Dave Chappelle Is Rightfully Getting Backlash For His Transphobic Comments in Latest Netflix Special

As part of his cycle of Netflix comedy specials, Chappelle and the streaming giant released Sticks & Stones – regarded as one of his most controversial specials – back in 2019. In the standup show, Chappelle takes on a plethora of topics, including his verbal attack on the transgender community where he refers to them as “the alphabet people.” “I feel bad for the T’s (transgender people) but they’re so confusing,” he says in the special. “And it’s not all my fault. I feel like they need to take some responsibility for my jokes. Cause I didn’t come up with this idea on my own, this idea that a person can be born in the wrong body. But they have to admit that’s a f*cking hilarious predicament.”

In an attempt to justify his remarks, he also names a transgender friend of his, late activist and comedian Daphne Dorman, whom he also references in his latest standup special. Following the release of Sticks & Stones, Dorman defended Chappelle’s comments on Twitter writing in her bio, “Yep, I’m the Daphne that Dave Chappelle is talking about in Sticks and Stones.” She later defended him in a tweet that read “@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.”

For his final Netflix special, Chappelle released The Closer as a means to double down on his hot button comedy while infusing remarks of racism, transphobia, and homophobia. “This is my last special because I have an objective tonight,” he says at the beginning of the show. “All the questions you might have had about these jokes I’ve said in the last few years, I hope to answer tonight.” Immediately after this statement, Chappelle states that he’d like to start by “addressing the LGBTQ community, correct.” But what followed couldn’t be any more incorrect in how he treated the transgender community.

He entangles his agenda with a plea to “negotiate the release of DaBaby,” who also faced major backlash for his homophobic rant at this year’s Rolling Loud Festival,” arguing that “in our country, you can shoot and kill a n*****. But you better not hurt a gay person’s feelings.” He goes on to argue his declaration that “gender is a fact,” disputing how some people in the transgender community choose to identify. “Every human being in this room, every human being on Earth, had to pass through the legs of a woman to be on Earth. That is a fact.” He also referred to himself as “Team TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminist), siding with author JK Rowling who has been accused of transphobia. Towards the end of the special, he concludes saying that he’s “done talking about it,” referring to LGBTQ+ topics, and in turn says, “All I ask of your community, with all humility: Will you please stop punching down on my people?”

After hearing of the public’s reactions to his latest special, Chappelle took the stage for a show at LA’s Hollywood Bowl, not to repeat any of his controversial jokes, but to address the idea of cancel culture and how it doesn’t apply in real life. “If this is what being cancelled is like, I love it,” he said, which was met with a standing ovation. “F*ck Twitter. F*ck NBC News, ABC News, all these stupid ass networks. I’m not talking to them. I’m talking to you. This is real life.” In addition to these remarks, he also reportedly promoted “messages of kindness and love” to the audience, which included celebrities like Brad Pitt, Tiffany Haddish, Donnell Rawlings, Sterling K. Brown, and more.

Following the storm of backlash as a result of Chappelle’s special, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos defended the show in a staff memo that was sent out to employees after the streamer’s quarterly business review. “I wanted to follow-up on the The Closer – Dave Chappelle’s latest special – as several of you have reached out following QBR asking what to say to your teams,” he wrote. “It never feels good when people are hurting, especially our colleagues, so I wanted to give you some additional context. You should also be aware that some talent may join third parties in asking us to remove the show in the coming days, which we are not going to do. Chappelle is one of the most popular stand-up comedians today, and we have a long standing deal with him. His last special Sticks & Stones, also controversial, is our most watched, stickiest and most award winning stand-up special to date.”

“As with our other talent, we work hard to support their creative freedom – even though this means there will always be content on Netflix some people believe is harmful,” he added, also citing other examples like Sundance film Cuties and teen suicide drama 13 Reasons Why as more controversial Netflix content. Sarandos’s statement was also met with backlash and LGBTQ+ organisation GLAAD issued a statement as a response, as reported by Variety, stating, “Netflix has a policy that content ‘designed to incite hate or violence’ is not allowed on the platform, but we all know that anti-LGBTQ content does exactly that. While Netflix is home to groundbreaking LGBTQ stories, now is the time for Netflix execs to listen to LGBTQ employees, industry leaders, and audiences and commit to living up to their own standards.”

After reports shared that Sarandos defended Chappelle after its backlash, it was then reported that three Netflix employees were suspended for crashing a leadership meeting with some of the company’s top executives. According to Variety, Netflix says that the three employees, including Terra Field – who identifies as queer and trans – were not suspended for their stance on the streamer supporting Chappelle’s special, but instead for attending the meeting “uninvited.” “It is absolutely untrue to say that we have suspended any employees for tweeting about this show,” a source told the publication. “Our employees are encouraged to disagree openly and we support their right to do so.”

Field reportedly wrote a “lengthy Twitter thread” in response to Chappelle’s The Closer, in which she tweeted, “Yesterday we launched another Chappelle special where he attacks the trans community, and the very validity of transness – all while trying to pit us against other marginalised groups. You’re going to hear a lot of talk about ‘offence.’ We are not offended.” She added, “Promoting TERF ideology (which is what we did by giving it a platform yesterday) directly harms trans people, it is not some neutral act. This is not an argument with two sides. It is an argument with trans people who want to be alive and people who don’t want us to be.” Read the start of the thread below.

I work at @netflix. Yesterday we launched another Chappelle special where he attacks the trans community, and the very validity of transness – all while trying to pit us against other marginalized groups. You’re going to hear a lot of talk about “offense”.

We are not offended ?

– Terra Field (@RainofTerra) October 7, 2021