It’s fairly common for Saturday Night Live episodes to remain watercooler fodder for days after new episodes air, but Dave Chappelle’s latest return to the 30 Rock stage drew reactions that are a bit more rare in their nature. Chappelle’s lengthy monologue (which was Different from his dress rehearsal set), which was essentially the comedian’s reaction to the backlash against Kanye West and Kyrie Irving’s anti-semitism, has earned a swath of negative criticisms and calls for change. Not only from viewers and fans, but also from Hollywood’s sitcom royalty Jerry Seinfeld whose Jewishness is a long-standing staple of his comedy.
Seinfeld, currently working on Netflix’s Pop-Tart movieTHR spoke with, about his new book, toaster pastries and touring. The Coffee Book: Comedians in CarsAnd more. But of course, the topic of Chappelle’s latest SNLThe Emmy winner responded with:
I did think the comedy was well-executed, but I think the subject matter calls for a conversation that I don’t think I’d want to have in this venue.
As a comic who has long held a reputation for sidestepping any professional strife through his comedy and other projects, Jerry Seinfeld often chooses to focus on the positives rather than the negatives, which is quite unlike every main character — and most side characters — in his classic sitcom (which is available to stream in full with a Netflix subscription). And so it’s not so shocking that he first gave Dave Chappelle the benefit of the doubt and complimented the performance itself, while implying he wasn’t as pleased by the actual material.
Understanding that a one-on-one interview wasn’t going to solve any overall problems, Seinfeld reserved any harsher opinions for potential conversations in the future, ones that he hopes would be “productive,”He said it. But it’s not exactly clear if those talks will happen in the near future, as the two comedians aren’t exactly BFFs, which Seinfeld spoke to in saying:
I don’t have a close relationship with him. We’re friends and it’s not a close relationship.
For their comedy specials, Jerry Seinfeld as well as Dave Chappelle have lucrative contracts with Netflix. The former has been subject to backlash for his material on transgender people. I’m not sure that the streaming giant will be the right place for comics to have a productive conversation about this topic, given how many times its top-ranking executives have defended Chappelle.
To be fair, it is not Everyone is waving torches and pitchforks in Dave Chappelle’s general direction. His Half Baked buddy Jon Stewart was able to defend himselfHe did not validate the statements of Chappelle, but he expressed his conviction that censoring offensive jokes is the wrong way to address the root cause.
While you wait for more information, be sure to check out the Netflix has the funniest comedy specials streaming right nowGo to our website. 2022 TV premiere scheduleTo see which new and returning shows are coming soon.