Dave Chappelle isn’t above apologizing for things he has done and regretted—like the time he told Saturday Night Live viewers “to give Trump a chance” during his opening monologue shortly after the 2016 election. But one thing he’s definitely not sorry about is calling conservative commentator and professional shit-disturber Candace Owens a “rotten bitch” during his 8:46 comedy special, which premiered on YouTube in June of 2020.
As the Daily Beast reports, that earlier comment about Owens came up during the most recent episode of “The Midnight Miracle,” the podcast Chappelle hosts with Talib Kweli and Yasiin Bey. When Chappelle asked his co-hosts, “There is no possible way that I owe Candace Owens an apology, is there?,” their response was an immediate: “F*ck that!”
To put Chappelle’s comment in better perspective: 8:46 was released shortly after the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who has since been convicted of murder. At the time, Owens—whose career is essentially based on offering the worst possible takes at the worst possible times—had a lot to say about the case, which all really boiled down to her belief that Floyd was a bad guy who deserved what he got. So it was hardly surprising when Chappelle brought her up during his show, saying: “That rotten bitch, she’s the worst. I can’t think of a worse way to make money. She’s the most articulate idiot I’ve ever seen in my f*cking life.”
Owens responded to Chappelle’s comments at the time—calling him a legend, then daring him to make the same comments to her face. (Does she know anything about Chappelle?)
We’ve arrived too suddenly into a culture where people can’t laugh at themselves, or want to restrain comedians.
I will never be a part of that culture. @DaveChappelle —you are legend and I’d love to meet you and challenge you to say any of that to my face!
All love!
— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) June 12, 2020
Chappelle, Kweli, and Bey also talked about how Owens—ever the contrarian—worked with the NAACP to sue her high school for discrimination back in the day, but that she has since transformed into the “mascot for colonial interests in America today.”
Jon Stewart joined in the conversation a little later in the episode, and offered his thoughtful take on why Chappelle was “so effective in what you said about Candace Owens: Because they have held you up as an avatar of truth-telling, because you’re willing to speak your art in the way that you want to speak it.”
Stewart also made the point that Owens’ whole brand is based on being a troll. “Her life is provocation, her brand is provocation, that’s how she makes her money,” Stewart said, adding that it’s a “provocation and a troll that’s meant to increase brand recognition.”
In the end, Chappelle did apologize to Owens for one thing: “I’m sorry I called you ‘articulate.’”
You can access Chappelle’s podcast here.
(Via Daily Beast)