Dave Chappelle returned to Saturday Night Live with a message for Donald Trump, joking about everything from the Los Angeles wildfires to conflict in the Middle East.
The 51-year-old comic’s appearances on the show have generated controversy and headlines since his monologue after Trump won in 2016.
Since then, he has returned to the spotlight as an A-list comedian, making headlines and generating laughter and offense for his comments about Trump, Biden, transgender people and anti-Semitism.
Chappelle — at one point joking that he was “tired of being controversial” and hoped to “turn over a new leaf” — ended his program to open the NBC show discussing Trump, saying, “He’s going to be the 47th president, he’s done it again.’
While sitting on a stool and smoking a cigarette, Chappelle initially joked in a 17-minute monologue that the only reason he agreed to host Saturday Night Live again was to burn old Trump jokes.
The comedian told an anecdote about the late President Jimmy Carter going to Palestine with minimal security while Chappelle was visiting the Middle East.
Chappelle had an infamous hiatus from comedy, quitting his hit Comedy Central show in 2004 and going on to visit various places around the world, including Africa and the Middle East.
“I will never forget the images of a former American president walking around without security as thousands of Palestinians cheered him on, and seeing that photo brought tears to my eyes. I said, I don’t know if that’s a good president, but I’m sure he’s a great man. It made me feel very proud,” he said.
Dave Chappelle returned to Saturday Night Live with a message for Donald Trump as he joked about everything from the Los Angeles wildfires to conflict in the Middle East

The comic sent a message to the president ahead of his inauguration on Monday
He added that “the presidency is no place for small-minded people” and then addressed Trump and the rest of the nation, joking, “I know you watch the show.”
To Trump and America, Chappelle said, “Man, remember whether people voted for you or not, they’re all counting on you. Whether they like you or not, they are all counting on you. The whole world is counting on you. I mean it when I say this, good luck. Do better next time. Please, all of us, do better next time.”
“Don’t forget your humanity and please have empathy for displaced people, whether they are in the Palisades or Palestine,” he concluded to loud applause.
Previously, Chappelle admittedly laughed “too early” about the wildfires, saying that “the moment I said yes” to SNL, “LA went up in flames.”
He said that despite never living in the city, it hits close to home and mentioned several famous friends who had lost their homes.
“Then I go on the internet and watch these fire videos and the comments all say these celebrities are doing well, I hope their houses burn down,” he said.
‘Do you see that? That there? That’s why I hate poor people,” Chappelle joked. “They can’t see past their own pain!”
He said the Los Angeles wildfires would be the most expensive natural disaster in American history, joking that “it’s because people in LA have nice things. For $600 to $700, I could burn 100,000 acres of Mississippi.”

As he sat on a stool and smoked a cigarette, Chappelle initially joked that the only reason he agreed to host Saturday Night Live again was to burn off old Trump jokes.
At one point he dismissed conspiracy theories about the fire, before saying, “If you’re a rational person, you should at least consider the possibility that God hates these people.” It’s a lot of white people!’
He then made fun of one of the area’s LGBTQ-friendly communities, saying there’s no way God can do this.because West Hollywood was left unscathed, because how can you burn what is already on fire.”
Chappelle, who lives in Ohio, then spoke about last summer’s controversy over Haitian migrants in the city of Springfield, where Chappelle lives a town over.
He said Trump’s speculation that “they eat the dogs and the cats” drove him “crazy.”
Chappelle claimed that these Haitians came legally and that “they did work that the whites did not do. It’s not that white people couldn’t do this work, but they did other things: heroin, sleeping on the streets.”
He then said that in hopes of supporting them, he ate lunch every day for 10 days at a Haitian restaurant in Springfield “just to let them know if I’m safe here, you guys are definitely safe here.”
“Honestly, I don’t know what that meat was,” he said with a wry smile. “But whatever it was, it fell right off the bone, I’ll tell you that.”
He joked that he might leave Ohio with the Haitians because “it’s just not fun to be famous anymore.”

Sarah Sherman plays Rachel Maddow in a sketch on MSNBC on Saturday Night Live

SNL mocked MSNBC’s dependence on Trump in their reporting in a cold opening sketch
That led to a discussion about Sean “Diddy” Combs, who has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking charges filed against him after his arrest in September. Combs remains in custody awaiting a May 5 trial after bail was denied following bail hearings before three different judges.
“I’ve been in trouble over my time, but let me tell you, this guy, Puffy… this guy Puffy is in big trouble, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it. They only have this guy in a RICO case!
Chappelle claimed he was never invited to any of the so-called “freakoffs” Diddy held and came to a realization.
‘I thought about it, I said, oh my God… I’m ugly. Everyone in Hollywood had an orgy behind your back and none of you called me? That really hurts!’
He changed his mind and said he wasn’t ugly, but rather, “I have tell-tale energy.” I look like I’ll tell. The last thing you want to see during the orgy is me looking at you.”
Chappelle has been largely out of the spotlight for the past year, but is still a controversial figure.
In 2023, he sparked a walkout at a show in Boston after condemning Israel for its “war crimes” against the Palestinians.
Earlier in January, woke comedian Michelle Buteau criticized Chappelle, accusing him of profiting from “dangerous” transgender jokes that “make people feel unsafe.”

Weekend Update also published some material on current events, including a joke in which Colin Jost compared the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas to the two entities engaged in “Dry January.”

They also brutally mocked Joe Biden, with Michael Che saying the president left office and “hit the pavement,” before showing footage of Biden falling off a bicycle.
His most recent special, The Dreamer, was released in 2023, the last multi-million dollar deal with Netflix he referenced on the SNL stage.
Earlier in the show, SNL mocked MSNBC’s dependence on Trump in their reporting in a cold opening sketch.
In one of the final sketches of the night, he reunited with Chappelle’s Show cast member Donnell Rawlings to bring back their old recurring characters, Silky Johnson and the Player Haters.
Weekend Update also published some material on current events, including a joke in which Colin Jost compared the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas to the two entities engaged in “Dry January.”
They also brutally mocked Joe Biden, with Michael Che saying the president left office and “hit the pavement,” before showing footage of Biden falling off a bicycle.