Dave Chappelle's latest comedy special on Netflix does not disappoint. The man does not cave. He knows he has haters in the LGBT community—and doesn't care. He doubles down on his act that has brought liberals to full froth over transgender persons. The thing is that he goes after everyone. He went after MAGA supporters. He went after white liberals. He went after political correctness and woke culture. He went after cancel culture. He even went after some aspects of black culture. The real interesting part about the whole act he has with transgender people and the issue of gender is that the insane woke mob has made general science a punchline.
Chappelle acknowledges that this could be his last special for a long time. Hence, its name "The Closer." One of the best bits from his stand-up concerns the attacks on J. K. Rowling and Chappelle's discovery of the meaning of the term "TERF." It also triggered the Left, and like clockwork, some called for the special to be pulled (via Fox News):
The 48-year-old performer took the stage at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on Thursday night for a screening of his documentary. The sold-out crowd also watched performances by Stevie Wonder, Snoop Dogg, Jon Hamm, Nas, Lizzo, poet Amir Sulaiman, Jeff Rose, Talib Kweli and more.
Speaking to the roughly 18,000 people in the crowd while wearing sneakers and a suit, Chappelle touched on the fact that a number of individuals and groups are calling for "The Closer" to be pulled from the streamer because of alleged transphobic comments he made in it, Deadline reports.
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Chappelle's appearance Thursday came just two days after the sixth installment in his Netflix deal debuted, prompting outcries from LGBTQ+ activists for his alleged defense of "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling.
They canceled J.K. Rowling – my God," Chappelle says in his special. "Effectively, she said gender was a fact, the trans community got mad as (expletive), they started calling her a TERF."
"I'm Team TERF. I agree. I agree, man. Gender is a fact," Chappelle added (via USA Today). "TERF" stands for "trans-exclusionary radical feminist" and is essentially a term for people who call themselves feminists while still being transphobic.
Many critics ended up taking issue with Chappelle's comments on Twitter. Jaclyn Moore, who is an executive producer and showrunner of "Dear White People," tweeted that the special made her cry. She also vowed to no longer work with the streamer until Netflix puts an end to the inclusion of transphobic comments in its programming.
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GLAAD also issued a statement on its Twitter account, writing, "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."
The National Black Justice Coalition, a civil rights advocacy group focused on the LGBTQ+ community, also reacted and called for Netflix to pull "The Closer" from its catalog.
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So, did they even watch the special? Did Jaclyn Moore, the showrunner for "Dear White People" who said the show made her cry, watch until the end? I only ask because the conclusion is a lengthy story about Chappelle's friendship with the late Daphne Dorman, a transgender comedian. Dave spoke about how he invited Dorman to open for one of his shows. She got up there, confident, and bombed for 45 minutes straight. She didn't care. She even stayed and watched Chappelle's set. She was going to school. When an attendance member mouthed off a nasty comment about Dorman, the late comic dished a line that diffused the situation and, as Chappelle noted, blew the roof off the venue with laughter. After the show, Chappelle noted how he realized Dorman was funny and offered to give advice for any upcoming shows. Dorman would later commit suicide after defending Chappelle for his alleged transphobic set in the "Sticks and Stones" special, even quoting one of her last tweets about the matter.
Punching down requires you to consider yourself superior to another group. @DaveChappelle doesn't consider himself better than me in any way. He isn't punching up or punching down. He's punching lines. That's his job and he's a master of his craft. #SticksAndStones #imthatdaphne
— Daphne Dorman (@DaphneDorman) August 29, 2019
Chappelle then called for empathy, ending cancel culture, and having some humility. He also said that if you pay attention to what he's saying during these so-called controversial sets, he's not going after the LGBT crowd. He's going after white people. It's all a joke, folks. Lighten up.
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