Dave Chappelle Appears Unbothered in Gay Mecca West Hollywood As Critics Call For Netflix To Yank Comedy Special Over Transphobic Remarks
Carrying on!
Dave Chappelle appears unbothered AF as he left the Peppermint Club in LGBTQ+ haven West Hollywood, Calif. in the wee hours of the morning on Thursday, October 7.
The comedian reportedly performed a stand-up set at the celeb hotspot. The 48-year-old was snapped smoking a cig and sporting a casual outfit of dark pants and a distressed tee.
His appearance in WeHo comes as the controversial funny man is being raked over the coals for his latest Netflix comedy special The Closer, which debuted on Tuesday, October 5.
Many critics deemed the comedy special as transphobic. “Gender is a fact,” Chappelle said during the performance. “Every human being in this room, every human being on earth, had to pass through the legs of a woman to be on earth.”
He also threw support behind Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, who has been criticized for past anti-trans comments. “Team TERF!,” the Half Baked star added — which stands for trans-exclusionary radical feminist.
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Detractors flocked to social media to slam the Chappelle's Show alum. I told the story of my transition for @netflix and @most's Pride week. It's a network that's been my home on @DearWhitePeople. I've loved working there,” Jaclyn Moore, EP of Netflix’s hit show Dear White People tweeted on Wednesday.
“I will not work with them as long as they continue to put out and profit from blatantly and dangerously transphobic content,” she added.
“I love so many of the people I've worked with at Netflix. Brilliant people and executives who have been collaborative and fought for important art... But I've been thrown against walls because, ‘I'm not a 'real' woman.’ I've had beer bottles thrown at me. So, @Netflix, I'm done,” the showrunner added in a follow-up message.
Even current employees expressed their disappointment with the streaming giant for airing the special. “I didn't expect my job to include supporting the platforming of hate speech when I woke up today, yet here we are,” a staffer tweeted.
The National Black Justice Coalition, a civil rights group focused on LGBTQ+ equality, goes as far as to call on Netflix to yank the special from the platform.
“It is deeply disappointing that Netflix allowed Dave Chappelle’s lazy and hostile transphobia and homophobia to air on its platform,” executive director David Johns said in a statement to Deadline. “With 2021 on track to be the deadliest year on record for transgender people in the United States — the majority of whom are Black transgender people — Netflix should know better. Perpetuating transphobia perpetuates violence. Netflix should immediately pull The Closer from its platform and directly apologize to the transgender community.”
