Controversial comic David Chappelle is under fire for joking at Madison Square Garden that he’s felt better since the killing of right-wing pundit Charlie Kirk.
Video of the 53-year-old funnyman doing his “Karmageddon” over the weekend shows him admitting what’s he’s about to say won’t go over well with some people, then says it anyway.
“It’s scary being a public speaker and, I mean, look, ever since that guy Charlie Kirk got murdered, and I shouldn’t say this publicly but, I feel better,” he confessed. “I know I shouldn’t say that, but it’s just a feeling.”
According to Chappelle, when he’s driving is his car he sometimes finds himself in a good mood just knowing Kirk was shot.
“I didn’t ask to feel this way,” he added.
Chappelle’s representatives haven’t returned a comment addressing the short clip posted online without much context. But it did get the attention of Kirk’s widow as well as supporters of the Turning Point USA founder who was shot dead while speaking on a Utah university campus in September 2025.
“My husband, Charlie Kirk, was killed in an act of political violence, something our two children and I will live with every day for the rest of our lives,” Erika Kirk posted in a statement objecting to the killing as a “punchline.”
A Utah judge is expected to set a trial date for murder suspect Tyler Robinson at some point on Monday. Robinson has pleaded not guilty.
Kirk’s widow added that political violence against anyone shouldn’t be celebrated.
“Chappelle is just not funny anymore,” billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk posted on X in response to Chappelle’s bit.
Musk appeared on stage at a 2022 Chappelle show in San Francisco. The MAGA SpaceX founder was showered with boos.
Chappelle spoke differently about Kirk’s death in his December Netflix special “Dave Chappelle: The Unstoppable.”
“If you talk for a living and see Charlie Kirk get murdered that way, I’m gonna be honest, I was shook,” he said.
That, according to Chappelle, caused him to realize he too could be shot on stage.
With News Wire Services