Abbott Elementary's Janelle James calls Dave Chappelle's recent comedy specials 'boring'

Abbott Elementary's Janelle James is weighing in on comedy legend Dave Chappelle, whose recent run of Netflix specials have dominated discourse about stand-up comedy over the last few years.

"The last thing I watched of his was when he came out with all the specials at once," James told Variety, possibly referencing when Chappelle released four different specials on Netflix over the course of the year 2017. "Regardless of what he said, I thought it was boring."

James said that she grew up admiring Chappelle's earlier comedic work (such as his own iconic TV comedy series, Chappelle's Show) but now finds his work to be too self-serious.

"I like silly Chappelle," James said. "He's in his wisdom bag now. We're clowns! Once we forget that we're clowns, then it becomes bad. Your objective is to make people laugh and then sneak your thoughts in underneath the jokes. If your thoughts are on top, that's not funny or entertaining to me."

Though Chappelle's previous Netflix specials had also been controversial, his most recent recent — The Closer, from 2021 — activated a new level of backlash. Chappelle's remarks about transgender people led several Netflix employees to stage a walkout in protest of the special.

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