The comedian expresses rage over police brutality while offering optimism for a better world.
If timing is everything in comedy, Dave Chappelle is beyond any criticism.
His immensely powerful new video about the police killing of George Floyd and subsequent protests, “8:46,” dropped this morning, less than a day after the release of the cringe-inducing and widely panned public service announcement “I Take Responsibility,” filled social media streams with a procession of self-important celebrities insisting, in the words of actor Stanley Tucci, “I will no longer allow an unchecked moment. I will no longer allow hateful, hurtful words, jokes, stereotypes, no matter how big or small, to be uttered in my presence.”
Near the beginning of “8:46″—the length of time that Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin kept his knee on George Floyd’s neck—Chappelle asks archly, “Do you want to see a celebrity right now? Do we give a fuck?” Praising the mostly peaceful protests against police brutality that have erupted across the country over the past few weeks, he says, “The streets talking for themselves. They don’t need me right now. I kept my mouth shut and I’ll still keep my mouth shut.
