Dave Chappelle takes on the LA Wildfires, Trump, P Diddy

Dave Chappelle spoke two days before Donald Trump’s inauguration with the president-elect during the end of his SNL monologue to wish him luck, and to urge everyone to have empathy for all displaced people—”whether they’re in the Palisades or Palestine.”

In the comedian’s fourth hosting stint since 2016, but his first in an episode that didn’t air the same week as a presidential or midterm election, Chappelle covered a lot of ground, starting with recapping discussions with executive producer Lorne Michaels about when he would next host. When Michaels asked him to host after the November election, Chappelle said he replied, “Nah, man. I’m cool.”

Before Saturday, Chappelle’s last monologue on the late-night show had been November 2022.

Chappelle said he preferred the date closest to Jan. 6 and was looking forward to “getting rid of all these old Trump jokes.”

“The moment I said yes, LA burst into flames,” he recalled. “And it’s a tough one, you know what I mean? Because I’m tired of being controversial. I’m trying to turn over a new leaf. And it is far too early to make jokes about such a disaster. it is.”

After noting how his famous friends lost their homes, Chappelle joked, “Then I go on the Internet and I see these fire videos and I read the comment sections and everyone’s like, ‘Yeah, it’s serving these celebrities right! I hope their houses burn down down!’ See that? That right there? That’s why I hate poor people.”

“Because they can’t see past their own pain,” he continued, adding that the damage estimates are so high, “because people in LA have good things.”

“I could burn off 40,000 acres in Mississippi for $600, $700,” he joked.

To what extent global warming, wind and potential arsonists factored into the fires aside, Chappelle continued, is another theory.

“If you’re a rational, thinking person, you have to at least consider the possibility that God hates these people,” he joked. “‘Sodomites!’ No, it’s not true, because West Hollywood was unscathed. Because how can you burn that’s already blazing?”

Later, Chappelle switched gears and riffed on rapper P Diddy’s sex-trafficking accusation.

“A lot of my friends asked me, ‘Dave, did you know about those freakoff parties?’ I’d be like, ‘No, man. I don’t know about freakoffs.’

Still skeptical, they replied, “How come all these people you know were at the freakoff and you’re the only one who wasn’t at the freakoff?”

“I thought about it for a minute,” Chappelle said, pausing. “I said, ‘Oh, my God! I’m ugly!'”

“Boy, that’s a hard way to find out,” he explained. “Can you imagine if I read the paper and you found out that everyone in Hollywood was having an orgy behind your back?”

Chappelle concluded by speaking with Trump and addressing the recent death of former President Jimmy Carter:

Here’s the thing: On Monday, Donald Trump will be back. He will be the 47th president. He’s done it again. And all the flags will be at half-staff because Jimmy Carter died. Jimmy Carter – people go back and forth saying he was a bad president or a good president. I’m not qualified to talk about that. But I will tell you this: I was in the Middle East years ago after I left my show. I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life.

While I was there, Jimmy Carter flew to Israel. So everyone in the region was talking about a former US president being in the Middle East. And while he was in Israel, one of his books was published, and its title was very controversial in Israel. And the title of the book was “Palestine: Peace, not Apartheid.“

People were very mad in Israel. There were many bad stories in the newspaper. Some people were supportive. While he was there, Jimmy Carter said, ‘I want to go to the Palestinian Territory,’ and the Israeli government said, ‘It’s too dangerous, and if you go, we can’t protect you.’ And so Jimmy Carter went anyway.

I will never forget the images of a former US president walking with little or no security while thousands of Palestinians cheered him on. Seeing that picture brought tears to my eyes. I said, I don’t know if that’s a good president, but right there, I’m sure, is a great man.

It made me feel very proud. The presidency is not a place for small people. So Donald Trump, I know you watch the show. Man, remember: Whether people voted for you or not, they’re all counting on you. Whether they like you or not, they’re 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.