Dave Chappelle’s The Closer premiered on Netflix in October 2021 to much controversy because of his jokes about “marginalized people” (i.e. transgender). Well Dave Chappelle has landed two Emmy nods for his standup special.
Via CNN Business: In October Chappelle’s special thrust Netflix (NFLX) into one of the biggest crises in the company’s history. But the streaming giant stood by “The Closer,” despite it being criticized as transphobic by some LGBTQ+ advocates, artists and even Netflix’s own employees, who staged a walkout amid the controversy. Ted Sarandos, the company’s co-CEO and chief content officer, soon acknowledged that he “screwed up” and could have done a better job in terms of communicating with Netflix employees. Although Sarandos apologized, he told The Wall Street Journal that he wouldn’t second guess the decision to release Chappelle’s special. “We have articulated to our employees that there are going to be things you don’t like,” Sarandos told the Journal in October. “There are going to be things that you might feel are harmful. But we are trying to entertain a world with varying tastes and varying sensibilities and various beliefs, and I think this special was consistent with that.”
The Closer” is nominated for variety special and directing for a variety special.
The 74th Emmy Awards will air on NBC September 12.
Isaiah Lee, 23 who was arrested for tackling Dave Chappelle on stage claims he was inspired to attack Chappell by Will Smith’s Academy Awards slap of Chris Rock.
“That’s not right what [Chris Rock] said about his wife, calling her GI Jane,” said Lee, referencing a crack the former “SNL” star made about Pinkett Smith’s hair loss from alopecia, which Smith has said is what spurred him to walk on stage and hit Rock. Lee said Smith was “standing up for his wife” during the infamous celeb-on-celeb smack heard ’round the world, which inspired him to storm the stage and tackle Chappelle during the May 3 “Netflix is a Joke” show after he made quips about LGBTQ people and homelessness. I wanted him to know that next time, he should consider first running his material by people it could affect,” Lee claimed. “I wanted Dave Chappelle and people to know that these are things you need to be more sensitive about and not joke about.”
During an interview on Saturday, Lee told The Post he is a bisexual sexual abuse survivor who previously dealt with homelessness and was “triggered” by the “Chappelle Show” star’s jokes. On Monday he admitted the attack was also partially driven by publicity for his career as budding rap star and once put out a song about Chappelle.
“I’m not going to lie… it was a bit of clout-chasing,” Lee said of his decision to jump on stage. “In Hollywood, you know they say there is no such thing as bad publicity. I rap about these things in my music and knew it would get attention.”
SO NOT HELPFUL.
Isaiah Lee claimed he was inspired to tackle Dave Chappelle on stage by Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars
The Observer reports that comedian Dave Chappelle held a series of surprise shows at The Cutting Room in New York. shocked the crowd with a 60-minute set largely devoted to slamming Hillary Clinton, LGBT rights, and women’s rights.
The comedian believes that Hillary Clinton had a hand in leaking the recorded conversation between Republican nominee Donald J. Trump and TV personality Billy Bush. “What I heard on that tape was gross,” Chappelle said. “But the way I got to hear it was even more gross. You know that came directly from Hillary.” He stated this had put him off a candidate he had already known was “not right.” He likened voting for her to a hypothetical situation of actress Halle Berry breaking wind in his face during sexual relations. “I’m still going to go for it,” he said. “But I wish she hadn’t done that thing.”
Chappelle further shocked the New York crowd by defending Trump. He took issue with the media stating as fact that Trump had admitted committing sexual assault in the recorded conversation. “Sexual assault? It wasn’t. He said, ‘And when you’re a star, they let you do it.’ That phrase implies consent. I just don’t like the way the media twisted that whole thing. Nobody questioned it.”
Chappelle also condemned and then praised North Carolina’s HB2 Bathroom Bill, which restricts people from using the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity, and instead demands they use the bathroom of the sex they were assigned at birth.
“If you need to show your birth certificate to take a dump at a Wal-Mart in North Carolina, that’s insane,” he said.
Chappelle counteracted this as he said he would not want to use a urinal next to a “woman with a dick.”
Speaking about activists, he said: “They should not be having that conversation in front of black people. You go ahead and feel something about your rights. But if you’re putting sexism and homophobia and transphobia in front of racism, you should be ashamed of yourself.”
Chappelle also added that Trump’s handling of the debate immediately following the controversy had won him over. Referring to Anderson Cooper and Martha Raddatz’s hostile questioning, he said, “Something about this was backward. A gay white man and a white woman asking a multi-billionaire how he knows the system is rigged and insisting it’s not. Does that sound right to you? It didn’t seem right to me. And here’s how you know Trump is the most gangsta candidate ever. They asked him how he knows the system is rigged and he said, ‘Because I take advantage of it.’ He may as well have flashed his membership card for the Illuminati right then.”
Chappelle is slated to host SNL on November 12, but said, “You know there’s a pool going on whether or not I show up. I got $100,000 that says I won’t.”
I say we start a MoveOn.org petition so he gets cancelled.
