Dave Chappelle found himself in hot water earlier this month with the release of his Netflix special, The Closer, and is now addressing the controversy directly.
In a newly surfaced video from a recent show, Untitled, the comedian spoke on his subsequent “cancellation.” The 48-year-old stated, “Nobody will touch this film. Thank God for Ted Sarandos at Netflix because he’s the only one that hasn’t canceled me yet.”
Amid cheers, Chappelle continued, “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 anybody’s demands and if you wanna meet with me, I’m more than willing to, but I have some conditions.”
As far as his conditions go, he stated, “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.”
Chappelle later refuted claims that he declined an invitation to speak with Netflix’s transgender employees. He stated, “If they had invited me, I would’ve accepted. Though, I am confused about what we are speaking about. I said what I said, and boy, I heard what you said. My God, how could I not?”
Before the video ends, he posed the question to the crowd, “Am I cancelled or not?” to which the crowd shouts a resounding, “No!” and then Chappelle throws the mic.
In The Closer, the comedian made controversial jokes about the physical anatomy of members of LGBTQ+ community, considered himself to be a TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminist), and joked about DaBaby’s homophobic statements regarding those with HIV/AIDS at this year’s Rolling Loud festival in Miami.
His commentary led to transgender employees at Netflix hosting a walkout and protest, despite Chappelle and his statements being backed by Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos.
Watch the full snippet from Untitled above.