Dave Chappelle’s Kids: Meet The Controversial Comedian’s 3 Children

• David Chapelle and his wife, Elaine Erfe, person 3 children together.
• They’ve raised their sons, Sulayman and Ibrahim, and girl Sanaa, retired of the nationalist eye.
• Dave credits his children for his determination to instrumentality his “professional beingness much seriously’ and for giving him ‘depth.’

“Everything changed aft I had children,” Dave Chappelle told CBS News successful 2017. “I took my nonrecreational beingness much seriously. And I think, arsenic a dude, I had much extent aft I had kids.” Dave and his wife, Elaine Erfe, person maintained their lives extracurricular the spotlight. Since marrying successful 2001 and relocating to Yellow Springs, Ohio, a 65-acre farm. Since then, the mates has welcomed 3 children — Sulayman, Ibrahim, and Sanaa – but Dave and Elaine person done their champion to springiness their kids a beingness escaped of the pressures of Dave’s fame and infamy.

In the twelvemonth that Dave spoke with CBS News astir however overmuch his kids “changed” him, helium returned to standup with a $20 million-per-special woody with Netflix. He released 2 back-to-back specials, which utilized an violative word for trans individuals “briefly during [his] meditations connected sex roles, sexuality and what it means to beryllium masculine and feminine,” per Variety. The usage ruffles immoderate feathers, but the mainstream chiefly embraced Chapelle’s return.

Dave Chappelle and his girl Sanaa get for the screening of the movie ‘A Star Is Born’ during the 43rd yearly Toronto International Film Festival (WARREN TODA/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

In 2019, Dave released his 5th special for Netflix, Sticks and Stones, which is the archetypal clip that Dave mentioned Daphne Dorman, a bundle technologist and trans comic that took her beingness aboriginal that year. The peculiar contains comments that gully the ire of the LGBTQ+ community, but Dorman defended Chappelle, per SFGATE. “He isn’t punching up oregon punching down,” she tweeted. “He’s punching lines. That’s his job, and he’s a maestro of his craft.” Two years later, Netflix released Dave’s sixth and last peculiar nether the 2016 Netflix deal, The Closer.

Most of the peculiar was focused connected Dave’s absorption to the allegations of transphobia and the fallout of his erstwhile specials. “If you lone wanted to get done 1 of these [specials] without a long, crabby detour connected cheery radical and sex identity, Closer’s designed to enactment your nerves,” wrote Craig Jenkins for Vulture. “He has the textbook edgelord ally’s arrogance. He swears helium knows however to hole things for you, but he’s conscionable asking for you to instrumentality up little space, to usher successful advancement by giving different radical clip to travel astir to you.”

Despite the backlash to the special, The Closer was nominated for 2 Emmy Awards. Dave continued to get immoderate high-profile gigs during this controversy, including performances astatine some Taylor Hawkins memorial concerts and for the Nov. 12, 2022, occurrence of Saturday Night Live. In what has go a contented since 2016, Dave was booked to big the amusement pursuing a large U.S. election. He hosted aft Donald Trump was elected president successful 2016, aft Joe Biden won successful 2020, and now, aft the 2022 midterms.

Ahead of the 2022 episode, here’s what you request to cognize astir his kids.

Sulayman

Dave with his family. Image: Dave Allocca/Starpix/Shutterstock

Dave and Elaine’s 3 kids each person precise unsocial names, which are reportedly a tribute to Dave’s Muslim faith, on with his wife’s Christian background. The comedian’s oldest lad Sulayman was calved successful 2001, and is simply a boxing enthusiast.

While not overmuch is known astir Sulayman, his A-list dada told a communicative during 1 of his drama specials astir uncovering marijuana successful his room. “I went into my older son’s country … and I recovered these notebooks and I started going done the notebooks,” helium said. “There was each this fantastic poesy successful it… Then I looked done his drawers, opened his mediate drawer, and recovered his rolling papers. I looked down astatine them papers and said, ‘Oh, that’s wherever the poetry’s coming from.'”

Ibrahim

Dave’s family. Image: SplashNews

Just 2 years aft welcoming their archetypal son, Dave and Elaine welcomed Ibrahim successful 2003. It came a fewer years earlier the comedian would infamously locomotion distant from Chappelle’s Show amid idiosyncratic issues. “She was with maine erstwhile I was poor,” Dave said of his longtime matrimony to Elaine, earlier noting that she stuck by his broadside passim the unsmooth times successful 2006. Little is known astir Ibrahim, conscionable that helium resides successful the family’s tiny Ohio municipality with his parents and 2 siblings.

Sanaa

The couple’s youngest child, girl Sanaa, was calved successful 2009. While she keeps a debased illustration similar her 2 older brothers, her dada opened up successful a 2019 Netflix standup special, Dave Chappelle: Equanimity & The Bird Revelation, astir watching his children turn up. “I spot my property successful my children. I came location from the roadworthy not agelong agone — I was gone for weeks, and cipher was location erstwhile I came back. Not 1 idiosyncratic successful my household thought possibly I’d similar to spot them erstwhile I got back,” helium recalled. “That sh-t was a wake-up call. When my kids were small and the circuit autobus would propulsion up to the house, [they’d] spill out. ‘Dad is home, hooray!’ Then arsenic the years went on, they’d get little interested. ‘Hey everybody, look: It’s Mr. Promises backmost from the road.'”

It seems young Sanaa could beryllium pursuing successful her dad’s footsteps, arsenic she had a tiny cameo successful the deed 2018 film, A Star Is Born. She played her real-life dad’s girl and appeared connected the reddish carpet astatine the Toronto International Film Festival with Dave.