Saturday Night Live: Dave Chappelle / Black Star
November 13, 2022 3:38 AM - Season 48, Episode 6 - Subscribe
I'm pretty sure Black Star cameoed in a couple sketches, but I didn't realize who they were.
- Cold Open - Fox & Friends: Heidi Gardner, Mikey Day, Bowen Yang, Cecily Strong, James Austin Johnson
- Monologue: Dave Chappelle
- Potato Hole: Heidi Gardner, Dave Chappelle, Andrew Dismukes, Chloe Fineman, Michael Longfellow
- House of Dragons Sneak Preview: Dave Chappelle, Chloe Fineman, Michael Longfellow, Mikey Day, Kenan Thompson, Ego Nwodim, Punkie Johnson, James Austin Johnson, Dave Chappelle
- Barber Shop: Dave Chappelle, Kenan Thompson, Devon Walker, Punkie Johnson, Ego Nwodim, Michael Longfellow
- Black Star - So Be It
- Weekend Update: Michael Che, Colin Jost
- Jose Suarez: Marcello Hernandez
- Sarah News: Sarah Sherman
- Black Heaven: Kenan Thompson, Ego Nwodim, Devon Walker, Mikey Day, Punkie Johnson
- Black Star - The Main Thing Is To Keep The Main Thing The Main Thing
- Election Night: PDD, Molly Kearney, James Austin Johnson, Steve Kornacki, Sarah Sherman
Transphobe host and a musical act with a member banned from various social media for organized harassment of women.
Banner week for SNL.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:19 AM on November 13, 2022 [21 favorites]
Banner week for SNL.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:19 AM on November 13, 2022 [21 favorites]
Dave’s monologue is only funny if you ignore how antisemitic it is.
posted by dorothy hawk at 12:28 PM on November 13, 2022 [19 favorites]
posted by dorothy hawk at 12:28 PM on November 13, 2022 [19 favorites]
Yeah I’m torn because as much as I’m contemptuous of Chappelle’s transphobia and cancel culture whining, the episode overall was the funniest I’ve seen of the season (haven’t watched the Amy Schumer episode yet). His monologue kept veering between being funny/making good points and being gross, but the Potato Hole and Black Heaven sketches were hilarious. Sarah News was excellent and overall Weekend Update seemed funnier than recently, despite two of Che’s “women, amirite” jokes. The House of the Dragon sketch was just a retread of a previous sketch (I think Walking Dead themed?) where he brought back all his Chappelle show characters, so basically a retread of a retread.
posted by ejs at 12:42 PM on November 13, 2022
posted by ejs at 12:42 PM on November 13, 2022
That Was Straightforward Antisemitism from Chappelle and SNL Last Night
posted by Etrigan at 3:48 PM on November 13, 2022 [8 favorites]
posted by Etrigan at 3:48 PM on November 13, 2022 [8 favorites]
Sarah Sherman rules.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 4:14 PM on November 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by paper chromatographologist at 4:14 PM on November 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
So is SNL going to do that thing SNL always does, where they invite a known terrible person to host like it's an absolutely normal thing (Musk, DJT, etc.) and then a year later they make lots of jokes about how terrible that person is?
posted by mochapickle at 4:30 PM on November 13, 2022 [17 favorites]
posted by mochapickle at 4:30 PM on November 13, 2022 [17 favorites]
sarah shermans weekend update bit was an instant classic, i’m so happy whenever she shows up on this show
posted by dis_integration at 5:47 PM on November 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by dis_integration at 5:47 PM on November 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
Chapelle was brilliant, I have never seen his work before. His discussion of Ukranians fighting the war, early on, like Home Alone with rakes to step on, was great. I remember early in the war, women serving poison mushrooms, and poison berry pies. I thought it was a great monologue.
posted by Oyéah at 5:48 PM on November 13, 2022
posted by Oyéah at 5:48 PM on November 13, 2022
I know how this sounds, but I’ve been worried that Molly and Bowen would be harassed this week. I’m glad they seemed to be okay?
posted by pxe2000 at 3:41 AM on November 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by pxe2000 at 3:41 AM on November 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
The anti-Semitism was in the ellipses in Chappelle's monologue, and that's an insidious thing.
