Amid the ongoing backlash following his latest comedy special on Netflix, Dave Chappelle hosted a star-studded screening of his latest documentary, Untitled: Dave Chappelle Documentary on Thursday at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, the documentary centered around the comic summer camp Chappelle hosted in Ohio last year with the event boasting a slew of Hollywood hitters such as Lizzo, Tiffany Haddish, Nas, Snoop Dogg, DJ Jazzy Jeff and Stevie Wonder.
While the theme of the documentary and the night’s festivities seemed to revolve around killing with kindness, the comedian still couldn’t resist doubling down on a couple of his aforementioned, less controversial sentiments from The Closer: his disdain for social media and “cancel culture.” (Which, I mean, OK, Dave. It’s not even a real thing, but go off.)
“Fuck Twitter. Fuck NBC News, ABC News, all these stupid ass networks. I’m not talking to them. I’m talking to you. This is real life,” Chappelle said in front of his 18,000 member audience. After being met with a standing ovation after the film finished, he later added: “If this is what being canceled is like, I love it. I don’t know what to tell you, except I’m a bad motherfucker.”
Later in the evening, Chappelle was joined by Stevie Wonder, who took the time give some more remarks on cancellation, stating in part: “What we need to cancel is hate. What we need to cancel is fear because we have to have love, and we should never cancel that. I want us to cancel the idea of feeling that we don’t want anyone to laugh because if we don’t laugh, we cry. And I don’t believe that was God’s intention—ever.”
The night ended with a special fireworks display and an uplifting message from the longtime comedian, who admonished the crowd to “do something nice for someone who looks nothing like you; we have to trust one another.”