Dave Chappelle tells crowd he 'feels better' since Charlie Kirk was murdered—Kirk stood up for him when he was attacked on stage in LA

“I feel f*cked 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. Some audience members laughed, while others appeared hesitant to react.

“I know I shouldn’t say that, but it’s just a feeling,” he added, saying it's why he's been in a good mood.

Video of Chappelle’s remarks circulated on X over the weekend, prompting criticism from those who accused him of hypocrisy and insensitivity. Following the 2020 death of George Floyd, Chappelle took a different tone, describing Floyd’s death as “tragic” and saying there was a “lot to unpack.”

Others highlighted that Kirk had previously defended Chappelle following an onstage attack in 2022. The comedian, who faced widespread controversy over his 2021 Netflix special “The Closer” for jokes about the LGBT community and transgenderism, was attacked by an armed man who rushed the stage during a performance in Los Angeles in 2022.

Following the incident, Kirk criticized Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon for declining to pursue charges against the attacker.

“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,” Kirk wrote on X.

Saturday’s comments were not the first time Chappelle had addressed Kirk’s assassination. In his recent special “Dave Chappelle: The Unstoppable,” the comedian said he was “shook” by the murder.

“This is another reason it’s hard to talk in America, because if you talk for a living and see Charlie Kirk get murdered that way, I’m gonna be honest, I was shook,” Chappelle said. “When all the information was still shoddy, they came out, they were like, ‘Apparently there were transgender messages inscribed on the bullet.’ I was like, ‘Oh no! I’m dead as fried chicken!'”

However, he went on to criticize those on the right who compared Kirk’s assassination to the murder of Martin Luther King Jr.

“And the whites were quick to say this. They said, ‘Charlie Kirk is this generation’s Martin Luther King.’ No, he’s not,” he added. “That’s a reach. You know, they both got murdered in a terrible fashion, they both got shot in the neck, but that’s about where those similarities end.”