In a video posted to his Instagram Monday, Dave Chappelle has responded to those who protested his Netflix special The Closer, claiming it was “transphobic.”
“I said what I said, and boy, I heard what you said,” he says in the clip while seated on stage in front of an audience.
“You said you want a safe environment at Netflix,” he says of his detractors, “but it seems like I’m the only one who can’t go to the office anymore.”
“Even though the media frames this as if it’s me vs. that community, that’s not what it is,” the Mark Twain Prize winner explains. “I do not blame the LGBT community for any of this s***…This is about corporate interests and what I say and what I cannot say!”
Dave explains to the crowd, “Everyone I know from this community has been nothing but loving and supporting. So I don’t know what all this nonsense is about.”
Chappelle says he’s willing to meet members of trans community, but adds, “I am not bending to anyone’s demands. And if you want to meet with me…I have some conditions: 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.”
Gadsby had slammed Chappelle’s comedy, as well as Sarandos for posting the specials.
Chappelle also notes that he’s being dis-invited from film festivals that previously asked him to screen his documentary Untitled, so he’s releasing it to 10 American cities.
“…You cannot have this conversation and exclude my voice from it!” he emphasized. “You have to answer the question: Am I cancelled or not?” To which the audience yelled, “NO!”
“Then let’s go!” he exclaimed before thanking the audience, and tossing the mic.
The video then listed the 10 cities:
11/4 – San Francisco
11/7 – Minneapolis
11/9 – Des Moines
11/12 – Indianapolis
11/14 – Cleveland
11/15 – Toronto
11/17 – Cincinnati
11/19 – Columbus
11/21 – Atlanta
11/22 New York
(Video contains uncensored profanity)
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