Dave Chappelle was expected to take the stage at First Avenue in Minneapolis on Wednesday (July 20), but the iconic venue ended up canceling the show after complaints from the LGBTQ+ community. Hours before the show, First Avenue issued a statement to its social media accounts, explaining it would be moved to the Varsity Theater.
“To staff, artists, and our community, we hear you and we are sorry. We know we must hold ourselves to the highest standards, and we know we let you down. We are not just a black box with people in it, and we understand that First Ave is not just a room, but meaningful beyond our walls.
“The First Avenue team and you have worked hard to make our venues the safest spaces in the country, and we will continue with that mission. We believe in diverse voices and the freedom of artistic expression, but in honoring that, we lost sight of the impact this would have. We know there are some who will not agree with this decision, you are welcome to send feedback.”
Dave Chappelle has been criticized by the LGBTQ+ community for years. In October 2021, Netflix premiered Chappelle’s comedy special The Closer, which contained commentary directed at DaBaby’s homophobic rant at Rolling Loud Miami just three months earlier. It also included issues regarding the transgender community such as Caitlyn Jenner and trans women’s bodies.
“Gender is a fact,” he said in part. “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.”
Chappelle also found it incredulous people were more upset about DaBaby’s remarks about gay men then they were about him killing a 19-year-old man at a North Carolina Walmart in 2018 (he was cleared after investigators determined it was self-defense). While The Closer debuted in the Top 10, his critics came out in droves to express their disdain for Chappelle’s intended jokes.
Trans activist Taylor Ashbrook, who’s based in Ohio where Chappelle lives, tweeted, “As a trans woman, I have usually defended Dave Chappelle’s specials because I think they’re hilarious and his jokes about trans women never felt intentionally malicious. The Closer changed my mind on that. That special felt so lazy and disingenuous and I’m really disappointed.”
Dave Chappelle's Controversial DaBaby & Trans Jokes Met With LGBTQ+ Community Wrath
Chappelle’s comedy special also led to a walk-out at Netflix, while the cvil rights advocacy group, The National Black Justice Coalition, wanted the streaming giant to scrub the special from its platform completely.
“With 2021 on track to be the deadliest year on record for transgender people in the United States — the majority of whom are Black transgender people — Netflix should know better,” National Black Justice Coalition Executive Director David Johns said in a statement. Perpetuating transphobia perpetuates violence. Netflix should immediately pull The Closer from its platform and directly apologize to the transgender community.”
Bunch of crybabies that can dish it out and cry about wanting equality but can’t take it when they get it which includes the comedy (jokes/getting clowned) aspect of things.
To hell with them! What ever happened to freedom of speech? It’s only comedy for fucking crying out loud.
It’s all fun and games til a rich black man makes a transgender joke. The universe is going to end it’s like The LBGTQ Community Thanos shows up snaps it’s fingers and all our favorites events, freedoms,shows, and social privacies just vanish.
Whiny gay ass pansies are ruining everything nowadays. What’s next, pissing standing up offends them too. WTF
Trans community is a little too one-sided. They tried to cancel Dave from Netflix before having a civil conversation with him. Trans has never been such a large issue and many people are not educated when it comes to what is taboo, what is offensive, etc. and that isn’t going to happen overnight. Stop being so outraged all the time. If you can afford a transition surgery, you can afford to move a community that is safer and more progressive. There are specials that are I find offensive so I choose not to watch it. I don’t actively try to take food off the person’s table.
Oh no, watch out now..soon being straight will soon be a crime. What is this country coming to? The entire US is going to turn into San Francisco or Fire Island.
“I got balls, I’m outraged!!” or “I don’t have balls, I’m still outraged!!!”
They want Equality but don’t wanna equally take these jokes
Yeah seriously they take everything else pun intended
Thisssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!
They/them/we/us kill me. They run the entertainment industry at the highest levels. Ok to be fair, tell your buddies in high places stop making movies and documentaries that perpetuate negative stereotypes of black, and brown people you hypocrites.
So they still mad about the closer? Tf
How bout we cancel all the gay TV shows, reality shows, music artist performance with gay artist, gay comedians, gay talk show host, gay modeling shows, drama and Pride Month celebrations so the rest of the straight community don’t feel offended. That’s fair.
About time we started fighting back against these clowns. We live in a strange world. Chappelle makes jokes about everybody. But for some reason they think they are special. They are not above being joked about. Bullying people isn’t the way to go.
The Rainbow Warrior People sure do get easily butt hurt about everything.
You think they wouldn’t since their asses are stretched to infinity and beyond.
i wish hilter won to the fucking furance with these ppl
Problem is they never lost to begin with, they switched up the strategy became.bankers and also run NASA. They’re still everywhere
I would never attend an event at that shithole venue again. The first amendment seems to not mean much to people anymore. We are such a bitch ass, feeble nation. Dude made jokes I didn’t like. I have time in my life between work and family to try to get him kicked out of a venue. Fucking idiots.
Duck them daggits
it’s gonna war on the streets. and nobody is going to tell me how to be a black man least of all some alphabet tranny molester creep. war on the streets is coming and you better know who you are. before all this nonsense i didn’t work out i didn’t take care of myself. now that creeps want to say any clown can be a man I’m busting out 200 push ups a day. hitting the heavy bag hard. it’s only one way to be a man and that’s to be born male. i love everybody but the nonsense is gonna stop one way or another
Ironic because back in the day First Avenue did not allow black performers or black people.
These alphabet soup fuckers have more rights than black people do fucking ridiculous its almost to the point that heterosexuality is wrong and being gay is right…..RIDICULOUS!!!!!!!!!!