He tries to pass it off as funny truth-telling, just pointing out that there sure are a lot of Jews in Hollywood.
No, of course it's not anti-Semitic in and of itself to simply note that many prominent people in Hollywood are Jewish. The anti-Semitism comes in the ellipses... in the inference that it has to mean something. It's in the inference that they don't want you to talk about this, because they have an agenda. It's in the inference that any place where there's a notable subset of Jewish people has to mean conspiracy, has to mean insidiousness, has to mean non-Jewish people are targets somehow.
And the sneaky part is: it's all done without ever having to say the thing. You just set it up and leave the nasty part in the ellipsis. You just let centuries of conditioned anti-Semitism fill in that blank for you.
It's truly and deeply fucked up and people ought to be training themselves to spot this very old, very malicious rhetorical trick, because we're seeing more and more of it. Our Jewish friends know all too well what it looks like and they shouldn't have to feel boxed into recapping the entire 20th century for you to remind you how this works.
Fucking hell, people.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:06 AM on November 14, 2022 [38 favorites]
He tries to pass it off as funny truth-telling, just pointing out that there sure are a lot of Jews in Hollywood.
No, of course it's not anti-Semitic in and of itself to simply note that many prominent people in Hollywood are Jewish. The anti-Semitism comes in the ellipses... in the inference that it has to mean something. It's in the inference that they don't want you to talk about this, because they have an agenda. It's in the inference that any place where there's a notable subset of Jewish people has to mean conspiracy, has to mean insidiousness, has to mean non-Jewish people are targets somehow.
And the sneaky part is: it's all done without ever having to say the thing. You just set it up and leave the nasty part in the ellipsis. You just let centuries of conditioned anti-Semitism fill in that blank for you.
It's truly and deeply fucked up and people ought to be training themselves to spot this very old, very malicious rhetorical trick, because we're seeing more and more of it. Our Jewish friends know all too well what it looks like and they shouldn't have to feel boxed into recapping the entire 20th century for you to remind you how this works.
Fucking hell, people.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:06 AM on November 14, 2022 [38 favorites]
I don't usually watch SNL, but I'm currently visiting someone who does.
This episode left me pretty uncomfortable, as a Jewish person. It started with Chappelle's monologue, which has been covered in the media. But I haven't seen any comments about the barbershop sketch. In the first minute, they're discussing Kanye--the White lives matter t-shirt, the lost deal. But as soon as the White guy brings up antisemitism, there's awkward silence, played for laughs. They then talk about Kyrie Irving, who also posts antisemitic dog whistles, but they didn't address that head-on. I still made the connection for myself, in the silence, and what was left unsaid, as DirtyOldTown has eloquently stated.
I acknowledge that I'm not Black and I'm sure there are good jokes in that sketch that just won't hit as hard for me, and that's fine. But the silence that follows antisemitism is real, and it's not funny. That, plus the earlier monologue, put a really bad taste in my mouth and I wasn't able to relax and enjoy a lot of this episode. Are we really going to keep mainstreaming this?
posted by j.r at 3:19 PM on November 14, 2022 [9 favorites]
This episode left me pretty uncomfortable, as a Jewish person. It started with Chappelle's monologue, which has been covered in the media. But I haven't seen any comments about the barbershop sketch. In the first minute, they're discussing Kanye--the White lives matter t-shirt, the lost deal. But as soon as the White guy brings up antisemitism, there's awkward silence, played for laughs. They then talk about Kyrie Irving, who also posts antisemitic dog whistles, but they didn't address that head-on. I still made the connection for myself, in the silence, and what was left unsaid, as DirtyOldTown has eloquently stated.
I acknowledge that I'm not Black and I'm sure there are good jokes in that sketch that just won't hit as hard for me, and that's fine. But the silence that follows antisemitism is real, and it's not funny. That, plus the earlier monologue, put a really bad taste in my mouth and I wasn't able to relax and enjoy a lot of this episode. Are we really going to keep mainstreaming this?
posted by j.r at 3:19 PM on November 14, 2022 [9 favorites]
Yeah, this episode was yikes; the monologue particularly, but also the barbershop; and i think the joke in Black Heaven was way overplayed.
posted by Marticus at 3:53 PM on November 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Marticus at 3:53 PM on November 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
But I haven't seen any comments about the barbershop sketch yt .
