We’ll never see anything realer than Dave Chappelle turning down $50 million from Comedy Central to do Chappelle Show, but his powerful opening monologue from Saturday Night Live comes close. The legendary comedian made his triumphant return to television last night with a few hilarious but honest jokes about Donald Trump, the 2016 election, and social issues in America.
“I didn’t know that Donald Trump was going to win the election. I did suspect it. It seemed like Hillary was doing well in the polls and yet — I know the whites. You guys aren’t as full of surprises as you used to be,” Chappelle jokes. “But America’s done it. We’ve actually elected an Internet troll as our president. The whites were furious. I’ve never seen anything like it. I haven’t seen whites this mad since the O.J. verdict.”
In Chappelle’s wide-ranging 11-minute monologue, he went on to joke about Harambe; the difficulties of being rich and black (“your life becomes gentrified, like Brooklyn,” he said); the Black Lives Matter movement, and more.
“There’s more shootings than I can literally count,” Chappelle said. “You can’t even go to the goddamn zoo without seeing a shooting out there. They shot a gorilla at my local zoo. And the Cincinnati Police said ’Shooting that gorilla was the toughest decision this department has ever had to make.’ I said, ’Well, you about to see a lot of n*ggas in gorilla costumes in Cincinnati.'”
The comedian concluded by wishing well for president-elect Trump, but with a caveat. “I’m wishing Donald Trump luck, and I’m going to give him a chance. And we, the historically disenfranchised, demand that he give us one too.”
A great factor about comedy is finding the “funny” in real life situations. A lot has happened in 2016, and I think America needed a good laugh with all thats going on. It was a strong opening for an unforgettable episode of SNL and the beginning of a hopeful comeback for Chappelle. Watch his full opening monologue below.