Dave Chappelle Helping Families Of Buffalo Shooting Victims

On Sunday night, comedian Dave Chappelle performed to a packed house at Shea’s Performing Arts Center in downtown Buffalo. 

According to reports, at the end of his hour-plus set, Chappelle announced that he would be donating the entirety of the ticket sales proceeds from the night to assist the families of the victims of the Buffalo mass shooting on May 14th. Some audience members in attendance also stated that some members of the victims’ families were in attendance at the show, but this has not been confirmed.

On May 14th, in a racially-motivated act of domestic terrorism, a gunman opened fire at Tops on Jefferson Ave. in Buffalo, killing ten and injuring three. The suspect remains in custody.

Buffalo Redditors were quick to comment after Chappelle's sold-out performance:

“I love that he did that. I love that everyone is coming together to support this community. What I hope (foolishly optimistic) is that not only will it continue, but that it will spread.”

Chappelle’s comedy shows have been known not to shy away from racism and social justice topics. In June of 2020, he released the short special 8:46 for Netflix’s “Netflix Is A Joke” YouTube series, which addressed in detail the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

Chappelle is also no stranger to controversy. His latest special for Netflix, The Closer, received backlash from viewers and Netflix employees due to remarks he made regarding members of the transgender community. 

Chappelle was most recently in the news after being attacked on stage by an audience member during a performance at the Hollywood Bowl in California. The man was later charged with four misdemeanors for the unprovoked assault.