For me, the barbershop sketch was where it went from "this is one comedian with a history of pushing limits making a joke about what you can and can't say" (which was still anti-Semitic in my opinion, but it's that 'plausible deniability' line that Chappelle likes to walk) - to 100% "this is what all right-thinkers believe but just don't say." I found it really chilling. Especially since - from an acting standpoint - it was genuinely funny. People probably will be sharing it. That's normalizing.
Assuming Chappelle wrote or co-wrote both the monologue and that sketch, he's making it crystal clear that "we know we're not allowed to say that we think Ye was right... so - hear us out - we won't say it." Get it?
posted by Mchelly at 4:43 PM on November 14, 2022 [4 favorites]
For me, the barbershop sketch was where it went from "this is one comedian with a history of pushing limits making a joke about what you can and can't say" (which was still anti-Semitic in my opinion, but it's that 'plausible deniability' line that Chappelle likes to walk) - to 100% "this is what all right-thinkers believe but just don't say." I found it really chilling. Especially since - from an acting standpoint - it was genuinely funny. People probably will be sharing it. That's normalizing.
Assuming Chappelle wrote or co-wrote both the monologue and that sketch, he's making it crystal clear that "we know we're not allowed to say that we think Ye was right... so - hear us out - we won't say it." Get it?
posted by Mchelly at 4:43 PM on November 14, 2022 [4 favorites]
I didn't get the feeling Chapelle tried to say Ye was right. Ye is a big player and a misanthrope. He is paying for what he has been saying. I mentioned in my comment this is the first time I have ever seen Chapelle perform, I have never seen Ye perform. Allegedly free speech is a right in the US, yet the consequences of hate speech are observably dire, dire on a daily basis. I didn't view Chapelle's monologue as hateful, and I am not misinformed. I don't get million dollar tennis shoes, and I don't want to. I thought the barbershop scene was about exclusion of the newbie, white, barber. I didn't even pay attention to his comments, just that he seemed out of tune with the room.
posted by Oyéah at 5:40 PM on November 14, 2022
posted by Oyéah at 5:40 PM on November 14, 2022
I don't usually watch SNL, and I have ambivalent feelings about Chappelle, in that half the time I think he's saying something enlightened and challenging and half the time I go "nope dude you're just being a fucking bigot."
So I watched half of his monologue, thinking, "Hey, I can handle the occasional uncomfortable quip about Jewish people. After all, it's not like I don't make a lot of self-deprecating Jewish jokes mysel—"
and WOW was it just flat-out non-stop anti-semitic nonsense. I mean, I don't think Chappelle is smart enough to know the difference, because I've mostly given up the belief that he has any degree of sophisticated or nuanced thought about any subject apart from race, but... yeah nah that was no shades-of-grey shit. That was flat-out tinfoil-hat nonsense. Like dude, if you're gonna be that shitty about my people, at least have some fun with it and mention that you think we eat babies, jeez.
posted by Tom Hanks Cannot Be Trusted at 5:52 PM on November 14, 2022 [9 favorites]
So I watched half of his monologue, thinking, "Hey, I can handle the occasional uncomfortable quip about Jewish people. After all, it's not like I don't make a lot of self-deprecating Jewish jokes mysel—"
and WOW was it just flat-out non-stop anti-semitic nonsense. I mean, I don't think Chappelle is smart enough to know the difference, because I've mostly given up the belief that he has any degree of sophisticated or nuanced thought about any subject apart from race, but... yeah nah that was no shades-of-grey shit. That was flat-out tinfoil-hat nonsense. Like dude, if you're gonna be that shitty about my people, at least have some fun with it and mention that you think we eat babies, jeez.
posted by Tom Hanks Cannot Be Trusted at 5:52 PM on November 14, 2022 [9 favorites]
I didn't view Chapelle's monologue as hateful, and I am not misinformed.
Maybe it's more un-informed, and you should try listening to the Jewish voices in the room?
