Dave Chappelle did standup as an opener for the first time in years during Chris Rock and Kevin Hart’s stop at Madison Square Garden.
During their Rock Hart: Only Headliners Allowed Tour, Chris Rock and Kevin Hart welcomed special opener Dave Chappelle at Madison Square Garden on Saturday (July 23). “Had to sneak my way in here,” the Emmy-winning comedian joked, days after his performance at First Avenue in Minnesota was cancelled.
He continued, “despite what you may have read about in the news, I’m OK, and I appreciate the support,” in reference to his cancelled set and controversial, Emmy-nominated Netflix special The Closer. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Chappelle said that he “gets it” as far as backlash but, “I already spent the money.”
The set lasted for 22-minutes, with Chappelle tackling everything from being attacked at The Hollywood Bowl in early May, to bringing up Will Smith when Chris Rock and Kevin Hart appeared onstage. Chappelle even joked that he hopes his Hollywood Bowl attacker, Isaiah Lee, contracts monkeypox in jail – “not that he should die, but his ass should itch for four to six weeks.”
Chappelle also sided with Louis C.K., who admitted to sexual misconduct in 2017, saying that C.K. was the first person to call him after the incident. “Louis, even if you get in trouble in the streets, you are my friend,” he said.
Towards the end of the show, the battle of who was the true comedy GOAT ensued, with Kevin Hart claiming that Chris Rock was it. Chappelle said, “This is the worst night of this goat’s life.”
The Rock Hart tour ends on Monday (July 25) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Following the five-night mini-tour, both Chris Rock and Kevin Hart will split up to perform on their own respective tours, with Rock continuing his Ego Death World Tour until November 19 with Hart’s Reality Check tour ending September 8.