If These 3 Jokes Don’t Get Dave Chappelle Canceled, Maybe Nothing Will
Rock-star comedian Dave Chappelle told some spicy LGBT-themed jokes in his Netflix special that premiered Tuesday, and progressive critics have decided he finally went too far.
SO WHAT
You be the judge.
THE SPECIAL
Chappelle devoted a significant portion of “The Closer” to addressing accusations by some LGBT people that he tells hateful jokes about their community, particularly in his previous Netflix stand-up special, “Sticks & Stones.”
In “The Closer,” Chappelle joked that he identifies as a “TERF,” a trans-exclusionary radical feminist, and backed J.K. Rowling, the “Harry Potter” author who endured an avalanche of criticism for rejecting the notion that transgender women are biologically female and asserting that sex is real.
- And it only got more controversial from there.
THE JOKES
JOKE 1: “In our country, you can shoot and kill a n*gga. But you better not hurt a gay person’s feelings.”
JOKE 2: “Gender is a fact. Every human being in this room, every human being on earth, had to pass through the legs of a woman to be on earth. That is a fact. Now, I am not saying that to say trans women aren’t women, I am just saying that those p*ssies that they got … you know what I mean? I’m not saying it’s not p*ssy, but it’s Beyond P*ssy or Impossible P*ssy.”
JOKE 3: “Gay people are minorities until they need to be white again.”
THE REACTION
Mainstream journalists decried “The Closer” as transphobic and homophobic, with National Public Radio’s TV critic slamming Chappelle for using “comedy to veil bigotry” and, confusingly, “using white privilege to excuse his own homophobia and transphobia.”
Dave Chappelle just came out with a new comedy special and it already sounds like a banger. pic.twitter.com/CAJUVLo9dQ
— Maw (@TheEbonyMaw) October 6, 2021
GLAAD, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, and other LGBT activists launched a campaign to “cancel” Chappelle.
Dave Chappelle's brand has become synonymous with ridiculing trans people and other marginalized communities. Negative reviews and viewers loudly condemning his latest special is a message to the industry that audiences don't support platforming anti-LGBTQ diatribes. We agree. https://t.co/yOIyT54819
— GLAAD (@glaad) October 6, 2021
THE PUNCHLINE
In “The Closer,” Chappelle mocked previous campaigns to cancel comedians and asked the LGBT community to”stop punching down on my people.”
- Chappelle ended the show with a tribute to late transgender comedian Daphne Dorman, a friend whom he had lovingly joked about in “Sticks & Stones.”
- Dorman, who defended Chappelle from critics of his comedy, died by suicide in 2019.