Dave Chappelle Defends Transphobic Remarks in Netflix Special, Calling Critics ‘Instruments of Oppression’聽
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Comedian Dave Chappelle released a special on Netflix last Thursday titled,聽What鈥檚 In A Name which involved a speech he gave that addressed the backlash he faced for transphobic material in his standup.听
The speech was performed during a naming ceremony at Chappelle鈥檚 alma mater, Washington DC鈥檚 Duke Ellington School of the Arts, in which the school was planning to rename the theatre after him.听
The school鈥檚 decision to honour the comedian with the public renaming was criticised by the greater public because of previous jokes that he鈥檚 made which have ridiculed the trans community seen in past projects including his 2021 standup special, The Closer.听
‘Instruments of Oppression’
Chappelle recalled being yelled at by students at the Arts School during his 40-minute speech, where he believed his 鈥渁rtistic nuance鈥� was being undermined.听
鈥�All the kids were screaming and yelling. I remember, I said to the kids, I go, 鈥榃ell, okay, well what do you guys think I did wrong?鈥� And a line formed. These kids said everything about gender, and this and that and the other, but they didn鈥檛 say anything about art,鈥� he said.听
He defended his stance amidst the controversy by emphasising the importance of artistic expression and the freedom to speak about what he pleased. 鈥淵ou cannot report on an artist鈥檚 work and remove artistic nuance from his words. It would be like if you were reading a newspaper and they say, 鈥楳an Shot in the Face by a Six-Foot Rabbit Expected to Survive,鈥� you鈥檇 be like, 鈥極h my god,鈥� and they never tell you it鈥檚 a Bugs Bunny cartoon.”
Chappelle claimed that the responses during the Q&A had hurt him, conveying his pain to students that had objected to his material and called them 鈥渋nstruments of oppression.鈥�
He reasoned that he didn鈥檛 get 鈥渕ad at them鈥� because they were freshmen who were 鈥渘ot ready yet, they don鈥檛 know.鈥澛�
Not The First Time
The comedian has made transphobic comments in the past. In 2016, Chappelle expressed that he didn鈥檛 want 鈥渁 woman with a dick鈥� using the urinal next to him in the bathroom and during his 2019 special, called Sticks and Stones, Chappelle called transgender people 鈥渃onfusing鈥�.
After the release of The Closer, transgender Netflix employee Terra Field staged a walkout in response to his transphobic jokes.听
Condemning the material, she tweeted, 鈥淏eing trans is actually pretty funny, if you鈥檙e someone who actually knows about the subject matter. How could volunteering for a second puberty *not* be funny? That isn鈥檛 what he is doing though. Our existence is 鈥榝unny鈥� to him – and when we object to his harm, we鈥檙e ‘offended’.鈥�
She added: 鈥淧romoting 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鈥檛 want us to be.鈥� Field has since resigned from the streaming service.听
https://twitter.com/RainofTerra/status/1445914238178848768
Chappelle has defended known transphobe, JK Rowling, for being branded a 鈥淭erf鈥� (Trans-exclusionary radical feminist) in the past, adding that he agreed, 鈥淚鈥檓 Team Terf. I agree. I agree, man. Gender is a fact.鈥�
The comedian defended his right to self-expression, explaining it was valuable and not 鈥榮evered鈥� from himself. 鈥淚t鈥檚 worth protecting for me, and it鈥檚 worth protecting for everyone else who endeavours in our noble, noble professions,鈥� Chappelle said.
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