© Dave Chappelle
Dave Chappelle
Dave Chappelle is denying claims that he declined to speak with Netflix’s transgender employees regarding controversial comments he made in The Closer, but said he’s aware of the outcry and he’s now ready for a meeting — under certain conditions that include that those who participate must watch his special in full.
In a new video posted Monday on Instagram, the comedian, currently on a nationwide tour, addresses the situation while seated at center stage. “It’s been said in the press that I was invited to speak to the transgender employees of Netflix and I refused. That is not true,” says Chappelle during the 5-minute clip during which he holds a drink and receives cheers from the crowd. “If they had invited me, I would have accepted it, although I am confused about what we would be speaking about,” Chappelle said in the video. “I said what I said, and boy, I heard what you said. My God, how could I not? You said you want a safe working environment at Netflix. It seems like I’m the only one who can’t go to the office.”
He went on to speak directly to the transgender community by saying he’s willing to give them an audience but “you will not summon me.” He offered specific conditions: “I am not bending to anyone’s demands. And if you want to meet with me, I am 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.”
Gadsby was among the high-profile stars and comedians who joined organizations like GLAAD and the National Black Justice Coalition to come forward following the Oct. 5 debut of The Closer to denounce Chappelle’s commentary, which included statements siding with J.K. Rowling as “team TERF,” a term that means trans-exclusionary radical feminist, an ideology that excludes trans women as women. He also stated that “gender is a fact” and went on to poke fun at trans bodies and the cultural sensitivities of his previous jokes about the LGBTQ community.
“I want everyone in this audience to know that even though the media frames it that it’s me versus that community, that’s not what it is,” Chappelle continued in today’s clip. “Do not blame the LGBTQ community for any of this. It’s about corporate interests, and what I can say, and what I cannot say. For the record, and I need you to know this, everyone I know from that community has been loving and supportive, so I don’t know what this nonsense is about.”
He went on to say that the documentary he’s been shopping — a well-received examination of his 2020 “Summer Camp” comedy series that he mounted near his home in Yellow Springs, Ohio — has now suffered because of the Closer controversy. “This film that I made was invited to every film festival in the United States. Some of those invitations I accepted. When this controversy came out about The Closer, they began disinviting me from these film festivals, 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.”
Chappelle closes the video by saying that since no one will touch the untitled documentary, he plans to self-distribute it with screenings scheduled for the 10 cities that are listed in the caption of today’s clip, locations that coincide with remaining November tour dates. Those cities include: San Francisco (11/4), Minneapolis (11/7), Des Moines (11/9), Indianapolis (11/12), Cleveland (11/14), Toronto (11/15), Cincinnati (11/17), Columbus (11/19), Atlanta (11/21) and New York (11/22).
