Ever since The Chappelle Show went off air- after Dave Chappelle abruptly walked away from the $50 million deal and had everybody thinking he’d lost his damn mind for doing so- his fans have been waiting on a comeback. Thankfully, Chappelle recently came back in true ‘comeback kid’ fashion with his three new Netflix stand-ups, which left him $60 million richer!
Chappelle’s Controversal Jokes About Cosby
It is also the topic of one of his Netflix specials, The Age of Spin, that got him much attention and heat (depending on which side you’re on), when he cracked a joke about Bill Cosby’s current sexual allegations. In his standup, he referred to Cosby as being a comedic legend who has done a lot for the African American community, but that the many sexual allegations against him have put his fans in a conflicting position as a result. Chappelle said this of Cosby: “He rapes, but he saves. And he saves more than he rapes.” Chappelle’s point was that Cosby is a hero to millions and that his legacy has helped inspire and/or save a lot of people both directly and indirectly. But Chappelle also meant that the current sexual allegation claims against Cosby makes him seem like a “rapist.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShheQiAUHX4
In his Netflix standup, Chappelle also admitted that although he now leans a little toward Cosby being guilty of at least having done something, he was initially in complete denial for a long while about the allegations. Chappelle then went on to crack a joke that after “34 allegations,” against Cosby, he was still like “man, [he] probably only raped like 10 or 11 of those people.”
Chappelle Gets Questioned About His Views On Cosby
During his recent interview with ‘The Breakfkast Club,’ the hosts asked Chappelle about his controversial Cosby joke and he comically and carefully gave an interesting response (see it at the 9:36 mark of the video interview below):
“It’s tough to talk about jokes, because I don’t want to open the door to all these weird analytics and sh*t, like ‘What does he actually mean by that?'” said Chappelle. “That’s a slippery slope. But, you know, I think I laid it out pretty clearly, like, the dilemma of watching Bill Cosby going through this. Not to take anything away from the 54 alleged [victims].”
‘TBC’ co-host, Charlemagne, then asked Chappelle if he had an “answer” as to whether or not Cosby’s work should stand on it’s own, separately from the current allegations. Dave’s answer was:
“No,” [he didn’t have an answer to that]. “It’s the kind of question that makes more questions, you know what I mean? It’s a tough one, man. What he’s accused of is very serious. I don’t take that lightly. However, I don’t know, it was [the] ’70s. Crazy sh*t was going on. I don’t know what to say. America’s dad is now America’s rapist. According to the New York Post. It’s a tough one.”
Watch Dave Chappelle’s & Donnell Rawlings Full Interview Below
Check out Dave Chappelle’s and comedic actor, Donnell Rawlings,’ ‘Breakfast Club’ interview below. They chopped it up about many other things, including how the death of their beloved friend/former co-star, Charlie Murphy, affected them; how Chappelle’s termination of The Chappelle Show affected their friendship; their views on the Kardashian family’s ‘appropriation of Black culture,’ their upcoming tour, and much more.
