Elon Musk has been in the news a lot lately, though it’s mostly tied to stories like Seth Rogen's decision to leave Twitter or Jimmy Fallon wondering why people believed he'd died. This latest bit of news on Musk is a little more suprising, as the businessman was booed at Dave Chappelle’s recent comedy show when he came out on stage. Musk tried to win the audience over by quoting Chappelle’s Show, and it didn’t go well.
Dave Chappelle welcomed Elon Musk onto the stage during his performance at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Sunday night. A YouTube video of the ordeal showed that Musk received a mixed response from those in attendance. There was a wave of boos emanating from the crowd, while Chappelle cracked some jokes about the audience's reaction. Sometime after, Musk tried to pay homage to Chappelle’s Show by reciting a line often heard during the sketch series' end credits. Check out Musk’s attempt to replicate it below:
Elon trying to do Dave Chappelle’s „I’m rich, bitch!“ bit is all the cringe you need today. pic.twitter.com/TPU04JRfT8December 12, 2022
That line was made iconic by comedian Donnell Rawlings, who uttered the phrase during the Chappelle’s Show Season 1 episode “Reparations & NY Boobs.” In the scene, Rawlings’ character tells the reporter “I’m rich biatch” and honks the horn of his semi twice. The horns were probably played at the show for that reason -- and not to drown out any boos intended for Elon Musk. (What's also awkward is that he botched the delivery by saying “bitch” and not "biatch.")
While there’s no outright denial of booing by those who were at the event, there does seem to be a discrepancy in how much heckling occurred. When Elon Musk replied to a Twitter user who seemingly referenced the event, he appeared to be under the impression that the response to his appearance was more well-received than not:
Technically, it was 90% cheers & 10% boos (except during quiet periods), but still, that’s a lot of boos, which is a first for me in real life (frequent on Twitter).
Clearly, the Tesla founder believes the San Francisco-based crowd was more for him than against him but acknowledged that he still received a good deal of jeering. Perhaps he was expecting a response more akin to when he hosted Saturday Night Live and did a pretty solid Wario impression? Anyone who rewatches that sketch with a Peacock Premium subscription will see that he, at the very least, has some comedic chops.
Sketch comedy and stand-up are two entirely different things, however. Repeating a line from a popular show, especially a piece of dialogue that might be as obscure as the one Elon Musk uttered, can be met with mixed results. In Musk's case, it was taken a specific way. It's hard to ignore the optics when the world's wealthiest person makes a reference to their riches in such a way. Perhaps had he made a joke about verified accounts on Twitter like others have, it might’ve been better received.
As the tech magnate gets his bearings, you can stream Chappelle’s Show on both Netflix and HBO Max. The classic show is worth a watch as television dies down for the year, especially if you're looking for a chuckle or two during these colder months.
