Why Dave Chappelle Was On SNL Is Still A Mystery - But Twitter Isn't Holding Back

The latest episode of "Saturday Night Live," hosted by Dakota Johnson with Justin Timberlake as the musical guest, is earning ire online, and it has nothing to do with any of the sketches. Instead, it's related to the inclusion of Dave Chappelle during the final send-off, which is strange because he didn't appear as a special guest in any of the segments. In contrast, Jimmy Fallon also shows up onstage, but he actually had a role in a sketch, appearing as Robin Gibb on "The Barry Gibb Talk Show" alongside Timberlake as the fictional program's titular host. The best guess is that Chappelle might have been hanging out and decided to come onstage at the end, which viewers didn't take well. It seems to have many asking, "Why was Dave Chappelle on 'SNL?'" 

Chappelle has been a lightning rod for controversy for years now, primarily due to his unapologetic transphobic and homophobic jokes on various stand-up specials. The fact he was on "SNL" without warning was off-putting for many, including @amberrrbri on X (formerly known as Twitter), who wrote, "I wanna know why tf @nbcsnl keeps giving a platform to homophobic/transphobic a******* like dave chappelle anyway? don't you care about the safety and comfortability of your writers/actors???"

Chappelle's appearance also upset @realmartypeercy, who also took "SNL" to task. "Why the f*** is dave chappelle onstage at the curtain call?! man, snl gets it super wrong so often. amazing." Instead of people talking about Dakota Johnson roasting Please Don't Destroy in a pretty funny video sketch, this has become the main point of conversation.

This isn't the first time "Saturday Night Live" having Dave Chappelle has sparked outrage. When the performer last hosted the sketch comedy show in 2022, there were reports some "SNL" writers were boycotting the episode, although Chappelle's reps disputed this. Either way, it makes sense that there are people who want to keep their distance from Chappelle, particularly those in the "SNL" cast who would be most impacted by his offensive remarks regarding the LGBTQ+ community.

X user @thegoodetymes posted a video of the newer episode's curtain call, focusing on Bowen Yang, who's as far from Chappelle as he possibly could be onstage. He interacts with Sarah Sherman, and neither looks happy about the situation. @thegoodetymes wrote, "It's disgusting that you allowed that homophobe @DaveChappelle on stage. He stands for everything I thought snl stood against. I stand with Bowen, you obviously made him uncomfortable allowing that transphobe there." 

Reading body language can be tough, but many are interpreting Yang's standoffish demeanor to mean he wasn't happy the comedian was there. It became a bitter note to end the show on, with @ThatWeekInSNL stating, "This moment of Bowen and Sarah realizing that Chappelle has randomly gotten on stage for the goodnights is really just a bummer to watch."

During the curtain call of the episode Chappelle hosted in 2022, something similar happened when Yang, Sherman, and Molly Kearney were nowhere to be found. And with the 2024 episode boasting appearances from big names like the aforementioned Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon and "Shark Tank" mainstays Mark Cuban and Barbara Corcoran, Chappelle's presence was unnecessary, disheartening, and confusing all in one.