Dave Chappelle Dismisses Charlie Kirk as 'Internet Personality,' Slams MLK Comparison

By Rob Redding

Editor & Publisher

NEW YORK, Dec. 20, 2025, 6 p.m. — Comedian Dave Chappelle took a sharp shot at those who have compared conservative activist Charlie Kirk to civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr., calling such claims a "reach" and dismissing Kirk as just an "internet personality."

In his surprise comedy special, Unstoppable, released this week, Chappelle criticized the notion that Kirk’s legacy could be likened to MLK’s. “Charlie Kirk was this generation’s Martin Luther King? That’s a reach,” Chappelle said. “They both got murdered in a terrible fashion. They both got shot in the neck, but that’s about where those similarities ended.”

He further ridiculed Kirk, calling him a “motherfking internet personality” and argued that Kirk’s influence is vastly different from the civil rights leader’s. “Internet niggas are negative because they have to be,” Chappelle said. “Can you imagine if Dr. King was behaving like Charlie Kirk? Smash that like button and subscribe!”

Chappelle also made a pointed statement about his own stance on Black freedom, saying, “I believe all Black people should be free, change my mind!”

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Rob Redding is the author of the forthcoming book Black Power in the Age of Artificial Supremacy Featuring Redding-Shim Kwet Yung out on Jan. 5, 2026. He is the bestselling author of 17 books. He is the host of Redding News Review Unrestricted and creator of ReddingNewsReview.com. He is also an emerging visual artist who lives and teaches at two colleges in New York City.