Dave Chappelle name-dropped a handful of Hollywood names in his surprise Netflix comedy special, 8:46, where he addressed George Floyd's death. Now, two of the people he mentioned, Don Lemon and Candace Owens, have responded.
“I’m actually honored to be memorialized in a Dave Chappelle special,” Lemon told CNN about his reaction to the stand-up. “What I will say is that I actually agree with Dave Chapelle. I agree—I think the establishment has been a bit behind… I think the young people who are out there in the street don’t really care what we have to say. They think that part of the world that we created and what we did, maybe we didn’t move fast enough, we weren’t strong enough. So they’re out there fighting.”
He continued, “They said listen, we are tired of this happening. We tried to do it nicely, we tried to do it peacefully, we’ve tried to do all of these things and you’ve rejected it. So they’re not only speaking to the white people in this country but also to all of us, all of us in the establishment.”
“But I do think that this is not a moment for modesty. I think this is a moment that we should all be using our platforms to do whatever we can, and at least to show those young people and people out there that we support them. And it doesn’t mean taking all of the credit for it or speaking out for them. I think that they can do that on their own—I think that’s exactly right, that they need to know that people like Dave Chappelle, like me or whoever supports them. And that’s all they need to know.”
Lemon ended, “But the irony is that [Chappelle’s] special is called 8:46. He’s talking about this issue and I think it’s great. He’s using his platform to talk about this in the way that he can.”
In the special, Chappelle called Lemon out by name, saying, “I’m watching Don Lemon… he says, ‘Where are all these celebrities. Why aren’t you talking?’ Does it matter about celebrity? No. This is the streets talking for themselves. They don’t need me right now.”
Owens also responded to Chappelle, who slammed Owens in the special for her response to Floyd’s murder.
“I seen Candace Owens try to convince white America, ‘don't worry about it he's a criminal anyway,’” Chappelle quipped during his stand-up. “I don't give a fuck what this nigga did... I don't care if he personally kicked Candace Owens in her stink pussy. I don't know if it stinks, but I imagine it does. If I ever find out I'll let you know for sure, I'll tell like Azealia Banks, I'll tell.”
Apparently, Owens took the jabs on the chin. She responded to the banter via Twitter, writing, “I’m not a leftist. I have a sense of humor & I think comedians SHOULD make fun of people.” She continued, “Dave Chappelle is one of the greatest comedians of all time and I made it into one of his specials. That’s POWER!”
