Damon Wayans Calls out Dave Chappelle for Comedy ‘Verzuz’ Showdown

Damon Wayans is calling out Dave Chappelle to take him on for a comedy-style Verzuz. The comedian seemingly challenged The Chappelle Show star to a showdown of wit during his Friday appearance on morning radio show 97.9 The Box in Houston, Texas. While the Major Payne star wasn’t initially familiar with Verzuz, which pits musical artists against each other in competition, he didn’t hesitate to pick a hypothetical competitor.

“Do they do comedians?” asked Wayans, to which one of the hosts answered that they should. Another asked who he would go up against, to which he answered, “Chappelle. I’m calling him out!” People on Twitter were immediately on board for the two legends to showdown, with one person commenting, “YEEEEAAAASSSSS!!! I need this in my life before they [shut] s— down again. This would be record breaking.” Another theorized, “Damon will absolutely destroy Dave Chappelle. And that’s a fact. He’s the funniest of the Wayans and it’s hard enough to beat anyone in that family. Especially in skits or stand up.”

Chappelle is obviously no slouch either, with his latest Netflix special, Sticks and Stones, winning two Emmys despite being critically panned for incendiary jokes about the #MeToo movement and transphobic humor. Accepting his awards, Chappelle called out the critics, saying in his speech, “Boy, this comes as a complete surprise, I mean, I read all the reviews and they said so many terrible things. They were embarrassed for me; I had lost my way, it wasn’t even worth watching.”

“I hope all you critics learn from this. This is a teachable moment. Shut the f— up, forever,” he continued, saying it was a “special night” because comedy “gets to be itself” and be rewarded. “It’s all we’ve ever wanted. I hope the war is over. We good?” he asked. One month later in November 2020, he would host Saturday Night Live right after President Joe Biden’s election win, marking a new tradition for the sketch comedy series after bringing Chappelle on to host previously the first post-election episode of SNL in 2016.