Remember when Dave Chappelle delivered that hilarious monologue on Saturday Night Live last month? Well, like all things these days, a number of critics had to go ruin it by making a bunch of complaints to the FCC about his offensive language.
According to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request posted on non-profit site, MuckRock.com, Chappelle's episode yielded more than a couple of dozen complaints from viewers who were not happy with the comedian's use of the n-word on the nighttime show. Some of the complaints specifically criticized Chappelle's punch lines that had racist undertones, while others claimed that a portion of his speech implied that America was racist and amoral for electing Trump to office. But to each complaint, the FCC replied, informing viewers that they did not have the authority to censor SNL because it didn't meet all of the organization's guidelines on censoring content.
Although some viewers were allegedly scarred by Chappelle's stand-up skit, viewers in North Carolina didn't even get to see part of the act because local television station WRAL-TV cut most of the skits, citing much of the comedian's indecent language as the reason. The station also claimed that the censorship was due to the station's "own standards" in content it airs.
Although many viewers are still campaigning for some action to be taken against SNL producers, Chappelle has probably moved on already. And considering the comedian just signed a $60 million contract to do three comedy specials with Netflix, life is pretty good. Just a heads up: he'll probably use offensive language on those specials too.
