Dave Chappelle looked out at a packed Madison Square Garden and made a joke about a man being murdered.
“Ever since that guy Charlie Kirk got murdered, and I shouldn’t say this publicly, but I feel better,” he said.
He then joked about finding himself in a good mood before remembering Kirk’s death. The crowd laughed. The footage circulated online. And the backlash began.
The Joke
Chappelle did not criticize Kirk’s politics nor did he mock his ideas. He, rather, said that the murder of a man made him feel better.
Charlie Kirk was a man with a family who loved him. He was shot and killed in front of a crowd. His wife is now a widow. His children will grow up without a father. And Dave Chappelle’s response was to tell an arena full of people that it made him feel good.
The Reaction
Elon Musk condemned the joke: “Shame, shame, shame on Chappelle.”
Piers Morgan called the remarks “disgusting.”
Meghan McCain and Benny Johnson also spoke out. Johnson reminded Chappelle that when he was attacked on stage at the Hollywood Bowl in 2022, Charlie Kirk stood up for him.
Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, did not name Chappelle directly, but her statement was unmistakable: “To see leftist podcasters, comedians, and commentators laugh about political assassination as though it’s entertainment and the destruction of a human life is a punchline, is beyond disgusting.”
She is right. It is disgusting. And the people who laughed should be ashamed of themselves.
The Pattern
This is not the first time Chappelle has sparked outrage.
In 2005, he walked away from a $50 million deal. In 2017, his transgender jokes drew criticism. In 2019, his special Sticks & Stones reignited the LGBTQ backlash. In 2021, The Closer made him the face of the transphobia debate and prompted a Netflix walkout. In 2022, his SNL monologue drew accusations of antisemitism.
Chappelle has built a career on saying things that other people are afraid to say. Sometimes that has been brave. Sometimes it has been necessary. But this is not brave nor necessary.
The Bottom Line
Dave Chappelle joked at Madison Square Garden that he felt “better” after Charlie Kirk was murdered. The remarks drew widespread condemnation, including from Elon Musk and Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk. The joke is the latest in a long history of controversial remarks from the comedian.
My Opinion
Dave Chappelle used to be the bravest comedian in America. Now he is just a man telling a crowd what they want to hear.
There was a time when Chappelle’s comedy made you think. He walked away from $50 million because he did not want to be a caricature. He told truths that made people uncomfortable and challenged his audience. He made them laugh and squirm at the same time.
That man is apparently gone. The man who stood on stage at Madison Square Garden and joked about a murdered father is not brave. He is a multimillionaire telling a crowd of people what they want to hear: that the other side deserves to die.
Charlie Kirk was not a saint. He was a political activist with controversial views. But he was also a husband and a father. He was murdered in front of a crowd. His wife is now a widow. His children will grow up without a father. And Dave Chappelle’s response was to say that he felt better.
The fact that the crowd laughed does not make it funny. It just means the crowd is as cruel as the comedian.
And here is what makes this even more pathetic. When Chappelle was attacked on stage in 2022, Charlie Kirk defended him. Kirk said that violence against comedians was wrong. He stood up for Chappelle’s right to say things he disagreed with. And Chappelle repaid him by joking about his murder.
Chappelle’s outburst is not comedy. It is easy to mock a dead man because the dead cannot defend himself or respond. The dead cannot even ask why a comedian he defended decided to celebrate his death.
Chappelle’s defenders will say this is about free speech and that he is just doing what comedians do. But free speech is not the issue. Empathy is. And Chappelle seems to have lost his.
