Viacom Pulls Dave Chappelle Episode That Features Ron Jeremy Bit

LOS ANGELES—In 2004, the once-iconic “Golden Age” porn performer Ron Jeremy made a guest appearance on Chappelle’s Show, the critically acclaimed Comedy Central series starring comedian Dave Chappelle. But fans who want to revisit Chappelle’s Show on major streaming services will find themselves disappointed — apparently thanks to Jeremy’s recent indictments on 35 sexual assault and misconduct charges.  Jeremy has pleaded “not guilty” to the charges, which Los Angeles County prosecutors say involved 23 victims over the last 24 years. But Viacom, the corporate parent company to the Comedy Central network, which owned rights to the Chappelle series, omitted the Jeremy episode from its recent licensing deals for the show with major streaming services Netflix and HBO Max, according to a Daily Beast report.  HBO Max and Netflix each announced separate streaming deals for the sketch-comedy show on October 30. The series debuted on both services two days later, with each making every episode of the show’s 28 episodes over three seasons available for streaming to their subscribers. Except one. That episode which initially aired on February 25, 2004, was Season Two, Episode Six, titled “The Internet & Moment in the Life of Lil Jon.” The episode features three sketches in which Chappelle portrays his character “Lil Jon,” but the one that resulted in the show’s absence from streaming services, according to the Beast report, was titled, “If the Internet Was a Real Place.” “In the sketch, Chappelle (as himself) visits a physical manifestation of the internet, where he is led through an increasingly lurid and perverse world by the porn star Ron Jeremy,” Daily Beast writer Sean L. Malin reported on Friday. “Jeremy repeatedly asks Chappelle if he ‘want(s) to see me have sex,’ then invites him to watch Paris Hilton’s leaked sex tape.” According to Malin’s reporting, the episode was pulled from Comedy Central’s own streaming app in June, when Jeremy was first hit with three charges of forcible rape. When Viacom later made the streaming deals with HBO Max (which is owned by Viacom competitor Warner Media) and Netflix, the Jeremy episode was not included. As of November 6, however, the episode remained available to stream via Amazon.com, for a one-time fee of $1.99. Photo by Edward Kimmel / Wikimedia Commons