Of course comedy is subjective, but I loved it. Chappelle absolutely does not give a rat's ass about backlash for his words. Comedy should be without limits. I think even us maniacs in CPDC who watch it will mostly give it a thumbs up.
Netflix chief Ted Sarandos defends controversial Dave Chappelle special in staff memo: Reports
Jenna Ryu
USA TODAY
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos is defending his decision to keep comedian Dave Chappelle's controversial special "The Closer" on the streaming service.
In a Friday staff memo obtained by Variety and The Verge, Sarandos pledged Netflix's commitment to the special, despite backlash about the comedian's transphobic comments. "Chappelle is one of the most popular stand-up comedians today, and we have a long standing deal with him," Sarandos wrote in Chappelle's defense.
He continued: "As with our other talent, we work hard to support their creative freedom – even though this means there will always be content on Netflix some people believe is harmful, like 'Cuties,' '365 Days,' '13 Reasons Why,' or 'My Unorthodox Life.' "
Chappelle drew criticism for his comments in the special about the transgender community, including his defense of author J. K. Rowling, who previously conflated sex with gender and defended ideas suggesting that changing one's biological sex was a threat to her own gender identity.
"They canceled J.K. Rowling – my God," Chappelle said. "Effectually she said gender was a fact, the trans community got mad as (expletive), they started calling her a TERF… I'm Team TERF. I agree. I agree, man. Gender is a fact."
TERF is an acronym that stands for "trans exclusionary radical feminists" and describes feminists who are transphobic.
In the memo, Sarandos used Chappelle's previous special "Sticks & Stones" as an example, writing that it was also "controversial" and "our most watched, stickiest, and most award winning stand-up special to date."
USA TODAY has reached out to Netflix for comment.
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos defended comedian Dave Chappelle's controversial comedy special, "The Closer." Sarandos also said Netflix doesn't believe that "The Closer" promotes hate speech.
"Several of you have also asked where we draw the line on hate. We don’t allow titles on Netflix that are designed to incite hate or violence, and we don’t believe 'The Closer' crosses that line," he said.
"I recognize, however, that distinguishing between commentary and harm is hard, especially with stand-up comedy which exists to push boundaries. Some people find the art of stand-up to be mean-spirited but our members enjoy it, and it’s an important part of our content offering."
"The Closer," the sixth installment in the comedian's Netflix deal, which the "Chappelle's Show" comedian describes as "his last special for a minute," includes tongue-in-cheek jokes about race, the coronavirus pandemic and negotiating "the release of DaBaby" after the rapper's homophobic comments.
Many on social media slammed Chappelle and the streaming platform, including writer Jaclyn Moore, who also serves as showrunner for Netflix's "Dear White People."
In-depth story:How trans 'Harry Potter' fans are grappling with J.K. Rowling's legacy after her transphobic comments
"I've been thrown against walls because, 'I'm not a "real" woman,' " Moore, who is transgender, tweeted. "I've had beer bottles thrown at me. So, @Netflix, I'm done."
Advocacy group GLAAD responded to the memo Monday.
“Netflix has a policy that content ‘designed to incite hate or violence’ is not allowed on the platform, but we all know that anti-LGBTQ content does exactly that," GLAAD said in a statement. "While Netflix is home to groundbreaking LGBTQ stories, now is the time for Netflix execs to listen to LGBTQ employees, industry leaders, and audiences and commit to living up to their own standards.”
Last week, the group tweeted that Chappelle's brand "has become synonymous with ridiculing trans people and other marginalized communities."
Originally Posted by staylor26:
Ehh Chapelle can get away with it because he’s black and he supports BLM to some extent.
If a straight white male comedian pulled this shit, they’d be done.
Near the start of the special, Chappelle acknowledged that he might be cancelled, but that this was his last special for quite some time anyway. He didn't care. [Reply]
Trumpers must be torn here. On the one hand they love that he's bashing the gheys and who can pee in what bathroom. On the other hand he's.......you know.
