In true Dave Chappelle fashion, the comedian smoked his way through his Saturday Night Live monologue — and threw the lit butt right off the stage.
The four-time host returned to Rockefeller Plaza in New York City this weekend to open the first show of 2025, despite his performances courting controversy since his monologue after Trump won in 2016.
His latest offering was certainly no exception, as he ranted on topics ranging from Donald Trump to the Los Angeles fires and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
But it wouldn't be Chappelle stand-up without a cigarette in hand.
The 51-year-old controversial comedian, dressed in a navy blue suit, walked on stage while puffing on a cigarette to begin his 17-minute monologue.
While sitting on a stool smoking, the comedian initially joked that the only reason he agreed to rehost the late-night live sketch comedy show was to burn off old Trump jokes.
One of those jokes involved Springfield, where the former president claimed Haitian immigrants ate residents' pets during the presidential debate in September.
Chappelle, who lives just one town away in Ohio, addressed the baseless controversy, noting how Trump's speculation drove him “crazy.”
In true Dave Chappelle fashion, the comedian smoked his way through his Saturday Night Live monologue last weekend
During the 17-minute opening, Chappelle threw his lit cigarette off the stage while discussing Trump's controversial claim that Haitian immigrants are eating the pets of residents in Springfield, Ohio.
The four-time host returned to Rockefeller Plaza in New York City this weekend to open the first show of 2025, despite his performances courting controversy since his monologue after Trump won in 2016.
He claimed they came legally and “did the work the whites didn't do.”
Hoping to support me, Chappelle spent 10 days eating lunch at a Haitian restaurant in Springfield “just to let them know if I'm safe here, you guys are definitely safe here.”
But as he joked about the possibility of leaving the state with the Haitians, claiming that “it's just not fun to be famous anymore,” he looked at the lit cigarette between his fingers, took one last drag and threw him off the stage.
With nothing in his hands but the microphone, Chappelle immediately moved on to talking about how famous his scary has become, likening the feeling to “storming the beach of Normandy in World War II.”
Chappelle — at one point joking that he was “tired of being controversial” and hoped to “turn over a new leaf” — ended his set on the NBC show discussing Trump, saying, “He's going to be the 47th president , he did it. again.'
The internet wasted no time in taking to social media to discuss the comedian's stand-up – and to point out his frequent smoking habit.
“I love how Dave Chappelle starts smoking a cigarette in every sketch,” read one comment on X.
“For what it's worth, it's 100 percent illegal for Dave Chappelle to smoke in Studio 8H. And drop a lit cigarette on the stage? Woof,” said another.
Another read, “I hope Dave Chappelle casually smoking a cigarette in his SNL monologue will be a turning point for America to finally admit that smoking is and always was cool.”
“Chappelle's cigarette smoking routine is so damn tired. It is also illegal and disrespectful. I don't know why they let him do that,” another added.
“This cigarette should be in Chappelle's contract LOL,” read one comment on X. “It doesn't matter where he is, Dave lights up!”
But this weekend's show wasn't the first time Chappelle was accompanied by a cigarette.
Whether it's hosting Saturday Night Live, taping his Netflix special, or graciously accepting an award, Chappelle always seems to partake in a personal smoke session.
In 2019, the comic fearlessly smoked while accepting the Mark Twain Prize at the Kennedy Center.
“I want everyone in America to look at me right now. Look at me smoking indoors,” Chappelle said during the ceremony.
'I didn't ask anyone. What are they going to do? Kick me out before I get the prize?' he added. “It's called leverage.”
Whether it's hosting Saturday Night Live, taping his Netflix special, or graciously accepting an award, Chappelle always seems to partake in a personal smoke session.
The United States allows performers to smoke on stage if the 'person smoking does so while performing on stage as part of a theatrical production'
In 2019, the comic smoked fearlessly while accepting the Mark Twain Prize at the Kennedy Center
In 2012, the Winter Garden — a theater in Toronto, Canada — received a call from the public health department after Chappelle chain-smoked during the 75-minute set of his three-show pop-up performance.
Kris Scheuer, a spokeswoman for the department, said the call was intended to remind the theater of the provincial Smoke-Free Ontario Act, which states that “all performers must comply with the law not to use tobacco.” There are no exceptions,” The Hollywood Reporter reported.
Fortunately for Chappelle, the United States is more liberal, allowing performers to smoke on stage if the “person smoking does so while performing on stage as part of a theatrical production.”
But what does smoking do for Chappelle?
In simple words: he loves it. It relaxes him, according to Cracked.
Mark Gagnon, the host of the comedy podcast Camp Gagnon, discussed Chappelle when he spoke to Neil Brennan about the art of smoking in his early 20s in a 2023 episode.
More specifically, he discussed how the comedian smokes as a way to break the tension he creates in the audience during his sets.
During a stand-up comedy appearance more than a decade ago, Chappelle discussed the only club he was ever kicked out of for smoking: the strip club.
So it's fair to say that this isn't the last we'll see Chappelle puffing on a cigarette — unless, of course, it's at a strip club.
