Dave Chappelle told a Madison Square Garden crowd that he feels better since Charlie Kirk was murdered, and they erupted in laughter. In his Netflix special last December, the same comedian said he was “shook” by the killing and that he was “not making light of Charlie Kirk dying.”
But the new remarks came Friday night, November 6, during his Karmageddon tour at the Garden, a New York Comedy Festival date. He also played there on Saturday. A circulating clip from the jumbotron has him saying:
“I feel fucked up saying this. 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.”
The crowd erupted in laughter and cheers at “I feel better.”
“I know I shouldn’t say that, but… it’s just a feeling.”
Write-ups of the longer circulating video continue: “I didn’t ask to feel this way. I just be driving around like, ‘why am I in such a good mood? Oh!'”
🚨#BREAKING: Standup comedian Dave Chappelle says he “FEELS BETTER” ever since Charlie Kirk was m*rdered…
…and it PUTS HIM IN A GOOD MOOD THINKING ABOUT IT!!!!
“I feel f***** up saying this. It's scary being a public speaker.
And it– And I, I, I mean, look, ever since that… pic.twitter.com/aPA65cmRpz
— Matt Van Swol (@mattvanswol) November 8, 2026
Netflix released The Unstoppable on December 20, 2025, from a show filmed that October in Washington, D.C. Chappelle said then: “If you talk for a living and see Charlie Kirk get murdered that way, I’m gonna be honest, I was shook.” He added: “I’m not making light of Charlie Kirk dying, but I’m not sure what it means, and I’m not sure I believe what they say it means.”
He called the comparison of Kirk to “this generation’s Martin Luther King” “a reach,” called Kirk an “internet personality,” and said: “This is why I feel for Charlie Kirk’s fans — because I know what it’s like to see someone you look up to and admire gunned down.” He tied that feeling to the murder of the rapper Nipsey Hussle.
Friday’s bit opened with that same fear of talking for a living, then flipped it.
Kirk – a close friend of this publication – was shot dead on September 10, 2025, at Utah Valley University during his American Comeback Tour. Tyler Robinson, 23, has been charged, and later coverage said prosecutors are pursuing the death penalty.
On May 3, 2022, Isaiah Lee, 23, tackled Chappelle on stage at the Hollywood Bowl during Netflix Is A Joke Fest. The Los Angeles Police Department said Lee produced a replica handgun and pointed it at Chappelle; contemporaneous reports said the replica had a knife blade. Chappelle was unharmed and continued the show.
Two days later, Kirk wrote:
“By refusing to charge the armed maniac who attacked Dave Chappelle on stage, George Gascon is sending a clear message that public acts of political violence are justifiable—and even encouraged—against anyone who dares speak out against The Regime. It’s Sinister & Un-American.”
By refusing to charge the armed maniac who attacked Dave Chappelle on stage, George Gascon is sending a clear message that public acts of political violence are justifiable—and even encouraged—against anyone who dares speak out against The Regime.
It’s Sinister & Un-American.
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) May 5, 2022
