These Are the Two Subjects Dave Chappelle Wasn’t Allowed to Talk About When He Hosted ‘SNL’
Dave Chappelle has always been infected with a disease that afflicts many comedians. The main symptom: Tell him he can’t say something, and he feels absolutely compelled to say it. Exhibit A: His 2023 special, The Closer, in which the comic set the record straight for anyone expecting him to test the limits around transgender topics. “I’m not fucking with those people anymore. It wasn’t worth the trouble. I ain’t saying shit about trans people,” he said before taking a beat. “Maybe three or four times tonight, but that is it.”
Boom, there it is. He knows he’s not supposed to say it. He says he’s not going to say it. But at the end of the day, he’s Dave Chappelle. He’s going to say it, not because he has a new insight but because he’s not supposed to.
So given the circumstances, it’s a surprise that Chappelle behaved during his January monologue on Saturday Night Live. Last Thursday, the comedian performed a sold-out show in San Francisco and revealed to the crowd that someone — it had to be Lorne Michaels, right? — erected some guardrails around his performance that night. Two hot-button topics were off limits, according to a review in SFGate: transgender people and Gaza.
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It’s hard to decide what’s more shocking: That SNL believed it could control Chappelle or that Chappelle would respect SNL’s request.
Because Saturday Night Live is, well, live, limit-testing comedians like Chappelle always represent a roll of the dice. From its very first show with counterculture comic George Carlin as host, NBC censors pushed for a six-second delay so they could edit out anything they deemed improper. NBC fought for a five-second delay when Richard Pryor hosted; Michaels settled on three. The point: Some comedians are bigger wild cards than others, and they’re not to be trusted, even when they promise to be on their best behavior. SNL “forbidding” Chappelle to stay away from certain subject matter could have easily backfired, tempting him to prove he was brave enough to break the rules.
But Chappelle toed the line and — surprise — his monologue was better for it. SFGate critic Dan Gentile called his SNL opening bit “Chappelle’s most brilliant recorded set in years.” The forbidden topics were a godsend, considering the comic long ago ran out of things to say about transgender people. Recent “jokes” have been more bratty than brainy, a kid farting in church just to see the pastor’s face turn red. His repetitive trans material wasn’t only insensitive, it was boring. Staying away allowed Chappelle to focus on fresher topics.
And tiptoeing away from the word “Gaza” compelled Chappelle to deliver a message that was more likely to be heard by audiences on both sides. Rather than argue politics, he made an impassioned plea for empathy to everyone listening, but especially President Trump: “The whole world is counting on you. And I mean this when I say this — good luck. Please do better next time. Please. All of us do better next time. Do not forget your humanity. And please have empathy for displaced people, whether they're in the Palisades or Palestine.”
It was grown-up stand-up, speaking from his heart. Who knew that respecting boundaries could lead to some of Chappelle’s best comedy in years?
