Over the course of a 15-minute opening monologue, comedian Dave Chappelle tackled everything from the Los Angeles wildfires to Donald Trump‘s forthcoming inauguration, from Sean Combs indictment to a heartfelt tribute for the late Jimmy Carter.
Kicking off Saturday Night Live‘s first show after Season 50’s winter hiatus, Chappelle said executive producer Lorne Michaels had been trying to book him as a host for the episode after the election, which he vehemently refused. Finally, he agreed to a spot closest to January 6th.
“The moment I said yes, L.A. burst into flames. And it’s a tough one, you know what I mean, because I’m tired of being controversial, I’m trying to turn over a new leaf. And it is way too soon to be doing jokes about a catastrophe like that,” he said, smoking a cigarette throughout his material and winking.
He continued, commenting on the fact that the wildfires were the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history: “Because people in L.A. have nice stuff. I could burn 40,000 acres in Mississippi for like 6 to 700 dollars.”
Regarding the various conspiracy theories floating around, Chappelle said: “There’s just too many factors. If you were a rational-thinking person, you have to at least consider the possibility that God hates these people. Sodomites! But that’s not true because West Hollywood was unscathed, because how can you burn what is already flaming?”
Chappelle also tried out some material regarding suspected UHC shooter Luigi Mangione, Trump’s racist comments about Haitian immigrants (Chappelle himself lives outside of Springfield, Ohio) and embattled and disgraced rapper Sean Combs, who is facing sex-trafficking and racketeering charges, including for his “freak-offs,” the drug-fueled sex parties that would be filmed and last for days. The latter subject didn’t hit with the crowd as much, and at one point he tapped his microphone to mime checking its pitch, saying flatly after the fact when that elicited a few laughs: “Thanks.”
When teeing up a joke about the freak-offs, Chappelle said he was never invited because of a damning realization: “I thought about it for a minute, I said, ‘Oh my God, I’m ugly. That was a tough way to find that out. Can you imagine if you were me, reading the newspaper and found out everyone in Hollywood had an orgy behind your back and nobody called me? Boy, that really hurts.”
He admitted later that his face has “snitch energy,” making the joke as he acted out masturbating in the corner. “Oh I look like I’ll tell,” he said.
However, in closing, and with a rather sharp and surprising, heartfelt pivot, Chappelle turned his attention to Carter, recounting a time in his life when he was in the Middle East at the same time as the former president was visiting Palestinian territories in Israel sans security detail and following the release of his book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.
“I will never forget the images of a former American president, walking with little to no security while thousands of Palestinians were cheering him on, and when I saw that picture, it brought tears to my eyes. I said, ‘I don’t know if that’s a good president, but that right there, I am sure, is a great man.’”
He continued, turning his attention to today’s political environment and addressing Trump’s impending tenure: “The presidency is no place for petty people, so Donald Trump — I know you watch the show — man, remember, whether people voted for you or not, they’re all counting on you; whether they like you or not, they’re all counting on you. The whole world is counting on you. 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.”
Watch the full monologue below: