Dave Chappelle brought his Karmageddon tour to a sold-out Madison Square Garden for back-to-back shows, and he used the stage to share a reaction to Charlie Kirk’s murder that many people would keep private. According to the account, Chappelle said he felt better since Kirk was killed, then acknowledged that saying such a thing into a microphone might create a little trouble. The crowd responded with some applause and laughter.
“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,” Chappelle said, receiving some applause and laughter from the crowd.
“I know I shouldn’t say that but, it’s just a feeling,” Chappelle continued. “I didn’t ask to feel this way. I just be driving around like, ‘why am I in such a good mood? Oh!’”
Video of the remarks was posted late Friday and went viral on social media Saturday night. In an era when celebrities carefully manage every syllable, Chappelle decided to hand the internet a loaded sound bite and let it fly. That is one way to keep a comedy tour in the headlines.
Kirk was shot in the neck and killed on September 10, 2025, while engaging in debate with students during an event on his American Comeback Tour at Utah Valley University. Tyler Robinson, the 23-year-old suspect, has been charged with Kirk’s murder. Utah District Judge Tony Graf ruled in September that Robinson could face the death penalty if convicted.
Memorials for Kirk spread around the world just hours after his death. The New York Yankees honored him with a moment of silence, while praise came from heads of state and religious leaders for his advocacy of free speech and civil debate. That public mourning stood in sharp contrast to the reactions described elsewhere in the report.
The article also describes celebrations of Kirk’s death involving medical doctors, university leaders, cable news analysts, and potentially hundreds of U.S. Defense Department personnel. Chappelle is now included in that broader discussion because of what he said onstage.
Over the weekend, several companies, including Cash App, Chewy, Boll & Branch, and Lola Blankets, cut ties with Jennifer Welch’s I’ve Had It podcast. The companies acted after Welch and co-host Angie Sullivan laughed at a tweet about digging up Kirk’s corpse and “doing it again.” A public debate about taste and decency apparently needed another entry, because the internet never runs out of material.
There is also an uncomfortable layer to Chappelle’s comment. In May 2022, he was charged and attacked while telling jokes about transgender people during a performance at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. LAPD officials said the suspect was armed “with a replica gun that could eject a knife blade when discharged correctly.”
Neither the New York Comedy Festival nor Live Nation, sponsors of Chappelle’s Madison Square Garden performance, had responded publicly at the time of publication. For a comedian who said being a public speaker is scary, Chappelle chose to turn a private feeling into a packed-arena punchline. The applause and laughter were real, the clip spread quickly, and the controversy now sits alongside the many competing reactions to Kirk’s death.
Via Madison Square Garden Dave Chappell, guess those Trans Jokes getting stale so #CharlieKirk Jokes is in replacement. Why we just can’t let that man Rest he has kids at the end of the day. Like him or not. #tagme @Akademiks @DailyLoud @raphousetv2 pic.twitter.com/5oKnZk0fSg
— MeSoViral (@PostViralRepost) November 7, 2026
Source: Breitbart News
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