Louis C.K. was a “surprise guest” at Dave Chappelle’s socially distant comedy show

Karma Oak

Dave Chappelle has been holding intimate, socially distanced comedy shows near his hometown of Dayton, Ohio this summer, including one that he released as a Netflix special, 8:46, and a big, guest-filled Fourth of July weekend, where Erykah Badu, Common, Michael Che, Tiffany Haddish, DJ Trauma, Michelle Wolf, Donnell Rawlings, Talib Kweli, Cipha Sounds, Questlove, Jon Hamm, Mo Amer, Issa Ali and others appeared. He had another, controversial guest on-hand for a more recent show: Louis CK. Photographer Matthieu Bitton, who has worked extensively with Chappelle, posted a group picture to his Instagram with the caption, "Tonight’s surprise guest in the cornfield: Louis CK." Also in the picture are Chapelle, Michelle Wolf, Mo Amer, and DJ Trauma.

C.K. admitted to sexual misconduct in 2017 and began performing stand-up shows again not even a year later, a move that drew mixed reactions. His continued appearances and new material elicited significant criticism, and led to scheduled shows being cancelled and a venue that did host him apologizing for it after.

He had his defenders too, though, including longtime friend Chappelle, who mentioned C.K. during his Broadway run, and on his Netflix special Sticks & Stones, where he said, as Hollywood Reporter points out, "Louis C.K. was a very good friend of mine before he died in that terrible masturbation accident...He didn’t do anything you can call the police for. I dare you to try. Now he’s coming back playing comedy clubs and they’re acting like if he’s able to do that that’s going to hurt women. What the fuck is your agenda, ladies?"

Chappelle also made the news recently when he flew to visit Kanye West after a strange Twitter rant and campaign rally from Kanye.