Chappelle’s Show featured a number of memorable parodies of famous musicians during its brief run on Comedy Central in the early 2000s. In the debut episode, Nat King Cole (as portrayed by Dave Chappelle) is shown pouring champagne on a woman’s breasts as a tongue-in-cheek way of comparing artists of the past to modern rappers. Later that season, Chappelle made light of R. Kelly’s sexual abuse allegations by filming a music video for the unforgettable song “P–s on You.” By the time the series concluded, Rick James, Prince, and even Lil Jon had entire segments dedicated to them as well.
But there was one other pop superstar who was noticeably absent from the show, and as it turns out, there were actually plans to parody him at one point. As cast member Donnell Rawlings explains in one of the extras on the Lost Episodes DVD collection, the Michael Jackson molestation trial was something they attempted to spin in preparation for the third season. “In comedy land, one of the toughest things to do is do a joke that’s not hacky, meaning everybody’s already done it, and beat it up,” said Rawlings. “But Dave figured out a way to flip it.”
The idea was to do a courtroom sequence with Chappelle narrating it as Vincent Price did in Jackson’s “Thriller” video. The narration was never recorded, but some visuals were filmed before Chappelle stepped away from the series. While the sketch is unfinished, the existing footage offers a pretty clear idea of how things were meant to play out.
The scene opens with Rawlings telling Charlie Murphy, “It’s about to pop off in this b—h, son.” A “Thriller”-like instrumental begins to play in the background as Jackson and a young boy enter the smoke-filled courtroom. Their hands are then tied together, and the two start having a knife fight reminiscent of the one featured in the video for “Beat It.” Afterward, a member of the jury stands up and announces that they’ve reached a verdict. “Your honor, we find the defendant, Michael Jackson, not guilty,” she says. The camera zooms in on Jackson, whose eyes are now glowing yellow, as he laughs maniacally and shouts, “Molestation!”
Check out the remaining unaired sequence below.
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