The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) condemns Dave Chappelle’s opening monologue on “Saturday Night Live” which included Kanye West’srecent anti-Semitic comments as well as engaging in other anti-Semitic tropes.
Chappelle began by stating, “I denounce antisemitism in all its forms. And I stand with my friends in the Jewish community,” beforeadding, “And that, Kanye, is how you buy yourself some time.”
Chappelle also quipped about Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving, who was suspended after refusing to apologize for tweeting out a linkabout a documentary that perpetuates anti-Semitic beliefs. He later said there were “a lot of Jews” in Hollywood.
“Dave Chappelle had the power to put anti-Semites in their place and that’s how his SNL monologue began. By the end, hemainlined some of the worst core resurgent anti-Semitic tropes,” said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action at SWC. “Lorne Michaels and NBCUniversal should never have allowed their platform to be used to push anti-Semitic hate.”
For further information, please email Michele Alkin, Director of Global Communications at malkin@wiesenthal.com or Shawn Rodgers atsrodgers@wiesenthal.com, join the Center on Facebook, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent directly to your Twitter feed.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center is an international Jewish human rightsorganization numbering over 400.000 members. It holds consultative status at the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the OAS, and the Latin American Parliament(PARLATINO).