- The comedian Dave Chappelle delivered a searing monologue on the death of George Floyd in a new Netflix special that dropped late on Thursday.
- Chappelle ripped into CNN's Don Lemon, the conservative commentator Candace Owens, and Fox News' Laura Ingraham.
- The new Chappelle special is called "8:46," a reference to the amount of time a Minneapolis police officer knelt on Floyd's neck, ultimately killing him.
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In a surprise Netflix comedy special released late on Thursday, Dave Chappelle delivered an incendiary, impassioned monologue on the brutal death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers.
The special is called "8:46," a reference to the eight minutes and 46 seconds a police officer knelt on Floyd's neck during an arrest on May 25, killing him and sparking a wave of protests across the US.
As he praised the young people flooding America's streets in protest of Floyd's death and in condemnation of racism and police brutality, Chappelle excoriated CNN's Don Lemon, the conservative commentator Candace Owens, and Fox News' Laura Ingraham.
Chappelle, perhaps the most famous comedian of the era, began the special discussing his experience during an earthquake in Los Angeles in the early 1990s and juxtaposing the length of the "absolutely terrifying" quake with the amount of time the officer knelt on Floyd's neck.
"That earthquake couldn't have been more than 35 seconds. This man kneeled on a man's neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds! Can you imagine that?" Chappelle said. "This kid thought he was going to die. He knew he was going to die. He called for his mother. He called for his dead mother. I've only seen that once before in my life: My father, on his deathbed, called for his grandmother."
Chappelle said that in watching the disturbing footage of Floyd's arrest, he struggled to understand how the other police officers there stood idly by, with their hands in their pockets.
"What are you signifying that you can kneel on a man's neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds and feel like you wouldn't get the wrath of God?" Chappelle said. "That's what is happening right now. It's not for a single cop — it's for all of it."
Moments later, Chappelle went after Lemon for calling on celebrities like him to speak out on Floyd's death.
"Answer me: Do you want to see a celebrity right now?" Chappelle said. "Do we give a f--- what Ja Rule thinks? Does it matter about celebrity? No. This is 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. But don't think that my silence is complicit."
He added: "Why would anyone care what their favorite comedian thinks after they saw a police officer kneel on a man's neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds?"
Lemon responded on CNN on Friday morning, saying that he agreed with Chappelle and that Chappelle is his favorite comedian.
"I think that the young people who are out there in the streets don't really care what we have to say," Lemon said, adding, "His 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."
Later, Chappelle ripped into Owens for emphasizing Floyd's criminal record and saying he wasn't a hero.
"Candace Owens, that rotten b----, she's the worst," he said. "I can't think of a worse way to make money. She's the most articulate idiot I've ever seen in my f---ing life."
Owens brushed off Chappelle's attacks in a tweet on Friday. "Dave Chappelle is one of the greatest comedians of all time and I made it into one of his specials," she said. "That's POWER!"
At another point, Chappelle slammed Ingraham for her criticism of the basketball star LeBron James. In 2018, after James criticized President Donald Trump, Ingraham said James should "shut up and dribble."
"My friend is the best at something," Chappelle said of James. "And this b---- is not the best at anything, just a regular-a-- white b---- with a platform."
While much of the special focused on Floyd, Chappelle also referred to other instances of racial violence and police brutality, including the deaths of Eric Garner and Trayvon Martin.
The surprise special was filmed last Saturday in Yellow Springs, Ohio, with coronavirus-related restrictions such as social distancing in place; audience members could be seen wearing masks.
Watch Chappelle's full special below:
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