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9 months ago
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Saturday Night Live cast member Bowen Yang didn’t seem too thrilled when Dave Chappelle, for reasons unknown to the audience and apparently some of the SNL cast, jumped on stage during the cast’s good night segment at the end of Saturday’s show.
Chappelle, who has drawn considerable backlash from the LGBTQ+ community for what many perceive as transphobic jokes, had no on-screen role in Saturday’s episode, which was hosted by Dakota Johnson and featured musical guest Justin Timberlake. Shark Tank’s Mark Cuban and Barbara Corcoran took part in a sketch and so were invited to the good night segment, as was Jimmy Fallon, who had joined Timberlake in their Bee Gees impersonations.
But Chappelle just seems to hop up on stage for no reason, standing to the far left of guest host Johnson.
Yang, who is gay, stood unsmiling on the the far opposite side of the stage, his hands crossed at the waist and a distance of at least several feet from anyone else on stage until cast member Sarah Sherman walked over to him and seemed to engage in a brief conversation. After Yang said something to her, she craned her neck around to get a glimpse of Chappelle.
As Sherman looked over at Chappelle, Yang looked into the audience and seemed to say, “Oh,” at which point Sherman patted him on the back.
Chappelle’s last SNL hosting gig in 2022 reportedly angered some of the SNL writers, with some even threatening to boycott the episode. Yang, Sherman and non-binary Molly Kearney were not involved in the 2022 taping when Chappelle hosted.
Deadline has reached out to Yang and SNL for comment.
