Dave Chappelle Stumbles Into the #MeToo Moment
- 6 years ago
Dave Chappelle Stumbles Into the #MeToo Moment
In “The Bird Revelation,” the first comedy special to focus on the #MeToo movement, Dave Chappelle, sitting on
a stool at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles in November, pauses to give advice to some comedians in the back.
The real headline is “The Bird Revelation,” which addresses accusations against Kevin Spacey, Louis C. K.
and Harvey Weinstein with the conspiratorial tone of someone who wants to tell you what everyone (including Mr. Chappelle) is afraid to say.
Mr. Chappelle criticizes the “brittle spirit” of the female comic who said Louis C. K.
masturbating in front of her hurt her career, before imagining what would happen if Louis C. K.
masturbated in front of the civil rights leader, prompting him to give up his movement.
But when Mr. Chappelle says some of the sexual assault victims speaking out are now experiencing “buyer’s
remorse,” a particularly cruel turn of phrase, this is surely not the funniest thing he can think of.
“The Bird Revelation” is one of four specials he released in 2017,
and in another of those, “The Age of Spin,” he brings up a rumor that Bill Cosby paid for the microphone that the Rev.
In “The Bird Revelation,” the first comedy special to focus on the #MeToo movement, Dave Chappelle, sitting on
a stool at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles in November, pauses to give advice to some comedians in the back.
The real headline is “The Bird Revelation,” which addresses accusations against Kevin Spacey, Louis C. K.
and Harvey Weinstein with the conspiratorial tone of someone who wants to tell you what everyone (including Mr. Chappelle) is afraid to say.
Mr. Chappelle criticizes the “brittle spirit” of the female comic who said Louis C. K.
masturbating in front of her hurt her career, before imagining what would happen if Louis C. K.
masturbated in front of the civil rights leader, prompting him to give up his movement.
But when Mr. Chappelle says some of the sexual assault victims speaking out are now experiencing “buyer’s
remorse,” a particularly cruel turn of phrase, this is surely not the funniest thing he can think of.
“The Bird Revelation” is one of four specials he released in 2017,
and in another of those, “The Age of Spin,” he brings up a rumor that Bill Cosby paid for the microphone that the Rev.