Dave Chappelle: 'Hartford Crowd Was Evil'

Nearly a week after making headlines for walking off stage during a performance in Hartford, Connecticut, comedian Dave Chappelle is finally airing his side of the story.

Last night, Chappelle took the stage in Chicago and immediately claimed his innocence to the audience over his stand-off with a group of hecklers last Thursday. “I know you read in the paper I took a nasty spill the other night, but I swear to God it wasn’t my fault,” Chappelle told a laughing audience.

The comedian reassured the crowd that he wasn’t on drugs, and insisted the Hartford audience was “evil,” and described them as being a bunch of “young, white alcoholics. I wanted to pull a reverse Kramer and call them all crackers or something crazy like that,” said Chappelle, referring to Seinfeld star Michael Richard’s N-bomb meltdown at the Laugh Factory back in 2006.

Chappelle wrapped up his Hartford bashing by saying the crowd was lucky to witness his “freak out” because people don’t go to shows to “see somebody be safe.” Chappelle’s Chicago performance appeared to go off without a hitch last night.