Dave Chappelle and Bowen Yang hug on “SNL” stage one year after awkward photos showed them standing far apart

Dave Chappelle and Bowen Yang have once again shared Saturday Night Live stage – and this time it looked significantly less awkward.

In the final moments of the Jan. 18 episode, in which Chappelle hosted the show for the fourth time, there were several SNL cast member and musical guest GloRilla joined the comedian on stage to say goodbye to the crowd. During the farewells, Chappelle and Yang short hug.

Related: Saturday Night Live summary: Dave Chappelle delivers a historically long but effective monologue

The moment marked the first on-screen interaction of the night as Yang did not appear in any sketches with Chappelle, and followed the comedian’s surprise appearance on the sketch comedy last January.

Eagle-eyed fans were surprised to spot The Chappelle Show star in the crowd for the last goodnights in 2024 Dakota Johnson–host episode. The fact that Yang stood on the opposite end of the stage from Chappelle with arms folded led some viewers to speculate that he was distancing himself from the controversial comedian. Yang addressed the distance a few months later and said it wasn’t.

“I stand where I always stand on (good night),” Yang shared Black in June. “It wasn’t a physical distance that someone created. It had to do with so many things that were completely internal.”

When asked if Chappelle’s appearance made him unhappy, Yang replied, “It was about other people’s reaction on the show. I was just confused, that was it.”

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Chappelle sparked controversy after his 2021 Netflix stand-up special, The closerwhere he made jokes about the transgender community. LGBTQ+ advocacy groups condemned his rhetoric, and Netflix employees staged a walkout to protest the show. Chappelle was the last host SNL the following year, and afterwards the national director of the Anti-Defamation League criticized his monologue for “popularizing” anti-Semitism.

On this weekend’s episode, Chappelle delivered a 17-minute monologue and admitted he was reluctant to return as host due to his tendency to stir up controversy. He added that SNL boss Lorne Michaels had to persuade him to start the first show of the new year, joking: “The moment I said yes, LA burst into flames!”

He added: “I’m tired of being controversial. I’m trying to turn over a new leaf.”

Related: Michelle Buteau calls out Dave Chappelle for his anti-trans comments in new Netflix special: ‘It’s not funny, it’s dangerous’

After Chappelle said it’s “way too early” to make jokes about the wildfires destroyed acres of land in Los Angeles he nevertheless continued to find humor in the tragedy, even poking fun at the city’s queer community.

“I’m sure there was some arsonists,” Chappelle said of the cause of the fires. “But there were a lot of elements that came together to make this fire the disaster that it was. The wind was 100 miles an hour, LA was dry as a bone, and the levees… It was just too many factors.”

Then he quipped, “If you were a rational thinking person, at least consider the possibility that God hates these people… Sodomites!” Pausing to laugh, he added, “And it’s not true because West Hollywood was unscathed… Because how can you burn what’s already on fire?”

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