Chris Rock, ?uestlove (But No Chappelle) at Powell Fund-Raiser
Reclusive comedian Dave Chappelle missed two flights out of Ohio last night and failed to get to a Manhattan fund-raiser for Congressional candidate Kevin Powell of Brooklyn.
The clip above shows Powell earlier in the evening, before the announcement about Chappelle, continuing to criticize incumbent Representative Ed Towns for what Powell thinks is a lack of leadership.
“My opponent does not chair a single committee after 25 years," Powell said to the audience. "I want y’all to think about that for a second. Why doesn’t he? Because he’s missed about a thousand votes since 1993.”
Later, while comedian Chris Rock, rapper RZA of Wu-Tang Clan and drummer ?uestlove of the Roots mingled in the VIP section with big-dollar donors, Powell returned to the stage and told the crowd of several hundred they would be admitted free to a rescheduled event sometime later.
One Powell organizer said Rock was willing to perform, but at the request of Chappelle's management decided not to. The organizer, Arthur Leopold, said entertaining someone else's audience violates professional courtesy between performers.
While some attendees left visibly angry during the long delay, most of the crowd waited mostly patiently for Chappelle.
(During the extended delay, a reporter from the Brooklyn paper Courier Life, Stephen Witt, took the stage and told a few jokes about being broke. The crowd booed and Witt, drink in hand, walked away. Later, Witt told me "everybody in the editorial room loves my 99-Cent Store routine.")
The event was supposed to be a watershed moment in Powell's effort to oust Towns. Powell, a hip-hop journalist and former MTV Real World star (season one), has used his connections to the entertainment industry and support from Barack Obama's network to promote his campaign. This event gathered a hoard of reporters from a wide range of news outlets—from Newsweek and Fox to Hot97.com.
One attendee, who was waiting patiently, told me, "This is better than a lot of other fund-raisers I got to, and we're not even having fun yet."
This was one of the worst planned events I've ever attended.
Im furious!! We waited for 2 hours in line, then another 1 1/2 hrs inside. No disrespect to Mr.Powell but this is not the best way to earn the loyalty and trust of his prized demographic of young professional voters. WE WANT OUR MONEY BACK!
Was disappointed about Chapelle, but Powell managed to pull it off. Definitely still supporting him.
Was disappointed about Chapelle, but Powell managed to pull it off. Definitely still supporting him.
Although no Chappelle was disappointing, this was a political fundraiser like no other that ive been too! And as a follower and supporter of Mr. Powell, I am confident he will stick to his word that he gave at the end of the night that all ticket holders would be able to get into his next celeb event for free.
This wasn't Kevin Powell's fault about Chappelle not showing up. it was nice to see young people coming out and being active in the political process. There were lots of people registering to vote and make contributions. We need new active blood to get things done!Go Kevin Powell!
This wasn't Kevin Powell's fault about Chappelle not showing up. it was nice to see young people coming out and being active in the political process. There were lots of people registering to vote and make contributions. We need new active blood to get things done!Go Kevin Powell!
I came to see what the hype was about and left. It was poorly organized. Did not like the fact that he had no ideas of his own just criticism of Towns. He is not a man of the people he spent most of the time in the VIP section. I see Mr. Towns on the streets of Brooklyn I have never seen this guy. I am still undecided but this event pushed me towards Towns.
Although Chappelle was not there, I thought Kevin managed to get the audience excited at the end of his speech. He still brings a lot to the table.
I thought Powell was great, but I was disappointed with Chappelle not showing up. He's a bigger flake than I thought. I strolled into the VIP room and met Chris Rock and Jurnee Smollett, that was awesome! The two ladies with lists at the door were complete unprofessional bitches though. An interesting event. Power to Kevin Powell, though.
It was an awesome event! It's too bad Chappelle didn't make it (thunderstorms in Ohio, I heard) but that is not Kevin's fault.
Whenever a politician is lucky enough to get a big event like this in a club, there's going to be some waiting before getting in, and I thought this one was amazingly well organized compared to others I've been too. Crowds are annoying, but for a challenger candidate, they are a good thing. And I don't know what the deal was last night, but typically the venue's staff deals with entry to the event, not the campaign.
Kevin didn't spend the whole time in the VIP room, I was in there. He is one of the most responsive accessible politicians I have ever met. And he has great ideas for Brooklyn.
You can never please everyone but he does seem to be responsive. Of course I'm in another state so I understand my view is limited
Kevin Powell seems to be more flash than substance. I can't point to anything concrete that he has done in Brooklyn (other than giving speeches) even though he claims to be a "community organizer and activist"
The fact that there was a VIP room says a lot by itself.
Most disorganized door and line EVER. It was a good event once inside, but the list people were a joke. I like Kevin Powell a lot, he has great ideas.
Why on earth would anyone support Kevin Powell for congressional office? After having read Mr. Powell personal catharsis, "Who's going to Carry the Weight" I am thoroughly unimpressed with his ability to make sound decisions. By electing him to congress, the largely black community of the Brooklyn 10th Congressional District will make the same mistake that was made in electing Ed Towns 25 years ago: picking bad candidates for all the wrong reasons.
I say this because Powell's own words show he is another of a breed "change" candidates and "progressives." I'm about as tired as one can be with these people. Most bring very little fundamental understanding of the constitutional mandate and history of the office they seek and more importantly what the office can practically do. Too often these "progressives" speak of local issues as if they will have the ability to supercede state constitutional authority.
The biggest sin of "change candidates" is they have little perspective on whether government is the best vehicle to achieve what they seek. Classic example is Mr. Change himself, Barack Obama who's idea of improving communities is to rehash the last 60 years of left leaning social welfare wrapped in new age rhetoric. His whole platform is contradictory, would further penalize both tax payers who would already subsidize so much social programming at the state and local level. He's proposed legislation that will actually reduce investment in community development and increase the probability of our housing gap increasing.
The people of the 10 CD in Brooklyn would be better off writing in Mickey Mouse.
The main problem with the event was LACK OF TRANSPARENCY.
Was it really at 10:30 that they just realized Dave was not going to make it in from Ohio that evening? Or was it a safe assumption that by missing (by choice?) his flight at 8:30 that he would not be there before the event was supposed to end at 10?
Why did Kevin Powell make the crowd stand around for HOURS?
Then, at the end, it was a slap in the face telling people who dropped big dollars that they could come to a future event. What about the youth who traveled in with big suitcases? What about a simple refund?!!
It made EVERYBODY LOOK BAD
- Kevin looked bad: surprised at the end that nobody had signed in on their way in, totally disorganized, no transparency, audience felt stupid
- The press looked bad: A drunk member of the press was allowed to address the crowd with the microphone. A radio DJ told the crowd to boo themselves
- Chappelle looked bad: confirms further that he either is a smackhead or fruitloop
Was'nt this the same motherfucker that bitch-slapped that cute white girl on 'Real World" back in the 80's? I could be confusing him with another darkie on that show..I mean they all look the fucking same.
Like he's gonna do anything different to "empower" black people in Harlem or wherever..he will just get sucking into the political machine like all ploiticians andthen will become a professional at taking our tax dollars and wasting it on usless projects like urban renewal". What the fuck does that mean anyway?
If I sa married to that white girl today I would want to kick his black ass real good...
UPDATE...UPDATE...
He lost his bid...guess its back on welfare..fucking useless individual....