Host Dave Chappelle couldn’t help but laugh at his own joke.
During a “Saturday Night Live” sketch, the comedian starred as Allstate Insurance pitchman Dennis Haysbert in a boardroom as Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben were fired from representing the pancake mix and rice brand, respectively.
“This is ridiculous. If we can’t work, how come the Allstate guy gets to work?” Kennan Thompson’s Uncle Ben said, as Maya Rudolph’s Aunt Jemima added: “Who doesn’t love my pancakes?”
Quaker Oats announced in June that it would drop Aunt Jemima from syrup and pancake packages after being criticized as a racial stereotype. Mars Inc. followed suit and retired Uncle Ben’s racial imagery.
“Aunt Jemima, this is hard for us, too. We love you,” said Alec Baldwin, who played the boardroom executive doing the firing. “It’s not personal… we have to clean house.”
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Chappelle burst into laughter. After regaining his composure, he said, “Now wait a cotton-picking minute Uncle Ben. I knew you would sell me out.”
“It’s nothing personal, son. If we getting fired then you should be getting fired, too,” Thompson’s Uncle Ben said. Rudolph’s Aunt Jemima added: “Yeah, fire Allstate guy too.”
Mimicking Haysbert’s iconic voice, Chappelle responded: “I sell security. My deep Black voice makes white people feel safe. Like they are in good hands…If anything, why don’t you fire Count Chocula, why is he still working?”
Enter Pete Davidson’s cereal mascot, Count Chocula: “But I’m not even Black, I’m just made of chocolate.”
“Look at those big chocolatey lips behind them fangs,” said Chappelle, before appearing to go off script: “Seriously America look at Pete Davidson’s lip.”
Davidson laughed so hard that he spit out his vampire fangs. “OK, maybe I got some Italian in there somewhere,” he said.
The end result? “That’s enough. You are all fired except the Allstate guy,” said Baldwin.
