While various shows on Netflix can stir up controversy, it’s rare for one to be so controversial that it results in ire for the entire platform. While one of their newest horror films had people angry, it’s nothing in comparison to the fury online resulting from Dave Chappelle’s latest comedy special — The Closer
During the show, Chappelle declared himself a TERF — a trans-exclusionary radical feminist — as well as offered support for J.K. Rowling’s transphobic views. He also said extremely hateful things about the transgender community. One such quote is as follows:
“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. It tastes like pussy, but that’s not quite what it is, is it? That’s not blood, that’s beet juice.”
He also said, “Do you see where I’m going with this? In our country, you can shoot and kill a n-gger, but you better not hurt a gay person’s feelings!”
These sorts of statements have left many with Netflix subscriptions outraged, especially among the LGBTQ+ community. Some have even gone so far as to say the company has knowingly platformed hate speech, especially after Chappelle’s previous special also contained transphobic jokes.
Other users made sure to mention Daphne Dorman, a transgender comedian that committed suicide after being shouted out by Chappelle in 2019. Many have alleged that her suicide may have been because of the harassment she received from fans and others as a result of his actions. Chappelle has previously claimed to have tested his jokes about transgender people on her.
One other user made a great point about who Netflix is choosing to platform.
As one user put it quite succinctly:
While Netflix has yet to comment on the situation, they have previously removed episodes of The Chappelle Show, showing it’s not impossible that they may decide to remove the new comedy special from their platform.
