Names and faces
■ Dave Chappelle returned Saturday for his third stint as host of “Saturday Night Live,” which gave the comedian a starring role in an episode dominated by the midterm elections and the fallout from Ye’s antisemitic remarks. Chappelle started his opening monologue, by reading “a brief statement” that he had prepared. “I denounce antisemitism in all its forms and I stand with my friends in the Jewish community,” he said. “And that, Kanye, is how you buy yourself some time.” Chappelle dedicated almost half of his opening monologue to the backlash over antisemitic statements and material shared by Ye, the rapper formerly named as Kanye West, and Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving. Speaking of Ye, Chappelle said he understood how someone with “some kind of [mental health] issue” could “adopt the delusion” that Jewish people “run show business.” “I’ve been to Hollywood. This is just what I saw. It’s a lot of Jews,” Chappelle said. “But that doesn’t mean anything. … There’s a lot of Black people in Ferguson, Missouri — doesn’t mean they run the place.” The other half of Chappelle’s monologue — and much of the episode — was dedicated to politics and the midterm elections. At the heart of online debates was whether Chappelle was endorsing antisemitism or criticizing it.
■ Many of those mourning Migos member Takeoff paid their respects Friday to the Atlanta rapper and condemned the gun violence that took his life. Braving the rain, Georgia residents who were able to score free tickets arrived well ahead of the noon service at State Farm Arena. Meanwhile, the investigation into the Nov. 1 fatal shooting outside a Houston bowling alley continued. He was 28. During the roughly three-hour ceremony, the surviving members of Migos, Quavo and Offset, gave heartfelt tributes. Family dominated the podium, with Takeoff’s mother and two siblings also expressing their love and loss with personal stories. Fellow artists also paid tribute. Mayor Andre Dickens posthumously gave Takeoff the Phoenix Award, the city’s highest honor. No media was allowed inside the venue. Although recording devices were banned, photos and videos began appearing on social media after the service. Takeoff and his uncle Quavo, who performed as Polo Club, were later joined by Quavo’s cousin Offset to form a trio, changing their group name to Migos. The Gwinnett County natives signed to Atlanta-based label Quality Control Music and released a collection of mixtapes that introduced listeners to the triplet flow, ad-libs and melodic chants that redefined 2010s rap. Migos propelled into superstardom after the release of “Bad and Boujee.” The 2016 single, from their Grammy-nominated album “Culture,” is the group’s sole No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. Takeoff released a solo album, “The Last Rocket,” in 2018.