If you want high ratings for your comedy show, Dave Chappelle is the perfect person for the job. The Nov. 7 “Saturday Night Live” episode that the comedian hosted, brought in the highest ratings for the show in the past three years.
According to Deadline, over 9.1 million people viewed the episode, which aired hours after Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were named as the projected president and vice president-elect. About 2.6 million people who were between the ages of 18 and 49 tuned in. “SNL” was the No. 1 entertainment telecast for that age group since the Academy Awards, which aired back in February.
During Chappelle’s 16-minute monologue, he discussed everything from COVID-19 to Donald Trump to racism.
He made fun of the way white people have reacted to the COVID-19 mask mandates and how some of them are refusing to wear masks because they believe it’s oppressive. “I don’t know why poor white people don’t like wearing masks. What is the problem? Wear masks at the Klan rally, wear it at the Walmart too. Wear your Klan hood at Walmart so we can all feel safe,” he joked. “Don’t even want to wear your mask because it’s oppressive. Try wearing the mask I been wearing all these years!”
Chappelle also joked about how the mass shootings have ended because of the pandemic.
“Do you guys remember what life was like before COVID?” he asked the crowd. “I do. There was a mass shooting every week. Anyone remember that? Thank God for COVID. Someone had to lock these murderous whites up, keep them in the house.”
Aside from his historic “SNL” episode, “Chappelle’s Show” was just added to Netflix. The classic show joined his other stand-up comedies on the streaming platform, including “Sticks & Stones” and “8:46,” which referenced the amount of time ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on George Floyd’s neck before he later died at a hospital.