Comedian Dave Chappelle is set to make a return visit as host of “Saturday Night Live,” taking the helm for the episode that will follow next week’s mid-term elections.
“SNL” confirmed on-air Saturday that the controversial comedian is on tap to host the Nov. 12 edition, which lands four days after the nation goes to the polls for federal, state and local elections.
Rap duo Black Star will join Chappelle as music guest, NBC revealed.
Chappelle’s return follows the pattern of him taking on post-election hosting duties set since his first visit to the show in 2016 and his return in 2020.
Chappelle stirred massive controversy in 2021 with his Netflix special “The Closer,” which included homophobic and transphobic comments that stirred anger within Netflix. Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s co-CEO and chief content officer, defended Chappelle’s right to wade into incendiary territory but he wound up apologizing to Netflix employees for the tenor of his initial comments after employees expressed outrage.
Chappelle has not offered a mea culpa.
In a video posted in October 2021, Chappelle remained unapologetic about the special — which was accused of containing transphobic and homophobic remarks and led to a walkout at Netflix — saying: “I said what I said.”
“It’s been said in the press that I was invited to speak to the transgender employees of Netflix and I refused. That is not true — if they had invited me I would have accepted it, although I am confused about what we would be speaking about,” Chappelle said in the video. “I said what I said, and boy, I heard what you said. My God, how could I not? You said you want a safe working environment at Netflix. It seems like I’m the only one that can’t go to the office anymore.”