Dave Chappelle is giving back to the community!
The comedian is allegedly donating profits generated from ticket sales of his stand-up show to the families of the May 14 mass shooting victims.
The shooting was perpetrated by a teen who staged what police referred to as a racially motivated attack at the Tops supermarket in Buffalo, New York.
The “Chappelle’s Show” Host Has No Problem Giving Away His Show’s Proceeds
According to ET, Chappelle announced his plans to help the victims’ families at the end of his June 5 performance at the Shea’s Performing Arts Center.
The stand-up act said that he would donate the proceeds from the night’s ticket sales to the family members of the victims – some of which graced the show at Chappelle’s request.
The center’s director of marketing and communications, Kevin Sweeney, said:
“He said, and I’m paraphrasing, I came here to Buffalo to recognize the victims and for these families.”
“The Nutty Professor” actor booked his performance at the 3,019-seat arena just four days before D-Day.
Despite that short notice, tickets sold out within the hour when they went on sale last Thursday morning. Chappelle’s last sold-out show at the Buffalo venue was in 2016.
The suspect accused of the May shooting, 18-year-old Payton Gendron, has since been slammed with a 25-count charge.
The charge included ten counts of first-degree murder and domestic terrorism charges. Gendron pleaded not guilty.
Saw @DaveChappelle last night! Great show and he donated all proceeds to families of the shooting at Tops in Buffalo ♥️ pic.twitter.com/5Li2Yn2icJ
— ScottySpades (@ScottySpades) June 6, 2022
The alleged shooter reportedly penned down his racist motivations for the shooting while referencing a 2019 mass shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Soon after the Buffalo shooting, The Blast revealed that a 911 dispatcher might have lost her job after allegedly hanging up on a caller who tried reporting the incident.
The Erie County dispatcher got placed on administrative leave after Latisha Rogers, an assistant office manager at the supermarket, attempted to call the emergency line to report what was happening in the store in real-time.
Rogers recalled that instead of offering some assistance in a moment when she was “scared for my life,” the 911 dispatcher, identified as Sheila E. Ayers, dismissed her in “a very nasty tone.”
In response to the claims, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said that the county intended to fire the 911 call taker who misbehaved and did not follow protocol.
Following the virality of the woman’s story, Poloncarz said that the transcript and audio of the 911 call would eventually be accessible to the public once authorities finished with their investigation.
Celebrities Get Vocal About Mass Shootings And Gun Control In America
Ayers’ job problems came days after The Blast reported that celebrities have called for increased gun control in America after the mass shooting.
“The Stepford Wives” actress Bette Middler tweeted, “This country is a disgrace.” The outspoken tweet came with a newspaper picture with the headline: “Grief And Rage Rock Buffalo After Racism Fuels Massacre.”
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Comedian Patton Oswalt made a sarcastic thread in response to the shooting. He noted that the nation does not need gun control.
Instead, people needed to stay away from places like “churches, malls, supermarkets, mosques, concerts, synagogues, cinemas, parks, pre-schools, middle schools, high schools, college campuses, mass transportation, and the outdoors.”
Another comedian who spoke on the issue was Steve Hofstetter, who took a jab at people who offer thoughts and prayers as he accused them of sucking at thinking and praying.
“Star Wars” actor Mark Hamill echoed Hofstetter’s tweet by asking how long people waited after a mass shooting and “the usual expressions of ‘thoughts & prayers’ & the inevitable outraged cries for more sensible gun laws” before going back to posting pictures of food.
Actress and singer Selena Gomez tweeted that the “horrific attack in Buffalo” broke her heart.
On Instagram, “The Big Bang Theory” star Mayim Bialik dropped an image of flowers and candles with the promise to hold the community of Buffalo in her prayers for “soothing what seems like insurmountable pain right now.”
The victims in the Buffalo mass shooting have been identified as Roberta A. Drury, 32; Margus D. Morrison, 52; Andre Macneil, 53; Aaron Salter Jr., 55; Geraldine Talley, 62; Celestine Chaney, 65; Heyward Patterson, 67; Katherine Massey, 72; Pearl Young, 77; and Ruth Whitfield, 86.
