Controversial comedian Dave Chappelle is embarking on a summer/fall tour that will include stops in NYC, New Orleans, Nashville and Chicago, among other cities, per NBC Chicago.
Chicago will be the last stop, with an Oct. 4 show at the United Center.
In 2021, LGBTQ+ groups called out Chappelle over material in his latest Netflix comedy special, The Closer. In a statement, GLAAD called out the pattern of derogatory jokes, saying that "Chappelle's brand has become synonymous with ridiculing trans people and other marginalized communities." In addition, The National Black Justice Coalitiona civil-rights advocacy group serving the LGBTQ+ communityurged Netflix to remove the new special from its catalog.
Netflix's trans employee resource group staged a walkout. However, co-CEO Ted Sarandos said the company would not take down the special, adding that he didn't believe Chappelle's stand-up crossed a line.
In The Closer, the comedian makes explicit jokes about trans women and offers defenses for previous derogatory comments made by figures such as Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, saying, "I'm Team TERF" at one point, CBS News noted. "TERF" (now removed from the Associated Press stylebook) refers to trans-exclusionary radical feminism (also removed from the book), an anti-trans section of radical feminism.
Chappelle also references criticism he faced over the past two years for making jokes about the trans community in his specials Equanimity and Sticks and Stones, and defends comedian Kevin Hart, who has had his share of anti-LGBTQ controversies over the years.
Chappelle has long poked fun at the LGBTQ community, but in The Closer he also says he'll no longer make jokes at the expense of the community "until we are both sure that we are laughing together," per The New York Post.
Andrew Davis