Despite the controversy surrounding Dave Chappelle‘s latest Netflix comedy special, The Closer, which resulted in an employee walk-out at the streamer and pushback from high school students at his alma mater over his trans jokes, the comedian and Netflix are still working together. On Monday, the streamer announced the massive 130 comedian line-up for its 2022 Netflix Is A Joke comedy festival, and Chappelle’s name is noticeably tucked into the list of A-list stars.
According to a press release, Chappelle will feature prominently in a Hollywood Bowl event that’s simply titled, “Dave Chappelle and Friends.” Of course, this move shouldn’t come as a huge surprise after Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos‘ response to the Chappelle controversy, and he ultimately defended streaming Chappelle’s special.
“This group of employees felt a little betrayed because we’ve created such a great place to work that they forgot that sometimes these challenges will come up,” Sarandos told The Hollywood Reporter in October.
Here’s the official 2022 line-up for Netflix Is A Joke: The Festival:
Produced by Netflix in association with Live Nation, the 11-day comedy fest in Los Angeles will feature over 130 artists including Ali Wong, Amy Poehler, Amy Schumer, Aziz Ansari, Bert Kreischer, Bill Burr, Chelsea Handler, Chris Rock, Conan O’Brien, Cristela Alonzo, Dave Chappelle, David Letterman, Deon Cole, Eddie Izzard, Ellen DeGeneres, Felipe Esparza, Fortune Feimster, Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias, Hasan Minhaj and Ronny Chieng, Iliza Shlesinger, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, Jerry Seinfeld, John Mulaney, Jonathan Van Ness, Ken Jeong, Kevin Hart, Kevin Smith, Larry David, Margaret Cho, Maya Rudolph and Gretchen Lieberum, Michael McIntyre, Mike Birbiglia, Mike Myers and David O. Russell, Nick Kroll, Nicole Byer, Patton Oswalt, Pete Davidson, Ray Romano, Sandra Bernhard, Seth Rogen, Theo Von, Tig Notaro, Tim Robinson, Tina Fey, Wanda Sykes and more.
Netflix Is A Joke: The Festival will run from April 28 to May 8, 2022.
