Dave Chappelle jokes about world-conquering ‘Space Jews’ in new Netflix special
Dave Chappelle at a UFC fight in Las Vegas, July 10, 2021. (Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
(JTA) — Dave Chappelle was well aware that his latest Netflix standup comedy special was going to bring him a storm of criticism online. That’s likely why he starts it by saying that it will be his last standup special for a while.
In “The Closer,” released Tuesday, the longtime provocateur crosses lines that for most celebrities lead to pop culture suicide in 2021.
He starts by joking about how good he felt while being molested by a preacher as a child. Then he talks about watching videos of Black people beating up Asian people during the COVID-19 pandemic, while he was quarantining with an asymptomatic case of the virus. Chappelle, who is Black, likens the beatings to his body’s efforts to beat the virus — effectively comparing Asian people to the coronavirus.
Then he turns to Jews, saying UFO videos gave him an idea for a movie.
In my movie idea, we find out that these aliens are originally from earth — that they’re from an ancient civilization that achieved interstellar travel and left the earth thousands of years ago. Some other planet they go to, and things go terrible for them on the other planet, so they come back to earth, [and] decide that they want to claim the earth for their very own. It’s a pretty good plotline, huh? I call it “Space Jews.”
After the joke gets only a little applause, Chapelle says, “All right, it’s gonna get worse than that, hang in there.”
Whether the joke is a Zionist allegory or a bit about world domination, NPR critic Eric Deggans called it antisemitic.
“[Chappelle] knows reviewers like me will quote the joke and criticize him for it, which I am. I don’t really care what point he’s trying to make; a joke which sounds like anti-Semitism gets a hard pass from me,” Deggans wrote.
Others on Twitter agreed.
Just seen Dave Chapelle’s antisemitic Holocaust inversion, his ignorance of Jewish history & his instinctive choice to depict Jews in classic antisemitic non-human terms. What sings loudest is his relish repeating the word Jew pejoratively. The word Jew alone is 50% of punchline.
— leekern (@leekern13) October 6, 2021
But Jewish screenwriter Brian Koppelman, creator of the show “Billions,” reacted in a more positive way.
hey @DaveChappelle, have you sold the rights to Space Jews yet? If not, let’s hondle.
— Brian Koppelman (@briankoppelman) October 5, 2021
Chappelle also waded into the debate over transgender rights, defending J.K. Rowling, the Harry Potter creator, whose reputation took a hit after she challenged widely accepted views about sex, gender and trans activism last year.
— The post Dave Chappelle’s jokes about world-conquering ‘Space Jews’ in new Netflix special appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
