Kenan Thompson Admits That Dave Chappelle Almost Made Him Cry (In A Good Way)

Saturday Night Live‘s longest running cast member, Kenan Thompson, stopped by The Tonight Show, where he opened up about almost being brought to tears after an interaction with Dave Chappelle. In a conversation with Jimmy Fallon, Thompson talked about prepping the big post-election episode hosted by Chappelle. The prolific comedian hosted SNL after the 2016 election, and this was his first time hosting since that monumental election, so it was a pretty big deal to begin with. But according to Thompson, Chappelle couldn’t have been more prepared, and the comedian was a natural at rallying the cast, which was deep into a six-episode run while working under strict COVID regulations.

“He made an insane speech, you know, before the table read. Did the same thing years ago,” Thompson told Fallon. “The guy is such a prolific speaker, and he speaks from the heart, and a brilliant mind. And it’s such a pleasure to be around.”

Thompson then revealed that Chappelle also took time to individually compliment the cast, and when he personally spoke to Thompson, the SNL alum admits it was an emotional moment.

“He told me I was good at my job, and I almost cried, you know what I’m saying” Thompson said. “The dude is, I mean, as far as the pinnacle of people I look up to in the voice of my generation, it’s that guy.”

On top of receiving the compliment from Chappelle, Thompson also got to appear in the best sketch of the night, in which the stand-up comedian did an impression of the “All-State Guy” Dennis Haysbert that was so hilarious, Pete Davidson broke character.