Dave Chappelle is hosting Saturday Night Live for the third time this weekend, but all is seemingly not well behind the scenes of the late night sketch show.
Despite having a difficult couple of years in the public eye, hugely criticised for transphobic jokes in his Netflix special, it still wasn’t surprising that Lorne Michaels booked Chappelle for his third hosting stint.
His previous monologues following U.S. elections were intelligent, confrontational, and topical, and, of course, he’s a highly skilled sketch performer going back to Chappelle’s Show. With season 48 getting off to a stuttering start with mediocre hosts Miles Teller and Brendan Gleeson, Michaels probably felt an assured hand was needed to guide this fledgling cast.
But Chappelle’s booking reportedly hasn’t gone down well behind the scenes. As per Page Six, SNL writers are so upset about the comedian being chosen to host the show that they’re choosing to boycott the upcoming episode.
“They’re not going to do the show,” a source told the publication. “But none of the actors are boycotting.” Conversely, a representative for Chappelle told Page Six that there had been nothing to suggest a boycott was on the way when the comedian attended writers’ meetings this week.
“The room was full of writers. They all pitched ideas and they seemed very excited about it…. Dave is looking to have some fun,” the rep claimed.
SNL currently has a trans writer, Celeste Yin, and its first-ever non-binary cast member, Molly Kearney. While the latter hasn’t publicly commented on Chappelle’s booking, Yin posted the following in an Instagram Story: “I’m trans and non-binary. I use they/them pronouns. Transphobia is murder and it should be condemned.”
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Chappelle’s SNL episode will air on Saturday, November 12th, with Black Star as the musical guest. It will be fascinating to see if the writers’ absence will be noticeable, and what form Chappelle’s monologue will take.
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Check out Dave Chappelle’s previous SNL hosting gig:
