The furore from Dave Chappelle’s new Netflix special, “The Closer”, has snowballed since the special first premiered three weeks ago.
Last week, a small protest of around 100 people took place outside the Netflix headquarters in Los Angeles as protesters continued to express their displeasure at the special’s transphobic remarks.
Critics have pointed to how at one point in the special, Chappelle defended JK Rowling’s statement last year by declaring himself a TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminist).
On Monday night, in his first public reaction since the Netflix comedy special premiere, Chappelle posted a controversial snippet of his performance in Louisville, Kentucky on Sunday on his Instagram account. In it, he remains unapologetic about the special.
“It’s been said in the press that I was invited to speak to transgender employees at Netflix and I refused,” Chappelle told the audience.
He went on to explain how those reports were false and, if they had indeed invited him, he would have accepted it.
“To the transgender community, I am more than willing to give you an audience,” he said.
“But you will not summon me. I am not bending to anybody’s demands.”
Chappelle also claimed that the controversy had led to him being uninvited from showing “Untitled”, his latest documentary, at film festivals.
“Today, not a film company, not a movie studio, not a film festival, nobody will touch this film,” he said, before announcing that he’d be screening the documentary s at 10 venues across America.
“Thank God for Ted Sarandos (Netflix chief content officer) and Netflix - he is the only one that didn’t cancel me yet.”