Originally Posted by staylor26:
Ehh Chapelle can get away with it because he’s black and he supports BLM to some extent.
If a straight white male comedian pulled this shit, they’d be done.
Maybe, but I could see Bill Burr getting away with it because he just doesn't give a fuck, and then ultimately turns their wokeness/cancel culture into more of his comedy routine. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Hawker007:
Maybe, but I could see Bill Burr getting away with it because he just doesn't give a ****, and then ultimately turns their wokeness/cancel culture into more of his comedy routine.
Seinfeld could easily get away with this. He's one of the richest men in show biz. Dave is ballsy for being the 1st to challenge the alphabets though. I imagine that there will be more-which is good [Reply]
Originally Posted by mkp785:
Seinfeld could easily get away with this. He's one of the richest men in show biz. Dave is ballsy for being the 1st to challenge the alphabets though. I imagine that there will be more-which is good
Seinfeld could get away with it financially, but his comedy is vanilla and without balls. [Reply]
Originally Posted by AdolfOliverBush:
Seinfeld could get away with it financially, but his comedy is vanilla and without balls.
Maybe, but I was refuting staylor's point that only a straight black man can get away with it. Which like a lot of what he says-is completely wrong. You don't need to be black, just extremely popular. Burr is another one that might be able to pull this off.
Edit: I'd also add Amy Schumer to this list. She could pop off about alphabets and could weather the storm. [Reply]
Originally Posted by mkp785:
Trumpers must be torn here. On the one hand they love that he's bashing the gheys and who can pee in what bathroom. On the other hand he's.......you know.
Clowntaylor already proving my point.
What? S Taylor was right if Chapelle was white he would have been cancelled. You didnt watch the stand up [Reply]
Originally Posted by mkp785:
There's any number of comedians that could've said what he said about gays and trannys and gotten away with it. I just named 3.
Seinfeld is retired you asshole. If a white christian conservative made those jokes they would be cancelled and people like you would be at the front of the line [Reply]
Originally Posted by AdolfOliverBush:
Near the start of the special, Chappelle acknowledged that he might be cancelled, but that this was his last special for quite some time anyway. He didn't care.
Originally Posted by Hawker007:
Maybe, but I could see Bill Burr getting away with it because he just doesn't give a fuck, and then ultimately turns their wokeness/cancel culture into more of his comedy routine.
Originally Posted by mkp785:
Seinfeld could easily get away with this. He's one of the richest men in show biz. Dave is ballsy for being the 1st to challenge the alphabets though. I imagine that there will be more-which is good
If people haven't watched Seinfeld's comedians in cars getting coffee show, he makes it pretty clear he is no fan of political correctness in comedy, or of cancel culture in general. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Titty Meat:
Seinfeld is retired you asshole. If a white christian conservative made those jokes they would be cancelled and people like you would be at the front of the line
Hardly. I think it's hilarious that someone is going after them. As to Seinfeld. Doesn't matter if he's "retired" so was Dave for 20 years and look where we are now. Seinfeld has twitter and his show on Netflix btw was insanely popular. He could've quoted Dave word for word and he'd be fine. Same with Schumer. [Reply]
Chappelle is one of my all time favorites and this wasn't close to some of his best stuff. A lot of it was edgy for edgy's sake. There were some genuinely funny moments in there but it veered a little too far into the Hannah Gatsby zone of just preaching and whining and then staring at the crowd until they laugh.
There was some genuine insight and 'subversive' humor here and there, but nothing that will be remembered in 6 months. And honestly, I'm not even sure what the controversy is supposed to be. Was there anything in there really more objectively offensive than Lisa Lampenelli or Amy Schumer's bits on black dudes? Plenty of comedians have said far worse.
One thing I was happy to see - guy just looked healthier. His first 'return' special was almost sad to see. The material was better but he just looked old and exhausted. The energy was down and I was really worried about the guys health. I'd like to see this version of him re-run that material. I haven't seen it in a few years, but my memory is that it was better than this one. [Reply]