Saturday Night Live reportedly cut transphobic joke from Dave Chappelle in 2022

An allegedly transphobic joke was reportedly cut from Dave Chappelle's 2022 Saturday Night Live monologue.

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A new report from Vulture alleges that Chappelle mocked a nonbinary SNL writer during his dress rehearsal. Anonymous interviews with associates of Lorne Michaels, who runs the series, allege that this unnamed nonbinary writer chose to sit out on Chappelle's week on the variety show, which Michaels reportedly approved.

Certain publications picked up the story but incorrectly reported that multiple writers were boycotting the episode. This led to Chappelle commenting on the hubbub in his monologue. "The papers got it wrong," he allegedly said during the dress rehearsal. "Only one person has a problem, but the paper got confused because that person is a they."

The Vulture report also claims that Michaels and other SNL producers received "angry texts" from cast members and writers who seemingly felt "betrayed" by how the joke was handled. Michaels reportedly told Chappelle not to tell the joke out of fear that would damage relationships with the cast. Chappelle obliged, according to the report, and the joke was indeed not included in his 2022 monologue.

Even with the edit, Chappelle's monologue was still blasted for being anti-semitic, and he has subsequently told transphobic jokes in live sets and even in his Netflix specials. The comedian has been blasted by LGBTQ+ critics, even receiving a heated TikTok response from actress Trace Lysette.

"I don't know what doll hurt Dave Chappelle. I really don't. But it's giving disgruntled client," she said in the 2024 video. "It's giving angry trick. It's giving… He wanted to kiss on the mouth and she was like, 'No, I don't do that. I up-charge for that. If you wanna do that, you gotta give me X, Y, Z.' And he was like, 'Oh, no, ma'am,' and his ego was bruised, honey. So you went on a rampage. It's giving angry trick. Am I lying? Dolls, am I lying?"

Lysette concluded, "Oh, my god. Who goes on to make three specials, three comedy specials, about the dolls? Because you can't take. Get him some help.'

Despite this alleged butting of heads on set in 2022, Dave Chappelle appeared on Saturday Night Live once again in January 2025 and is also set to appear in the series' upcoming 50th-anniversary special.