Dave Chappelle shuts down call for celebrity activism

'There’s no pension plan for leaders,' said Chappelle

Oct 20, 2020

My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman is returning to Netflix and Dave Chappelle will be one of Letterman’s latest guests.

The show is on its third season and will return this week. In a three-minute clip provided by Netflix, the two gentlemen discuss activism today, George Floyd and the late John Lewis. The clip opens up and Chappelle is heard discussing past political legends.

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“There is no pension plan for leaders,” said Chappelle. “Martin Luther King died penniless, Malcolm X died penniless, I don’t want to do that.”

The men go on to discuss George Floyd, with Chapelle exclaiming, “The commentary after it was very heavy and intellectual and I was shocked that nobody ever talked about what it feels like to watch a man get murdered that way by a man in a police uniform.”

Letterman begins to draw comparisons between Lewis and Floyd. Lewis sprung to action after a police officer struck him in the head and nearly killed him in 1965. He passed away almost two months after Floyd was killed by police officer, Derek Chauvin who was seen kneeling on Floyd’s neck.

"Rosa Parks inspired me to find a way to get in the way, to get in trouble… good trouble, necessary trouble." – John Lewis
— Mike Allton (@mike_allton) October 19, 2020

“What a tragic footnote to a tragic culture,” says Chappelle, “it’s a lot to unpack.” But Chapelle believes that what he and Letterman are doing matters.

“Nights like this are important, just talking about it, we are countrymen, all of us we live in America, we all got our problems.”

The clip ends with Chappelle saying he is hopeful.

“I’m very hopeful that there will be real change, and that traditionally from my experience, change is never a comfortable proposition, it’s uncomfortable before its comfortable again.”