Dave Chappelle, Black Star ‘Drink Champs’ Episode Won’t Air As Planned

Dave Chappelle’s highly-anticipated appearance on Drink Champs along with Black Star’s Talib Kweli and Yasiin Bey will not go forward as previously planned.

According to a report Page Six published on Monday, June 6, a source from the comedian’s camp said that the episode is currently on hold at Chappelle’s request amid the recent outbreak of mass shootings across the country. The episode was scheduled to air on May 26, which was just two days after the Uvalde shooting at Robb Elementary School. Chappelle and his team, who reportedly had an overall say in the timing of the episode’s release, believed it would’ve been “tone-deaf” to air the episode at that time.

“When Dave does something, it becomes more about Dave,” the source told the outlet. “It came time to run it, and it was right after [mass shootings] in Buffalo and Texas. [Chappelle and his team] just thought it was ill-timed. … They wanted to approve the timing of it and thought, ‘Hold off, slow down. It’s tone-deaf to release something at this time.’”

Dave Chappelle and Black Star’s ‘Drink Champs’ episode on ice https://t.co/bT3fa5jwEa pic.twitter.com/KX87L4Dhwk

— Page Six (@PageSix) June 6, 2022

Although the comedian was advertised to be in the show, the episode was intended to focus on the release of Black Star’s first album in 24 years, No Fear Of Time. The show’s hosts N.O.R.E and DJ EFN even flew out to Chappelle’s hometown of Yellow Springs, Ohio in order to film the episode. Chappelle did make an appearance, however, it was only to shout out the group and talk about the album. Now, it’s possible the episode may be released at a later time or Chappelle’s part could be edited down.

The source also added that Chappelle “loves the show and is a fan of the show” and could appear in a later episode. So far, the Drink Champs team has not commented on the situation. Instead, they released their newest episode featuring Juelz Santana.