Veteran comedian Dave Chappelle proclaimed this week to a sold-out crowd of 19,000 people in San Francisco, California, “man, I love being canceled,” adding “I’m going through something — it might be history.”
“Man, I love being cancelled, it’s a huge relief. It’s like getting Capone on tax evasion,” Chappelle told his audience of 19,000 on Thursday night while kicking off his 10-city comedy tour, according to a report by Rolling Stone.
“For the past three or four weeks — they’ve been saying in the news that I’ve been cancelled,” the comedian said near the end of the night. “It doesn’t matter. The point is, no matter what they say, we are together. I’m going through something. It might be history.”
Since the October 5 debut of his Netflix special, The Closer Chappelle has been under fire by transgender activists who took offense to his jokes. Last month, Netlfix’s corporate office was besieged by outraged transgender activists who took offense to Chappelle’s comedy.
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Last week, Chappelle said that while he is “confused” over what the woke mob wants to talk to him about, he will nonetheless meet with members of the transgender community, under the condition that anyone who meets with him first watches The Closer “from beginning to end.”
He made it clear that he is “not bending to anyone’s demands.”
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Chappelle has not been the only one under attack ever since the debut of his Netflix special.
Comedian Hannah Gadsby has publicly bashed Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos after he defended Chappelle’s special by citing Gadsby’s specials Nanette and Douglas as evidence that the streaming platform offers LGBTQ-friendly content.
Gadsby reacted to Sarandos’ comments, proclaiming, “Fuck you and your amoral algorithm cult,” among other sentiments.
Chappelle reacted to the attack by adding that members of the transgender community who want to meet with him to discuss his so-called offensive comedy special must also admit that Gadsby “isn’t funny.”
During his comedy show on Thursday, Chappelle also showed a screening of his new documentary, Untitled, which he has claimed has been rejected by film festivals in the wake of the controversy surrounding The Closer.
But the documentary — which focuses Chappelle’s efforts to host a series of outdoor comedy shows near his Ohio home last summer — does not itself appear to be controversial, as Rolling Stone describes Untitled as “a visual scrapbook of an unusual summer spent with very rich and funny friends.”
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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