Idris Elba Confirms Dave Chappelle’s Claim He Used to Buy Weed off Actor When He Was Security Guard

During a recent appearance on the Jess Cagle Podcast, Idris Elba opened up about his drug dealing days.

We heard stories of Elba’s early career back in 2021, when Dave Chappelle revealed in an interview with Joe Rogan that he used to buy weed from Elba. “Idris Elba, the famous actor, used to be a security guard at [comedy club] Caroline’s …” Chappelle said. “I used to buy weed from him.”

While chatting with Cagle last week, Elba revisited his days working the door at the iconic club, while admitting that during his pre-acting career he “did a lot of things, some things I’m not proud of.”

When asked to explore the topic further, Elba opened up about his time as a drug dealer, revealing that he had one very famous comedian as a client.

“I used to sell weed,” Elba explained. “I did that for a little bit just to, you know, help pay the way. I DJ’ed quite a bit. I was a doorman. I was a doorman at Carolines comedy club [in New York], which is fascinating now, when I meet the comedians that you kind of remember the English guy. Tall English guy with the funny accent and the little hair.”

Elba added, “David Chappelle remembers me ‘cause he used to buy weed from me. Anyway, moving on. Yeah, I did all kinds of things to be honest, all kinds of things.”

Watch Idris Elba open up about his somewhat nefarious past up top.