Comedian Dave Chappelle blasted the culture of cancellation, Twitter, and left-wing media Thursday amid controversy over his latest Netflix special, "The Closer," telling a star-studded, ticketed crowd Sold out in Los Angeles that: "If this is what canceled this is, I love it."
"I don't know what to tell you, except that I'm a bad son of a bitch," the 48-year-old humorous said to the enthusiastic audience of more than 18,000 people at the Hollywood Bowl after the screening of his "Untitled: Dave Chappelle Documentary" Reported deadline.
The open stand-up star then became more pointed and specific.
โFuck Twitter. F - k NBC News, ABC News, all these stupid butt networks. I'm not talking to you. I'm talking to you. This is real life, โhe said between loud roars from the crowd. according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Chappelle was responding to the torrent of criticism he received following the Tuesday release of his sixth and final Netflix special, which some have criticized them as transphobic.
"They canceled JK Rowling, my God," Chappelle said on the special, "The Closer." "In fact, she said gender was a given, and then the trans community got mad as shit, they started calling her TERF."
The comic later declared itself to be part of โTeam TERF,โ transexclusive radical feminists, prompting applause from the audience watching the show.
"I agree," he said. I agree, man. Gender is a fact. You have to look at it from a woman's perspective. "
Jaclyn Moore, executive producer and showrunner of Netflix's "Dear White People," was among those who said they were offended by Chappelle's comments on "The Closer." tweeting On Wednesday he "broke up" with the streaming giant.
"His shadow is huge" Moore told Variety Thursday while detailing his boycott of Netflix. โHe's a brilliant dumb comedian, brilliant as a political comedian. It's been brilliant for so long, but I don't think because you've been brilliant means you're always brilliant. "
Moore, who transitioned during the pandemic, told Variety that she chose to speak on Twitter because Chappelle's material on the transgender community "felt different" than her previous version of the topic.
"I've been thrown against a wall for using the ladies' room," Moore told Variety. "I'd just say it's ironic that for someone who walked away from a TV show because they felt the joke messages were lost, they don't see what the joke messages do to people."
Chappelle was also criticized for combining rapper DaBaby's homophobic comments with systemic racism, saying that you can "shoot and kill a [N-word]"In America, but" you better not hurt the feelings of a gay person "while referencing a fatal shooting in 2018 that involved the rapper at a Walmart in North Carolina.
"Dave Chappelle: The Closer" was ranked No. 4 as of Friday on Netflix's top 10 streaming list.
"While closing his list of comedy specials, Dave Chappelle takes the stage to try to set the record straight and get some things off his chest," reads a listing for the 72-minute special.
