'It shouldn’t be this scary to talk about anything'

Dave Chappelle complains his job is becoming 'incredible difficult'

Dave Chappelle complained that his job has become ‘incredibly difficult’ because of the backlash he gets for raising controversial opinions on stage.

In his opening monologue on Saturday Night Live last night, the comedian said: ’It shouldn’t be this scary to talk about anything, it makes my job incredibly difficult. To be honest with you, I’m getting sick of talking to a crowd like this.

Closing the routine he said: ‘I love you to death and I thank you for your support. I hope they don’t take anything away from me - whoever they are.’

His comments came after he spoke about how he didn’t want to have any lucrative sponsorship deal as he’d surely lose it if he said anything contentious – citing how Kanye West’s lost more than a billion dollars in sponsorship deals over his recent antisemitic comments.

The comic has faced calls to be cancelled over comments he made in recent stand-up specials about trans people, including misgendering them. The comic reportedly made $24million from his last one, The Closer, which offended many LGBTQ rights advocates and even some Netflix employees called for the special to be removed from the platform.

Earlier in the 15-minute routine Chappelle said he could see how West would ‘adopt the delusion that the Jews run show business,’ adding it’s ‘not a crazy thing to think – but it’s a crazy thing to say out loud in a climate like this’

Chappelle was in London earlier this month performing a number of intimate gigs, for which tickets were priced at £150 plus hefty fees.