Dave Chappelle’s performance as the host of Saturday Night Live just days after Donald Trump was elected gave 10 minutes of wonderful comic relief to many who so desperately needed to laugh.
In an interview with CBS News ahead of his two new comedy specials dropping on Netflix today (March 21), the Washington, D.C. comic revealed that it almost didn’t happen. Chappelle explained what persuaded him to host the show — and it had nothing to do with Donald Trump.
“The decisive factor had a lot to do with A Tribe Called Quest. There was a week a few weeks prior where we were all together and it was a sad occasion. It was Phife Dawg’s funeral. Phife had passed, we all went to the Apollo for Phife’s funeral and the next day, we went to Q-Tip’s house to pay respects.”
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“And it was a really warm night. Jack White was there, the RZA from Wu-Tang, D’Angelo, it was a real eclectic room … and late in the night, after the funeral, Tip played some of the album and it was real moving hearing Phife’s voice. It was a powerful night,” Chappelle said.
“When Q-Tip decided to do the show, he said he wanted me to host. We had talked about it before but he was very emphatic. He was like, ‘Dave, this is the last Tribe album ever,’ and that was really the tipping point.”
This was compounded by a phone call he had received from Talib Kweli, who Chappelle revealed had sounded “very emotional … weepy” after hearing the album, despite being “a very buttoned-up kind of guy, he doesn’t get very emotional.”
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Chappelle did point out that Lorne Michaels, the man behind SNL, did want to make sure that Chappelle’s slot came after the election. Chappelle also credited Michaels with being “a genius.”
Asked if he was glad he’d hosted the show, Dave was definite: “Yes.”
Watch Chappelle’s opening monologue in full below.
