Damon Wayans wants to take on Dave Chappelle in the first-ever comedian Verzuz battle and social media is weighing in. Wayans challenged Chappelle to a potential showdown on Friday (Aug. 13) during an interview with radio station KBXX 97.9 The Box.
During the chat, Wayans admitted he hasn’t been keeping up with the popular Verzuz series as it has only featured artists and producers.
“Do they do it with comedians?” he asked the show’s hosts. When asked who he would want to go up against in a hypothetical comedy edition of the virtual series, Wayans quickly responded, “Chappelle. I’m calling him out.”
The 60-year-old actor and comedian is best known for his sketch comedy show “In Living Color” and self-titled “Damon” series, which launched in 1998. Wayans also had a long performing stint on “Saturday Night Live” and has starred in a number of films and TV shows, including Beverly Hills Cop, The Last Boy Scout, Major Payne and “My Wife and Kids.”
On Twitter, fans reacted to Wayans’ challenge and debated who would win in a Verzuz-type battle between him and Chappelle.
“[First] standup show I ever attended was a Damon Wayans show in a theater in DC. I legit thought I was going to die I was laughing so hard,” one person tweeted on Monday (Aug. 16). “My date and the guy on the other side of me had tears STREAMING from their eyes. Like. BAWLING.”
“Damon Wayans is a great comedian, but I’m not sure he, or anyone else, could take on Dave Chappelle…” another wrote.
“Damon Wayans is an absolute legend, but Dave is quite literally the greatest of all time,” a third fan weighed in.
A showdown between the two comedians wasn’t the only hypothetical Verzuz battle trending on Monday and Tuesday (Aug. 17). During a recent Power 106 interview, Dreamville’s Bas suggested his label go up against Top Dawg Entertainment on the virtual series.
“That’s family, but it’d be good competition, for sure,” Bas said of TDE, prompting numerous reactions online.
Listen to a snippet from Wayans’ radio interview and see reactions to his own proposed Verzuz challenge on Twitter below.