The controversy surrounding Dave Chappelle’s homophobic remarks in The Closer (on Netflix) continues, and for this newest development, Chappelle appears to have changed his tune. This is happening weeks after he addressed the matter of being “cancelled,” and he had declared that “I love it.” The “jokes” in question involve him declaring that he is “Team TERF” and in agreement with author J.K. Rowling’s TERF-aligned remarks. He’s also declared that “gender is a fact.”
The backlash was fierce, including Hannah Gadsby (of Netflix’s Emmy-winning Nanette special) calling out Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos for an “amoral algorithm,” which followed his claims that “content on screen doesn’t directly translate to real-world harm.” Then Netflix employees staged a walkout (the organizer of the walkout has been fired for leaking metrics) and Chappelle’s team signaling (via TMZ) that he was open to sitting down with those employees who staged the walkout. Now, Dave is defensively pushing back onstage, where he listed conditions for meeting with Netflix’s trans employees.
Chappelle posted video footage of his relevant remarks to Instagram; here’s the clip, and we’ll post transcribed quotes below.
As far as the transphobic remarks are concerned, there’s no apology coming from Dave: “I said what I said.” He’s also complaining about being cancelled by film festivals after accepting invitations (for an upcoming stand-up documentary), and now, Dave says that only Ted Sarandos and Netflix haven’t cancelled him:
“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.”
Then Dave listed some conditions to meeting with Netflix employees while declaring that he won’t be summoned and is “not bending to anyone’s demands”:
“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 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.”
Yes, he truly took a swing at Hannah Gadsby while putting the ball in Netflix employees’ court. That feels like a sure sign that this controversy ain’t over yet. What happens if those employees decide not to meet with him? That would be quite an outcome.
(Via Dave Chappelle on Instagram & Variety)
