Dave Chappelle has been booked to host next weekend’s episode of Saturday Night Live.
The NBC sketch series made the announcement on-air during Saturday night’s installment hosted by comedian Amy Schumer.
Chappelle returns for the Nov. 12 edition of SNL, four days after the midterm elections. New York rap duo Black Star will serve as musical guest. The music group, made up of Mos Def and Talib Kweli, released their album No Fear of Time in May.
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This week on SNL!
Dave Chappelle | Black Star pic.twitter.com/r6WY9u8f7r— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) November 8, 2022
Chappelle previously hosted SNL in 2016 and in 2020, and won two Emmy Awards for Best Comedy Guest Actor for his work on the series.
His 2020 hosting stint helped propel the show to a three-year ratings high, bringing in 9.1 million total viewers and a 2.6 rating in the coveted 18-49 demo, per Nielsen.
The superstar comedian has not returned to host SNL since he became engulfed in controversy following the release of his Netflix special The Closer on Oct. 5, 2021.
LGBTQ activists called for a boycott of the special because of Chappelle’s comments about the transgender community.
Days after the release, transgender and gay Netflix employees and their supporters held a protest outside the streamer’s offices in Los Angeles.
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Chappelle responded to the growing controversy with a 5-minute video posted to his Instagram page. He denied claims made by activists at the walkout that he refused to meet with Netflix’s transgender staffers about the special.
“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,” he said in the video recorded at a live show in Nashville.
“I am not bending to anybody’s demands,” he added.
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