Chappelle’s new comedy special draws heavy criticism for ‘courting controversy’

Chappelle, 46, starts the special acknowledging that he had caused some controversy with his specials since his comeback in 2017. “What I didn’t realize at the time was that I was breaking an unwritten and unspoken rule of show business,” he said. “No matter what you do in your artistic expression, you are never, ever, allowed to upset the alphabet people. You know who I mean. Those people who took 20% of the alphabet for themselves. I’m talking about them L’s and B’s and G’s and the T’s.”

Jokes over the past few specials aimed at transgender issues have drawn the most significant ire from the public and press. His new comments about the transgender community seemed to draw the strongest reaction. “The T’s hate my f—ing guts,” Chappelle said in Sticks & Stones.

An early review of the special from the New York Times said that Chappelle “hasn’t adjusted his material for the setting: he’s still defending wealthy, famous peers and joking about transgender targets.” Speaking more about how he was offended by Chappelle’s most recent work, the author continued, “Chappelle’s comedy has ‘often shocked his audiences into laughter.’ But there’s nothing shocking anymore about his making fun of transgender people. He does it so relentlessly that it has become blandly familiar.”

Vice was similarly put off by Chappelle’s performance. “The comedian doubles down on misogyny and transphobia in both the special and the hidden bonus scene that follows.” The review goes onto mention Chappelle’s story of bonding with a transgender fan. “The strange story of camaraderie seemed to highlight the common accusation that Chappelle is only interested in repairing his relationship with marginalized groups if he doesn’t have to change anything about himself.” The author warns of the bonus Q&A epilogue at the end of the special, “Chappelle has already shown his unapologetic approach to courting controversy.”

National Review, which is often known to have a more conservative take than the New York Times and Vice, was also sharply critical of Chappelle, but more for his take on abortion rights and allegations against Michael Jackson. “It’s a fair warning,” the author begins in his review. “In the new one-hour special, Chappelle defends Michael Jackson against charges of child molestation and says state-level abortion restrictions are a misogynist reaction to the #MeToo movement.”

Many Twitter users came to Chappelle’s defense amide the deluge of negative reviews. “I have no issue with people feeling however they feel about Dave Chappelle’s jokes,” said comedian and writer Bridget Phetasy. “What I do take issue with is acting like he can’t joke about certain topics because they’re off limits. THAT’S EXACTLY WHY HE IS JOKING ABOUT THEM.”

“The Dave Chappelle Netflix stand up special is great and funny all the way throughout (a rarity these days)…and I see why the humorless scolds don’t like it,” said Andrea Ruth.

“I saw a headline saying you can feel free skip this Dave Chappelle comedy special. Yeah. Feel free to skip that review. The special was outstanding. A clinic in joke-telling, joke-writing and staying true to your thoughts and ideas,” another comedian said.

Chappelle himself offered fair warning at the beginning of the special. “If you at home watching this sh– on Netflix, Remember b—-, you clicked on my face.”