Dave Chappelle Announces Four New Netflix Specials Following Backlash
Netflix, just months after he made controversial remarks about the transgender community in his last special for the platform.The specials will mark Chappelle's return to the streaming giant just four months after his previous Netflix show, The Closer, generated a string of backlash after Chappelle made references to the transgender community that some people said were offensive.Chappelle, 48, announced Friday that he would be executive producing the series of specials, while also serving as host of the programs.
The specials will be produced as part of the comedian's Chappelle's Home Team standup series done in conjunction with Netflix, and each will star a different comic hand-picked by Chappelle.The first of these four specials will be available to stream starting February 28, Chappelle said.
This show, called Earthquake: Legendary, will feature Washington, D.C. standup comic Earthquake.Longtime Chappelle collaborator Donnell Rawlings will also star in one of the specials."I've been doing this a long time and comedians like Quake and Donnell are not only friends but have inspired my own career," Chappelle said. "Anyone in the comedy community knows these names and knows their time to shine is long overdue.
I am proud to be a part of this moment."A number of the segments within The Closer were characterized as transphobic, and LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD said in a statement that "Dave Chappelle's brand has become synonymous with ridiculing trans people and other marginalized communities."One of the controversial comments involved Chappelle saying: "Gender is a fact.""Every human being in this room, every human being on earth, had to pass through the legs of a woman to be on earth," the comic said.