I didn't even pay attention to his comments
Maybe that's part of why you didn't clock what was being said?
posted by FatherDagon at 9:03 AM on November 15, 2022 [10 favorites]
Maybe it's more un-informed, and you should try listening to the Jewish voices in the room?
I didn't even pay attention to his comments
Maybe that's part of why you didn't clock what was being said?
posted by FatherDagon at 9:03 AM on November 15, 2022 [10 favorites]
Dave Chapelle is getting lazy—you could tell he coulda written jokes with way more depth, maybe even talking about what he was joking about. He's just telling jokes because people say "you can't talk about this" so he talks about it. Everything that came out of that show was way too deep to be passed over with mediocre jokes. Either the jokes should have gone MUCH deeper, or not at all. These are issues he's making nickel-and-dime jokes about, but that have millennia of convoluted history behind them.
posted by not_on_display at 3:57 PM on November 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by not_on_display at 3:57 PM on November 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
I didn't view Chapelle's monologue as hateful, and I am not misinformed.
This monologue got under my skin in an unexpected way last night; I've had it in my head more today than I was expecting. And that's not because it was "hateful." DirtyOldTown said it best: the thing that skeeved me out was that every goddamn line of that monologue revolved around an implication—and without that implication, there literally weren't jokes. Because the punchline, the humor, was always found in a place of: Heheheh, those Jews sure do like to suppress any suggestion that there's a conspiracy afoot! Heh heh heh!
The framework for the entire monologue was: Well, sure Kanye's an idiot to talk about the Jews out loud. Hasn't he learned that you're not allowed to talk about the Jews? Leaving aside a lame bit of old-school bigotry of the "call the Jewish new year 'sha na na'" variety, the central conceit was that of course there is a powerful Jewish conspiracy in Hollywood, which you're not allowed to talk about. You'd be an idiot to try and talk about them. You can joke about Black people, you can joke about Italians, but you can't joke about Jewish people. Because the Jewish presence in Hollywood literally functions as a shadowy, mysterious "other" that is elite, untargetable, and cannot be criticized or even mentioned.
I'm gonna presume we're all basically culturally literate here, and not patiently explain how "shadowy elite" is the anti-semitic stereotype of Jewish people. And I'll presume we paid basic attention to Kanye and Kyrie Irving's bullshit, both of which revolved around perpetuating exactly that stereotype. Chappelle's monologue was a "critique" of Kanye in the sense that the joke was more-or-less, Well of COURSE you're right, dude, but don't SAY it!
I think that what got under my skin is not that I think Chappelle holds some virulently anti-semitic beliefs. It's not even that I 100% think Chappelle probably does think there's some elite cabal of Jewish people out to blacklist anyone who speaks ill of them—like, that's not great, but it's nothing new. The thing that I found so unsettling was that he devoted that much time to such a lazy goddamn set of stereotypes, constructed a whole set around the idea that it's funny to talk about The Cabal, and was immediately validated by a giant audience that didn't notice or comprehend the framing enough to feel uncomfortable with what he was doing. That part feels really gross to me, in that basic-cultural-literacy sense. And while I don't generally get that preoccupied with anti-semitism as a cultural phenomenon, I do feel a bit like we're slipping back into the dark ages here.
posted by Tom Hanks Cannot Be Trusted at 4:03 PM on November 15, 2022 [3 favorites]
This monologue got under my skin in an unexpected way last night; I've had it in my head more today than I was expecting. And that's not because it was "hateful." DirtyOldTown said it best: the thing that skeeved me out was that every goddamn line of that monologue revolved around an implication—and without that implication, there literally weren't jokes. Because the punchline, the humor, was always found in a place of: Heheheh, those Jews sure do like to suppress any suggestion that there's a conspiracy afoot! Heh heh heh!
The framework for the entire monologue was: Well, sure Kanye's an idiot to talk about the Jews out loud. Hasn't he learned that you're not allowed to talk about the Jews? Leaving aside a lame bit of old-school bigotry of the "call the Jewish new year 'sha na na'" variety, the central conceit was that of course there is a powerful Jewish conspiracy in Hollywood, which you're not allowed to talk about. You'd be an idiot to try and talk about them. You can joke about Black people, you can joke about Italians, but you can't joke about Jewish people. Because the Jewish presence in Hollywood literally functions as a shadowy, mysterious "other" that is elite, untargetable, and cannot be criticized or even mentioned.
