Comedian Dave Chappelle's newest release on Netflix has once again put him at the center of controversy over his jokes and comments about trans people and transphobia.
In his latest Netflix special, What's In a Name, Chappelle details an incident that occurred at a ceremony to name the new theater at the high school he graduated from, the Duke Ellington School of the Arts' in Washington DC, after him.
During the event, Chappelle detailed being called a "bigot" by some of the school's students because of the transphobic jokes he has made in his Netflix specials, especially last year's The Closer.
Chappelle called them "instruments of oppression."
\u201cDave Chappelle calls teens who oppose transphobic jokes 'instruments of oppression'. Yes, really https://t.co/PBUCper4cY\u201d— PinkNews (@PinkNews) 1657344420
When the naming plan was announced last October, Chappelle called it "the most significant honor of my life."
But he has since declined the honor due to the criticisms he has received from students because of his now-infamous special The Closer, in which he made several jokes about trans people and classified himself as "team TERF"—or "Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist," a name for transphobic feminists who reject trans women's gender identity.
The controversy over the special resulted in resignations and walkouts by Netflix employees and heated criticism by many of Chappelle's colleagues.
Students at Duke Ellington also threatened a walkout over their school's theater being named after Chappelle, a response he has said "sincerely hurt" him.
In What's In a Name Chappelle details the conversation he had with some students who were offended by his work.
"I said to the kids, I go, ‘well, OK, well what do you guys think I did wrong?’"
"And a line formed. These kids said everything about gender, and this and that and the other, but they didn’t say anything about art..."
"...[T[hese kids didn't understand that they were instruments of oppression."
Chappelle went on to claim the criticisms about his jokes take his words out of context.
“[I]t would be like if you were reading a newspaper and they say, ‘Man shot in the face by a six-foot rabbit expected to survive.'"
"You’d be like, ‘Oh my god,’ and they never tell you it’s a Bugs Bunny cartoon."
He went on to double down on his jokes even further, chalking them up to an exercise of his right to free speech.
"The more you say I can’t say something, the more urgent it is for me to say it."
For critics of Chappelle On Twitter, his words only served to reignite the already simmering anger about his transphobia.
\u201cDave Chappelle: "but my transphobia was artistic! Look at how artistically I called them trannies!"\u201d— Alejandra Caraballo (@Alejandra Caraballo) 1657372672
\u201cIs there anything more \u2018anti-comedy\u2019 than releasing a scolding lecture by a 50 year old multimillionaire bragging how great and rich he is to a bunch of high school kids who think he\u2019s lame? https://t.co/vkpL2x9A4I\u201d— Aaron Stewart-Ahn (@Aaron Stewart-Ahn) 1657297833
\u201cIt's been said before, but it's still worth saying:\n\nDave Chappelle forever gave up any right to claim "jokes don't hurt anybody" the day he walked off from his own TV show because he saw how racists were quoting his own material to harm people.\n\nHe, of all people, plainly knows.\u201d— Secret Gamer Girl (@Secret Gamer Girl) 1657318513
\u201cDave Chappelle is being oppressed, you guys!\n\n"'When I heard those talking points coming out of these children's faces, that really, sincerely, hurt me,'" he said."\n\n"'And these kids didn't understand that they were instruments of oppression.'" https://t.co/onxVJ2PFwe\u201d— Lily Weaver \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@Lily Weaver \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1657302327
\u201cDave Chappelle has officially become the "Old man yells at cloud" meme\u201d— Claude DeBussy (@Claude DeBussy) 1657504576
\u201cI will never come up with anything as funny as Dave Chappelle yelling at a bunch of high school kids that theyre taking away away his creative platform and having it recorded and put on Netflix lmfao\u201d— Breddy Tidgewater \ud83c\udd59 (@Breddy Tidgewater \ud83c\udd59) 1657311895
\u201cdave chappelle was supposed to such a brilliant, smart comedian but it seems that was all marketing\u201d— end of quote. repeat the line. (@end of quote. repeat the line.) 1657456210
\u201cChappelle literally called high school freshmen "instruments of oppression" for pointing out he was making a career out of being transphobic. There's no way to report that that doesn't make him sound like a giant dickhead. You'd have to write "This page intentionally left blank."\u201d— moby dickgirl (@moby dickgirl) 1657504446
\u201cI just typed out a whole parody Dave Chappelle joke in response to his current Netflix thing. It was the worst, most hateful thing I could come up with. Then I realized it's just shit he says almost word for word, so it's not really effective satire.\u201d— Olivia Hill (@Olivia Hill) 1657207732
\u201cDave Chappelle has found his cash cow & he's gonna keep riding it til the wheels fall off. When was the last time anyone said anything about Dave Chappelle that didn't have to do with trans people?? He knows what keeps the lights on.\u201d— Je suis Fatty-Gay (@Je suis Fatty-Gay) 1657304809
\u201cNetflix is like "help us we're broke" and then hands $7 million to Chappelle every time he leaves the house\u201d— Kevin Anderson (@Kevin Anderson) 1657216220
Despite the controversy, Chappelle has a number of forthcoming projects at Netflix
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