Sighs of relief could be heard coming from NBC’s C-suites Thursday morning when Saturday Night Live announced that—in a break from recent tradition—Dave Chappelle will not be hosting its post-election episode on November 9th.
The popular comic, who has faced increasing criticism in recent years for his refusal to stop joking about trans people and other marginalized groups in his act, had hosted the show’s first episodes after the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections (and in 2022 after the midtern elections, for good measure).
All signs seemed to point to Chappelle returning this year, especially after SNL boss Lorne Michaels was quoted by The Wall Street Journal last week railing against political correctness and cancel culture in comedy, but ultimately it was not to be.
Hosting the show in Chappelle’s place will be Bill Burr, making his second appearance as SNL host.
But lest anyone take the decision not to book Chappelle as a capitulation to public or internal pressure, Michaels may well end up getting the last laugh.
That’s because Burr, who happens to be good friends with Chappelle, is no stranger to controversy himself. In his last turn at bat at SNL, he faced criticism for calling Black people “equator people,” white women “bitches,” and for claiming that he’d never heard of Pride Month. (Although to be fair, his opening monologue was far more thoughtful and nuanced than those quotes would suggest.)
In recent more comedy sets, Burr hasn’t shied away from other hot button topics, including the war in Gaza, transgender rights, and child molestation.
Burr has also railed against cancel culture, arguing that liberals have become just as intolerent as those they criticize. “It’s disappointing to see the left become how the right used to be when they went after the Dixie Chicks after they criticized George W. Bush,” he told The Hollywood Reporter in 2022.
That would seem to be a sentiment that Chappelle and Michaels would agree with as well.