I'm gonna presume we're all basically culturally literate here, and not patiently explain how "shadowy elite" is the anti-semitic stereotype of Jewish people. And I'll presume we paid basic attention to Kanye and Kyrie Irving's bullshit, both of which revolved around perpetuating exactly that stereotype. Chappelle's monologue was a "critique" of Kanye in the sense that the joke was more-or-less, Well of COURSE you're right, dude, but don't SAY it!
I think that what got under my skin is not that I think Chappelle holds some virulently anti-semitic beliefs. It's not even that I 100% think Chappelle probably does think there's some elite cabal of Jewish people out to blacklist anyone who speaks ill of them—like, that's not great, but it's nothing new. The thing that I found so unsettling was that he devoted that much time to such a lazy goddamn set of stereotypes, constructed a whole set around the idea that it's funny to talk about The Cabal, and was immediately validated by a giant audience that didn't notice or comprehend the framing enough to feel uncomfortable with what he was doing. That part feels really gross to me, in that basic-cultural-literacy sense. And while I don't generally get that preoccupied with anti-semitism as a cultural phenomenon, I do feel a bit like we're slipping back into the dark ages here.
posted by Tom Hanks Cannot Be Trusted at 4:03 PM on November 15, 2022 [3 favorites]
> I know how this sounds, but I’ve been worried that Molly and Bowen would be harassed this week. I’m glad they seemed to be okay?
Molly wasn't in the goodnights, nor any other live sketch. But they nailed it in the PDD taped segment. They've got the panicky but positive energy of Chris Farley.
Dunno about Bowen or Punkie. And it's all too convoluted for me to pick apart.
posted by not_on_display at 4:05 PM on November 15, 2022
Molly wasn't in the goodnights, nor any other live sketch. But they nailed it in the PDD taped segment. They've got the panicky but positive energy of Chris Farley.
Dunno about Bowen or Punkie. And it's all too convoluted for me to pick apart.
posted by not_on_display at 4:05 PM on November 15, 2022
Dave Chappelle switched ‘SNL’ monologue between rehearsal and live show [Page Six]
Horrific that he had the platform to begin with.
posted by ellieBOA at 8:49 AM on November 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
Horrific that he had the platform to begin with.
posted by ellieBOA at 8:49 AM on November 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
I’ve been worried that Molly and Bowen would be harassed this week. I’m glad they seemed to be okay?
Yep, not only was Molly not there, but there was explicit use of their they/them pronouns in the pre-recorded Please Don't Destroy sketch which I appreciated.
The thing that I found so unsettling was that he devoted that much time to such a lazy goddamn set of stereotypes, constructed a whole set around the idea that it's funny to talk about The Cabal, and was immediately validated by a giant audience that didn't notice or comprehend the framing enough to feel uncomfortable with what he was doing. That part feels really gross to me
That was the part that felt really weird/bad to me. We just saw the show last night, so I knew already that the ADL had said it was antisemitic and when he started getting into it I was like "Well the ADL sometimes is more sensitive about this stuff than I am..." and then he kept going and I was like "WOAH" because, yeah, that's the thing. It's not just making lazy "Jews run Hollywood" jokes but it's the implication of the cabal and acting like you can't say things (Like dude, you and your persecution complex, as literally one of the most successful comedians in the world, please) when these are actual white supremacist talking points.
Without any additional context that would make it clear that those alt right people are terrible assholes and actively dangerous, you're just creating more content for them. And I was surprised at the NY audience thinking that was okay. And it's worse because I don't even think Chappelle is antisemitic, he's likely just ignorant on these larger topics, doesn't care to know more, and is defensive about people disliking his comedy and saying he's a bad person for being... a bad person?
The rest of the show was just very weirdly paced. It was 25 minutes in, nearly, before the monologue was over. There were only four live sketches in an hour and a half show. Chappelle introduced two of them which never happens (and was only pertinent for one of them) and it was just strange.
a member banned from various social media for organized harassment of women.
