Addressing the killing of George Floyd

Dave Chappelle has released a surprise Netflix special addressing the death of George Floyd.

The half-hour show is entitled 8:46 - a reference to the length of time that Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin had his knee on Floyd’s neck –  and has already had 1.3million views on YouTube in the first few hours of release.

It was taped in Ohio last weekend under social distancing restrictions and is Chappelle’s first live performance in 87 days because of lockdown. 

‘This is weird and less than ideal circumstances to do a show - the only way to figure out if this shit will actually work is to do the goddam show,’ he said.

During the special he addressed the footage that showed Floyd in distress before his death, saying: ‘People watched it. People filmed it. And for some reason that I still don’t understand, all these fucking police had their hands in their pockets. 

‘Who are you talking to? What are you signifying? That you can kneel on a man’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds and feel like you wouldn’t get the wrath of God? 

‘That is what is happening right now… Fuck all of it. I don’t mean to get heavy but we gotta say something.’

Published: 12 Jun 2020