Dave Chappelle Doubles Down on Netflix Controversy: “I Am Not Bending To Anybody’s Demands”

Amidst plenty of controversy and a walk out at Netflix, Dave Chappelle has doubled down on his comments on the trans community made in his Netflix special, The Closer. In a new stand-up video, the comic has stated that he is willing to meet with transgender employees at Netflix — or any member of the trans community, for that matter. Still, the controversial star has stated he’s not going to bend “to anybody’s demands.”

In a five-minute clip posted to Instagram, Chappelle stuck to his guns about the special. In the past month since its release on Oct. 5, the special has gone under fire for transphobic and homophobic remarks that eventually led to a walkout at Netflix.

Chappelle’s response? “I said what I said.”

“It’s been said in the press that I was invited to speak to the transgender employees of Netflix and I refused. That is not true — if they had invited me I would have accepted it, although I am confused about what we would be speaking about,” Chappelle says in the video. “I said what I said, and boy, I heard what you said. My God, how could I not? You said you want a safe working environment at Netflix. It seems like I’m the only one that can’t go to the office anymore.”

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Chappelle blamed the controversy on “corporate interests,” suggesting that some members of the LGBTQ+ community have been entirely supportive of him.

“I want everyone in this audience to know that even though the media frames it that it’s me versus that community, that is not what it is. Do not blame the LBGTQ [sic] community for any of this shit. This has nothing to do with them. It’s about corporate interests and what I can say and what I cannot say,” Chappelle says. “For the record, and I need you to know this, everyone I know from that community has been loving and supporting, so I don’t know what all this nonsense is about.”

Speaking once again on cancel culture, Chappelle lamented the fact that his upcoming documentary has now been excluded from film festivals as a result of the Netflix controversy.

“This film that I made was invited to every film festival in the United States and some of those invitations I accepted. When this controversy came out about The Closer, they began disinviting me from these film festivals,” Chappelle claimed. “And now, today, not a film company, not a movie studio, not a film festival, nobody will touch this film. Thank God for Ted Sarandos and Netflix, he’s the only one that didn’t cancel me yet.”

The comic finally said he was willing to talk with the transgender community — albeit jokingly, with a handful of conditions they’d have to obey.

“To the transgender community, I am more than willing to give you an audience, but you will not summon me. I am not bending to anybody’s demands. And if you want to meet with me, I’d be more than willing to, but I have some conditions,” Chappelle said, jokingly. “First of all, you cannot come if you have not watched my special from beginning to end. You must come to a place of my choosing at a time of my choosing, and thirdly, you must admit that Hannah Gadsby is not funny.”

The Gadsby claim comes after the comedian slammed Chappelle and Sarandos over The Closer after the latter name-dropped her in a memo about diversity in Netflix original programming.

“Hey Ted Sarandos! Just a quick note to let you know that I would prefer if you didn’t drag my name into your mess,” she wrote. “Now I have to deal with even more of the hate and anger that Dave Chappelle’s fans like to unleash on me every time Dave gets 20 million dollars to process his stunted partial world view.”

Chappelle closed out his new video by asking his audience a simple question: “Am I canceled or not?” We’ll have to see when his movie becomes available this November.

Stream Dave Chappelle: The Closer on Netflix