I liked Black Star's music, the first song in particular and I didn't know this fact. I was more weirded out by Mos Def's fleeing to South Africa to avoid paying child support, having his passport revoked, traveling on a world passport, and eventually getting barred from South Africa.
So yeah just a weird show over all.
posted by jessamyn at 10:14 AM on November 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
Yep, not only was Molly not there, but there was explicit use of their they/them pronouns in the pre-recorded Please Don't Destroy sketch which I appreciated.
The thing that I found so unsettling was that he devoted that much time to such a lazy goddamn set of stereotypes, constructed a whole set around the idea that it's funny to talk about The Cabal, and was immediately validated by a giant audience that didn't notice or comprehend the framing enough to feel uncomfortable with what he was doing. That part feels really gross to me
That was the part that felt really weird/bad to me. We just saw the show last night, so I knew already that the ADL had said it was antisemitic and when he started getting into it I was like "Well the ADL sometimes is more sensitive about this stuff than I am..." and then he kept going and I was like "WOAH" because, yeah, that's the thing. It's not just making lazy "Jews run Hollywood" jokes but it's the implication of the cabal and acting like you can't say things (Like dude, you and your persecution complex, as literally one of the most successful comedians in the world, please) when these are actual white supremacist talking points.
Without any additional context that would make it clear that those alt right people are terrible assholes and actively dangerous, you're just creating more content for them. And I was surprised at the NY audience thinking that was okay. And it's worse because I don't even think Chappelle is antisemitic, he's likely just ignorant on these larger topics, doesn't care to know more, and is defensive about people disliking his comedy and saying he's a bad person for being... a bad person?
The rest of the show was just very weirdly paced. It was 25 minutes in, nearly, before the monologue was over. There were only four live sketches in an hour and a half show. Chappelle introduced two of them which never happens (and was only pertinent for one of them) and it was just strange.
a member banned from various social media for organized harassment of women.
I liked Black Star's music, the first song in particular and I didn't know this fact. I was more weirded out by Mos Def's fleeing to South Africa to avoid paying child support, having his passport revoked, traveling on a world passport, and eventually getting barred from South Africa.
So yeah just a weird show over all.
posted by jessamyn at 10:14 AM on November 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
Yeah, Talib Kweli popped up in a thread about colorism as one of many Black rappers with a very light-skinned partner. The OP wasn't specifically saying any of the partnerships specifically were less than genuine. She was only noting that it is odd/suspicious that the preponderance of dark-skinned rappers have a light-skinned partner. I mean, it's Twitter, she didn't have room for a thesis, it was just an observation.
Kweli didn't take it too well, so for two weeks he coordinated his followers to dox, harass, and threaten the Twitter user who had made the observation. I believe he also got some suspensions from other social media sites, though he's back on those. He sued Jezebel later for "emotional distress" for their article on this ban.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:37 AM on November 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
Kweli didn't take it too well, so for two weeks he coordinated his followers to dox, harass, and threaten the Twitter user who had made the observation. I believe he also got some suspensions from other social media sites, though he's back on those. He sued Jezebel later for "emotional distress" for their article on this ban.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:37 AM on November 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
Yikes at Chapelle repeating antisemtic talking points, and jesus christ his shitty stand-up bits took like half the fucking episode. Chapelle's last specials haven't been funny, he isn't funny anymore. He's just got Rush Limbaugh energy he doesn't know what to do besides fling it at people. I can be okay with a lot in comedy if it's funny but he just forgot how to be funny I guess. What a miserable little turd boy.
Awful episode, possibly the worst I've ever seen and them most I had to skip. Immediately skipped over his second insanely long standup bit. The fuckin git-r-done guy looks downright elegant & insightful compared to Chapelle these days.
posted by GoblinHoney at 7:33 AM on November 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
Awful episode, possibly the worst I've ever seen and them most I had to skip. Immediately skipped over his second insanely long standup bit. The fuckin git-r-done guy looks downright elegant & insightful compared to Chapelle these days.
posted by GoblinHoney at 7:33 AM on November 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
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posted by transient at 6:47 AM on November 13, 2022 [4 favorites]