Dave Chappelle Announces All Proceeds From Buffalo Show Will Go to Families of Mass Shooting Victims

Towards the end of his set at Shea’s Performing Arts Center in Buffalo Sunday, Dave Chappelle announced that all proceeds from his show would be donated to the families of the 10 people who were killed in last month’s racially-motivated mass shooting, the Rochester’s Democrat & Chronicle reports. 

“He said, and I’m paraphrasing, I came here to Buffalo to recognize the victims and for these families,” Kevin Sweeney, director of marketing and communications for Shea’s Performing Arts Center, said. The show was reportedly booked last-minute, with tickets going on sale Thursday morning and selling out within an hour. Among those in attendance at the 3,019-seat venue were family members of the victims, who were personally invited by the comedian. 

On May 14, 18-year-old alleged gunman Payton Gendron opened fire in the parking lot of a Tops Friendly Market store. In the days following the mass shooting, it became known that Gendron lived about 200 miles outside of Buffalo and had written in a diary that he intended on livestreaming an attack on Black people. 

These entries also indicated that Gendron previously traveled to that exact location to plan out the attack and kept a tally of how many Black people he saw. Gendron has been charged with first-degree murder, as well as one count of domestic terrorism motivated by hate, and remains behind bars without bail. 

The last time Chappelle performed at Shea’s was in 2016.