Dave Chappelle Says He’ll Meet With Critics Of His Netflix Special “The Closer” If They Can Meet His Demands
Please, hold some space in your heart today, for a rich man is crying. Though he is in possession of an embarrassment of riches and fame beyond compare, Dave Chappelle is the victim of a cancellation most cruel. Gone are the heady days of universal adoration and praise his jokes once inspired throughout the land. In a video taken at a sold-out show in Nashville, Tennessee, this elder statesman of stage and screen has offered a message to “that community” (“the LBGTQ [sic] community”) that is trying to “cancel” him for transphobic remarks he made in his Netflix comedy special, The Closer, which prompted a protest by some Netflix employees. Dave says he’s willing to talk to them, but only if they meet his demands. And this hostage taker is all “Don’t move or Free Speech here takes one to the head!”
Do you feel lucky, punks? Well, do you? According to Variety, here are Dave’s rules for summoning him for a conversation about his seeming obsession with other people’s genitals. (hint: you say “none of your damn business” in the mirror three times and Dave shows up with a magnifying glass)
“To the transgender community, I am more than willing to give you an audience, but you will not summon me. I am not bending to anybody’s demands. And if you want to meet with me, I’d be more than willing to, but I have some conditions. First of all, you cannot come if you have not watched my special from beginning to end. You must come to a place of my choosing at a time of my choosing, and thirdly, you must admit that Hannah Gadsby is not funny.”
Hannah, who is not trans, is an Australian comedian whose own Netflix special, Nanette, deals with “themes of homophobia, sexism, mental illness, and assault.” Hannah posted on Instagram last week in response to Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos’ comments to staff defending The Closer which stated “We are working hard to ensure marginalized communities aren’t defined by a single story. So we have Sex Education, Orange Is the New Black, Control Z, Hannah Gadsby, and Dave Chappelle all on Netflix. Key to this is increasing diversity on the content team itself.” Here’s What Hannah had to say about that.
This, apparently, hurt Dave in all of his feelings. Something only he’s allowed to have! In his video message, Dave says that everybody he knows in the “LBGTQ [sic] [ibid] community” thinks he’s hilarious and it’s merely “corporate interests” that are threatening his bag. He also says the F word a bunch of times. And not the good one, it’s the one I’m uncomfortable typing.
Chappelle claimed that the controversy was about “corporate interests” and that some members of the LGBTQ+ community have been supportive of him.
“I want everyone in this audience to know that even though the media frames it that it’s me versus that community, that is not what it is. Do not blame the LBGTQ [sic] community for any of this shit. This has nothing to do with them. It’s about corporate interests and what I can say and what I cannot say,” Chappelle said. “For the record, and I need you to know this, everyone I know from that community has been loving and supporting, so I don’t know what all this nonsense is about.”
So far “this nonsense” hasn’t affected his ability to work. According to TMZ, Dave’s video message was performed in front of a sold-out crowd and “a ton of his comic buddies opened for him” including Jeff Ross, Donnell Rawlings, Tom Segura and his brother-in-COVID Joe Rogan. Dave also complained that a documentary he made is being rejected by film festivals. via Variety:
“This film that I made was invited to every film festival in the United States and some of those invitations I accepted. When this controversy came out about ‘The Closer,’ they began disinviting me from these film festivals,” Chappelle claimed. “And now, today, not a film company, not a movie studio, not a film festival, nobody will touch this film. Thank God for Ted Sarandos and Netflix, he’s the only one that didn’t cancel me yet.”
I like how Dave is pretending he’s never been uninvited to something before for being an asshole. TMZ adds:
DC also says even though film festivals are abandoning him … he’s going to air his documentary film in 10 cities across America.
He ended the show by loudly asking, “Am I canceled, or not?” Listen to the applause he got … and it seems like he has a very clear answer.
Ok, so we can all agree then that Dave is not canceled but has been disinvited to Hannah Gadsby’s weird Australian Friendsgiving celebration. Which is too bad. He was supposed to bring the Tofurky! Here’s Dave continuing to say what he said.
Pic: Instagram