Dave Chappelle’s New Comedy Special Denounced by Equality Groups, Netflix Employees

At the conclusion of Netflix’s The Closer, released on Tuesday, Dave Chappelle vows to stop directing jokes at the LGBTQ+ community “until we are both sure that we are laughing together.” His words follow a history of transphobic remarks—and a final Netflix special in which he makes several jokes in line with them.

The 48-year-old comic has courted swift controversy amongst fans, cultural critics, and equal-rights organizations for justifying past offensive jokes—and making new ones—about the trans community. In Chappelle’s latest set, he defends other figures criticized for making homophobic and transphobic remarks, including the rapper DaBaby, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, and Kevin Hart. (According to Variety, Netflix has declined to comment on the backlash.)

“They canceled J.K. Rowling—my God,” Chappelle says at one point. “Effectually, she said gender was a fact, the trans community got mad as shit, they started calling her a TERF,” he continues, referring to “trans-exclusionary radical feminists.” Chappelle goes on to declare, “I’m team TERF…. 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. That is a fact. Now, I am not saying that to say trans women aren’t women, I am just saying that those pussies that they got…you know what I mean? I’m not saying it’s not pussy, but it’s Beyond Pussy or Impossible Pussy.”

At least two trans women who have worked at Netflix voiced their disappointment in the streamer’s decision to platform Chappelle’s POV. Jaclyn Moore, showrunner on Netflix’s Dear White People, said she will cease to work with the company. Meanwhile, Terra Field, a senior software engineer at Netflix, explained the harm that comments like Chappelle’s do to the trans community, particularly members of color.

Chappelle also turns his attention to DaBaby, who was ousted from several gigs after making homophobic comments at Miami’s Rolling Loud festival over the summer. “In our country, you can shoot and kill a , but you better not hurt a gay person’s feelings,” Chappelle says, referencing a 2018 shooting at a Walmart in North Carolina that involved DaBaby, who claimed he and his family had been threatened.