Dave Chappelle has finally responded to the controversy surrounding his recent Netflix special, coming for Aussie comic Hannah Gadsby in the process.
For those not in the loop, a brief recap: Chappelle made jokes deemed transphobic in his Netflix comedy special, The Closer; trans employees at the streaming platform criticised these jokes; the Netflix co-CEO backed Chappelle with an unwise statement; the Netflix co-CEO apologised for said statement; the trans employees at Netflix staged a walkout in protest at it all.
Now, after a few weeks, Chappelle has responded to the furore. In a video posted to Instagram, he addressed the criticism, doubling down on his position. “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,” he stated.
He continued by revealing his conditions, including strangely coming for Gadsby: “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 cosledgesme to a place of my choosing at a time of my choosing, and thirdly, you must admit that Hannah Gadsby is not funny.”
His retort at Gadsby comes after the acclaimed Aussie comic was one of the most outspoken voices of his recent special, calling out Chappelle and labelling his special as “hate speech.”
Chappelle also thanked Netflix head honcho Ted Sarandos in his video: “Thank God for Ted Sarandos and Netflix, he’s the only one that didn’t cancel me yet.”
Expect this controversy to rumble on for a long while yet. Hannah Gadsby isn’t the type of comic to take such a diatribe lying down.
For more on this topic, follow the Comedians Observer.
