In the weeks following Dave Chappelle’s The Closer Netflix special, the controversy surrounding the stand-up comedian has spread like wildfire.
In The Closer, Chappelle spoke about rapper DaBaby and how he was “cancelled” for going on a homophobic rant at Miami’s Rolling Loud music festival. Chappelle explained the situation and essentially said that, in 2021’s United States, you would be “cancelled” quicker for disparaging the LGBTQ+ community than you would for killing somebody, using DaBaby’s shooting and killing of a man in Wal-Mart in 2018 as evidence.
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Chappelle, who has come under fire for targeting the LGBTQ+, specifically transgender people, received immediate backlash. Members of multiple communities targeted by Chappelle called for Netflix to remove the special from their streaming platform, but CEO Ted Sarandos quickly shot that down. Sarandos, along with other comedians including Damon Wayans and Joe Rogan, vocalized their support for Chappelle, even in the wake of reports that Netflix employees were planning a walkout on October 20 to protest the comedy special.
Despite Sarando’s recent admission that he handled the aftermath of The Closer incorrectly, employees proceeded with their October 20 walkout yesterday and took to the street in front of Netflix HQ.
That same night, according to TMZ, Chappelle was spotted leaving a packed’s Annabel’s nightclub in London after partying at the members-only spot for a couple of hours.
This isn’t the first time Chappelle has been caught looking completely unbothered by The Closer controversy, either. Earlier this month, Chappelle was spotted leaving a Hollywood nightclub and was all smiles. And days later, Chappelle took the stage at the Hollywood Bowl to announce that he “loves being cancelled.”
At this point, it doesn’t seem like anything is going to change regarding The Closer‘s status on Netflix and Chappelle’s seeming lack of care about his special’s backlash, but everything the comedian and streaming platform choose to do continues to make waves so keep it locked to HNHH for any further updates.
[Via]