Saturday Night Live returned this weekend with yet another shot at Kanye West in a Christmas song during the episode’s cold open.
The sketch, which featured several members of the ensemble cast, was premised around things people would like to forget about ahead of celebrating Christmas and the holiday season.
Cast member Bowen Yang sang about wanting to forget Adolf Hitler amid a recent rise in antisemitism, singing: ‘Hitler, since when did Hitler come back? Didn’t we basically all agree years ago, Hitler should never come back?’
Kenan Thompson then chimed in: ‘And why are his new fans black?’
The joke is a reference to West saying in an interview with Alex Jones that he ‘likes’ and ‘loves’ Hitler,’ defended the Nazis and denied the Holocaust – and West and white nationalist Nick Fuentes dined with former President Donald Trump at his Florida Mar-a-Lago estate.
Before taking shots at Kanye, they went after West’s on-again, off-again pal and Twitter CEO Elon Musk, asking things like: ‘why does he own all the stuff? Why does he have to run Tesla and Twitter, was outer space not enough?’
Saturday Night Live returned this weekend with yet another shot at Kanye West in a Christmas song during the episode’s cold open
The sketch, which featured several members of the ensemble cast, was premised around things people would like to forget about ahead of celebrating Christmas and the holiday season, including West’s brand of antisemitism
This isn’t the first time the long-running sketch comedy show has dipped into the Kanye waters.
Dave Chappelle used his platform as host in November – prior to West’s praise of Hitler and meeting with Trump and Fuentes – to address several contentious topics making headlines in recent days – specifically honing in on recent anti-Semitic comments made by rapper Kanye West.
The comic, famed for finding humor in current events – sometimes controversially – used his 15-minute spiel to lampoon West, 45, and several others in the news, including ex-President Donald Trump, Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving, and Senate candidate Herschel Walker.
With that said, the set saw Chappelle, 49, hone in on West particularly, poking fun at the precarious situation the performer has put himself following his recent remarks disparaging Jewish people.
The comment, among others, saw West stripped of several lucrative major partnerships, as well as billions of dollars in a matter of days.
During the monologue, Chappelle attempted to offer West some sarcastic respite to circumnavigate his situation, giving him some much-needed PR advice – to the delight of those in attendance.
The address, however, did not see the comic address the elephant in the room in his own controversy – that surrounding supposedly sexist, homophobic, and transphobic comments made in his 2021 Netflix special ‘The Closer.’
But Chappelle did look to allude to parallels between the negative reaction spawned in both situations – with a series of provocative, pointed observations seemingly made at West’s expense.
Comedian Dave Chappelle spent the first part of his monologue commenting on rapper Kanye West’s recent antisemitic remarks
Taking the stage, Chappelle began by reading a mock media statement he said he had prepared and needed deliver before kicking off his hosting gig – his third-ever on the long-running show.
What followed was a monotone address reminiscent of previous apologies and disclaimers offered by celebrities amid an increasingly progressive political climate, and that looked to lambaste West’s current situation.
‘I wanted to read a statement I prepared: I denounce antisemitism in all its forms and stand with my friends in the Jewish community,’ he began.
‘I denounce antisemitism in all its forms, and I stand with my friends in the Jewish community.’
A cheeky Chappelle would then break out of his apparent media-induced trance to look up the camera and address West directly, offering one simple suggestion.
‘And that, Kanye, is how you buy yourself some time,’ the comic said, to loud laughs and woops from the studio audience.
The polarizing performer went on to joke, in his trademark fashion, how he had never heard anything good come to anyone who had used the phrase ‘the Jews’ – of course referring to West, as well as Nets point guard Irving, who was recently suspended for promoting a film that contained antisemitic tropes on social .
Offering the pair some sarcastic guidance, Chappelle said, ‘I learned that there are two words in the English language that you should never say together in sequence. And those words are “the” and “Jews.”‘
Then, in true Chappelle fashion, the comic proceeded to breakdown the stereotypes surrounding the Jewish people – particularly in Hollywood – pushing the boundaries of prime TV in the process.
In the monologue, Chappelle – who famously left the limelight of LA for a more modest life in Africa in 2005 for the better part of a decade – said he had been to Hollywood and, based on his own travels, “It’s a lot of Jews. Like, a lot.’
The comic was then quick to add: ‘But that doesn’t mean anything. There’s a lot of Black people in Ferguson, Missouri.
‘That doesn’t mean they run the place,’ he said, referencing West’s recent declaration.
The 49-year-old comedian told how West believed himself to be untouchable, ‘I don’t think Kanye’s crazy at all,’ Chappelle said. ‘He’s possibly not well.’
He went on to joke about how West – notorious for airing ill-advised and often arrogant statements to the public over the course of his career – may have mistakenly though himself to be untouchable before making the series of comments, until he was dropped by several companies including Adidas and Balenciaga.
‘Adidas dropped that n**** immediately!’ he joked of the rapper’s loss of the partnerships, proceeding to point out some of the double standards surrounding the swift and pronounced public outcry.
‘It’s a big deal. He broke the show business rules of perception. If they’re black then it’s a gang. If they’re Italian it’s the mob. But if they’re Jewish it’s a coincidence and you should never speak about it!’
‘I don’t think Kanye’s crazy at all,’ Chappelle continued, adding ‘He’s possibly not well’ – a seemingly serious statement that nonetheless drew laughter.
But as his monologue grew increasingly controversial – with the comic acknowledging the influence that many Jewish professionals have on a place like Hollywood – some gasps and groans from the audience would soon become audible.
‘I just feel if you go out to Hollywood you might connect some kind of lines and come under the delusion that the Jews run Hollywood,’ Chappelle said. ‘It’s not a crazy thing to think.’
The comic would then quickly add: ‘But it’s a crazy thing to say out loud at a time like this.’
Prior to hosting, Dave Chappelle made light of the backlash at him hosting Saturday Night Live as he appeared in an advert ahead of this weekend’s show
Comedian Amy Schumer made a brief, cutting reference to ‘Nazi’ Kanye West during her return to Saturday Night Live.
Schumer, 41, was hosting the long-running sketch show for the first time since 2018 and the third time overall, mocked West over his recent anti-Semitic rhetoric during her opening monologue.
The ‘Life and Beth’ star was talking to the crowd about how her husband was on the autism spectrum and how his condition used to be referred to as Asperger’s Syndrome.
Schumer then said: ‘It used to be called Asperger’s, but then they found out that Dr. Asperger had Nazi ties, Kanye…’
The ‘Inside Amy Schumer’ creator then appeared to riff as if she’d not meant to say that, tapping her microphone to see if anyone could hear her and intoning: ‘That’s weird.’
Schumer appeared to reference West and suspended Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving’s recent spate of anti-Semitic comments in the show’s closing, where she wore a baseball T-shirt that read: ‘<3 Jews.’
Comedian Amy Schumer made a brief, cutting reference to ‘Nazi’ Kanye West during her return to Saturday Night Live
Schumer was talking to the crowd about how her husband was on the autism spectrum and how his condition used to be referred to as Asperger’s Syndrome. Schumer then said: ‘It used to be called Asperger’s, but then they found out that Dr. Asperger had Nazi ties, Kanye. . .’