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On Sunday, the Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt criticized the NBC program, accusing the late-night staple of “popularizing antisemitism.”
He tweeted, “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?”
The Jerusalem Post tweeted: “The American comedian Dave Chappelle said during his SNL monologue that he ‘denounces antisemitism in all its forms’… before promptly engaging in antisemitic tropes.”
Chappelle’s 15-minute monologue has racked up 3.2 million views in less than 24 hours on YouTube – more than any other SNL video since last May. It included comments such as Chappelle saying Ye broke “the show business rules of perception … if they’re Black, then it’s a gang. If they’re Italian, it’s a mob. But if they’re Jewish, it’s a coincidence and you should never speak about it.”
He added: “I’ve been to Hollywood … this is what I saw: It’s a lot of Jews. Like, a lot. But that doesn’t mean anything! There’s a lot of Black people in Ferguson, Missouri. Doesn’t mean they run the place.”
Chappelle said he understood how somebody could “adopt the delusion” that Jewish people “run show business … it’s not a crazy thing to think. But it’s a crazy thing to say out loud in a climate like this.”
Source: NY Post, Hollywood Reporter.
Photo Credit: Kristy Sparow/Getty Images.