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Watch Dave Chappelle's powerful monologue on George Floyd's death in surprise special

The Netflix special is titled "8:46" in reference to the minutes and seconds that a police officer was filmed kneeling on George Floyd's neck.
/ Source: TODAY

A fired-up Dave Chappelle shares his anguish over George Floyd's death in a new Netflix comedy special filled with as much raw emotion as laughs.

The 27-minute special is titled "8:46," which is the amount of time former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was filmed kneeling on Floyd's neck on May 25 before the 46-year-old Black man later died from his injuries.

(Warning: This video contains strong language)

"This man kneeled on a man's neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, can you imagine that?!" Chappelle says. "He knew he was going to die. He called for his dead mother."

Chappelle, 46, also ripped the other three former Minneapolis police officers who have been criminally charged along with Chauvin for not stepping in to stop him.

"When I watched that tape, I understood this man knew he was gonna die," he said. "For some reason that I still don't understand, all these f----- police had their hands in their pockets. Who are you talking to? What are you signifying? That you can kneel on a man's neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds and feel like you wouldn't get the wrath of God?! That's what is happening right now.

"It's not for a single cop, it's for all of it. I don't mean to get heavy, but we gotta say something."

Chappelle, who also noted he was born at 8:46 in the morning in an eerie coincidence, couldn't initially bring himself to watch the footage of Floyd's death as it went viral.

"I can't tell you as a man watching another man go through something like that, what it makes you feel like,'' he says. "I didn't watch the tape for a week. I said I don't want to see this because I can't unsee it. When I finally watched it, I understood nobody is going home. Anyone who sees this, they're gonna be furious."

The comedian also references the deaths of Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and others whose stories have fueled the protests against racial injustice.

The show, which was filmed on June 6 in Yellow Springs, Ohio, marked Chappelle's first time onstage in 87 days amid the coronavirus pandemic. Everyone in the crowd was wearing masks after undergoing temperature checks, and seats were separated to maintain social distancing.

Chappelle also explained the reason he didn't attend this year's Grammy Awards, where he won best comedy album for his Netflix special "Sticks and Stones." The ceremony was held in Los Angeles on Jan. 26, the day Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant and eight others died in a helicopter crash in southern California.

"I loved Kobe Bryant," Chappelle said. "He died the day I won a Grammy. That's why I didn't show up at the Grammys. I cried like a baby."

He also takes shots at Fox News host Laura Ingraham and conservative commentator Candace Owens before wrapping up with a story about his great-great grandfather, whom he said was born a slave, to illustrate a point about racism continuing today.

"These things are not old," he said. "It's not a long time ago. It's today."