sort of culture has a lot to do with their success as a group.
 
I am not Jewish so what I think here doesn't count for much but I didn't pick up actual antisemitism in Dave's monologue. Dave seemed very well aware of the tropes and did use them but I didn't sense that he has any conspiratorial beliefs about Jews. I can understand if others did find it antisemitic and Dave hasn't been careful to avoid controversy so I can totally also understand if someone doesn't feel like giving him the benefit of the doubt. I have not been a huge fan of Dave's comedy the last several years with the exception of his SNL appearances (not his fault, we're both older than when I was a preteen in love with his cable show). I think I'd be considered woke by a lot of people who use that as a pejorative.

I don't think recent concerns antisemitism are overblown and I do worry that it's spreading. I think Kanye is an unapologetic antisemite and Nazi sympathizer regardless of any mental illness he may or may not have. And I don't think he wandered on those ideas because he's some type of social genius. There's a lot of shit going around and it looks like the black community is no more immune to it than white supremacists.
 
The nefarious part of this is that the reason Jews are overrepresented in Hollywood and LA is because it was one of the few places they were welcome historically. It wasn’t a plot to control things, it was a safe place that would hire them.

It’d be like criticizing blacks for controlling major cities in the north.
 
Ultimately it's probably much moreso their culture and genetics than anything else.
That’s an inherently and inseparably racist comment, right?

If you said that Anglo-Saxons have a disproportionate share of world wealth, and it’s probably due to their culture and genetics, that’s White Supremacy talk, isn’t it?
 
That’s an inherently and inseparably racist comment, right?

If you said that Anglo-Saxons have a disproportionate share of world wealth, and it’s probably due to their culture and genetics, that’s White Supremacy talk, isn’t it?
Culture isn’t. Kids in Korea don’t magically get better grades than kids in the United States. There’s a huge cultural imperative to get good grades.
 
There was no punch-line that I saw. He just made the point.
The punchline was that it’s just a ‘coincidence’ that Jews run the entertainment industry. Sure he was being facetious, but it’s a fact that even Jews used to openly acknowledge.
 
It was the same set structure he's been using for years. I want to say Michael Jackson and molestation was the first, he then did Bill Cosby and rape. At this point the structure is so well known he's going to have to change something up to continue to get the kind of laughs he's accustomed to, or risk falling into 'hack' territory.
Now THAT'S funny.
 
The punchline was that it’s just a ‘coincidence’ that Jews run the entertainment industry. Sure he was being facetious, but it’s a fact that even Jews used to openly acknowledge.
But they don’t run the entertainment industry. They’re overrepresented, sure, but it’s not the 1950s.

Ted Sarandos, Jeff Bezos, and Bob Chapek run Hollywood.
 
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BTW - someone trying to drudge fake outrage by saying some of the SNL writers were boycotting the show. I wonder how much of the "cancel" "outrage" is actually created on purpose or a chosen lone Twitter account just to feed the masses.

 
But they don’t run the entertainment industry. They’re overrepresented, sure, but it’s not the 1950s.

Ted Sarandos, Jeff Bezos, and Bob Chapek run Hollywood.

He didn’t say they did. He specifically referred to the idea that they do as “deluded.” He just said that because there are so many in the industry that it’s easy to see how someone in the industry who gets hosed a couple times might come away thinking they do; so he said it is deluded, but not crazy, to think that.

For those who missed the punchline, it was “But it’s crazy to say it!” - which tied it right back to Kanye and whether or not Kanye is crazy.

I thought it was a very funny, well crafted fifteen minutes.
 
That’s an inherently and inseparably racist comment, right?

If you said that Anglo-Saxons have a disproportionate share of world wealth, and it’s probably due to their culture and genetics, that’s White Supremacy talk, isn’t it?

No. Culture is culture... however it came about.

And to say genetics isn't to say race. It's just a grouping of people. The grouping could be within "race" or whatever else. ("race" is just a few physical attributes and, effectively, culture)

IIRC the Jewish gene pool has a bunch of genetic disease that are higher in likelihood than much of the rest of the population. But yes, it's plausible they get some cognitive benefit from their genes.

My original point was that there are some relatively common sense answers to why jews might be over-represented in certain disciplines. Mostly that they seem to produce an unusually high amount of "smart" people.
 
Well they are God’s chosen people after all. I don’t think DC is being antisemitic here. If anything, he’s being anti-Kanye. Comedy should push the envelope, this is nowhere close to being out of bounds from a comedic standpoint. Credit to Dave for straying outside of his own cultural safety zone for his material.
 
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